Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas.

We are at my parents now. We spent the 21st and 22nd shopping, relaxing and getting ready for the holiday. Kris and Ryan played outside in the snow and built a inappropriate snowwoman. Fortunately, it rained that night and now is a mound of snow with some carrots on the ground.

We spent the 23rd at the Knoll's, where everyone was there except one cousin. Needless to say, my Grandmother needs a bigger house!! We had a great time there playing games and spending time together. At one point, we had all of the cousins in one room! On Christmas Eve, we went to Aunt Dawn's for the Zebrowski side. It was mayhem there with 13 kids under 10. We had a great time. At both places, everyone got some great gifts and were so happy to see everyone else in the family.

Also, my family got let in on our secret that we've been hiding for 21 weeks now. We are expecting again!!! The baby is due on May 3rd. We have had our first ultrasound, but the baby didn't want to cooperate to let us know what sex it is. So we'll have to wait to find out, but we're all thinking girl. Fortunately, the baby looks healthy and is growing at the right pace. So now the world knows! I added the link to the baby website and you can see the ultrasound pictures there.

Today, we got 'suprised' by all the presents left by Santa last night. We opened for almost 2 hours! Too much. Ryan is loving all the new trucks he's got. And Kris and I are excited to get home to start using some of our new stuff. We are so grateful for all the gifts, but are just so happy to be able to spend some time with our families. We have dinner tonight here and then we are celebrating my dad's birthday tomorrow with all the Stones.

On the 27th, we are leaving for our visit to PA until the 1st. So it will all start again!

Getting Ready to Go

We are getting ready to begin our holiday traveling. Kris has been in Toronto, so Ryan and I have been working our way through all the food in the fridge, doing laundry and packing. We are leaving on Thursday to start our trip at the Zebrowski's before we head to the Harper/Beatty's on the 27th. I'm looking forward to the trip, but as always am a little anxious about it. Before we leave though, we have friends of ours from library class coming over for Mexican/clean out our fridge night. I'm cooking - they're taking. I hate for food to go to waste, so someone will be going home with our open jar of applesauce and our orange juice, in addition to any food leftovers. I haven't had to cook all week since I made lots of leftovers last week and then Kris left. Ryan hasn't particulary liked the food, so his dinner has mainly been fresh veggies and veggie dip. He'll eat some chicken if I promise him a chocolate after dinner. Oh well.

Today, I have done 4 loads of laundry, with 2 more to go. I've premade the chicken and veggies for dinner tomorrow. I've packed Ryan. Now, I'm going to bake some cookies and wrap some gifts and hopefully finish the book I've been reading because I don't want to take it with me (I have two other ones here to read also). Tomorrow will be a whirlwind day of cooking, packing and uploading music to the MP3 player. Wish us luck!!! We can't wait to see everyone!

Fun, Fun, Fun

Ryan has been having a lot of fun lately. For the last two days, we've been running from place to place. I can't even remember all the things we've done. Today we had some beautiful weather (70 degrees) - and this is after a school closed snow day last week - so we went outside. We've also played with our friends at various places, picked up our Christmas cards, and shopped for a new office chair (Merry Christmas to us!).

Last Friday, Kris's department had their own work party at Gameworks. We had a lot of fun - even Ryan. He loved the driving and snowmobiling games. They even had a magician come in as well as a face painter and a person to draw your picture. So here is a picture of Ryan with a christmas tree on his face (it's 10pm by then and this is the first picture he isn't crying in!).

Saturday, we started a second round of soccer. No Mason or Shawn Kayley this time. Now we have Max and Gracie with us. So here are some new pictures from the first week. I love the first picture because it looks like everyone is under arrest - but they are really banging the wall to keep the soccer demons away!

Today, we had a breakfast with Santa. I don't think you could really call it breakfast when you get two donut holes per child and nothing for the parents. But since you can bring your own camera, they give you a little book and it only cost $5 I don't think I should complain. Ryan was very frightened by everyone. This is a great picture since he wouldn't sit on Santa's lap and had to be dragged up there to begin with. He was perfectly happy eating his donuts in a chair very far from Santa and all the other people dressed up for them. Maybe next year.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas......

