Ryan-isms

I just have to record some of my favorite Ryan moments in the past week:

Ryan: "That was nice of me to get you a surprise at the grocery store" (referring to the cadbury cream egg that he & Mason got while at the store... Mason's idea)

Me: "You're right - that was very nice"

Ryan: "Can you say, 'thank you, Ryan'?"




Ryan, playing with a toy phone:

"Hey Jesus"
"How are you doing?"
"At your house?..."
"...At the temple?"
"Okay. Bye!"




While having lunch outside, a bee started flying around us. Me, nervous that Ryan would be afraid of it, preemptively tells him that the bee doesn't want to bother us - it just wants our food. Ryan says, "It can have a few bites of my lunch if it wants..." (thinks for a few seconds) "... but it can't have any yogurt because it doesn't have a bib"

Love this kid!

Spring (or summer?)

We had a brief heat wave here in North Carolina the past few days - it was in the mid 80s and sunny... ridiculous! Thankfully, there have also been a number of gorgeous days in the 60s & 70s. I'm not quite ready for summer yet.

Ryan, enjoying one of our many recent lunches outside!

Regardless, we have enjoyed the opportunities to be outside and enjoy the warmth. The whole month has been pretty nice, really.



Here are some photos from our first family picnic of the year, back at the beginning of the month – it was just in our backyard, so not too exciting, but Ryan loved it! And I always enjoy any opportunity to be outside on a nice day. Note that it was the day of the Duke-UNC game, so we were decked out in our Duke gear :)







On Tuesday, Ryan re-discovered the sprinkler in our garage and asked if we could play in it. We didn't have time that day, but I told him we could yesterday. As soon as he woke up from his nap, he asked if we could go out, and it worked out perfectly since Kaeden was napping at the time. He had fun for a few minutes, but despite being 85 degrees, it was also windy and he got a bit chilly. Still, we can say that he played in the sprinkler in March - kind of crazy!

Kaeden's Baptism Weekend

This Sunday, we had the privilege of bringing Kaeden before God, our families, and our church to be baptized. I truly believe that the greatest gift that Mason & I can give to our boys is the gift of faith. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian family and to be surrounded by people who guided me to a faith of my own. As our pastor said at the beginning of the baptism, "The way God reaches out to us is by making promises to us," and I am so grateful that He promises to love this sweet baby even more than I do and to draw Kaeden (and Ryan) to Himself, walking beside me as I work to lead them there myself.

We were doubly blessed to have lots of family in town for this event (not to mention some important basketball games), so it was a wonderful, busy weekend.

I was fairly busy trying to stay on top of things and make sure everyone was fed and got where they needed to be when they needed to be there, so I didn't do as much photo documentation as I might have liked, but here is our weekend in pictures:

Grandma enjoying her newest great-grandsons. I was so thankful to have this wonderful woman of faith here for this event. We love you, Grandma!



our family during the service...

... and after


Kaeden with his daddy & grandaddy, who both wore this baptismal gown before him


Presbyterians may not recognize godparents, but we do! :-) Here we are with Kaeden's godfather, Uncle Dain


Ryan was thrilled to have his friends over for the post-baptism lunch and especially thrilled to have a picnic outside on this gorgeous day!


Atticus is ready for the ACC championship game and wearing the proper allegiance. YAY DUKE!

4 months

Dear Kaeden,

This one snuck up on me! It's really not fair that February only has 28 days - it just flew by!


So, you are another month older. To tell you the truth, you've had kind of a grumpy month. Don't get me wrong... there have been plenty of smiles and even a few giggles, but in general, you've been a little bit fussy & have needed more attention.

your "I don't know about this" face

You're already turning into a Mama's boy - in fact, you get upset when Daddy puts you to bed, which we thought was just coincidence at first, but seems to actually be a complaint. Your Daddy is pretty great too, you know! The upside is that your face lights up when you see me, and it always melts my heart. I suppose when I have a nearly 3-year-old who has recently taken to telling me to "go away", it's not such a bad thing to have a baby attached to me :)


You had your 4 month doctor's appointment and everything looks good! You weigh exactly 15 lbs (7 oz less than your brother at this age & in the 50-75th percentile), you are 25.25 inches long, and your head is in the 50th percentile... which is where you lag behind your brother since his head was in the 95th the whole first year of his life!

Ryan & you, both at 4 months - you look so similar in photos, but I really don't think you look like him in person!

You have established more of a routine for your day, although I wouldn't exactly call it a schedule yet. Let's just pretend that this is a day when we're home all day (very rare, but definitely your preference!) You typically wake up between 8-8:30 in the morning, eat, get dressed, play for a bit, and go down for a nap about 1 - 1.5 hours after you woke up initially. You nap for about an hour and then eat again around 11. More playing, another nap around 12:30-1 (once again, anywhere from 30 mins to an hour) and eat again around 1:30. Play some more... nap again around 3:30, eat around 4-4:30. Then you're usually up (though sometimes rather grumpy about it) until your next feeding between 7–7:30, and then to bed around 8! It sounds rather tedious, but most days, we are out & about for various activities, so it is rare that you get to spend all day at home. Plus, even when we are just at home, you have your brother to entertain you!


This past week, you decided you were done with being swaddled. It served you well for many months, but I guess you're getting to be a big boy now. So, now you are going to sleep without it! You have definitely been fussing more to fall asleep initially, but so far it has not affected the duration of your sleep, which was a very pleasant but unexpected surprise.


It hasn't been a particularly eventful month overall. We didn't go anywhere and didn't have many visitors. The weather has been warming up significantly, though, so we've been able to get outside more and go for walks, etc. As long as it's not too windy or bright, you tend to be pretty happy outside - but the wind definitely takes your breath away! And you can't stand the sun in your eyes.





I don't have a lot more to say about this month, so I guess these remaining photos will have to say it for me. I will say this, though - I keep falling in love with you over and over, little one. These are great days, and I don't take them for granted. Mommy loves you!

Kaeden & Mommy, at the park

eying Daddy's chocolate peanut butter!

Ryan LOVES it when you two wear your matching shirts!

happy boy, playing on the floor with your toys

you look so sweet, sleeping in your swing

hamming it up for the camera with your sweet friend, Emelia (Ryan had better watch out 'cause she definitely has a thing for babies!)

looking so grown up in your polo shirt, sitting in your bumbo



and finally, some sweet faces from your 4 month photo shoot - you weren't very smiley, but still cute!

Finally

After 3 1/2 months of trying, I finally got some photos of both of my boys smiling & looking at the camera. YAY :-)

and I know they're not smiling in this one, but I still thought it was pretty cute...

I love these cuties :)

Cousins

I am so thankful that these boys are only 6 weeks apart - what fun they are going to have growing up together (and already do!)



this one totally cracks me up - Atticus is trying to eat Kaeden's hand & Kaeden is giving him a look!


LOVE these boys :)


I had to include this one - Atticus just cracks me up!!