First Haircut

I have been putting this off.  Perhaps because I didn't want to have to admit I no longer have a baby and it is time for a big boy haircut!  But, I finally took him.  And it was time!  Our appointment was at 6pm for both Ryan and Kayley.  I was a little worried because he can get pretty crabby around that time each night.  But, it turned out to be a perfect time because he was pretty tired and he just sat perfectly still in my lap (his pacifier helped).  He seemed half asleep while she cut his hair and then perked right up when I put him in another chair to take his "after" picture.

 

Before

Before

After

After

We have had a busy week.  Andy left last Wednesday for Australia and luckily Grandma came to the rescue!  She was planning to come last weekend anyway, but was willing to extend her stay to help.  We miss Andy and can't wait to have him home on Saturday, but having Grandma here makes it a little easier.  Andy sent the following pictures from his first weekend in Australia.

 

Kangaroo

Koala Bear

Andy feeding a kangaroo

Don't feel bad for me.  I haven't been lonely at night...I had a little visitor who woke up during a thunderstorm. 

Drew had a football game last weekend.  He had a lot of fun and had two touchdowns including catching a pass for a touchdown.  He was pretty proud and said Dad would have been happy that all of their practice helped him!  Andy spends hours throwing him passes in our basement so he should be able to catch one in the game!  He also tipped a pass and almost had an interception.  I think that got him excited for defense, which is exciting because he was the complete opposite last year and was too timid to go after anything.  I didn't get any pictures of Drew because our side of the field looked directly into the morning sun.  But, I did get a picture of this cute little guy.

 

Sunday was a beautiful day so we went to Tanner's Orchard.  The kids enjoyed spending the afternoon outside and playing on all the fun play equipment in the huge playground area.  Drew and Kayley had so much fun that Grandma took them on Wednesday afternoon as well because they only had a half day of school. 

Ryan hasn't been a boy of many words up to this point, but he FINALLY added "mom" and "mama" to his vocabulary while Andy has been gone.  I was only too happy to tell Andy when I talked to him!  Ryan has always been a daddy's boy so this was a little bragging point for me.  Well, the other night, he started yelling "mom" and I got excited because I wanted to catch it on video to send it to Andy so I quickly grabbed my phone.  This is what he said (for the first time too):

I couldn't believe it!  It was cute and all, but definitely not what I wanted to send to Andy!  So much for rubbing "mom" in his face!  To make it worse for me, he repeats "dada" all the time now and hasn't had much interest in "mom" or "mama" since!

Fever, Football and Fifteen Months Old!

It was another busy week at our house.  On Monday, I got the dreaded call (that I am quite used to at this point) that Ryan had a fever.  I left early to pick him and the kids up.  Andy and Drew had flag football practice that night.  Andy is the head coach of Drew's flag football team.  When they got home, we had a quick dinner and as I was getting ready to leave for my first volleyball game of the season, I gave Ryan Tylenol, but he fought me the whole time and started gagging.  I was in my volleyball shirt so I quickly handed him to Andy in order to save my shirt and it was just in time because he started throwing up.  It was gross, but my shirt was spared (so was Andy's).  I tried to quickly help clean up between my own gagging and finally Andy just shook his head and told me to go.  I was only too happy to leave for my game while Andy and Ryan headed up to the bath.  Ryan's fever broke Tuesday afternoon and he was back in daycare on Thursday.  Now, we are just waiting for one of the other two to get it, but so far so good!

Tuesday was our one free night.  Wednesday was Kayley's gymnastics class.  She loves gymnastics and is very excited her best friend from preschool is in her class.  They go to different elementary schools so this is the one time they see each other. 

Thursday was Ryan's 15 month check-up and then flag football practice for Andy and Drew.  Ryan is doing great, but may be a bit behind in talking.  They said he should say 4 words in addition to Mama and Dadda.  He doesn't even say Mama or Dadda and the only thing he says is thank you" and "uh oh."  His pediatrician isn't worried about it at this point.  Ryan did start saying "what is that" this weekend.  Andy had said it to him and now he repeats it back to us when we say it to him.

