He's baaaack!!

Kahtee is here!  He arrived after Thanksgiving and we were so excited to see him again.  He's already found some sneaky hiding spots and Reese told us that it took her "one hundred hours to find him" yesterday morning.  Ryan has had a little sassy & naughty streak for the past week, so Kahtee is watching her extra closely.  This morning he landed in her stocking and she was SO excited until she realized that he's there to keep a close eye on her and make sure her behavior is in tip top shape.  I am praying and hoping it works. 

Welcome back, Kahtee!  We're so happy you're here :)

Family dinner & photos

I told my mom after our Thanksgiving dinner that we were so busy cooking we got zero photos of our family.  There's always some stress in her world about what to send out for a card at Christmas time and she never has any photos because she relies on everyone else to take pictures with their cameras.  We got together for Sunday dinner at Mimi & Papa's house so we could try to capture a Christmas card photo.  The kids were so cute and I think we got a great photo of M&P with the four grandkids.  I definitely think this is their card photo this year.

Then we got an OK shot of all of us minus Jeff, who was under the weather :(

This family shot of us is now my new FB profile pic.  You know I only change my picture about once a year.  We even got Muffin in the shot!

 

We at a yummy lasagna dinner and the kids danced and played until we found this HUGE scorpion.  

 
He kind of put a damper on the barefoot dancing in the kitchen by Will & Ryder.  Can you believe how long his tail is?!  So so creepy.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with our families.  I'm so grateful that our families live close and we get to share these special day with everyone.  We spent the morning with the Whytes and had a delicious breakfast feast.  The kids spent Thanksgiving Eve at Grandma & Grandpa's house and they had so much fun playing with their cousins.  Cory & I were so thankful for a fun evening out together on Wednesday and enjoyed sleeping in a bit in the morning.  It was a much needed break for us and we love G&G for taking on 7 kids for a sleepover.

 Auntie Casey & Haley

 The crew in the back of Uncle Chris' truck.

 I love this shot of the four girls.  The big girls are both holding their hands out, trying to get Ryder to come to them.  I have no idea what Reese & Ryan are staring at on the ground but it must be interesting.

 

The Whyte family all together.

My family came over in the afternoon and we ate turkey and the fixins around 4.  I was busy in the kitchen so I didn't get any good photos of us together.  My husband managed to capture these 2 lovely shots.

Me bending over to get the potatoes out of the oven and dad carving the turkey :)

Five year old stats

We went to the Dr. this week for the girls' 5 year check up and they are in tip top shape.  They are exactly the same height and 0.6 lbs. apart.  No doubt they're identical when you see these #s.  Here is the scoop on their checkup:

Ryan weighs 41.2 lbs., 50-75 %
Height is 43 1/4", 50-75%
BMI is 15.4, 50-75%

Reese weighs 41.8 lbs., 50-75%
Height is 43 1/4", 50-75%
BMI is 15.7, 50-75%

Their vision was tested and they both have 20/30 eyesight.  Dr. M told us to follow a 5/2/1/0 rule every day, which is 5 servings of fruits/veggies, less than 2 hours of TV, 1 hour of exercise, 0 juice or soda.  With our lifestyle I feel like it's really easy for us to meet those daily goals.  It's fun going to a well check and see how great they are doing.

Twenty questions

I asked the girls 20 questions for their 5th birthday and I'm planning on doing this every year so we can look back and see how the answers change.  I made sure to 'interview' them separately so we could capture each of their unique personalities.  I love their answers.

My new favorite find

I heard about this website called Birchbox and I was intrigued, being the product junkie that I am. Birchbox is a monthly subscription of sample size beauty products delivered right to your mailbox. It's $10.00 a month and you get access to the latest and greatest beauty products for hair, skin, and nails.  I love that it comes in such a pretty little box that you can reuse.  This month my Birchbox came with Befine night cream, Anastasia mascara, Supersmile toothpaste, Kerastase hair serum, & a cute pink hair tie.  That, my friend, is worth every penny of $10 in my world.  The night cream is awesome and I'm thinking about ordering it.  Click here if you want to check it out.  I think you'll love it too.

