What's Going On...

Well i've been questioned a lot about where we are at in life these days. Life is "settled" right now. We have all our stuff in one place, Ryder's enrolled in school, t-ball starts soon, we get to eat dinner together, we have friends and family around... it feels good!!

The last month of job searching was rough! I knew the job market was bad, I know you hear about unemployment in the news every single day, but I was not prepared for the fact that there were NO jobs! I thought there just weren't good jobs. I didn't realize you couldn't get a job A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!! We have finally had quite a few things come together it seems all at once. Derrik is officiating at the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity level football teams down in Collier county (for those out of Florida... we live in Lee county and Collier is just south of us). They have some kind of crazy drama going on right now between two groups. Luckily for us it meant there was a need for officials and that's how he ended up down there. Derrik LOVES it and is doing great. I love when he comes home excited about a job. He also just found out yesterday he got a full time job working at a golf course he worked at back in 2006 when we were dating. This is such a blessing because it's early mornings until early afternoons which still allows him to do officiating. Before we heard about that job he also had got hired doing valet at a local casino. They want him late nights (after officiating) Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I don't think that one is 100% official yet, but sounded like it would be soon. He is also taking on a project selling for my dad in his spare time. We are beyond thankful that he has found jobs for us to get by right now while we still try to look at the big picture of what we are doing. We have been talking lots about what we are looking for in the long run and are very open to quite a few options right now. We'll keep some that part private for now though :)

The boys are great. As I said in Landon's post he is happy as can be and growing perfectly. We love him to pieces. Ryder is doing amazing in school. He is learning so much. He comes home every day counting better, singing the days of the week and the months of the year. He says a different prayer at meals sometimes which they must say at school. He is also starting to color pretty well inside the lines. The other day he asked me if we could see the "LMNOP song"... too funny! He's doing great on his ABC's now. They do a different letter every week at school. He tells us stories about school which sometimes I think are so fake, but i'll find out later are true. He talks about Ally (my sisters name), Chloe (our dogs name), and Bella (my parent's dog's name), and go figure there is an Ally, Chloe, and Bella in his class! He even pointed Bella and Chloe out to us at Chuck E Cheese the other day. He refers to Ally at school as "Little Ally".

We have really struggled lately with separation anxiety with Ryder. I was questioning whether to pull him out of school since he is still so young, but his teacher and some friends really encouraged that we should keep him in. They say that he settles down pretty quick and is fine in school. The only time he gets upset is when he's on the play ground. Apparently he is the most popular kid on the play ground. His teacher said he has at least one to two kids coming up to say hi to him when they are out there. He gets upset when they leave. Ryder might be the most popular boy in the Fort Myers Christian School middle school.... the girls are gaga over him. He's even got a few girlfriends in the elementary school too haha. We've told the girls to make sure they don't say hi anymore unless he sees them first. A friend made a good point the other day. In the last five months Ryder has gotten a new brother, had his dad leave for two and a half months, moved across the country into a new home, and started school. I guess a little separation anxiety is to be expected. We love him and will work through it :)

And the last thing we have going on around here... Derrik and I leave Monday morning for a four day cruise for our four year anniversary! He surprised me with it, and I could not be more excited. Seems odd to go with no jobs, but we haven't had a chance for a vacation in two and a half years because of Derrik's rehabs. We can not wait to go relax, not worry about jobs, moving, baseball, or even kids... although we will miss them terribly! For the next four days we will just relax, and be ready to start on our new adventures of jobs when we get back :) Happy Anniversary to us!!!

Here we go again...

You didn't think baseball would completely leave our lives did you? HA! It's time for baseball to be about someone else in our family for a little while. We had our first t-ball meeting this week, practices the next two weeks, and his first game October 8th. Derrik was kind of against t-ball and it's lack of "real game" I guess is a good way to put it. I just wanted Ryder involved in something to get around kids and be a part of a team. In the fall it was either t-ball or soccer. We are really excited for basketball come January though!!

Here are some pictures of the boys practicing yesterday....

Landon Brennan - 5 Months Old

*** Sorry for the post a day late... I had this all written out and our internet went down, and I lost it all. So fun typing it up twice... UGH!**

Five months buddy! Can I keep you right at this age forever? You are PERFECT! I know what's to come. I know you are about to start moving all over the place, that childproofing is right around the corner, and all of that fun stuff. PLEASE just stay a baby for a long time because this is flying by, and i'm enjoying it wayyyyy too much for it to be over soon.



