Our Two Boys

Valentines Cuties

2012-02-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I got the boys to cooperate for this session. I'm sure the lollipops helped!

And the only picture I got of the two of them together. Back sides and out of focus!

Spring already?

2012-02-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days have been unbelievably warm for winter! It has been so nice to play outside and not have to bundle up.

We mowed the lawn

Played on the swings

Jumped around like a maniac.

And just had a good ole time soaking in the sun.

Ryder's first haircut

2012-02-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

Chris finally convinced me that Ryder needed a haircut. I have to admit his hair was getting a little out of control. I especially realized it after seeing this picture.

So he promised to only cut off an inch and I grabbed my camera. He cut off a lot more than I expected and Ryder looks like such a big boy now. I'm so sad.

Here are some iphone pictures of his new do and the before and after. sniff sniff.

Skyler gets Baptized

2012-02-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

We went to our baby cousins Baptism last weekend. It was a great service and he was so good. Not even one tear! The boys managed OK being in church. When we walked in and saw a "no food or drink allowed" sign I cried a little. Food is usually how we make it through church. We also brought toys and I have to admit we did sneak a little food in. It was either that or there would have been some loud screams!

Congratulations Skyler!

winter wonderland

2012-01-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

It hasn't snowed too much this winter but we finally got a little last week. The boys had so much fun sledding. We have a video I'll have to see if I can upload sometime.

orange | some OCF fun

2012-01-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry grandma - next post will be of the boys :)

I got some OCF (off camera flash) equipment for Christmas and have been having fun playing with it and my macro lens. First up is an orange. Reminds me of summer.

Here's the pull back shot. The flash was camera left and I bounced it off of the white side of a snapple box. It's also the same pull back for the most part for the next OCF experiement.

I wanted to freeze motion. So using the same orange I dropped some slices into a glass of beer. It took a lot of trial and error as I was home by myself and was using the timer and hoping I got it right. There was a lot of going back and forth from the camera to my set up. I'm really happy with the way the first one came out. Next time I'll have to remember to not wear pink pajama pants!

Arts & Crafts Day

2012-01-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

Our "day" consisted of a very quick 45 minutes but the boys had a lot of fun finger painting, coloring and playing with play dough. We went from one think right to the next. I'm hoping one day their attention span will be a little longer!

watching dad

2012-01-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

We went to Nonna & Grandpa's so Chris could move some things around in their garage. The boys played around for a while but they were very interested in what Chris was doing in the garage.

He's back to being Mr. Serious.

Running away from me. The little guy doesn't like the camera anymore. sigh.

curious little boys

I'm in a photo

2012-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

I've been making a big effort lately to actually be in front of the camera. I have so many pictures of my kids but not a lot of me with them. So whether they are on a tripod and out of focus or taken with a point and shoot or the horrid on board flash I will love them because they are memories of me with my kids.

Mason's Birthday

2012-01-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple shots from when Mason opened his birthday present. We then did birthday dinner and cake!

Little brother also enjoyed M's birthday present!

crave this giveaway

2012-01-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

An amazing photographer is having the most amazing giveaway. Your choice of either a Nikon 85 f/1.4 OR Canon 85mm f/1.2L. Check it out!http://cravemyphotography.com/blog/25000-fans-giveaway/

Our Christmas Morning

2012-01-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

We had a rough night Christmas Eve into Christmas morning with Mason having a bit of a stomach bug. By 7am we were all up and ready to see what Santa brought us. The kids waited nicely for us to turn on the lights and get the camera.

We ventured out to check out the tree and stockings.

Santa left a trail of fruit snacks around the stockings and to the tree. Ryder insisted on picking them all up, however he was very upset when he little hands couldn't hold all of them at once.

Chris showed him he could collect them in a stocking and he was much happier and we then able to continue our morning.

Look at this hair! I don't want to cut it.

Coors got a new dog bed this year. We were hoping she'd stay off of ours but that didn't quite happen.

"Santa" the elf

2011-12-26T05:21:00.000-08:00

This was our first year doing the elf on a shelf. He came with a book and in it is says that you need to give him a name. I asked Mason what he wanted to name his elf and he said, "Santa." So there you have it we have "Santa" the elf who reports to the big Santa at the North Pole every night. Mason seemed to enjoy it although a lot of the time he forgot about him. I'm not quite sure if he really got the concept but he never tried to touch him. We started Dec 1st and when Santa came to drop of the presents "Santa" the elf went back home with him until next year.

Here are our 24 days with "Santa" the elf.

Mason is THREE!

2011-12-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that tomorrow I will have a three year old. Mason loves to do EVERYTHING by himself. He speaks in complete sentences but only when he's with us or people he's comfortable with. I think he's starting to talk a little more at school but he was pretty quiet the first couple of months! Happy Birthday Mason! xoxo

He's beginning to cooperate *a little* bit for pictures now.

