We are your typical suburban family with two kids, a dog, two cats and a minivan.... Some days are good days....
 And then there are days when we just want to be grumpy....  Some days are messy....
 And other days are "bad hair days"....
 There are days we like being brothers....  And other days when we just don't care and we ignore our little brothers....
 There are days when Delta can sit patiently for a picture....
 And other times, when we just want to be plain silly....  Regardless what kind of day you are having, we want to wish you a Happy New Year from our family to yours!
So today, Ryan tested my patience. And he won. The day started out fairly normal with everyone waking around 7:45am. Both Owen and Ryan got dressed and had breakfast & bottles with no trouble. I have had a bad cold which turned into a really, really bad earache over the weekend so I had a doctor appointment this morning to get some medicine. Daddy was going golfing in Big Canoe with Grandad for the day, but I wasn't too worried. Both boys have been good lately and I didn't think twice about having them alone all day and having to go to the doctor with them. Granted my appointment was during Owen's naptime and Ryan's lunch, but still... not too worried.The doctor appointment went fine; Owen slept through it like a champ and Ryan was such a good boy. I left with 5 prescriptions and we headed home for lunch and Ryan's nap. Still, all was well.When Ryan woke up we were going to head to Target to fill my prescriptions and this is when the day took a turn for the worse. Ryan was in a "naughty mood" trying to get into trouble. You can see his little mind racing as he looks around a room for something to get into that he isn't suppose to. He locked himself in the bathroom and when I didn't answer to his "momma" calls he started shouting "Jean!" over and over and over again. It was actually pretty cute and I still had patience at this point so I laughed. Then he took a chair from the table over to the counter and tried to get stuff down that he wasn't suppose to touch (cell phone, camera, snacks, etc). Then he tried to stand on Owen's Bumbo to reach the top of Owen's swing so he could turn it on. Finally, I got Owen in his carseat and Ryan's shoes on and we were off to Target.Ryan FREAKS out when the sun shines in his eyes and of course it was shining at him the entire way to Target so he was mad by the time we got there. Then he absolutely, positively, REFUSED to get out of the car. I could not unbuckle him from his carseat. He was flailing and squirming and screaming.Of course, this wasn't making Owen happy so he started fussing and crying too. Then the people we parked next to came back to their vehicle and wanted to get in. After much persuasion along with kicking, hitting and screaming I got Ryan out and we were heading into the store. I was carrying a carseat with an 18 pound child and also carrying Ryan because when I would try to get him to walk he would curl up on the ground in a ball and refused to move. Yep! Tons of fun.Once in Target, the kicking, flailing, screaming and crying continued. I tried time-out in Target. That didn't work. I tried to put him in the cart and he would just climb out. I even tried the threaten of "we're going to leave" and much to my surprise Ryan clapped his hands and said, "Yea! Go home!!" Oh good grief. I just wanted my prescriptions filled so my head didn't feel like it was about to explode.I'll admit, I had tears in my eyes I was so frustrated. If you have ever tried to deal with a 2 year old tantrum in public you will complete sympathize with me on this one. And to top it off, I had Owen with me and shopping carts are not built for a toddler and a carseat. Finally, I got Owen's carseat to fit in the buggy part and Ryan strapped into the seat portion. Yes, strapped in and on top of that I had to hold his legs and arms so he couldn't kick and flail.Finally, after about 20 minutes of this "episode" we made it to the pharmacy to fill the much needed prescriptions at this point. Ryan was very good the rest of the trip and even said "charee momma" and hugged and kissed me. He knew he was naughty when he saw mommy crying.The rest of the evening was not much better, but at least we were home and not in a public place. I can leave the room at home when he pitches a terrible two year old fit, but in public it's a little different. It's much less fun.So after an exhausting day, I took a warm bath, wrote all of Ryan's birthday thank you's and all of our Christmas thank you's and I'm calling it a night. There are no fun, cute little pictures to add to this post although I'm sure you'd all find photos of our Target adventure amusing. At this point, with my two sweet boys in bed for the night, I might even smile at seeing what we went through.....Where has the year gone?! I cannot believe that Christmas came and went already. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the holidays this year. For some reason, last year, I was ready to take down all the decorations and have the holidays be over. This year, we put up our decorations before Thanksgiving and I'm dreading taking them down. I love our house this year with the tree and garland and lights. I even love our over-the-top outdoor decorations. Ryan and Owen had a great Christmas. We went up to Big Canoe on Christmas Eve and spent the day/evening with Jim's family. It was such a great time, as usual. We went to church and Ryan was a Shepard boy and Megan was an Angel. During the service they called all angels and Shepard boys to the alter and Ryan willingly went up with Grandad. Shortly after getting settled in "his" spot, he looked out at the audience and lost it. Big crocodile tears came flowing down with a frantic "momma" being shouted from the Shepard boy. Megan did great, but looked like she got a little bored by the end.
