First smiles

What is better than seeing your baby smile for the first time???  Mabel has really started reacting to us these last couple weeks and it is so fun.  I love watching Ryan make her smile, and he loves it too.  She is a "talker" and makes the most adorable baby noises we've ever heard.  She really comes alive late at night when her brothers are asleep and she has Mom and Dad all to herself.  It almost makes you forget the fact that you are dead tired and it is 3:00 in the morning.

who needs grass?

I think our boys like our yard just fine the way it is.  They get to dig big holes and be dirty.  With the great weather we've been having lately, the boys spend a lot of time outside (which I love :)  I don't particularly like the huge amounts of dirt that end up in the boys hair, clothes, diaper and shoes, (and then into the house) but I think it's a good trade off.  

Home improvement project #3

Wow.  Talk about a big project.  We are just hoping to get some sprinklers and grass in by the end of the summer.  First task is to get rid of all those rocks!  

Andrew is obviously a big help.

Ryan on the other hand was very serious about moving those rocks.  He used his new shovel and wheelbarrow and worked as long and as hard as Spencer did.

For some reason, when I ask him to do chores for me like setting the table and cleaning up his toys, he isn't as eager.  But it was about the cutest thing ever watching Ryan work side by side with his Dad.

We went to Denver to find the Easter Bunny...

and he treated us very well.

Lots of loot and food,

meeting new cousins,


and of course we dyed some eggs.  The crazy thing is that Ryan actually eats them.  I didn't know people actually liked hard boiled eggs, but this kid does.  

Ryan is 4???!!!

It's hard to imagine that Ryan was ever this small!  we love our little red head so much.  

(I'm sure this will be a long, boring, "I love my child" bragging mommy post, so I won't be offended if you skip this, I could go on and on!)

Ryan is:

*Extremely handsome.  He is looking more like Spencer all the time :)

*A great big brother.  He had recently become very nervous about Andrew running away from us while we are out and about and holds on tight to him so he "doesn't get lost".  And I love it how he talks to Mabel.  He says she is "so cute" and talks to her just like he hears Spencer and I talk to her.  It's a great plus that he can put her binky in.  

*Very wise.  He is always imparting his wisdom on various subjects.  For instance, he explained to me about a "simple machine" he learned about on Sid the Science Kid.  He told me all about how a pulley worked.  Then yesterday he told me all about how "boys don't like girls, and girls don't like boys".  I had been asking him about who his friends were at church and he only named the boys.  I told him that I was a girl and I liked Daddy who was a boy.  He then said, "Well, that is true for Mommy's and Daddy's, but it is not true for kids".  

*Hilarious.  On some hard mommy days, I can't help but be excited for the day he goes to school.  But I get a little sad thinking about all the funny things I'll miss hearing him say.  He is always quoting things he hears from books, TV, the radio, us (not always a good thing).  He recently has been saying "Oh, fiddlesticks" when something goes wrong.  I wish I could say he heard that from me, but instead he learned the phrase "oh crap".  Not my proudest Mommy moment, especially since I couldn't help but laugh  the first time he said it.  

Things Ryan likes at the age of 4:

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, and all the other fighting guys he has learned about from either Spencer or other boys.  We have many Raphael and Rock Steady fights between Spencer and Ryan at our house.  

-Computer games

-Board games

-plain noodles, rice, and pasta.  I think he is turning into a vegetarian.  

-Still loves books, learning, and....I'll admit it, TV and movies.  The kid is a zombie when we let him watch.

We love Ryan!

chuck e cheese

The boys on the "roller coaster" ride.  Yes, andrew is still wearing a bib because of the incredible amount of drool he produces.
Ryan was concentrating so hard.  Andrew gave up and decided just climbing up on the game and putting the balls right in the holes would be easier.  The kid was a little crazy.  He kept running up to other peoples games and trying to take over.  He almost got nailed by a skeet ball.
Spencer liked this one.  

For Ryan's pre-birthday celebration, we braved taking the 3 little ones to Chuck E Cheese.  Spencer and I both haven't been since we were kids.  It was smaller than I remembered...and more crowded!  But it turned out to be a lot of fun.  The boys loved it and surprisingly enough, the pizza wasn't too bad.  

Miss Mabel is 1 month!

I can't believe it has been a month already.  Crazy.  Mabel is doing great and growing so fast...actually, not really, she has kind of had a hard time gaining weight, but seems to be doing a lot better recently and has stopped throwing up all the time!  But she seems older.  She is starting to smile and react to us and look at our faces instead of that blank baby stare.  She is a cutie and we love her!  (These pictures were taking yesterday which was her exact one month birthday).