Do they look alike or what?!

Abigale Anne 6 months

Lydia June 6 monthsRyan Jonathan 6 months

6 Months!

My little guy is 6 months old! It is sad but so fun at the same time. I love watching his little personality develop and watching him figure out more things about the world. So sweet!Ryan is sitting up all by himself now and loves it. He doesn't roll very much but it's because he loves to sit up and whenever he is laying down he gets mad so he doesnt get very much practice. He is always reaching for things. You cannot put anything near him without him reaching out and grabbing it. I no longer can sit at the computer with him because he falls out of my lap reaching for the keys. His favorite thing to hold is a remote. If it is anywhere near him he will spot it and dive for it. He also loves to bang on things especially peoples faces. Ryan loves to clap and is so proud of himself when he does it. He loves baby food and has eaten everything we have tried including the green vegetables. It always amazes me when he eats the baby food because my girls hated it! Ryan is not the greatest sleeper. In fact, I think he has slept through the night 3 or 4 times. It is weird because he cries quite a bit during the night but in the day he never cries. When he does cry at night, we have to go in re-swaddle him and turn on his music toy and he usually goes back to sleep. During the day he would much rather be playing with his sisters then sleeping but he will eventually hit a wall and he will fall asleep anywhere. He is the sweetest boy and just silly. He loves to laugh and play little games. If anyone starts laughing he will giggle back at them. Today, Abigale started hitting a balloon in the air and he thought it was the funniest thing ever and just started laughing really hard. He loves Abigale and just lights up when she comes in the room. She can get him to laugh harder then anyone. Another thing that is different about Ryan is he will let anyone hold him. My girls would scream if anyone looked at them at this age but Ryan doesnt care who holds him. It has been the biggest relief for me and I hope it doesnt change. He definitely knows me and smiles when I walk in but he is fine playing with anyone. He is still a big boy wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes but is slowing down a little. At the doctor today he was 19 lbs 6 ounces which is the 80th percentile for weight and 75 percentile for height. As the doctor put it, he is now bigger then only 8 out of 10 boys instead of all of the boys!We love this guy so much and are so grateful he is in our family! He brings so much joy and happiness! Happy Half Birthday Ryan!

First Day of Preschool

I know I am a little behind and everyone has already posted pictures of the first day of school but I think mine are the cutest! :) She was so excited!

Sitting at her table!Lydia saying goodbye to her buddy! She looks like she is crying and she is but because she fell down in the parking lot! Abigale had a lot of fun the first day of school but when I picked her up she kept saying that she was tired. When we got to the car she said she didnt feel good and when I looked at her she was really pale and her lips were really blue. Luckily, I had brought a banana and water for her because I figured she would be hungry and she quickly ate it up. Before I got out of the parking lot she was asleep. I was a little worried about her but I think she was just so excited she didnt get much sleep and wouldnt eat much breakfast and got light headed. From now on, I make sure she gets plenty of food in the morning and packed some snacks in her bag, just in case. Luckily, she didnt let it affect her and she still loves school and takes dance lessons every Monday at her school too!

The night before we had a spa night and did pedicures and manicures. She loved it and I think it will be our new tradition!Beautiful glitter toes and fingers!The week before school started Abigale finished her last class of tumbling. She loved it and got really good but I think it was a little hard on her body so I am glad for now she is sticking with dance. Had to throw this one in. I Love my kids!

Labor Day Weekend

We decided to make one more trip to Driggs for Labor Day weekend before my sister and her family left to go back to Africa. Lucky for us, Caitlin's brother in law was getting married that next weekend so she flew out early so we could spend some more time together! Getting together twice in one summer is a big deal for us! We were just missing my brother :(

We decided to go on a nice long hike and it was beautiful but we had to keep our eyes out for bears since there have been a lot of sightings this year. We had delicious food as always. Jonathan is enjoying "space burgers" off the grill and delicious corn on the cob-his favorite!Brady, the master griller! Everyone enjoying their delicious food and perfect weather. One night Kristen's family decided to go to the drive in theater to watch Spy Kids 4 since it was their last chance to go and Abigale begged to go with them. I was a little hesitant because the movie didnt start until 8:30 and she is normally in bed by 7:30 but I couldnt deny her a fun experience with her cousins so she got to go and had a lot of fun. We paid for it a little bit the next day because she was grumpy and tired but luckily she took a nap.

Here she is getting in her warmest clothes with her cousin Claire.

