Don't Smell On It

I just had to write this down before I forgot. Ryan got a "new" bed today. Actually it's Scott's old twin bed from when he was a kid. But Ryan is excited about it nonetheless. He has finally upgraded from a small little toddler bed to a big boy bed. He can stretch out and roll around! I'm excited for him. Anyway, tonight was his first night in the new bed. He asked me to sleep with him for awhile, so I got into bed with him and showed him that it's big enough for both of us to lay down. He liked that. But before he would settle down he wanted to run out and ask Scott a quick question about something. So as he was getting out of bed and starting to leave the room he said to me, "Mom, you stay here. You can cuddle with my blankie. But make sure you don't smell on it, otherwise it will get warm, because I want it cold." This made me giggle! When he says "don't smell on it" he means don't breathe on it. He just started saying this in the last month or so. When I'm laying close to him my breath feels warm on his face and he especially doesn't like it when my warm breath gets on his blankie. He'll tell me... "Don't smell on my blankie." It's so funny! :)

Return Policy

This morning the four of us were laying in bed. The kids usually both want to be laying on me or next to me, especially Grace, but Ryan is right there with her. Poor Scott. And Grace can be so crabby if anyone else touches or gets near her. For example, every time Ryan strokes her hair or even barely brushes up against her, she cries, screams, or whines - every time. So he often feels bad, sad, or frustrated. Poor little guy. This morning he got fed up and said "Let's return Grace to the store because we don't need a baby anymore."

Ryan is a Shutterbug

Ryan insisted on using my camera tonight, so I showed him how to hold it and push the button. He was happy as could be, walking around shooting this and that. He tooks pictures of Scott, me, Grace, the Christmas tree, the computer screen, his blankie, the floor, etc. I didn't even tell him what to take pictures of. He was off on his own. But two pictures he took today really interested me. See below. (Picture 1) Look at this shot of Grace. I love it! It cracked me up. It's just her... crabby little Grace - because that's what she is lately... crabby, crabby, crabby all the time. (Picture 2) He took a picture of the mountain of snow that was pushed onto our lawn today. The snowplows actually drove really far up onto the grass and created this huge mound of snow (it got even bigger after this picture was taken). We're so excited to let Ryan go outside and play on it tomorrow!

On another note, I hope Ryan continues to be interested in picture taking. I like it too, but I'm the only one who really does it in my family so it would be fun to have someone else do it as well. Then maybe I'd be in more pictures, instead of behind the camera! :)

Lazy, Comfy, Family Day

Today was a cold, windy, snowy day. I took advantage of the day by Christmas shopping. Scott took advantage by staying in with the kids and watching the Gopher mens' basketball game (they won). I took some pictures of them lounging on the couch after I got home (although I'm not sure Grace enjoyed it as much as the boys).

Grace Plays You a Song

December 18, 2008 ~ Grace figured out that her shape sorting pieces are good instruments too. I tried catching this on video because sometimes she does it for a long time, but on this particular day I could only catch a few moments. It's still funny though.

Can We Get a Good Pic for Christmas Cards?

December 14, 2008 ~ We tried several shots, with 3 cameras, to get a good picture for Duane & Diane to use in their Christmas cards. I'm not sure which picture was chosen, but I thought the first picture shown below was cute. I caught a few goofy shots after that too. MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

Christmas Decorating

December 7, 2008 ~ Ryan was a really good helper when we decorated the Christmas tree this year. And he had a lot of fun looking at the ornaments as we pulled them out of the boxes. We put on holiday music and had a good time together as a family. Afterwards, we pulled out the Christmas books to read before bed. (That's a (washable) spiderman tattoo on his arm). ;)

Halloween '08

I've been meaning to post these for awhile. Here are pictures from Halloween. Ryan was very insistent on being Darth Vader this year. He's never seen Star Wars... I don't even think he knows what it is. But his daycare buddy, Aftyn, was going to be Darth Vader so Ryan wanted to be just like him. Grace didn't care what she was, obviously. So this year she was a big ol' skunk. And I always call her a little stinker, so it was appropriate that the rear end had a red heart that said "Lil Stinker" on it. We had fun trick-or-treating because it was so nice out. I think Scott had just as much fun as Ryan, if not more. He was lovin' it and didn't want to go home!

