Rexer called and talked to Ryan, these pictures are his reaction when he heard his voice Ry also said Dadda when he heard his voice. Told you he is a total Daddy's boy!

Happy New Year

Well it is hard to believe that another year has past. We have had so many Blessings this year, it will be hard to top 2008. First Ry being born than our house and Rex and I celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. Life sure flys. Today Ryan is 9 months old. So we started off our day at the doctors office for a check up. Mungy went with us because Rexer is at work. Ry had to get a shot and I think the shot hurt Grandma more that it hurt Ry. She was sitting in the back seat of the car holding his hand until he fell asleep-tooooo cute Mungy. Ry is 19lbs and 30.5 inches long, tall and skinny!

Tonight Ry and I will have a pj party to bring in the New Year, well honestly I hope he is sleeping. We had a busy day and I am still not feeling all that well so it will be easier to stay home. I do have to admit it is weird just staying home. The pictures are of our evening here at home.

Thank you

I just got back from a call and was not tired enough to go to bed. Who knows, I will probably have to go on another one here in a few minuets anyway. So to pass some time until I do get tired again I decided to check out our blog. Cin, thank you so very much for starting this blog. I get to see things that I would not normally get to see.
I check out our blog every once in awhile to see if Cin has updated it with a new adventure Ry has found or something silly he has done, like sit in a tupperware bin. It makes me laugh but also wish that I am there for every new thing Ryan does. I have missed Cin and Ryan very much since going back to shift. It was definitely something to get used to going to days but I did not think it would be this hard for me to get used to going back to shift. I love my job and have been blessed tremendously with it but I could definitely stay home all the time. So Cin this blog is for you and all the hard work you put in to raising our son and being the best Mom you can be. It is hard to be both parents at once. I wish I could be there on days you need a break and take care of yourself. I love you very much and will see you in the morning. I hope you get some sleep tonight.

Sick day

I have decided to try to pass a new law. Mommas should get sick days. All those in favor say "I". I am hoping that you all agree. Today was one of those days that you wish you could sleep right through. Unfortunately because my blog is my journal you all get to hear about it. I am sooooo thankful that I have such an easy going little guy because today was miserable enough. Rexer is working, which it seems like every time I am sick he is at work. Which before Ry, stunk, and now it really stinks. I believe I have the flu, that everyone in the Gonzale's family had. I thought I was in the clear. Than I woke up today feeling horrible and it just seemed to get worse all day. Ry and I stayed in our pjs until about 4 and than we both were getting stir crazy. Also our house smelt like a sick person so we decide to venture out. Where did we go??? But of course Target, thank God for Target, right Audrey. It seems like Target always makes everything better. Grumpy kids, sick moms, Target always has the answer. It felt good to get out, but I used up most of the little energy I had. Although my day was full of not so fun moments, we did have some fun ones. In the picture Ry was standing up holding on to the shelf; he is learning how to sit down. In the process he sat in a container of blocks. He was stuck for a while until he figured out how to get out. Also he found the heater vent and was licking it while the heat was blowing in his face. I unfortunately did not get a picture of that, but you can imagine.

Fun Pictures of the boys!

Here are some fun pictures of the boys opening their presents. Well okay us moms did most of the unwrapping. They both are so cute. Ryan kept trying to take Erik's toys-not so cute. Although Ry is only 9 months old it seems like my favorite phrases are: be nice, we do not hit, we share and be gentle. Ryan is all boy in everything he does.

Little to no assembly required

Okay, I have decided that the people who make children toys, must also work with the makers of aspirin. It is a total conspiracy. I love the toys that you get and it says on the side of the box, little or no assembly required. So you open it thinking ok I can do this, then 4 hours and a migraine later you finally figure it out. I always think that is so funny. The thing is that I usually have tried everything to get it to work and then it is the simplest thing that finally puts the toy together. While assembling some of Ry's toys, he must have hit his head on like 10 different toys. Seriously how many times can a kid hit their head before there is some serious damage done. My little guy is getting more and more adventurous as each second passes. Right now he found an old gram cracker and is feeding it to the dog. He is holding on to my chair with one hand and feeding the dog with the other hand. Funny that I am just watching, I am sure we will go for a record number of falls today! Thank God their bums are padded with diapers, just wish we had something like that for their beautiful heads.