I just re-read your four month post, and you still like attention. You aren't needing to be held as much because you are finally "playing" in some sense. You now focus on toys and grab at them with ease. You have quite a few favorites, and I try to introduce new ones every couple of days to keep you happy. When you do want attention though you have developed this new high pitch scream. It is too funny because you do it when we put you in your car seat, stroller, and whenever you are over something. It is not a cry at all and totally on purpose. You kind of sound like a little girl with the squeal :) Your favorite place to be is the high chair with toys and your exersaucer. You sit straight up in the high chair now and have started to swivel with ease in the exersaucer. You don't really bounce in it too much yet. I'm sure you will because Ryder use to rock that thing!

Sizes:

You are in the size 3 diapers. Your clothes I feel like I can never keep up on. I finally think to myself you are set for clothes for a little while, but that "little while" only really lasts like two weeks before you start growing out of something else. As you can see in these pictures clearly we need to get some bigger onesies. We don't wear them much because it's SO hot here. You are outgrowing a lot of your shirts. Thanks to Grammy we have plenty of jammies. She is sweet enough to bring home about a pair a week. Your shorts are six months, shirts 6-9, one piece outfits anywhere from 6-12, and jammies 12 months fit best. You do wear some bigger sizes in a few things but simply because they are around from your big brother.

Food:

You are still on six ounce bottles. You have one first thing in the morning, after your morning nap, before your afternoon nap, after your afternoon nap, and before bed. We are pretty consistent with the solidas now that you have a bigger interest in the last two-ish weeks. In the mornings you have a fruit and some baby rice and in the evening you have a vegetable and some baby rice. I think you have tried all of the step one baby foods. You love them all except the green veggies. You seem to kind of accept green beans but won't even think about the peas. Of course now I tend to not give them to you because it's annoying to fight you on them. We have a pretty good supply of the step one foods so we will move up to the step two once we run out.

Sleep:

You are definitely an expert in this category! We generally give you your last bottle around 7:00 and have you in bed at about 7:30. We don't ever hear from you before 8:00, but lately it's more like 9:00-9:30 especially on mornings you stay home with Daddy while I take Ryder to school. You only woke up once during the night this month for a bottle, and it was while you had a cold. PLEASE have a talk with your big brother about your sleep habits. He could use some advice!!

Some Other Things:

You finally rolled over this month. I would not call you an officially roller though. You rolled over twice in one day around the middle of the month and once another day. I'm not sure three rolls classifies you are a roller buddy :) I looked at Ryder's stats, and he rolled for the first time the day he turned five months so at least you are ahead of him. Friends who have babies your age say their little ones are rolling all over the place. I guess you just aren't interested. I'm pretty content with you staying in one place because I know it'll only last for so long so i'm soaking it in.

You wouldn't cooperate at all sitting for pictures today, but you are getting pretty decent at it. Sometimes you hold yourself up a little better and other times you look like a pancake laying on your legs. I think we might get some super cute six month photos next month with my big guy sitting :) I don't look forward to some stages, but sitting is my favorite!

You recognize your name now. I love when someone comes into the room and calls your name. You look around searching for where the noise is coming from and get the biggest grin as soon as you find them.

You and your big brother are becoming friends fast. You like to lay on the floor with him and watch him play. Just last night for the first time you belly laughed. You did it because he was being silly in the bath tub with you. I'm pretty sure it made my heart smile :) You two are going to be the best of friends, and i'm going to enjoy every second of it.

A failed attempt at sitting pictures...

Two of your favorite things to do in life:

1. Stand up

2. Chew on your fingers. You gag yourself multiple times a day doing this.

My favorite thing this month was watchign the two of you fall head of heels in love with each other. You loved each other before we left Arizona, but this is at a whole new level. Watchign you two this month has been the best :)

See you in a month for the big 1/2 year post. Crazy huh?!

Change of Plans

It seems as if Wednesdays are meant to be spent with Miss Amanda, Soso, and Dyson at the Little Dipper pool. We got there yesterday at ten, our usual meeting time, and the guy told us it was closed. What?! They can't be closed because we've already gotten our kids in their swim suits, their hopes up, coolers packed with a million snacks, and I've already gotten myself excited about my kids playing with friends and having some time to catch up with one of my best friends. BUT it was closed!

Plan B... The splash pad! It felt like a fail at first because Ryder refused to go play. He's having a little bit of separation anxiety these days. In the end though they had such a great time. We brought a big bag of monster trucks which were the hit of the splash pad. About ten kids were playing with them. We put the babies in their Bumbo seats in front of a little fountain. They were so cute how excited their little faces got when they saw it. I know they won't be sitting in these seats for too long. We are enjoying our immobile days very much while they still last... because this time we know what's coming!!