Beaver fever

Reese & Ryan are slightly obsessed with Justin Beiber right now.  The call him Justin Beaver and it makes us laugh every time they say it.  We refuse to correct them.  Mimi took the girls shopping individually so they could buy each other gifts.  After that shopping trip we now own the following Justin Beiber items: 1 remix CD, 2 Christmas albums, & 3 T-shirts.  We've also watched his Never Say Never movie at least 3 times in the past week.  While Reese & Mimi were at Macy's they ran into a JB cutout and it was the highlight of the shopping trip.

Ryan is dying to go to Macy's now and she's also informed me that we have to go to his concert when he comes back to town.  She said she's going to make a poster that says "I love Justin Beaver".  I can't wait to hold that one up in a crowd.

Five!!

Reese and Ryan are five and I can hardly believe it.  What happened to my teeny twin babies that we just brought home from the hospital?  I blinked my eyes and they've grown into these beautiful, articulate, sassy, funny, intelligent little girls.  It's so amazing.

We have been celebrating their birthday for days now and it's been so much fun.  I love birthdays and I think it's so special to celebrate the day you were born.  I always like to make a big deal each year, but 5 seemed like a biggie so we went all out.  This post is a long one, so pull up a chair and get comfy.  Here's how the big, crazy day went down:

We decorated the girls' bedroom the night before, after they fell asleep.  It's now becoming a tradition and you may remember this post from last year.  I only had my camera phone so the pictures were bad in the low light but we had fun decorating their room.  We covered the floor with balloons and draped streamers from the fan and doorway.  They were so excited when they woke up in the morning.

After they busted out of the decorated room then we headed out the door for a yummy birthday breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill.  They gave us a $20 credit for their birthday and all 5 of us chowed down for less than $20.  We were there pretty early and had the place to ourselves.  It was a great way to start the day.

We then headed to Mimi's house for a quick visit and then off to preschool.  It was picture day and the girls were dressed up and excited to share birthday treats with their friends.  Their teacher told me that cupcakes don't go over well because kids just lick off all the frosting and don't eat the cake part.  I opted for ice cream sandwiches instead.  The parents were loving me with that one on picture day.  I came armed with baby wipes to clean everyone up but the kids did great and stayed relatively clean.  We sang to Reese & Ryan and then they each got to stand up in front of the class and talk about what they drew in the birthday journal that came home with us the night before.  Ryan told the class that she went to Airworx for her party and drew a picture of her and her cousins jumping on the trampolines with dust underneath (that's the orange stuff in her picture below).  She's such a crackup!

 

Reese told us about going to Mimi and Papa's house for dinner that evening and drew a photo of their round table where we all eat.

 

 We love ice cream sandwiches!!!!

 After school we stopped by the office to say HI to daddy and Papa and show off the birthday hats.

 Then we rounded out the evening with spaghetti dinner and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake at Mimi & Papa's house.  Whew!  What a day!  I'm pretty sure they thought it was the best day ever and they are so excited to be five.

Five things I love about our little Reesie Michelle:

1) She is cautious and a little bit guarded.  I love that you have to crack through her exterior a bit, but once you're in she'll give you all of her heart.

2)  She is the best big sister to both Ryder and Ryan.  Only one minute older than Ryan but sometimes that minute really seems to show in her 'mother hen' personality.

3)  She's so inquisitive by nature and wants to know about everyone and everything.

4)  She loves talking about God tells me all the time that she loves having Jesus in her heart.

5)  She is an amazing artist.

Reese Michelle, you are my sweet baby girl. 

I love you more than all the grains of sands on the beach.

Five things I love about Ryan Whitney:

1) There is no one funnier than Ryan.  I could write a book of all her one-liners.

