Team Alice + The Little Lady

Soccer, gymnastics, and fun with friends!

2011-08-01T14:41:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we went to Foster City to visit our friends who moved a few months ago. Rya misses her BFF Addison, so we went over for the day and made a trip out to Lemos Farms in Half Moon Bay. They had train rides, pony rides, a bounce house, goats to feed (one tried to eat my necklace and another had a mouth full of Jason's shirt before he realized it), and other cute things for kids to do. We had lunch at Half Moon Bay Brewery when we were done. It was a nice day with friends!

These girls just love each other so much!

Tiny, sample beer is not even allowed on my diet, but I cheated!
They are getting so big! Friends from Gymboree at about 6 months old!

Silly goats! Pretty sure I'd like to have a little goat, but since I lost the tortoise I don't think I'm allowed to have any pets for awhile.

Rya's pony, Warrior, and Addison's pony, Wrangler.
Showing off his teeth for the camera.

Soccer! Rya loves going to soccer every Saturday morning and is really good!

First movie theater experience! Winnie the Pooh. She didn't like having to sit quietly (or "be quietly" as she says), but we think she would do better at a fast paced movie with singing. Lion King will be our next movie when they re-release it in theaters.

Gymnastics! Rya in one of her two new "leoguitards". She is exiting out of the class and moving up to a more challenging one. She impresses us every week with her skills!

Silly child!

So Much Happening- July 2011

2011-07-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

Rya had her first soccer practice today! It's more of a skills clinic, but she had fun and did really well. They played some games that helped with dribbling and kicking.

This is when she told the teacher, "I'm super fast!" She sure is- gets that from Daddy.
There was some confusion on Rya's part about why she couldn't use her hands to place the ball where she wanted.

She needed her "soccer hair" for practice!
Rya got new goggles (thanks, Grandma Linda!) and has worn them the majority of the time since. There are a number of friends who can attest to her love of these pink goggles.
Swim time with the cousins and a new hat from Grandma Linda's trip to San Diego.
Fourth of July family photo.
It seemed safe at the time to light fireworks in the backyard. Max loved the fireworks!
Max and Rya!

Ready for the parade!
The banner Rya and I made for Jason to welcome him home after surgery. It kept falling off the wall, so we took the picture on the floor.
Getting a new roof! Woo-hoo!

Jason's incision with 13 staples.
The month isn't even half over, so stay tuned for more summer fun photos!

Rya- Future Soccer Star

2011-06-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today Rya got her first pair of soccer cleats, shin guards, and socks. The shoes are black with pink stripes and the other two items are pink (not shocking if you have been around Rya lately- it must all be pink!). Since Rya doesn't do well without a lot of prepping, Jason got out his gear this morning and put it on to show Rya what to expect. She has been telling us over and over again that she loves soccer and is ready to start in a few weeks. We hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will! She is getting ready for bed now with her shin guards and cleats on and she napped in her cleats today.

Rya is not old enough to be on a team yet, but she is taking a Kidz Love Soccer class (a parent participation class) starting in a few Saturdays. Hopefully Jason will be able to attend by then (after his back surgery) because I'm at the same level as Rya when it comes to soccer skills!

Garage Remodel

2011-06-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

The breezeway (space between our house and garage) will be gone very soon! That space will become our third car garage and we will have a double garage door on the front of the existing garage. In addition, we are having the power line that now goes over our yard to the house put under ground (how else can Jason properly play basketball?) and getting a new roof. So far, we have a new driveway, a giant trench in the backyard (for the conduit and wire), and our existing garage is down to its frame. The project should be done mid-July!

The trench is about 4 feet deep. I'm glad I didn't have to dig it!

The old driveway is gone!

The framing for the new driveway!

New driveway is done!

The garage is down to the frame!

Look like Mommy?

2011-05-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to believe everyone who says Rya looks like me. What do you think?

Rya- 28 months

Melanie- 20 months

Preschool Performance

2011-05-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Rya had her first preschool performance tonight. We had to bribe her with ice cream, but she stood up on "stage" (the blacktop) with her classmates and sometimes sang along.

Here they come... marching out from "backstage". Rya is the one crying and trying to go back in the building. Awesome.

Rya had many admirers come to see her. Both grandmas were there and Grandpa Lazar came, too!
Here's the program!

I guess it pays to be an Allen when things are alphabetical! Rya is first on the list!

Our little rose!

You Are My Sunshine
Flowers!

Teacher Diana is a saint!

This is when we ran out of battery in the camera. What wasn't pictured was the "show" Rya gave everyone at the end. The whole time she barely moved around, but when she thought it was over she started doing all sorts of tricks like downward facing dog with one leg lifted. The audience got a kick out of it and we thought it was pretty cute as well.

Go, Jason!

2011-05-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Jason, First Place (Overall)

Max, Second Place (Overall)

(This charming young man was not third place, but the guy who won that title asked the boy to stand in his place. The boy did run, but not that fast. Third place overall was a 12 year old girl!)

Today Jason competed in a 2.3 mile "fun run" and won first place overall. The race cost $5 and he won an iPod dock worth far more than that. Pretty good prize for a 12:48 minute race! I was teasing him before the start about a very fast-looking 12 year old girl (who, if you read above, came in third with about 6:00 minute miles!) and made sure he knew that if she beat him he wouldn't live it down. Jason ran 5:33 minute miles without much training. It was a bittersweet finish knowing that he still has his speed, but will have to once again go under the knife for his back this June- just one day after the 11th anniversary of his first surgery. This surgery is far less invasive, but will still keep him from working out or lifting anything (even Rya) for at least a month.

Congratulations to my awesome husband! I'm insanely jealous and will continue to live vicariously through his victories!

Shortstop

2011-05-21T12:05:00.001-07:00

It's not the end of the world (though some crazies predicted today would be) even though I've posted three times this week and we got a pet. Welcome our newest member of the family, Shortstop. Our tiny tortoise is the perfect pet. He eats very little, doesn't shed, is pretty content to hang out in the sun, and will live a LONG time. Come over and visit!

Evidence of Summer...Barbie Jeep and Bikini

2011-05-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

I think the title says it all. The Jeep is adorable, but to actually see her driving it around while the radio plays in the Jeep is just too precious. She picked out the bikini herself at Old Navy- not shockingly, it's pink and has a ruffle. She's a true California girl!

The Important Things in Life

2011-05-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

On April 13th, Evalyne Pauleeta Anderson (nee Dupes) passed away. My maternal grandmother had been declining in mental health for some time and unfortunately, her body started to fail her as well. She was quite miserable in her last days and we are thankful that she is now at peace. The night of the funeral, Jason and I spent hours with my mom going through boxes of old photos and newspaper clippings about both my grandparents. My grandfather died when I was 12, so I didn't have much of a chance to get to know him. Jason and I both were amazed when we saw a picture of my grandpa in his 20's. I look just like him- same eyes, cheekbones, etc. I will get a picture from my mom and scan it so you can all weigh in. My grandmother was a model in her 20's and this is one of her postcards:

As noted by many at the funeral, my grandmother always looked good. Her hair was always perfectly in place, make up done, and clothes immaculate. She was mortified to find out that I sometimes went to the grocery store in my (gasp) pajamas. Though a beautiful lady, she didn't have much sympathy for those who were lazy or lacked self control. She was a firm believer in hard work in order to be successful. She often told the story about a homeless man coming to the door asking for food. She offered him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but he said he didn't like peanut butter and jelly. She claims she told him he must not be hungry enough and then closed the door. My grandparents worked hard for their money and never took it for granted. They were also very generous with their money when it came to family or those in need. Easter was a time of remembrance for our family and a time to celebrate my grandma's full life. You are dearly missed, Grandma.

On a happier note, the three cousins didn't quite understand the impact of death and focused on hunting eggs. It was fun to watch them run around and playing together. I'm so glad that Rya loves her cousins.

We went to Disneyland in December and Rya has been asking to go back everyday since we left, so for spring break we drove to LA and visited our Disney friends for three days. Rya is obsessed with Toy Story right now, so she was elated to meet many of her friends.
Woody! Jessie is in the background, but left before we got her autograph. At least Rya was able to see her.
We literally chased Minnie Mouse to her signing location and got Rya's first signature in her autograph book.
Who doesn't love the carousel?
Buzz Lightyear!
First time on the Matterhorn! I couldn't believe how brave she was! She also loved the kid rollercoaster in Toon Town. I guess with two parents who love fast rides, it's not shocking to have a kid who likes them too.
Patiently waiting in line when the Matterhorn broke down.

We are SO excited that our friends, the Pynes, have moved back to the Sacramento area. Kennedy and Rya took a spin in Kennedy's Barbie Mustang. Rya liked riding more than driving. It was scary to think that this scene will be a reality in 14 years. Rya just got her own Power Wheel vehicle- the Barbie Jeep. She is practicing her driving skills in the house and when this darn rain stops we'll take it outside.
Avery's birthday party!
Taking Easter pictures!

