Ryan & Haedyn's 1st Circus

We may not have elephants and men shooting out of cannons at our house, but to me, everyday life with a 2-yr old often feels like a circus. When I heard that the real circus (Shriners) was coming to town, I decided that it'd be fun to take cousin Haedyn and Aunt Kelly with our family for Haedyn's birthday gift.

While I was a little nervous about the kids' attention spans, they both were entertained through to the very end (or at least, really close to it). We got them the most obnoxious light-up toys in the arena -- and it was awesome to see them enjoy all the music, animals and performers.

Here's the cutest shot ever of the two cousins during intermission - precious!

Here's a glimpse at the cheering coming from our row -- it was so fun to watch them get excited about each little thing:

Here's my best attempt to show you the awesomeness that is our new circus souveniers (read: obnoxious, strobing light sticks). Yes, the pic is super blurry, but they are also that disorienting. Come visit us and Ryan will shove it in your face, I promise. :)

Poor Aunt Kelly - she had that light stick in her face (courtesy of my son) for most of the show, and even let Ryan play with her jewelry throughout the performance. She's a darn fine godmother. :)

Here's a cute parting shot of Haedyn with her uncle Stephen.
Until our next adventure!

Where did the time go?

It's been far too long since I posted anything! Somewhere between being pregnant (and sick for the first 16 or 17 weeks) and it being the dead of winter with nothing major to photograph, I lost track of time and neglected the blog.

We spent much of the last few months cooped up inside, doing a lot of coloring, painting and playing in our mess of toys, but we did get to enjoy the snow a few times. Here's a shot of Ryan's sweet snowsuit (thanks, grandma and grandpa Trammell!):

Ryan and daddy even got to build a snow "club house" in the front yard:
Ryan is constantly surprising me with how grown up he acts and sounds. He has the vocabulary and pronunciation of a kindergardener in many aspects, which is awesome and also a little challenging at times. While he's certainly still a strong-willed little dude, he's also the sweetest kid I know. I am starting to wonder how challenging it will be for him to share his mommy with a baby. Pray for us now. :)

Here are a few recent glimpses of Ryan sans snow gear. First, a cute shot of my little dude enjoying a party favor from cousin Haedyn's 3rd b-day party:

And next, an updated video of his sweet dance moves:

In addition to building snow forts and having daily dance parties, we also are preparing to add a baby girl to our family in early July -- that's right, Ryan's going to be a big brother, and as he so aptly puts it, "The baby's in mommy's belly and she's not comin' out yet...she has a lot of growin' to do." We're reading books about being a big brother, starting to buy little sister some cute outfits and of course, getting the much anticipated "Big Boy Room" ready. (Photos to come soon!)

We're so blessed and ready to grow our family, and promise to keep sharing tidbits about our lives here (on a more frequent basis). Happy weekend!

Merry Christmas Eve

Time sure flies with an active, talkative, slightly-bossy-but-still-super-sweet 2-yr old. We've been busy preparing for Christmas and Ryan is very much anticipating Santa's visit tonight and the goodies that will await him in the morning. :) I'll post a few Xmas pics in the coming days, but for now, here's a quick glimpse at some of our holiday fun to date!

We visited grandma and papa Trammell in Ohio for Thanksgiving and went to see the lights at their zoo -- it was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g, but beautiful.

Ryan built his first gingerbread house. And by Ryan, I mean that he decorated 90% of it himself, but mommy is unfortunately responsible for the very sloppy icing job. (Hey, there's only so well you can do when a 2-yr old is screeching at you about wanting to put "da candies" on and you're trying to prep it as fast as you can.)
Ryan's currently enjoying our white Christmas with daddy all bundled up and playing in the snow.
Actually, he's really just playing on all the play equipment he's been missing for so long like slides and swings - he could probably care less about the actual white stuff. :) What can I say, our kid LOVES playgrounds.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Halloween Fun

Happy belated Halloween, everyone. We hope you enjoyed the weekend as much as we did. Birthdays, trick or treating and family visiting made it a full but very fun one at our house. Here's two quick shots of Ryan in his costume and some sweet PJs. Enjoy!

These glow in the dark, which is quite entertaining, especially for a 2-yr-old, but also kept him awake much, much longer than usual at nighttime. :)

Here's our little Frankenstein. We trick or treated around our cul-de-sac, and Ryan had a ball.

ABCs!

Just a quick post to show you Ryan's latest and greatest talent. He'll be 2 in just 2 more weeks, and he's already got his ABCs down! Enjoy!

Apple picking

The cooler fall weather has made its way to St. Louis, and apples are ripe for picking at Eckert's. We recently headed over to the Millstadt Family Fun Farm and had a blast! After our summer peach picking adventures, Ryan was more "'cited" and "reddy to pick apples off da tree" this time around.

Here's Ryan driving an old tractor -- anything with a steering wheel is a huge hit these days:
Daddy gave Ryan his first golf lesson at the mini golf putting zone:
To daddy's dismay, Ryan had his own technique for getting the ball in the hole:
There's even a petting zoo area where you can feed baby cows, rams, deer and sheep - Ryan dug giving carrots to his new friends:
The farm has great views - check out the downtown St. Louis skyline over the orchards:
We finally got down to business. There was plenty of fruit at Ryan's level, so he picked much of our 10 lbs of golden deliciousness:
I taught Ryan how to eat an apple like a big boy -- and he carried that thing around for most of the rest of the trip, munching on it like a pro:

Want to see how much he liked it?


And last, a parting shot of Ryan and daddy enjoying their apples - perfection!
Watch out pumpkin patch, here we come!

Balloon Race 2010

Every September brings one of our favorite family outings -- the Forest Park Balloon Race! We get to attend in style in a VIP tent with food and drinks that is parked smack in front of the field of balloons, so it's extra exciting for the kiddos (and the adults get to avoid some of the crowds). (Thanks, Purina!) This year it was HOT...but we had fun, of course. Here's a few quick shots from the afternoon.

Daddy and Ryan watched skydivers kick off the afternoon:
Haedyn and Aunt Kelly came with us, and everyone got to meet the Energizer Bunny up close and ahem...personal. Some more so than others:
Ryan enjoyed a snack from his front-row seat:
Seriously....front row! Haedyn was amazed - and also slightly frightened when the bunny started to drift our way while inflating. Notice that Ryan's just being a boy, climbing on the fencing, rather than caring about the balloons. :)
Here's a shot of the field after many had taken off -- it was a gorgeous sight!
Each year we attend we get to bring someone new and watch our kids experience this unique sight. What fun - we can't wait for next year!