  After church we all went back to Grandad's and had Grandmom Janice's yummy lasagna for dinner. Ryan gobbled it up as did mommy and daddy. Following dinner we decorated Christmas cookies and Auntie Kelly helped Ryan with his. He had fun decorating them, but even more fun eating them!! After everyone was finished and headed over to the tree to open presents, we found Ryan still sitting at the table patiently and quietly eating more cookies. He never stops amazing us with his sweet, funny personality. The kid just cracks us up.
 It took a little convincing, but Ryan finally came over to open presents. Both him and Owen got a lot of great things and have been enjoying playing with them all over the last few days. After an exhausting day, we headed home to wait for Santa's arrival. Both boys slept in and mommy actually had to wake Owen the next morning at 8:30 so we could open presents. I know there won't be many more years of that happening on Christmas morning!
We opened stockings in Ryan's room as Owen had his morning bottle. I think Ryan was a little confused with what was going on, but as soon as he got out of his crib and spotted the presents under the tree, he bolted straight for the ATV 4wheeler from Ga-Ma.
 Both Ryan and Owen had a blast opening presents. Ryan wanted to play with everything immediately ("open momma, open"). Owen studied each gift carefully as if he was ready the age limit and directions on how to play with them. I loved the concerned look he would get; this one must not have been age appropriate.
Ryan Skyped with Ga-Ma and showed her how he rides his ATV. He loves calling her and asks about 20 times a day to "call Ga-Ma momma" and when I say, "Not right now Ryan" he always responds with a matter-of-fact, "Oh. Ga-Ma seeping (sleeping). Night-night Ga-Ma." We tell him that Grandma is sleeping when he wakes up in the morning and wants to call her at 6am CST. Now he thinks she's sleeping everytime we say we can't call her.
Grandad and Grandmom came over for dinner on Christmas day and as always Ryan enjoyed having them over. We all played with the new toys and laughed and had a great time.
Overall, what a great, great holiday. We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. We wish all of our family and friends a happy, healthy New Year.
Ryan had his two year well check today and Owen had his 4 month well check today. It was absolutely insane having two doctor visits at one time for two different kiddos. I thought it would be easier to do it all at once, but I'm going to rethink that next time.Ryan was 27 pounds and 4 ounces and 135 cm in height. He was in the 75th percentile for height, but only about 46th for weight. He has consistantly dropped on the weight chart and the doctor is very slightly concerned. She doesn't think it's anything to be alarmed about since he's just a very active kid who burns so much energy and calories and he is still on the charts and doing well. She just wants us to come back in 4 months for a weight check rather than waiting an entire year for his next well visit. I can't imagine we would make it an entire year without any sick visits anyway; we seem to be there several times a month. The alarming part for mommy was on the check-out form it's coded as "failure to thrive".... really?! Do they need to code it as that?! This would fall into the same category as "your child is in a downward spiral" right Malinda??? Do you need to tell a parent that?Owen was 18 lbs. 1 oz and is in the 97th percentile for weight. He is 25 1/2 inches tall and I can't remember the percentile for height, but it was up there in the 75th plus. He is our tank! He is quickly outgrowing his 6 month clothes and while 9 month is still a little big, they fit. He does have a few "rolls" on him, but really he is well proportioned and just a big boy. Ryan got his finger pricked and boy was he mad. He didn't really cry, but he scrunched up his forehead and looked at the nurse as if to say "that was mean!" and then he just sat on daddy's lap with a pouty lip. Throughout the day he would bring his finger to mommy and say "Ryan boo-boo" and want me to kiss it. Owen had to get 4 shots and he was beyond mad. He SCREAMED! He did not like that at all and was really upset. Everytime I would set him down to get him dressed or put him in his carseat the tears would start all over again. This kid holds a grudge. Boy was he upset with everyone involved in holding him down and sticking him with needles. Daddy is still on his good side since he was busy with Ryan and didn't participate in these actions.
