Someone Started School

Sophia had been going to gymnastics on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Ryder was at school. This lead to me being super bored most days because they were busy, and I was looking for a lunch partner. Amanda wanted Sophia in school, but didn't want to quit gymnastics. After some planning we rearranged the kids schedules so they could go to school together. They now go Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesday was their first day and she did SO great! Ryder got sad as usual, but i'm pretty sure it's just his personality. Sophia ran in there and never looked back. I am once again so thankful we get to watch them grow up together. We also picked up the applications to get them enrolled in Pre-K 4 next year!! Ryder will be required to be in school five 1/2 days next year. Our babies are growing up!

Ryder and Sophia's first day of school together 1/17/12

My boys playing in the car after we dropped their Aunties off at school and were waiting for Noah's Nursery to open

St. Andrews Festival

We didn't really have anything going on today, and Derrik was working. My parents were heading to the St. Andrews Festival with the girls and their friends so we tagged along. It was chilly out for Florida and the absolute perfect day for a fair!

Ryder watching the girls go on the "big kid" rides. He is so close to 36", but just not quite there yet

Watching Auntie Hailey and Emily up on the swings

He's got his tickets and is excited he's tall enough for one of the big kids rides!
Such a big boy on the big kid rides

My bubby and I

I'm sure at 25 and 27 I should probably stop calling him that :)

Going on the big slides with Uncle Ryan

He doesn't think the fair is quite so cool from his stroller

Uncle Ryan was a little caught off guard how fast the slides are on these crazy carnival rides

I got a good laugh at how far Ryan's feet hung off this rides...

especially with the cowboy boots

My little guy and I are on merry-go-round

Love his cheesy smile :)

These things were crazy..

Kind of like litle four wheelers with no brake

Grammy and Ryder on the Crazy Bus

"I really don't see what's so cool about this place?!"

Ryder and Auntie Ally trying to win some prizes...

We went home empty handed

Great day with the family :)

Hoops Season is Underway

Hoops season is FINALLY underway!! Ryder has been waiting for this forever! I got him some new basketball shoes last week, and he has literally worn them everywhere. I think he appreciated those more then any of his Christmas presents. He even loves the basketball socks to go with it. We had our basketball meeting on Saturday. We found out that we are the Red Team. Ryder's friend Cameron is on our team, and a HUGE bonus is our coach, Coach Matt, is Cameron's dad!! Even better is that Ryder's friend Connor is on the team. Connor turned three in November and could officially play basketball with us :) One of my lifelong friends, Rachael, also signed her little boy Cole up as well. So we are lucky to have Cameron, Connor, and Cole playing with us! It should be such a fun season. Tonight was our first practice. We have another practice next Monday and then our first game next Saturday.

Starting practice with a little basketball tutorial...

This is a basketball and this is the hoop...

They like to keep it basic with the 3-4 year olds :)

Getting ready to practice their dribbling skills

Getting the ball from Coach Matt to take his shot
Not the best action shot ever.
You can only do so much with an iPhone camera.

Ryder and Cameron are so excited to be on the same team again!

We are so excited we will get to see Connor twice a week!

This guy is SO excited hoops season is under way!

Coach Matt giving his team a little pep talk

GO TEAM RED!!!

And... look what this little guy figured out tonight!

Big trouble right there... grrr

Haircuts for my boys..

Yesterday was the day we finally went and got the boys haircuts. I was about to head out with the boys myself, but my mom and the girls called saying they were on their way home and wanted to go with us. Luckily they went because my mom was able to snap some pictures to document the event. I got Ryder all set up in his chair. He was such a big boy sitting all by himself while I dealt with Landon. Ryder is generally great about getting his haircut, but you just never know with a three year old. I had told him before he needed to be a really big boy to show Landon how it's done. I had no clue how Landon would be. He freaks out over strangers once in a while. He did great though. The lady gave him a comb to play with which pretty much classified her as a friend right away :)

He was such a wiggle worm, but the lady said she would rather him be doing that then crying. Not a single tear from my little boy, and he looks so handsome!

We didn't get anything too drastic done. They did take a ton of hair off though. We just trimmed the top in an effort to save some of the mowhawk and trimmed the back and sides up so that mullett hanging over the ears look was gone.

My Big Boy

Seriously... he never gives a normal face anymore!

A side view of the little guys haircut

We make some cute kids huh?! :)

It's Time...

FOR

A

HAIRCUT

Wayyyy too many "is it a boy or girl?" comments lately
And.... Look who found the stairs today.

How I Like Him Best...

Everyone always thinks babies are so cute in nice new outfits...

or fresh out of the bath when they smell so yummy...

BUT

one of my favorite time with my little babe...

when I think I could die from his cuteness

or just squeeze him to death

is when he is stripped down from a long day

his diaper is totally not on right

he's all crusty from dinner,

but has a full belly

and is happy as can be.

