My kind of day

I love when it rains.  It's been a steady stream at our house this morning.  I'm soaking it up because I know it's only here for the day.  The girls spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house, Mr. R is napping, and Cory is working so I have the quiet house all to myself.  Such a great day.

15 months

Ryder is 15 months today and we've decided he's the coolest little boy ever.  Here are some highlights from the past month with our little monkey:

• Sleeping like such a champ.  No more night wakings (yay!  It only took 15 months to get him to sleep through the night.  Ha!)  Still taking a morning and an afternoon nap.  Tried pushing him to just one nap but it wasn't working.  He's sleeping at 10am and again around 2 or 3pm.  It's nice to get 2 breaks during the day and about 12 hours at night.
• Throwing food off his high chair tray.  I don't even know how much food he's actually eating because it seems he just throws it all and Muffin devours it before I can get it off the floor.  Like everything else, it's a big game and he thinks it's hilarious.
• We haven't had the 15 month appt. yet but I think he's grown taller in the past month.  His 12 month pants fit only in the waist, but the length looks like he's waiting for the flood.  I think he's about 21 lbs.
• Talking so much more.  New words include: hurt, light, all done, water, thank you, Papa, and what's that? 
• Still nursing.  Slowing down a bit.  Maybe 4 or 5 times a day, but I still don't think we're weaning any time soon.
• Like to color with his sisters.  He uses our stamp markers and he goes to town.
• We flipped his car seat forward for about a week because he's 20 lbs. and one year, but the day after we flipped it forward I saw a special on the Today show about leaving them backwards until they are two.  So, he's facing backwards again and he doesn't really seem to mind.
• He LOVES his shoes and we have plenty to go around thanks to Misty for some hand-me-downs.  He calls them 'Bahs'.  He carries them around and brings them to me to put on.  When it's time to take them off at the end of the day or nap time he screams and throws a mini tantrum.  It's pretty funny to watch.  
• He's climbing on everything as I wrote about in a post earlier this week.  It scares me but I'm hoping it's just a phase.  Yesterday I had to lay all the barstools on the ground so he would stop climbing.  It looked like a bomb went off in our kitchen.
• Loves getting dirty outside.  He's such a boy, playing in his sandbox with his trucks and cars.  
• His hair is getting really long and curly in the back and it's the cutest 'do ever.  We cut the girls' hair at 15 months but they had little mullets.  Ryder's hair is growing out nicely and Cory says we're never cutting it ;)
• And of course, he's still a Mama's boy.  Not really interested in anyone but me and Daddy when he gets home from work.  We love it.

Happy 15 month birthday, Ryder.  We love you to pieces.  You are such a special boy!

Cooking class

The girls took a cooking class today at Young Chefs Academy.  I have a few passes that we bought on Groupon and I figured they're finally at a good age to start using them.  They look a bit apprehensive but they were SO excited and couldn't stop talking about going to their cooking class.  Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting was on the menu. 

 They listened patiently while the teacher gave instructions.

 They weren't sure what to think about this kid crying in between them.  Ryan was looking at me and then back at him wondering if she should be upset too.  Reese didn't really care.  She just wanted to suck her thumb until it was time to cook.

 They made Easter drawings while the cake was cooking.

 And then it was time to eat the finished product.

 Delish!

Snip

It's time for the big snippy snip in our house.  Today was one of those days where I feel like it's hard to juggle three kids and I can't imagine adding another to the mix right now.  I'm on the web right now researching doctors and I'm going to have Cory set up an appointment.  I'll probably be sad when it's all over, but right now we feel like it's the right thing to do.

It's getting worse...

We have a full fledged climber.  He's on top of everything and it happens in a matter of seconds.  It's big stuff too, like the tall kitchen table, barstools, and counter tops.  He thinks it's a big funny game.  It's not.  I have to watch him every second.  He's so darn cute, but he seriously keeps me on my toes all day long. 

On a side note, will you please admire these curls with me?  His hair is getting long and so curly in the back.  We think it's adorable.  I'm pretty sure his first haircut is a ways off.  I want those curls to stay forever.

Our budding ornathologist

The baby birds hatched and Mr. R is pretty excited.  He stands on the cooler and yells and points.  It's kind of hysterical to watch.  Reese & Ryan like to play house outside and they use Ryder's Tonka fort for their resting area.  That's why you'll see them lying on the ground in these photos.  They are pretending to take a nap.  I wish they would stop pretending and really go take a nap.

You can see a tiny little head peaking out on the right side of Mama bird.  I need a better zoom lens.

 
PS<> This is that time of year where you'll be seeing our kids in their undies/diaper/naked quite often.  When it's over 90 degrees our kids are usually naked.  Just warning you that it's coming.

Road Trip

We took a road trip for the day to Prescott to watch Romelo's soccer tournament.  This is the only photo I took on my camera phone even though I had the Nikon with me.

