1st Birthday Celebration Begins!

We celebrated Audrey's first birthday with my family this weekend (a week early) because it was the only time we would all be together. Audrey loved it... I mean really cake and presents, what kid doesn't like that?

At first she "tested" the cake.

Apparently the cake passed the test.

Grandma made Audrey a Tutu, Audrey is such a girly girl she loved it.

4th of July at the Beach

This year for the 4th of July my mom rented a beach house so we packed up the car and went for a long weekend of sun and surf. The weather was great and the kids loved the change of scenery (even if by the end they were worn out). We were just a few blocks away from where Don and I got married... oh how much can change in 4 years.

Audrey on the beach at sunrise.... yes that is very early.

Pretending to talk on the phone to each other

Yes that is Audrey's foot in the picture

My brother David and his girlfriend Meg

Funniest faces ever

Family Fun Day

Ryan has his beginning of the summer party at school, Audrey and I were invited so we got to party down also. Audrey was in hog heaven- she LOVES Ryan's school, she is pretty sure she attends the school- she has friends and knows all the teachers from when we go to pick up Ryan. After today she really thinks she goes to school- we got to spend the whole morning playing in the pools, sandboxes etc, she even got to eat her snack with Ryan's class. If she could talk she would tell you she was 3.

While Ryan doesn't like crowds, Audrey loves them. She was hanging out in the pool for as long as she was allowed with all the big kids- no fear.

Snack time including the octopus inspired popsicles.

They had a special guest... the aquarium! They brought some exhibits to us! hermit crabs and star fish oh my.

Power Out

Our power was knocked out today for about an hour by some bad weather so we decided to play outside since it was pretty dark inside.

Video: Audrey Walking

Kids Updates

I feel like I haven't given basic updates on the kids in awhile and there have been all sorts of changes.

Audrey updates:

• She is walking now! She figured out one day that she could take some steps and she was so excited with herself that by the end of the day she was walking. She is still pretty wobbly but she has figured out that if she stops and straightens herself out she doesn't fall as much. She can make it across the whole room.
• Audrey now has 4 teeth (two top, two bottom) and one more on the way that looks pretty close to popping out.
• She has been eating me out of the house and yesterday she no longer fit in the car seat without letting everything out. I have a feeling at her 1 year appointment (which is in less then a month) she is going to be a lot bigger.

Ryan Updates:

• He moved up to the next classroom at his school and he loves it. His imagination has blossomed as well as his language.
• He is potty trained (At least during the day), sure there are still occasional accidents but they are usually only about once a week.
• He is starting to be more self sufficient- getting his own things together when we are leaving the house, putting on his shoes, picking out his clothes etc. When he chooses to, he even helps me with Audrey.

Just Because Pictures

A Long Week

So this week was a beast for our family. First of all Don was all the way in Montana for work... leaving me with the kids. It was the first time since Audrey was born that Don had to travel for work so it was the true test of my stamina.

The first day (with a full night of sleep because Don didn't leave until that morning) I forgot Ryan's lunch box for school- meaning that our normal 40 minute round trip drive turned into 80 minutes- thus cutting into Audrey's nap time which she decided to take 15 minutes of in the car so no morning nap once we got home. Not a huge deal except that her afternoon nap was only an hour so this was day one of her being really tired- and tired babies are cranky babies.

Well the normal day with my children starts at 5:30am, when Audrey wakes up. The day ends when Ryan finally falls asleep at 9:00pm. That is a long day of taking care of children. The doesn't include anything extra- like the final clean up of toys, all the extra cleaning, any moments of "me" time, and then giving myself time to fall asleep. We were actually making it okay- then on Thursday things started falling apart. Audrey was getting really tired- she is teething- and a rash started to appear (I think it was an allergic reaction to SOMETHING- I'm not entirely sure what, there are a few choices- I think for the time being I will avoid a few things). Then while playing outside Ryan got stung by a bee.

