Instagram

I have a new obsession.  It's called Instagram.  It's an app for your phone that allows you to edit photos and post them for your friends to see.  I love catching the sweet, everyday moments of my life and making them pretty with all the different filters and frames.  Here are the last several pictures I've taken to get you caught up.  I hope to post them more regularly in the future.  Wish me luck!

1. Ryker and Nana sharing some quality time on the way to my cousin's wedding in Crawfordsville, IN.

2. Camden's first pancake...yum!

3. Ryker watching TV as we waited for Hudson to be born at the hospital.

4. Ryker and Cam cuddling during movie time on our Friday Family Night.

5. Papaw got Camden to fall asleep during Grandma and Grandpa's big auction.

6. Ryker had a great time riding around with cousins during the auction.

7. Nana let Camden have one of her apples for lunch.  He LOVES them!

8.  Silly pictures with my boy.

9. Robert watched Cooper so Anna and I could get our run in.

A collage of all the goofy pics Ryker and I took one day while hanging out and cuddling.

Fresh out of the tub and lovin' bein' nakey!

1. Oops, double dose of Robert and Cooper. lol

2. Sleepy boy one night before bed.

3. Trying out TKD.

4. A gorgeous sunset after some much-needed rain.

5. Hanging at Nana and Papaw's.

6. Batman!  His latest obsession.

7. Early morning reading session with Camden while Ryker was still asleep.

8. Camden had so much fun with this balloon from Old Navy.

9. Went to the bathroom at Kohl's and came back to find Robert reading to Ryker.  So sweet!

1. Good morning kisses.

2. Ryker and Ruby shopping together.  So stinkin' sweet!

3. All my boys playing soccer.

4. Baseball practice.

5. Telling secrets.

Sophie's Birthday

Friday was Sophie's 9th birthday!  She requested a trip to Monkey Joe's and since I've been bugging her mom, Emily, to hang out, we got invited along. :-)  All the kids had a great time playing and Ryker ran off some major energy.  We had lunch at Panera Bread (also Sophie's request-the girl has good taste!) afterwards before heading home for naps.

We managed to get a shot of all of the kids before they took off to play. 

Back (L to R): Audrey and Chloe

Front (L to R): Charlotte, Sophie, Henry, Camden, and Ryker

The two littles...these guys enjoyed sharing snacks with each other :-)

I snapped this one of Em on my phone.  Thought it was too sweet with them all holding hands.

Ryker and Charlotte laid down together and I snapped this sweet picture.  They were holding hands, but the minute Ryker saw the camera he quickly changed that.  Could be because Audrey was teasing them about being boyfriend and girlfriend.  We set her straight and said that was NOT allowed until they were at least 16 and NO earlier!  I'm just glad he has so many good buddies (both boy and girl) that he enjoys playing with. :-)

Happy Birthday, Sophie!

Shopping, Hudson Time, ER, Audrey's Birthday, Late-Night Run, and a Meltdown

Like that run-on title!?!?  What a day we had!  Those are just the highlights!  We started off the day doing a little shopping to get ready for Auntie Em's upcoming sprinkle.  

Ryker put this on while I browsed the baby shower section at Party City.  Don't worry, he also grabbed a roll of wrapping paper and was using it as a sword.  He began marching up and down the aisle chanting, "I'm the king of this castle."  LOL!

Then we picked up some lunch and headed over to Aunt Kate's to visit Hudson.  We had lunch, had some major cuddling time with Hudson, I did a little "work" on Hudson's circumcision, and we scheduled Hudson an appointment with our pediatrician. 

He is so stinkin' cute!  He is 2 weeks and 2 days old! 

Ryker is seriously madly in love with him and loves going to see him.

Just as we were packing up to leave, Camden fell down the stairs.  Mind you we'd been there for almost 3 hours and he hadn't gone near them!  I went around the corner to put something in the trash and Bam! down he went.  It was super scary but I somehow remained quite calm.  He cried, but was smiling again in about 2 minutes.  He acted completely normal.  We went ahead and went home.  He fell asleep on the way home which didn't surprise me since it was nap time, but I laid him down in the living room so I could keep an eye on him.  He had a spot above his forehead on one side that I thought was going to turn into a goose egg.  As time went on though it stayed the same.  My mom said that if it swelled out that was good because it meant it wasn't swelling internally.  So, when it wasn't swelling I grew more concerned.  I called the pediatrician and talked to her.  Due to the distance he fell and his age, she recommended we take him to the ER for a CT scan.  I woke Camden and Ryker up and we got ready to go to the ER.  Camden was crawling around and generally acting as crazy as always which was good, but Dr. Anderson said they can still act normal and have something going on inside.  We got checked in pretty quickly and examined by a student doctor and the on-call physician before they ordered the CT.  Ryker and I had to wait in the hallway during the scan.  They strapped him down (we're talking full-on straight jacket-like) which he HATED!  I mean, HATED!  He screamed bloody murder the entire time which meant they had to take several images to get a clear one.  Meanwhile, Ryker and I were standing in the hallway listening, helpless.  Ryker kept saying, "Let's just go in there."  He hated it almost as much as I did.  The minute they unstrapped him, he was just fine.  Pretty quickly thereafter, the results were in.  He was all good!  No signs of any trauma and we were released.  Praise the Lord everything was ok! 

