Ryan Takes Out the Trash

Now that we've moved and have changed the way we take out the trash, I wanted to make sure to capture this one last time. This SO reminds of me of when Kyle first started doing the same chore!

Obstacle Course

It's moving day!!!!  But before we live in different house, Kyle wanted to make one more obstacle course at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.  First, you jump along the pillows, going around the beds. 

Next, you zig-zag through the lazy river.  Then, you roll back on the "mat."

Last, you crawl through the "tunnel." 

I know Kyle had an obstacle course to go through at school a few days ago, and it was fun to watch him explain "how you do it." 

On the Road Again

 Buying a new home is stressful enough, but our blood pressure has been through the roof because of all the issues with that old bat rear-ending and totaling our old car in the same time frame.  We are finally back on the road again, having closed on our house and officially able to open a new line of credit.  {I didn't understand how it would really affect our house since we ALREADY had a car loan open, which was paid off by the insurance, and were just basically transferring that to another car.  Either way, we didn't want to take any chances on our house falling through because then we would be without a car AND a home.} 

Monday was a VERY busy day.  After closing on the house, we grabbed lunch, came home to pick up the boys, went out to the builders to try to pick up our keys.  I say "TRY" here because we NEVER got our house keys that day!!  It's a busy week for them, and there was--to say the least--a BIT of a communication problem between the company rep and the builder.  We waited for the rep at the office for almost an hour, had to leave to pick up Kyle from school, came back to find her back at the office, but she didn't have our keys and couldn't reach the builder.  Luckily, we have keyless entry, so we could get in, but our keys weren't located by the time we needed to leave. {We FINALLY picked them up last night!}

We left so Stephen could run down to try to find a car.  He found several, test drove a few, and I was able to go to the dealership and co-sign MORE papers.  By the time we were just about ready to finalize everything, a manager came out to tell us the car had to be inspected and it was too late in the day to do so, so we wouldn't be able to take the car that night.  ONCE AGAIN, we had made a major purchase and left WITHOUT the keys to said purchase!!!!!

Luckily, using our sob story of no car, 3 young children, and Stephen's odd work hours, we were able to convince them to deliver our car yesterday!  It's so nice to have my own wheels again.

{No, we did NOT buy Dora 3.0.  We decided to switch things up a bit, but this silver fox doesn't yet have a name.} 

It's Official!

We are home owners!!!!!!

SPRING!!!!!!

 We are enjoying some GLORIOUS spring weather around here.  Too bad Spring Break isn't this week.  I am loving the mild, sunny temperatures and trying to relish every minute before the heat of the summer is upon us. 
This weather really gets me in the mood for baseball!  A few weekends ago, Stephen was able to score some sweet tickets from a season-ticket-holder/doctor friend of his to see the Aggies play in their new stadium.  Even though it was last-minute, Jordan {and Julia and Claire} were able to hop over for a quick visit for the weekend and to let the boys have some baseball time.  Kyle was even included as one of the boys!

Blue Bell park---much improvement on the old Olsen Field.  I can't wait to go see a game there!

Welcome, spring!!!!

And the Little One Said.....

ROLL OVER?

Evan rolled over yesterday.  Not the, "my-head-weighs-more-than-my-body, so-when-I'm-on-my-tummy-and-turn-it-in-just-the-right-way-I-roll-over-with-gravity" kind of rolling over.  The was a legitimate "I'm-on-my-back-and-want-to-see-what's-going-on-behind-me, so-I'm-gonna-roll-over-and-see" kind of roll.  My baby is growing up too quickly!!!

The Other Night Before Bed

Po read a book to Evan,

 and patted his tummy when it came to the part about the bear reaching dinnertime.

He loves his little brother!

 It seemed as soon as that moment began, it was over, and Ryan was off to jump and run around a little.  Evan was just as happy as always. 

Kyle played with his Back to the Future Delorean.
  

And then it was MY favorite time of day.....BEDTIME!

Kyle's Spring Pictures

"Cheese!"

St. Patrick's Day

 Top o' the mornin' to ya!  We are having a joyful St. Patty's Day around here.  The day started off with a green breakfast of green eggs and ham and green grapes.  Kyle loved it, but Ryan wasn't too sure. 