Kennedy's birthday party!
This kid loves her letters. She knows all the sounds and practices by telling you the initial sound of your name or other words she chooses. We are working on sounding out short words like mom and dad. She is flourishing with help from preschool, grandmas, and us. She constantly amazes us with her intelligence.
Cute buns!

Rya- Self Portraits

2011-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

For those of you who complained about the lack of photos in recent posts, here is a sampling of Rya's latest hobby... self portraits.

Dress up time!

Valentine's Day and Rya-isms

2011-02-21T15:08:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentine's Day Jason and I spent the weekend in New York. We had a great time hanging out in the city with friends and quite a bit of freedom without a talkative and very active two year old to watch. We missed her a lot, but it was also a nice break to be together and take our sweet time eating meals, staying up late, and sleeping in everyday.

If you visit New York, you must go to Levain Bakery on 74th near Broadway (on the westside). Our friend, Kelly, recommended it because she knows our affinity for treats. We were skeptical- we are very picky about our desserts. We had to go the first day because if it was good enough, we would need to go again before we left. We walked the 32 blocks up to 74th from Heidi's apartment and it was well worth it. There are only four types of cookies: chocolate chip with walnuts, oatmeal raisin, chocolate with peanut butter chips, and chocolate with chocolate chips. Jason hates raisins, so we bought one each of the remaining three and shared them. They were all exceptional, but my favorite was the chocolate with peanut butter chips. As you probably guessed, we went back on Monday for more and also added brioche with chocolate chips to our order. It's a good thing we did a lot of walking!

Something else we were able to do while we were there was go to a movie at an actual theater! We took advantage of that and went three times during the weekend. We saw True Grit (excellent and not as gory as No Country for Old Men), The King's Speech (fantastic, but when isn't Colin Firth amazing?), and just for fun because it was Valentine's Day we saw Just Go With It. We really wanted to see The Fighter and Black Swan, but between sold out shows and bad timing we missed them both.

While we were galavanting around New York, Rya stayed home with Grandma Linda and had a great time. Grandma Linda took her to preschool on Valentine's Day just long enough to participate in the festivities. She handed out her valentines and then got a whole bag of goodies in return. She also stood up and "sang" (mostly she just looked around at everyone else) Happy Little Heart with a few other kids. She was excited to see us on Tuesday and even happier that we brought her some new "friends" for Valentine's Day (Grover, Abby Cadabby, and Bert).

Rya is talking non-stop. Non-stop! Here's a list of things you'll hear her saying throughout the day:

I'm a person.
I don't have to go potty. I already went today.
When I ring the bell no talking. You be quiet. (Must be from preschool?)
Mommy, can you help me please?
She wants her shoes on (pronoun confusion!).
I love Mommy and Daddy (that's our favorite).
Mommy (or Daddy), I'm so happy.
How 'bout Pirates Booties.
Daddy's real name is Jason.
Mommy's real name is Memamie (close enough!).
Sesame Street please! Bert's Pigeon Search!
Big, heavy car (talking about the Suburban)!
No, I do it!
Had fun at preschool.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

So many changes took place in the last month. We no longer are diaper-changing parents! Rya is using the big potty, but it didn't come easy. We knew that she needed to be potty trained for preschool in January. We also knew that she was ready because her diaper was only wet a few times a day and never when she slept. After we returned from Disneyland, we started with putting her on the little potty during the day until she went potty. Sometimes it took up to 45 minutes and help from some warm water, but she finally got it. After about a week, she was going consistently in the little potty. Then we took a trip to visit Rya's preschool and we realized she was terrified of the big (still little) potties at preschool. At home we hid the little potty and she was forced to use the big potty. Since then she hasn't had trouble using the big potty even at other people's houses or at preschool. She loves her Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse undies and we love not paying for diapers anymore!

Another big change we made was selling her crib and buying her a big bed. We originally had the delivery men set up the mattress and box spring on the frame, but quickly realized that it was far too high. We wanted her to feel comfortable getting on and off herself and that wasn't going to happen with the frame. She loves her big bed and her down comforter. She hasn't been sleeping perfectly, but better than she was in her crib conversion.

The Paci Fairy came to visit on Friday night. We decorated a gift bag and placed the paci in the bag for the fairy to retrieve that night while Rya slept. The Paci Fairy left some gifts in place of the paci for Rya to open the next morning. Friday night was tough for a short period. She threw a fit for about 10 minutes before giving in and falling asleep. She asked for her paci quite a bit on Saturday and we re-directed her as best we could. She hasn't mentioned it much in the last few days and we are thankful for that. She was very dependent on the paci and it was time to part ways with it. The absence of the paci means a lot more talking and singing. I didn't know someone could talk all day long.

Preschool has been the biggest adjustment for all of us. The first 4-5 times (she only goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) she was hysterical when we left her. Luckily, we knew she was in good hands with Teacher Tami. It made the day easier for us while we were working. Rya is the youngest student there by three months. Most of the kids in her class are three. Finally, last week she started participating and playing with the other kids. The teachers are very impressed with her academically. We hope that she continues to enjoy her time at school learning and playing with new friends.

First day of preschool a few weeks ago (back when she still had Yellow Paci- her best friend).

Pottery Barn Kids has THE cutest stuff.

Off she goes!

Christmas

2011-01-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

This year was Rya's third Christmas, but the first one she was really able to enjoy. We started Christmas Eve with our tradition of Chinese food with Grandma Linda and the first round of gifts. Rya was so cute with each gift- wanting to play with each thing she opened.

The next morning we were joined by Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Lazar. Rya opened more gifts and then we took a break while we waited for Chandra and the rest of the Herzogs to arrive. Jason and I went to Sac State for a little stair workout after feeling the guilt of eating so much Monkey Bread that morning. Rya was very excited to see her cousins and had a fun time with them as they all opened gifts. Santa and the rest of his helpers brought Rya a new play kitchen, a Bitty Baby, a doctor kit, accessories for her kitchen, a suitcase, an umbrella, clothes, and many other toys I can't remember at the moment. She was so thrilled with all of her gifts she tried to take them all to bed with her! Silly kid. She finished opening her gifts on the 26th as we put away all the Christmas decorations.

Bye, Bye, Gymboree!

2011-01-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby is no longer a baby except in my mind. Rya started Gymboree classes when she was six months old and had her last class at the end of December. We are so thankful for the patient, wonderful teachers she had during her two years of Gymboree. Rya was definitely teacher's pet no matter which teacher was in charge for the day. How could she not be? She was always so kind to the other students- even when they took things from her like typical kids.

Parachute time with Teacher Katie! She was so sad to see Rya leave, but preschool time has arrived!

Rya loves those maracas!
Rya is a master jumper. I am constantly amazed at her athletic ability. Thanks, Jason, for passing that onto Rya.
Happy girl!

Gingerbread Party

2011-01-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

We kicked off the Christmas celebration with a gingerbread house party. There were about 15 kids and 10 adults which made for a lot of chaos! The houses turned out very cute! With all the people in the house we didn't notice all of the candy Rya was slyly stealing off the decorating table. Sneaky little kiddo!

Cousins playing in the ball pit!

We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends! Nikki, Chloe, and Sam!
I think this is Andrew's house. He did such a great job and was very determined.
Landon- eating or building?
Dave helping the kids.
Can't wait to have a party again next year. Maybe Rya will actually build a house next year!

Disneyland!

2010-12-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

We heart Disneyland! Honestly, we were a bit worried how Rya would handle three days in the park with little rest and lines for rides, but she was a trooper! We drove down on Saturday and stayed with our friends, The Gurnees, near Magic Mountain. It was nice to have the trip somewhat broken up. Rya had a fun time playing with Hunter who is just a month younger than her.

We left early Sunday morning to meet the rest of my family at the hotel across from Disneyland. Rya loves her cousins, Emily and Grace, and was very excited to see them. Rya had been yelling excitedly about Disneyland for the week before the trip, so she was ready to go to the park!

The walk was about 1/2 a mile and she did it everyday. Plus, she walked around the park at least half the time. We couldn't believe her stamina! No naps happened on Sunday or Monday, but she did sleep for a little bit on Tuesday while we were waiting in line for Dumbo.

Christmas at Disneyland makes it more magical than it normally is- if that's possible. Here's a picture of Small World at night all lit up. We watched the fireworks at night while it snowed (bubbles).

Hello, cuteness!
The castle is pretty during the day and at night with all the lights! The Gurnees met us on Tuesday for a day of fun in the park!
Rya loves stuffed friends, so she wanted a stuffed Minnie Mouse and a Tiny Mickey.
Tigger!
Main Street!
Rya's favorite ride, Dumbo! We rode it about 10 times!
Tea cups! Rya loved this ride and yelled for us to spin faster. Crazy girl.
This was the scene each night when we returned. No naps= tired, tired baby!
It's a Small World! Rya was very taken with all the Christmas decorations on the ride.
Another friend, Pluto! Jason thought it was Goofy. Silly, Jason.
I love the rocket ride at California Adventure!
Rya loved all the characters, but none as much as she loved Minnie.
The girls in their matching outfits from Grandma Linda.
She seriously held this pose for a few seconds. Who doesn't love a churro?
Ah, the family! We are so lucky to have a generous mom/grandma/mother-in-law who took us on this family vacation as a Christmas gift. It was an amazing experience for Rya to see Disneyland and have her cousins with her. Thank you, thank you, Mom/Linda/Grandma Linda!