We managed to get our Christmas pictures taken last weekend. We had been warned that JCPenney's was awful, but so far last year was the worst. We waited about 30 minutes after our appointment time to get them done. After they ask you to come back after 30 minutes so they can do some enhancements and delete the bad ones, when we came back after 1.5 hours, they hadn't done any enhancements. But since we don't usually buy those, I didn't care too much. We also randomly asked someone to take our picture at the mall in front of the tree, but they didn't come out all that well. So we took some more in front of the fireplace at home. That one will go on our Christmas card.

We also attended Kris's Toyota Christmas party. Amazingly we knew very few people there. But we are all for an evening out when babysitting is paid for! Ryan got to go to the Toyota daycare and enjoyed himself until he had a bad poop (too much acid in the pizza). We should have warned them that he is a good eater and if they keep giving him pizza he will keep eating it! Because Ryan was up so late, he's been sleeping in since then. It's nice not getting up at 7:30, but I'm sure we'll get back to that before too long. So far it's moved back from 10am to 8:30.

Lately, Ryan and I have been trying to finish our Christmas shopping, we only have my dad left to do. Yesterday, we made 10 dozen cookies for my mom's group Christmas cookie exchange. We made just chocolate chip because everyone likes mine. That took us 3 hours! But they are so good.

Today, we had to go to Target to get boots because - guess what - it snowed!! Yes, we have less than an inch of snow and they closed all the schools!! I couldn't believe it. I took Ryan outside before we left and after we got home so he could play a little. He thought it was pretty cool. He liked watching me throw snowballs and eat the snow, but couldn't figure out why the snow kept sticking to his mittens! Here are some pictures of him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. We travelled to PA to spend Thanksgiving with Kris's family. We drove out on Wednesday and made it there for dinner spending time with Kris's dad and his new exchange student Ibo (he's from Turkey). We spent the night determining where everyone would sleep and getting the room ready for Ryan to sleep in (he moved to a toddler bed in another room so we had to de-glass it). Thursday, we went to Kris's mom's house for turkey dinner and got to visit with his grandmother. We had a nice time seeing everyone. I took some pictures of Ryan outside of Grammie's house that were too cute not to share.

Friday, Kelli picked me up at 10 minutes to 3 (am) to go shopping. We made it to four stores in four hours and made it home while Ryan was eating breakfast. Kris took Ryan and they went shopping with his mom for the whole day!! So I got a nice relaxing day at the farm.

Saturday, we spent around the farm playing with Katelyn. Ryan and Kris played outside, while I wrapped gifts. Later that night we went to a open mike night at a neighboring town for dinner. Ryan had a blast and loved the music. He was very upset with our choice of seats (at the back) and made sure to move to the front as soon as he could.

Sunday, after church, we had Harper Thanksgiving at Aunt Lucy's house. She managed to fit 28 people into her kitchen/living room. A little busy, but a lot of fun. Ryan didn't know to over eat so he ended up eating cereal for dinner later that night. We got to see Clara while there and I took some pictures of the three kids.

We drove home on Monday while his family was freezing waiting for deer to arrive. We haven't heard yet if anyone got one. Kris had a training session for something he volunteered for at work that night and then he left for California at 6 am Tuesday morning. So Ryan and I are at home now. My mom came down to pick up presents and visit with us again. And we've been doing preliminary kitchen table shopping.

Thanks to everyone who hosted us over our weekend. We were so glad to see everyone and look forward to seeing everyone again at the upcoming holidays.

Christmas Decorating While Watching Crappy Football

We decided that we should put up all the Christmas decorations this weekend to take advantage of the mild weather and the last football games that keep us inside! We got a lot done - all the decorations with exception of my nativity scene are up, all the lights and the tree is up and decorated. Everything looks pretty good - even if sparse. We just don't have enough high areas to keep a lot of decorations, so we are trying to trust Ryan to keep away from things. We'll see. We did manage to decorate the tree almost completely in Baby's First Year and Newly Married decorations. I can't believe how many we had.