I love this picture. Abigale was sitting by Ryan and he kept grabbing her hair and she would laugh. Max wanted to get in on it and William (in the background) kept running up and grabbing her hair too! They thought they were pretty funny.I know I have a lot of pictures of these two but they are just so cute together!Papa in heaven. Reading books with his Grandkids!Cant wait for these two to become buddies! Part of the reason we all met in Driggs for Labor Day was so that we could attend the Eastern Idaho State Fair on the way home. I grew up going to this fair and we went last year with the girls so it was fun to go with everyone this time. They loved playing in these little cars. All the cousins minus Ryan and Claire: The best part of any fair is the food of course. Jonathan decided to go crazy and got a hamburger with 2 doughnuts used as the bun. Makes me sick just looking at the picture. He said it was pretty good but he, not surprisingly, felt sick the rest of the day. Not worth it!
He was loving the fair! Abigale was obsessed with seeing all of the animals. She wanted to run up and touch all of them. I dont think I will ever get used to the smell- I am definitely not a farm girl. Abigale and her buddy Aunt Caitlin! Next best thing about the fair- the rides!

They did not love this ride. It was really jerky and they kept hitting their heads. Abigale, who loves rides, was crying to get off of it by the end. You can tell by the picture that they were nervous to start. Such a great trip and an even better way to end the summer. We had so much fun but are ready for the Fall!

Ryan's Blessing . . . Finally!

I know that Ryan was almost big enough to sit up in a chair or crawl up to the front by the time he got blessed, but we finally did it! It was just so hard in the summer to find a weekend when we were in town and at least his grandparents let alone all his aunts and uncles. Throw a move into the mix and that is why it took us so long! It was actually nice though to do it when he was a little older because he had a little more personality and Jonathan had 5 months to think about what he wanted to say. Plus, he looked really cute in his white shirt and slacks! I wanted to get a tie but we decided we didnt need to make him look any older then he already is!

From what I hear and read, the blessing was amazing, but unfortunately I was unable to hear it! The microphone didnt work and Jonathan must have been talking pretty soft because I could not make out one word. I kept waiting for the blessing to start and thought something was wrong with Ryan so I looked up and could see his mouth moving but couldnt hear anything! I am not going to lie, I was pretty upset. I didnt know what to do- I wanted someone to stop him but he was already half way through and I could see Jonathan getting emotional and I knew there was no way he could start over now. As soon as he sat down, I told him what happened and made him write down everything he could remember saying in the blessing. It was nice to be able to read what was said but I was still pretty upset. About half way through the meeting, I had to take Ryan and feed him. While I was feeding him I said a prayer to help me understand and Heavenly Father quickly helped me feel better and realize the words said were not that important- it was more about the feelings and all of the people that were there that love him so much. Jonathan told me that night that he felt that the blessing was really between Ryan and Heavenly Father and we decided that maybe it just wasnt meant for everyone to hear! The bishopric felt so bad and came over that night and said that they checked everything right before church and it was all working and it worked the rest of the day. We decided we can either be mad about it or just realize there was a reason for it and trust our Heavenly Father. Either way, it is a day and learning experience I won't forget! All of Jonathan's family was able to come except for his younger brother, Craig, who was really sick. My parents came and my sister and her family were nice enough to drive from Driggs.

Jonathan's family: I am so blessed to have married into such an amazing family. It has been so fun to live a little closer so that we can see each other more often. The girls love when we all get together because they are the only grandkids so far so they get lots of love and attention.

My family! Too bad Ry is looking the wrong way! He really wanted to grab those leaves behind us! My sister and her kids stayed the night with us and we had a lot of fun. The kids went crazy in the play room and the adults were actually able to talk a little bit. The next day we went to the mall so they could do some back to school shopping and my sister picked up In-and-Out for lunch! They could only stay for the day but we loved having them!

Claire and Ryan
William decided to get in the picture Thank you everyone for coming! I love you all!

5 Months!

Look at that face! I just love him! Ryan continues to be a great baby! He can sit up by himself for a few minutes until he tries to reach for something. He can roll over from his stomach to back but doesnt really like it. It always scares him. The last few weeks he has been waking up in the night but we are working on that. I think it is because I have been letting him take naps in his swing and so he has a hard time adjusting to his crib at night. I have started being a lot more strict about naps in the crib which has led to better naps but he still wakes up at night. Who knows? Being a parent is all about guessing and trying everything and then trying to replicate what works, right?He is a happy guy and is always smiling! We finally put batteries in this dog toy that walks and barks. Ryan thought it was the funniest thing ever and really wanted to pet it or eat it. He puts everything in his mouth and is always reaching for toys with both hands. He smacks his lips a lot so I think he thinks he is talking. Instead he just grunts a lot. He obviously still loves to eat. Look at that double chin! He will not take a bottle :( but we will keep working on it. We gave him his first taste of rice cereal and his reaction was about what I thought. The faces he was pulling was pretty funny and he would just let it all dribble out of his mouth. I dont blame him though. I dont really believe that any baby would eat that stuff. We may just wait until next month for the real food.

Love you Mister Ryan!