Like I said, he acted completely normal!

We had already made plans to meet up with the McCollister's for dinner and playtime to celebrate Audrey's birthday.  Since Cam had the all-clear, we went forward with our plans and met them at a McD's with a playland area for dinner.  This was Audrey's request and we were happy to oblige.  The kids had a great time playing and it was fun to celebrate Audge's 6th birthday. 

Here's Ryker and the birthday girl herself. :-)

After dinner, we rushed home to get the kids in bed and Anna came over for our run.  We started a Couch to 5K program and were ready for our 5th run tonight.  We've been faithfully sticking to our schedule and we didn't want to get off track.  So, even though it was late, we got that run in!  When Anna showed up (around 9:40) I came jogging out looking like this:

LOL!  It was hilarious!  But, also much needed! 

Now for the meltdown part of the day.  After stretching and showering after our late run and finally climbing in bed around midnight, the weight of Cam's scare finally hit me.  All the emotions I should've experience when it first happened hit me like a ton of bricks and I couldn't stop crying.  I couldn't stop thinking about how scary it was and how bad it could've been.  I couldn't stop praying and thanking God that it wasn't worse and thanking Him for saving my little daredevil of a boy.  Robert finally managed to calm me down after a bit, but, man, all those repressed feelings really came to a head!  So, how was your day?  I hope it was boring in comparison!



10 Months

10 Months!  We're in the double digits! 

He weighed in at 21 lbs. 12 oz. when I took Ryker a few days ago.  I'm not sure about his height though.  I'm guessing at least 30".  He's mainly in all 18 month clothes now, with a few 12 month items still fitting.  He's still wearing size 4 diapers and is growing out of his size 3 shoes and is mainly in size 4 now. 

This month's photo shoot was pretty futile.  This kid is constantly on the move and doesn't like to hold still for anything (other than food). 

This is Camden's typical eating and sleeping schedule:

7:00-7:30 AM: Wake up and demand milk.

7:05-7:35 AM: Get said milk from mom.

8:30-9:00 AM: Breakfast of cheerios and some type of fruit (blueberries are an obsession.  Bananas and cantaloupe are sometimes suitable replacements.)

9:30-10:00 AM: Crankiness ensues and more milk is demanded (and provided).

9:40-10:10 AM to 11:00 AM: Laid down in crib, handed elephant, rolls over, covered with blanket, Gentle Giraffe turned on, and...nap

12:00 PM: Lunch.  Typically meat (ham is his favorite), a vegetable, a fruit, cheese, and a cracker or twelve.  (Yes, 12, the kid is a carbaholic!  He gets it honest!)

1:30PM: Nursing time again.

1:40PM to 4:30: Nap

5:00-5:30 PM: Cranky again and need more milk.  Once again, I nurse him.

6:00-6:30 PM: Dinner.  He gets pieces of whatever we are eating.  So far he has loved everything we've put in front of him.  Well, other than broccoli.  That wasn't a huge hit. 

8:00-8:30PM: Nurse to sleep.

8:15-8:45 PM: In crib, with elephant and blanket, asleep. 

Ryker took this picture while I fixed Cam's hair.  He loves his bro!  He is a complete ham and laughs all the time.  He is a total wild child.  If he's awake, he's on the move and into E. V. E. R. Y. T. H. I. N. G!!!!  Case in point, as we were getting ready to leave the other day, Ryker left the toilet seat up (gotta love boys!) and within a few seconds I hear splashing.  Yep, Cam was splashing in the toilet water.  Did I forget to mention that Ryker forgot to flush too!?!?  Let's just say 20 minutes, a bath, and a cleaning session of the bathroom later, we were finally on our way to meet Emily as planned.  (Just a bit behind schedule.) 

He's standing on his own now for pretty decent amounts of time.  He can even crouch down to pick up something and stand back up.  He even bounces around while standing and maintains his balance.  He still doesn't have any interest in walking.  When you try to get him to push something or hold your hands and walk, he will take a few steps, if that, and then get down to crawl.  He can move pretty fast and I think he thinks walking takes too long at this point.  He has a true love of balls.  He is getting really good at throwing them and can even catch them.  He and Ryker play ball all the time and he LOVES it.  He laughs and giggles the whole time.  I think he will definitely be the athlete in our family.  

He added "Buh-bye" and dog to his vocabulary this month.  He's really close to saying Tuck but not all the way there.  I found another book at the library last week that he really likes.  He surprises me by always pointing to the faces of the people and animals on every page. It's very direct and precise.  Pretty amusing. 

I love watching him grow and change every day.  He is truly a light in our lives and we love him dearly.  He is such an amazing addition to our lives and we can't imagine life without him.