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Florida's Fall

Just as everyone else is starting to realize it's already getting cold up north a little too soon we are realizing we are going to be in for an amazing fall and winter down south. Our evenings are starting to get really nice out, and we've already enjoyed a couple evening like this....











I love being a Florida Girl :)

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Wordless Wednesday: LOVE me some baby feet!

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We Have a Sitter

We are a long way off from being a full blown sitter, but we are definitely in the beginning stages with Landon. Today he was sitting for about 30-60 seconds on his own. You can see him wanting to pull himself up into the sitting position now, and i'm sure we aren't too far off from fully sitting all the time. If my memory serves me right, Ryder was sitting completely on his own playing around six months. Here are some photos of our little guy practicing his sitting skills outside today...

It's Happening....

The boys are starting to take notice in each other! It might be in the top five of my favorite things parenting these two little guys. As i've said before Ryder has taken little notice in Landon over the last four months, but ever since Landon has started becoming more expressive and interacting Ryder has been much more attentive. I've even caught a few pictures of them beginning to play with each other. I'm wondering if this is going to stay fun only until Landon can start grabbing whatever toys he wants :)









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Check-Ups and a Prayer Request

This week the boys both went for their check-ups. Ryder went for his three year old check-up and Landon went for his four month check-up. It all came full circle for our new pediatrician when I told her we came to her because I went to her as a kid. She said we made her feel old haha.

Ryder was really excited to go for him after so many appointments for Mommy and Landon over the last year. He was also excited Landon got to do everything with him.



Ryder weighed in at 35.5 pounds, was in the 90th percentile for height, and the 80th for his weight. The doctor was very pleased he was potty trained and in school. She said we are doing a great job on everything and highly recommended some swim lessons for this Florida boy. We will see if we get around to them. His Auntie Hailey seems to be doing a fine job on her own.


Baby Landon had a great check-up as well. He weighed in at 17.15 pounds and was in the 80th percentile for both height and weight. We got the go ahead to move him onto stage 2 foods, the baby meats (gross... never did these with Ryder), and baby yogurt. He was hitting all his milestones and a healthy little guy just like his brother.

Both boys got shots. Ryder just got the flu shot, and Landon got his vaccines he was due for. He has to wait until six months for his flu shot.

After our appointment we headed to the Little Dipper pool to hang out with Sophia and Dyson.



This is as fun as these guys play dates get these days. I'm sure they will be a handful soon though!


This week I was reminded that you can't always walk your kids into their check-ups and walk out an hour later with a clean bill of health. It is something I think many of us take for granted. I am asking for our friends and family to please take some time out of your day to say a prayer for some of our baseball family who lost their little girl in the seventh month of pregnancy due to complications. We love you guys and are praying for you!


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Squeaky Clean

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Go Eagles

As with the last three years.... These pictures are hard to come by. This year the games had already started when Ryder got home from breakfast with his grandparents, and he was way more interested in getting in the pool with his friends. Derrik wanted to get back to the games, and of course Landon was totally ready for a nap. We snapped a few. You know that computer program they always advertise on t.v. where you can pick and chose the face from different pictures to make a perfect picture.... I need that!

You'll know where to find us on Sundays :)

To the inside....

My family has a new favorite boating spot. Our little spot on the Florida water with no real name. We just refer to it at the "inside spot" opposed to the other spot on the outside of the island which leads into the big scary Gulf of Mexico. Ryder loves it and plays in the water the whole time we are there. Whenever we go there though I always wish Derrik was there. It's always like something is missing. He of course didn't want to go today because he'd much rather stay home and watch college football, but I'm pretty sure he's glad he made the trip.... and I could finally relax now that my whole family is in one spot enjoying stuff like this together... my heart is finally happy :)

Our boys on the ride out


Ryder was off in the water the second we got there so we settled for a family picture of three


Such a fish... Could swim all day!


This little guy was such a champ! He doesn't love the boat yet, but tolerates it well. He did great today and even enjoyed a little snooze.


My boy checking out the water.... He was not sinking with his life vest and tube!


And our view for the day....


And I love technology..... As my boys snooze on the way home, I edited my pictures and posted a blog from my phone :)

Be ready for my boys annual start of football season pictures in their jerseys tomorrow.... plus one this year! Daddy's got his hands full!!

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