As for football, all 4 teams that we root for managed to lose this weekend. So we are an unhappy bunch here. Except Ryan, for some reason, he has been in a great mood for the last two days. He must be feeling better. Here is a cute picture of Ryan and Kris cuddling on the couch watching the end of the Pittsburgh game.

This week, we sat at home most of the week. My mom came down for a few days and we did some shopping. We went to library class and played at my friend Sarah's with Max. But besides that we bummed around here. I did let Ryan play with shaving cream for fun, he had a great time even if it only kept him busy for 15 minutes.

Big bed at last

Ryan slept in his big boy bed last night for the first time. It wasn't the easiest transition that we've made with him, but he did finally fall asleep in the bed around 10. Yesterday, we disassembled the crib so there was no confusion - instead he kept pointing at the blank spot in his room. He had to put him back on the pillow 4 times before he first left the room. I had to go in twice because he got out of bed. We put a safety handle on the door so he can't escape (yes, we're mean parents). The second time I went up was because - I think - he fell out of the bed while trying to climb out, so he was crying. He did toss and turn all night but we never had to go back in. He woke up at 8:30 - about normal - and sat in bed calling for Daddy. Naptime was a struggle today because he fought Kris, so he was cranky tonight. But he is sleeping in his bed now - on top of the covers. But sleeping!

We also rearranged Ryan's room a little today and put up pictures and shelves. Exciting to see the rooms finally come together. I want to buy a bookshelf for his room, but that will wait until next month. We also still have to put the border up, but that hasn't made it to highest priority yet. Maybe after Christmas.... While we were putting stuff up - this picture is what Ryan was doing (destroying styrofoam).

Headcase and bed

Ryan has not slept in the big boy bed yet. The first night, I tried to put him in there he had a fit. So it was back to the crib. Now I've been asking him where he wants to sleep and he picks the crib - well he picks the bed for 20 seconds and then picks the crib. His new favorite thing to do is climb in and out of the crib and play. Today he hit his face on the crib while climbing out - maybe that taught him something (but I doubt it). So we're betting it's something that he'll do for Daddy and not me - fine. I think we are going to have to take the crib out of his room for it to stick. So maybe this weekend.

Because Ryan and I both have colds that are quickly becoming sinus infections, we haven't been around any of our friends all week. So we've mostly stuck to shopping and infecting people we don't know. Today we traveled to the ritzy mall (the one with the Brookstone) that is 30 minutes away. We didn't buy a single thing except for lunch. I couldn't believe it - of course I'm having trouble this year getting into the Christmas shop for other people mode. I keep looking for myself! Anyway, in walking away from me at the mall, Ryan decided to climb the stairs after I said no and tripped and hit his head on the stair. It was bleeding pretty badly but stopped quickly. Now he has a band-aid - but unlike other toddlers he does not think this is cool!! Amazingly he hit the other eye than normal (where he has about 5 times already).

I've also been working hard at home. I think this was probably my most productive week in this house yet. Kris probably won't notice much because it's all little stuff that I just hadn't finished. But I did move the office around, a task that I've been prepping for for weeks. He has to move the new filing cabinet in and we have to babyproof and we'll be all set to let Ryan roam in here too. Gates down!

Tonight's the Night

Tonight will be the first night Ryan gets to sleep in the big boy bed. He climbed out of the crib again this morning. Of course, it earlier than I would like to get him up (7:45 as opposed to 8:15). I'm really losing that alone time to take a shower in the morning. But he's so proud of himself. He came running into my room this morning like 'Look at Me!'. So we got some bed rails from a friend of Kris's who's son isn't using them. We will still probably have to go buy a set that travels well. We're going to have to figure out what in the world to do with him at the farm and my parents over the holidays. I was really hoping to hold off, but Ryan wants to be a big boy! Maybe he'll start using the potty by himself next week............

A mom can dream.