Here's a couple or Ryder at 15 months.

We let Mason pick out his cake. We showed him a truck cake and he said no. Showed him a machine cake and he said no. Showed him a motorcycle cake and he said no. We were starting to think he was going to say no to everything. Then we showed him a Mickey cake and we got a yes! So there we had it, a mickey party it was.

our holiday card

2011-12-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

I've been dying to share this but wanted to wait until our cards were sent out. It was the only way to get a picture of both boys together!

This was on the front.

And these pictures of the boys on the back.

Our Tree

2011-12-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

We always cut down a Christmas tree. For the past several years we were able to get one for free because Chris new a builder that bought an old Christmas tree farm but his building was put on hold. This year that didn't work for us though because the trees weren't maintained and had gotten too big. We went to a tree farm and Chris, Mason, Nonna, Grandpa, Poppy & Gracky went hunting for a tree. I was in the car with Ryder who fell asleep on the way to our second location. I only have this one picture from our front location.

As usually Chris found the biggest tree that would fit in our house. The boys had such a fun time decorating.

And here is our tree!

and here is a fun tripod blooper. No lenses were hurt in the taking of this shot!

Dare devil

2011-12-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

When Mason first got his balance bike he wasn't too interested. Well he loved it until he fell and then it sat around for a little bit. This summer he has taken more of an interest in it and loves to ride it. He calls it his dirt bike. As he continues to get more comfortable with it he picks his feet up for a few seconds at a time. The other day he was even riding down the trailer ramp! Chris can't wait for the day that Mason can get his very own dirt bike. Our deal is that Mason first has to be able to ride a two wheeler and he has to be mature enough to listen WELL.

I'm pretty sure he'll be getting one of these before I'm ready!

We got a kids quad from a friend and Mason got to test it out for a few minutes.

The boys are in a band

2011-12-06T11:30:00.001-08:00

excuse the horrible quality. These were taken at night in horrible lighting. I love them anyway :)

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T19:20:00.001-08:00

We had a couple Thanksgiving dinners this year. We went to my mom's on Thanksgiving Day. The boys had such a fun time.

Thanksgiving #2 was the day after. The boys loved playing with their cousins and they loved dinner!

More outside fun

2011-11-30T17:38:00.001-08:00

It's been such a warm November. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is December and winter's on it's way.

Baking with my Buddies

2011-11-19T18:58:00.001-08:00

I am so lucky to be a party of an amazing MOMS Club. Our calendar is always filled with so many fun activities. We recently went to a "baking with my buddies" play date. Each kid had a bowl of ingredients and followed the directions to make cookies. It was so much fun! Ryder and his friend were too little so we tied them down to the chairs. They weren't too happy about it but Mason had a blast!

Climber

2011-11-15T16:54:00.001-08:00

Ryder loves to climb on everything. It's not surprising for me to get something in another room and to find him standing a chair, table, the couch, etc. He will push one of the kid chairs to the end table and climb up onto the couch. He is crazy!

The boys playing outside

2011-11-14T19:20:00.001-08:00

Our first baby | Coors

2011-11-13T13:19:00.001-08:00

Since having the boys I haven't taken nearly as many pictures of Coors as I used to. We were outside playing one afternoon and the boys wanted nothing to do with the camera. What else is new. I still wanted to work on my skills and decided to turn my attention on Coors. She might be my new favorite subject! As long as I was holding a ball hostage she would look at me.

winter storm Alfred

2011-11-12T15:51:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned in some previous posts we had a big winter storm in October. Because the trees were still heavy with leaves the snow caused a large amount of damage. We were out of power for 8 whole days. Luckily we bought a generator before Irene so we were able to have heat & hot water. We had a couple lights and a working outlet in the kitchen. We had the fridge and extra freezer hooked up to it as well so we didn't lose any food. We used to toaster oven or grill to heat things up. It wasn't the most ideal situation but we were lucky we had a generator. We knew several people that had to leave their homes and stay with relatives or those that just stayed in their homes despite not having water or heat.

Here are some pictures from around our neighborhood several days after the storm. I still can't believe that all this was caused by snow. We have our share of snow in the winter but never damage like this.

The kids didn't mind not having power. Ryder didn't know the difference and Mason got used to it after a day. If you remember he had to deal with it for 5 days in August and 3 days in June. "Oh no, we have no more power." is a part of his regular vocabulary now. The boys had a lot of fun playing inside with their trains.

