October 30, 2012 l Ronan

Happy Birthday little man! We are so thankful to have your fun-loving, sweet, energetic, curious little self in our lives!!! 

And we love how you eat cupcakes!

October 29, 2012 l Ronan

I remember two years ago today pretty clearly. My huge belly and I had spent the morning cleaning and preparing for the family who would come once Ronan came. I remember talking to my mom while working downstairs and just being so exhausted. It was a different kind of exhausted. It was the same kind of exhaustion I felt the morning before I went to the hospital with Aislinn.  I took a nap and prepared our bags before our last OB appointment because I just had a feeling. They kept me at the hospital that night and let me "rest" (is there ever really rest in a hospital?) before getting things going the next day (though luckily he came on his own and in his own timing). Even though Ronan's birthday is the 30th, I can't help but pause and think about the events on the 29th. The excitement, nerves, fear of child birth, complete lack of knowledge for how to take care of the baby we would be bringing home in a couple of days and yet a peace because things were happening and Ronan was on his way.

This is what I was up to two years ago:

I can't believe two years have passed! They have had their own kind of ups and downs, but every day with Ronan is such a joy. I love seeing every day objects and events through his young eyes and imagination and I love passing on our little family quirks and family traditions. Tonight we carved pumpkins while eating a perfectly fall dinner of gumbo and cornbread. Yum. This was Ronan's first time helping with the pumpkins (we didn't do it last year). Ronan help get all of the guts out of his pumpkin. I thought he would have more fun with the textures and sliminess, but he took his job seriously, pausing occasionally to show daddy the goop. Once he got most of the stuff out, he moved on to another activity. 

October 28, 2012 l Ronan

We have only two days left with a one year old in our house! This year and this month have gone so quickly! We had a little party in Clarkston while we were in town. Ronan had no problem being the center of attention. He was pretty exhausted from all of the festivities of the weekend, but nothing that a cupcake couldn't cure. ;)   

October 27, 2012 l Ronan

We had a big wedding in the family this weekend (more on that in another post). Everyone had a great time, especially these two little guys. They had SO much fun hammin' it up on the dance floor. It didn't matter that they were exhausted, they just wanted to keep dancing. I was dancing with one of them, Keegan I think, before this picture was snagged. Ronan pretty much wanted to dance with anyone but me. Isn't he too young for that?

October 26, 2012 l Ronan

Everyone is in Clarkston this weekend for my cousin's wedding. It's shaping up to be a GREAT weekend with family. Ronan is beyond excited to have a larger audience family around. He and his cousin are having a great time together and hit the mother-load of toys: Uncle Derek's Fisher-Price toys. Farm animals, a western town and an awesome pirate ship. So exciting!

October 25, 2012 l Ronan

Oh boy, I just cannot choose only one picture for yesterday. Do I go with the cute one of Ronan eating an ice guitar  (he hit his lip again this morning and wanted more ice)

Or the super-cheesy picture of our little hambone? (This is his new "cheese!" smile)

Or one of our little cuties together in bed? (Ronan wanted Aislinn to join him when he woke up for his nap)

I guess you get to see three. :)

October 24, 2012 l Ronan

Poor little guy. He had a little run in with the coffee table this evening. It's the first time surprisingly. Daddy said he handled it like a champ. Luckily, he likes ice, so he chomped on a little ice and stopped the bleeding and swelling!

October 23, 2012 l Ronan

Playing trains with daddy while I was at bible study tonight. He sure can't get enough of those trains!

Magnets and Monkeys

Ronan discovered the awesomeness of magnets today. These magnets are pretty strong and almost leap to be together. I was going to use one of these for his photo-a-day project, but there were just too many good ones.  Everytime the magnets snapped together, he would squat down and raise them up to his face. It was such a random act of excitement. Then he proceeded to dancing. I love this kid. I love experiencing the world through his eyes and sharing joy over new discoveries.

Meanwhile, Aislinn is just loving all over her friends.  She especially likes the monkey with the bumpy little ring. It must feel good on her gums.  She is at the stage where her hand-eye coordination is surprisingly good. She is able to get most toys into her mouth and likes to take her binky out and try to get it back in. She also loves to reach up and touch our faces when we talk to her. It is so sweet!

