Updates and a New Addition...

Haven't been on to post in a bit... we spent a few days at the Beach with Aunt Pammy and Natalie. It was lots of fun and as usual, Natalie was the best behaved child - what a good baby! I think her cousins scare her and will keep her from turning to the dark side! Daddy had problems with his eye again and spent quite a few days in and out of Wills Eye Hospital downtown and hiding out in the basement wearing sunglasses - he was in lots of pain, poor guy! No pictures to document it... tho I thought about it but I am not that mean! Would have been fun if they gave him the Pirate Patch! The medicine is helping him get better and Emma had sympathy pains with her own 'boo-boo eyes'! Thanks to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop and Grandmom and Pop for helping us out! Unfortunately, Byron's bad eye kept him from taking Ryan to see Walking with Dinosaurs but Uncle Eric was up for the challenge and took Ryan out for the night - quite a switch from his regular Friday nights with the ladies! They had a great time and both were very impressed - they said it was very cool! If Uncle Eric ever gets a cable for his cell phone, I might be able to post some pictures!

And finally, the new addition.... and no, it is not a baby! It is a dog - a really really BIG dog! If we bred babies in this house as fast as we added dogs, we'd be something of the Partridge Family meets the Brady Bunch! Oh, I'm talking stuffed dogs here - not real ones! I may be crazy but I haven't reached INSANE yet! See below for pictures of Brutus. He is a present from Aunt Janet's brother Bobby, who won him on the boardwalk at the beach. He is taller than Ryan and extremely large. He is a monster and makes Butkus look like a beanie baby. Thanks Aunt Janet and thanks Bobby.... one day both of you will have kids of your own and we can't wait to buy them something equally as big and fun - like a drum set!!

Butkus (left) with Brutus. Until today, Butkus was the dog of the house. He looks kinda small now, poor guy.

TWINS!!!

Last night we went to visit Billy, Noele and the boys, Michael and Brendan. They are just too darn cute and we all passed them around, the poor little guys! We couldn't get enough of holding them! I wish I had taken pictures of their nursery - it's beautiful! The walls are painted so that when you stand in the room, it looks as if you are on a carousel. Very cool! Michelle, Jen, Bill & Kayla were also visiting. I tried getting a picture of the big kids - Ryan, Emma and Kayla - all together but they weren't as cooperative as the twins and never stood still long enough. I think they may have scared Billy, lol! The picture below is my favorite... when we walked in Noele was feeding Brendan and Michael was snoozing on her lap - I don't think I ever looked as calm as she does and I only had one baby!



Michelle and Ryan with Brendan

Byron, Michael & Emma - looks like Michael and Emma planned their picture taking face and no one told Byron.

Jen with both boys. The funny part of this picture that you can't see is that Jen has a baby belly and is due in 2 months (I think).

And of course we can't forget their first baby, Guinness. The highlight of Ryan's visit was Guinness. He wants to know when we can go back and play with him again.

Babysitting Gig

We have been watching Tyler for a few days here & there and both kids are loving it! Usually Ryan takes more of an interest while Emma is concerned with what Tyler will be sharing that is hers. Today, however, her maternal side must have been calling because she was very interested and even asked to hold Tyler - a first! She was very helpful in changing his diaper (and every time exclaims 'Mom! Baby Tyler has a pee-naas!'), giving him a bottle and playing with him. She even liked watching him sleep in the swing. She must have had a moment of weakness. I'm sure tomorrow she will be back to her usual 'I'm the Boss, don't touch my toys' self!

Despite the extreme temps, we all braved the pool today for some cooling off! Tyler loved the water and the kids were extra fishy! Even Ryan was braver than usual! Emma picked out her favorite bathing suit, her 'kini' - thanks Jo!

New Bloggers

So this blog thing is pretty catchy and spreads almost as fast as Ryan's staph infections (ok, not funny but I was just trying to make light of a disturbing situation). Two good friends have joined the blogging world and since I know how everyone loves a good read, I thought I'd share!




Kim is one of my bestest friends from high school (and funniest, craziest, etc) and you can read all about her and hubby Geoff (affectionately known as G-off) and their kids, Shannon, Riley and Gage, at their family blog (just click on the highlighted kids names). She just recently posted and had a great trip with Geoff in NYC to shop and see the Police in concert!