Halloween was canceled

2011-11-11T09:17:00.001-08:00

Due to the crazy winter storm Alfred that arrived the end of October our town, as well as a few others, postponed Halloween trick or treating due to safety issues. It was going to be the following weekend but things were still not safe. I'm glad my kids are young enough to not really know what they missed out on. However I am and I'm bummed I don't get to eat all their candy! We still had plenty of Halloween parties the week before where they got to wear their costumes.

more of the little guy

2011-11-09T03:57:00.000-08:00

I know focus is soft but I just love it anyway! Ryder is getting less cooperative and I had to hold him down with my feet to get this shot. Wait that sounded worse than it actually is. My feet were locked on either side of his body so he couldn't get up. I wasn't stepping on him!

swinging fun at the park

Happy boy

2011-11-08T03:10:00.001-08:00

He just makes me smile all the time.

Lake Lillinonah

2011-11-07T18:01:00.001-08:00

This is the lake that we live on. My plan is to get a picture of it at all 4 seasons and then hang them all together. I still haven't decided which spot I like the best. Not in a rush so I have time to practice and am still new to landscape photography. This was taken early one October morning. Luckily I got to it because the snow storm!

Labor Day Parade

2011-11-06T05:44:00.000-08:00

I'm really not as far behind as you might think. Our Labor Day Parade was actually on October 9th this year. That's right, a Labor Day Parade on Columbus Day Weekend. If you remember back in September Irene came for a visit. We were out of power for 5 days as were many others in our state. Some short and some even longer. Due to this they postponed the Labor Day Parade. It ended up being a beautiful parade and even though it was smaller than in past years the kids all had a blast.

Mason and Ryder's friends, Jake and Drew came with us. Hopefully we can make it a yearly tradition.

Just like Dad

2011-11-05T18:32:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin picking

2011-11-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun at Castle Hill Farm. We went with the MOMS Club and got to go on a hayride. The cows came right up to us and were eating the hay!

We went again over the weekend with some friends. The kids loved to play with the dogs and other animals.

2011-11-05T10:22:00.001-07:00

Isn't this how you play with trains?

man on the move

2011-11-03T13:32:00.001-07:00

playing inside

2011-11-03T04:31:00.001-07:00

While the boys prefer to be outside they have a great playroom that they love to play in.

playing outside

2011-11-03T04:30:00.001-07:00

Apple picking & ice cream

2011-10-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

We spend another afternoon apple picking. This time with our MOMS Club.
We always have so much fun at our MOMS Club outings. This day we went out for some ice cream. Ryder loved it!

first day of preschool

2011-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Mason started pre school the day after Ryder's birthday party. All week we talked about school and how he'd play with his friends and then mommy or daddy would pick him up. He's in a two's program and goes once a week on Mondays. I had Ryder's one year appointment that day so if I wasn't able to make it on time Chris was going to pick him up. Drop off didn't go great. We went in and washed his hands (it's one of the rules) and then put his bag in his cubby. He sat down and played, I said good-bye and then ran into a friend who's daughter is also in the class. I talked with her for a few seconds and then all of the sudden Mason realized I was leaving and he was attached to my leg screaming. I gave him a hug and a kiss and left. I later learned from my friend that he set off about 5 other kids and when she left almost the whole class was screaming! He's a few weeks in now and LOVES it. It took a couple weeks to transition but on the third week he walked in, washed his hands and found the backhoe. He didn't even want to hug me goodbye!

Here's Mason walking up the steps to school on his first day.

Ryder | one year

2011-10-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last birthday post :) I think you've figured it out by now Ryder is a one year old. Officially a toddler. It's getting a lot more interesting having 2 kids 21 months apart. At the park Ryder is running in one direction and Mason the other. They like to wrestle each other.. well Mason likes to wrestle Ryder. Ryder loves to be anywhere that his big brother is.

Ryder is 12 months. He

weights 22 lbs 5 oz (50%)
height - 31 inches (90%)
says mama, Coors
signs more & all done
runs
climbs stairs, furniture, the dog, his brother...
eats everything, steak, ribs, pork chops, you name it!
still wakes up at least 1-2 times a night

I'm sure I'll add more to the list as I remember. Oh and for those that don't know, Coors is the name of our dog! He says "Ca" when talking to her. I love that our kids have a dog growing up. They love her so much and when we're at the park they love to say hi to other dogs.

I didn't get any other pictures of Ryder is his 12 month onesie and it's now covered in cake so you'll have to deal with this one again :)

Happy Birthday baby boy!

Ryder's Birthday party

2011-10-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

We had Ryder's party the next day. It ended up being a beautiful day so we set up everything outside. The little guy must have known he was going to have a busy day and fell asleep after eating breakfast!

He didn't stay very long to help dad open presents.

His buddy Liam had fun in the swing.