For Maria and Adrienne #3

And the final videos for Maria and Adrienne. :)

September 20, 2008 - 1 year old - playing with tissue paper at her birthday party.


October 17, 2008 - 13 months old - crawling in the kitchen.

October 31, 2008 - Grace (13 months old) and Ryan (3 years old) in their "almost" birthday suits.

October 31, 2008 - Grace (13 months old) eating ham, saying "Uh Oh", and dancing a little bit.

For Maria and Adrienne #2

More videos for Maria and Adrienne. :)

July 27, 2008 - Scott and Grace (1o months old) cuddling on the couch.

July 31, 2008 - Ryan (3 years old) and Grace (10 months old)

August 23, 2008 - 11 months old - pulling grass.

For Maria and Adrienne #1

Here are some Grace videos, by request, for my friends Maria and Adrienne. :) I can only post a few videos at a time, so I may be doing several posts to get all the videos I want on here.

June 6, 2008 - almost 9 months old - sitting in the Boppy.

July 8, 2008 - Grace (almost 10 months old) and Ryan (3 years old) playing together.


July 24, 2008 - 10 months old - laughing!

Poop Is Exciting!

Who knew, but I guess poop can be exciting! Sorry to be so vulgar, but when it comes to kids I just have to tell it like it is. Last Friday (Halloween) Ryan told me he had to go potty, so I went into the bathroom with him. He pulled down his pants and sat down on the little potty and he pooped, all on his own and not in his underwear!! I got so excited, I jumped up and down screaming (something you guys would probably never see me do). So he got a sticker on his chart. But he hasn't done that since. He's had a couple accidents since then. BUT TODAY we got home from Target, I was feeding Grace, and I didn't even know where he was. But all of a sudden he comes walking out and says, "Mom, I gotta show you something. It's pretty awesome." I thought it was funny he said "awesome"; that made me laugh. So he took me into the bathroom, and showed me that he took his portable potty "seat", put it on top of the big potty, climbed up, and pooped in the big toilet all on his own!!! I was so excited again! I jumped and screamed. I asked him how he got up there, and he showed me. I guess he's tall enough to get up there now. He got another sticker on his chart. And I told him that when he gets to the end of the chart (only 3 more stickers to go), he gets to have a poopy party with balloons and cake, and he gets to have his big "Diego" jungle toy. So we're making lots of progress. Actually, Ryan is doing it all on his own and I'm so proud.

Pumpkin Faces

Tonight was our pumpkin carving night. Ryan told Scott what shapes to draw on the tall pumpkin, and he (Ryan) actually drew the nose and mouth on the shorter, wider pumpkin. I told him I really liked the mouth he drew, and he said, "It's flat," which made me laugh. I like how he just tells it like it is. :)

Here's The Deal

Today Ryan started using a new phrase that cracked me up. We were in the car, just about to leave our driveway for the store, and prior to getting in the car he got in a little trouble for not listening to me about something. So when we got in the car he said, "Mom. Here's the deal. You can't yell. You can't be mad. And you can't put me in time out." The phrase that cracked me up was "Here's the deal." And earlier this evening he said it again when he was playing football with Scott in the livingroom. He stopped during their game, walked over to Grace and I sitting on the couch, and said, "Mom. Here's the deal. You and Grace are the coaches." The stuff kids say - it's too funny.

Gracie Crawls!

Exciting news! Gracie crawled for the first time tonight... just like that! Watch the video.