Michelle is one of my bestest friends from college. Byron and I & Michelle and Jim all went to college together at IUP - Byron and Jim were fraternity brothers and Michelle and I were in rival sororities, ohhhhh! Michelle became super blogger when she started her site and posted it all in one day! You can read all about the Berkoben Family and the adventures of Ally (Ryan's Girlfriend), Jack (Emma's Boyfriend) and Morgan (the dog)!

I also have other friends listed in my favorite blogs and sites, including my 'little sister' Kelli (also from IUP), who got me started in the blogging world!

Happy Birthday Ally!

Ally had her 5th birthday party on Saturday night and the kids had a blast! Ryan was bummed that she would turn 5 before him - those two are always competing with each other and usually act like an old married couple! Emma was a bit intimidated by the big play area but something inside kept pulling her that way. Half of the time she would get stuck and need to be rescued. Byron took the first few attempts and then I took over - he's been having back issues and those play areas are not meant for people our size! Happy Birthday, Ally! Thanks for a fun party!

Emma and Jack right before a big smooch!

The birthday girl getting ready to make a big wish!

Now this is pretty funny... Tommy & Jim were wearing identical shirts, only one was a mock tee and the other a golf shirt. Both were saying how old their shirts were and both had exactly the same colors. After closer examination, we discovered that both shirts were from the Gap and are quite a few years old (tho no one would admit to how long they've had the shirt). What are the chances that they'd had the same line of shirt from YEARS ago and both wear it on the same day. And I thought girls were the only ones who kept their clothes that long!

Swim Lessons

Ryan finished his first swim lessons last week - I think it was the longest 8 days of his life! He has some issues with getting his head wet so once they got into that part, he wanted out! But he saw it through (with a few harmless threats to encourage him) and in the end, he did learn a few things. He seems a bit more at ease in the big pool now, and will even cross the dreaded 'black line' as seen in the picture below. Here he is with his kick board (I think he is walking) and hanging onto the wall as the rest of class prepares to swim to the instructors. At least they were very patient and understanding of him!

At the end of the last class, the kids got to jump off the diving board into the deep end, and be helped along by the instructors. Since the very mention of this had him shaking in his shoes a few days prior, I figured there was no way he'd even think about it. But there is something to be said for peer pressure in this case because he got right in line with the rest of the class. Of course, once on the dive it took a few minutes to coax him to the end and then I could really see him shaking - partly because he was freezing and the other part from fear. He didn't jump but did allow the teacher to lower him into the water. He even went back for a second go around and the kid lowered him halfway down then let him loose. I think as scared as he was, he did enjoy himself and we are very proud of him that he got that far!

Here's a picture of Ryan and his best buddy Andrew, at the end of swim lessons. Ryan recently told me that he and Andrew are brothers because they sometimes think the same things!

Lazy Summer Days

Here's a few pictures from last week... a makeshift water slide in the backyard that the boys loved but Emma was afraid of. She loves big areas of water - pool, ocean - but seems to be afraid of things that spray like the sprinkler and this cool water slide the Daly's have. Ryan, Brendan and Andrew had fun for hours!

Emma is posing proudly with her 'Potty Presents.' We tried this with Ryan when he was trained but afraid to go stinky on the potty - each time he went, he got to choose a present (I love the dollar store for this very reason). Emma is not afraid, she just doesn't always tell us when she has to go. So we are trying the Potty Present route with her, only it's a bit more difficult b/c she will go on the potty half of the time. So I have to pick and choose when she gets a treat. The latest is that she must tell us she needs to go stinky on the potty and then go. Needless to say, there hasn't been any presents opened in a few days.

We are watching Tyler for a few days and the kids love having him around. They want to help feed him and play with him, but they don't like it much when he cries, especially Emma. She gets very dramatic and exclaims 'Baby Tyler Crynin!' Here's a picture of the boy cousins during bottle time.

Crayola Factory

Last week we went to the Crayola Factory with Aunt Janet. The kids had a great time and there really was alot for them to do there - worth the 1.5 hour drive for them to do arts & crafts someplace other than my house! They got to color on the wall (see glass pictures below), make a Parrot, paint, color, chalk on the floor, work with clay and Ryan even made a picture with melted crayon wax. Definitely a good summer day trip!



Here's a few pictures of Ryan and Emma writing on the wall! This was one of the very first things they could do and since there were signs at every station after that reading 'Please do not write/color/paint on the walls', I'm thinking maybe it should have been one of the last, lol!

