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.

Announcing…

Callen Tieg

Born: April 6, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Weight: 6 lbs. 4 oz.
Length: 18 inches

He is such a sweetheart, very laid back and chill, especially when his older sister gives him “loves”. He sleeps a lot, but mostly during the day- a habit we are trying to flip to nights. He is only a couple weeks old, but thus far has a very sweet and calm personality.

 

 

A friend asked me what it was like having a boy. At first I told her not much, but upon further reflection here are some of the differences I have noticed between baby boys and girls: (most, okay maybe all, of the differences I noticed were in relation to bodily functions)

1.	He goes through as many outfits as a girl would, but for very different reasons (mostly due to peeing on his).
2.	In changing diapers, speed is vital.
3.	Also in changing diapers, being aware of the vicinity and direction of certain things is key in protecting myself and my outfits.
4.	It really makes the whole diaper changing operation run a lot more smoothly when there are two, maybe   even three, people helping. I realize this one is not realistic all the time, but it really does make it easier.

     
I am sure any parent of a little boy could add plenty to this list or even give great advice on controlling this, but we are having a wonderful time getting to know our little boy (bodily function issues included) . We laugh a lot and just love having Callen here with us.

A Lot of Little Firsts

These last few months have gone by so quickly, all my good intentions of blogging just got sidelined for other things. We have had a lot of firsts in the last few months:

Rya went bowling for the first time…

 

 

 

It was officially in celebration of Cody’s 31st birthday- a little family party, if you will. Rya and I (at 7 months prego) were trying to beat Cody. Despite our valiant effort, we didn’t get anywhere close. We did take a video, but it is rather long. It is one of Rya’s turns bowling, and at one point I think the ball might have actually starting rolling back towards us. So rather than put the video on, I will just let you imagine. It was really fun watching Rya- she had a great time and I can see a very accomplished bowling future for her.

Rya is now in panties…

Potty trained, officially! What more can I say than “Woo-Hoo”. After we got over the last little hump she just took over and became Miss Independent. It is nice not to have to worry about changing two sets of diapers anymore. She is a pro!

 

First trip to Chuck-E-Cheese...

This was actually Rya’s reward for going a whole week without any accidents. Aside from being terrified of the big “Daddy Mouse”, she loved it! We blew through a cup full of tokens, chowed down on some pizza and enjoyed just being kids.