Sever's Corn Maze

Today was so nice out! We decided to go to Sever's Corn Maze. We have lived in Shakopee for over 5 years and we've never visited this tourist attraction, so I thought it would be fun to bring the kids there. We did a lot of stuff there - it was really fun, especially for Ryan! I think he had a ton of fun. We went into the corn maze (but didn't stay long - it's so large), ran around the small hay bale maze, jumped and played in the huge corn pit they have (that was super fun for Ryan), played on the playground, went down the big slide, took a hay ride (Ryan & Scott), and we let Ryan pick out a big pumpkin. We didn't even get to do all the stuff they have... like watch pig races or ride ponies, but there was so much stuff to keep us entertained that we never got bored. I think Grace had fun too, especially in the corn pit. Here are some pictures. I posted a couple vidoes at the bottom too.


Ryan was our "leader" in the corn maze. We gave him the map and he took charge. Scott told him it was a treasure map.


Ryan loved this little maze made out of hay bales. He was running and jumping all over this thing.


Ryan also got a kick out of the corn pit. This thing is huge! You take your shoes off and have a ball.


Grace was getting restless in her stroller, so I decided to take her out and let her have some fun too. She loved the freedom.


Scott and Grace.


Rolling around.


Having so much fun, he doesn't know where to go next.


Grace is at the stage where she loves to give things to people, so I got a lot of corn and hay today. Cute.


Me and Grace.


Me and Ryan about to go down the big slide. He was excited as we walked up the stairs. Then, right as we were about to go down he said, "I don't want to go." But we went anyway and as soon as we were at the bottom he said he wanted to go again... so he did, with Scott.


Me and Ryan at the bottom of the slide. I'm not hiding... I'm just kissing his head.


Grace checking out a big pile of pumpkins.


I love this picture.


Ryan trying to pick out a pumpkin. This isn't the one we went home with, but I thought it was cute he was trying to lift it up.


In the corn pit! Grace tried to eat the corn about 100 times - funny.


Scott and Ryan going down the big slide!


This is the corn maze map. Election year theme. I believe we made it into one of the White House's windows on the right side of the building and then we headed for the exit.

Darth Vader

This is Ryan's version of Darth Vader. He came walking into the room with these stickers on and said "I'm Darth Vader" and that's what he wants to be for Halloween (today anyway). He also has said he wants to be a pirate, Spiderman, and a Transformer.

Sharing a Snack

This video shows Ryan and Grace just sharing a snack today. Cute.

Minnesota Harvest Orchard

On September 21st we went to the Minnesota Harvest Orchard in Jordan (http://www.minnesotaharvest.net/). It was a beautiful day! Ryan got to ride a pony and that was really exciting for him. We visited the petting zoo (not so fun - more comments later). We took a tractor-trailor ride out into the orchard, but decided not to get off and pick apples because the kids were getting tired at that point. The ride was really fun though! We also went inside their store and I picked up some yummy corn relish (it's really good mixed with sour cream and used as a dip for chips). Everything was fun, except the petting zoo. We paid to get inside and get some chow for the animals. Once we got inside though... it was crazy. We were swarmed by animals - one even jumped on me while I was holding Grace. I thought it was weird that they didn't have the animals lined up behind gates or fences. They were just running around free. And there was this one animal - a big sheep I guess - that was such a bully trying to get the most food. Now that I think back on it, it's kind of funny. That sheep was funny. But I would've preferred a more organized, contained environment. Also, there was manure everywhere!!! You couldn't walk without stepping on it. Gross. Ryan didn't care though. He loved the petting zoo, so I guess that is all that matters. Ryan got to see and touch a big horse too. These pictures are in really random order.


Grace and Scott waiting for the tractor ride to start.


Ryan, patiently waiting for the tractor ride to start.






He was mad Scott made him stop looking at the ducks to take a picture.










A couple years ago when we took Ryan's picture here, he had pink eye! Poor kid. But not this time.


THIS is the bully sheep! :)




Ryan knew that this was a llama. I couldn't believe it. He spotted it before we did and said, "There's a llama!"


Waiting for the pony ride.

Checking out the big horses.