Ry & Em posing in front of the worlds largest crayon!

Movies

At random times, I have often wished my children would take a binky (aka pacifier). Most of these moments were in the early colicky phases of their lives. Both kids, much to my dismay and constant trying, refused the binky. You name the brand - I bought it, they spit it out. Over and over again until my cabinet looked like a shelf at Babies R Us. Being they are 4.5 and 2 yrs old, I haven't had one of these moments in quite a while... until today. Today is the day I wish I had a big ole' pacifier to stick in my daughters mouth for a moments peace. Today I took them to the movies (a free program run in the summer so I didn't mind having to leave halfway through) and Chatty Cathy would not shut up! A bit harsh, you might say, but when the youngest of kids keep turning and glaring in your direction, amongst harsh sounds of SSSHH, I would say it isn't harsh enough. Emma gave commentary throughout the entire showing of Barnyard and an hour into the movie, I'd had enough and we were out of there. Ryan, of course, was quick to declare that Emma ruins everything. I know she's only two and 'what was I thinking?' but I figured a free KIDS movie would be the perfect place for her. She loves TV/movies, it was a big dark room and she was all set up with a booster seat and a kids snack pack. Besides, wouldn't the theater be full of other moms with toddlers looking to do something fun (and cheap)? Apparently our theater was full of campers who were none to amused with Emma's loud version of 'Rocking the Baby' as the young cow cradled his dead father. Strike this one up as another lesson learned.

Flying Money & Dolphins

The kids and I returned from another quick beach trip - thank you Aunt Janet! I brought the camera but didn't use it much as I have so many pictures of the kids on the beach and the rides plastered all over this blog. If you've seen one beach.... Well, it is with that mentality that sadly, I missed Janet's brief stint in the Money Machine. After assuming the prestigious title of 'Skee Ball Champion' Janet got a turn in the money machine on the boardwalk. Instantly, money was flying all around her as she tried to desperately to grab it - I REALLY wish I had the camera! She caught 1600 points worth and had the option to trade it for Case # 3 that she had previously selected. Since the arcade guy quickly told us that her loot was 'less than average', we decided to go for it! Sadly, the case only contained 1000 points. Guess neither of us should try out for Deal or No Deal. But the guy was either very nice or felt bad for how pathetic we are and gave us 2000 points. Since every prize is extremely over-priced, Janet gave her points to Ryan who picked out a cool - yet loud - race car.

We'd all had a little too much sun by the last day - Emma got sunburn under her eyes, Janet got a rash and I was a bit crispy. Ryan had other issues (sand in the bathing suit - not comfy). So we opted for a dolphin watch instead - how fun! We choose the speedboat The Silver Bullet and took the 9:30 tour. It was a great boat ride and we saw clusters of dolphins the second we crossed from the bay into the ocean. The kids were excited and Emma kept shouting 'I touch it!' Then we cruised the length of the boardwalk and back again. As we got closer to the bay, they stopped the boat and told us about the log flume ride. If you wanted to get wet, move to the back and hold on!! The 4 of us found seats in the back and held on - me mostly to the kids! They cranked the boat - we were cruising! Then they move back and forth and sort of spin the boat and the waves just spray up and cover you. Ryan was loving it! Emma, not so much. But once I covered her face with her hat, she was better. We had a blast!

We met up with another boat and were 'racing' eachother to get the dolphins to play and jump in our waves between the boats - they loved it!

This is Ryan after the boats log flume. He had dried out a bit on the way back.

Shout Out to 'Unky Jeff'

After a mass e-mail today to spread word of the blog, Uncle Jeff responded back with compliments for my efforts but questioned his whereabouts. Clearly he has not found himself in front of the camera enough - that could be the only excuse! To make up for it, he has earned his own post... this one's for you, Unky Jeff!

Birthday Celebration

This past weekend we all got together to celebrate Mom's Birthday - thanks Pam and Jeff for hosting us! It was a fun time with lots of good company and food, mmmm! At the end of the day, Cousin Anthony came over with his Jeep and the kids were amazed!! They even went on a little jeep ride - slowly through the neighborhood, of course! Emma cried when they got back and wanted 'more ride' so Anthony hopped out and Uncle Jeff jumped in and off they went again!