Ten on Tuesday...

1.  See...how has a week gone by and I haven't posted a thing.  I guess this weekly entry thing is doing it's job then, right??

2. MC is infatuated with the name Emily.  She sometimes wants to be called Emily, she always talks about her friend Emily,  her stuffed bear and her babies are named Emily, and she even sometimes calls her momma Emily.  It all started with meeting a friend with the name...but boy it certainly has become an infatuation.

3. Rylan has (count them) four teeth now.  Two top, Two bottom with many others bulging through his gums.  Poor guy is just down right miserable at times.

4. Today we spent at the beach..a man made beach, anyways.  So very fun but I have to admit, I am already thinking about a little cooler days where I don't have to sunscreen my children constantly and worry about their fair skin.  I am sure once those days are here, I will long for hot, humid, summer days.

5. Does this face make you wonder what he's thinking???  It makes me ask.

6.  What about this face?

Yep...that's better!  =)

7. Makenna Claire really, really enjoys playing with all her friends.  She identifies certain people whom she likes and she gets so very excited when she can be with them.  Why does she have to grow up so very fast??

8. We have spent a few nights enjoying the slightly cooler nights eating European style (late) and with adults only. Is that what food taste like again???  hee, hee  It is wonderful to actually sit down and enjoy a meal.

9. Tonight I came down from putting Rylan to bed to find Makenna chugging a mouthful of sprinkles from the container.  Note to self..must. put. sprinkles. higher!  (from whom did she learn this from anyways?? hmmmmmm)

10. Ok..these summer days can stay around a bit longer.  I do enjoy them thoroughly with these two kiddies.

Ten on Tuesday...

In an attempt to blog more regularly (HA!), and to keep things fun, I am going to start to formulate a list of  10 random things every Tuesday.  I have seen this on other blogs and always find them so interesting, so here we go....


1. I can't help but think that this is just a procrastination of accomplishing my real "to do" list...yep, think so..need to get to that once this is finished (which is why i am sipping coffee  :))


2. No nap all day = very tired, and crabby little boy!  Hopefully this phase will be over quickly.  I want my good sleeper, happy boy back...please?...


3.  I am so looking forward to checking out the new product lines at CHA (craft and hobby association) convention next weekend!  Can't wait to shop, shop, shop and open the doors to my scrap room again.  I truly miss it so very much.


4. Along those same lines,  I am hoping that CHA will inspire me to move beyond organizing and digitally working with my photographs and get back to working with paper and embellies. 


5. Rylan...he's 11 months old today!   Really???....and the first birthday party plans are in the making.  It's so hard to believe my baby is going to be one.


6. Did you know that a chair makes a great walker?? Ask Rylan, he can give you advice on that.


7. Makenna Claire's line of the week, "You can say that again!"  
Where she picked that up, we will never know.  Kinda cute, and it makes us smile.


8.  I can't wait to go back here!  Tickets bought, plans made, countdown is on!  It'll be so nice to spend an entire week together, and this time we'll have another little one to share the fun with! So looking forward to it.

                                                                                                     sanibel island, florida


9. Speaking of that to do list...must go print pictures so updated photos can be hung and those empty (hung) frames can be filled ;0!


10.  This was fun and I am looking forward to doing it again next week.  Bye for now..

Happy Independence Day!

From our home to yours!
xoxo, us

on the move..

Little Rylan continues to bring us such joy and love to our everyday.  Just when we think that he is at the perfect stage, we get so excited at what comes next.  His personality continues to emerge and there is so much to admire and to love in this little being.  

He is a very laid back lil guy who loves to play and is becoming increasingly independent.  Feeding himself is his favorite thing to do and he can also hold his own bottle.  "mmmmmm", he saids with every bite and just like his sister, is an awesome eater!  

