Off to the Races

Like any true contender for parent of the year we took the kids to the race track today.  It was fun to watch the people and the horses.  Ryan picked a horse to win based on the jockey's colors, purple, Go State!  The horse actually one, which is evident in the last few photos.  And like good parents we left after the first race to get the kids back in time for naps.

Building

As a parent it has fascinated me to watch how quickly a child grows, develops and learns over the course of two short years.  It wasn't that long ago that Aric would "build" with Legos and make stacks of Lego towers.  Now he's actually making "structures" and using his imagination to create scenes.

Pumpkin Patch

We took a family trip to a pumpkin patch today.  The kids had a fun time playing in the corn, feeding goats, and getting dirty.  Aric enjoyed feeding the goats and Kellyn wasn't willing to share the food and tried to feed it to herself instead.  We let Aric guide us through the corn maze.  Numerous times he thought the best way was to cut through the corn.  When we finished we ate our picnic lunch in the parking lot on the tailgate of our truck.  It was a good, exhausting and dirty visit.

Life

I have been a bit remiss in updating my blog, but truthfully my schedule has been full, my life is a bit stressful and some things have to go. It's kind of funny but the person who complains the most about my lack of posts is my husband. He wonders how he's supposed to know what's going on in my life if I don't update my blog regularly. (I'm glad I married someone who can always find ways to make me laugh.)

Two weekends ago Ryan and I had an appointment to look at three houses. I didn't really want to go. Ryan scheduled one house that he had already seen, a house he wanted to see, and a third house that the realtor had as one of their listings. We liked the third house and made an offer on it. After counter bids, learning quite a bit about buying a house, and scrambling to finish our loan pre-approval (thankfully we have a super speedy bank), we made an offer on the house that the sellers agreed to. While it's not our dream house and not in our dream location it's a fantastic first home and we're pretty excited about it. I've already been dreaming about paint colors and decorating ideas, two things that really make my creative juices flow. After living in boring white walls all of my life, I'm ready to branch out. We close on the house mid-December and will move in January since I still plan on working until Dec. 31. Ryan and I are excited about having a new house and neither one of us can wait to move. In the meantime we'll be sorting through our stuff, packing and getting rid of junk. I'm hoping to be quite tough about keeping things, I really want to de-clutter our lives and house.

Aric is doing... well, two-year-old-things. Did you know if you search "how to remove coins from a car CD player" multiple results will return? Yes, my two year old stuck spare change into my car CD player slot and now it won't read a CD. Thank you, Aric. I think the monetary amount calculated for how much it costs to raise a child until 18 is really a calculation for how much it costs to replace/fix the things they break. That child owes me a front quarter panel and a CD player for my car.

Kellyn is walking, chattering, teething, dragging baby dolls around the house and trying to do everything Aric does. She's a bit strong-willed and has started throwing herself down on the floor when she's upset. I think we're going to have our hands full with that one!

And that describes our life lately. We're busy with buying a house, thinking about moving and dealing with work, two active toddlers and everything else that life is throwing our way.

One Year

I'm a little late posting this, but in my defense I've been a bit busy.  Last week we celebrated Kellyn's first birthday.  Yes, this little girl is now one:

Kellyn will eat just about anything you put in front of her.  She is becoming an accomplished walker.  I've even seen her show signs of starting to run when Aric becomes involved.  She has never been much of a snuggler, but since beginning to walk she will come up and sneak in hugs.

 She loves ride-on toys.  One of her favorite places to be is bothering Aric  sitting in Aric's Little Tikes Cozy Coupe and driving around the house. 

We had a small family birthday celebration for Kellyn.  Aric tried to unwrap all of her presents, but he does have more experience in that department.

I think Aric was a little annoyed that nothing "fun" had been unwrapped yet.

Kellyn received a pink chair of her very own from Poppa and Nana.  I knew it would be a hit because she is always climbing into Aric's chair.  (It's brown, not pink.)

She was a bit confused by the candle.

And the cupcake.

But quickly overcame her fear and devoured the cupcake.

It was a simple birthday, but good.  Currently Kellyn is working on cutting two molars and her bottom incisor.  She's been a delightful crab.



Six Months

Dear Ryan,

It's been six months today.  I might not have realized it as fully as I did had I not had to fill out a time sheet yesterday at work and write down today's date.

Six months... so long, so short.  At times it feels like just yesterday and at other times it seems like forever ago.  How many times have I reached for the phone, tried to send you an e-mail, thought of a million and one things you would've laughed at. 

I have so many things to tell you, so much you've missed out on.  I miss you so much and yet I know you're happy right now and in a much better place.  You worked so hard and deserve the rest and peace that you have now.  I'm just being selfish wanting you to still be here and available for me.  I can't help it, I'll always want you around.

I still wish I would've called you more, listened more, and given you more of my time.  It's so easy to let life get in the way.  I'm trying hard to change my habits, but some days they're just easier to keep.

What's new with us, well, I gave my notice at work.  My last official day there is December 31, 2010.  I technically will quit being full time and switch over to part time.  Part time just means that they may call me and ask me to fill in or work a shift here and there and I'll either work it or tell them I'm not available.  I'm glad to have an end in sight.  Ryan is going to let me stay at home for awhile and just be a mom.  I'm truly thankful to have a husband who is generous and looks out for me.  I know it won't be easy being a full time stay at home mom, but I'm looking forward to having that precious time with Aric and Kellyn. They're only little once.

Aric is doing well.  He's same and yet different.  We have really begun to see glimpses of his imagination in action.  He'll pretend forks are jets or try to get me to cut open the back of a toy truck with scissors so he can pretend it's a semi to carry his car.  He's learning numbers and shapes right now.  Aric is terribly polite and receives compliments from Ms. Autumn on how well he says "please" and "thank you".

Kellyn will be 1 on Tuesday.  It's hard to believe my baby is growing up this quickly.  It makes me sad since she is truly my last baby.  Kellyn is walking all over the place.  Ryan thinks she looks like a monkey the way she walks and bobs from side to side with her hands in the air.  I know you'd get a kick out of that.

Ryan and I have been busy working, taking care of the kids and trying to find a house. We actually have an appointment today to go look at three of them.  I didn't realize how time consuming and exhausting house hunting would be.  I know God has a plan, though, and we'll know it when we see the house for us. 

I miss you, Ryan. I hope you know how much you are missed and loved.  Kiss my babies for me and keep building those castles.

Play Time

At our house we spend a large majority of our time playing.  With two toddlers (yes they are both officially "toddlers") it seems to be the best way to spend our time.

Aric is quite taken with Toy Story and Cars lately.  Generous family members have recently sent him Lego sets from both movies.  Frequently Aric can be found reenacting scenes from either movie.  His favorite scene from Cars is the tractor tippin' scene.  Aric tractor tips anything and everything.  Scenes like this one are all too common around our house:

This is a common occurrence too:

...the realization that his little sister is about to destroy whatever scene he has carefully made with his toys.  Kellyn gets into everything.

Literally!  Her method of finding the right Lego piece favorite pastime is to climb into the bin and kick her legs around making noise.  It doesn't matter to her if someone is trying to play with the Legos, she wants to be in the bin.



It's fun to see the kids interact and play with each other and with us.