Ryder's stats

I have to write Ryder's three year old stats here so I don't forget them.  He's growing up big but still a long and lean dude, just like his dad.  (His dad who just weighed himself today and told me the scale said 172 and he's 6'3"!).  Ryder did great at the doctor today.  He finally got his MMR shot, which they usually give at 18 mos but we have put it off and now that he's going to preschool we figured it was time to give it to him.  They measured him at 37 1/2" tall, which is 25-50% and weighs 26.6 pounds, which is 5-10%.  His BMI is 13.4, which is less than 5%.  As I said, long and lean.  I had the Dr. do a hearing test because we felt like he was saying "What?" a lot and we weren't sure he was hearing us or if he was just processing what we said.  He passed the hearing test with flying colors so he is just being a typical 3 year old and ignoring us sometimes :)

He's really into Avengers and all things super hero right now.  He loves cars and trucks, playing outside, hitting the baseball with dad, and just being a crazy boy.  We love him to pieces!!

Auntie CeCe's 12/12/12 birthday party

Alexa sure knows how to plan a party, even when she's pregnant and chasing a toddler around.  She threw together a last minute shindig for Auntie CeCe's birthday at the Farm @ South Mountain.  The weather was beautiful outside and the food was so yummy.

Little stinker man came with me.

Alexa brought homemade jams for everyone and mini pies.

Lexington & Ryan found ways to occupy their time.  They played in the dirt,

climbed trees (well, only Ryder was climbing trees but that's because he's older & part monkey)

posing in trees,

and more posing,

Then we asked some nice stranger walking by to take our photo.  I just wish most people knew how to snap a photo without cutting off all our legs and leaving a ton of headroom.

What a fun filled day with some great women!  Happy Birthday, Auntie Cece!

Birthday interview with Reese

1)  What is your favorite color? Pink
2) What is your favorite toy? Art kit
3) What is your favorite fruit? Apple
4) What is your favorite TV show/movie? Mary Poppins
5) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Ham sandwich
6) What is your favorite outfit? Christmas shirt from Ryan
7) What is your favorite game? Sorry!
8) What is your favorite snack? Apples & pears
9) What is your favorite animal? Butterfly
10) What is your favorite song? Walking in a winter wonderland
11) What is your favorite book? Anything by Dr. Seuss
12) Who is your best friend? My sister & Rylan
13) What is your favorite food? Chicken & Dumplings
14) What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing on the swings
15) What is your favorite drink? Water
16) What is your favorite holiday? Christmas & Halloween
17) What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My yellow blanket
18) What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal & waffles
19) What do you want to eat for dinner on your birthday? Mac & cheese
20) What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher
21) What makes our family special? We have peace
22) Who do you look most like? My sister
23) What is one thing you are really good at doing? Soccer
24) Who is the smartest person you know? My sister
25) Who is the funniest person you know? Mrs. Ellinwood
26) What do you want for your next birthday? A new Elf on the Shelf
27) What is your favorite treat? Gum
28) What is the best present you've ever received? Peanuts the Elephant
29) What would be the one food you would pick to eat for the rest of your life? Apples & Raspberries
30) If you had $1,000,000 what would you buy first? A stamp kit

Birthday interview with Ryan

For the past few years I've been interviewing the girls and asking them questions each year on their birthday.  It's fun to see their answers change and grow through the years.  I sat down first with Ryan.  Here is my interview with her:

1)  What is your favorite color? Pink & purple
2) What is your favorite toy? Cinderella doll
3) What is your favorite fruit? Apple
4) What is your favorite TV show/movie? We Bought A Zoo
5) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Gogurt and cheese sandwich
6) What is your favorite outfit? Butterfly shirt from Sedona w/ my butterfly skirt
7) What is your favorite game? Ghosts in the graveyard
8) What is your favorite snack? Fruit & yogurt
9) What is your favorite animal? Zebra & Butterfly
10) What is your favorite song? Call Me Maybe by Carley Rae Jepsen
11) What is your favorite book? Sand Castle by Robert Munch
12) Who is your best friend? My sister & Freya
13) What is your favorite food? Chicken & Dumplings
14) What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with Juhi & Kira
15) What is your favorite drink? Orange Juice
16) What is your favorite holiday? Christmas & Halloween
17) What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Pillow Pet Dream Light
18) What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes & waffles
19) What do you want to eat for dinner on your birthday? Chicken & Dumplings
20) What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher
21) What makes our family special? They love me so much
22) Who do you look most like? My sister
23) What is one thing you are really good at doing? Gymnastics
24) Who is the smartest person you know? My sister
25) Who is the funniest person you know? My dad
26) What do you want for your next birthday? Bubblegum
27) What is your favorite treat? Candy (can you tell she's our sweet tooth?)
28) What is the best present you've ever received? Ladybug farm
29) What would be the one food you would pick to eat for the rest of your life? Chicken & Dumplings
30) If you had $1,000,000 what would you buy first? A new bike

Happy 6th Birthday, Reese

Reese Michelle is six!  Our sweet Reesie pie is growing up and it's hard to believe how fast time flies by.

