Snowshoeing!

I love that I get to document another first for Ryder...bummed I had to work, but Shawn and Ry had fun exploring Elm Creek together today :)

Florida Recap

Finally getting around to our Florida trip...I have over a hundred photos, so I think the best way to choose which ones to post is to think about our top 10 moments...here goes:

Top 10 Florida Moments:

1.  Seeing the world through the eyes of a 3 year old.  This included big "Choo, choo!!" sounds as he pumped his arm in the air anticipating the arrival of the lightrail car; lots of "Wow, mom / dad, look" at the ocean / the shells cast in the floor at the airport / seagulls...everything; cheerily waving to random people at the airport...like his mission was to brighten the day of 50 people. 

Waiting for the lightrail

2. Ryder saying "I love you guys" a million times throughout the trip! I think this was his way of saying "thank you" :)

3. Watching Ryder run up and down the beach, chasing the birds, the waves...he never seemed to get tired, just wanted to soak it all up with a huge smile on his face...working on his spinning every now and then (he practices spinning / jump turns both ways - has the 360 nailed left, 180 right).

(wish I could Photoshop out that random dude!)

4. Shawn and my 5-10 minute sunset "date".  Just north of the Naples fishing pier, we parked the car with the boys in it 10' behind us and enjoyed a peaceful, beautiful sunset - just the two of us :)

5.  Our complimentary upgrade from a studio suite to a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom room with a kitchen!

6.  Our first vacation as a family of 4! (Other than Indy over the 4th, which was a vacation with our family of 14!)

Awesome, right?! I hope they always love each other this much!

Ryder - soooo excited upon arrival in FL!!! He was smiling sooo big!!

7.  Ryder being such a good helper the entire trip.  He carried his back pack when asked, pulled his carseat and kept an eye on us to see how we were doing.  At one point as we were walking through the airport, Ryder was pulling his carseat and looks over at me "Mom - you doing ok with the stroller?"  In a very young-adult way, as if he was going to step in and take over if it was too heavy for me! Such a sweetie!

8.  Having a cabana at the beach (thank you, Shawn)!

9.  Our silent "high five".  The plane ride down wasn't tough, but it wasn't super easy.  Neither kid slept and we later found out Logan had an ear infection.  So on the way home, when both were out cold within 30 minutes, Shawn and I were super stoked!  We ordered a drink and I got to finish my Kindle book!  Kids slept for 2 hours! 

(Logan's teething necklace was perfect for this trip!)

10.  My favorite moment of the trip was on the plane ride home.  Shawn had told Ryder what a good boy he was on the trip, a good helper, etc.  Then Ry turns to Shawn and says "You're a good dad."  He's 3!  Sometimes he seems so much older than 3...That was a pretty cool moment.   

Dad and Ry flying a kite

And a few "Not Top 10" moments:

1.  Shortly after arrival, Logan was sick with a temp of 102, so we had to take him in for a visit to the Pediatrician in Fort Myers.  His first time being sick.  Turned out he had a viral bug / head cold and an ear infection.  After a couple doses of amox, he was back to his happy self (on the day we flew home)!

Our poor little babe...

Got him out in the sand a couple times, but he wasn't as excited as I hoped since he was feeling crummy.

I think at this point he was happy we finally brought him in to see the doc!

2. Potty training was tough - Ryder peed in the sand a few times because he didn't want to use public toilets.  At least we were outside a bunch.  My favorite potty training moment was when I told him to go pee in the ocean.  After finally convincing him I wasn't joking, he walks down to the water, in to about his ankles, and starts to pull down his swim trunks!  Ha!  Guess he was doing exactly what I told him to do...

3.  With both kids asleep on the plane, the bubbly flight attendant starts talking to us about how lucky we are that our kids are out.  She's talking so loud that she wakes them up...We shhhush her and calm them back to sleep.  Then the pilot jumps on the loudspeaker and says he assumes we're bored and gives us updates to the day's football scores.  Again, the kids stir...and we thankfully calm them back to sleep. 

