Christmas 2010

Well, in answer to the question in my last post....

Will there be any ornaments left by Christmas???

Yes, but not many! We lost 9 this year - so the bottom half of our tree looks like we forgot to decorate (OH, RYKER!)

We had a wonderful christmas! here a few highlights from the holidays:

Decorating the gingerbread man from Grandma

Ryker concentrating very hard on decorating!

Run, Run as fast you can, you can't catch me - I am the ginger bread man!

(Ry and the ginger bread man went everywhere together that day!)

there are still sprinkles around the house to prove it!

Ry getting ready for Church on Christmas Eve, looking very handsome

And here is our little princess posing for the paparazzi!! She is just beautiful and she loved getting ready for santa!

Christmas morning was our biggest surprise...the newest member of our family (Kevin) made a debute as SANTA!

Santa and his future wife

The whole family

More of Santa...

We have hit the mother load!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Will there be any ornaments left?????

Here is my little angelic 23 month old son......but in reality, he has been quite the little devil this holiday season so far!! Over the weekend we put up the tree and so far since sunday we are looking at about 6 ornaments broken. He thinks the silver balls are "balls" and they should bounce. Well, as soon as it hits the ground...AGAIN....he remembers....but hours later seems to forget completely and commits the act all over again.....

Dear santa...if you are listening...I am going to need new ornaments next year....or

I am going to Jewel to raid the 25 cent machine of all the super balls and putting them on the tree instead.

and

If there was ever a question....

Just another confirmation that Ryker is definitely my child....I gave him a bowl of raisin bran this morning, he took it and promptly returned the bowl to me about ten minutes later - every bran flake still in there and every raisin GONE.

A literal interpretation

A quick funny story.....

Yesterday I was making some sweet potato french fries for Ryker. He went by the oven and I said, "no honey, very HOT!" - and he walked away. A few minutes later he walked back to the stove, took the oven towels down, handed them to me and went back and blew on the oven (as if to cool it off). It was too cute....gotta love little kids!

It's Fall and WE love it!

If you ask anyone, they know my favorite weather is "football weather" - aka Fall!

I am so happy its here and Ry and I have been enjoying it to the fullest. I decided to take him to our local park to have a quick fall photo shoot the other day. We got some great shots. Its hard to believe that he is going to be 2 soon!

Just enjoying the view (Planes overhead and buses ALL THE TIME!)

I see you, mom!

I love this slide!

Ry's first Pumpkin Patch!

Several weeks ago (ok, the last week of September), Ry and I decided to take our first road trip together to visit Leslie in Indiana!!! Kelly was coming from Michigan - so it was a mini-AGD reunion! Yes, we sang, we danced and we played HOT POTATO all 3 and half hours!! He did a great job with the help of pretzels and fruit snacks :-) He was so excited to see Matthew, Ella and Laney when we got there. Here are a few great shots from the visit!

I found it Mom! The biggest one out here!

one of my favorite pics that his Aunt Leslie took!

I was very lucky to have an opportunity to see two great friends while I was there!

Here is Me, Kel and Ry at the pumpkin patch!

Ry's favorite place in Indiana is his Aunt Leslie's backyard! They have a huge backyard with

a swingset and a plastic pool that all four kids decided to climb in and out of for hours!!

This was prior to us dumping out the rain water! Oh well!

Just me and Laney

I still have more pictures to post from the visit....Coming soon.....

Thanks for having us Les - it was a wonderful weekend!

Chicago's Newest Lil' Kicker!

Well, Its official - Ryker is a Lil' Kicker!!!!! He had his first practice with "Coach Mike" and the other lil' kickers at the indoor soccer field this morning. Maddie and Ry had a blast and both of their daddies were able to be there to witness it!

Here are some pics from the big day

Ry and Daddy right before we left for Lil' Kickers

Coach Mike had them do drills and run back and forth across the field (the parents didn't have to run, but we were still sweating afterwards, it was hot in there!)

They also had to do an exercise with cones. They had to build em' up and KNOCK em' down!

Here are the two cousins tackling Uncle Bob!

Here we are waiting for Coach Mike to give us the last drill of the day!

Such a fun program for little kids - can't wait for next week!

A Visit from the Hunns....

Another great summer weekend....

In honor of Labor Day, Jess and David Hunn came to visit us in Chicago. We had such a great weekend - full of great friends, good food (thanks le) and constant entertainment (thanks Ry!)

Sunday morning, they cooked us breakfast, Pancakes and Bacon, it was awesome!

(Jess you still owe me the recipe!)

