Rya is 2!

What a weekend! We started the birthday weekend with a family party on Saturday afternoon. It was so nice to have almost all of Jason's family over to our house. Many of them helped us paint back in December, but the house was still pretty much gutted at that point. They got to see the ALMOST finished product (inside). The outside is a whole other story- one which will be ongoing for awhile I'm guessing. Rya was a bit overwhelmed as usual by the big group of people, but warmed up after awhile. She spent a great deal of time on the trampoline to no one's surprise. Jason purchase three little Sesame Street plush toys for Rya and we made the mistake of having her open those first. She was so in love with Oscar, The Count, and mostly Ernie that she didn't want to open other gifts. The gift-opening process took two different sittings and then didn't hold her attention. She loves all the gifts, she just wants to have time to spend with each one after opening it and we didn't have that much time. Rya made out like a bandit with some awesome gifts!

Sunday brought another party! Uncle Mike gave Rya an awesome present- he ran all the electrical (with some help from Jason) for the new pool equipment! We are so appreciative that he spent time in the heat doing that in order to save us quite a bit of money. Plus, Rya got a bonus of hanging out with her cousins during the day.

The friends party was on Sunday night and started with Rya just waking up from a nap. She's not the cheeriest baby when she wakes up. I spent a good deal of the party wondering if the Terrible Two's started a day early. She was very fiesty and only wanted to jump on the trampoline with Jason who was trying to barbecue dinner. With help from both grandmas, Auntie Chandra, and Uncle Mike we were able to serve dinner to the 30+ adults and kids there. Once again, we had the gift-opening issue. It was getting late, so I ended up opening most of the gifts. Next year we'll plan to start opening gifts when the party starts. Ha, ha. Though it started off a bit roughly, the party was super fun. The only thing I would change is being able to talk to more people for extended periods of time. We have the best friends and family!

The cake. I planned to make this (in my mind) perfect cake for Rya's birthday party on Sunday. I baked the cakes on Saturday and the crappy pans I own coupled with the major PMS from which I was suffering put me over the edge. At one point I was sobbing on the kitchen floor. Thank goodness for Jason. He came to the rescue, assured me all would be okay, and helped get the cakes somewhat back together. Sunday morning I made the buttercream icing and covered the cakes before making the fondant. The store bought fondant doesn't taste great to me, so I decided to make my own. That basically caused a repeat of Saturday's breakdown until once again Jason came to my rescue. The fondant was just not cooperating with me. Jason covered the cakes with the fondant, but unfortunately the mangled cakes were not magically transformed into perfect molds under the fondant. I finally (sort of) came to terms with the fact that it was my first time attempting to make a cake with fondant and I was just going to have to live with the finished product while it was far less impressive as I had intended. Jason insisted I call him Cake Boss after that. I tried to explain to him that I was pretty sure that name was taken, but he would have none of it. Cake Boss he was- for the day. The good news is that the cake tasted good. I swear it's the buttercream icing. I found the recipe a few months ago when I was dissatisfied with the one I had and it's far superior to the old one.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful company and awesome gifts!

A Visit to the Ducktor

Yesterday was Rya's 2 year appointment. She doesn't turn 2 until Monday, but if we didn't get her in by Friday, the fee would be $40 instead of $5. We had to wait almost 45 minutes for the doctor (or the ducktor as Big Bird says) and Rya was so great. She jumped around the little waiting room and loved looking at herself in the mirror.

The doctor finally came in and like most people commented first on Rya's eyes. [I'm going to go ahead and claim the credit for those eyes. All the women I can think of on my side have bright blue eyes. Anyone on Jason's side who wants to claim the blue eyes needs proof in a picture. :)]
The doctor asked us the normal questions and also asked Rya a few as well. Rya was so patient and calm while the doctor checked her eyes, ears, nose, and heartbeat. The hysterics started only when we had to force her to lie down so the doctor could finish the exam. Rya is in the 75 percentile for height, weight, and head size. She is 2ft. 10 inches, so if we double that she will be 5 ft. 8. That's taller than me, but not abnormally tall. The height most likely did not come from my side of the family, so Jason's side can claim that. I believe Grandma Barbara had something to do with the height.

The nurse was very impressed with how patient we (mostly Jason) are with her. It makes me sad to think about all the little kids whose parents aren't patient with them. I'm sure the nurse and doctor see their fair share of those kind of parents.

Rya is developing ahead of target both verbally and physically. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with both grandmas and both parents being teachers. She is constantly being "taught" something. The doctor commented that Rya's speech is extremely clear- as if she were 3 instead of 2.

My favorite part is when they ask about her physical capabilities. Can she walk up and down stairs? Jump? Ha, ha! If they only knew that she started walking just before she turned 1, started kicking a ball a few days after, and was jumping with both feet before most kids her age were walking well. All of that credit goes to Jason. He's got the athletic genes!

