Let's Talk about Ryan

Since it was Madison's birthday a few weeks ago, she got quite a bit of attention out her in blog land. So today I am going to talk about Ryan! Ryan is so full of life! He is so energetic and amazing. I love to watch him, in whatever he does. He amazes me everyday. For example the other night at dinner, he was eating an onion ring and said "This looks like an 'O'." Very good Ryan! Then he took a bite. He said "Now it looks like a 'C'." Again, very good Ryan! The he began to tell us that caterpillar starts with C. I was very impressed! This just goes to show me that he does actually listen to me when I tell him things, or read to him, and explain everything to him when he always ask "Why?"

Ryan however does have a few people fooled! You can look at him and think he is all sweet and innocent (which 1/2 the time he is) but with the flick of a switch that boy can stir up some trouble. He is all boy and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here is an example of the trouble that "finds him." We went to the beach one day a few weeks ago. Once we were done and were back at the van packing up, I got the baby powder out and started putting it on the kids legs, arms, feet, etc. (If you didn't know baby powder takes sand off of you so easy! That way we can leave the sand at the beach and not bring it back home) Well, Ryan of course had one million questions about what I was doing. So I explained it all to him. End of story. So I thought! That night when I put him to bed it was awfully quiet in his room. Usually he jabbers to himself before going to sleep. I decided to check on him. Luckily I did, because he had gotten out the bottle of baby powder and had "sprinkled" in all over his room. I walked in there and there he was holding the bottle of baby powder saying "Sorry Mama". I couldn't help but laugh. I got the vacuum out and cleaned up his mess. Let's just say this mess was a little easier to clean up than the mess of vics baby rub that he was "making hot chocolate" with the day before! Gotta love him!!

Here are a few recent pictures of MY boy! Love you Ry Ry!!

Ryan wanted to have his towel on his head just like I do. Silly boy! This picture could come in handy later down the road!

Playing at the beach!

Ryan is constantly on the go from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. Looks like he must have had an exhausting day!!

Planning for Disney World

We have decided to take the kids to Disney World the first week of February. I am so excited to be able to take Ryan...and Madison too, but I think Ryan will get a little more out of it! Don't get me wrong Madison will have a blast, but probably won't remember much!
Well if you know Disney, you know you have to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner reservations 6 months in advance, if you want to eat at sit down restaurant. Since we have the little ones, we are doing many Character Dinings. So, I was up late last night "planning" when and where we are going to eat. You know how hard it is to plan when and where you are going to eat 6 months ahead, especially when you have to worry about 2 kids. (3 if you include Mike) So I think I FINALLY have an itinerary. I love being organized and love being in control, but this was a little much for me. I am trying to be the person who doesn't always have to be in control and just let things happen, but I haven't made it to that point yet. So for right now the schedule works, and I will have to call in a few days to make the reservations. Now in 6 months will this schedule still work?? I don't even want to think about it!!! I just need to relax and realize that most of the vacation is now planned and all I have to do is go and enjoy the time with my family!
Kristin~Thanks so much for putting up with all my "Disney" questions. I really appreciate all your help! It saved me lots of time, I saved all your e mails and referred back to them many times!! Thanks again!!! =)

Not much else going on here on the homefront. Mike is taking a few days off this week and we are going to Michigan's Adventure and the Zoo. Ryan asked me if we need to take a plane to Michigan Adventure like we need to take a plane to Disney World. So cute!! (we drive by Michigan's Adventure almost everyday..so I have no idea why he is thinking this!!) I will be sure to post some pictures later in the week!!!

Madison is ONE!! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Well Madison's first birthday has come and gone, but I still can't believe it! We had a great day on Saturday! We woke up to rain and thunder and a wet yard! I was very nervous and afraid it was not going to stop. It finally did and the sun even came out! We had Grandpa Snyder bring a huge tent (thanks again Old Man) just in case. My theory is if we put it up, it won't rain, if we don't put it up it will rain! So to keep the rain away the boys put it up! It worked out wonderful! The kids had a great time playing. I don't think Ryan, Austin, Emma, Lea Lea, Josie, or Madison ever stopped! I hope everyone kids slept as well as mine did that night!!

Madison got lots of very generous presents, and I thank everyone for that! I really appreciate how everyone made my little girl feel so special! She got lots of great new clothes! They are all so cute! I can't wait to play dress up! I am sure Madison is excited for this too! :)

Madison's butterfly cake. Not that spectacular, but she loved it! We had to take the picture from a certain angle because when I was carrying it out, Ryan went to touch it and fell into one side of it!

Madison's smash cake! I LOVE Ryke's cakes so her smash cake had to come from there! Their cakes are usually really gooey and messy! Just what I love!!! She stared out eating so nice and gentle, but then...............She made one heck of a mess! I was so glad to see her make a big mess for once!!