 

Don't they look so excited?  We squeezed all 5 of us into Cory's Sonata, which was a slice of heaven.  The temperature in Prescott was great but it was SO windy and dusty.  I felt like a dirty dustball by the time we left.  It would have been fun to stay the night and hang out in the downtown square, but we headed back and arrived home around 6pm. 

What's the word, bird?

Our fine feathered friends didn't get the memo that I have a HUGE phobia of their kind.  They thought our pool & backyard looked inviting and they came to hang out.  I understand why.  We do have a pretty awesome backyard.

  I was SO bummed the girls were sleeping when these two guys showed up.  I had to take photos to share since they flew off before the girls were awake.  Ryder's scream of excitement scared them off.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do hope they come back soon for another visit.  The girls would love to see them in person.

 And then we have this lovely mama bird below.  She back for the second year in a row.  She makes a nest on top of our outdoor speaker each Spring and waits for her babes to hatch.  She's always there, protecting like a good mother should.  Last year we got to see her two little babies peeking out from underneath.  I'm sure we'll be meeting this year's babies soon.

Before it gets too hot...

we decided to visit the zoo one more time.  The weather was great, but it started feeling toasty by the time we left.  The kids always have such a great time and Ryder loved the petting zoo this time around.

All of a sudden...

our girls seem SO grown up in so many ways.  They are looking taller & leaner and are eating us out of house & home.  We've definitely had a growth spurt recently because they weigh 2 lbs. more than they did at their 4 year well check just 4 months ago.  I can't be certain about their height, but my guess is that they've also grown at least 2 inches (according to our marks on the kitchen wall).  Everything in their closet that was size 4T no longer fits.  Their pants look like they're waiting for the flood and their shorts look like little bummie shorts from the 70s.  They are so long waisted that I've been buying size 6 shirts for the summer.  Our twins rummage sale was this past weekend and there wasn't a great selection of clothing for 5 year olds, but one of our members was selling a size 6/7 Gap sundress for $5 and it was adorable.  When I held it up on the hanger it looked huge, like something the girls would wear in a few years.  But lo & behold, I brought it home and it fits greats.  Ryan loves it and it looks adorable on her.

Another thing we've noticed is their expanding vocabulary, their expressions when they talk, and their insatiable curiosity.  Reese will tell a story and she's really animated with her hands.  She'll put her hands on her hips like a teenager and tell us a matter of fact statement, or she'll get really excited and flap her arms when she can't contain the excitement.  It's my favorite thing to watch because I can tell she's SO happy and excited.  Ryan is really into one of our counting books, Chicka Chicka 123, and loves to practice counting.  We sit around and count up to 100 a lot and she can almost count that high by herself.  She needs a little reminder around 80 and 90, but she's doing so fantastic.  Both girls are into dinosaurs and we read the same book over and over.  I need to go buy a few new ones because they now have it memorized and if I try to paraphrase or skip a sentence they remind me to go back and read it correctly.  Can't slip nothing past them.

The questions are incessant and I love this because I remember being this way as a child.  I remember I wanted to know the answer to everything and I asked a million questions.  When we are driving down the road they notice everything, and in a 5 minute car ride they will have asked me at least 10 questions.  I found a great way to keep it going-I just ask a question back as in: "I don't know what killed off all the dinosaurs, Ryan, what do you think happened?"  I love hearing their answers.  It's always something creative and imaginative that only a four year old would think of.

They are both so smart and they have blossomed a lot in preschool this year.  Next year they are going to do a Pre-K, M-Th class from 12:30-3:30.  I'm looking forward to having our mornings open to do whatever we want and then my afternoon time with Ryder boy.  I know it's going to be a great year for us.

My favorite four letter word....

is FREE.  We picked up this little sandbox and Tonka truck at one of our vacant listings.  The owners left it behind and we decided to give it a new home.  It was a bit crusty with dirt and mud as you can see, but we cleaned it out and it's good as new. 

 I had my little helper outside, all up in the mix.  He kept throwing things inside as I was trying to clean it up.  I took all 3 kids with me to Home Depot to buy sand and now it's all filled up and ready to go.  They've been having so much fun playing outside in the beautiful Spring weather.

Going away

My cousin, Bryson, and his family are leaving for NYC this week.  He got an amazing job with a consulting firm and they are going to live in NJ while he commutes to the city.  It's very bittersweet.  We are all sad to see them go, but it's such an amazing opportunity for their family.  We met at the SandBar with friends and family to say our farewell.  The weather was amazing and it was lots of fun hanging outside and soakin' up the sun.

 Super Dad keeping the kids out of the pool.  Yep, there's a pool at the bar and we thought it would be a great idea to bring our 3 kids.  Awesome.

 A perfect day for virgin strawberry pina coladas and bean burritos.  Yum!

 Mimi & Papa above and Auntie Emmie & Greg below.  They're practicing for their trip to Cabo next week.  Lucky little devils.