Happy Birthday, Emily!

My baby turned one this week. it seems that overnight she has started walking, expressing herself (verbally & with sign language), and playing like a toddler. She knows how to let us know what she wants or needs and she doesn't take the abuse her brother dishes out lying down anymore. She's my sweet, happy, gorgeous, funny, independent, rough-and-tumble little girl. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Here we are at her party - just a small gathering with family at home, but she loved every moment.

I made her a rose cake (& a rose "smash cake") for the occasion. Super easy and pretty darn pretty.

Well, until she smashed it, that is.

Emily's party weekend was the last of a few really, really hot weeks in the Lou, so we're thankful to have the triple-digit temps behind us and to be able to get outdoors again to play!

Ryan finally caught the elusive ice cream man. It's a rite of passage as a kid, and now Ryan can say that he's done it. Though he was quite confused looking at all the frozen pop options, as he was looking for straight up ice cream -- like a scoop on a cone. But bless his little heart, he picked "the blue fox" a.k.a. Sonic the Hedgehog on a stick. With gumball eyes. And blue ice cream that took some SERIOUS soap and washcloth scrubbing to get off his face. But it was all worth it.

 

Ryan's had a busy summer with swimming lessons, zoo classes, mad science class & vacation bible school. I'm shaking my head frequently, wondering where my little kid went and when he transformed into this mini adult. Both Ryan and Emily make our lives so much fun, and the best is truly yet to come.

Hi, everyone! Summer is off to a roaring start at our house.  The last few weeks have been full of fun and I've got the bags under my eyes to prove it. Ha. We took a trip to Ohio to visit grandma and grandpa Trammell just after Memorial day and packed a lot of fun into that long weekend at the zoo, a huge art fair downtown and a PGA golf tournament in town. We then came home and jumped right in to 2 full weeks of daily swim lessons for Ryan.

On top of all our summer fun, Emily has started walking -- it's exciting, and a little scary. I'm looking forward to our activities slowing down for a few weeks leading up to Emily's birthday and just enjoying the season.  I can't believe she is almost 1 already! Here's a few recent photos of our summer fun - enjoy!

Here's a shot of my sweet little girl - her curls are the most precious thing I've ever seen. I may be partial though...

Here we are at the Columbus zoo - amazing! We visited a grizzly bear up close - Emily kept growling at it and smiling. :)

Ryan loved the petting zoo and didn't exit until he'd pet every goat at least once.

Ryan and daddy posed at the aquarium at the Columbus zoo. Love this shot.

We visited the St. Joe church carnival this past weekend -- I somehow ended up with identical photos to our visit two years ago. Kind of fun to compare. 2010 vs. 2012...pretty cute. :)

Now that Emily's super mobile, I often find the kiddos "wrestling" -- They both seem to enjoy it, and Ryan is careful...for the most part...but it's still surreal. We have kids old enough to wrestle each other - crazy.

Ryan dug his swimming lessons -- we need a loooot more, but he's a little fish these days with a little more confidence.

Love to you all!

Spring Fun

Springtime is always so much fun with little kids around. The weather here has been nothing short of a miracle -- lots of sunshine and warm temperatures has meant a lot of fun outdoors time recently, which is always a nice change of pace after being stuck inside for the winter. Here are a few shots of the kids in recent weeks - enjoy!

Ryan had fun coloring eggs, and even was able to use his color-blending skills to make a "greeny-bluey one" on his own (his new favorite color).

We finally made it to SLU for the Alumni Association's annual hunt, and now we understand why people rave about it. It was a really fun, well-organized event and Ryan had a ball. That's him, out in front, sprinting for the eggs. We had attended a church hunt the week prior where he only got 1 egg (spent the hunt watching other kids rather than hunting!) so he had learned his lesson and bolted off the starting line this time around.
You can't let Easter go by without putting bunny ears on a baby, right?
Here are both of my little munchkins in their Easter outfits.
The Easter bunny left Ryan a sweet new kite that is really easy to fly (thank goodness!) and Ryan was a pro in no time at all. I have fond memories of running down the street with my siblings and neighborhood friends, pulling our kites behind us. This one took no running, just lifted it and away it went. I was amazed (& relieved)!
This is one of Ryan's favorite activities these days -- taking his dozens of matchbox cars and building a parking lot, parking garage or car wash out of blocks. It's hard to tell here, but his cars are neatly parked between blocks in that long line, and boy is he proud. :)
Ryan made his very first trip to the pediatric dentist today for a checkup. He was so sweet and cooperative -- I was so proud!
Emily is growing like a weed -- babbling, feeding herself table food, crawling all over the place and pulling herself up on toys and furniture. She keeps us on our toes and idolizes Ryan -- it's adorable to watch them interact and play together. Here's a recent shot of her sweet little mug. (and for the Mungenast family, isn't it eerie how much she looks like Lauren's baby face in this pic?)
Love to you all!

Cuteness abounds

With a 3-year old and a 7.5-month old at our house, things are never boring, rarely quiet and often crazy cute. We keep busy with Ryan's nursery school, playdates, errands and lots of very repetetive imaginary play. Emily is growing so fast and learning new baby tricks all the time. She sits up well now (well, most of the time) and claps and waves. She's even getting her first two teeth at the moment (yay!) Here is a sampling of some recent cuteness in our neck of the woods.

