A Very Merry Christmas!

It was truly magical to see the joy and excitement of the Christmas season come alive for Rya. She met Santa as she does every year, but I daresay this year he was the real deal. Most of the time when Rya takes pictures with Santa we explain to her how they aren’t the real Santa but rather just his helpers because there are too many kids for Santa to visit. But, this guy had it all from the twinkle in his eye to the rosy red cheeks. And, I am pretty sure I saw a “bowl full of jelly” belly shake as he laughed. It’s good to know he lives up to his reputation. He certainly didn’t let Rya down.

 

 

We spent this Christmas in Texas with my family (just in case you couldn’t tell, this is Melissa) . The most special part of Christmas, for me, is to be around those I love. I’m sure that the kids would agree with me, but I’m sure the gifts didn’t hurt either. Rya got everything from video games and dress up dolls to make-up (oh, my little girl is growing up so fast). And Tieg got a few choice gifts, including a riveting book (I assume it was riveting because he really sunk his teeth into it, or rather gums since he is still toothless), and a Little People farmhouse. Mostly he loved playing with, chewing on, and tearing into the paper.  

 

 

I have found a new joy in Christmas in watching my children learn the true meaning for the season. My heart swells as they tell what they know of the story of the baby Jesus and sing songs of his praise. On Christmas day, I am bubbling with excitement and anticipation of my kid’s faces when they see all the decorations, lights and gifts. And, I feel humbled to watch their enthusiasm as they give gifts to others. I have decided I love Christmas even more from this perspective than I did as a child.

 

But, after it is all said and done, when all the shopping and wrapping and decorating and cleaning and cooking and singing and laughing is done, I find that we are just done tuckered out…(and no, look closely, that is not Rya laying on Cody’s stomach…hehehe).

 

 

Here’s to the best Christmas yet, and to them just getting better each year… Merry Christmas!

The first of many…

While at our first ultra sound for Rya, Cody was surprised to find out that our little baby was going to be a girl. (He was really convinced otherwise, so it almost came as a shock). When he left, he said he was really excited, but a little sad because  (and I’m gonna quote here, to maintain the truth, so if he someday tries to deny this) “how am I going to take a little girl camping”. Now, I know some women may be outraged by this comment, but I just laughed at his obvious naiveté.

Now, a short three years later, Cody took Rya on her first camping trip into the far beyond of our backyard. Their night included everything from roasting marshmallows over an open fire, midnight snacks courtesy of mom, making shadow people on the tent wall, and staying up way too late talking.

Around 2 am Cody was hoping to carry the sleeping Rya back inside so that he could snuggle into his comfy bed to get a “good night’s sleep”. But, Rya took to camping so well that she awoke and thwarted Cody’s plot. She then told him how they are suppose to stay in the tent all night. (Hehe--I guess I have no room to say anything since I spent the whole night in our nice comfy bed).

Who’s worried about camping with who, now? Overall it was a fun night, and I am sure, the first of many camping trips.

To Sleep or To Trick or Treat…

This year we had a witch. And, prefacing this with my obvious bias, she was the cutest witch this side of Oz. We had thoughts to make a correlating outfit for Callen, either a flying monkey or (my favorite) a  broom. In fact, Rya kept telling people that for Halloween, she was going to be a witch and Callen was going to be her broom.

However, in our better judgment, rather than spend money on a costume, we borrowed an Elephant costume from a friend (which turned out to be too cute for words). And it was well that we did, I think Callen was awake long enough to wear his costume for all of 10 minutes (and not a happy few minutes either). So I have to admit that his pictures are fabricated post Halloween pictures, but we had to have photographic coverage.

And, here you go, our Little Witch and her… Elephant (what witch doesn’t need one):

Too cute, right?!?!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes…

And they do come true! Here is proof, Rya got to meet Barbie. I’ve never seen her so excited or shy. It was adorable.  Too many times to count, Rya has woken up having dreamt of princesses, princes, castles, etc.. The majority of her play hours are spent playing with Barbie dolls and princesses and here she is meeting the real live girl. It was priceless to see her dreams come true.

 

Baby, let’s go down to Cozumel…

We’ll get there fast and then take it slow.. or, in our case, get there slow, and then take it fast. I guess I should start at the beginning.