She got the cutest glasses and hat from Aunt Nancy! She loves the glasses!!

Ryan got her 2 baby dolls, which so loves!! She loves babies!!As long as she was in her chair, had her babies, had her hat on and was holding her sunglasses she was happy!!

Cake Time!!!

For Ryan's first birthday we made his cake. His theme was Baby Einstein and we made the caterpillar from the shows. Well, since we made Ryan's first birthday cake, it was only fair we did for Madison too! I really just wanted to order a cake and be done with it, but Mike kept pointing out that we did make Ryan's first cake! So we decided to make Madison a butterfly cake. It was much much easier than Ryan's cake and only took about an hour! So I did a lot of complaining for nothing! I have to admit it does like cool. (I don't have picture of it yet, but will post it when I do. It's not much but I know she will love it) Well it's almost midnight, I am exhausted and still have lots more to do tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know we will!!!

Ryan's first birthday cake! Madison's is not as fancy, but it turned out great! (will post pictures later!)

One more picture before she turns 1!!

More Madison

Just a few random pictures of Madison! I love the last one, it's just too cute... :)

Miss Madison!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Madison in her first week home! I go back and look at these pictures and can't believe how small she was! It's amazing how much she has grown! As I am looking at these pictures, I begin to think...hmmmm...do I want another one?? I look at the baby pictures and I am all about having more...and then it hit me....a butterfly net! Yes a butterfly net...Ryan is running around the house trying to catch a butterfly and hit me upside the head. By the way, there are not any butterflies in the house , so I don't know what he was doing. Yeah I think 2 kids is plenty! Enjoy the pictures!!

Look at those cheeks! So precious!

Ryan and Madison. He wasn't too sure of her at first!!

Another favorite of mine. Look at how tiny her feet were! So so small! LOVE IT!!

4 days until Madison turns the BIG 1!!

This Saturday July 12, Madison is turning1. I can't believe it. I get very emotional just thinking about it. You moms out there have to know where I am coming from. Over the next week I am going to be stealing an idea from one of my fellow blogger, Kristin. I will post pictures of Madison throughout her first year! I think it's going to be fun looking back and remembering everything from her first day home to her taking her first steps. (Thanks Kristin, your idea is awesome)

I had a scheduled c-section on July 12th at 8 am. Had to be to the hospital at 5am. After 3 failed attempts to get my IV in, they finally got it right! I almost past out and was ready to go home after that! I asked that my mom and dad would bring Ryan up to see me before I went into surgery. So around 7:30 they arrived, I wanted to see him "just in case". I got to hang out with Ryan for about awhile before they wheeled me away. As they started to take me away, Ryan started crying, which in turned made me cry. I know this was probably really selfish of me for him to go through this, but you never know what could happen. He was fine after about 5 nurses came to his rescue with snacks and juice!

Madison was born at 8:30 am. It was the best thing to hear her cry! I cried, Mike cried , I saw her for a minute and they took her away! I was stitched and set to recovery! During this pregnancy I had Gestational Diabetes, so Madison had to keep getting poked in her heal to check her blood sugar. I think it took about 2 hours before I got to see or hold her. She had a few sugar issues at first. They even talked about putting an IV in her if her levels did not go up. I was a mess. Getting all this information while I could do nothing. I wanted to be there with her, but I couldn't. Mike ended up having to feed her a bottle to try to get things right!

Finally, I was able to hold my little girl!! Mike assured me he followed my number one rule! The rule was NO ONE was allowed to hold before me (well except mike of course). This was a rule with Ryan too! I know selfish again, but I carried this little girl for 9 months so I deserved to hold her first!! Madison weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 in long. She was/is perfect and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful little baby!

This was right before we left for the hospital.

Proud Daddy feeding his girl, trying to get her sugar levels up! The nurse was so great about taking these pictures for us!

Here she is!! Madison Elizabeth! So precious!

Finally getting to hold her!! I can't believe how small she was!

I'm Back..........

I am refreshed and ready to finish the post from last night...I promise it won't be very long this time! Just a few pictures from the Fireworks. After hitting the parade in Ludington and having a picnic at Grammie and Papa's house, we headed back to Whitehall for the fireworks! It was a little chilly but that didn't bother the kids at all. Ryan, Austin, and Madison stayed awake to watch all the fireworks. I thought for sure Madison would have fallen asleep but she was too nosey! She loves to people watch...I don't know where she gets that from :)

The boys wanted cotton candy! I knew Ryan wouldn't like it, but he had to have it. (we have tried cotton candy in the past and he just doesn't care for it) Austin was fine with that because he ate the WHOLE bag himself! That kid loves cotton candy. I guess I only edited one picture from that night. I am not going to back to edit more...I don't have too much time today!

Madison fell asleep on the way home and Ryan made it home, barely. When we got home we did a few of our own fireworks. Ryan thought it was pretty cool, Mike was bored with them because they were legal!