Overall, Logan's being sick made it a little tough on us, but we enjoyed a number of beaches, got away from the to-do lists at home and made some great family memories :) I'd call that a successful vacation :)

Mom and Logan

Dad and Logan

These are the moments I live for...watching these three giggling together!

Family Photos

The photos totally make me smile!!  Matt & Debi asked me to take a few pictures for their holiday card. I'm super bummed we missed last week's snowstorm (tho not too bummed as we were sitting at the pool!), so we took them today.  We were cold...we had dogs...we had kids...and we had laughs!  A bit of a chaotic photoshoot, but I loved it.  And I love how the photos turned out :)   

Don't you love Maggie's festive vest and bows?!

Look at those great smiles despite the cold weather!!

I love this one!

Great laughs!

Argh - I couldn't run backwards fast enough in the snow to get everyone in this shot!  But I had to post it because everyone had great smiles!

Santa

I took the kids to see Santa today.  I don't think I'll be paying $25 for the photo, so this blurry one I snuck (no flash) might be it...but we really went just so Ryder could see Santa.  He was pretty excited about that. 

He told Santa what he wanted for Christmas...it was just one thing...a surfboard!  How in the world is Santa gonna do that?!  I liked Santa's response tho..."Well, Ryder, I'm sure there will be something you like under your tree Christmas morning."  Whew - thanks for the cover Santa!

Florida 2012

Just returned from a nice long weekend in the sand!  I have a ton of photos to post, but in the meantime, here's one of my favs:

 

 

I love this photo not only because it's a cool picture.  On this trip, I loved watching Shawn interact with kids...making them laugh, them making him laugh, teaching Ryder...It was wonderful to have everything else set aside and our only goal each day was to see a new beach and to play! 

With Logan being sick (more on that later), Shawn and Ryder had a lot of one-on-one time together...they're good buddies already, but I think this trip made them even closer :)

Logan: 7 Months

Logan - you are 7 months!

You are a mover!  You hardly stay still during diaper changes and are so strong, I often change you on the floor for safety's sake.  You talk! You say "g" and "d" sounds and love to gurgle.  You mimic sounds we say and actions we do.  You are still so entertained by your brother.  You smile for him the most out of all of us and you won't nurse if you think you hear or see him (which is a bit of a challenge for me!)  You basically need to be nursed in a dark, silent room with nothing to distract you!  I'm hoping you still get enough milk because you also strongly prefer solid food over bottles or nursing.  You eat three "solid" meals a day at thhe same times we eat.

You are a steady sitter now.  And you have started the continuous roll from one side of the room to the other.  You are so animated (photo above!) and have a high pitched scream you share fairly often (when excited, playing alone and upset).  You have been sleeping fairly well.  You still fuss a little bit in the middle of the night, but usually go back to sleep on your own.  I nursed you at 4:30 instead of 5:30 this morning, but then you slept till 8:30am! So that's not a bad schedule either :) You take at least two predictable naps a day at 9 and 1.  You typically sleep for hours each time and often take a short evening nap also.  We still have to double diaper you at night...and sometimes you still wake up having peed through, or above, both diapers! I'm guessing that means you probably get enough milk :)

We love you Logan and can't imagine our family without you!

Things Kids Say...

Oh, 3 year olds are so much fun!!  Conversation from tonight:

Mom: "So tomorrow when we go to church, you get to go to the kids room and play with all the kids. I bet you'll talk about Christmas and Jesus' birthday."
Ryder: "And I can talk about my girlfriends."
Mom: "Ha - sure.  And Logan's going to play in the baby room."
Ryder: "Mom, are there going to be girls there?"

We are going to have to watch this kid!!

Beautiful Weather

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we had some unusally warm weather!  I think it was in the low 60's if I remember correctly...so we got out and enjoyed some time in the yard after work.  Logan also enjoyed his first time in the bee swing!!  He mostly wanted to chew on the ropes, but he did seem to like to swing, too :)