We went to the zoo

We ate popcorn at the zoo (of course!)

Ry and Dave enjoying the Sunday Morning Paper....

Thanks again for coming! It was a great weekend!

Where did the summer go???

(this post should be dated August 2010)

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over!!! We had such a great time that I once again got behind in my blogging and Ry is growing so fast its hard to catch up!!! Here are some great highlights from the summer....

Once again, we spent a great week in Green Lake in August. Bobby rented a great house for us, we rented jetskis and just lounged around and relaxed. (well, as much relaxing as you can do with TWO one and a half year olds!

They swam...

They had an OFFICIAL Dora the Explorer birthday party...

hosted by the party planner expert, Grammie!

(Because their favorite tv station, Nick Jr. said it was her birthday!)

they played hide n' seek with Aunt Brooke

they were just "hanging" out

They fingerpainted

They saw Another Green Lake Champ get crowned (hat, t-shirt, trophy and all!)

Ry and Maddie definitely managed to conquer Green Lake. Its hard to imagine that in one year from that week they will be walking down the aisle as the flower girl and ringer bearer in Brooke and Kevin's wedding! We can't wait!!

A first of many, I am sure....

Yesterday was our first emergency visit to the doctor and of course I handled it with the grace and calmness of a new parent. That is to say, I cried in the doctors office and felt as though I was the worst mother in the world! We had made a stop at Gymboree for their open gym - thinking what a great way for Ry to get some energy out and have fun crawling on all the equipment. Just as he was running over to another climbing wall, he fell on the mat and hit his eye and nose square on the corner of a wood stair and boy did it swell fast! (and yes, he screamed like you can't believe). I was sure it might be broken - which prompted us to stop at the doctor, no call, no appt - just ran in and they saw us! Thankfully! The first nurse said she would send us to the emergency room and that they might have to break his nose again in order to set it (well, that in turn prompted more tears from me and the feeling that I might throw up!) Thankfully when the doctor looked she didn't feel that it was broken and sent us home to just watch the swelling and the bruise for the next few days.....What a day!

It's Summertime

While I hate the heat, I do have to say that this summer has been so much fun with Ry. He really loves being out and enjoying everything the city has to offer! This past week he enjoyed a quick dinner with his Aunt Brooke and Uncle Kevin (who are in full swing of their wedding plans!) and a visit with one of his Mom's best friends in the world, Kelly Landis. Here are a few pics....

Dinners over and its PJ time...

A quick pic with Aunt Brooke and Uncle Kevin

Gotta clean the windows before Kelly gets here

Kel and Ry became fast friends and had a very active week together! Swimming, parks, walks; playdates and a very DRAMATIC haircut (that kel and I would both like to forget!) She introduced him to Oke-doke popcorn and taught him a few words! If she wasn't on her "baby tour" and on to Leslie's next we would have kidnapped her and kept her here forever!

I miss ya already!

Thanks for coming!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Ry is officially 18 months old and spent a second fourth of July in Green Lake, Wisconsin with his Grandma, cousin Maddie and of course his Dad, Bob and Laura! Unfortunately, Aunt Brooke and Uncle Kevin couldn't join us but they will be there in August for the week long trip! Green Lake has definitely taken on a new meaning now that Maddie and Ry are mobile! Maddie is also talking up a storm - so it added quite a bit of comedy too!!

Just a quick 18 month report - Ry has added a few new words to his vocabulary in the last month, freeze (curtousy of Gymboree class), feet, and sit. He is weighing 26 lbs; 33 3/4 inches for height and 19.5 in head circumference - so he is growing perfectly!

Ryker definitely is a home body in the sense that he doesn't sleep well when he is away from his crib. So this was a VERY early (probably 5:30am) shot with his grandma - sharing a bagel. As you can see - Ry loves cream cheese! :-)

A beautiful day on the lake, captain Ry at the wheel.

Maddie doing some fishin' off the pier!

A favorite hangout - the spice rack! The two of them stood side by side playing in it!

Maddie playing on the rocks outside - she had a blast and we had about an hour photo shoot! It was like she had her own paparazzi!

The lighting couldn't have been more perfect...

Do you think she was posing?

Green Lake has their very own Fourth of July parade that goes right down Main Street. It was like a scene right out of Mayberry! It started with John Tesh (on a boombox) singing "I am proud to be an American" and ended with the Mayor in a convertible along with the President of the Chamber. Highlights included: several fire trucks and the Green Lake Fishing Society!

Honestly, it was picture perfect and Ry and Maddie loved their first parade!

He loved the fire trucks and all the noise!!