1 Year Old

My baby had a birthday yesterday. It has been a whirlwind of a year for us this first year of Ryder's life. We were in a whole different world when he was born. Iowa, freezing winter, vet school... He is still our little Prince Charming.



He wasn't too interested in his cake. We were able to coax him into taking a few bites.





We love you Ryder! I want to remember you exactly how you are right now, so here is how you are!

• You are cuddly. You give sweet hugs freely, but your slobbery open mouth kisses are harder to come by.
• You aren't a big eater, but you do have some favorites. Usually you eat a couple bananas a day and your new snack of choice are veggie straws.
• You've always kept us on our toes with your sporatic sleeping habits. Currently you are sleeping through the night until about 4:30-5:30. Then you are up!
• You wave bye-bye and sign "all done".
• You say Ma-ma and Dad-dy. Not on command though, only when you want to.
• When I get you out of your crib after your nap every day you like to stop at the fish on your wall. You grin and say "sssshhh" for fish. Sometimes you just smile, look away and hide in my shoulder, too shy to say hi to the fish.
• You don't care much for your toys but you do like to empty the cupboards and drawers.
• You love to observe. As long as you are close to me, you will watch me intently and contently as I put on make-up, cook, clean or work in the yard.
• You don't walk or stand alone but you do like to climb over the barstools and up on top of the stool.
• Whenever you see something you think is really cool you stop and stare at it with a slight smile and whisper softly, "psssshhhhhpshshhh."
  
• You don't mind being dragged to the bathroom to protect your big sister from E.T.
• You hardly ever cry or complain even when your sisters are smothering you with kisses or dragging you around the house.
• When we practice walking you start giggling uncontrolably.
• You burst out laughing at the most normal things.
• You still seem like an old soul in baby body. Sometimes the way you look at us is startling, like you know something we don't.
  
• You are quick to smile and never cry. I think you are pretty much perfect. What a sweetheart! We are so lucky to have you in our family.
  

Oh look! It's us!

It may not be my Grandpa's dollhouse, but for what it lacks in architectural complexity it makes up for in interior style. And, it comes with our very own twin family in the form of peg dolls.

I made this for my girls' for Christmas. I think they like it, they are still playing with it.

Breckyn dressed in her favorite color, pink of course. Kyra donning her favorite purple dress with flowers, and Ryder, our little tow-head.


The heads of household, complete with highlights and receeding hairlines.


Eek! Don't look. Mr. Kyle is in the bathtub!


The fam. Hangin' out in the kitchen.

The kid's are jumping on the bed again.

I bought the wooden "pre-cut" dollhouse from Grace Violet.

Tag from AJ

Here's a fun little tag where you can answer with one word only:

1.Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? highlights
4. Your mother? sweet
5. Your father? inspiring
6. Your favorite thing? kyle
7. Your dream last night? spicy
8. Your dream/goal? prepared
9. The room you're in? big
10. Your hobby? mommy
11. Your fear? evil
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Colorado
13. Where were you last night? walking
14. What you're not? sedentary
15. One of your wish-list items? paint
16. Where you grew up? GJ
17. The last thing you did? eat
18. What are you wearing? vintage
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet(s)? BIG
21. Your computer? lifeline
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? friends
24. Your car? temporary
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? anthropologie
27. Last thing you read? informative
28. The last thing you ate? noodles
29. Last time you cried? forgot
30. What you are looking forward to? Mom

Now I tag Clint, Katie or Rachel!

Merry Christmas!

Our big baby Jesus. Hard to believe it is this kids first Christmas.


Mary and an angel joins in.


Sweet Mary.


Traditional egg nog from the pottery cups. Must drink every last drop.

Christmas eve PJ's.

Christmas lights

Kyle here, this is in our hometown. We know some of you will really enjoy this.
Merry Christmas!

Need to blog...

something to get that picture of me off the top. (thanks babe.) But I don't really have anything amazing to say. So here is what I am thinking about today.

1) Happily, I've discovered the nearest one of these:

Unfortunately for my health, it isn't very far away.

2)I have been looking for this

ever since we moved here. It is in all the regular grocery stores in little Iowa but I had to search high and low here. I am so glad I finally found it, it is so yummy.


3) I've changed my mind about the girls' bedding. They will have time to be all teeny bopperish later. I'm going for something completely different now. How about the Shabby Chic line at Target?

At least until I change my mind again.


4) I'm about ready to watch E.T. everyday with Breckyn until she gets used to it. It this wise? Lately she barricades Ryder around her with blankets because he makes her feel safe.



5)Edward Scissorhands is a Christmas flick we always have to watch sometime in December. Is Breckyn too much of a scaredy cat for this? I'm pretty sure I already know that answer, but I wish it wasn't so.




6) Breckyn is obsessed with the "real" Grinch movie and keeps saying she has a baby Grinch in her tummy. ???




7) Does anyone Rollerblade anymore? I dusted mine off to go with Breckyn while she rode her Big Wheels. (Which by the way, I think Big Wheels are amazing.) So much fun!



8) I finally had to see what I would look like. Awesome.


9) Look at my sweet boys. I am so lucky!!!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Dana Lee!

Thanks & Giving

This is a fun Thanksgiving activity to do with your kids. We've been adding leaves each night for several days now and it is so sweet to see the things they think up to be thankful for and then watch them try to do something nice for somebody else. Check it out.

E.T. phone home

Kyle was at a veterinarian convention in Kansas last week. I was a little lonely. Kids were being loud and chaotic. I needed a peaceful moment. Breckyn brought me an old movie she had found in the closet.

My kids don't watch a lot of TV so this was a special treat. I thought this would work out nicely, giving me a little break. I popped in the video and they were enthralled with it. I worried a little that maybe it was too mature for them, but they ate it up happily so I let them continue to watch it.

Big mistake. Ever since watching it Breckyn won't go ANYWHERE by herself. And by anywhere I mean, around the corner of where I am at just two feet away. She is terrified E.T. is going to pop up and get her. "Scared of E.T." has become her favorite excuse to not retrieve anything for me or go to the bathroom by herself. Kyra on the other hand is brave and aloof and helps Breckyn when she needs a companion to venture to the other side of the house with.

I just remembered E.T. being kind of sweet, even if he is a little gross looking. Well that is NOT how Breckyn saw him. I will be more selective with our television viewing in the future.

Turns out, Kyle was appalled I let them watch that movie. He was very afraid of E.T. as a child. Maybe that is why he has so many guns. Father like daughter.

Halloween

Okay these are a bit late. We had a last minute trip to San Diego for the weekend. Kyle had a vet conference. I stayed with they kids and we swam at the hotel, went to the mall and of course Sea World. Must take advantage of those year passes. In the evening we went to a fresh fish market restaurant where Kyle was in heaven. I had chicken. We also went to IKEA. Fun! So then we come home and go to bed. I went to check on Breckyn before I went to bed and she was burning up. We took her temp, it was 105. She proceeded to vomit 3 times in 15 minutes. Kyle took her to the ER. They got her temp down and discovered she had a bladder infection. She is recovering nicely. So that was our first time in the ER. Not too bad for parents of 3 small children. Although, there was that time I had to call the ambulance... Anyway! Here are the photos.

Breckyn was totally into it! She gave me shot after shot of super scary witch poses. That girl really got into character.

Kyra was adorable. She guarded her little Toto very carefully from the wicked witch.

This was a very serious and squirmy scarecrow. He wasn't thrilled about sitting still for face paint - or wearing his hat. No smiles from him. Maybe because he doesn't have a brain.

This one made me laugh.

Another great scary witch pose.

If looks could kill! Now I am getting scared. :)