Outer Banks 2012

We just got home from a great trip to the Outer Banks with the Duffy's and Reckner's.  It was the first full vacation with all 3 cousins (Emily, Alexis and Ryan)!  All 3 of them had a blast on the beach, eating sand and playing in the pool.  The parents were also grateful to have two sets of awesome grandparents to help out with them and insure we all had a good time!

These are the times you will certainly remember for years to come.  The photos and video below help capture the good times.

Outer Banks 2012

Duffy BBQ 2012

From 2012 08 25 Duffy BBQ

The Duffy BBQ was a great success!  Thanks to everyone that made it.  The weather was perfect.  We had a small pool setup for the kids, hamburgers and hot dogs ready to go and even was introduced to "Patstick" in lieu of our usual volleyball game.  

My mother, as usual, made it a little more fun by creating a cowboy theme.  This meant that there was plenty of cowboy hats to be worn.  I can only imagine what she will think of next.

Looking forward to next year!

1 Year Later

Happy Birthday to Ryan!!!  Can't believe he is one already.  What an amazing year it has been, he is such a good boy.  Looking forward to the party in June.

Ryan First Birthday 2012

My Stress Reliever

I spent 2 hours in traffic driving home from a long day at work and was not in the best of moods. Then I got Ryan to start laughing and all that stress went right out the window and put everything right back into perspective.

My only concern about this is that Ryan tends to laugh the hardest when he thinks I am hurting myself. What you can't see off camera is me pretending to smash my head into the kitchen counter. I worry that he may grow tired of that routine and I will be forced to resort to more extreme measures to get that laugh. that I love.

Happy Easter

2012 04 April Ryan

Happy Easter to everyone. This year Kari and I hosted the Burgess and Duffy families! We made a very nice ham with all the goodies. We also had all the kids here playing with each other. On top of all that, we had a beautiful day so we could get outside and play on the grass. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play in the grass and climb on Grandpa! Thanks to everyone for bringing food and desert. I think I ate enough desert for the next two weeks.

Ryan goes Swinging

Kari took Ryan on a swing today and captured some good video of him laughing and swinging!

Ryan and Puddles make a movie!

Soon after Ryan was born, we noticed a change in Puddles' behavior. It was not one of jealously, but of affection and love. Through a common love of drool, Puddles and Ryan bonded more than we ever expected. We wanted to capture this on film and share it with the world. The documentary will be completed in the summer, but we wanted to share the trailer with you all today.

Enjoy.

Ryan is crawling

It started with some rocking on the floor, then an army crawl and now a full on crawl! Ryan is officially on the move and there is no turning back. The days of plopping him down somewhere are gone!

I picked Ryan up yesterday from Nanee Burgess and he crawled across the room to get to me. It is officially the cutest thing he has done to date.

I am now having Ryan fetch things in the house and having a blast:

Happy 2nd Birthday Emily!!

Emily 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Emily!!! Emily turned 2 this past weekend and we headed to Lisa and Jason's house to celebrate. Lisa made some pulled pork and we had two cakes for Emily...one for Emily and one for the rest of us.

Happy New Year 2012

2012

It was yet another great New Year's weekend at Windham. Thanks to everyone that came up and made it a great time. As usual, we had great food and plenty to drink. Looking forward to the 2012 ski season and having more good times at Windham.

Merry Christmas

From 2011_December

Feed Me!

Kari has been transitioning from formula to solid foods for Ryan. So far Ryan seems to like cereal and veggies, but not fruit! We manage to get about 50% of the food in his mouth, the rest is meant to decorate his bib.

Since moving to solid food, we have noticed that Ryan has an increased interest in eating anything that is solid. When he is really hungry he will start to eat the furniture. I don't mind it as long as he does not start pooping fabric.

From 2011_December