Owen did come home with a nebulizer (sp?) for RSV which he has to use 4 times per day for 2 weeks. Let the fun begin! Ryan hated this treatment when he was on it last year.Overall though, both boys are doing great! We certainly can't complain!Ryan had a very busy weekend this past weekend. It started with his school holiday party on Friday afternoon where they ate lots of yummy food and had a book exchange amongst all the kids in his class.When we got home from the party Grandma Ellie and Great Granny arrived from PA to help celebrate Ryan's birthday party weekend. He LOVED having them both here and was quite the little charmer (and showoff!). Then on Saturday it was the big party day!! He took a great nap and off we went to KangaZoom to jump with all of his friends. We had about 18 little kiddos and 30+ adults. It was a ton of fun and the kids jumped and jumped and jumped. Ryan was so excited to see everyone and had a blast playing with all of his little friends.  
He became quite the little pro at the big slide too! He climbs up all by himself and goes down without another thought. The kid has NO fear!!  After the jumping, Ryan got to ride in the "birthday car" and boy was he excited. As soon as they brought it into the room, he jumped right in with the biggest grin on his face. Addie came running over to check out the stud muffin driving. He explains to her that they'll drive off into the sunset together.....
 As soon as all the kids got in line, Ryan led the parade by driving the birthday car to the party room where we had snacks and cake and juice.
    It was great to have the party outside of the house this year. As we left the party room and saw what a mess 18 little toddlers can make, I was relieved that the mess was there for someone else to clean up. Especially since Mommy was sick with a cold and was starting to feel miserable.
Grandad and Grandmom Janice and Grandma Ellie and Great Granny all came back to the house for dinner and to help Ryan open his gifts. He got so many great toys; he is one lucky little boy.
  And all Owen has to say about it all is that he can't wait for the hand-me-downs......
Sunday was a quiet day around the Yahres house. Grandma Ellie and Great Granny spent the day with us and Ryan enjoyed being lazy (stayed in his pjs until after naptime!) and played with all of his new toys. Ryan and Owen had a babysitter (thanks Melissa!) on Sunday evening and Great Granny took mommy and daddy out to a nice kid-free dinner. It was such a great dinner; we really enjoyed the company, atmosphere and food. Thanks again Great Granny!!   It was such a great weekend. Minus the split lip (Ryan fell against the bathtub and cut his lip), the many poop explosions (thanks O-wee! Mommy still doesn't think it's funny even though you laugh and laugh when you do it) and mommy and daddy being sickies. Other than that, it was great! Ryan couldn't have had more fun. He loved having his Ga-ma visit and was just such a little charmer.
Ryan has been walking around singing, "Happy birthday Ryan!" for a few days now. He loves all of the attention that he has been getting and was very excited today when mommy, daddy and Owen came to school for snack time. Of course, you would never know that with this photo...
Naptime is from 12noon - 2pm at school. Ryan has been rebelling lately and won't go down for a nap. Some days he naps and some days he doesn't. Today he ended up falling asleep, but not until just before it was time to get up. I showed up at school with cake and was ready to party with the two year olds, but Ryan was still sound asleep. All of his classmates were awake and sitting at the table waiting to eat, but the birthday boy was still zonked out. With a little prompting though he woke up and was ready for cake. Ms. Fawzia made Ryan a crown to wear for his "birthday party" and he loved it. The whole class sang Happy Birthday to Ryan and he just sat there with a smug little look on his face. He LOVED it!!
While Ryan was busy licking the frosting from his fingers, his little friends were patiently waiting for their pieces.
  And this table was getting a little annoyed waiting on their cake. Poor Morgan looks completely bored because it's taking so long.Ryan had a great day and cannot wait for his birthday party at KangaZoom on Saturday! Get ready to JUMP!
As usual I was trying to multi-task tonight. I had Owen in his bouncy chair and was feeding him in between cooking dinner. Ryan was hanging out in the kitchen playing with some toys. Behind me I hear, "Aaaaaah.... Um! O-wee, um! Aaaaaah, open O-wee."  I turn around to find Ryan standing on my kitchen chair with a spoonful of Owen's cereal trying to get Owen to open his mouth so he can insert the spoon. When Ryan caught me watching him feeding his brother, he got all bashful and explained, "Feed O-wee momma. Um!" "Um!" is what he tells us when he wants a taste of something. He loves to eat whatever we eat; especially whatever Daddy has. We even found out he does this to his teachers at school. Ms. Tywana (aka Wana) has to share all of her food with Ryan because he follows her around saying, "Um! Bite Wana. Um!" Being the good big brother that he is, he was looking out for his little bro and trying to keep the food coming since momma was busy cooking.
