Getting ready to celebrate our little dinosaur

This weekend we are going to be celebrating Ryder's second birthday!  (Holy Smokes, I can't believe our baby boy is two!)

Over the last few months, I have been having fun getting all the little details together.

I am sure that I will have lots of pictures from the day,  but I had to show you the wardrobe choice for the birthday boy and his sister:

I can't wait to have our family here to celebrate our Ryder!

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday!

finally taking the plunge

Ok, may be the title sounds slightly dramatic, but we have been going around and around about this purchase for MONTHS! We finally decided to get an air mattress.  (I know, probably not what you would think would warrant such dramatics.) It had been a long time coming and since we didn't have the futon or a place for people to sleep, we wanted to have some option available that was a little bit comfortable.

So after lots of research and talking with people, we decided on the the air mattress from Hammacher Schlemmer, mainly because it had high ratings on air retention, high customer satisfaction ratings, and LIFETIME GUARANTEE! Yep, we were sold.

We went with two twins so that we had flexibility with the number of guests and space.

Ryder is thinking that he has a new toy.

It allows us to have special moments like this:

We are so happy with it and so are our overnight guests♥.
Mom~
Thanks for being our guinea pig!
We love you and look forward to many more sleep overs!

Surprises for the girls...

A while ago, Kit surprised me by getting a quilt for Eden's room that has her fabric in it.  It was such a surprise!  It is so soft and I know that we will be using it for photos with our littlest Rae:

 

He also gave me this necklace when Eden arrived and I wanted to show it to you:

I had ordered a similar one for my sister when our niece arrived and had fallen in love with it.
(Kit was really paying attention♥)
He gave me this one Ryder was born and it has become a favorite of mine:

Kit, 

You spoil me in so many ways, from how well you love on our kids, to things like how you nurture and care for me, to the way you consistently ask what I need or want to make my life easier or better, to how you lead our family in the day to day, to how you make me feel special, cared for, and loved, as only you can. Thank you for making my life so full of love and joy. (And surprises too.  Man did I marry up!)

Thank you for all that you do!

I couldn't love you more!

flying solo

On March 20 and 21st, I had my first full days alone with both of my kiddos.  (I know, it's pretty pathetic that Eden is almost a month old and this was my first time, what can I say, I am codependent that way♥.)

I really wanted to document our time, but the best I could do was pictures with my iPhone.  

We started our time together by taking a trip to our pediatrician's office because of a cough that Ryder had.

(Super fun to do with two kids...)

He is now on liquid albuterol.

note: On the 23rd, we found out that Eden had an ear infection and cough due to sharing germs with her brother.  It was a rough week!

So since he is sick, we can't be around other little people and with our cold weather, we have had to hunker down inside.

I got him a Toy Story coloring set from Michael's dollar bin.

(Hey Michael's, if you are going to put markers inside your coloring packs marked  "for ages 2+", please make them washable...)  That teaches me...

Ryder is mr. independent and put his own pants on for the first time:

Notice anything?

 Yep, they are on backwards, and he was NOT about to let me change them.

We made waffles for two reasons:

1. I can make a full batch and then use them for breakfasts later in the week and

2. Ryder loves to use the mixer.

(It's practical and entertaining... a win, win)

In trying to keep some some space between Ryder's germs and his sister, Eden has been here for the majority of the time...  Thank God the weather is cool!  Newborns are little thermostats!

The meal of champions: 
(or the very lazy and sleep deprived♥ ...)

Busting out play-doh:

(Ryder discovered that it does not make a good snack.)

We also watched Ryder's current favorite movie:

(Toy Story and Play-Doh made for a fun combo for this little sickie...)

We also played with legos, dinosaurs, and his cars:

You might think that this is a printer:

But throughout the day, it becomes things like a cave for dinosaurs:

And a garage for his cars:

In between trying to get Ryder what he needed, I was making sure that this little munch ate.  It's hard being so little...♥

I really love being with my babies! I am so grateful that I get this time with them!
I know we will continue to get a routine and there will be a time that I won't even remember doing it without TWO little people.

Weekend recap

Three great things happened this weekend:

1. Kit came home from traveling

2. Eden had her 1 month mark and

2. We got to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday.

All these events made for a wonderful weekend!

Miss Eden is 1 month old:

(of course we had some doughnut holes...)

Then my mom and I hosted my sister's birthday party.  She and my dad made amazing food and I was in charge of decorations and flowers and such...

Here are some pictures of my sister's celebration.

Decorations:

I made a "40 things we love and appreciate" list (Some very serious, some sarcastic, and some were inside jokes (A perk to having someone that has known you your whole life and who thinks the way you do...):

Family:

My mom got matching dresses for Eden and my niece:

They looked so sweet!

And this was the first time that my nephews met Eden, so we had to get some pictures:

It was a wonderful celebration and I was reminded how thankful I am to have this incredible woman in my life.  I am finding that sister relationships are one of the most precious that you can have and though we are getting older, there is still that little sister inside of me that wants to be just like her when I grow up.

We love you Cole!

egg hunt

While Kit was gone, my parents came to stay with us.  It was so wonderful to have them here.  With Ryder and his chest cold and Eden with her first ear infection (YUCK!), I needed all the help I could get.

So on top of playing with the kids and cooking meals and running errands for us, they also brought fun activities that Ryder absolutely loved!

For example: creating an egg hunt in our front yard, back yard, in our garage, and in our house.  (Those 12 plastic eggs really went the distance!)

He kept saying "More, more!"  It was awesome...

Just wait until he realizes that there is candy usually hidden inside...

 Eden and I had fun watching!

Ryder wanted to thank his Mia and Papa for loving on us all so well!

We can't wait for many more egg hunts in the future...