Waving hello and bye bye with a relaxed wrist and an exaggerated shaking arm is the cutest thing.  Oh yea, and peek a boo is always better when you put your hands on the back of your head.  Da da has become his first word as he sometimes forgets who is with him 24 7  :) and longs to be with his Daddy.  ha!  That's ok..it's very endearing and I'll wait my turn...

tick, tock

=)

At 9 months old, Ry was still very content playing in one place...but that certainly is no longer the case!  At 9 months and 1 day, he started to be on the move and this past month, he has made great strides in that area.  Mastering pulling up to a stand, and starting to cruise along objects is a daily activity.  Preferring to stand than crawl has him crawling to reach objects but then he wants to stand.  His favorite game is to see how long he can stand by himself and when he loses his balance, he loves to fall forward in your arms, laughing hysterically at himself, only to do it all over again!

These days, Rylan is sporting 2 bottom teeth and the top right is coming in any day now (his white gums and his increasing drooling is very evident of that fact!) His contagious, rolling laugh will make you smile every time. 

And it's so hard to think that this momma will have to be planning a first birthday party soon.. yikes!

Been a while since I've posted

But might as well wait for the right occasion, eh? With Kelly and the kids downtown for a few days, I'm doing the bachelor shuffle at the house. Came home from work today and decamped in the basement to get my work done and by the time I emerged to let the dogs out and plant a tree, a big wall of, well, rhymes with "spit", was bearing down on us to the point the dogs went out and came back in really quick.

After two hours of basement dwelling while the sirens madly blared and Mother Nature went all Terminator on us, we emerged to see what had transpired. Fortunately, still got power, nothing destroyed outside but some cool colors. Below are a slideshow of pictures and then I stitched together video from the backyard as well as the front of the house. It's still thundering and lightning in the distance...wonder if we're in for another round?

And here's a movie taken with some panned views of the front and back:

Nope, I am on the right track..

I often wonder if I stress myself out, trying to do too much, always feeling like I am never "caught up".  I have so many passionate hobbies and I never feel like I can devote as much time, energy or ME into any of them.  Sometimes this makes me a little stressed..always feeling "behind" and my never ending, forever adding, To Do list is always there.  At the same time, I  know that I dedicate myself to our kids and they will always come first, so the ME time comes in to play once everyone is snug in their beds and the house is quiet. (as I compose this at 12:15 am).  And that time is limited.

One of my passions is photography, and scrapbooking our memories.  In case I was bored (HA!), I decided to add and additional layer to my plate.  Hello Project 365..  document our lives by taking a picture a day for the 365 days of the year 2010.  I thought it would be a challenge but it would encourage me to bring out the camera each and every day, thus improving my skill set, and why woudn't I want more pictures, right?  And our normal day to day lives would be preserved, sealed and recalled in the years to come.  Sounds great!

Well, it has proven to be a challenge.  I have enjoyed taking the daily pictures but trying to stay on top of the downloading, the journaling, as well as assembling of our digital and paper book is difficult and I am always playing catch up.   And this leaves less time to scrap, so I am still scrapping Rylan's birth.  At the same time, I  have enjoyed the progress and I absolutely LOVE this book as it has really exemplified our memories in a different way than my traditional scrapbooking.

My point.  

As I sit here and look at  last couple of weeks of photos, I came across these picture beauties.  SERIOUSLY, all of my doubts, stresses and concerns of taking on another time consuming project have completely diminished.  I am confidant that if I wasn't doing project 365, I would not have these photos.  Photos that speak volumes to me and ones that I will forever treasure.  Thank you project 365.

Little did I know that these would be Bailey's last photographs..taken just  1 and 2 days before she died. And better yet, they exemplify her life to a tea and capture the essence of her.  She was loved beyond measure and boy did she return that love back. Always.  Always. Always.

This moment wasn't unusual in our house, but for some reason I get the chills looking at this now.  To me, the picture is a salute to Bailey's life as well as a good bye, i love you, exchange from one great friend to another.  Before we even knew it was time.

Priceless.

Treasured.

Story told.

Life captured.

Yep.. I am on the right track...

{access all of my project 365 photographs by clicking on the flicker photostream side bar}

MY DADDY runs.

Whoooo HOOO!  There goes Daddy again..running full speed ahead and finishing another 8k race in Western Springs this last weekend. And of course, his #1 cheerleaders were there for him.  So proud of you babe...way to go! You are a wonderful example for our family.