Gracky helped him down the slide

How many adults does it take to help a one year old down the slide? :)

I am now the proud owner of 101 cookie cutters just so I could get a number one. If anyone needs a cookie cutter for any occasion I got it!

Ryder wanted to share his cake with Poppy. I love this picture!

Ryder is so lucky to have so many great grandparents!

still Ryder's birthday

2011-10-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I think he's going to have several birthday posts! I'm still going through his pictures but almost caught up! After we went apple picking we worked on getting ready for his party. Chris didn't want to cook at home and make a mess so we went down the street to make a mess at Nonna & Grandpa's :)
Mason knew what it was all about!

family photo! Mason needed something to take to preschool on Monday!

apple picking

2011-10-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

We went apple picking on Ryder's 1st birthday. He had a blast and so did Mason. Here are a few (well more than a few) snapshots. I can't believe the little guy is ONE!

Riding in style

2011-10-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

This past Easter the boys got a Gator. Yes maybe a little extravegant for an Easter present but we have a fall and winter baby. It's a great excuse for some spring/summer outdoor toys. Ryder was just a little guy so Mason took it right over. However now Ryder is a pro holding on in the passenger seat.

2011-09-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

We're going to back up a little bit before Ryder's birthday. Somehow I got behind again. Lots to catch up on so look for 1-2 posts a day! Mason had so much fun at the Bridgewater fair that a couple weeks later we went with our friends (and Mason's best friend) to the Goshen fair. They had all the same rides and the kids had a blast. Even Ryder went on a ride and loved it!

first corn dog experiences
first pony ride!
And little Ryder having fun with the big kids.

Goshen

2011-09-28T04:04:00.001-07:00

Fun with Dad

2011-09-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

While I'm not scared of a little dirt and mess I don't go looking for it. I can't say the same about my husband ;) We were playing outside and Chris got the hose. The boys had a blast filling buckets up with water. We then went down to the sand box and ohh what a mess they made!
Didn't you know in order to grow little brother's need to get watered?
And the real mess begins

Happy Birthday Ryder!

2011-09-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

I'll have another post on what Ryder is doing and his stats after his dr.'s appointment Monday. I just wanted to share some of Ryder's birthday torture, I mean pictures.

We took some pictures for his invitation.

And then did a cake smash.

this is my favorite! He's such a ham!

Last weekend we were up before then sun and went out to take some pictures. I can't believe this little guy is a one year old!

This is how our morning ended

We went out again the next morning but didn't get as many. We did enjoy watching the sun rise though.

Ryder and his friend Andrew share the same birthday. I went to high school with his mom and saw on FB that she also had a baby boy. We would visit with each other in between visitors.

And here's one from today, Ryder's birthday. We went apple picking. The little guy had a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday baby boy!

New England Air Museum

2011-09-14T17:59:00.001-07:00

Over Labor Day Weekend we took the kids to the New England Air Museum. Mason loved to look at all the airplanes.

I love these next two photos. Mason was SO happy being the pilot :)

good morning!

2011-09-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ryder and I got up early this weekend and headed out of the house to do his one year portraits. I'm still working on those but while we were up at the crack of dawn I got to take some early morning shots around town.

We have a large flag pole in the center of town. There were not many cars around before sunrise so I pulled over and grabbed a shot on the side of the road. This was taken on 9/11

We then headed to the location I wanted to take Ryder's pictures. It's on a big hill that overlooks town. You can see our Church and the Flagpole.

The sun begins to rise

Irene came for a visit

2011-09-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

We don't get many hurricanes in CT. Well technically Irene was a tropical storm by the time she hit us but there was still a lot of damage and we were without power for 5 full days.

Luckily we had plenty of notice that Irene was heading our way. Back in June we had a severe thunderstorm (nearby it was a tornado) and we lost power for 3 days, 70 hours to be exact. Thankfully we were able to stay at my mom's house just 20 minutes away. This time I knew if we were going to be out of power most of the state probably would and we would have no where to go. Thanks to a great article in Parents Magazine I started making an emergency kit. Stocked up on water, non-perishable food, first aid kit. Most of this I probably should have done a long time ago, but we really don't see many natural disasters in CT so I never thought too much about having an emergency kit. Since we were told we could be out of power for up to a week we found a generator before the rest of the state starting panicking and they were all out. When I was at Target on Thursday I was the only one stocking up on water and other things. Everyone else was just doing their normal Target shopping. I'm so glad we were prepared because I heard how everyone else was going nuts trying to fight over the last water bottle or container and those on lines for several hours waiting for a new shipment of generators.

On Saturday Chris spent the morning securing out outdoor furniture and making sure there were no projectiles out there. We filled the bathtub with water (for flushing toilets) and several pots in the kitchen. We have well water so no power means no water!