 Then, we were off to search for the Leprechaun box.  {Speaking of the leprechaun, I hope you have all taken a moment to re watch the video of the Mobile Leprechaun.  It's a St. Patrick's Day classic.} 
That sneaky, little guy left the box in the dining room!

 Kyle grabbed it and ran into the living room to check out the treasures.  Po followed closely  behind. 

 The leprechaun left us some St. Patrick's Day shirts and some chocolate gold coins!!!

Here's the boys, all dressed up in their festive attire.  {Evan's didn't make it past 11:00 a.m.}

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  We hope it brings you lots of luck!

Tummy Time

Evan just loves tummy time, especially after he's fed, bathed, and dressed.  He's such a happy guy!

Hat Parade

 After Crazy Hat Day at Kyle's school, they also had a hat parade.  Kyle wanted to switch things up and wear this Cat in the Hat hat for the parade.  {It ended up being not a good weather day for wearing hats--WINDY!}

Here's the Monkey Class, with Kyle in the front of the pack.

Ryan climbed up to higher ground for a better view.

Do you like my hat?

Yes, Kyle, we do!

Look at These Yard Darts

Last Monday Stephen got a text from work asking him why he hadn't come over to pick up the Houston Rodeo tickets he'd won.....for Monday.  Since Monday is Stephen's day off anyway, we decided to go ahead and check out the rodeo...for free!  This WAS our first rodeo, and boy were we unprepared.  We didn't even bring a stroller!
Instead of driving and trying to worry about parking, we just went to a park-and-ride place to hop on a bus, which the boys thought was really cool.  And then we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, AND WALKED all the way through a massive carnival to get to the actual rodeo.   We did get there at a perfect time and saw just enough of several events to get a little bit of rodeo in us--horseback, steer wrestling, bull riding, barrel racing--it was just enough. 
 

Then, we decided to get some grub.  Just look at the size of those corn dogs!!!!

I was happy with lemonade and funnel cakes.

FINALLY, the boys got to play!!!!  Ryan is still too short to ride most of the rides {big surprise}, but got to go on the merry-go-round several times.

Kyle was in carnival heaven on the roller coaster and other fun rides he chose.

Kyle said he had a "fun, fun time!" 

I think we all did!

4 Months Old

Time flies!  Evan is already another month old.

He is a great baby--happy, talkative, loves to laugh.  He sleeps through the night easily, for quite a while now.  I don't even remember that zombie-new-mom stage because he started sleeping for long stretches early on.  Evan LOVES to listen to me sing to him.  He laughs, smiles, giggles, and squeals.  A few of his favorites lately are, "A Very Merry Un-Birthday" and my version of "Heaven" where I change the words to, "Evan, Baby Evan, my heart beats so that I can hardly speak......"  Yes, as long as this little chunk-o-potamus is well-fed, he is a pleasant, happy, content little guy.  {Just don't go more than 12.7 seconds past his limit after he feels those first signs of hunger!}

If I had to make a complaint--he goes through WAY too many clothes.  Between spitting up and spewing poop, it seems as if I'm always changing clothes or giving baths.  But, Evan grins through it all and makes my day even when I'm knee-deep in dirty laundry.  I just love those chubby-cheeked grins!

I don't have official stats, but he's somewhere around 13 lbs. 

   

You've reached the 4-month mark, Evan! Hooray!

23 Months Old

Not only is Ryan only one month away from his second birthday today, but he is also 100 weeks old!  Ryan is quite the character--full of energy, jolly, never met a stranger, and loving.  He often gets animated when trying to get his point across, especially since he doesn't "use his words" much.  He's getting there, though.  Every now and then I hear sparks of words through the mumbo-jumbo.  He'll get there when he's ready.
Ryan loves to jump, climb, and do all kinds of active, "boy" things.  The new things I've noticed this month include walking backwards and climbing up and downstairs standing up as the preferred method.  Ryan also likes books, especially ones that require making lots of funny sounds.  He loves his brothers, is very sweet and soft with Evan, and mimics Kyle a little too much sometimes.  Ryan is still very musical--dancing, clapping, shaking his booty, leading music, and playing instruments whenever he gets a chance.   

We have seen glimpses into the land of the "terrible twos" lately.  I'm hoping he won't be as stubborn as Kyle was {and continues to be}, but only time will tell

Stats:
Weight: 25.6 lbs.
Height: still about knee-high to a grasshopper.
    

Happy 23 months/100 weeks, Ryan!