Ryan and Addie had a date to the Georgia Aquarium on Sunday morning. All morning, Ryan ran around the house telling us, "Addie fishie!" and smacking his lips together making a fish face and fish sounds. He was so excited to go spend the morning with daddy, Addie and Mr. Jim (Addie's daddy). Addie and Ryan got to see alot of fish and had fun running around. Apparantely Ryan was really excited over the jellyfish; check out his profile with his mouth open screaming in excitement. Here he is in typical "Ryan" mode studying the jellyfish so contently. Great Grandma Berg always says how she loves Ryan's attention to details and how he takes his surroundings in.
 Everyone enjoyed checking out the big wall of fish. Again Ryan studied them all.
 Ryan realizes that there is a diver at the top of the tank. Here he spots the diver and backs away from the wall of fish.
He was VERY concerned about the diver in the water with the fish and wouldn't get near the diver or the tank!
 After several hours of running around the aquarium, I'm not sure who was more tired... daddy and Mr. Jim or Ryan and Addie!
We sure are getting our fill of Santa this year. Our third visit with the big guy was this morning at our neighborhood Santa Brunch. Every year the neighborhood hosts a brunch at the Clubhouse for all the little ones in the neighborhood. We couldn't go last year because it was the same day as Ryan's 1st birthday party.
The boys got all dressed up in their cute little coordinating outfits and off we went to see Santa again. Owen looked seriously handsome with his blonde fuzzy hair, big blue eyes and sweet little smile.
 
On our way to the Clubhouse we ran into Addie, Ryan's little girlfriend. The two of them are just so funny together. They both get so excited to see each other and just LOVE being together. Ryan looks SO proud holding Addie's hand....
 He really does love Addie. I have to bribe him daily when we are getting ready to go to school, "If we hurry and get dressed we can see Addie." When he's begging to watch Elmo on the car ride home from school (an entire 2 mile ride), I tell him, "We're almost to Addie's house and maybe she's outside. Watch for her." And when he's getting into mischief and not listening, I have to say, "If you can be good while Mommy's making dinner, we'll go for a walk and see if Addie is outside." Yes, I admit I bribe my 2 year old, but he LOVES Addie and it always works!
Ryan was much more comfortable with Santa today. Although, he still wouldn't sit on Santa's lap, he did give him a high five very willingly.
 He also spotted the candy canes and kept trying to sneak one out of Santa's little bucket. He doesn't quit get that Santa knows when he's being "naughty and nice" and sneaking candy canes away from Santa would fall under the "naughty" category.
Here is a photo of Addie and her mommy, Jenn. Addie has a brand new sister (only 12 days old) so before long Sidney and Owen will be running around together just like Ryan and Addie do now. 
But for now, I love my two boys at the ages they are now. I love that Owen has started to laugh and that he watches Ryan very closely. He loves to "jump" in his jumperoo and can roll up onto his side (almost making it all the way over). I love how much Ryan loves his baby brother and will go get him toys to play with, new diapers when he needs to be changed and the first thing out of Ryan's mouth in the mornings is "baby O-wee, baby O-wee." Ryan is always very concerned with where Owen is and what he is doing. 
We hope that everyone is enjoying their holiday season as much as we are. Merry Christmas!
Our second Santa visit went a little better than the first. Ryan's school had an Open House on Thursday evening with a special visit from Santa Claus. At first he was terrified and would not go near Santa, but with a little prompting from mommy, daddy, Owen and Ms. Tywana (his teacher) he FINALLY got close enough to give Santa a high five.  Even though Santa was really skinny, he was great with Ryan. He talked to him and made him a little more comfortable with the whole "Santa situation." We thought that Ryan might finally sit on his lap, but as you can he did not like this idea too much. Owen just looked at him like, "Come on bro. It's Santa!! How can you be scared of Santa?!"
But Ryan was scared so Owen just enjoyed his time and told Santa everything he was hoping for under the tree. He just sat there looking around; not afraid in the least. I'm sure next year will be a different situation though.