Ryan has enjoyed the two small snowfalls we've had in the last two months, even if the fun is short-lived:
He also really digs all things sweets these days. He loves pretending that he's making or selling donuts, ice cream and cupcakes and of course he loves enjoying the real deal too. Here he is baking some M&M cookies recently:
Baking with a 3-year old is quite messy, as you'd might imagine - but the photos are priceless, right?
Thanks to our very mild winter, Emily's been able to discover the joy of swinging outside. As you'd expect, she's a big fan:
Ryan has been digging the warm weather as well, of course:
Emily is sitting more and more steadily each day. Here's our big girl showing off her skills:
I'll leave you with a short video of one of Emily's favorite new tricks. Enjoy!

Bonus Post

Just wanted to share a few more cute shots from the last month - I can't help myself!

Emily now rolls over proudly and enjoys her tummy time (for a little while at least). Here's big brother keeping her company while she practices lifting up that precious dome of hers. Ok, so maybe he just wants to play with her toys...but still, cute photo, right?
Ryan had a ball "helping" with the leaves this year. I made him a massive pile and he had a blast perfecting it and then running full speed into it over and over.
Wheeeere's Ryan?
We also welcomed another cousin in late November -- Kellen David! Here is Ryan meeting him for the first time.
Ryan recently fulfilled his "doodies" to get his much-anticipated scooter. :) Here's a shot of him taking it for his first ride.
Last, we also finally put one of his birthday presents to test...his froggy rain gear. He had a blast splashing in puddles and tromping around in the rain this weekend with daddy.
Now, onto Christmas season! We've already decorated our tree, hung our lights and I'm hosting my annual cookie exchange this week. It's crazy how fast time flies. We are looking forward to spending Christmas with grandma and grandpa Trammell and are sure to have more fun to share here soon! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Thankful

This year we have so much to be thankful for -- 5 new healthy babies and papa's health stick out especially, but we are so blessed with such a supportive, loving family all around...we are so thankful for each and every one of you. :)

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with the Mungenast clan in sunny Florida. We had gorgeous weather, a wonderful home to stay in and pristine beaches to explore...who could ask for anything more? We survived the 13.5 hour drive each way, (kids were ANGELS, amazingly), though without an inch to spare in the MDX, and spent a week enjoying family and beach time. Of course I have photos to show you...enjoy some of the highlights of our week.

Emily enjoyed her first trip to the beach thoroughly. What a sweet little beach bum she was:
Daddy and Ryan spent a lot of time with Papa, Haedyn and uncles Josh, Tom and Tommy building various forts, castles, tunnels and creatures in the sand. Here's one of my favorites:
Ryan also loved being buried (what 3-year old wouldn't?):
Though it was warm enough to play on the beach, the ocean was chilly (it was November, after all) but that didn't stop Ryan:
Thankfully, the pool was heated, so Ryan got in plenty of quality swimming and jumping time too:
Nana and papa rented a few bikes and even a bike trailer for the kids. Ryan had a blast being towed around the neighborhood:
She may not have worn it to the beach, but Emily sure did look cute in her swim getup (thanks Aunt Kelly & Uncle Josh!)
And finally, here's our group of pilgrims and turkeys on Thanksgiving. It's not easy to get 5 kids under the age of 4 to sit still...so this is as good as it gets. :)
We are so thankful. Cheers!

Busy Fall

September and October are always busy months for our family. We celebrate 2 anniversaries, 9 birthdays (including Ryan!) and Halloween. It all adds up to a lot of excitement when you add in the "typical" fall activities, and this year Ryan started preschool as well! Here's a few highlights in photos.

This is the only picture I could grab of Ryan on his first day of school. He was so excited I couldn't keep him from running in and playing...well, until the second, third, and fourth weeks, when his teachers had to tear him off of me sobbing...but by the fifth week we were back in action. He loves school now and it's so much fun to hear about his experiences separate from me. He's growing up so fast!
We paid a visit to Manchester Homecoming - and Ryan had a ball. He got to ride a ton of rides, and even rode his first ferris wheel! (He was super excited he could see his school from the top.)
Emily even had her first ride as well, though she was asleep in our Ergo carrier, so she doesn't know it yet.
Thanks to daddy's work, we got the opportunity to once again visit the Great Forest Park Balloon Race in style. It's now something that Ryan really looks forward to each year.
Of course, we can't get through the fall without a trip to Eckert's for apple picking, and Ryan had a ball picking his own apples, especially the ones hiiiiigh up on the tree via a lift from daddy. Yes, that's Emily again - asleep in her carrier. Thank goodness she's a happy, low-key baby. :)
What's that? You want to actually see Emily? Lucky for you she's pretty photogenic. Isn't she getting so big?
Ok, I can't resist. Here's another shot of my little sweetie.
Ryan just celebrated his third birthday with a Cars party and got two of his favorite things for his birthday treat - cupcakes and "frinkles." Here's Ryan helping decorate them.
My little dude on his bday.
Last, I leave you with a shot of our Halloween fun last night. Ryan, after declaring early on that he wanted a "Ryan costume to jus' be Ryan" for Halloween, settled on a fireman, while Emily made a pretty cute jack-o-lantern sidekick. Ryan loved trick-or-treating so much, and of course, we'll be eating his loot for months to come.
Next up, the holiday season! Bring on the fun!