So many plans, but still nothing is done

The snow is starting to melt all of the sudden our beautiful winter wonderland is turning into a muddy mess. It is so nasty out that I am scared to let the dog out to go pee. I know that he will go straight for the mud just to spite me. Then it will be just one more thing to clean up. Rexer is on a 48. I got all dressed up to see him at the fire house for about 30 minutes. I am thankful that I get to see him while he is on shift, somehow it makes it ok that I have not seen him for 36 hours. It took about an hour to get ready and we only saw him for 30 minutes. Ry was excited and happy to see his Daddy so it was worth it. Then we went to Mungy and Papa's house and I had the only decent meal I have eaten in a day in half-Thanks Mom. Ry and I came home to a messy house, which I should be cleaning, but instead I am blogging. It is half way clean. It just seems like it has been one of those days. The picture is of Ry in the middle of all his toys in the livig room, I have yet to put them all away!

It is my beautiful sister's birthday and like any other mom she does not get a day off. This morning Johanna fell and was knocked out for about 30 seconds. She is fine and by the time Julie called me from Mary Bridge Johanna was running around. Julie and the girls had a fun trip in the ambulance. Ellie kept telling everyone that her Uncle is a fire-medic. Juls said it took her about 15 minutes to realize that they were not here to play and that something serous had happened. Actually it is quite amazing 3 children and the oldest is 5 1/2 and this is the first trip to the ER. It made for a eventful morning for the Gonzales clan so two new stuffed animals and a ride in the back of the ambulance later, they are all home safe.

Organizing Fool!!!

I love Christmas for so many reasons. As nerdy as it sounds I love to organize all of my new presents and clothes. I just spent the last hour organizing Ryan's new clothes and putting all of his winter clothes in his drawers. Every thing is folded and in the right spot, that will last about a week. It was interesting trying to do this with Ry in the room. Rexer is on a 48, usually when I am on a serious organizing and on a give away binge Rex is home and he will take Ryan. Well, we had fun. I had to fold most things twice because he would come unfold them, but it was fun just playing in his room. We do not really have many toys in his room because they are all in the play room so he pulled all of his books off his bookshelf and played with hangers. He also would pull himself up on anything and everything he could hang on to. He was holding on to the rocking chair and it started to rock, I looked over and I do not think he knew what to do, so all else fails you just sit down. Which he did. My goal is to try to get the play room all cleaned tonight while Ry is sleeping. I need to rotate through toys and disinfect everything. I am excited, I love nights like this. I know that I am a total nerd, but I would bet money that my Mom and Sister are doing the same thing right now!!!

Merry Christmas

What an amazing morning. Our morning has been filled with children laughing, gasps and Christmas presents being open. Last night Santa knew exactly where Ryan, Elisha and Johanna would be this morning at Mungy(this is what the kids call Grandma) and Papa's house of course. Santa and his reindeer enjoyed cookies and caesar salad from the children. Highlights from our morning so far have been, Ryan started to walk. Yes you read it right he is walking without assistance. Rexer got him a dump truck and he can also push it. Well Ry started to walk with it. Johanna pretty much opened every one's presents and than told all of us that they were from her. It was pretty cute. She would say "Aunty look what I bought you." Elisha got a beautiful horse trailer and truck. When she opened it you would have thought we gave her the world. She was so excited. So for all the money spent, Ryan loved the paper the most. It has been such a Blessing to see our son on his first Christmas. It was wonderful to included him on Buchanan traditions that I have done my entire life and ones that Rex had been a part of for the last ten years. So our plans for the day are pretty simple. We are all in our pjs and we plan on staying in them all day. Oh yeah, Ry ate waffles, eggs and had apple juice to drink. He love all three. it was toooooo cute. All the kids ate at the kid table together. Mom is making prime rib for dinner- yummy!!! As much as we are having a blast we do miss all of you that could not see Ryan's first Christmas. I hope that these pictures give some insight to how cute he is.

the 3 dancin fools!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Daddy we miss you!

Honey be safe tonight, see you in the morning!

-Ryan climbing up the stairs!

The snow is still here, it is crazy. This morning Ryan and I ventured out to Grandma's house. I love that she is on Christmas break from school. Yesterday we went up to the Gonzales's to celebrate Christmas with Bri. He will not be home for Christmas this year, so we had one early. It was a great day. It snowed the entire time we were all there. It is amazing how the snow makes everything so beautiful. Rexer is at work, he is on the engine which makes me nervous. That is a big vehicle to drive in the snow. He has had a blast working while the snow has been around. I guess it keeps things interesting and new for him and all the other emergency personal. Ryan is super active. I feel like just in the last week he has changed so much. He is siting himself up, standing in his crib and crawling everywhere like crazy. He also is constantly talking saying mama or dada. He is not a little baby, he is more like a toddler. He becomes more and more independent every day. He is starting to eat more big people food. He loves eggs, we are slowly trying to integrate more solid foods. He has fun with it. He really likes peas I am not so much a fan, but Rexer really likes them. I think Ry likes them because he can pick them up and they are bite size. I think that is what he will have for dinner tonight, peas and eggs- sounds yummy!!!

