Sunday, January 29, 2012

My Ryan

My Ryan...

... is a full-on kid now. Not a baby, not a toddler, a kid. Crazy.


... is shy until he gets to know you, just like his mommy & daddy.


... is way more outgoing one-on-one or in small groups. He still gets really intimidated by large groups.


... is still not fully potty trained. Sigh.

This outfit cracks. me. up. Gotta love the backwards underwear!

... gives awesome hugs.

... likes to play games. His current favorite is "Go Fish"


... loves to read.

... loves to sing. This is in my top 10 of favorite Ryan videos:



... is silly.

Eating a pear, pretending to be a duck.

... loves preschool.

... hasn't napped consistently since July. He still has rest time in his room every day (except Fridays, which are "movie rest time" days - his favorite!) and will still occasionally pass out in his room if he is sick.

(note that he was 3/4 of the way through writing his name when he passed out)

... loves his friends.

... is showing more interest in art projects, thanks to preschool!



... loves to build with blocks/duplos/constructables, his marble tower/couch pillows/etc.


... is crazy. Example:




... chooses Bob the Builder over any other tv right now... although he still likes VeggieTales too (especially the silly songs)

... loves our new house, especially his "green room"

... says funny things all the time


... can write his name all by himself


... loves to match his little brother



When I told Ryan at bedtime tonight that I was going to work on a blog post all about him, I asked him, "What should I tell people about you?" He said, "Everything." So I asked, "What's the most important thing that you want people to know about you?" His response?

"I want them to know that Jesus loves me."

Melt. My. Heart.


I love my Ryan.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

My Kaeden

My Kaeden...

...is getting so big

... is my little buddy

...has 7 teeth now

...is learning like crazy

...walks (and sometimes verges on runs) all over the place with confidence

... thinks he is a really big boy and should be able to run with the big kids

...loves fruit, just like his big brother

...has had a rough week
After returning home from his first trip to the Urgent Care, where he barely snuck by without stitches and thankfully ended up with only steri-strips. He fell and gouged his head on the corner of the window sill. Ouch.


Three days later, he woke up from his nap with a fever and kept it for 4 days, acting pretty uncomfortable for a chunk of the time and refusing to eat much at all. Thankfully, he is finally fever-free today and feeling better. Praise!


...is starting to imitate words. I swear the other day he said, "Daddy's at work" (except it was more like "Dyie ah wuk"). I have my mom as a witness.

...is trouble.

...wants desperately to be best friends with his cousin, Atticus

... loves to sweep/mop/anything involving a very large stick with something attached to the end

...has a sweet tooth, just like his mommy

... likes to follow his big brother around and do what Ryan does

...loves tools and balls and knocking down just about anything that Ryan makes.

...adores his dog lovee

...is a goofball
It is still a mystery to me how he pulled this one off!


...is obsessed with saying "bye bye" and says it "dah dye"

...says "da da" all the time but refuses to say "ma ma" even though he can

...is enthusiastic & curious

... loves playing outside

...likes to feed himself and make a HUGE mess while doing it

... has the sweetest smile

I love my Kaeden.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Countertops & a window bed!

Some of Mason's extended family were in town today and wanted to see the progress on the house, so we spent a few hours out there today touring, playing, and having a picnic lunch in our kitchen :)

The countertops in the kitchen and dining room went in this week, and they really make the kitchen feel that much more complete. Appliances go in this coming week and then I'll be ready to do some cooking!! (even though I'm not allowed to quite yet.)

The kitchen face on, from the Great Room

from the side

From inside my "command center"

A close-up of the quartz countertop & sink

Dining room with countertops installed


Ryan & Kaeden goofing around in the dining room with their B.

Another new addition today was the window bed in Kaeden's room. It has no mattress yet, as you can see, but that made it all the more exciting for Kaeden since he could climb up by himself. The whole time we spent upstairs today, he kept squirming out of our arms to run back down the hallway to his room and climb right up onto the bed. He loved looking out the window and just being up a little bit higher in the world :) It seems we picked the right room for him!


Another addition since my last post was the Great Room window seats:

Ryan, being silly in the window seat cubby. He won't be able to do that once the tops go on!

A view from the side, showing the built-in bookshelves that are on either side of the fireplace

We also have railings on our upper staircase:



...and I can't help but to share a picture of our bold garage. B.A. dared us and we love it :)



Here's the front as of today. Isn't that sky amazing?


and this is the view from our master bedroom in the winter. If you look carefully, you can see the creek that runs through our backyard:


2 more months 'til completion. It's getting so close!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Cabinetry, and getting my life back


Wow. What a month it's been. There has been incredible progress in the new house and I am thrilled to say that our current house is in great shape and finally went on the market today! Even though there is still plenty of work to be done to keep the house show-ready, it really does feel like we have turned a corner and will hopefully be able to get back to a more normal schedule very soon.

So, I'm hoping to fill in the last couple of months soon, but for now, I have lots of exciting house photos to share. The biggest changes recently have been paint on the walls and cabinet installation. It's really starting to look inhabitable :)

We'll begin the tour downstairs in the mudroom. This is the view coming in the house from the garage:



Upstairs, the kitchen is really taking shape and we LOVE it. I actually jumped up and down in the middle the first time I saw it.... and Ryan was happy to join me :)

from the front hallway

straight on, from the great room. The pantry is behind the wall of cabinets, and the breakfast room is to the right.

Ryan is always on the look out for new hiding spots!

Kaeden & Ryan, on the breakfast nook window seat. I adore this picture!

Mason & Kaeden, in the pantry

View from inside the kitchen island, looking out over the great room.

Also on the main floor is the office.... this was my biggest dream for our house from the beginning and I love seeing it take shape.

The kids' desks

My desk, with doors out to the front porch on the right

Mason's desk

And finally, moving up to the bedroom level...

Here's the nursery:

Master bath vanity:

Ryan's room:

Kaeden, on the window ledge in his future room:

Oh, and here's the latest view of the front of the house:

... and the back deck: underneath the left side is open for a hammock, and underneath the right side is a closed in shed:

Now that it's 2012, reality is starting to set in that we're actually going to be living there in a couple of months. It's crazy and a little scary to think about moving, but we are so excited. We are incredibly blessed!