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.