We woke up Sunday morning to crazy wind and rain. We brought the kids all downstairs in case any trees were to fall on the house. We watched the news until the power went out around 6am.

I attempted to do some long exposure shots with my tripod.

Chris got the generator hooked up to some essential items. Of course that included the computer and thanks to having DSL we were still able to get online. We spent the morning watching live feed on our local news station and playing in the playroom with the kids. They had no clue what was going on. Mason was not impressed with Irene.

When I was at Target preparing for the storm I made sure to get Mason a new toy. He picked out a set of cars. He LOVED playing with them and it sure helped when he started getting crabby.

On Monday I was in desperate need to venture out of the house. There are a million different back road ways to get to us and I swear at everyone I had to turn around because of trees and wires down. It took me an hour but eventually I was able to find a way out into town.

While we had no power we played outside and even had a small party. Friends that used to live on our street were visiting family. We ordered a bunch of pizzas and escorted everyone out by flashlight.

We were estimated to not get power back until Tomorrow! Luckily that estimate was wrong and after being out for 5 full days we got it back Thursday night.

Our local tv station did a video of photos and videos sent in to them. You can view it here. We are so lucky that the worst that happened to us was to be without power for 5 days.

Bridgewater Fair

2011-09-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun this year at the Bridgewater Fair. We only went on Sunday but I think next year we might go both days. Mason had a blast and loved the rides. We met up with some of his friends. For days following he would wake up and say, "I want to go on race car with Nana." So cute! "Nana" is his best friend, Savannah.

We first saw all the huge tractors

And then went to see the animals. I think we saw the cows at least 5 times each. Mason kept on wanting to go back in that barn.

I was thrilled that there were some rides Mason was tall enough to go on. I wasn't sure how he'd do since the only type of ride he's ever been on was a carousel and he'll only sit on the bench. I was pleasantly surprised that he LOVED the rides. I'm sure it helped that Nana was with him.

we were all waiting for Savannah to get rescued. She didn't want to come down by herself so one of the attendants had to go get her!

I spared you from the rest of the 200+ pictures I took at the fair!

Sili Squeeze

2011-08-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

I recently learned about a cool new product called the Sili Squeeze. It is a BPA free squeezable bottle. You can use it for yogurt, applesauce and any puree. I learned about it from Stroller Strides because it was invented from a Stroller Strides mom! I decided that I had to have it. I bought a double pack so Mason and Ryder could have one. It's a hit with both boys. I've only done yogurt so far but am hoping to get some more veggies in these boys by mixing veggie purees with fruit or yogurt.

There are not many pieces and it is super easy to clean. You can put it in the dishwasher (top rack). I've only hand washed it so far the yogurt just slides out.

Mason absolutely loved it! He loves yogurt and now I don't have to worry about the potential mess. He got a hang of it right away and wanted more when he was all done.

Ryder also liked it but had a little trouble squeezing at first and getting some out at first. He still loved to try and screamed when I took it away. He's tried it several other times now and does great. It really keeps him occupied during stroller strides as well!

11 months

2011-08-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Next month the little guy will be a one year old! Let the party planning begin!

This months has been huge for the little guy. He took his first steps a few weeks ago and now he is full on walking. I'm sure running isn't far behind. He can even stand up without pulling up on something. He also said his first word, "mama". I love it!

So at 11 months Ryder

walks all over the place
says "mama"
follows big brother all around
he eats mostly all tablefood (he even likes steak!)

His montly pictures are getting harder to take! He doesn't want to sit still

Mason tried to help me

splish splash

2011-08-24T03:11:00.000-07:00

Mason and Ryder are taking a bath

My beautiful sister!

2011-08-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

We went to a nearby park so I could have a non moving toddler for practice :) Isn't she gorgeous!

2011-08-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

The L's came to the East Coast for a visit with my in-laws. The last time we saw them I was pregnant with Mason so this was their first time meeting both the boys!

Mason had a great time opening his present

Ryder is always a happy boy if there's food in front of him

all of us!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-08-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

My moms birthday was last weekend. We went over for breakfast (well a 2nd breakfast for my guys). Both my sisters were there to celebrate. It's the last time the 3 girls will be together for a while because my younger (middle) sister is moving to California soon!

Mom opened her presents.

and we made sure to get plenty of pictures before Lauren moves across the country!

a funny outtake

stepping stones

2011-08-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

This was Ryder's first visit to Stepping Stones and he had a blast! It's geared towards older walking kids so he was on my back in the Ergo for most of it. They have a really cute play area outside and I let him down to explore and have fun.

Mason's favorite area is where the water is! They have these cute smocks for the kids but of course mine refuses to wear it. Luckily he didn't get too wet.

Ryder loved to watch Mason and all the other big kids but he was happiest when he got to play!

my favorite of the day

Liam's first birthday!