We went on a cruise to celebrate my 30th (I know, shocking- right?!) birthday. My sister and her hubby, who was also hitting his third decade, came with us. SO FUN!!! That really sums it up, but I’ll give you a few more details than that.

We all left our kids with grandparents, and lived life for 5 days like single marrieds. It was the first time since Rya was born that I have been away from her for more than a night. We stayed up late, ate A LOT of food, including many trips to the ice cream machine (this could explain the weight gain???), took afternoon naps, swam, rode water slides, went to shows, drank (hah, gotcha, we drank soda), and were completely carefree.

We visited two ports; Progresso and Cozumel, where we spent a day each. In Progresso (which is on the tip of the Yucatan peninsula) we visited Uxmal, which are some pretty impressive Mayan ruins. We had a tour guide that spent a good portion of time pointing out the local gift shops and then the rest on “his version” of Mayan culture/history (the boys thought he was making most of it up, because the plaques around the sites said different things than he did- oh well, it was still interesting). We even survived walking up the very steep steps to the top of one of the temples (whew!, no wonder the Mayan people were so tiny, although our one trip up didn’t do much to combat the amount of food we put away on this trip, hehe). All joking aside though, it was all very interesting learning of these people.

Cozumel was a day playing in the sun. We rented two-seater speed boats and raced through the crystal blue waters of Cozumel. With the small size of the boats, and some pretty good waves, we caught air a few times. It was a blast! It was like Cody reverted to his teenage years, whooping and hollering, pushing the engine as fast as it could go; I just held on for dear life- but we both loved every minute. We laid out on a private beach in hammocks, soaking up the sun, and did a little window shopping before we got back on the boat. Then we played on the Waterslides (which were closed for most of the trip due to high winds) and laid out some more. Like I said…carefree.

A few other highlights of the trip were:

• I won in a pretty fierce Bean Bag Toss Competition, even got a trophy (yep, I’m pretty famous now)
• Cody got on stage in a Balderdash game show, where he was the only contestant to chose the correct definition for “fulfart” (betcha you’re running for a dictionary right about now- but it means “full speed ahead”. Although the other definition choices were, as you can imagine, more humorous). He brought home a medal (which he was encouraged not to wear in the shower for fear it would disintegrate).
• I also won (or tied for the win) in a Halloween trivia competition, again another trophy (or “24 caret gold plastic ship on a stick” as it was lovingly referred to on the boat).
• And, best of all, (because I was watching not participating) was my sister being called on stage to dance with the break dancers in front of a large portion of the guests onboard. She was fearless and did an awesome job. We even got video, hehe, it still makes me laugh to think of it). 

It was a vacation I won’t soon forget, and what a way to bring in a new decade of my life. But, at the end of the week, we were ready to get back to what we missed the most…our kids. As hard as parenting can be sometimes, I would never give it up. We can definitely have fun, and we did, but there is no comparison to the true happiness of being with our kids.

What do you think?

For the longest time Cody would say that although Callen had some of his features, he wasn’t a little duplicate of him like Rya was…I beg to differ. Exactly where am I in this picture?!?! Too cute though, right?

Speaking of looking alike- I think you can tell they are siblings. Or at least that they like each other…

Not just a tea party…

Rya is already hosting parties. But there’s no skimping, no simple tea and crumpets here, we are a full service program. Not sure what’s on the menu, but It’s a full meal party (oh, minus the drink, hehe). Love it! 

When I get Older…

About 6  months ago we asked Rya what she wanted to be when she grew up. She quickly replied, “A doctor.” Just as she said this a helicopter flew overhead and she edited her comment, “In a helicopter.” Ever since, if you ask Rya what she wants to be when she grows up, her response is, “A doctor in a helicopter.”

Noble profession and, I think, she is well on her way!

Ummm…

So I am not sure if I should publicize this or not, but it is too funny to forget. This picture was taken without any prompting. We walked in to see Rya “taking care of her baby.” I guess the baby was hungry.

 

 

 

Nothing gets by kids, huh?! (She’s going to hate this pic when we pull it out to show her future boyfriends. Thanks Dad. LOL!)

