more of the same

Wow, I forgot how much more work a baby becomes once they are mobile! I spend half my day moving things out of Ryan's destructive path and making sure he doesn't fall off of something or onto something dangerous. Time may have faded my memory, but I SWEAR Ryan is more intense with this whole standing thing than my first two kids were. He MUST stand at all times. When you put him down for a nap you have to go back in there usually about 5 times and lay him down again before he actually falls asleep. One time, shortly after he learned to crawl and stand, I went into his room a few minutes after laying him down for bed just to find him crawling around his crib with his eyes shut while tiredly whimpering. He was so exhausted that he wanted to sleep but it's like his brain was saying, "MUST KEEP MOVING! DO NOT STOP!" So, you know, that's a lot of fun. Did someone request a fat tummy picture? You've come to the right place!

Also, the past few weeks I've been weaning him from breastfeeding. If you've ever done that than you can feel my pain, and you probably know what I mean when I say that Benadryl and cabbage leaves are my new best friends. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's better that way. Did someone request a cute picture of him drinking his bottle? I happily oblige!

It rained over the weekend, which melted a lot of snow, and yesterday was sunny enough and barely warm enough to take the boys outside. Tyler got to ride his scooter with some friends, but probably spent more time eating really old snow.

Tyler has also been doing some pretty funny stuff lately. Currently his favorite thing to do is hide when he hears someone coming into the same room as him, and then jump out and say "BOO!" I remember Alexis doing something similar around this age too. The problem with Tyler is that he's not at all quiet about it, so it's never a surprise. And he does it about 100 times a day, but I can only act surprised for the first 3 times before it gets old.

Also, he has started throwing the word "heck" into sentences randomly, and it almost is never used correctly, which makes it really funny. Today he said to me, "What is this heck thing?"

Finally, when he's telling you a story, he uses the phrase "and guess what?" a lot. Like, A LOT. Just a minute ago he was telling me a story about a dream he had last night and it went something like this:

"Mom, guess what! Last night I had a dream about a bakugan, and guess what? It went tick tock, and guess what? I was hiding from it, and guess what? It tried to find me, and guess what? Alexis and grandma found it, and guess what? They killed it! And guess what? I was happy they killed it, and guess what? It wanted to kill me!" And so on and so forth.

Then there's Alexis. She's still beautiful. She still keeps me on my toes and scratching my head.

The other night I tried to take a quick video of Ryan in his bouncer while we were finishing up dinner. As a result you get a quick peek at what dinner is like around here: Tyler is always still hungry and we always have to ask Alexis if she is done eating, and Ryan just ignores us all. In addition to that, in this video we get a burp from Jeremy, Alexis telling us the date so we'll always remember, and Tyler being really annoying. Amazingly enough, I didn't yell at any of them!

Ryan's taking a stand

Ryan has been crawling for a few weeks now, but it's more like he's swimming the butterfly stroke than crawling. While laying on his stomach he brings his arms up, drops them on the ground in front of him and drags his body forward. I figured that since most of the time he's crawling he is not actually on his hands and knees I had a little while longer before he started trying anything new. But two days ago I was sitting on the living room floor watching Ryan play, while talking to my mom on the phone. As I was talking to her I realized that Ryan had crawled over to a little toy and had pulled himself up onto his knees. Next thing I knew he pulled himself up to stand, then knelt back down, then stood up again. I couldn't believe it--he's just barely 7 months! A few minutes later he crawled over to the toy box and acted like he wanted to pull himself up there too. I wasn't sure he'd be able to, but I pulled the camera out just in case. Good thing I did because he pulled himself up there, but then quickly fell over. See for yourself:




It was fun watching him do that, but I kind of hoped he would forget all about it the next day because I still want him to sit happily in one place. But of course he didn't forget, and the whole next day I followed him around taking pictures of the places he decided to stand up next. Again, see for yourself (a few are taken with my cell phone):


I think he had help getting up to the couch, but he did the rest all by himself. You can't tell from this picture, but I think standing up in the bathtub made him a little nervous because it was kind of slippery.

I guess he's out to prove that those stumpy legs are good for more than just decoration. And really, this is quite the feat considering the weight he's hauling around!