Santa visits the Old Cannery!!!

So for all of you that think that Santa is from the North Pole, today we found out that he comes form The Old Cannery. Audrey called this morning and we (Mike, Nita, Big Ryan, Kelly, Audrey, Baby Erik and us) all packed up and went to visit Santa at the Old Cannery. I believe that we waited in line for about an hour in a half. It was totally worth it. The boys looked so cute. While waiting in line we all were laughing there were seven adults and two little boys. Like Nita said, it takes a tribe to raise these little boys. So we all took turns entertaining the boys. When it was our turn, I could not help but get emotional. I looked around at all of us trying to make the boys smile and we looked like a bunch of crazy people. The things you are willing to do to get a child to smile. I am so thankful that Ryan has Erik. They will be life long friends. It has been such a joy watching them grow and change together. The boys will not remember meeting Santa, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Rex and I feel very Blessed to have the Rutkosky and Roggenkamp clans in our lives, thank you for being a part of our tribe!

Rexer finally got home from work, it seems like life starts when he gets home. This afternoon we went over to the Roggenkamp household. Ry and Kelly were there and we all had a great lunch together. After that we ventured out with the boys. Aunty Kel bought Erik a snow outfit, she bought two so we bought the one that Erik did not fit into. It was totally cute. The boys had matching snow outfits. Someday they are not going to be so happy with us for these pictures, but look how cute they are. We made the long walk through the woods to visit Grandma Nita's house:). It seemed like every couple of feet we would stop to take pictures. The plan was to go sledding, but the little boys had other plans. We did not end up going sledding, but we got some great pictures and had some laughs, mostly at the little boys expense. Did I mention how cute they looked in their snow outfits. It was a blast, it is so great to have days when nothing else matters, but good company, laughter and fun. I am so thankful for all of the memories that we are all making together.

Play time- I mean nap time

It is official, Ryan can now sit up in his crib. He thinks he is really funny. Rex snapped this shot of him about 30 minutes ago. Instead of taking a nap he sits himself up and plays in his crib. Totally cute. Like his pajamas? they are size 18 months. I did not want to do laundry so I just put him in new pajamas, they are a little big! Yes I am sure all you moms understand that one.

Winter Wonderland

Nothing really exciting to write about expect that, this morning we woke up to about 5 inches of snow. It has been snowing for a few days and the temperature as not been above freezing. That is not suppose to change any time soon. It is so beautiful. Bunker (our dog) loves the snow. The only down fall to the snow is that Ryan and I were stuck at the house all day yesterday. Last night we got a great surprise. Uncle Ryan and Aunty Kelly stopped by about 7. It was so nice to have some adult interaction. I think I spoke with Julie and my mom about 10 times each. I know that I am a stay at home mom, but we rarely actually stay at home all day. I am sure that I could have ventured out, but I was not in the mood to deal with the roads and all the people. Rexer is not home, I am sure that he got a late call. I hope that he is home soon. I am looking forward to a beautiful cold day playing in the snow with family.

Christmas cards

Most of you should be receiving your Christmas cards from us any day. I finished them up with the help of my sister-who loves to send out cards. When we bought our home our mortgage broker sent us a cute stamp with our name and address on it. So naturally I used it to address the return address of our Christmas cards. We had about a pile of 60 cards sealed, finished and stamped and Rexer comes over to inspect the cards. I hear "Cin you know that Bonney is spelled wrong, right?" What kind of question is that I thought, than I thought he was kidding just to get a rise out of me. I grabbed a card and quickly looked at the return address. Bonney Lake is spelled Boney Lake. So I just wanted to set the record straight. The address stamp was a gift and yes I know how to spell Bonney Lake.