I usually recline his high chair

He relaxes, pulls his little legs up, and just giggles until his little hearts content.

That's how I like him best :)

Best Friends

Landon 8 months and Dyson 7 months

These two keep us awfully busy on play dates these days!

And we both think they don't use their pacifiers much during the day, yet they both have their pacifiers in their months haha

Temple

It is chilly down here in the Sunshine State... or maybe even just COLD! I know it's even colder then all you northern folk, but it was down in the 30s this morning which is super cold for us who expect warm weather 365 days a year. Anyhow... It was a great opportunity to bust out the boys Temple gear they were sent for Christmas. Derrik's cousin Taylor is a freshman there, and the boys are proudly representing their cousin today. Of course the whole "Ryder sit next to your brother", "closer to your brother", "sit up straight", "don't squish bubby's face", "don't cover the logo of the sweatshirts", "try to get bubby to smile", and so on and so forth wasn't all going to happen at the same time for a perfect picture.... so here are a few out takes of what I did get.

We hope everyone is staying warm!!

Big week for our family and a potential new career path for Derrik...

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers this week as he takes a few big steps towards it :)

Landon Brennan - 8 Months

I knew i'd get on here to do this 8 month post... even if he is already a third of the way into his ninth month. Oh well... it is what it is I guess :)

Landon, this month might have possibly been sicker then the last. After going to the doctors in the beginning over November and them telling me you were just fine, I tried to battle through your sickness. On December 1st we had your flu booster shot, and I asked them to just check you out. You were diagnosed with an ear infection and put on antibiotics, and also put antibiotics for your nasty cough. We went back two weeks later and got a clean bill of health. You were sleeping through the night again, and you were healthy! Just a few days later we had two horrible nights of no sleep, and I just knew you had an ear infection. I called the doctors on the 21st, and you were again diagnosed with another ear infection. They gave you amoxicillian once again for ten days. On the ninth day, December 29th, you were doing no better so I took you back in. The doctor described your ear as "still buldging" and switch your antibiotics to something stronger. We are now about four days into the new antibiotics, and I am praying that this is going to work! We have been going through this since about the beginning of November, and I am not sure how much longer I can take these sleepless nights. The worst part is until I know you are healthy I can't imagine letting you "cry it out". I'm praying for a clean bill of health for real when we go for our re-check in two and a half weeks.

Sizes:

You have stayed pretty steady this last month. We haven't really purchased anything new. I think we had too much focus on getting all those fun new toys for Christmas :) I'm sure you'll have a growth spurt real soon. I'm kind of excited because we have lots of fun clothes of your brothers to get out once you grow just a little.

Food:

You are fine this month when it comes to food. I think your awful cold last month had to do with your lack of eating. You eat all the baby foods except peas and green beans. You love yogurt, baby puffs, and yogurt melts as well. We give you table food whenever we think it is something that is ok for you. You usually accept it just fine :)

Sleep:

I think I pretty much summed this up in the beginning, but yeah... it's awful. I am hoping once we are healthy we will all get back to our wonderful nights of sleep.

Your naps are ok. This week they have been pretty nonexistent, but I really think it's all related to your ears. When you are deciding it's a good day to nap you nap about an hour-hour and a half in the morning and about thirty minutes to an hour in the afternoon.

Some Other Fun Stuff:

On the go... You aren't crawling yet, but I got an e-mail today saying that the army crawl is sometimes all babies want to do. Your army crawl is soo funny, and gets you where you want to go fast! We have had to buy a baby gate for the upstaris, and can't let you be on your own if you are on the floors now. If your brother wants to play with toys we have to keep you away from the area or have him play with his toys on the couch. You guys play great with the baby toys. Ryder sometimes gets so excited when you are playing with a toy that he rips it right out of your hands ot "show you". We are working on explaining to him that he needs to show you without taking it away because it makes you sad :) i'm sure we will be working on this for a longggg time!

Communication... Da-da is still your only word, and you say it all the time. If we talk to you you like clap your lips together like you are talking back to us. I never remember Ryder doing this, and it's so funny. You have also started the beginnign stages of clapping. You do it on your own, and get your hands going really fast when we do it. We have not gotten you to do it prompted quite yet though.

Ryder is still your world. We all have to work to get laughs out of you, and Ryder can seriously just look at your and you are hysterical!!! You guys have the best time together and it's so sweet.

You are still a toothless wonder. You are beyond ticklish! Sometimes we tickle you without even meaning too. You have the funniest laugh... like the ones you see people watching YouTube videos of. We all love it and laugh just as hard with you :) I am sad to say that, for the most part, your mohawk is a think of the past. Your hair has gotten too long and lays flat now. I am hoping to get to the barber this week for your brother and think you might be getting into a chair yourself for a little trim. I'm thinking it might bring the mohawk back!

Landon, this month has been exhausting and tested my mommy skills on more then one occasion. I am hoping that January is a healthier month for you. We love you even when you do keep us up all night :)