The award for "Most Memorable Event of 2010"...

...goes to the birth of Ryan! (Was there any question?) This is also the event I'm most grateful for. (Was there any doubt?) There was never a baby more loved than this one. You can't help but smile when you see his fat cheeks, pinch his chubby legs, or kiss his round belly. He's the easiest baby I've had yet, and a pure delight to have in our family. Every second of every day I'm grateful that he is mine. And now, at 7 months old I'm wishing time would stop. All the signs that he's growing up (crawling, teething, weaning, eating solids) sadden me. I should be happy about them, but I just want him to stay a baby forever. Ryan's existence has also taught me what it really means to be tired. I thought I was tired when Alexis was born--I had no idea. I thought I was tired when Tyler was a baby--I was very wrong. And if it's possible to be more tired than I am now, I don't care to find out. His sleep has been so beyond horrible the past two months (there's reasons but it's a long story) that I've learned just how little sleep I can function on--it's pretty remarkable actually. Despite that, he still is absolutely perfect! That may not make sense to you, but that's just how awesome he is. Even if I were never able to sleep again, I would still keep him. (But let's hope it doesn't come to that!)

Runner-up for the Most Memorable Event of 2010:
Being unemployed for 6 months.
Half the year.
Beginning of May through the end of October.
Basically, a long time!
This is also the event I'm second most grateful for. (Surprised?) I've tried to sit down and write about this at least 5 or 6 times, but I just can't do it justice so I quit. And I still can't give it an adequate description. It was awesome and not awesome all at the same time (but more awesome than not). It was a blessing in disguise. It was exactly what we needed. It was good for our family and our faith. It allowed us to see just how loved we are. It taught us to accept service. It strengthened our marriage. Alexis, Tyler and Ryan all got to know their dad even better. Jeremy had the best summer ever, a time we jokingly refer to as "The Summer of Jeremy". I was able to relax and enjoy Ryan as a baby because I had help. We learned to better distinguish between needs and wants. We had confirmed to us that paying a full tithe is more important than anything else we could do with our money. We had more time to give to others. We saw that prayers are answered. We understood better that our lives are not in our hands. We learned lessons on patience. And we developed empathy for those in a similar situation (which, unfortunately, we know many).

Overall it was a good experience for us, which is kind of odd, but not every day was easy. I know our experience isn't what every one's is like, and my attitude about it may not be what most people's is, but I can provide a listening ear if you find yourself in the same situation. Also, Jeremy's opinion varies a little from mine because he was the one that was putting all the work into looking for a new job. I know at times it felt overwhelming, frustrating, and pointless. But we kept confident and optimistic (most of the time) because we knew there was something out there for him--and he did find something great. It's not his dream job, but he enjoys it, it pays the bills, and the schedule is a trillion times better than his old job. In fact, even on the worst day of unemployment he NEVER once wished he had his old job back. (And neither did I--we were burnt out there!)
Honorable Mentions of 2010:
Tyler played itty bitty basketball
I helped out a lot in Alexis' kindergarten class
Family vacation to Phoenix (and missed our return flight)
Alexis played soccer
Last Rhino trip (to Hole in the Rock with Jeremy's parents and brother) before the baby
Jeremy and Tyler participated in their first father/son camp out
Alexis "graduated" kindergarten
Jeremy and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary
Jeremy and the kids went on lots of camping or Rhino trips
Ryan and I stayed home and napped!
Weekend trip to a cabin with friends
Alexis turned 6 (and celebrated with a friends party)
Jeremy built us new bedroom furniture
Family reunion with Jeremy's family
Jeremy hiked King's Peak (quite the accomplishment!)
Ryan gained a lot of weight
Tyler learned to ride a 2-wheeler
Alexis started 1st grade
Tyler started a weekly playgroup/preschool with friends and neighbors
Tyler turned 4 (and had his first party with friends)
Alexis lost her first (and second!) tooth
Ryan learned to crawl
We bought a new car, and the old one reached 200,000 miles!
Quick trip to Las Vegas for a baby blessing
My little sister got married
and we welcomed a total of 4 new nieces and nephews!

2010 was quite the year, and while I loved it, I really hope 2011 is a lot less eventful!