Ryan is loving the Christmas season so far! We have a lit up snowman in our front yard and Ryan has to say hello, goodbye and night night to it every day as we come and go from the house. He loves the Choo-choo that goes around the tree. He loves to look at the Christmas tree and tell us over and over again "Elmo way up!" For those of you who don't know... Ryan LOVES Elmo right now. Jim bought two ornaments for Ryan this year; one is Big Bird and one is Elmo. Big Bird is plastic and is on the lower part of the tree where he can see and touch him, but Elmo is glass so he is way up on the tree. Ryan tells us this every day.... "Elmo way up!"Last night we decided to take the boys to see Santa. We thought this would make for a cute Christmas card this year. We dressed them up; bundled them and off we went to see Santa. We waited in line for a LONG time and Ryan was so excited to see him. All the way through the line he would clap his hands and say "Yea Santa!" Owen also seemed amused with everything going on.Finally it was our turn to sit on Santa's lap. And Ryan had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it. He flat out refused to get near Santa. Nope; no Santa. No part of it. If we got him too close to Santa, he would arch his back and body away from Santa so that no part of him was touching Santa. So I sat in a few of the pictures thinking maybe he'd warm up to the idea, but as soon as I tried to get down and put Ryan down (standing, not sitting or touching Santa), he would freak again. We gave up.  Owen on the other hand LOVED Santa!! He was all smiles and cooing and watching him. He got some great photos with the Big Man and they were the ones we ended up purchasing. Owen's first Christmas and he was an absolute delight waiting in line, sitting with Santa and smiling for the photos. After Santa turned out to be only semi-successful (and still no Christmas card photo) we decided to head over and ride the Pink Pig at Macy's. Ryan loves choo-choo trains so were hoping this would go a little better.  It started off a little rocky with Owen having to sit by himself next to mommy; he couldn't ride on my lap. Did I mention he's not even 4 months old?!?!? Ryan and Daddy were *squeezed* into a small a little seat and Ryan was not thrilled with how much room daddy's bottom side was taking up in their car.   But once the ride started both boys were completely silent and totally amazed with the ride. They LOVED it!!  It was a lot of fun and all-in-all they were really good boys. We didn't get a photo of Owen AND Ryan with Santa, but we still have a few weeks to try...
One thing you may know about me is how I love to sell things on Craigslist! I hate having too much clutter around the house and storing things that we aren't using. Why store it when someone else could be using it?! I've even sold our kitchen sink!! With another little guy in the house, I have realized how crowded our front room is. It's a combo living room / dining room and it's our toy area as well. We had a lot of big furniture in this room along with oodles of Ryan's toys and now all of Owen's as well. So I decided it was time to get rid of the oversized couch and loveseat that we had in here and I'm going to replace it with a smaller loveseat in order to open the room up.  This couch/loveseat was the only furniture that Delta was allowed up on. We sold it last night and today has been a tough morning for Delta. She is wandering away completely lost and has no idea where to go, what to do, or where to sleep. She looks so sad......At one point she became really quiet so I went to find her and here is where she decided to take her nap.... in Owen's bouncy chair!! This cracked me up; of course she got booted out of it, but not before I took a few photos.
Poor Delta!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends. We couldn't be more thankful for each and every one of you in our lives. And while we couldn't spend Thanksgiving with everyone, we did want to share our day with you.....We spent the day in Big Canoe, GA with Jim's side of the family. It was loud; it was chaotic; there were tears; there were kids and adults everywhere... it couldn't have been more perfect. The food was delicious; the weather was wonderful and having the whole family together was so much fun.At each holiday when all the grandkids are there, we "attempt" to take a photo of them together. I'm not sure we've ever gotten a picture with all the kids looking at the camera let alone all of them smiling. Typically we have at least one in tears (if not a few) and sometimes we don't even get all of them in the picture. But we try. I have to share several of the photos from today because you can't really appreciate it unless you can see several of them together and notice missing kids; some tears; kids moving around; some funny faces; some adults in each of the photos. I love it!!
 This year we also went for a family walk after dinner. Big Canoe is amazing and Granddad Jim and Grandmom Janice live right off of the hiking trail. Today was the perfect day to take a walk with the warm temps and falling leaves. Well, it wasn't a perfect day for everyone....
Aunt Kelly was wearing high heels so she ended up walking barefoot (in Chase's socks) when Chase wasn't carrying her on his back that is....
 Ryan hadn't napped all day so at the end he just sat down on the trail and refused to go any further.
 Owen LOVED it though. We didn't hear a peep out of him the entire walk. He was as content as could be in his Baby Bjorn.
