Brown Blessings: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Ryker's Birthday Parrrty!

Ryker's 4th birthday party was today and it was a blast! We had a pirate-themed bash this year and it was a hit!

Pirate Ryker was in action!

Pirate Nonna and Nathan

Nathan liked his hat like this better. :-)

Nathan giving Camden hugs.

Queen, Tony, David, and Robert enjoyed some yummy food.

Watching Ryker's birthday video. (Notice how Ryker is hanging all over Little Robert? Yeah, he loves him!)

Singing Happy Birthday and watching him blow out his awesome pirate candles.

Ryker got tons of great gifts including a bow and arrow from Nana and Papaw. Papaw, being the avid hunter that he is, gave Little Robert and Ryker some archery lessons.

Peg Leg Dave and Ryker having a sword fight.

Robert wanted to try on Ryker's new Spiderman mask.

Nonno decided his new Batman gear was pretty cool.

Before long we had our own version of The Avengers.

(Peg Leg Pirate, Sir Lancelot, Batman, Spiderman, and a knight)

It was a great party and Ryker loved every minute of it. Thanks to all who came and made it such a special day for our special 4-year-old. He loved his gifts and hasn't stopped playing with them!

It's hard to believe another year has passed by so quickly. You are now 4 years old which seems so old to your mommy. In so many ways it feels like we just brought you home from the hospital a few months ago. You have grown so much this past year. You've grown physically of course, but also emotionally, socially, and intellectually.

You have truly embraced your new role as a big brother. You absolutely adore your little brother and take such good care of him. You love playing with him and always share with him. When he wakes up in the morning and is nursing you poke your head in the room several times to see if he's done yet because you just can't wait to play with him.

Your imagination is one of the best I've ever seen. You do a great job of entertaining yourself. You've recently become a big fan of role playing. You love pretending to be a character. Robin Hood is your favorite movie right now and you love pretending to be Robin Hood or the Sheriff of Nottingham. Superheroes like Spiderman are also a favorite.

You played soccer this spring, but still aren't all that interested in sports. You do like your golf clubs though (just not always for playing golf :-)). We may try Tae Kwon Do soon and see if that sparks your interest a bit more. You love playing outside though and have finally figured out your bike and love riding up and down the sidewalk. You love catching fireflies at night and running in the sprinkler and digging in the dirt.

You had your first year of preschool this year too. You started off a bit leary of leaving Mommy every day but by the end of the year you were hopping out of the van and running right in. You made some great friends and really loved your teachers. You are still a sponge and soaked up lots of new information. You don't miss much and have a memory like an elephant! You tell me stories and bring up things that happened in the past all the time, even if they happened over a year ago! You know all your colors and shapes. You are starting to recognize a lot of the alphabet and most of your numbers. Mommy has decided you must take after her and be stronger in reading/language arts because you struggle a bit more with number recognition and counting. You get to 14 great and then you skip at least one number on the way to 20 every time. We are practicing every day and you'll get it eventually. :-) You still love to read and we make frequent trips to the library to stock up on new books. Your attention span for reading is impressive and you will sit and listen intently even as I read chapter books. Winnie the Pooh is one of your new favorites.

Ryker, you are truly a joy in our lives and we love you so very much. You have a big heart and really care about others. You pray for others all the time without prompting from us and are always a willing helper. You make us laugh each and every day with something you say or do. I am loving watching you grow up and become your own person. I can't wait to see what plans God has for your life. I just feel priviliged He chose me to be your mom! I am blessed indeed.

Love,
Mommy

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Swim Lessons

For the past two weeks, Ryker has been taking swim lessons daily at Indy Island. He did the Little Reef Swim School with me last year, but did the next level up all by himself this year. He did a great job! He is much braver with other people than he is with us. By the end of the week he was going under water without even being asked and jumping in with no qualms. I'm very proud of the progress he's made. Last spring he wouldn't get off the steps. This year, he is fine in the shallow end with no floaties and will venture all around the pool with his puddle jumper on. Major improvements!

