April and Easter.

 In April my parents came to visit.  They stayed with us for a week right around Easter. It was so nice to be able to visit with them after not seeing them since we went to Arizona back in November.  
The girls decorated Easter eggs with my mom.  My dad helped hide the eggs in the backyard. (Pre-landscaping work.)  

I didn't plan my picture taking very well.  It fell right at Ryan's nap time and basically every picture looks like this:

We ended up giving him a rock and I was able to get a halfway decent picture.

We loved having a big backyard to hide eggs in and Ryan was finally old enough to understand what was going on.  Next year should be even more fun!

Family Pictures.

Prior to our Arizona trip I had contacted my friend Julie about getting some family pictures taken while we were in town.  We met up at The Grove in Chandler.  Julie got some really great shots.  You’d never guess that Ryan was being a turkey and didn’t want to sit for pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The only thing that would have made these better is if Bill had been in them.  You can Photoshop him in, right Julie?  J  

You can check out more of Julie’s work on her blog:  http://www.becomingjuliegriffin.com/

November.

The beginning of November marked our first snow fall.  It wasn’t too much and melted and was gone the next day.  The girls had to walk uphill to the bus stop…in the snow.  Ha ha!  Now they have a story for their grandkids someday.

 We flew to Arizona to visit family.  The Husband found out last minute that he had to work and wasn’t going to be able to make the trip with us so I flew by myself with the three kids.  Flying out of Spokane wasn’t too bad.  Bill helped us get inside and to the security line.  I had Ryan in a carrier on my chest and was carrying his car seat.  And because he was on my chest they sent us through a family line where I had to have my hands swabbed by a TSA agent.  It didn’t take too long and we were on the plane in no time at all.  When we got on the plane a flight attendant helped carry Ryan’s seat to an empty row for us where I buckled it in and got everyone settled.  Ryan was by the window, then me, Maylyn was next to me, and Kaeleigh was across the aisle.  Well, as the plane begins taxiing down the runway another flight attendant (a different one than who helped me) comes over and tells me that Ryan can’t be over the wing of the plane and we’ll have to move seats.  So she asks these gentlemen a few rows back if they’ll trade seats with us and the first flight attendant who put me in that row came and apologized and offered to hold Ryan so I could carry all of our crap to the now vacated row.  Talk about embarrassing.  The pilot had to stop taxiing so we could do the seat swaps and everyone on the plane was staring at me as I unbuckled Ryan’s seat moved rows and buckled it back up. To top it off, Ryan was just starting to fall asleep before the move and then refused to sleep for the whole flight after the switch.  It was great.  I don’t know how many cookies that kid ate but I was doing anything and everything to keep him from crying.

 We celebrated Kaeleigh’s 10^th birthday while we were in Arizona.  Everyone came to Peter Piper Pizza to celebrate with us.  It was so great to see my family and friends.  A few of Kaeleigh’s old school friends came to her party also. 

 It was a short trip but lots of fun…until the flight home.  Sky Harbor airport is a nightmare.  It makes the airport in Spokane look like a library in comparison.  We got to the front of the security line very quickly, surprisingly. Ryan was on my chest again in his carrier but had fallen asleep this time around.  So again they pull me aside to swab my hands but this time I set off an alarm.  I have no idea why but the TSA agent grabbed all of my stuff and took me to this separate table where they proceeded to swab all of my belongings and wouldn’t let me touch any of it.  I had to be taken into this little room so that I could get a pat down from a female agent while another female agent and Kaeleigh and Maylyn looked on.  Keep in mind that Ryan is still asleep on my chest this entire time.  It was ridiculous.  Obviously I looked like a dangerous individual with two kids and a sleeping baby.  Let me tell you something, those agents have to pat you down everywhere.  I had to loosen Ryan’s carrier so she could feel under my boobs and everything.  Luckily we arrived early for our flight because that whole fiasco took forever and stressed all of us out except for Ryan who slept through the entire thing. Until we got on the plane and then he was all rested and didn’t want to sit in his car seat so I spent another flight with a wide awake one year old trying to entertain him with snacks and all of the pamphlets in the seat pockets in front of us.  I even took advantage of the free Wi-Fi on the plane and the free TV they offered to distract him.  It didn’t really work.  He spend the last half an hour or so fussing.  Getting home was a lot harder than getting to the airport.  Bill had flown out a few hours before we flew in so he left my car in the parking garage and I got a luggage cart to transport all of our things to the car.  It was exhausting.  I told Bill that I am never flying by myself with all of the kids ever again.