Happy, Happy Birthday Rya Dear…

Rya is 3!!! She just keeps growing, and getting more and more intelligent. We sometimes have conversations with her similar to one we would have with a teenager. ( I know what you are thinking, what will we get when she is a teenager?!?!)  She challenges us to keep up with her and it has been so fun! 

In our home we tend to celebrate birthdays for an extended period of time, or at least the entire birth week. For Rya’s birthday this year, we had a small intimate family party and then decided to invite friends over for a Splash Bash (but I’ll get into that in a moment).

family fun

For our family celebration I spent the better part of a day making a special Castle Cake. It’s my own fault really, I set the bar way too high by making a Princess cake last year. Now she didn’t exactly remember the Princess Cake of 2009 (her 2nd birthday), but rather inadvertently saw pictures of it on our screen saver. Ever since then she has wanted a Princess Cake for her birthday, and I could very well do a repeat. I don’t really how I am going to live up to these, or for that matter top them, over the next 15 years (maybe a life size Castle cake, hmmm, something to think about anyways). It tasted delicious by the way.

Castle cake (royalty not edible)

We then took her to Build A Bear, where “Squeezy” the Bunny was created. It was so fun to watch how excited she was for the whole process. She is a pretty special bunny for a pretty special girl.

Splash Bash

It was a little last minute, but we decided to go all out and throw a big birthday party. We got a couple blowup waterslides, water-guns, water balloons, and goodies to throw a fantastic Birthday Splash Bash. I had planned it down to the last detail, except for the storm that hit about a half an hour into the party. It worked out though, it only rained for the 2 hours of Rya’s party (for the whole month of August). No, no, no, I am not bitter, well maybe I was a little, but now I just find it comical. Just call me the rainmaker. *HeHe*

It will definitely be a party for the books, but well worth it. I think Rya loved every minute of it. It was a great 3rd birth-week celebration.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!! We love you more than we could ever express with words.

Over the Last two & 1/2 months…

We have gone a lot of places, done a lot of things, and learned many new things over the last two months. It all started with Callen arriving. But, then when Callen was about three weeks old, for fear of going it alone, I followed my mom back to Texas for one more week of help. I got little snippets of insight into what life would be like with two kids versus one me. 

One memorable moment was when my mom was gone for a couple hours. During which time Callen caught me too slow in changing his diaper, and I got covered from every angle. After that, I was nursing him when I heard Rya fall down the stairs. Not to be too graphic, but it is difficult to run to one child while still nursing another. She was fine by the way, but by the time my mom got back I was completely worn out.

After a week in Texas we, along with most of my family, headed back to Arkansas in caravan where we met up with Cody’s parents in celebration of Callen’s baby blessing. It was a chaotic, wonderful, event filled weekend. Most everyone headed back home after that weekend, except we got to hang on to Cody’s parents for another week. We didn’t let them sit around too long, they ended up helping us put in a new tile backsplash in our kitchen. And it turned out amazing.

We had about a week and a half home alone after they left before we headed to Albuquerque to continue our visit with Cody’s parents. Despite a bug that was passed around our family, we had a wonderful time swimming and visiting several tourist attractions of the area. (PS, the Albuquerque tram was incredible…ly frightening if you have any issues with heights). But, most of all, we loved hanging out with family.

       
We have learned a few things over these two & 1/2 months:

1.  Callen grew 4 lbs and 4 inches in the first month of his life and slept so much we had to wake him up to feed him.

2.  Callen grew 1/4 lb. and 1/4 inch in his second month. And now, between Callen and Rya, they are reminding us how much we value our sleep.

3.  Rya has had to learn to share the spotlight with a little brother (who she adores), but has tried several techniques to vie for the attention- -some good and some bad.

4.  Callen, as a baby, requires much more personal attention, due to some tummy issues,  than Rya did when she was a baby. But, Callen sleeps better at night than Rya ever did or does now.

5.  Rya has become quite the nurturer, while constantly practicing her skills on her baby dolls and teddy bears, she takes cues from us on how to handle baby Callen. She has mastered the somewhat tricky binky insertion technique, the shushing method, and the calming bum pat, and just continues to learn.

6.  Callen has the sweetest little grin and a single coo from him can melt my heart.

7.  Both of our kids challenge us to be better parents, show us what love really is, and make us smile more than we knew was possible.