 But nonetheless, we all had a great time. Ryan especially loved walking with dad-dad (Granddad) and Dadd-ee (daddy).
 He also stopped and picked up almost every rock and acorn he came across and put them in his pocket. That made for a much longer walk because he couldn't put the rocks/acorns in his pocket as he walked so he had to stop each time.
 And this was the last part of our family hike.... and the hardest part. We took a shortcut through the woods and straight up the hill to Granddad's house (in the background of the first picture). With Ryan in daddy's arms and Owen in mom's.... we were feeling the burn by the time we made it to the top!!
I just love these two photos of Ryan and daddy climbing the hill though. So sweet.
 Both boys slept all the way home and are now cozy in their cribs. And Owen would like to tell everyone that he enjoyed his first family holiday in Big Canoe!!
 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope your day was as wonderful and perfect as ours was.....
P.S. - There are more photos from the day if you click on the Yahres Family Photos link in the right margin and view the photos in the 11.08 November 2008 folder. Enjoy!!
 Dear Santa, I would like a big truck, matchbox cars, trains and something for my little brother this year. I am almost always a good boy and when I do go to time out I always end it with a "charree" (sorry) and give my mommy and daddy hugs and kisses to prove I won't do it again. Or at least I will try not to do it again. Or at least I won't do it again in the next 15 minutes. Well, I'll try not to anyway. And Santa, I also promise to stop calling you a snowman and start calling you Santa. Love, Ryan
Christmas decorating came a little early this year in the Yahres house. Ryan and Owen were sick over the weekend so we confined ourselves to the house. By Sunday we were bored out of our mind and needed something fun and exciting to do so daddy suggested decorating for Christmas. Yea!! The house looks so pretty with all the lights and decorations. Ryan was a big helper (as always) and really enjoyed putting all the bells on the Christmas tree.
 Little O-wee (Owen) hung out in his bouncy seat and santa hat while Mommy & Ryan worked hard. Daddy was the house photographer and videographer. Plus he did the hard part and put the tree together. Lucy hung out under the tree.
 All in all it was a great day and wonderful way to take our minds off of our "sickie" boys. Ryan is at such a fun age this year with all the holidays. But for some reason he really thinks that Santa is a snowman. Granted he also thinks an actual snowman is a snowman, but in his mind, Santa is also a snowman. I'm not sure where that came from since we just started talking about Christmas, but we read Christmas books every day so hopefully he'll realize soon who Santa actually is. You have to love the mind of a 2 year old! Well, almost 2 year old....
 Look at him.... Such the little man.... Isn't he just the cutest?!
Lily, who lives just a few houses down from us had her 2nd birthday party the other day and since it was over lunchtime and Ryan was in school, just Owen and I went. He got all dressed up in his party clothes and off we went to celebrate Lily's 2nd birthday with the neighborhood kids.
He was very intrigued with all of the 2 year olds running around and playing. Before long, our little Owen is going to be mobile and playing with all the kids.
Happy Birthday Lily!!
Most everyone who knows Ryan, knows that he LOVES books! He has about a gazillion of them and we read them over and over and over again. He wakes up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth is "books, momma, books." We read books in the morning; we read books after school; we read books after dinner; we read books before bed. Books, books, books. It's a good thing we have a lot of variety because I already have most of them memorized.Ryan is getting to the age though that we don't have to read to him; he likes to read to himself. He opens the books and talks (in jibberish of course) and points to the pictures and mimics what he sees (making the animal sounds, etc). Here he is reading to his little bro.... Owen just sat and listened and watched Ryan read. And I think Ryan really enjoyed being a "big brother" and reading to Owen. Except of course when Owen would topple over on him or would try to grab the book. No, Ryan just liked when Owen sat still and listened. 
I love this time of year! The leaves are changing colors, the weather is turning cooler and it's time to start building fires. Over the last few years in our house, we have definitely enjoyed the cozy, warm fires and look forward to having one almost every night.This year daddy had a helper carrying in all the firewood. Ryan worked very hard carrying the firewood with daddy. He was so proud of himself carrying the big, heavy pieces of wood from the van to the garage. He even had the grunts and groans to go along with the "uh, heavy, daddy, uh, heavy." It was priceless.Well thank you Ryan and daddy for all of your hard work. We are now enjoying the cozy fires each night!  This one must have been extra heavy because it took both daddy and Ryan to carry it!  Owen has it all figured out.... why work and carry heavy wood if you can just lay around looking cute all day?! 