The Funny Inevitable

Well, Ryan suprised us this morning - by coming into our room! Two days ago, when he got up from a nap, I heard some loud sounds coming from his room. I assumed it was just him throwing books out to get our attention. But when I went in I saw that one side of the bed rail on his crib wasn't up. At first I assumed I hadn't latched it correctly. Later, Ryan put the side up from the outside of the crib, so I put him in the crib and watched him move the rail up and down until a side came down. So I haven't been letting him stay in the crib for more than a few minutes after he woke up. Well, this morning, we heard him in his room talking loudly and moving the rail again. We waited just a few minutes and his door opened (yes, he learned to open doors too) and in he came - proud as can be!! So now we are either off to the store to buy a bed rail for his big boy bed or off to a friend of Kris's who was going to give us one. We had really been hoping to wait until after Christmas, but it doesn't look like he's going to wait that long.

Last week, he also figured out the gates, if he tries hard enough. We tightened them, so he can't get them now, but once he figures out to move them upward just like the crib - we will be in trouble! Luckily, we just have to finish the office and we'll take them down.

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. We had a great day here. In the morning, Ryan and I joined our moms group friends for a little parade at one of the local nursing homes. We brought some smiles to the faces of the nice ladies there. After we got home, we finally carved our pumpkin. Ryan helped to scrape out the insides and I carved it during his nap. He really enjoyed it. Then after Daddy got home and we had dinner, we all dressed up to go out. We left our candy on the porch for the 3 or 4 people who would venture all the way down to our house, got into the wagon and off we went. I think it was a total of about 20 houses - which was perfect for us. Unfortunately, everyone over bought and were very glad to give away 5 pieces of candy per child. So we have most of ours left (and I only bought 2 bags) and a ton more. Ryan had a great time. He especially enjoyed pulling the empty wagon and ringing the doorbell. He didn't say thank you (of course he can't say those words yet) but he waved bye to everyone! Overall a great night.

Before Halloween came, I had two outfits for Ryan. We tried them both on, but the fireman costume - while so cute - was too big and cheap. It would never have lasted until next year, but Ryan loved the hat, so we had to return it. But here is a picture I took while trying it on. And another picture with mom's witch hat! Now we're off to shop the after Halloween sales.

The Last Week

For the last week, we have hung around home and played with some friends before we went to MI for the weekend. I have some pictures of Ryan playing with my new Halloween hat, in the laundry and out in the rain. Ryan's new thing is 'No, no, no'. I say this when I don't really mean no, but we are laughing about it. Ryan doesn't actually say it, but he moves his hand in a no-no pattern. It's really funny. I included a picture of that too. He also has a new way of smiling for pictures. With his eyes closed. Too funny.

Over the weekend, Ryan and I drove to MI for Shannon Williams bridal shower. Ryan attended also and was very good. We also visited Danielle Scramlin (Brown) - a friend from high school - and her two little ones - Taylor and Grant. We both had a lot of fun - Ryan playing, and me catching up.

Last week, we went out to dinner and spent an afternoon with friends Shannon, Jeff and Mason. They were awaiting the arrival of their new little one and we provided a bit of distraction. Luckily, Jackson Jeffery came into the world on Friday, October 26, weighing 9lbs. Sorry I have no pictures yet. But we visited him today. He is a cute little one, who is driving them nuts during the night and being an angel during the day.

Also, my friend Kristin D'Angelo (Shanley) had her baby - Landon Vincent on October 19th. He was 8lbs, 12 oz. Both baby and mom are doing well. Here is a picture.

New Pictures

Seattle and other pictures for August through October can now be found at the Snapfish link to the left!

New Things Around Here...

In the last few days, we had a few things happen. Mostly, Ryan and I have been at home resting from our trip and playing with all the toys we've been missing. But Kris brought home our new car on Wednesday!!! We ordered our Corolla in July and finally got it, actually it's been at the dealership for 3 weeks but since Kris had to pick it up it just sat there. I think it's so exciting to get a new car. Of course, now it's sitting at Kris's work again because he is in Toronto - actually on his way home right now.