TKD

Tonight, we tried Tae Kwon Do for the first time.  Ryker's older cousin, Garyn, does TKD and Ryker has expressed some interest in the past.  We signed up for a 2-week free trial and went to class tonight.  Ryker was very shy at first and wouldn't talk to the owner.  He sat patiently waiting for his class to start and joined in quickly.  He listened well and followed directions better than the other two regular students.  He had fun with the warm up exercises and games.  He liked learning the punches too but loved the kick they taught him!  He seemed to really have fun.  We came home for dinner and Ryker said the prayer.  In it  he said, "And, God, please let Garyn come back to Tae Kwon Do."  LOL!  I had to explain that Garyn goes to a different place for TKD.  Ryker was a bit disappointed about that!  Unfortunately, after seeing the cost and telling Ryker he had to go twice a week, we've decided that TKD is just not for us.  I'm determined to find something this kid is interested in, but my mom keeps telling me to chill out and that's he's only 4.  Maybe we'll try art classes next??

Standing in his spot waiting to start class

Learning the kick...his favorite part.

Punches...we did realize we need to work on telling the difference between his right and left.

Bowing to the flag before class was over.

4 Year Well-Check

Ryker had his 4-year well-check today with Dr. Anderson.  His stats are below.

Height: 43" (95th percentile)

Weight: 40 lbs. 9 oz. (83rd percentile)

Dr. Anderson said he is tall and skinny, but that skinny is good at this age.  His asthma flared up a bit over the weekend and he was wheezing a bit when we were there.  We were hoping his asthma would have subsided by this point, but it has not.  We will continue treating it with a preventive inhaler twice a day like we have been and using Albuterol treatments when he has a flare-up.  Dr. Anderson said there is still hope that he will grow out of it.  At least it is not exercise-induced and will not majorly affect that area of his life. 

His encopresis has almost completely subsided.  We started a new sticker chart system and continued using daily doses of probiotics and Miralax.  He's been doing really well and seems to be feeling much better.  It's not perfect and he's a long way from over the hill but we're on our way.  He continues wearing a diaper to bedtime much to my dismay.  Apparently this is very common though and hopefully he will outgrow it.  He is an extremely deep sleeper which contributes to the problem. 

We went ahead and did all his shots that he would have to get for Kindergarten this year.  As Dr. Anderson said the older they get the harder it gets.  So, we decided to just go for it.  He had to get 4, 2 in each leg.  He wasn't too keen on it at first and hid in the corner for a bit.  After a little pep talk and a bribe for something from the $1 spot at Target he was up on the table.  He didn't cry, just said, "Ow, ow, ow..."  as the nurse "shot him" (that's how he described it to Robert at dinner tonight).  He was very brave and was a good big brother.  I told him he had to show Camden how to be brave for shots. 

4th of July

This may seem weird but the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays.  I love summer and I love fireworks and spending time with family so what's not to like?!?  We were invited to the McCollister's for swimming and some BBQ action.  It was a great time as usual.

Enjoying a strawberry for snack time.

I finally got Cam to keep his sunglasses on long enough for a picture (ok, so maybe I held his hands down and yelled for Robert to hurry and take the picture, but he's awful cute in them isn't he?!)

Ryker had a blast and was such a good boy (especially considering the girls left after a couple of hours and he was going without a nap). 

Ryker and Daddy had fun in the Barca lounger of pool toys. 

Cam and Coop shared the pack n play again for a while.

Me and my honey

After a delicious dinner and more swimming we got the kids in jammies and headed out front for a little firework action.  I bought a few poppers and sparklers for Ryker. 

It was fun for the adults too.   (I might have a video of Anna dancing and singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" but she prefers it not go viral because she just doesn't have the time to deal with the fame of becoming a YouTube sensation.) Good times, good times! :-)

Ryker had fun with his sparklers and was very cautious with them. 

Daddy was in charge of lighting them.

This is a flash free shot which is why it's all blurry, but I love the sparklers. :-)

Sunday Swimming

Anna and Tom invited us over for a swim this afternoon.  We gladly accepted and we had a great time as usual.  Emily and Jason and their crew joined us after a while too and we enjoyed a fun evening together.

Coop, Cam, and Hank shared the pack n play for a bit while the big kids swam and adults chatted.

After swimming for a while, we were all hungry and headed over to Mama Nita's for the buffet.  Sophie (almost 9), Audrey (almost 6), and Chloe (11) watching Tom and Jerry during dinner.  It's funny because we have 3 groups/"generations" of kids.  These girls are the Big Kids.

This crew is The Little Kids.  Charlotte (3), Ruby (3), and Ryker (newly 4)

Anna and I sat together across from our hubbies.  Somehow poor Em and Jay ended up with The Little Kids.

This is our third group of kiddos.  The Babies.  Camden (9 months), Cooper (8 months), and Henry (10 months)

Yes, we took up 4 tables (3 for people and 1 for all our bags, etc.)  They only have 7 tables, so we took up more than half the seating...lol!  At one point an older gentleman (probably just entering his Empty Nester stage) walked in, looked at our group and looked as if he might turn right around and leave.  It was pretty amusing.  We were joking that he was probably planning on staying but changed his mind after seeing all of us!  I love our crazy, big families though and love when we can get together!