Ok, so I know that you shouldn't compare your children against each other, but seriously, there are times you cannot help it. I mean when it comes to Owen at not even 3 months old wearing pjs that Ryan wore at 7 months old, how can you not compare?! Yes, these are 4th of July pjs and yes, I realize that it is November, but I had to prove that it was a pair of pjs Ryan wore at 7 months (he was born in December so in July he was almost 7 months).
 Owen at almost 3 months old
 Ryan at almost 7 months old (July 2007)
My not so little man has been growing like a weed. He is in 6 months clothes already and will be out of those before you know it. He isn't really chunky; he's just big. He's long and well proportioned; just big. He looks like a 6 month old baby and the strange part is that he acts like a 6 month old baby. He loves to play; he has learned how to jump in his jumperoo; he sits in his bumbo already; he interacts with toys and knows how to make them play music and light up. Truly, you would never guess this little guy to be not even 3 months old yet.  Ryan loves to play with Owen.
In this pic Ryan is having his breakfast next to his little bro.
 Owen is very focused and determined to figure this toy out. He loves to sit in his bumbo and kick the bright green feet shapes to make the balls go around and around.
This post is long overdue, but better late than never. Miss Kate Kerley got married on October 11, 2008 in Denver, CO. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful; the day was perfect. A little chilly, but such a great day. Well chilly is an understatement, but regardless of the weather the day was perfect.Kate and I go way back to our Trip Director days at BI. We started there at the same time and traveled together over the years. We lived in Minneapolis at the same time and then we both moved to Denver at the same time. We were actually roommates for awhile before I moved in with Jim. We left BI at the same time to pursue other jobs and then ended up coming back to BI around the same time and then again, left around the same time.  Even though many miles, several states and a few time zones are between us now, I still consider Kate to be one of my closest friends and would be lost without her. She has found an absolutely amazing man (Mike) who she now calls her husband. I knew from the first time she mentioned him several years ago that this was a relationship that would last. I mean, just look at them.... they are perfect for each other. The wedding was in Denver and I was honored that Kate asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. This meant the world to me! The wedding itself was so beautiful and the reception was a blast. It was so great to see all the BI gals and catch up. Some are now married; some have pursued other careers; some are still doing event planning. Everyone is doing great though and it was so fun to see everyone again.I made the trip to Denver solo. Yes, that's right. Solo. No kids. It would have been great if Jim could have come with me, but since Owen was only 8 weeks old, he stayed back with the boys and I enjoyed a weekend away in CO. It was a short weekend and a good portion of it was spent traveling to/from, but if you ask Jim, I'm sure it was the longest weekend he's had in awhile. Being home for 3 days with two boys is more work than one can imagine. We have one VERY active toddler and one newborn who gave his lungs a test. I'm sure Jim was counting down the hours till I would return. I missed all of my boys so much, but it was nice to get away for a weekend and not change any diapers or pack a sippy cup and bottle everytime I walk out the door.Again, it was a great weekend, a perfect wedding and Kate was a beautiful bride. They make such a wonderful couple; they were meant for one another no doubt.
Today Ryan and Owen played together so cute. Owen is just starting to "play" with toys and really enjoy them. He will kick his legs and flail his arms and get so excited when the toys make noise or play music.
Ryan has also been enjoying playing with all of Owen's toys and for the first time today, Ryan and Owen played together. Owen was in his exersaucer and Ryan came over and actually talked to Owen and played with him. Owen was all smiles and cooed at Ryan. It's so sweet how they absolutely love each other. I know this may not always be the case and that they will fight with one another, but for now, I just sat back, watched and enjoyed my two boys.  
