She's finally 6...

I am happy to report that when Kate tells you she is 6, she really is!  After almost a year of pretending to be older than she is, it's finally official.  And wow, where did 6 years go?  

The festivities this year took place at Playdate PDX.  Her and her little friends(her first ALL Girls party) had a blast running around the place, sliding down the slide, and weaving in and out of the maze of obstacles.  

At 6 Kate can most often be found pretending to teach a dance or school class.  She has quite an imagination.  She loves arts and crafts and can spend hours coloring, writing her name, making jewelry and whatever else involves, scissors, markers, glue and glitter.  She loves tap and jazz and I think I have her slowly taking a  liking to ballet.  I have caught her a few times doing plie's pretending the entertainment center is her bar.  She also is a great little gymnast and cartwheels EVERYWHERE!  Kate is a wonderful older sister to Ryan and will play with him for hours.  She is my best helper!  She even helps Zach, especially with organizing and cleaning his room.  For loving to organize and clean though she can sure leave a trail of evidence of where she has been.  I discover empty snack wrappers and little pieces of paper, with her handwriting written all over them, scattered all over the house.  It makes me angry now, but I know I will miss finding these little treasures one day.   We love you Kate!  

9 Months...

Ryan is really starting to grow up fast!  He is learning to leave a path of destruction most places he goes.  For example, things like the entire roll of toilet paper sprawled all over the bathroom floor and what was at one point nicely folded laundry is now strewn in every direction, and wet in various parts from his slobber.  It's a good thing he is the sweetest boy.  He is learning to drink out of a sippy, and absolutely loves pasta!  He is finally sleeping through the night.  It took some crying out and a small move to his own room, but at least we are all sleeping now.  I forgot how much I enjoyed un-interrupted sleep.  He loves to snuggle and loves if you rub his neck lightly with your fingers.  He makes the best crunchy face and has discovered the stairs!  He loves when Kate and Zach get home from school, and has started to say "Da da".  He claps his hands and his new talent is pointing his finger at things.  It's hilarious!  His mouth full of teeth...not so fun.  We might be weening sooner than I thought!  Drawing blood is not normal right?!  Well I think I just figured out what he should be for Halloween.

A Whirlwind...

Wow it's October already!  What happened to September?  I can remember thinking that having a baby(Ryan) would be great because it would force me to slow things down.  I was so wrong.  If anything it has sped things up...in turbo mode at that too!  Seriously, I need a good solid month to catch up.  Don't even get me started about how many weeks pass by between deep cleaning my house.  You would be grossed out!    I need that sign that says, "Excuse my messy house, my kids are busy making memories."  So lets back up a bit shall we?

Labor Day weekend we had the cutest little visitor come to see us.  Our cousin Colbi!  Tyson, Jayne and Colbi flew in to see us for a few days.  It was so fun to meet this sweet girl.  She has the cutest "Ooooohhhhhh" and is just a little peanut.  She and Ryan would be the best of buddies if only we didn't live so far from each other.  

 Then school started.  Both Zach and Kate in school for a full day!  Freedom you think?  For just a moment, until I finally decide to catch up on what I held off over the summer.  And I have discovered that I have a hard time telling people no.  So anyone who asked me to help them with something this month got an enthusiastic yes from me.  I really should be better at being selfish if I am ever going to get the concept of truly slowing down.  

  Justin turned 34!  34?!  Its numbers like this that freak me out, especially when I realize that I have known this person for 15 years!  That's a milestone folks.  This year we bought him a Nike fuel band.  Little did I know it would light a slight competitive fire under his you know what to be active.  I just thought he would enjoy tracking his daily activity, not motivate him to do extra things to up his fuel points!  Needless to say for a guy who doesn't like wearing things around his wrist, its been a month and it has become a permant appendage.

Kate's Growing Up...

Dear Kate,

I can't believe you finally get to go to Kindergarten tomorrow!  I know you are nervous and excited at the same time, and I just want you to know that your day will be great!  You are worried about making new friends and have asked at least two kids in our neighborhood to sit by you on the bus.  I know that you will be just as brave to go to school as you were when you let dad pull out your first tooth, without even shedding a tear.  You got this!  Especially after finding out that your teacher is Miss Bobetsky.  Ever since Kindergarten round up last spring all you have talked about is having her for your teacher, and your wish came true.  

We laid out your outfit for tomorrow and you carefully folded your pile on the floor and prepped your shoes' laces, so you can wake up and get yourself ready for the day.  I love that you are so independent.  

I am going to miss you helping me with Ryan every day and being my little side kick.  But I know you are going to have so much fun!  I hope you have fun writing your name on your first assignment, and hope that you love the structure of a full day of learning.  I hope you make sweet friends and enjoy playing with the friends you already have made. I will be anxiously waiting for you to get off the bus and am excited to hear all about your first day. 

I love you so much!

Mom 

Who Does Ryan Look Like...

The kids and I were going through old blog posts and watching their old videos.  It's crazy to think that to watch old family videos we go to the computer and not VHS tapes like I did when I was a kid.  You know you are getting old when you tell your kids stories like, "When I was kid we watched home videos on VHS.", and they look at you and have know idea what you are talking about.  Anyways, it's so fun to see the things they used to say and do.  I also came across some old pics of both Zach and Kate at 6 months.  So I pulled up one of Ryan because it's always fun to line up old family pics to determine who looks like who.  He is a mix of both but definitely is looking more like Kate.

Zach

Kate

Ryan

Me

Justin

Ryan 6 Months

Time just doesn't seem to slow down around here.  I have had these pictures and videos loaded for a month now just waiting for me to sit down and type a little something about our sweet Ryan.  He's 7 and half months as I type.  So lets play catch up.  Here's the skinny!

We technically started solid foods at 5 months, but it has taken a month for him to catch onto eating food off the spoon.  His favorite food is squash.  He got his two lower teeth and has successfully bitten me a time or two with those razor sharp teeth! Yikes! He learned to crawl and can sit up all by himself.  He is on the verge of dangerous, the silent type, where you know when you don't hear from him in awhile that he is not where he should be allowed(stairs).  We took him swimming for the first time and he's a fish.  He loves the water, even face plants himself to get a good taste of the chlorine.  And best of all his little personality is starting to show.  He giggles and is spitting raspberries at the older kids to get their attention.  He loves when all eyes are on him.   

Utah Soccer Camp turned Family Summer Vacation...

Over the week of July fourth we took a trip to Utah so Zach could participate in a BYU soccer camp.  Kate, Ryan and I tagged along to make it an official family vacation.  And somehow we managed to get a picture of every other activity besides the camp itself. 

 

Justin had his full circle moment having Zach at that camp.  The coach even mentioned to the entire camp that he had coached Zach's dad.  Zach thought that was pretty cool!  He played so well that he moved up a level within the first day because he was dominating his own age level.  You can imagine what this did for Zach's confidence level. 

 

Its always a treat to go to Utah.  Being able to spend time with friends and family is always fun.  We swam at Cowabunga Bay with the Broadbents, saw Monster's University and fireworks with Justin's side of the family and played at Seven Peaks and watched Stadium of Fire(from a distance) with my side of the family.  Whew what a week, we were so busy.  As always we didn't visit half the people we wanted to...so many people, such little time, especially when trying to let Ryan nap just enough to survive the crazy schedule. 

 

Ryan met Great Grandpa Van for the first time, Zach met Kyle Van Noy, a future NFL hopeful, Kate braved more waterslides than any other 5 year old I know, and Ryan enjoyed his first pickle. Good Times had by all!