The parties are this weekend, so stay tuned next week for pictures!

Lastly, a huge thank you to everyone who has made the first two years of Rya's life so successful. We couldn't have done it without our friends and family. I certainly couldn't have done it without Jason. There were points when I really thought I was not going to survive. We love you all!

Home Improvement

The house and yard seem like they will be never-ending projects! However, we (mostly Jason and hired help) have made a ton of progress the last few months. Two months ago we had some guys come take out all of the trees and vegetation in the backyard and front yard. They worked incredibly hard and saved us a lot of time. We had to remove stuff either because it hadn't been taken care of and was in bad shape or it didn't fit with the new yard plan.

My awesome husband saved us a lot of money painting the house himself! There is just a bit of touch up still needed, but it looks a ton better! After the paint was finished, new gutters were installed. The originals from 1968 were no longer cutting it.

The pool isn't from 1968, but it's not far off. The plaster was in pretty bad shape and the equipment belonged in a museum. The pool project started last week and should be complete soon. So far they have demolished the old pool and put in new tile and concrete. The new surface will be applied next week and the new equipment will be hooked up. Here are some photos from the last few weeks:

No more diving board! Hooray!

Above: Front yard without walkways. Yes, we are killing the grass on purpose.

Below: New walkways!

Pinata

My mom and I made the pinata for Rya's birthday. While a bit time consuming, it was kind of fun! Now that I know the basics, I can fancy it up a bit next time! Here is the finished product and some pictures of the assembly. There are no pictures of me cutting all that freaking tissue paper for good reason! That's definitely the worst part of the process.

Thank Goodness for Grandparents

I understand that biologically we wouldn't be here if not for our parents. However, I'm not sure we'd survive our day-to-day life without them either! We are so lucky to have not one, not two, but three (!) different families of grandparents helping us raise Rya.

Grandpa (or Papa as she has been saying of late) takes pictures when he visits which is a huge blessing for us because we're terrible with taking photos. We have so much going on, we just forget to take the camera out and snap shots of memories. We also don't have a fancy camera like Grandpa. Kathy may not take pictures, but we know she's the one who makes sure Rya has fun things to play with. Many of Rya's favorite toys came from Kathy and Grandpa. Here are some pictures from Grandpa and Kathy's last visit:


Good jumping!
Who doesn't love a ball pit? Thanks Etnyre family for the idea!

Jumping high with Daddy!

Watch me, Daddy!

Where's Daddy?

Berries?

Outside!

Daddy, hold!

We are so thankful that Rya gets to spend quality time with both grandmas multiple days each week. In January she will start preschool three days a week, but still hopefully have one day a week with each grandma. Both grandmas are so patient with Rya and do all sorts of fun things with her including taking her to Gymboree, trips to the park, rides in the wagon, painting, drawing, playing on the trampoline and in the house, and making "cake" and "snakes" out of play dough (homemade by Grandma Linda). Rya even has necklaces made especially for her by Grandma Barbara. Not only is it wonderful for Rya to spend so much time with her grandmas, it makes going to work so much easier for us!

Out of Retirement

A triathlete should actually do triathlons- that seems logical, right? My last tri was in June of 2007 so I think I'm a bit overdue. In my defense, the last tri I did was an IRONMAN (aren't you impressed? I am!) and I did birth the cutest baby on earth two years ago so it's not like I haven't been busy. Luckily, I still train like a triathlete (swim, bike, and run workouts), but just not with the same intensity. If you haven't heard via Facebook, I have been working with a knee injury for almost a year. It was a setback for sure with some of my racing goals for this year, but that's okay.

All that said, I have a friend named Dagny Bruce. In fact, she's one of the few people that actually reads this blog! Anyhow, Dagny is doing a sprint triathlon in October and I gave her my two cents as far as training goes. You know what that lead to... the desire to do it myself! So I made a checklist for myself:
-Dust off aerobars and beg sweet husband to put them back on my bike
-Find tri suit and make sure it fits (it's a bit tight- I'll be honest!)
-Make a training plan to be in the top five places in my age group
This week started off with a swim workout with Dagny and a short, fast bike ride. So far, so good. More swim workouts, running, and riding have taken place since and will continue for the next four weeks.

Call me Lance Armstrong, Brett Favre, or even Michael Jordan. I'm out of retirement and ready to race! Bring it on.

Father's Day

Father's Day was far more fun this year with Rya being older and actually able to do more. We spent the day at home with a nice breakfast and family time. That evening we had a delicious dinner with Grandpa and Kathy. We stole the rib recipe from the Matulich family and it was so yummy! We had a great time eating and playing. I love this picture of the three generations! Can't you see the family resemblance? So cute!