The kids slept in until 9 am on Saturday, it was great! I think that was the first time EVER for Ryan to sleep in that late. He is an early riser.

We went to the art fair on Saturday, which was fun! Mike knows this is the one event I look forward to every year, so we always make sure we make it! It was a beautiful day and there were TONS of people there!

Sunday was a relaxing day for us! We didn't do a darn thing. I did go grocery shopping but that was it. We let the kids play in the pool for a little bit. We haven't put up our big pool yet, so they had to make do with the little one. Which was great, they loved it!!!

Now I think I am all caught up! I am off to start getting Madison's birthday party together! Please PRAY for no rain on Saturday. We are planning on having her party outside...my house just isn't big enough for 30 + people!

Here are a few pictures from the rest of the weekend!!

Ryan and Madison swimming. Madison loved the water after I added hot water to it!!

SO BIGGGGGGGGGG!! Look at that BELLY!!

Promises, Promises

I know I said I would try to post at least 2 times a week, however, it's summer and we have just been crazy busy! So, I am going to try to start posting more. I can't PROMISE all of you anything though!

Alright, I am going to try to recap what has been going on in our household since the last time I posted. I am trying to remember...thank goodness for the camera without it I think I would have forgotten a lot!!

This was few weeks back. I won tickets from WMUS to see Dierks Bentley! Not only did I win tickets but a wonderful meal at Burger King! Thanks to my mom for coming to my house to watch the kids so Mike and I could go to the concert! We had a great time. And NO we did not go to Burger King for dinner. I told Mike if we have a babysitter he is not taking me to Burger King! We ended up going to The Station. We absolutely love that place! I have never had a bad meal or service from there. Although the concert had a rain delay, it was still great! It was nice to get out and have a few drinks and catch up with some old friends!

The next day we took the kids to the parade in downtown Muskegon! Ryan loves any kind of parade. He loves to get candy and he loves it when there are BIG trucks and fire trucks in the parade. He was scared of the big dragon from Art Van. Oh, and very scared of Furious Fred. But he is kinda scary to me too, so I can only imagine what is going through a 3 year olds mind! Madison did really well. I was a little worried about the noise, but it didn't bother her one bit. She sat on my lap and waved to EVERYONE! It was so cute.

Here is Daddy and Madison waiting for the parade to start!
The next picture is of Mike, Ryan, and my nephew Austin looking down the road to see if the parade was coming!

Ryan and Madison have been outside every second they can! We love to play outside. Ryan's new nickname is Dirtball! I swear this kid rolls in the dirt. I have to remind him constantly that he needs to keep his shoes on. Madison is the same way. Once I put her in the sand box the shoes come off...I guess she likes to feel the sand between her toes! Mike keeps saying he needs to add more sand to the sand box. I told him all I have to do is redeposit the sand from what the kids bring in the house and we wouldn't lose any sand. There is sand everywhere in my house!! Here is monkey boy Ryan! He is becoming really brave on the swing set. Makes me so nervous...we really need a padded ground!!

This next picture is now one of my favorites. Ryan is really getting into pretend play. He has been using my watering can and using it to put "yellow oil" into his car. (remember this is all pretend) You should here him say yellow oil, it really is the greatest.....it's so hard for hm to say. I will have to video tape him on time so everyone can enjoy what he is saying as much as I do. Anyway, back to the picture, Madison and Ryan are looking under the hood of lightening McQueen. Madison is pointing at something and it looks like Ryan is trying to figure out what is "wrong". It's just so stinkin' cute! I just love it!

I hope everyone is still with me. I guess I should have warned everyone it was going to be long! I think I will skip a few things and get to the 4th of July! We went to my parent's house in Ludington for the 4th. Ludington always has a great parade, and the last 2 years we have went, House of Flavors has given out FREE ICE CREAM, not just a little cup, a PINT of ice cream! We are always excited about getting our free ice cream. The parade was great and we had a good view. The parade started at 2, and I think Mike and I went down to down our blanket and chairs around 10:30. Which was really late I guess, because we were almost at the end of the parade. But we had a place where the kids could still have a "front row" seat and still get their candy! (not to mention the free ice cream!) Yeah, let's get back to the ice cream.....it never came! They didn't give out any ice cream! Mike was completely bummed. He brought a big cooler just so he could fill it up! Luckily we didn't tell the kids about it, because they would have been bummed! Here are a few pictures of our day. More pictures of the rest of the weekend to come later...It's late, I'm tired and I am sure all of you have had enough!!
Me and the kids at the parade in Ludington. Madison loved the beads! Papa showing Ryan the horse poop in the road! Yes, the finer things in life! Grammie and Miss Madison! Madison loved the parade again! Daddy and the kiddos! As you can see Ryan is trying to sneak a drink of Mike's pop!