7 months old!

What a terrible Mom I am...months 5 and 6 went right by, with no updates. And here we are at Brandon's 7 month birthday. He's getting so big. He weighed 18 lbs at his 6 mo check-up, so he probably weighs close to 19 now. He has super cute chubby cheeks and thighs. Too bad it's not summer so he could show them off. He is now sitting up on his own and loves to chatter (and I love to listen to him). He's eating all sorts of baby foods and Gerber puffs. At first we had to put the puff in his mouth, but he has now mastered getting them in there on his own (so cute to watch him practice this!).

Several days ago, I was encouraging Brandon to say ma-ma or da-da. Ryan then encouraged him to say Geooo-Trax (a train brand) and Tho-mas. It's soo cute to see Ryan get excited about Brandon's growth & development.

On the other hand, let the sibling rivalry begin! Brandon is putting everything in his mouth that he can get his hands on (lots of drool & chewing, but no teeth yet). Ryan doesn't like that because he's convinced that Brandon will ruin it. So we're having to interject for the first time to ensure that Ryan doesn't take things away from Brandon. Overall Ryan is a great Big Brother and takes good care of "B." I can do this parenting thing! Here's some recent shots of the little man.....

Taking in all the sights & sounds in the waterpark at the hotel.


Silly boy! Ryan calls him 'Bucket Head' (probably a take on Ryan's nickname 'Melon Head')


A self portrait of Dad & Brandon while they watched Ryan's swim class. His shirt says, "Dad's the BOSS........Until Mom comes home" So true!! :)

Brynn & Brandon. Brynn was born 2 weeks after Brandon. Cutie pa-tooties!!

Old Friends Ski Weekend....

....will now be known as Ski & Waterpark Weekend.
4 or 5 years ago I became the Coordinator of Jason's friends & family's annual ski trip. Pick a weekend, book the hotel, buy lift tickets and enjoy the weekend! Not too difficult. The group is expanding (well, kinda) and we have lots of little kids now, so I am officially renaming it Ski & Waterpark Weekend. That suits me better anyway because I'm not really inclined to throw myself down a large hill, on skinny rails, and stay safely in control.

Normally we have 20+ skiiers and overall group of 30 people. This year there were a bunch of scheduling conflicts, so the gathering was small...8 skiiers and 18 people overall. But we still had lots of fun!!

I took Ryan to Cascade to see Dad ski. We're assuming that he'll want to learn in a couple of years, so this was a chance to check it out. Jason took 2 runs and Ryan would have been content to see him take several more. He thought it was pretty cool.


And back at the waterpark....here's Abby in her 4th swimsuit of the weekend playing with soon-to-be Uncle Chris & Aunt Ashley. Cutie!!


Cousins in their inner tubes..having a ball! Ryan, Ayden & Abby

Brandon liked the water too! Grandma was helping him float on his back.

Aynn, Ryleigh Mike & Ayden!! The whirlpool was nice & cozy.

The Springborn-Peterson-Boyd family! Angie, her sister Ashley, Brynn, Abby, Doug & Ashley's fiance, Chris

On Sunday a.m. I was very surprised when Ryan was the first one to suggest that he go down this big slide. Keep in mind that Friday afternoon he wouldn't go down a much smaller slide without Mom or Dad. So we made big strides this weekend! Too bad I wasn't fast enough to take the picture before he hit the water.

Ryleigh & Ayden chillin' with Dad

All the kids got these silly antlers at MooseJaw restaur-nant (as Ryan pronounces it). Ayden, Ryan, Abby, Ryleigh, Brandon & Brynn

The babies had fun splashing too!! Angie with Brynn, Ryan, Brandon & Abby

And the BIG kids had fun too!! Mike & Doug making waves with Ayden

How many kids can you fit into this shell?....FOUR!

Ryleigh on the go!

SuperStar Ashley with the kiddos!! She doesn't have any of her own (yet) but is soooo good with ours. We really appreciate all the trips down the slide she took with the 3, going on 4, year olds.

Abby crusin' down the slide!

Here's a group shot....Kim, Angie, Mike, Brandon, Ryleigh, Abby, Brynn, Ryan, Doug, Aynn & Ayden. QUICK - who's missing??

Jason! He was skiing.

Here's a silly video I shot with our point-n-shoot. The water is so loud in the room that you can't hear the kids, but it's fun to see them playing.

Another life experience for Ryan....

His first visit to the dentist!! The three of us were all supposed to have adjacent appointments, but I had to go out of town for work. So Jason took Ryan for his first cleaning. Ryan went first and then Jason.

Ryan loves to count things right now, so he really enjoyed knowing that he has 2-0 teeth!! He told me that when I called that night from Florida to check on things.

Dad reports that he was very cooperative until the very end when he announced, "Ok, I'm done."

Thanks to Caroline, Dr. Codo and FAVORITE Aunt Jerri who took great care of him.

Anniversary!

This year was the big EIGHT. How can that be? Feels like life is speeding right past us and I'm having trouble keeping up! :-)

Our anniversary tradition, for the past several years, is to have dinner and see a Broadway show in the City. This year we had dinner at Harry Carry's and saw Les Miserables. Jason didn't enjoy it as much as Million Dollar Quartet (last year), but it was a great production and we can say that we experienced it!

Blizzard 2011

Here's some pictures from our perspective of Blizzard 2011! Fortunately my office was closed that Wednesday, but we were expected to work from home. The kids were home with me, so I used my "lunch hour" to play outside with Ryan and the neighborhood kids.

Jason had to work that Tuesday night. Lucky for 4 wheel drive, or he would not have made it! He used 88 to get there and was glad when he passed a sign because that meant he was still on the road. The Naperville PD provided services that night by using 4x4 trucks as squad cars (borrowed from other city departments), ambulances were escorted by big plow trucks and several of Jason's co-workers had to get rides to work from those who could get around, or they camped at the PD. What a storm!

Our hero, Jerry! He & his wife Lynn used their snow blower on our driveway that morning (and several other times this season). Someday we will get one so that we can return the favor.


Ryan sliding down a giant snow pile in our alley. WHHEEEE!!


This cool drift was on the south side of our house. This picture doesn't do it justice - so cool how it curled up towards the house.



Ryan on top of a pile of snow while our neighbor Katie tries to dig a tunnel. Silly girl!

Our neighbor Cathy tries her hand at snowboarding! Go Cath!!

Ryan peeked out from behind a biiigggg pile of snow. All the kids were playing in this area.

And here they are! Again, this was my lunch hour - fun on Gillett & Diana Streets! Ryan on the far left.