Holidays = Busy Time!

2010-11-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Lately Rya has wanted to take all of her clothes off when she's around the house. I don't really care- I'm just glad she doesn't want to take them off in public. She likes to strut around in her diaper and her high-heeled play shoes. It's ridiculous and cute all at the same time.

I mentioned in a previous post how she loves to try on everyone's shoes. It's so cute to see her clomping around in Daddy's shoes.
Rya has many "friends". One day, Grandma Barbara put them all in one place and we couldn't help but take a picture. At times, she attempts to carry all of her "friends" in her arms.
Thanksgiving was wonderful as always. We went to Modesto on Wednesday night and were able to visit with family Wednesday night and again on Thursday afternoon. We did the Modesto Turkey Trot 5k as is our tradition. Jason is constantly amazing me with his athletic abilities and did so again Thursday. Jason has been having some health issues which doesn't make running super comfortable, but he wanted to do the race anyway. The top three finishers in each age group are awarded a prize. The good thing is the race is not huge because it's in Modesto, but the bad part is the age groups are 10 years instead of 5 as they normally would be. Jason wasn't expecting anything, but thought he would try to run without pushing himself too hard. There was a 12 year old boy running near him the whole time and he started to slow down before the finish. Jason slowed down and encouraged the kid to keep running. He ran with him until the finish. Isn't that the sweetest thing? The kid thanked Jason and noted that he didn't think he was going to make it. So, not only did Jason not feel well, he also slowed down a bit to help a kid finish and he still managed to get third in his age group with 6:17 minute miles. This is why I have a love/hate relationship with Jason's athletic abilities. I'm just so insanely jealous that he doesn't have to try hard to do well. I'm very proud of him and his prize: a beanie. :)

Rya loves her cousins! We surprised the girls on Thanksgiving morning by telling them we are going to Disneyland next week! Rya was far more excited than the other girls and talked about Disneyland all the way home in the car. We are so lucky to have a generous mom to take all of us to Disneyland for Christmas! The girls are going to have a blast!

We were supposed to go to Apple Hill on Saturday morning, but the rain kept us from going. We decided to go to breakfast and Artbeast instead. Rya loves her BFF, Addison, which is great for us because we love Addison's parents! The dads and their girls.

A few years ago we went to Apple Hill and cut down a tree per our normal tradition, but we had a bug problem with the tree and have since been getting our tree from Home Depot. Rya loves the tree!

Halloween

2010-11-13T07:04:00.001-08:00

Age two is supposed to be terrible, right? Lucky for us, we haven't had too many terrible moments. There is, of course, the ever-present problem of sleep deprivation. Why, oh, why can't my two year old sleep through the night? I hope it's the molars. One in, three to go. If she's not sleeping after that, I don't know what we'll do. It's hard to be upset with her in the morning when you wake up to this kid:

Halloween festivities this year included painting a pumpkin to look like Bert. Rya loves Sesame Street and her Monster Mash book. In the book, Ernie paints his pumpkin to look like Bert. When we went to the pumpkin patch, we found a pumpkin with an elongated shape that was perfect for Bert's head. Plus, knives are dangerous for tiny kids so paint seemed like a much better option. Jason drew the outline and we (very reluctantly on my part) let Rya do the painting. Being incredibly Type A, I had a difficult time letting go of the picture in my head. Painting outside the lines wasn't in my plan. After Rya finished painting, Jason cleaned Bert up a bit.

We trick-or-treated with our normal crowd in East Sac before returning to our own neighborhood. Rya only lasted about 10 houses before she told us it was time to go. Not much was happening in our neighborhood. There aren't too many young kids around and our street is dark. Rya went to our next door neighbor's house, but we stopped after that. We weren't home the whole night, but in the time we were home we only had 7 kids trick-or-treat. The rest of the candy went to school so we wouldn't eat it.

Below is Rya and Maya in their matching poodle skirts. I don't sew much, so I was pretty proud of these skirts. I made the skirts and the poodles with a bit of help from my mom. It cost about $10 to make both of these and the cheapest skirt I found online was $20.

Before we went trick-or-treating we stopped by Grandpa and Kathy's house. Rya was not happy after her nap and even more perturbed about me putting on her outfit. I literally had to hold her down while she kicked and screamed. She was hysterical in the car and very upset the first few minutes we were at their house. What better to make an upset kid calm down than a dog? Becky came out to play with Rya. As I mentioned in previous posts, Rya thinks animals want to chase her and play with her. She spent a good deal of time getting close to Becky and then running away thinking Becky would chase her.

Shoes!

2010-10-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Rya takes after both parents and loves shoes! That's not to say she loves all shoes. It takes her a few weeks to warm up to a new pair of shoes unless she has chosen them herself. She has recently taken to walking around in Jason's or my shoes which is pretty cute. Last week at Chloe's birthday party she found Avery's discarded dress up shoes and had a ball walking around in her heels! Yesterday when we made our Target run we found a pair on sale and decided to go ahead and buy some for Rya. They are still a bit big, so she has trouble getting them on and a bit of trouble getting around.

Daddy's shoes!

I climbed into the toy box!
"Mommy, help you!"
New clothes for fall/winter and stylin' shoes!

Big Girl Bed

2010-10-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

The time for the crib conversion was supposed to be in December, but this morning we realized that December was starting to fill up with big changes for Rya. We were going to transition her to a big girl bed (convert the crib), rid her of pacys, and potty train her. I have six weeks off, but that's a lot of life-altering events for that short of time. We made a hasty decision to convert her crib and crossed our fingers that it would work. Rya is very excited about her new bed that she can get in and out of all by herself. She even "helped" put it together. At nap time we did our normal reading and singing and then I left her alone in her bed. Jason and I watched her on the monitor for about 5 minutes while she got in and out of bed. She ended up back in bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. Success! Let's just hope that tonight and future nights are just as easy!

I know how to help!

Bye, crib!

Big girl bed!

Daddy and Rya just making sure it works!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Fog Willow Farms in Wilton. They have a wonderful pumpkin patch this time of year with hayrides and animals. Thanks to the suggestion by the Holmes family, Rya and her friend Addison joined the Lil' Pickers' Club. We paid $25.00 and we got free admission, a t-shirt, and a 10-15 pound pumpkin of our choice. We get free admission and a free pumpkin every year until Rya's 13. It's a steal of a deal!

Addison's dad, Mark, was home for a bit from some training and we all got to spend the morning together. Rya loves her BFF! We are so glad they met at Gymboree so long ago.

Sharing!

I love this guy and this picture!
Hayride- twice!
Rya is pretty convinced that all animals are put on the earth to play with her. She walks up to any animal, laughs, and runs away while looking back to see if they are following. Most of the time, the animals just look at her like she's crazy, but not this goat! This goat took on the challenge to catch Rya and she had a blast running away from it.

Surprisingly, Rya found something to jump on. It was actually made for jumping- some kind of air/hay combination.
Thanks to Auntie Dagny, Jason and I (and I imagine Grandmas as well) have been reading Elmo's Monster Mash a gazillion times a day. On one page, Elmo accidentally drops his pumpkin and says, "Heavy!" Guess what Rya said when she picked this up? You've got to love Elmo and his Monster Mash!
Rya climbed to the top of the hay pyramid.
This dog was peacefully napping when we arrived. As I explained above, Rya wanted this animal to play with her. Rya started yelling at the dog, "Wake up, doggie! Wake up, doggie!" The dog must have been sleepy because he/she just kept sleeping. Rya tried to get a better angle to yell at the dog, but accidentally tripped over the dog's leg. Jason and I were dying laughing because we've never seen a dog jump up so quickly. The dog was certainly awake after that. Wouldn't you love to see Rya's tummy when you wake up?

Mr. Nintendo Weekend

2010-10-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

This year was the Second Annual Mr. Nintendo Competition. Jason spends a lot of time in preparation for one of his favorite weekends of the year. Last year Jason made all of the "trophies" himself and they were once again awarded to the winners of each category this year. All day Saturday was full of so many video games I lost count. Rya and I did our own thing, but caught a few games here and there. The boys seemed to be enjoying themselves. What boys wouldn't like donuts, pizza, and other snacks while playing video games all day?

Here is the scoreboard (I know, I should have rotated it):

Brian and Alvin racing:
The next day some of the boys played basketball and Rya and I were lucky enough to have two friends visit us, Kennedy and Alexis Pyne! Ryan was here for the event and they came along to visit. The girls can actually play together now- it was so cute!