By Friday I got a call that Don had fainted in his hotel room, he woke up on the floor with blood on his face. He smashed his face into the floor when he fell and his face is pretty busted up. Instead of going to a doctor there, he went on his flight to come home as scheduled (luckily it didn't turn out to be a blood pressure issue which could have been made worse by the flight). My very long day was spent getting doctors appointments, worrying, taking care of kids, worrying some more etc. Instead of getting home at 1:45pm he got home at 5:00pm, after flight delays and the doctors appointment. The good news is that the initial test indicates that it could have been nothing but the beginning of an ear infection caused by his apparent allergy to dust mites which was exacerbated by staying at the hotel. He has to go back in for a heart echo and more blood tests to make sure everything else is okay.

It was a little much for me, I started to feel like I was falling apart, but at least everyone is under the same roof now. Hopefully we can get back to real life and now everyone will have a chance to heal.

Summer Dress Pictures

Sometimes I just can't help myself....

Quirks

Things that set my children apart from other kids:

• Ryan loves British Claymation (Shaun the sheep, Wallace and Gromit etc)
• Audrey loves accessories: jewelry, hair bows, hats etc but she hates shoes.
• Ryan loves cottage cheese and cream cheese but hates plain cheese.
• Every few months Ryan finds a stuffed animal in the house that he decides he loves and wants to sleep with.... he is now up to 6.
• Both Ryan and Audrey are pretty convinced they are awesome break dancers thanks to my love of dance movies.
• There are days that Audrey thinks she is 3 (okay most days) and there are some days when Ryan is convinced that he is a baby (Luckily not most days).
• Audrey wakes up earlier in the morning the later you put her to bed... yeah you read that right. If she goes to bed at 5:00pm she will get up at 6:30am if you put her to bed at 6:00pm she will get up at 5:30am... it took us a while to figure this out, life is better now that we know it.

Now I'm sure these will all change shortly... trust me when I say: when you think you have figured out your kids, everything is about to change.

Fire Station Tour

We went with a few of our friends to check out our local fire station. The fire fighters were super nice and let the kids sit in the driver seat of the fire truck and ambulances, they got to check out the fire suits and hoses etc. We also got to go inside the station and check out the common rooms and learn all about what they do. Ryan and Audrey both had a blast and Ryan wanted me to promise that I would take him back super soon.

New Classroom

My kids are always changing. One day they will be great eaters- the next they won't touch anything. One day they will be super shy, the next they will talk to anyone who is in earshot. One day they will sleep (okay they don't do that often- but sometimes) and the next they won't sleep a wink.

When Ryan was younger, probably until he was about 2 1/2, he was really shy around people he didn't know. He was terrible with transition because he was nervous about who would be in charge of him. Moving classrooms/ classes/ really any change in schedule would send him into a tizzy. Well, Ryan just changed classrooms at school this week- he went from being the oldest in his class to the youngest, he went from a class of mostly girls (who tend to be calmer) to a classroom full of crazy boys, he also has brand new teachers. His reaction? Nothing. He loves it, his teacher today (after a week of being in the class) said that he acts as though he has always been in that class. If anything he is blossoming because of it. His imagination has gotten really amazing, he can play whole games with different characters etc. just playing alone with a truck. When I came into his classroom to pick him up he was playing "super hero's" with his new friends. So I guess all my worry early on that transitions would always be super hard with him were a little premature. I guess I should learn my lesson from that one and continue to hold out hope that one of these days he will enjoying trying new foods.

Happy Birthday Husband!

Happy Birthday to my dear wonderful husband. It is hard celebrating when there are two kids in the mix so I made him a special dinner of Buffalo Chicken Stromboli/ Salad with Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (All homemade). We are going out this weekend. My husband turned 30 today- which is crazy. We started dating when he was 20. He has now been putting up with the likes of me for 10 years. I am so blessed to have him as a husband. I hope his birthday is great, okay he was in meetings at work from 10am until 3pm so probably not the best, so instead I will hope that this year will be a great one for him.