Dancing Queen

I love her little face!

I'm sure this has never happened to you...

Side effects of Christmas Shopperitis may include (but aren't limited to) the following:

-Uncontrollable urge to strangle, throttle, or ram the adjacent shopping cart.
-Desire to spout off a tirade of colorful expletives.
-Longing to curl up in the fetal position, allowing shoppers to run over you with their carts.
-Hair loss.
-Feelings of anxiousness, fatigue, nausea, or vomiting.

I'm sure this has NEVER happened to you, and it never happened to me today. :)

He'd have to be on the REALLY, REALLY nice list...

I went to the mall last week with a friend, and I thought that while we were there I'd take Ryder to see Santa. Luckily it was early in the day so there was no line. Ryder liked looking at Santa from a distance, but didn't want to sit on his lap. Santa asked, "What would you like for Christmas?" Ryder quietly said,"I'm hoping for a dog." Santa and I laughed at that.
He can have any kind of dog...as long as it's a stuffed one! :)

Chase's Furry Friend

This is how I found her a couple mornings in a row. I had to start closing the door because Kiwi was waking Chase up!

Running some "Aaron"ds

I told Ryder that we needed to "run some errands" today. I was just dropping different things off at some neighbors. We made our first stop and after I got in the car Ryder asked, "Where's Aaron?" I was confused at first. I just said, "We're not seeing Aaron." Then, we had to make another stop. When I got back in the car Ryder said, "I want to play with Aaron." Then it hit me...errand...Aaron. Oops! He was so good, I told him we had one more errand to run, and then we'd go home and I'd give him a sucker (he deserved something for sitting so well and being so confused)! After my last stop he said, "Bye Aaron!" Love that kid!

1/2 a year

Here's my little messy-faced princess. She's starting to eat solids and gets very envious of any food you're eating.

There's my silly little man in the background. Previous to this picture I was dancing around and he said, "Shake it, bay-ba."

My big kid and kids...

The Fam (except Chase who pooped through her costume) on Halloween night!

Fall Photo Shoot

Here are some pictures that my sister, Heidi, took of our family. She did an awesome job!

Where's my dippins'?

Ryder has been saying some funny things lately. Here is a sample of some of our conversations.

Me:(setting down fries and nuggets on a tray for him)
Ryder: Where's my dippins'?

Me: Ryder, did you have a good nap?
Ryder: Where's Rocky?

Me: (just gotten out of the shower) Do you like this towel on my head?
Ryder: Nope. Take that off!

Stress Free Potty Training?

I had been avoiding the idea of potty training. It just made me stressed to think about all the work that would go into it. So, I looked online and found this book:
The book gives parents different signs of readiness to look for before you start potty training. A quiz helps you determine what your child's personality is, then divides the different personalities into chapters. I didn't read the whole book--just the chapters that pertained to Ryder's personality types (he's a combination, of course).
About a month ago I bought him a potty chair to get him interested in the idea.
Then I started giving him "naked time," which means that after bath time or a diaper change you let your child roam free. This helps them feel the sensation more easily.
This brings me to yesterday...I was letting Ryder have "naked time" after the bath. I even gave him a drink to help him try to go pee-pee. After nothing happening I walked out of the room for a bit, and I heard the successful sound of the potty chair. I went in to see what had happened and ta-da! A successful pee-pee. He did it again for Rocky. Then in the evening he had 2 accidents. Unfortunately one was a not-so-easy-to-clean accident. Let this potty business begin.

He decided to take his diaper off during his nap. Peek-a-booty. :)

4 months old!

Well, I thought I would do some updated pics of Chase. She turned 4 months yesterday. Someone said, "That's 1/3 of a year old!" which just made me sad. I love having a sweet little baby. Rocky never wishes for the kids to stay young. In fact he says he wishes Ryder was 5! It must be a "girl thing" to be so sentimental. :)

Chase's top 5:
1) Drooling--and a lot of it!
2) Smiling. Any time someone looks at her she flashes a big grin.
3) Blowing Raspberries. Gotta love that sound.
4) Baths. A girl after my own heart!
5) Mommy! Of course--I feed, bathe, and adore her the most! :)

Let's not forget Ryder...
Ryder's top 5:
1) Playing pretend. He loves to make his toys talk. Favorite quote: "Are you calling me a liar?"
2) Cheese. He eats a steady diet of it...hopefully he won't end up living in a van down by the river.
3) Movies. Favorites include: Monster's Inc., Toy Story 2, and Madagascar 2.
4) Ty. That's Ryder's best friend.
5) Nursery. That's right. He's been sick so he couldn't go today, and he was crying saying he wanted to go to "nursey."

Stones--AGAIN!!

Just when I thought the stones were all gone they decided to come back for another visit...
It started Tuesday afternoon while I was waiting for Lindsay and Crissy to come over. At first I thought that they were menstrual cramps, but then the pain escalated. I took 2 oxycodone and I felt good for the visit (Lindsay could probably tell you if I was really acting normal). That evening I passed 2 stones, but I still felt so sick.
I tried drinking lots of water to pass more stones, but I couldn't keep anything down (I threw up 12 times in about 36 hours). Anyway, I passed 2 more little stones and I think I may have one more small one. I'm crossing my fingers that this will be the end!!

Diaper Bag

I made this diaper bag last month, but I'm slow in posting. I actually got this pattern from Christi (Thanks, Christi!). I put this stiff Pellon interfacing in it to make stand up. It was fun to make, but working with interfacing is not easy! I still may add a ribbon enclosure, but for now it's velcro inside.
Anyway, it's a big accomplishment for me because I don't consider myself a seamstress!

Chase Update

I realized I need to post more pictures of Chase!! She is growing so much. Here is a little photo progression of her life the past couple months.





She is such a happy baby!






A little too much love...

A rude awakening...

A very honest reaction from an infant. :)

Bath time.



Awww!


And of course, we can't forget Ryder.


Goin' in for the kill.

He is such a silly boy!

He likes to pretend to be a baby sometimes.

This is Ryder's best friend, our next door neighbor, Ty.


P.S. About my kidney stones...they are no longer! I had heard about the coke and asparagus remedy (Thanks, Rachel! :)), and I haven't had pain since. Now hopefully I've passed them all.

My crafty 15 Minutes of Fame

I wouldn't describe myself as a crafty person, but I saw these cute owls on a website called farmhousefive.com so I decided I would attempt to make some of my own using scrapbook paper we had at home. I was feeling crafty and the price was right. My plan is to put the 3 owls in a long white frame, and I had a frame for the other piece. I am really excited about these, but don't look too closely! :)