 Kaeleigh’s actual birthday was November 15^th so we took her out to dinner.  She chose Olive Garden.  And when we got home we had some cake and the kids got to Skype with family.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned how much of a Harry Potter fan Kaeleigh is but the girl just loves HP.  Bill found the perfect gift for her.  It’s Hermione’s wand and time turner necklace.  Sadly, about five minutes after Kaeleigh opened her gift she and Maylyn started arguing and Maylyn sat on Kaeleigh and broke the wand.  We haven’t found a glue yet that will keep it together.  Maybe it really is magic…

 I also buzzed off all of Ryan’s hair this month.  It had gotten to the point where he would twist his hair around his fingers and pull handfuls of it out.  He actually sat pretty still while I cut it; I was very surprised.  And now he looks like a little man!  It makes me sad to think about how quickly he’s growing up.

September.

My sister Sara came to visit us in September!  The weekend she was here coincided with the Spokane Pig Out so we went into the city and ate way too much!

 Sara was also on hand to help document Ryan’s first big boy haircut!  I wasn’t ready to cut it but it had gotten to the point that people were saying that he was a cute little girl.  In fact, while he was sitting on my lap getting his hair cut a lady standing nearby said, “oh, look at how good she’s being.”  Killing me lady!  He was wearing blue too. 

 September also meant that the girls went back to school!  Kaeleigh is now in 5^th grade and Maylyn is in 3^rd grade.  Kaeleigh has way more homework this year and usually needs help with math.  Turns out that I don’t remember fractions nearly as well as I thought I did.  She’ll be smarter than her parents soon!  Summer school really helped Maylyn prepare for 3^rd grade.  She still struggles but I can see a change in her reading and writing.  Trying to get her to do her 20 minutes of reading a night was like pulling teeth but she’s discovered a love for Daisy Meadows’ Fairy Books and has been reading a ton lately.

 I didn’t take too many pictures this month but I was able to get a few of the kids together.  It’s getting harder to take pictures of Ryan that aren’t blurry from movement.  That little boy is all over the place!

July.

Ryan started walking in June so in July we got him a pair of sandals.  He really liked them.  Ha ha!  

 The only way we could get him to wear them was to put them on right before taking him outside.  So he associated the shoes with something fun.  And now he’s a shoeaholic.  I took the kids shoe shopping and Ryan would get happy with every pair I put on him and cry every time I took a pair off. 

Man time on the deck.

The Husband and I celebrated our 4^th anniversary on July 8^th.  We got to have a date night and go out to dinner while my parents were in town later in the month. 

The day after my parents arrived we took a road trip into Oregon to visit one of my mom’s brothers.  He was having a family reunion so we got to see a bunch of family that we hadn’t seen in years.  Or in the case of my kids, hadn’t met yet.  Ryan loved the hotel we stayed at.  He had a blast in the pool and his favorite part of our room was standing in front of the AC while it was on.

The Husband ordered butterflies for the kids and they emerged during my parent’s visit.  My mom teaches about butterflies with her students at school so she helped take care of them.

We took a lot of walks while they were here.  Ryan loves to be pushed around in his stroller.  My dad and I spent a couple mornings walking up a path that leads up a steep hill.  It has a great view of our neighborhood.

 We took my parents to a few places during the week that they were here.  We made a stop at Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho and spent some time walking around Riverfront Park here in Spokane.  It’s such a beautiful park for being in the center of the city.  We celebrated both of my parent’s birthdays while they were here.  It was a slightly belated celebration for my mom and an early one for my dad.  We loved having them in town!

Christmas.

Ryan's first Christmas started at my aunt's house where we usually celebrate Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family.  Naturally, I forgot my camera (I've got a serious case of mom brain) so these first two pictures are from my mom's camera.

My uncle is supposed to email the pictures he took on his camera so I may be posting really late Christmas photos.

Christmas day we opened presents at our house.  

Ryan was all about presents!

 This picture of the three kids in front of the tree cracks me up.  They're all disheveled and in their pj's still looking half asleep.

 Kaeleigh got a Kindle.  Can you tell she's excited?

 I was EXTREMELY spoiled this year.

 I got a new camera!  Thanks honey! 

Later we had brunch and opened gifts over at my parent's house.

I didn't get too many pictures with the new camera because I hadn't figured out all of the settings yet. (Still haven't.)

We had such a great day and lots of wonderful memories for Ryan's first Christmas.