Wonderful birthday surprise

Thank you to all of my amazing family and friends. I was showered with gifts, cards and phone calls on my birthday. I know it sounds silly, but I cannot believe that I am 26. It is a very weird age. Yesterday my birthday started out really stressful. By mid morning I was at Audrey's beautiful home for a girls Christmas baking day. It was a fun mid morning full of laughter champagne and of course lots of yummy treats. After I left the Roggenkamp household I drove the 3.5 miles home. It was snowy and beautiful out. I cannot remember the last time it snowed on my birthday!!! Once home Rexer was getting ready for our next round of visitors. Julie, Leroy, the girls and my parents all came over for my favorite dinner. Yes it is still chicken strips, green beans and mashed potatoes. After dinner I had a beautiful cake that Rexer made, and of course he had to put and light 26 candles. He turned off all the lights, man all those candles really lit up the living room. We ended the day with two sick kiddos. Ellie slept in our bed and was sick again this morning. The funniest thing about my birthday was that Rex and I were planning on going to Seattle and Ry was going to Juls for the night. Due to weather we decided not to . I am thankful that we stayed home. I had more fun watching the kids play together, having other people open my presents (the kids) and waking up to a house full of family. There is nothing better than the sound of little feet and laughter running through a home.

Random day

I sit here typing trying to ignore my child as he cries and says mama mama. Audrey made a great observation the other day about Erik, she noticed that he says mama mama when he is sad and Dada Dada when he is happy. Well Ry does the same thing. We know that most children do, but it is totally heartbreaking. Especially today. It has been one of those crazy days for the record books. The weather around here has been horrible, on top of snow we are in some sort of cold snap. I am trying to get all of the 550 presents ready for all the families. Doing this and having an 9 month old is not easy. Rexer made me breakfast this morning (because it is my birthday week) but I had to rush out the door. So from about 10-5 I was working on getting the presents together for the families. The hard part is normally I would have all week, but we do not know if the kids will have school because of the weather so I have to try to get them done by tomorrow. It will get done, I know it. Thank you mom and Kelly for helping me today. We got a lot done and it will make it easier tomorrow. I am thankful that Rexer has until Thursday off so he can help. Yes Ry is still crying, so I am going to continue to type. I missed both Ryan and Rexer so much today. It is weird, because if I am not will both that I am with at least one of them. Today I was by myself the majority of the day. It was weird not changing diapers and taking care of someone-I am talking about Ryan:). Most think that it would be a nice break, but I love being a Mama and trust me I would have rather been changing diapers today. Ok I am not as tough as I look Ry is still crying I am going to snuggle with my little guy.

Let it snow!!!

This morning we woke up to about 2 inches of snow. So we called Grandma and Papa and invited them over for breakfast. An hour latter they finally showed up. Remember they only live 7 miles away. We ate breakfast, little Ry had eggs for the first time. Then we all got bundled up to go out in the snow. It took us about 15 minutes to get Ryan dressed and I think that we were only outside for 10 minutes. It was totally worth it, Ryan looked like Ralphy from the Christmas Story in his little snow outfit. We were so excited for him to play in snow. We had both the camera and the video camera. So for all the build up it was pretty uneventful. We sat Ry in the snow and he just looked up at us. We all stood around him waiting for him to do something cute and he just sat there. He was looking up at us like "what are you all looking at". He was not interested in the snow what so ever. Dad was worried that it was too cold and I wanted to get the perfect cute little picture. It was quite funny, picture this there were 4 adults and three cameras. We spent most of the 10 minutes taking pictures and not even enjoying the snow. We came back inside, and Ryan was standing by himself and he in slow motion fell down. We rushed over to him, but he had so many layers of clothing that I do not even think he realize that he fell. Once he was down, he could not get up.

Snow

So what do two 26 year old new homeowners do on a Saturday night at 11:30 when their son is in bed. They bundle up and go out in the snow of course!!!! This is our first snow in our new home. We were tempted to wake Ry up and take him out there to see it. Then we thought it through. So far we have just over an inch and we are expecting more for the next couple of days. I am hoping that it will stay around for my birthday on Tuesday.

Proud Sister

Just wanted all of you to know that Brian, has started his own business. Yes our little Bri has his own construction business. The company is called Buchanan and Sons Construction. We are so proud of Brian for taking this jump. He has received his licence and is already lining up work. Bri, we are so proud of you. Hard work does pay off.

Spending time with my son

So being a Dad is an amazing thing. I don't think you realize how special it is until you really are one. I look at Ryan and every time I am amazed that he is part of me. I have someone that will look up to me and who I will have to teach everything to. That is a lot of responsibility and I love it. Having a son means the world to me and I can not express what I am feeling but WOW!!!
I got off work today and went to go pick up Ry from Cin. They were shopping for the presents for the pancake feed and Ry needed to get home to take a nap. When he first saw me he almost jumped out of the cart into my arms. He is growing so much. Everyday I have to remind myself that I need to cherish every moment with him. He is so much fun at this age right now. It is amazing to watch him figure things out. So we came home and I put him to bed because he was definitely tired. But when he woke up he was ready to play. So we went down stairs and we got some toys out and Cin had just got home and he wanted to go into the kitchen. So what does do now; he is starting to go up the stairs. It is so much fun spending time with Ryan. I cherish the time we have and look forward to the adventures ahead.