Pool is done!

2010-10-10T19:03:00.001-07:00

Now we just need to finish the rest of the yard. That's going to take awhile.

More Birthday Pictures!

2010-10-01T12:29:00.001-07:00

More pictures from the Sunday night party! Thanks, Grandpa!

Rya is 2!

2010-09-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

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!

Jump Trampoline

2010-08-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

After playing on giant trampolines at a few different houses this summer, we decided Rya should have her very own. She loves to jump! We found a nice trampoline on Craigslist and set it up in the backyard. These pictures were taken before the net was assembled, so don't worry, we have a fully enclosed space for her to jump safely.

We took her to get her two year old pictures taken since we needed some photos for her birthday invitations. It was disastrous. We couldn't get even one good photo. She was being clingy and whiney. Ugh. Jason was kind enough to get some photos of her jumping for her invitations instead of professional portraits.

We hear the following request many times during the day: "Jump trampoline?" Rya is so happy when she's jumping, it's worth the monstrosity in the backyard. Come on over and jump with us!

Camping

2010-08-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

I grew up camping every summer and I love it. Jason didn't have the same experience growing up, but he was game to give camping a try. There was, of course, one more person we had to think about when asked to go on a group camping trip this summer... Rya. Would she sleep? Get dirty? We decided that she was old enough for us to give it a try.

The first evening went pretty well. We had dinner, s'mores, and then put Rya down for a good night's sleep. We were in a group campsite and apparently the group next to us thought it was a good idea to party all night long. They were so loud- music, generators, etc. Poor Rya couldn't sleep and neither could we. When she got up in the morning she went straight to the car and asked for home. It was really sad. We wanted to make her happy, but we also didn't want to give up on our trip.

That day was a big World Cup game- US v. Ghana. Jason did not want to miss the game, so we drove into Truckee and found a place to watch the game. Though the US lost, it was still an exciting game. After that, we headed back to camp and went to the lake. Rya loved splashing around in the water. She also spent some time with the other little kids coloring and playing.

We had our fingers crossed that the second night would bring some relief to our tired bodies. Once again we put Rya down and thought we were free and clear from the partying neighbors... until just after midnight. We had to endure another night of noise and in the middle of the night I announced that we would be leaving the next morning. Our entire group decided to leave the next morning- we weren't the only ones suffering from sleep deprivation.

Overall, we had a good time with friends. Next year we'll bring ear plugs!

Here's Rya in the tent with Gymbo!
Mmm... snacks!
We couldn't get all the girls to sit still and smile at the same time. Oh, well, they are still super cute!

Fourth of July 2010 with the BFF

2010-08-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

We started this year's Fourth of July with play time at the park and ended with a lovely barbecue at the Matulich's house.

Rya loves Addison. They're BFFs! It's funny that Rya has latched onto one friend so much more than others. They are only a month apart and have known each other since they were about six months old. We're happy they are friends because it means we get to hang out with Mark and Kristine. We're even happier that we found out they aren't moving! We were so upset at the possibility of Rya not being able to grow up with Addison. Here are some pictures from the day:

New Shoes- Cool Shoes

2010-08-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

Do you see this face? You would think something terrible had happened to her for her to be so upset. This is mild compared to the fit she threw every time we mentioned or held the new shoes.

Kids' feet grow. It's a fact. Rya, however, cannot be reasoned with about this issue and doesn't understand why she can't always wear her same Nike tennis shoes. I realized one day as I was trying to get her shoes on that they were tight and her toes were touching the ends of the shoes. It was obviously time for new shoes. And when girls need new shoes what better place to go than Nordstrom, so off we went. Rya is usually pretty good about tagging along with me in the mall. Mostly because she knows that I'm a sucker for the carousel and will take her on the ride at some point during the trip.

We reached the third floor of Nordstrom after climbing "the magic stairs" as Rya calls the escalator. I found a few pair I liked (because let's be honest- she's not even 2! She doesn't know what she likes, so I will continue to take advantage of dressing her my way until I can't any longer) and asked the sales woman to get them in Rya's size. So far, so good. I took the shoes out of the box and Rya's shoes off her feet. Then all hell broke loose. I have been the onlooker many times when a child is throwing a fit in a store and always felt sorry for the parent. I guess it was my turn to get the unwanted attention. Rya screamed and the girl has lungs. She threw herself onto the floor in a far too dramatic movement. She proceeded to kick, scream, and then run away. Not even a balloon would make her calm down. What kind of girl throws a fit about new shoes... from Nordstrom? I was too embarrassed to continue the fight I was not going to win with Rya, so I bought the shoes and we left. She was a giant mess. I couldn't get her to calm down the whole ride home.

For weeks we tried to put on her new shoes with the same reaction I got the first time. We talked about the shoes often and called them "cool shoes" in hopes of enticing her to put them on. Finally I had to explain to her that her Nike shoes were too small and she couldn't wear them anymore. That seemed to work. She walked around telling everyone her shoes were too small and let us put on the new shoes. Is it too much to ask that her feet stop growing? I'm dreading this whole process which is inevitably going to occur again. Wish me luck.

Friends

2010-08-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

We're still alive and well! I know it's been some time since I last blogged. You would think having most of the summer off of work would have given me plenty of time to blog away, but we managed to stay pretty busy. I will try to catch everyone up with the next few blog entries.

Rya has had a fair share of strawberries this summer from the farmer's market. Berries! She is so cute when she tries to attack an entire strawberry instead of having us cut them up for her.
Uncle Kenny and Kyle (her cousin) came over for a World Cup game. Rya's not so great with strangers at first, but she eventually warmed up to Kenny. It helped that he had one of her favorite books. Who can resist books? I'm glad Rya likes books just like her mommy!
Rya has made many friends during her (short) lifetime, but the interaction between them is changing as she becomes more verbal. Rya is pretty good at sharing- with the exception of her pacifier. It's funny to watch her "play" with Landon. Poor Landon is a good sport for having to hang out with a girl who is so much younger and can't play on his level. He is very sweet about sharing with her. Although he gets pretty annoyed if Rya doesn't put his alphabet magnets back in the correct order. I should point out that his correct order is exactly that- his. It holds no rhyme or reason to me and certainly doesn't to Rya. Rya loves letters and numbers (she knows them all, so now we are working sounds) so much to Landon's disliking, they don't always get put back in Landon Order after she's done playing with them. We are thankful that Rya has a boy friend (did you see the big space? It's there for a reason! No boys for Rya... ever!) who is kind and whose parents are raising him to be a gentleman. Thanks, Holmes family! We can't wait until Grayson is old enough to play!

Rya has other friends she has made through us and also some from Gymboree. See one of the future posts for more information on Rya's BFF. We are so thankful to have wonderful friends ourselves and that our friends have adorable kids for Rya to play with. We like you single and kid-less friends too!

Mother's Day, First Hair Cut, and More!

2010-05-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

We (mostly Jason) have been working hard to clear out the massive amounts of plant growth in our backyard. We know there's a lot more work ahead of us! Our pool is warm and ready for swimming. Jason took the inaugural swim yesterday, but because he did it sans swimsuit there are no photos! Feel free to come over for a swim!

We can actually see the fence! You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff Jason cut down and pulled out. Ridiculous!
For Mother's Day Jason made me a wind chime! It's made completely out of bike parts we had in the garage. He used new tools from his dad (he's constantly talking about all his new tools- you probably already know all about it) to cut out Rya's hand and footprints. I love it! What a creative present!
I have been saying for months that Rya needs a haircut, but for some reason I have been hesitant. I finally had to cut it this morning because the poor child couldn't see when she was swinging at the park with her bangs in her face. On the recommendation of Uncle Justin's hair stylist (super cool guy I met at Justin and Adrianne's wedding), I am not touching the rest of her hair until she is much older. Rya hates to hold still, so I knew this would be a challenge. Jason did his best to hold her, but she screamed and squirmed the whole time. Here's the before picture:

After:

She got over the haircut pretty quickly and seemed happier at the park today when she could actually see while swinging.

Books!

2010-05-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come when Rya will sit through an entire book! We've tried to read to her since she was born, but it usually didn't last for more than a few pages. She's always been interested in books- carrying them around and looking through them herself, but not actually sitting and listening to them. Recently she has allowed us to read to her sometimes during the day and always at night. Like a lot of kids, she chooses one toy/book and tends to fixate on it for awhile before moving on to another. This week her favorite book is:

This book was given to me by my mom in 1990 and is signed by the author. It's a cute story about a girl who wants to be a dancer just like her big sister, but she's too little for dance class. By the end of the book she is finally old enough to attend a class. Soon enough Rya will be able to attend a dance class... or soccer, gymnastics, piano lessons, etc. We can't believe she's growing up so fast!