2011-07-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

Liam is my best friend's little boy. They were living in Florida when he was first born and I was thrilled when a few months later they moved back home. We did some cake smash pictures and one year portraits.

Two peas in a pod

We were thrilled to celebrate his first birthday with him.

cousins

2011-07-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

While Chris and my siblings don't have any kids yet, Chris has a couple cousins that are close in age to our kids. They are technically our kids 1st cousins once removed but they will grow up as cousins. 4 boys! I love it!

Ryder is 10 months

2011-07-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

(and a week)

Ryder has quite the personality. He loves his brother and laughs all the time.

At 10 months Ryder

cruises along furniture
can stand on his own
has taken one step
wears size 18 months clothes

He continues to enjoy swim lessons and is starting to get the hang of going underwater. He is a super fast crawler and loves to be where the action is. That's usually right with his brother and the other toddlers. Two more months and we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday!

Beach Boys: Day one

2011-07-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ok so we're going to rewind a day. We left Saturday morning to head to Long Island. We dropped Coors (our dog) off at Papa's house and headed to the beach. Mason wasn't a big fan of the water but he loved to play in the sand and so did Ryder! They had a blast and Ryder even took a nap in his tent.

crowded beach!

Ryder sleeping in his tent. I couldn't get enough of it!

A couple more from day 2. Ryder had a blast playing in the bay. He kept on crawling around in the water and tried to crawl out to sea.

Beach Boys : Day two

2011-07-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're wondering why there's no post with day one but that will be coming! We went to Long Island for the weekend and on Sunday morning I convinced everyone to wake up super early to see the sunrise. I have those pictures ready to go first so I'll blog those and then you'll get to see day one in a day or so.

I don't know how I convinced everyone but I did. Well the kids had no choice but Chris humored me. I learned several things while taking my sunrise pictures.

-Although we're on the East Coast Long Island's beaches are on the North and South shore. Chris informed me of this on our way to the beach crushing my dreams. Luckily there was the bay which was a nice substitute. (I still want my beach sunrise pics someday though)
-The sun rises very fast when you're trying to take pictures before the beautiful golden light is too harsh
-I hate metering in light changing situations
-I need to learn more about landscape photography
-Photographers always say that the light is most important and that is so true!
-My family is going to be tortured with more early wakings for sunrise pictures when I want more family portraits.

We were running a couple minutes late so as soon as we got there I ran out to set up some shots.

MIL was not aware that she was going to be in any photos but I had to get one of all of us!

My first attempt at silhouette pictures. They are my new love.

I'm thrilled to have more family pictures of us. I started off this summer with only one from the day Ryder was born. Now I have several.

The sun continues to rise. Still beautiful!

The little guy and I

Mr. Serious (a.k.a. Mason)

He's such a little ham!

Notice Mason's messy hair in all the beach pictures? We got home and he got a haircut!

fun with poppy and gracky

2011-07-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to NJ for the day to spend time with my dad, Poppy, and step-mom, Gracky. We had a lot of fun and Mason loved exploring their yard!

blowing raspberries

Happy Birthday Chris!

2011-07-13T05:59:00.001-07:00

My Step-Dad just had a big milestone and my mom threw him a surprise party! A good time was had by all!

I think he was surprised!

Love my Grandma!

Oscar!

baby swim lessons

2011-07-11T04:18:00.001-07:00

I started taking Ryder to the same place Mason went to swim lessons last year. I'm hoping to alternate sessions with them because it's too much for them both to be in swim lessons at the same time! Ryder loves the water and is a little fish. My sister, Brittany, came with us last week and took pictures. Most of them aren't in focus, but I don't care. I love them! Enjoy the insane amount of pictures :) If you think I'm bad Aunt Brittany took over 450 photos in a 45 min class.

My best friend and her little boy are in our class too. You'll see lots of pictures of them as well!

The babies learn how to hold their breath and go under water.

Ryder was not a fan

Liam was a champ!

4th of July

2011-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've been telling Chris for weeks that I wanted to go out in the morning in a particular spot in our yard to take some pictures. Chris has been very busy in the mornings and days he was around it was cloudy and gross out. We finally had a day where we were all around. Of course I think every photo came out blurry so we're going to have to redo them because I'm picky like that. I can't really blame Chris since I picked the settings and the one I took of him and the boys wasn't in focus either :(

Chris and the boys

The boys and I

neither of them were into it and were trying to escape

These are actually in focus! Yay!

After I tortured all the boys with family photos we went to Nonna & Grandpa's to hang out at the pool.

Can't forget about my girl Coors.

We saw some baby birds waiting for their mama to bring them food

Mason rode his Gator round and round the house.