Pedicure

Today I received the best birthday gift. I know that it is not officially not my birthday, but I felt so special. Rex has been bothering me to go get a pedicure for a while. This is something I really enjoy to do and I use to do at least once a month. It just seems like the last month I have made appointments and than something else will come up and I cancel them. It was something I wanted done before my birthday, Rex and I are planning to go to Seattle for the night. Well today I had a lot of running around to do after my moms group and Rex is on shift. So I called my mom and she offered to take Ry for a couple of hours so I could get a break. While getting a pedicure my phone rang, I usually would ignore it but I looked down and it was my Jamie. As silly as it sounds, it was the best pedicure I have had in a long time. Although Jamie was not with me I felt like she was. I got to talk to my best friend for an uninterrupted 22 minutes and 47 seconds. Naturally this is not the longest conservation we have ever had and we did not solve the worlds problems, but we just got to chat. It was nice to not have anyone need me but her. I was able to listen and focus on what she was saying. So to you Jamie, thank you for always knowing when to call and always loving and supporting me. You are an amazing woman, and friend. I always love to hear your voice.

Baby Gates

I never thought that we would be one on those families that has their entire house baby proofed. I read about a company that comes in and will baby proof your entire house, I just laughed thinking that I would never need anything like that. Boy was I wrong. Ryan is into everything. It is insane. All of the rooms that I thought were safe somehow have hidden dangers around every corner. I vacuum all the time, but somehow Ry will find dirt or a piece of something to eat. It is amazing that he has so many toys, but he rather play with the little tinny plastic thing he finds on the floor from a tag of a shirt. We have two baby gates at the top of each set of stairs. I fear I am going to have to get more. Today I was making lunch and Ry was playing with his toys in the fireplace room. I was talking to him and he was making tons of noise talking back and banging on is toys. All of the sudden it was quite. As a Mom you always know that when it is quite something is going on. Sure enough I look down and I see this little head bobbin up and down by the stairs. He has gotten himself up the first stair. He was so proud of himself. Needless to say he sits in his chair in the kitchen when I am making any kind of meal.

Little gym closed for repairs

So I was giving Ryan a bath, when he was done I had him standing on the counter in front of the mirror. He was talking to himself and than he noticed his pull up bar (the towel rack). He grabbed the bar and started to do pull ups like he does with his Daddy. Well I tried to pull him away from the bar and he would not let go. So I tried a little harder and all of the sudden pop. Ryan was holding on so tight that he broke the towel rack. He thought it was funny, and to tell you the truth so did I. He stood there laughing and holding what use to be my towel rack in his hand. I stood there with my jaw on the ground. I had no idea what to do. We will have to wait for Daddy to come home and fix it.

The toilets are clean!!!

I am getting ready to go to bed. I am happy to report that I cleaned my toilets. Well I pretty much got everything that I wanted to get done today in an hour after Ry went to bed. I forget how quickly I can get things done with out chasing after Ry. I have found that I get really distracted by him as well. The laundry and house work can wait, if it means that I get to spend time with Ryan. It is so cute, he crawls over to me I love it. However I am my Mother's daughter and I love it when my home is sparkly clean!!!!

Do you ever have those days that never seem to go right??? Well today is mine. Rexer is on a 36 hour shift and I was totally excited this morning laying in bed making a mental to-do-list. I was going to finish the laundry, that is never ending, go grocery shopping and clean the house from top to bottom. Needless to say the only thing that got done was the shopping. I have not even fed the dog yet. It seemed like every time I tried to do anything something else came up. I am not even sure where today went. I spent the evening at the Fire station just finishing up Pancake Feed breakfast stuff. Rex although on shift was planning on being there to help me with Ryan. He got a call, so I spent two hours going through stockings and chasing Ryan around. Thank God other firefighters where there to help me entertain Ryan. I ended up doing about 1/3 of what I wanted to do. Ryan and I finally made it home and when I pulled in the driveway I was hoping that the cleaning fairy had stopped by and folded all of my clothes and cleaned my toilets. I walked a pile of laundry that seemed to triple in size while I was gone. To top it all off Ryan had a major blowout all over his car seat and clothes. Well I guess I better get to it. Maybe if I feed the dog he will leave me alone so I can get at least something done!!!