2) She is so articulate and an amazing storyteller.  I'm sometimes envious of the way she can captivate an audience and tell a story.  It's a gift for sure.

3)  She is a firecracker.  Wish I could bottle up that sassiness and sell it.

4)  She's tough but still so sweet.

5)  She loves being fancy and will always smile for the camera.  Just look at that ice cream face below. 

Ryan Whitney, you are my sunshine.  I love you more than all the stars in the universe.

Airworx

We celebrated Reese & Ryan's 5th birthday on Sunday afternoon at Airworx with family and friends.  The girls have been here a few times and loved the place.  It seemed like a no-brainer to host their party there.  There were 15 kids total and everyone had such a blast, even little Ryder, who was climber up the inflatable bouncer like no one's business.  We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends around to celebrate with us.

 Mimi & Ryder

 Ryan loving the slide.

 Trampoline fun!

 Ryder would go up the climber and slide down on his belly.  It was hilarious to watch.

 Cory & all the cousins.

 Reesie gets a little shy when everyone is singing happy birthday to her!

Reesie's house

Reese has been asking for this since she saw Campbell open it at her party in August.  

She reminded me every time we were at Target (which is too often).  She loves to color and draw and this will keep her entertained for hours.  I just hope Ryder boy doesn't get a hold of some markers and scribble all over it.

It's going to be a fun 5th birthday.  I can't wait for her to open her birthday gift.

Ryan's new camera

I love Craigslist.  We've been wanting to buy Ryan her own camera for her birthday.  I found a used Nikon digital camera for $30 today and Cory picked it up this afternoon.  It's perfect.  She's going to love it and I'm so excited she'll be staying away from our camera.  I can't wait to see her face when she opens it next week.

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22 months

Ryder is the coolest little man right now.  We are having a ball with him and there's new stuff happening with him every day.

*He is talking up a storm, talking in full sentences.  We can understand ever single word he says, but I'm sure it sounds like jibberish to the majority of people.  We love asking him questions and hearing all his cute little words and answers.  My favorite is "I want more unny, Mommy", which is him asking for more honey on his oatmeal.  (I'm in my 'eating oatmeal every day' kick right now, so I'm hearing this one a LOT).
*He's also talking a lot about his pee and poop in his diaper, which seems promising that he's aware of the body functions.  I need to get through the holidays and his 2nd birthday and then I'll re-read the 3 day potty training book.
*Ryder boy still loves his cars and trucks, but he's also showing a big interest in trains and airplanes.  If it's got wheels or is a mode of transportation then he's excited about it.  We love reading books about cars, planes, & trains.
*We're still breastfeeding.  Going strong at 22 months and I really can't believe we've gone this long.  I thought I was ready to wean.  I decided that we were going to go cold turkey, but he would sob & cry.  It was breaking my heart and I realized I'm not ready yet and neither is he.  It's a comfort for him and I treasure those few moments we share each day.  I know it creeps some people out but I figure that's their problem, not mine.
*He's settled in an awesome routine with his afternoon nap.  We eat lunch, get the girls to school, and then back home for a little play time before he naps at 1pm.  He's been sleeping about 2 1/2 hours and it's a wonderful break for me while the girls are at school.  I L-O-V-E the crib tent.  That thing has been worth every penny of $75.  He sleeps so great and I do too :)
*Ryder boy loves pushing stuff around and his toy of choice is the pink stroller.  We walk it to the girls soccer practice and all over the cul-de-sac.  I love our little long haired boy in camo pants, pushing a pink stroller around town.  He's so awesome!
 

Photos by Ryan

I have mentioned before that our girls like to take photos with our camera, but I truly think Ryan has a knack for it.  She loves taking photos and she will try to capture different angles and perspectives of people and abstract items.  We laugh about it because it's so cute but she really takes some pretty great photos for a 4 year old.  Their birthday is in 2 weeks and she has been asking for her own camera.  I think it might be something worth buying.  Here are some fun shots that she snapped in Rocky Point and on Monday.

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