The second thing, was we had our first family tornado warning! Yes - a blast. They interrupted the tv shows around 10:40pm to tell us about the upcoming weather and the sirens went off around 11:15pm. So after I got the radio, candles, a blanket and the popazan into our basement storage room (it was either that or the bathroom!) I went and got Ryan up and took him down there. Our power never went out so we listened to the tv and sat in the dark (with the candles burning) until the warning was over. Ryan thought it was pretty strange that I would wake him up at night and make him sit in the basement, but was relatively calm and went back to bed easily. It actually didn't start raining here until around 2am and then it was coming down in sheets and the wind was horrible. Actually I should go walk around the house to check all the siding and pick up Ryan's pool toys that are scattered in the backyard. But in the end - we're ok!!

Seattle!

I'm writing this late - but pretend we just got home. We were in Seattle from Wednesday until this Tuesday. Kris had his yearly LFM (MIT) conference. It was a interesting and fun trip for everyone, I think. I'll give you a run down of what we did and add pictures to coincide.

Wednesday - We flew out early in the morning. Ryan didn't like keeping his seatbelt on, but loved the tray tables. He spilled orange juice all over me and managed to poop 3 times during the trip (luckily for 2 of those we were still in the airport). When we got to the hotel, we both took naps and roamed the hotel until Kris came in. He put Ryan to bed and then went out to his MIT thing.

Thursday - Kris had day 1 of his conference. Ryan and I went to the childrens museum and played all morning. We had a great time there. Ryan loved the fire truck and bus. He played grocery store and taco stand as well as Japanese house. He had a great time and didn't want to leave (but McDonalds for lunch made up for it). After nap, we played at the hotel until early evening. We walked around the fish market area until it was time to meet Kris at the bar/dinner. Ryan was very shy there and told everyone that I was 'my momma'.

Friday - Kris had day 2 of his conference. Ryan and I played at the hotel in the morning then met Kris at his conference. We went to the zoo in the afternoon with other families from the conference - and unbeknownst to us Kris joined us. So we had a great afternoon with him. We got a special treat in getting to pet a beaver and a sloth! Ryan also got to ride in a car without a car seat (yes illegally). He was getting pretty used to it though because of the taxis and did well. After the zoo, Kris and Ryan went to the LFM dinner and I went back to the hotel to rest.

Saturday - We went to the fish market and walked around doing a little shopping and ate lunch. After nap time we stayed at the hotel and went swimming.

Sunday - We went to church then split up. Kris and Ryan went on a tour of Safeco Field which is where the Mariners play. Kris said Ryan had a great time walking around and even ran down on the field (when he wasn't supposed to). I went on an Underground tour. Seattle is currently built about 12 feet higher to sea level than it was originally. Back then it flooded badly, so after the Great Seattle fire (which they let burn most of the town), they rebuilt the streets at a higher level, but the sidewalks and buildings were originally built lower and people had to take ladders down to do shopping. Now they have covered over everything, but a lot of the sidewalks are hollow underneath. So the tour showed you some of these. After I took the tour, I met up with Kris and Ryan and took Ryan home for his nap, while Kris took the same tour. After nap we watched Monday Night Football (I like it at 5:30!) and played.

Monday - We took a Duck tour. We had taken one in Boston at Kris's graduation, so most the Harpers and my parents know what I'm talking about. It's a tank that can drive on the street and can also swim like a boat. They do pretty good tours. Kris was happy about getting out on the water. After that we stopped in the Experience Music Project for a few minutes, had lunch and then went up into the Space Needle. We did manage to lose Ryan in the needle, but since its a circle and not big, we found him within a minute. Unfortunately, that day it was too cloudy to see Mt. Rainer, so a little disappointing. Also by then our camera batteries had died so no pictures. Monday was actually the first day that it rained on us, everyother day it was just overcast. That night we went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and went home to pack. Amazingly, after 5 days, we NEVER stepped foot in a Starbucks - but they did provide it at the hotel!

Tuesday - we got up early (6am West coast time) to start our trip home. On the way out we had a 3 hour flight to Minneapolis and then a 2 hour flight to Seattle, but on the way home we had a 4 hour flight to Detroit and then a 1 hour flight to Cincy. The 4 hours were a little much, especially when we ended up circling because of a plane that was broke down on the runway. This time it was Kris with pop all over him because of Ryan. We ended up missing our connection and losing our luggage, but we did make it home. We let Ryan play with his trucks when he got home since he was so happy to be here!!