It's been such a fun week celebrating her birthday and reminiscing about when Reese & Ryan were brand new babies.  It seems like yesterday I was lying in the hospital, holding my twin girls and thinking about how God was SO good to give me these two perfect babies to care for.  

Six things I love about our Reese Michelle:

1.)  She is a sweet old soul.  She is wise beyond her years in so many ways.

 2.)  She finds beauty in everything.  She loves pretty skies and rainbows.

 3.)  She has sensitive heart.

 4.)  She loves being a big sister and wants more babies to take care of in our family (sorry, sweetie!)

 5.)  She gets so excited over the littlest things and find joy in almost everything.

 6.)  She is laid back and is usually the one child that will always do what she is told.

What a blessing you are, Reese Michelle!  Thank you for being you and adding so much joy and beauty to our lives for the past six years.  Love you to the moon and back, my sweet girl.

Happy 6th Birthday, Ryan

Ryan Whitney Whyte is six!  It's hard to believe our baby girl is six.  This has been a big year of changes with Kindergarten and new adventures.  There are days that she seems like she is 6 going on 16; other days she seems like she will be our baby girl forever.  Here are six things we love about Ryan Whitney:

1)  Her laughter is one of the sweetest sounds you'll hear.

2) She is curious and wants to know the answers to everything.

 3)  She is tenacious and usually won't take no for an answer.  This trait will serve her well when she's a lawyer someday :)

4.) She is competitive and likes to win.

 5) She is the life of the party.

 6)  She is smart as a whip and it's fun to watch her learn so many new things this year.

Ryan Whitney, I love you and your sparkly personality more than all the stars in the sky.  You have brought so much joy and spunk to our lives in the past six years.  Happy Birthday, my precious baby girl.

As You Wish Party

Wowza.  Reese & Ryan's 6th birthday party was a crazy one.  We had 21 kids painting pottery at As You Wish and they loved it.  The kids all got to pick out the pottery pieces they wanted to paint and go to town.  It's so fun to see what everyone chose and how creative they all are.  Ryan chose to paint a dolphin.

Reese chose an elephant.

Me and my girls.

They each got to pick out a plate that their friends signed.

Gotta love a Costco cake. 

Then it was time to open presents.

I'm not gonna lie.  This part stresses me out a bit.  I want things to be organized like keeping the cards/receipts in the bags that they came in with the gift.  I want my kids to be gracious and gush over each present.  None of this seems to happen.  Ever.  Thank goodness I had some moms around to help me keep it somewhat under control.

Cory tried his best to stay away from the melee.

Just the four of us.  We were SO grateful that Grandma took Ryder home to her house for a nap.  He would have been a 2 year old bull in a china shop and added waaay too much stress for me.  It was nice to enjoy the part with just the four of us.

The party was a success and I would do it there again in a minute.  I love leaving the mess behind and going home to a quiet house where our girls can enjoy their new fun gifts :)

6th birthday fun!

I love making a big deal about birthdays around here and this year was no exception.  We carried on the tradition of decorating their room while they were sleeping.  We blew up about 50 balloons and scattered them on the floor, taped streamers from the fan & ceiling, and taped off the door.  It's so exciting when they wake up in the morning and bust right through the streamers.  

 Here comes our big six year olds!!!

 Can we open our presents now?  

 PLEASE??

 I took both girls shopping separately the week before and they picked out fun presents for each other.

 Reese gave Ryan a cute shirt, denim skirt, & a BFF necklace.  Ryan gave Reese 2 shirts, and a sparkly heart necklace, and leggings.

Then it was time to open gifts from Mom, Dad & Ryder.  A wooden Melissa & Doug stamp set;

 A 24 pack of Sharpies with five new 80's glam colors.  It's brave to give them Sharpies but they keep stealing mine so I had to get them their own pack.

Who knew they'd get so excited about Sharpies?

Oh yeah, and makeup.  They each got a small makeup set from Ulta with every color of lip gloss and eyeshadow you could imagine.

 The rule is they aren't allowed to wear any of it to school.  It's only for playtime at home and mommy has to be the one to help put it on.  It stays in my bathroom for now but, man, were they over the moon for this gift.  I was cracking up watching them open it and seeing their faces.

 After breakfast, Reese's top tooth was dangling by a thread and needed to come out.  We got dressed and ready and then Cory pulled that sucker out.

 She was a little scared but once it was out she was excited for the tooth fairy to come. (Btw, the tooth fairy needs an air mattress so she can just sleep over.  She's been here three times in the past week.  The Whyte house is keeping her on her toes with all the pearly whites falling out)

 The top tooth was a big one and now the gap is HUGE!!  I am dying over that gap tooth smile.  She is so hilarious!  She has lost of total of five teeth and she's ahead of Ryan by one bottom tooth.

 It was finally time to go to school but I had to snap a few individual shots of them on their special day. Ryan sure knows how to pose.

 Reese looks like she's unsure of everything.  She's probably just ready to go to school and have her mom stop taking 100 photos.  That's the shirt and necklace that Ryan picked out.

 Love these two precious girls more than words can say.

One more birthday smile from my toothless Reesey!