Jason had this book and added it to Rya's collection:

I had never read this book, but fell instantly in love with it the first time I read it to Rya about a year ago. She couldn't sit through the whole thing then, but she does now. If you haven't read this book and you happen to see it in a bookstore, take five minutes and read it. Elizabeth is a princess and wants to marry a prince, but a dragon attacks her castle and takes the prince hostage. Because all of her clothes have been burned by the dragon, Elizabeth wears a paper bag on her quest to rescue her prince. She outsmarts the dragon and goes into the cave to rescue her future husband. He basically tells her she doesn't look like a princess anymore and she should come back when she does. In that moment, Elizabeth realizes her prince is really not someone she wants to be with. It's a cute story with a good message- one I hope Rya remembers. I'm sure I'll read this book to her before every date she has... FAR in the future of course.

Rya has a ton of books and we can't wait to read them all together! Today is Mother's Day and I was given a super cool, homemade gift. Pictures in a future post!

Easter/Hawaii

2010-04-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Easter was a week late for us this year with my side of the family. I learned that See's discounts their Easter candy the day after and I was able to get quite a bit for more than half off. I think Easter will be a year late every year! Why not?

Chandra and Mike were a big help in finishing a few electrical things at the house and then we all had dinner. Before dinner we had an egg hunt in the backyard. We purposely let the grass grow a bit longer to better hide eggs. Jason did a great job of hiding eggs- some of them were really difficult!

Hawaii was wonderful this year! We deserve it after last year. For those of you who don't remember, we spent last year not sleeping and it was not a great trip. Rya made up for it this year! She slept through the night all week and took naps everyday. She was slightly afraid of the ocean, but not when we held her. She loved to play in the sand!

Our friends, the Hills, happened to be in Maui the same time we were! We had a beach date!

Zoo and Friends!

2010-04-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took Rya to the zoo for the first time. Unfortunately, she was still recovering from being sick and didn't want to do much. It was very uncharacteristic of her to want to be held the whole time. She loved the carousel and the gift shop!

We had some friends, the Gurnees, come to stay with us for a few days this week. Rya had a great time with Hunter and thought bouncing in her play pen was pretty awesome!

Sleepy girl!

Carousel!
Give kisses!
The playroom is now pink!

Easter Photos!

2010-04-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday we took Easter photos! Rya was such a good kid and LOVED the toy piano. Child prodigy? For sure! :)

Rya loves her eggs!

Our sweet, sweet girl!
This smile is so Rya! She loves to smile!
Daily Tea is the cutest clothing line ever!

Patience

2010-03-14T12:24:00.001-07:00

Thank you for patiently waiting for pictures! The moving process was more of an endeavor than we anticipated. Here are some before, during, and after photos. Unfortunately, our computer died (again) and we lost some of the before photos. Hopefully they can be retrieved off the hard drive. Until then, enjoy these! Start at the bottom!

Mostly finished kitchen. Two of the cabinets are supposed to be glass- they are arriving soon and will be swapped out with the solid ones. The backsplash has not been grouted.

During the kitchen process:

The pool! Come on over this summer! We hired a pool service and it looks beautiful now!
We lived like this for a month. Never again!
The bathtub was green. We had it refinished in white.
We lived with paper on our wood floors for weeks while the contractors were in and out.
New hutch for the dining room!
New windows and carpet (see picture below with old windows and yucky carpet)! The boxes are gone now and Rya has an empty room to run around in while we decide what furniture to get.
While the wood floors were being put in.
Rya's bathroom being remodeled.
Living room with old carpet and windows- yucky!
Kitchen after demolition.

The family room had wood paneling and wood beams everywhere. It was terrible! We ripped out the wood ourselves and our contractor finished the walls.

Master bathroom during remodel.
Rya's bathroom with the old wallpaper- nice!
Kitchen demolition.
From the backyard during construction.

The End of 2009

2010-01-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

We can hardly believe it's 2010. Our last few weeks have been so crazy with buying a house and showing our current house. Christmas and New Year's came and went quickly... too quickly!

Christmas started with Grandma Linda joining us for a tasty Chinese meal on Christmas Eve. Shanghai Garden never disappoints!

The next morning we added Grandma and Grandpa Lazar, Aunt Jennie, and Uncle Bri-Bri. We had a lovely breakfast followed by gifts. Rya was interested in the gifts, but didn't care too much about actually opening them.

That afternoon Auntie Chandra, Uncle Mike, Cousin Grace, and Cousin Emily came up to join us. We were lucky that Rya took a normal nap so she woke up in a good mood! We enjoyed some taco soup- very simple and yet still yummy! All three girls loved their gifts and played with them for awhile that evening.

New Year's Eve was spent with some old friends at Jenna's house. Jenna, Scott, and their two boys were in town for Christmas and we were so surprised to also see Amy Johnson as well. It was a great time catching up and seeing David and James. They are so sweet! Rya loved playing at their house and eating all of their delicious food (so did we!).

Rya, with all 14 bows in her hair! Silly, Daddy!
Um... yeah. This was an emergency bath in the sink after she pooped in the tub. So gross!
Where's Santa?
I heart my mommy's sunglasses!
Rya is obsessed with Taylor Swift. She watches her play the guitar and sing from a recent episode of SNL over and over. We bought the CD so she could watch some of the music videos. She isn't as impressed as we thought she'd be. There's much less of Taylor in the videos, so that's probably why. Below is a picture of us watching a Taylor video about her childhood and how much she loves her mom. Yes, I cried thinking of Rya getting older.

More sunglasses! Yay!

1440 McClaren Drive

2009-12-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Monday we sign papers to make 1440 McClaren Drive our new house! After months of searching, we were happy to find a house we both like. We constantly get updates about houses for sale in the neighborhoods we considered as great areas for us to live. A few weeks ago we received an email about a house just on the market on McClaren Drive. We have a tendency to not even like the outside of houses (I need that curb appeal!), so we decided to drive by first and then attend the open house later that afternoon if we liked it. We drove by and liked the outside so we headed back over that afternoon to see the inside. The house was built in 1968 and hasn't been updated since except for minimal changes in the kitchen. We have gotten very good at seeing beyond the wood paneling, crazy wallpaper, and bad lighting options. The house has a living room, dining room, kitchen with eating area, family room, large laundry room, three bedrooms, and three full bathrooms. The yard is a third of an acre with a pool, grass, and a large area with fruit trees and remnants of a garden. The best part is the gate in the backyard that opens to Goethe Park. It's perfect for us with access to the trail basically in our backyard!

Our current house is for sale and we are sad to have to leave it. We put a lot of ourselves in to making the house just the way we wanted it. This was our first home as a family and we'll always have a special place in our hearts for 417 32nd Street. We will also miss the proximity to great restaurants downtown and of course, McKinley Park.

I mentioned the house needs updating- a lot of it! We most likely won't move in until the end of January in order to get some work done. All three bathrooms will be updated (no carpet in bathrooms allowed!), the kitchen will be re-done, new flooring will be put in, walls will be painted, popcorn ceiling removed, wood paneling gone, and new lighting fixtures installed. There are many other smaller projects- stay tuned for pictures (before and after)!

Los Angeles

2009-11-29T07:51:00.000-08:00

Uncle Justin and Auntie Adrianne's wedding took place in Los Angeles this past weekend. Jason was the best man and Rya and I were excited to attend. Jason drove down Friday morning in order to attend bachelor events that evening and Rya and I flew to L.A. the next morning. I was a bit scared of how Rya would be on the plane since this was her first time on a plane as a walking kid. It was also the first time I didn't have Jason with me to help. We flew early in the morning which meant Rya was tired. She was so cute and cuddly- I wish she was like that more often.

After Jason picked us up, we headed to our temporary home. Thanks to Auntie Shannon and Uncle Jamie for letting us stay at their cute house in South Pasadena. There is a great park right across the street with play equipment that Rya loved. We went to the rehearsal that afternoon and then went to the Gurnee's for dinner that night. We hadn't seen Hunter in months. Even though he's a month younger than Rya, he was always bigger. We were shocked to see that Rya was actually taller than Hunter. Hunter was very friendly with Rya, Jason, and me. We loved seeing them and hope we can see them more often.

Jason went to help Justin set up for the wedding, so Rya and I had to find something to do. I met a mom at a park who told me about a few things to do around Pasadena. Rya was asleep when we dropped off Jason, so I took a drive around Pasadena and admired the magnificent homes. I kept wondering what on earth these people do for a living. The houses made the Fabulous Forties seem like no big deal. After Rya woke up, we went to the Kidspace museum right next to the Rose Bowl. I was a bit worried that the museum wouldn't have anything for Rya to do being so young, but they had two great areas for kids under 4. She loved the indoor play gym and the outdoor water area. If you are in the area, it's worth the 10 dollars entry fee.

The wedding was beautiful. It was hard to keep Rya entertained during the ceremony, but she did a great job. She burped loudly twice which was pretty funny. She ran all over during the reception and seemed to be having a grand time. We love Rya, but we also would have loved to have stayed longer at the wedding and danced. Unfortunately, Rya was tired and needed to head home.