Ronan is great about sharing with Aislinn.  She thinks trains are pretty cool too! :)

October 22, 2012 l Ronan

It has been so fun to watch Ronan engage in pretend play. Typically it involves trains, cars or boats, but today he was pretending to feed Tigger out of the dog's dishes. It was pretty stinkin' cute. :) Until he decided Tigger needed a protein bar. It's the one thing he can reach into the cupboard and get, and as soon as he does, he decides he is hungry. A hungry Tigger quickly turned into a hungry Ronan.

October 21, 2012 l Ronan

Naptime was a fight today. He fell asleep for all of 3 minutes on the way home from church and apparently decided he was good to go after that. I knew he was tired though so I let him have a few books, hoping that he might fall asleep.  *Note to self: if choosing to leave books in bed with a toddler, don't give him/her library books. Apparently we will be paying off the library and will own our very own copy of Little Bitty, or whatever the book is called. In defense of his actions, Ronan exclaimed "puppy, kitty, out!" In other words, he tore the pictures of the puppy and kitty out, probably in hopes of snuggling or playing with them. Sometimes he doesn't understand that pictures in books are not real and cannot come out of the book to play. :)

After that little incident, I removed all books and then held my ground. Score one for mom - the little stinker slept 3 hours after that!

Aislinn l 4 months

** I actually wrote this post at the 4-month mark and took the photos a few days later. Just a little behind in getting it posted.**

Wow, here we are at 4 months. I really can hardly believe it. It almost seems a lifetime ago that Aislinn was born and yet I almost expect her to always be our itsy-bitsy little newborn. Of course, she's still pretty itsy-bitsy, but getting so big! That makes sense right? She measured at 11 lbs, 14 oz (10th%) and 23.75" long (25th%).

We adore all of Aislinn's sweet little features and especially her beautiful smile. It just melts our hearts.  This month has been full of smiles as she has really begun interacting with everyone around her. She just loves when we talk and smile with her.  And even at this young age, it is clear that Ronan has a special place in her heart. It's clear to see by the look in her eyes that she adores him.  Her first real laughs were in response to him saying "done, done, done, done, done" over and over. It's the perfect set up for a big brother who likes to perform and a little sis who likes to laugh.

Aislinn started sleeping in their nursery at the beginning of this month. It is actually going pretty well. They sleep through each other's cries for the most part and she has begun sleeping through the night pretty consistently. **I should add that at the time of posting, this is not going so well! Ronan has been waking up a lot lately. For the most part, Aislinn sleeps through his cries, but it is a light sleep and she seems to wake up shortly after wanting to eat. I feel more sleep deprived now then when she was a newborn!

As I've mentioned before, Aislinn began rolling over this month. She seems to really enjoy just hanging out on her side. She doesn't yet roll back over from her stomach to her back (except for that time when she was 5 weeks old!) so after some time, she gets pretty frustrated with being on her tummy. She also really like playing on her play mat, talking with her "friends" and grabbing the little rings.

Aislinn's beautiful blanket was made by our friend Sheena. Isn't it gorgeous?

I love this shot. She was so tired and ticked off, but doesn't she look like a little ballerina?

Greenbluff, Take Two

We headed back up to Greenbluff today, this time with Patrick in tow. We met up with friends and went to the pumpkin patch to pick some pumpkins. It was so stinkin' cold. The wind was crazy and cold so we weren't out for too long. In my defense of not wearing a coat, it was much warmer at our house! Ro was bundled well (doesn't that hat kill you?) and had a great time and baby girl was snug in her carseat fast asleep, so apparently she had a great time too. :) I need to take some cues from the way I dress my kids. Why don't I do the same for myself???

We hung out in our warm car and ate a pb&j while waiting to meet up. Aislinn wanted to stretch out and there was really only one place she could do that.

checking on sis

 And then ventured out into the patch. We don't have many pictures in the actual patch because it was so cold!

we made sure Aislinn got in on the action. see that little pic spot just above the owl? That's her blanket pulled up over her face (not my favorite habit of hers)

No pumpkin patch would be complete without tractors, pony's and a giant, pumpkin-launching canon, so we stuck around to enjoy those things too.

gotta love that pj&j face :)