Little guy with his one tooth

Ryder wanted to go for a ride too

Hope everyone had a great 4th!

weekend fun

2011-07-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

It was a busy weekend full of hundreds of photos. Sunday we went down the street to Mason's Godparent's house.

My goal this weekend was to get at least one picture of all 4 of us and some of me and the boys.

Ryder loves Uncle Jim

Uncle Gary and Uncle Jim's dog Woody

Can you see his tooth?

Torturing big brother has started already!

All Aboard

2011-07-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

Mason LOVES trains. What little boy doesn't? We've had the hours to Danbury railway museum on our fridge for quite some time but just hadn't been able to make it there until this weekend. Mason had a blast! Inside they have train displays where the kids can press buttons to make trains move. They also have a play area with toy trains and other things. Outside there are trains you can go in and you can even go on a train ride!

looking at the train displays

Time for the train ride! Mason was saying "go train!"

fancy schmancy

2011-07-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

It is rare that Chris and I get to dress up. Neighbors of ours were celebrating their 25th anniversary and had a huge party. Much to Chris' dislike it was formal attire. He thought he was rebelling by going out and buying a purple shirt. I personally think it looks great on him!

big boy!

2011-07-03T04:07:00.001-07:00

Ryder loves to get into all sorts of trouble with Mason's toys. He'll stand at the train table and wreck the tracks before he takes off walking with his shopping cart!

Mason smiles

2011-07-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

Mason is a very happy boy but it's rare that it's captured on camera. He can be very serious and the second he sees the camera he is looking away and running in the opposite direction. Lately I've been able to capture a few smiles. Even if he's so close to the camera that half of him is cut off. I love his smile!

He thought is was funny to put a chip clip in his hair. The last one is my favorite!

enough already mom

2011-06-30T11:43:00.001-07:00

I knew this day would come but didn't think it would be so soon. Even the baby is getting annoyed with all my picture taking.

Don't read if you have a picky eater

2011-06-29T12:10:00.001-07:00

Look at this kid eating my salad! He ate half the thing on me.

A flower for me

2011-06-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Mason loves to be outside all the time. We were hanging out at my moms because Aunt Lauren was home for the weekend. Mason had a ball playing with her. Mason decided to do some gardening and gave Aunt Lauren and I some flowers. Isn't he so sweet?

Boys love sticks.

Aunt Lauren loves to play with sticks as well

Panteen Beautiful Lengths

2011-06-27T03:52:00.000-07:00

After not getting a haircut in probably over a year I was in desperate need of a cut. I've always thought about donating my hair but I would usually get it cut before it was long enough and I don't like short hair on myself. This time my hair was super long. I measured it several times and realized that I could still have shoulder length hair if I donated 8 inches, which is Panteen Beautiful Lengths minimum. I made the plunge and called for an appointment and they had an opening the next day! I was pretty nervous, wasn't expecting it so soon but went with it. Plus it was a nice break away from the kids!

I forgot to take a before picture so here's the most recent one I could find

and this is what my hair looks like now!

I really love it. It took some getting used to but it is so nice to have shorter hair. I'm not always pushing it out of the way. Ryder has to reach a little higher to grab a chunk of it and pull. When I exercise it's not getting stuck on things. I don't know why I didn't cut it sooner! I really loved donating it and am already thinking about growing it out again just so I can donate it.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I did D-A-D pictures with Mason. They are framed hanging up in Chris' office. This time I did them with Ryder. The original idea was to have them both do them together but Mason wanted nothing to do with the letters. We'll frame Ryder's and put them right under Mason's.

The following pictures are all from Father's Day weekend. Some Saturday. Some Sunday. Probably not in order :)

9 months!

2011-06-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

In a few short months we're going to be planning the little guys 1st Birthday party. This is going way to fast for me.

We had Ryder's 9 months check up. Everything looks good except he has low iron so he's not on a supplement for that. He loves to eat just about anything I give him. He's eating more finger foods and loves meatballs. Mason loves to feed him, not only the baby food, but whatever he happens to be eating. One day Ryder got a cracker with dinner and the next morning a bagel with jelly for breakfast. Whoops.

Weight: 18 lbs 15 oz (25th percentile)
height : 28.5 inches (75th percentile)

So at 9 months Ryder

crawls super fast
walks along furniture
walks with a push toy
has one tooth!
wears size 18 month clothes

His monthly pictures are getting more difficult to take!

yes he is about to eat that grass!

Getting so big!

2011-06-23T05:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how fast Ryder is growing. He's starting to have a little man face and not a baby anymore. Doesn't he look so old!?