Monday we had family time. There is a large park, Lacey Park, a few miles from Shannon's house. It's a gorgeous park surrounded by houses even more glamorous than the ones in Pasadena. Owning a Bugaboo stroller in Sacramento is pretty rare. Not so much the case in L.A. Everywhere we went moms had Bugaboo strollers. The park was no exception. There was a parking lot full of Bugaboos at the edge or the playground. Rya made a bunch of little friends and had a ball at the park.

That night we were able to see Jason's old friend, Emily. We saw her cute house and then went to dinner. Michael, her husband, joined us at the restaurant. Emily is five months pregnant and looks great. We had a wonderful time catching up with them. We can't wait to visit next year and meet the baby!

Tuesday we saw another friend...Alma and Baby Domenic. Domenic slept the whole time and was so precious. I was impressed that he slept through Rya's noises. It was so good to meet Domenic and see Alma. She looks great for just having a baby!

Wednesday we headed back to Modesto and Rya was amazing in the car! We had a great time in L.A. and we are thankful for family and friends we got to see in the last few days.

Rya with Baby Domenic in the background.

Baby Domenic.
Rya watching Daddy eat breakfast in Auntie Shannon's kitchen. Pajama time!
Pictures from the Kidspace museum in Pasadena:

Rya and Hunter- friends!

Rya loves her new Ugg boots!
Rya "helping" with the recycling.

Halloween

2009-11-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

I realize it's been almost a month since Halloween, but we've been busy! This was Rya's second Halloween, but the first one she didn't sleep through. I really wanted her to be Dorothy because she has these red patent shoes she LOVES. I couldn't find any costumes in her size that weren't outrageously priced, so we changed from Dorothy to a ladybug. She was still able to wear her red shoes which made us all happy.

Last year we joined the Holmes and Kopica families for trick-or-treating, so we did it again this year! It was so much more enjoyable with Rya walking around. She doesn't understand asking for candy, but she did like petting all of the dogs and cats. Plus, any house that had steps up to the front was extra fun! At one point she did accept a box of Milk Duds which she thought made a great shaker. Rya is not interested in candy, cake, or pretty much anything with too much sugar in it (lucky!) so we ate her few pieces of candy.

Rya wasn't scared at all by this creepy, headless guy.

New House?

2009-11-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

Our house saga is just that... a saga. It started back in April when we realized that with interest rates being so low, now might be a better time to move than a few years down the road. We had two main reasons for moving: more space and better schools for Rya. We love our little house and our location, but it's definitely lacking in the aforementioned areas. After researching schools and the surrounding neighborhoods, we narrowed our search to Sierra Oaks and the Del Dayo area.

The first house we found was on American River Drive. The first problem was its location- AR Drive is a very busy street. Other problems included the fact that it had no flooring and needed a lot of work. Little did we know at the time, we would eventually see more houses that needed far more work. Neither one of us believed this was our dream house, but we thought we could make it work. It was over 2000 square feet, it had a large yard for a pool, and it was around the corner from Sierra Oaks Elementary. We put our offer in low because there hadn't been other offers. Just our luck they received an offer the same day we submitted ours! We heard from the realtor that they deliberated quite awhile because they really liked our personal letter (who wouldn't want a cute family of three moving into their house?), but we were a contingent offer and the other offer was not. Ultimately, they chose to go with the other offer. We were bummed for a few weeks, but vowed to keep looking.

We saw more houses, but none of them were going to work for us for various reasons. I kept seeing the listing for a large house on Del Dayo and asked my realtor to look into it. She did and found that the price was so low because it had a 65,000 dollar pest report of section 1 items that needed to be fixed. We decided to take a look anyway. It was a huge lot- over half an acre. The house itself was in terrible condition. I was very concerned that someone had been living in such filth. I should add that this house was being sold by two daughters after their mother (the owner) had passed away. We knew this house needed a lot of work and we didn't have the cash to pay for the pest report and all the remodeling. Then we learned about construction loans. With a construction loan we could afford the house and have it remodeled all before we moved in. It sounded like a grand plan and there were no other offers! Once again we submitted a contingent offer. As luck would have it, they received another offer the same day through another realtor. The house was originally listed by a realtor, but she had been removed by the owners and another realtor hired. We were working with the second realtor, but the other offer went through the original realtor (supposedly because they had submitted an offer previously and it had been declined). The situation went from good to bad quickly and over the course of a stressful few days we realized we were going to lose out once again because of our contingent offer. Jason especially was upset and irritated by this whole situation and both of us were disappointed. I had my reservations about this house. It had what we called the "stupid" room. It seemed like the garage was originally detached and they added a room between the house and the garage to close the gap. It had no insulation, funky linoleum, and a door on each wall (one out to the side of the house, out to the garage, to the backyard, and into the house). Stupid and pointless. My gut wasn't saying this was the house for us.

Our house hunt continued and has led us to 1401 Mipaty Lane just blocks away from the house in the above paragraph. This house is in slightly better condition than the Del Dayo house, but not by much. An older couple has lived in this house since it was built in 1957. They have updated nothing except the heater and air conditioner. I'm not exaggerating. The carpet is so thin you can see through to the subfloor because the carpet pad no longer exists. The oven and dishwasher look like the front of a '57 Chevy- round and with a lot of chrome. I think maybe five dishes will fit in the dishwasher it's so small. I don't even know if you could fit a regular size cookie sheet in the oven. Most of you know my- I hate germs. Bathrooms are germ havens. This house has two and a half of them. I would rather use a public toilet than these colorful toilets (one is pink, one is blue, and the last is surprisingly a normal white color). I'm not sure who took the photos of this house, but when I first saw them I thought the photos were not doing the house justice. Then we saw the house. There isn't much to actually photograph to make this house look good. It's pathetic that the below pictures are the "good" parts of the house. Despite its current condition, we love this house. We put in an offer and knew it was going to be complicated because it's part of a conservatorship. What we didn't see coming was one of the people firing his/her trustee. Without a trustee for each owner, the house cannot be sold. So, our offer sits there waiting for a trustee to be appointed. Even then, it will be a waiting game to see if the court approves our offer. We want this house. We want this neighborhood. Please keep your fingers crossed!

This is the front of the house. We would get rid of the lovely antenna, replace the bay window with a regular window, take out a lot of the bushes, and paint the house. Can't you picture this house with a cute red or navy door and dark shutters?

This is the formal living room. The drapes stay. Just kidding! See the carpet? Yeah...

Described as a "park-like backyard". Goodbye, trees and ivy. Hello, pool!

I wish you could see the dishwasher clearly. If we get the house we will rip out the whole kitchen- thank goodness!

Ah, the dining room. Who would get rid of such a lovely mural? I would! Yucky. Sorry 1980's, but we're giving the bay window back.

October Happenings- Apple Hill & Modesto

2009-11-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

October was full of exciting events like Melanie's birthday, the birth of Baby Chloe, an outing to Apple Hill with the Matulich family, and a trip to Modesto. Halloween will be a separate post later when the pictures have been put on the computer.

The Chapman family was so gracious and had a small group of friends over for a soup night on Melanie's 31st birthday. It was a relaxing evening and great for all of the kids who loved running around the giant house. Blair made chili and Sam made a vegetable soup- both very yummy! Dagny made a delicious salad and we had ice cream for dessert. Thanks, friends, for a lovely evening.

Baby Chloe Isabelle Chapman was born on October 17th and she is beautiful. We saw her and at the hospital and again at her house last week. Rya can't wait until she can play with her and Avery.

We met some new friends at Gymboree, the Matulichs. Rya and Addison are three weeks apart, so it makes it fun to hang out with them. Plus, they have good taste in cars (they bought the exact same Subaru a few months after us so we have matching cars!). We joined the Matulichs for breakfast in Folsom and then headed up to Apple Hill. It was a pretty warm day and it didn't feel like fall. Rya just wanted to walk around everywhere which didn't go so well with the crowds. We cut our time short so Rya could have a proper nap and we could see Baby Chloe later that day at the hospital. We had fun while we were there and hope Rya will enjoy it more next year.

During the month we made a trek to Modesto to visit with the Hollis side of the family. Linda made some rockin' lasagna and we had fun hanging out with Emily and Grace. Rya really likes Emily. She also really likes the stairs at Grandma Linda's. Luckily, she follows directions well and was sliding down backward on her tummy.

Family photo at Apple Hill!
Gentle, Rya, gentle! Addison is only three weeks younger, but so tiny.
Rya tried to pick up all of the pumpkins. Maybe in a few years, Rya.

Emily and Rya (who didn't want to put her skirt on after a diaper change).

Rya's 1st Birthday!

2009-11-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Rya's first birthday did not go as planned. It was the end of September and very warm. It didn't hit 100, but it was in the high 90's. We had the party outdoors to accommodate all of Rya's friends and family. The weather was a minor concern, but as of 3:00 on her birthday we were ready for the 5:00 party!