Ryan's personality is really starting to show.  It appears he has more Kayley in him than Drew.  :-)  He definitely has tantrums (many involve fake crying) already and had one in front of the pediatrician and the pediatrician laughed and said we are in trouble and that was the most pathetic (fake) tantrum ever.  Ryan lays back very carefully during his tantrum (so he doesn't get hurt) and fake cries while looking at us to make sure we are looking at him.  It is hysterical and you can't help but laugh. 

He also gives us quite the look when we tell him no. 

We told him no after he threw food on the ground

 

We told him no when he threw a toy

 

And yes, I am very aware he is in need of  a haircut...

Saturday was Drew's football game.  He played quarterback for one quarter and scored a touchdown.  He was aggressive on defense and got a lot of flags.  So different from last year.  I watched a lot of the Kindergartners and a few of them cried randomly throughout the game and it reminded me so much of Drew last year! 

 

Drew is the blonde closest to the camera

Drew is the quaterback

Drew is #11 (Arizona Cardinals fans will
know why he picked #11)

Saturday was also my birthday.  The kids gave me cards that they made, Andy got me a spa package and they bought me a cake.  We went to dinner early and came home and watched the Hawkeyes beat the Cyclones.  It was a great day!

Annual Lake Okoboji Trip

We took what is becoming our annual trip to Lake Okoboji over Labor Day weekend.  We stay with some of my parent's best friends, Jim and Nancy, who live right on the lake (and right next to Arnold's Park, the amusement park).  I have known Jim and Nancy since I was a little girl and Jim was my high school English teacher.

We broke up the drive a little and stopped at Mom and Dad's Friday night and drove the rest of the way Saturday morning.  Saturday was HOT so we spent the day in the water. 

On Saturday night, Nancy made us a fabulous dinner and then Mom and I took Drew and Kayley to an ice cream shop next to the park for their dessert.  Once we got the kids to bed, Andy, Matt and I went down to the greenspace by the park for a concert.  The band was the Arch Allies - a tribute band for Styx, Journey and REO.  They were great! 

When we got home, we found Drew like this:

 

He was tired from a long day in the water!

On Sunday morning, the boys went fishing and the girls went shopping.  Matt caught this fish and had Drew hold it.  He wasn't so sure about holding it.  I am thinking he isn't a true fisherman!

We spent most of Sunday at Arnold's Park.  The kids enjoyed riding the kiddie rides they ride every year, but Drew is definitely outgrowing them!  He was a sport about it and rode on the ones Kayley wanted to ride on when we got into the park.  Ryan went on a few rides, but didn't completely enjoy it!

Ryan is not loving the fish

Or the boats!

Kayley and Jim and Nancy's great granddaughter, Summer

The boats aren't so bad after all

He really liked the boats after his nap!

 Kayley's favorite ride!

 

Matt and I kept asking Drew if he wanted to ride the big wooden rollercoaster (the Legend) with us.  He wasn't so sure after riding the Tornado at Adventureland a few weeks ago!  We went on it twice without him and you could tell he really wanted to go, but he was scared.  Matt and I said we were going to ride one more time and that was it, he wanted to go.  He was a little unsure when we started, but by the end, he loved it and it was hard to get him off of the ride the rest of the day and night!

I am excited that Drew is starting to ride big roller coasters, but it makes me kind of sad too.  They are growing up so fast!  Just last year, he and Kayley rode the kiddie rides together the entire time we were at the park.  This time, once Drew had been on the Legend, Kayley was left to do the kiddie rides by herself, but she didn't seem to mind.

After we finally got the kids out of the park Sunday night, Andy and I drove over to his aunt and uncle's home, which is only a few minutes from where we were staying.  It was fun to catch up with them. 

We drove home on Monday morning.  It was a long drive with three kids, but Ryan did great considering how long it was.  We stopped in Cedar Falls and had lunch with some friends.  We also bought a lot of UNI and Iowa gear while we were in town.  Then we headed home.  About 45 minutes from home, Ryan decided he was done with riding in the car!  We were all happy to be home when we pulled into the driveway!