70 hours without power

2011-06-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

This is why I've fallen behind again! On June 9 we were over Chris' parents for his birthday. Just as we were sitting down to eat there was a huge severe thunderstorm. The lights were flickering on and off and then the power went out. We looked outside and saw the trees swaying from side to side. There was a tree down on power lines and we knew we weren't going to be recovering quickly from this storm! We ate dinner by flashlight and then went home where we all slept on the lower level because it was cooler. I should probably mention we live on the same street as my in-laws so if they are out of power so are we! We later found out that in some areas close to us they verified it was a tornado!

After the first day we decided to stay at my moms. The power company was giving us no estimate when we'd get power back and it could be days. No power also means no water for us. Luckily my mom only lives a couple towns over. They had just moved to a new house and were busy unpacking boxes. I packed the essentials and headed over there. Mason had a fun time playing with all their boxes and Chris made him a little fort.

After the 3rd night without power we heard some rumors we'd be getting back on Sunday. We packed back up headed home and while we were at a MOMS Club BBQ got the call that we had power! We are very happy to be back home, with power, and catching up on things!

2011-06-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

We go to the park almost daily. We do stroller strides and then play. It's great because Mason's friends are already there and there's no need to coordinate and plan. I attempted to get some sibling pictures but Mason and Ryder were not into it!

There's a dirt bike in there?

They cooperated for one

This is my future daughter-in-law. Isn't she beautiful!?

puddle jumper

2011-06-20T12:19:00.001-07:00

We bought these cool things called puddle jumpers for Mason. Everyone raved about them and how their kid loves to "swim" with them. Well Mason takes a while to warm up to anything new. He's not too fond of them yet but hopefully by the end of the summer!

Ryder is a crawling maniac and darts right towards me all the time. His eyes are still a bright blue and he is full of personality.

baby cousin Skyler

2011-06-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our new baby cousin was born June 1, 2011 at a healthy 8 lbs 11 oz. A few more ounces and he would've beaten Ryder! He is just the cutest little thing. My boys are going to have so much fun with him and his big brother Jordan.

2011-06-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

These boys crack me up!

2011-06-09T10:00:00.001-07:00

The little guy is climbing all over the place!

swimming season is here

2011-06-07T18:57:00.001-07:00

We went straight from winter to summer with a day or so of Spring in between. We've been having lots of fun swimming in Nonna & Grandpa's pool.

playing at Nonna's

2011-06-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

escape artist

2011-06-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Already trying to sneak out of the house

Bee watching

2011-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Mason has a book called Bee and Me that he loves to read. He was at the window loving all the bees when his brother wanted to join the fun.

Ryder

2011-05-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Mason

2011-05-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

We're in trouble

2011-05-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

He loves to play with the dog's bowls. Especially the water bowl. I turn around for a second and hear "splash, splash, splash." I think it's time we invest in a water table!

Loves trains just like his brother. He is pulling up on anything and everything. Going to sleep has been challenging because he'll just stand in his crib. Usually after laying him down about 10+ times he'll fall asleep!

Ryder 8 months

2011-05-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

The baby stage goes by way too fast. I love the baby stage. It could have more sleep but other than that I just adore it. However these days Ryder is more like a toddler than a baby.

He can crawl on his hands and knees - but still prefers to army crawl
He army crawls really fast
He can get into a sitting position on his own
Can pull up to stand
Has an opinion
Wants to play with his brother
He takes 2-3 naps a day
Goes to bed at 6:30 pm
Wakes up at 5am

I have to say I'm really scared of when he starts walking. I'm going to have two very fast children running in opposite directions!

open Rydee

2011-05-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

in between the rain

2011-05-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

It has been very rainy lately (with the exception of yesterday and today). Last Thursday in between all the rainy days we got a chance to play outside. Mason took every single one of his toys out of the garage to play with!

big boy standing

2011-05-23T18:48:00.001-07:00

I put Ryder down for a nap but he wasn't having it. I went into his room to help him and this is what I walked into! The boy has been pulling up to stand on furniture and other things but this was the first time in his crib. Sleep (or lack of) is going to be fun with this new learned trick.

visit with Gram

2011-05-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Nonna, the boys, and I took a trip to New Jersey because I wanted to pick up a couple things at IKEA. The closest IKEA to us is 45 min away but they didn't have the book shelf I wanted, so off to NJ we went. Luckily for me my Grandma and Dad live in NJ close to IKEA. We stopped to see Gram for breakfast and then met my Dad at IKEA because you need at least three adults for two kids while shopping.

Mason doesn't like to cooperate for pictures

two bumps on a log

2011-05-21T04:40:00.000-07:00

Do you see Mickey?

2011-05-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

He's in the camera Mason. Can you see him?

smile for Mickey

4 babies

2011-05-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

We had an outdoor play date last week. Mason had some friends over and so did Ryder.

This is Ryder's girlfriend. She loves him so much.