Rya and Mommy went to Safeway to pick up the ice and the balloons. As we were driving down the street we noticed fire engines in front of La Fiesta. This was not a good sign and even worse since we were having the party catered by said restaurant. With fingers crossed, we parked and walked to the restaurant. As soon as we saw the car inside the restaurant, we were pretty sure our food was not going to be ready at 5:00. Yes, a car had somehow driven into the building and stopped as the cash register. Perhaps they thought making La Fiesta a drive thru was a good idea. While we were ecstatic to find out that everyone was going to be fine, we were panicking about our dinner options. After a discussion with Jason, we decided Costco pizzas would have to suffice. It certainly wasn't our first (or second) choice, but what could we do?

We aren't sure what was going on with Rya, but she was being a rather impossible child. She seemed less than interested in her party. We enjoyed the company of our friends and family and were glad they were there to celebrate the first year of precious Rya's life. She received some very cool gifts!

Rya wasn't very interested in the cake. She ate some icing, but that was it.

Rya opened gifts with the help of her two cousins, Emily and Grace.
Rya's birthday dress! She had to take it off because it was SO hot outside!

Long Time No Blog

2009-09-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been almost two whole months since the last blog entry. Our apologies! We both started school and as always, Rya has been keeping us on our toes.

Rya is growing everyday it seems. She walks with help from us or a toy she can push. She is so close to walking! Rya imitates words to the best of her ability, but they aren't quite "real" words yet. She tries to say "shoes" and "get it". A few months ago she hated her shoes and now she loves them because they are the best indication that she will soon be out of the house. Rya loves to be outside either pushing around her little singing scooter or riding on the back of a bike. She lets us know exactly what she wants by walking towards the scooter or the bike. She bangs on the garage door until it opens.

We went to the California State Fair last week. Rya was too young to enjoy most of the exhibits, but she did seem to like the petting zoo. The three of us got in a photo booth and now have our first family photos from the fair on our refrigerator.

I was gone to Vermont for a wedding this past weekend. Jason and Rya had a great time hanging out together. I knew that she would be well taken care of in my absence. Thanks to both grandmas for helping out as well! I really missed Jason and Rya and was glad to be reunited with them after five long days!

Below are some pictures of our recent happenings:

Baby's first lemonade!

In the saddle with Mama!
Petting Zoo fun!

I want that!

Walking around the park with my scooter!
Cool new Converse!

July- 10 months old!

2009-07-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our two and a half weeks off together. Melanie goes back to work on Monday and Jason still has another month off before he starts his two days a week. Here are some highlights from the month:

Rya LOVES this Curious George stuffed animal that Jason has had since he was a kid. Poor George has a hernia, but Rya loves him nonetheless. I got tired of paying for bows, so I started making them myself. They are less than a dollar to make and about four dollars in the store.

We went to Santa Rosa to visit our friends! Pearl is about 6 months older than Rya. This is Rya and Jason on the carousel. She loved it!

Pearl was not as excited about the carousel.
Posing on a statue at the park in Santa Rosa. Very cool park with a lake. Next time we're going out on a paddle boat!
Pearl gave Rya a lot of love!
Pearl, Holly, Rya and Jason!
Rya enjoyed cruising around the play area at the Roseville Galleria (mall).

4th of July

2009-07-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

We started the day in Davis for Jason's bike race. The good news is that he was not involved in the crash; the bad news is that the crash was in front of him which left him behind the group (along with a number of other guys). We got to visit with friends and see Grandma and Grandpa Lazar while we were at the race. Thankfully, it was not very warm- a nice change from the past few years.

We spent the afternoon resting and then we headed out to the Pyne's house for a little swimming and a barbecue followed by fireworks. Rya had a great time splashing around in the pool, eating fresh fruit, and hanging out with her two friends, Kennedy and Aubrey. She was a little scared of the fireworks, but we think she was just really tired at that point.

Water Play

2009-07-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

We bought Rya a water table to keep cool this summer. We used it for the first time this weekend and she loved it! She ended up sitting in it after she realized splashing her arms in it wasn't enough.

Rya loves to swing, so we used her jumper as a swing and she had a blast!

Rya is 9 months old!

2009-06-28T12:19:00.001-07:00

We can't believe Rya is already 9 months old! We heard time flies by, but now we're actually experiencing it. She isn't saying any "real" words yet, but she sure is talking! Rya has also decided that crawling is not for her and has started working on walking. She can pull herself up and "cruise" around on furniture. She also walks when guided with help from us. We haven't really put her in shoes much, so now that she's trying to walk we have been putting shoes on her to get used to them. Rya doesn't like the shoes. She stares down at her feet and tries to kick them off. She recently started clapping and is no longer scared of the parachute at Gymboree!

I am off for a few weeks in between school years. We plan to hang out at home and enjoy being a family. We're also looking forward to spending some time in the water. Rya went to a few swim lessons, but there was very little instruction so we opted out of the class and plan to just play in the water on our own or with friends.

Rya loves her pink soccer ball. She rolls it around and sometimes just likes to hold it. She looks adorable in this outfit from Auntie Shannon!
Grandma Linda gave Rya some cute outfits from Gymboree. She loves them and looks super cute in all of them! They are in the pictures below. Rya is also fond of Curious George who was Jason's childhood buddy. He's old, but he's hanging in there- hernia and all.
We bought Rya this Cookie Monster plush toy. She loves Cookie Monster. She gets so excited when she sees him on her diaper or on Sesame Street. We bought some strawberries at Costco that had a picture of Sesame Street characters on the package. She squealed in excitement and we got a lot of strange looks.
We read to Rya every night before bedtime. She likes to look at books, but her attention span is too short to make it through books unless she's tired. She's also learned to drink out of her sippy cup all on her own.
Our friends, Alexis and Kennedy, came over for dinner and we took the girls to the park to swing. Ryan was sick and couldn't join us. :( Rya looks a bit scared in this photo, but she loves to swing.
Rya and Kennedy playing together!
Rya loves toys!
Once a month we have been going to Vacaville for a family lunch. Uncle Brian and Aunt Jenny are so much fun! Grandpa is on the left- Rya really likes him (and his glasses).
Rya is so excited about breadsticks! Her hair was doing something crazy after her nap that day. I tried to wet it and that didn't work. Oh, well!

Must Love Dogs

2009-06-14T21:50:00.001-07:00

June has been a crazy month! We've been so busy with graduation parties (congratulations to all of you!), races, and all sorts of other things.

Rya LOVES going to the park and swinging. More than swinging, Rya loves animals she sees at the park (because you know she isn't seeing any at our house!). She gets super excited when she sees the ducks- she tries to grab them! She also has a love for dogs. Cats don't seem to impress her much. We're so surprised that she doesn't seem to be more afraid of the dogs.

Rya loves to swing!
Check out the Nike onesie!
Rya loves to smile for the camera! What a ham!
She chewed on this party favor for days!
Nike 5k. 7:36/min miles! It's about time.
A friendly dog Rya was petting at the park.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T10:17:00.001-07:00

Rya had fun in the laundry basket while Mommy folded laundry.

Rya's first bubble bath. She loves bubbles!

Rya and Daddy at Jason's race on Saturday.

Rya was super excited about Jason racing. So excited, she napped during the second race!

Bathroom Before & After

2009-05-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Before...

After...

Sophie

2009-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

This is Sophie, Rya's new best teething friend! We love her! Someone told us about Sophie while we were feeding Rya ice chips in Hawaii to ease her teething pain. Poor Rya just couldn't get those teeth through until she started chomping on Sophie. We tried many other chewing toys and frozen foods, but none worked. She had Sophie for just a few days and then her teeth popped through! Sophie is soft, she squeaks, and is made from baby-safe materials. The colors are also great for grabbing attention. She is a bit pricey, but we think she's worth it! It's a great gift if you are passed the teething stage.

Two Teeth!

2009-05-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

It finally happened... Rya now has two teeth! One broke through shortly after our return from Hawaii and the other broke through about a week later. Thankfully she is sleeping much better! We can only hope for a teething break before the top ones start breaking through.

Along with her teeth came new sounds and much more babbling! She really sounds like she's trying hard to make words. We'll try to get pictures up soon of her teeth, but she isn't willing to show them off at this time.

Jason is almost done painting the bathroom! We'll have before and after pictures up this weekend! We love it!

Hawaii

2009-05-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Reading in the airport while Rya sleeps.

At dinner- happy baby!

The girls eating dinner together!

The girls by the pond. They both enjoyed eating some paper.
On our balcony.
Ryan and Jason took the girls on a walk and they fell asleep. Too cute!

Getting ready to head to the pool.

Rya and Jason in the pool.

On our whale watching trip. We saw a mother and baby whale.

The boys holding the kids while we wait for the boat.
The girls in their matching swimsuits. Thanks, Alexis!

Rya lounging in the sun.

Floating in the pool courtesy of the Holmes family- thanks for the floatation device!
So happy in the Baby Bjorn!