Getting in on the last day of lessons.

They play Red Light Green Light, only they splash instead of run. Ryker got really into it.

At the end of every lesson the parents are allowed out in the pool area to watch for 5 minutes. They get a free play time and Ryker loves going down the big slide.

He always came down on his belly which cracks me up.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Visiting Hudson Again

Ryker was SO excited to see Hudson again. He held him at least 4 separate times while we were there and asked to several more than that.

Kisses for his baby cousin!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Hudson Has Arrived!!!

My sis-in-law was induced early Tuesday morning. After our fun at the fair, we went to the hospital to check on her. My dad had set up a little office space in the family waiting room and watched the boys while I spent some time with Kate. She had had her epidural by the time we got there and was feeling pretty good. She progressed pretty quickly after we arrived and did amazing! Hudson arrived at 6:51 pm. He was 20.75" long and 7 lbs. 9 oz. (however, he weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. the next day so the scale was wrong originally and he was likely 8 lbs. 2 oz. or so) He is pure perfection and we love him so much! After many months of praying for Kate to get pregnant and 9 months of praying for a healthy baby seeing him and welcoming him was an amazing blessing.

Nana meeting her 3rd grandson.

Ryker could hardly wait for his turn...he was SO excited!

He is majorly in LOVE!

Papaw's turn.

Ryker wanted another turn. He seriously couldn't keep his hands off of him...no matter who was holding him.

Uncle Robert patiently waited and finally got his turn.

Me with the proud Daddy. He has stepped into fatherhood and truly embraced it. Makes this big sis very proud!

1st picture as a family of 3!

Hard to think that 9 months ago Hudson was a tiny group of cells starting to form and Cam was a newborn. 9 months can really change things!

ALL the cousins together! Love them! They will be best buddies!

I had a hard time getting a good close up of him. He was getting switched from person to person quite a bit. He is absolutely adorable and looks a lot like his daddy. :-)

And, just cuz it's cute, here's Robert and Camden before we left. Cam's hair looks so red/blonde here!

Hancock County Fair

After swim lessons today we headed straight over to the fair with a packed lunch ready to take in all the fair fun (minus the fattening food...what?!?! This woman is on a diet!) Tuesday is Sheep Day so my cousin Grant was showing and we wanted to see him in action. Grandma and Grandpa Sheepie along with Uncle Matt, Aunt Lisa, Collin, Ashley, Bentley, Lindsay, Grant, and Steve were all there too. It was great to see them and Ryker loved seeing and petting all the animals.

We heard the rooster as we were walking in from the parking lot and Ryker just had to see him first thing.

We met up with the fam for lunch and then headed over to hang out in the sheep barn a bit. Cam had fun with Grandma.

Ryker posing with some of Grant's sheep.

This little boy was so nice to Ryker. He pulled his sheep over for Ryker to pet. He was very friendly and we learned lots about him. (He turned 7 on Sunday, he and his sister share that sheep and they are showing in Mini 4H tomorrow...etc.)

Grant holding Cam while Bentley checks him out.

Moments later Collin had Bentley fast asleep. So sweet!

Grant in the showring. He did the best he's ever done this year. We are pretty proud.

After watching Grant show for a while, we were off to check out the other animals. Ryker loves them all and this cow was kind enough to let him pet him.

This little boy came running up to Ryker in the llama/goat, etc. barn and asked if he wanted to come see their bunnies. Ryker ran off following him to pet the rabbit. It was so soft! I want a blanket that feels just like that bunny!

We had to get a good shot of the rooster's headcomb.

Llama time!

Camden was such a good boy all day. He really loved the animals.

Happy Anniversary

8 years ago today I walked down the aisle

I walked toward my future husband...

my best friend...

my love.

We've been blessed with an amazing love-filled marriage. We've weathered many storms and I could not ask for a better partner in life than him. I can't wait to see what the next 50 or so years has to offer us. We have plans to celebrate this weekend with a romantic dinner for two. :-)