Trick-or-treating was a HUGE success. Ryan absolutely had a blast and did not want to stop. Unfortunately, Owen was getting tired and hungry so the night had to come to an end, but it was so much fun. Ryan is at such a great age for all of the holidays now. We hit the neighborhood with Ryan's girlfriend, Addie. They were Superman and Superwoman which was so cute. The first house we went to, Ryan and Addie knocked on the door and when the opened it Ryan proceeded to walk right into the house and started playing with their toys. It was hilarious. He had absolutely no idea what he was suppose to do, but he was on a mission when he caught a glimpse of the room full of toys. It was too funny!After that, he got the hang of it and Ryan and Addie would run to the next house, knock and Ryan would say, "Tick Teat" and hold out his pumpkin. If they let him choose a piece of candy, he typically only took one and always went for the lollipop. Unfortunately, we came home with a pumpkin full of lollipops and not much of the candy mommy and daddy like.After several hours of knocking on doors we were about to call it a night when we ran into Mac and his family. So we were off to a few more houses which of course Ryan loved! The two boys had a great time together, but then Owen started to get hungry and crabby so we had to call it a night. Once we came in, Ryan dumped his candy all over the floor and just looked at it. He picked out one lollipop and thoroughly enjoyed every last piece of it. Mommy told him that he couldn't get up and walk with the lollipop so everytime the doorbell rang, he would hand me the lollipop (all sticky and drippy) and run to the door with daddy. As soon as he gave out the candy to the trick-or-treaters, he would run back to me for the lollipop. It was so cute.  We finally turned off our lights and relaxed in front of the fire before hitting the bed after a very successful and fun night of trick-or-treating. We took a lot of video so I'm sure we'll be posting some of that soon. Also, be sure to check out all of our Halloween photos at the link under About Us (Yahres Family Photos).
 Ryan had his Halloween party at school on Friday and was so excited to have mommy there with him. As soon as I walked in the door he brough a chair over to me so I could join him for "snack" time.
 Owen seemed to enjoy himself too. He stayed awake for the whole party and just watched all the kids. Here is a cute picture of Ryan's buddy, Mac. Mac lives in our neighborhood and is just 4 weeks younger than Ryan. This is the family we used to share a nanny with so Ryan has spent alot of time with Mac and now they are in the same class at Sunbrook. Ryan gets very excited when we see Mac in the neighborhood... Mac... Mac... Mac.
 Our neighborhood had its annual Halloween parade and pizza party last night. Grandad and Grandmom came down from Big Canoe to see the boys all dressed up and to participate in the fun. Ryan LOVES his Grandad and was so excited for him to be here. Ryan, of course, played the shy-guy for a bit, but quickly overcame that and was Grandad's side kick for the night. 
After the parade, Ryan (aka Superman) enjoyed a slice of pizza and refueled for his evening of fun with Grandad and Grandmom.
Our little giraffe (aka Owen) also enjoyed the parade and Halloween festivities. He looked so cute in his little outfit and just chilled while checking everyone out.
Daddy made a super yummy dinner for everyone. We had boneless pork ribs from the crockpot and another homemade "pump-min" pie for dessert. We won't get into the story about pumpkin pie on the ceiling, but I will mention that daddy cleaned up the entire kitchen (several times) before the day was over. And we all enjoyed his delicious dinner!
After dinner Ryan brought Grandad about 100 books to read and being the good sport that Grandad is, he read most of them even if Ryan was distracted by the balloons on the ceiling and wasn't listening to the actual story. Ryan also put on a good show singing Elmo's song to everyone and dancing. He was in rare form last night. It could have been that it was about 2+ hours past his normal bedtime, but he was having so much fun that we couldn't put him down for the night.
How cute is our Vail baby with his spikey hairdo?! He's ready to head to Colorado to hit the slopes. Mommy, why didn't you bring me out to CO with you for Kate's wedding (photos to come from that trip soon!)?? Peace, baby, Peace.
 Here is a cute photo of Owen imitating whatever it is daddy is doing. He was all smiles last night playing and having a good time until he drank his bottle and crashed. Mommy wasn't far behind.....
 The other night daddy and Ryan decided to make homemade pumpkin pie. Yep, that's right, homemade pumpkin pie. They scraped out all the "goop" in the pumpkin and they made the pie from scratch. Well not completely from scratch since the pie crust was fresh from the frozen section at Publix, but they made the hard part, the pie itself from scratch.
Ryan LOVES pumpkin pie. Or as he calls it "pump-min pie." Every night after dinner (and some nights before dinner he politely asks for some "pump-min pie" and points at the fridge.  We also discovered another family member who likes "pump-min pie." This particular family member doesn't ask for it though, she just helps herself to it if it happens to be sitting on the kitchen counter. Yep, that's right... Delta loves pumpkin pie too. After having herself a bad week -- she ate the homemade chicken pot pie from the counter as well as the cheesy chicken enchiladas another night. And of course, the piece of pumpkin pie. She found herself spending the day outside. I'm not sure you'd really call this "punishment" though since she looked like she thoroughly enjoyed herself on such a sunny day. Oh well.
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