Rya's first time in the pool in Honolulu.

Scott with Baby David.

Jenna with Baby James.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About two weeks ago we left for Hawaii. We had a rough start, but we ended up having a great time.

Our flight was early on a Tuesday morning out of SFO so it made sense for us to spend the night at Jason's sister's house in Oakland Monday night. Plus, it was Jen's birthday while we were gone and that gave us a chance to celebrate with her and Brian before we left. The Volvo had been in the shop for about a week and was supposed to be done in time for us to drive it to the airport. Can you imagine trying to fit the three of us, two suitcases, carry-ons, and a stroller in the Mini? Right.... The shop called to say the Volvo was done and we headed out of town. The car was doing some odd shaking thing it wasn't doing before though the shop swore it was like that when it arrived. They said it was safe to drive, so off we went. Around Davis the Check Engine light not only came on, but it started blinking. I was not happy with the answer from the shop where we had originally taken it, so I called Volvo of Fairfield where we bought the car and which was on the way. Volvo of Fairfield is no longer a dealership, but the Infiniti dealership now in its place does Volvo service. They took pity on us and our situation and had the problem fixed in half an hour. Needless to say we will not be going back the shop in Sacramento again.

We finally arrived in Oakland and we were looking for a reprieve from the hot weather in Sac. That didn't happen. It was in the 90's in Oakland! Nonetheless, we had a loveley dinner with Auntie Jenny and Uncle Brian.

On Tuesday we flew to Oahu where we were greeted by our wonderful friends, Scott and Jenna. They fed us amazing pizza and introduced us to their beautiful baby boys- twins, David and James. After a little relaxing at our hotel, we met Scott and Jenna for dinner. It was Scott's birthday and we were honored to celebrate with him! The next morning Rya went in the swimming pool for the first time. She was a bit scared at first, but was then fascinated by the water. Scott and Jenna graciously took us to lunch and then to the airport. We can't wait to see them and the boys again in December!

We arrived in Maui and met our friends, the Pyne family! With two babies and four adults, we had quite a time getting everything in our rented Expedition. The first night was pretty crazy with the girls and the time change. Rya slept terribly the entire time we were in Hawaii. We don't know if it's because her teeth have been giving her problems or if she was having trouble adjusting to sleeping in a Pak n' Play the whole time. We do know that waking up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours per night is not much of a vacation!

We had a ton of fun with Ryan, Alexis, and Kennedy. Kennedy had the time of her life in the pool and in the ocean. We were a bit jealous that Rya wasn't able to play quite like Kennedy, but we know she will eventually. Alexis and Melanie were able to get in quite a few workouts while the boys played video games.

The food was excellent! We had a ton of fresh fish and went to a new sushi restaurant. It was nice to trade babysitting with the Pynes so we could have meal together without Rya. We can't wait to vacation with the Pynes again and watch the girls play together!

An Eventful Week

2009-04-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. We went to San Francisco (Rya's first trip) to hang out and have lunch. Other than the extremely windy conditions, we had a perfect day!

We had a fun-filled Easter starting Saturday morning. Rya had her first Easter egg hunt with Grandpa Jay and Kathy at a park by their house. Cousin Zachary was so kind to give Rya one of his eggs (minus the candy) which immediately went in her mouth.

That afternoon we headed to Modesto for more Easter! Rya had another Easter egg hunt and actually picked up her own eggs and dropped them in her basket. The Easter bunny left Rya some new hair bows! How exciting! We had a very nice dinner with the Hollis side of the family. Rya loves her Auntie Chandra (below).

Grandma and Grandpa Lazar came over on Sunday afternoon for one last Easter egg hunt and some lunch. It was nice to see a lot of family this weekend!

Last weekend (before Easter) was Avery Blair Chapman's 2nd birthday! We went to Fairytale Town with Rya for the first time to celebrate. She met a burro (below) and had a great time going down the slide with us.

We are very excited for our trip to Hawaii- we leave Monday night. While we are gone the bathroom is being remodeled. We'll post before and after pictures when we return!

Rya had her 6 month appointment a few days ago. She is right on target for development. Until this month Rya has consistently been 90th percentile for height and 25-50th percentile for weight. No longer! Rya is now 70th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight! She was still eating 2-3 times during the night which I think contributed to the weight gain in addition to the introduction of solids. I say "was" because the last couple of nights she has slept through the whole night! The doctor told us she should not need to eat during the night any longer, so we made a plan to be strong and let her cry a bit if she woke up. Apparently, Rya had her own plan and decided the doctor was right- she slept through the last few nights. Let's hope that continues. We certainly appreciate the sleep!

Take care!

6 Month Photos

2009-04-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

To commemorate Rya turning 6 months, we had some photos taken of just her and of the whole family.

Vacation!

2009-04-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

We are officially on vacation! Jason doesn't have to return to work until the end of August and Melanie is off for a whole month!

Rya had her six month birthday and is changing everyday. She saw some old friends this past week and met a new friend, Alvin (or as Daddy calls him, Gavs). She's still not taking the bottle, but is getting good at drinking water out of a cup.

Kennedy's 1st Birthday and Other Happenings

2009-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Kennedy's 1st birthday party! Rya had fun visiting her friend and playing games! Kennedy wore her birthday hat that Rya gave her from our trip to Boise! She was so cute and did a great job eating her little cake.

Saturday was also the Land Park crit, but Jason was injured and couldn't race. We cheered on the other River City Racing Team members (check out the banner). For those of you who don't know, River City Racing is a new team Jason started this year.

Mastery of the Johnny Jumper and Shamrock'n 2009

2009-03-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Rya learned the art of jumping in her Johnny Jumper. We put her in it a few times before and she didn't really know what to do. Saturday morning we put her in it again and she started jumping like a little kangaroo! She LOVES it (thanks Great Grandma!).

Sunday was the 2009 Shamrock'n Half Marathon. Melanie took two minutes off her last time, but is still not quite back to pre-baby pace. 1:53:40 isn't too shabby for having a 5 1/2 month old baby and not much time to train. Alexis once again made it look so easy coming in much faster around 1:47. The highlight of the day was not the end of the race, but breakfast afterward.

Just another Thursday night at home!

2009-03-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

After a family run tonight Rya was very thirsty! She loves to lap up water out of our glass. She is strong enough to hold it on her own, but needs guidance to lift it up.

Check out the pictures of the modified Johnny Jumper!

2009-03-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new site!

From now on this will replace the babysite we had originally. The last few months have been full of ... well... this:

We are on the second round of all of us being sick. For the past three weeks we have all been sick twice off and on. Jason really has been sick the entire time, but was feeling better once he had his first round of antibiotics. Now he's on his second round. Rya has had pinkeye twice- once in both eyes. She has also had two colds and is still coughing a bit. Poor thing! It was so sad to see her not feeling well. Fingers crossed we can all get well soon!

Rya is now 5 1/2 months old! She still has no teeth, but is gumming everything in sight. Jason was trying to get some fuzz out of her mouth last night and she chomped down on him. Beware of teething child! She is not too interested in rolling over. She rolls to one side or the other, but really has no desire to flip. She is starting to love tummy time much more these days and entertains herself by turning in circles on her blanket. Sitting up has almost been mastered. She still kind of leans forward a bit and will fall to the side sometimes.

We love our old house and it's character, but the character got in the way of the Johnny Jumper working properly. The jumper is made to go in a doorway around the molding. Our molding is so thick, the jumper would not fit. Not to worry though... Jason to the rescue! A few trips to Home Depot and much time spent in the PVC pipe aisle has allowed Rya the joys of the jumper! I'll have to take pictures of this modified jumper so everyone can appreciate Jason's craftsmanship.
The time came last week for me to return to work. :( In preparation for my return, we gave Rya a bottle a few times just to make sure she remembered how to take it. The first time was a struggle, but the second time she took it pretty willingly. Sounds great, right? If only it had actually gone that smoothly at daycare! Rya refused to take the bottle all day and I had to leave work early to go feed her. We've tried everything from different positions to a plethora of different bottles. She will not do it. You might think she'd eat when she was hungry. Nope. I was in SF for 9 hours on Saturday and she wouldn't eat at all. She was a mess when I got home. The battle continues and we are going on Week 2. We're hoping that in time she will learn to take the darn bottle. It's stressing us out far too much!

I enjoy being back at work, but miss Rya like crazy! Three more weeks and then we'll all be off together for a month!

We are looking forward to our off track time when we'll be going to Hawaii with the Pyne family! We'll also be visiting Rya's newest friends on Oahu ... Jenna and Scott's twins, David and James! Congratulations to them! We also have two upcoming birthdays- Avery (turning 2) and Kennedy (turning 1)! Rya attended her first birthday party in February for Mr. Landon Holmes' 2nd birthday! She even got to wear a hardhat with a bow. Thanks, Auntie Sam for making it girlie!

We promise to update more often! Take care!