Grandpa's Concert

Yesterday Ryan experienced a family tradition that I ave been doing for as long as I can remember. We took him to Grandpa Ralph's Christmas concert. I am so thankful that Ryan, although he will not remember gets to attend and do things that I grew up doing. We all went out to dinner afterwards which was a blast. It was nice to spend time with the Kenyon side of the family.

Update

I just wanted to give you all an update on the Pancake Feed. We raised over $7,000 which is amazing given the state of the economy. I just wanted to thank my beautiful sister for staying the night and taking care of Ry. Thank you Mom and Dad for all of your praise, love and encouragement and all of the random tasks you helped out with at the Pancake Feed. Thank you Grandpa Ralph for coming down before your big show. Also I would like to thank GG and Papa it was great to see you both. Dewey and Judy for driving all that way. And to Cindy and Lee Gonzales, it means a lot to us that you were there. So to all of you thank you. I was selling tickets and I looked over to see my family taking up several benches. It was a very proud moment for me. Rex has put in countless hours and has done an amazing job organizing it. Most of all I am proud of him. He is an amazing man, husband and Father. I am Blessed!!!!!

Pancake Feed

Rexer is back at work, I am so thankful that he got off a little early yesterday. We have our big Pancake fundraiser that Rex and I put together (with lots of help) for the Fire Department this Saturday. Rex has done such an amazing job this year. It is really exciting to be so involved with our community. So far the money we raise will help about 440 children. We are expecting to have about 500 this year. We have a new partnership with Sumner Police and they will be providing about half the gifts this year. This will free up some money so we can help with other things for families like gas, motels rooms, blankets and prescription drugs. This project is a huge undertaking, but totally worth it. We have done a lot of advertising in the local papers and we have a huge banner across main street in Sumner. It is always amazing to me how generous people are. Times are hard for everyone, but people are still giving and wanting to help in any ways they can. There is this great corner store in Sumner that every year gives $200. They are so faithful. Last year we made about $8,000. I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your support and encouragement. Rex and I get to shop for the kids and see the families response when they receive the gifts. It is an amazing thing to see the look on the parents faces when they realize that they will have gifts to give their children this year.

My Family

Now it is my turn to write in this wonderful blog/journal that we (Cin) has created. I absolutely love to do this. It is an opportunity to share with everyone that doesn't get to be in our everyday life. So, that said here is my blog.
I finally went back to shift work on Nov. 30 2008. It felt like HOME SWEET HOME. I never realized how much I had missed being on shift work. To be back and a part of the brotherhood was very nice. I had people calling me from other stations telling me that it was nice to have me back on shift. That felt really good. But I MISSED MY FAMILY MORE THAN ANYTHING because I ended up doing a 72 hour shift. My normal shift was Sunday and Tuesday but there was an opportunity to pick up a 24 hour shift on Monday down in Sumner. The 72 hour shift wasn't bad but being away from my family was hard. I really missed them a lot. I missed playing with my son and just sitting and talking to Cin. My love for my family has grown even greater than I could have even imagined. ( And yes I have tears in my eyes right now). God has blessed me in may ways and I can not even imagine what is to come. I thank God every day for the many blessings he has given to my family.
During my 72 hour shift Cin had come by the station a couple of times and I got to see my beautiful wife and my little man. I enjoy them coming by the station. It makes me feel proud and honored to have my family come to my other home and for them to get to know my other family. The guys at the fire house are great and our department is very family oriented. Sometimes family members will come and have dinner with us or just stop by to say hi. It is really nice that we can work at such a great place that allows things like that. In fact on my last 24 hour shift Cin came by and dropped off a freshly baked pumpkin loaf. That did not last very long. The guys from the other stations were there and we all devoured it. So finally the end of my 72 hour shift came to an end I was off to wild land training. I was only there until noon but I could not wait to get home. In the 72 hours I was at work Ryan had picked up speed and awareness. I could not believe how much he had changed in the 3 days I was gone. It is crazy how fast they grow. I cherish every moment I can with my family because if there is one thing I have learned so far in life is that it can all end in a blink of an eye. We take a lot for granted and that is normal. But I try everyday to take a step back and watch and enjoy the small things because who knows when it will be your last. Try to enjoy life to the fullest and do things that you want and enjoy. Life is precious and is a gift from God.

Pull ups

So after Ryan's bath tonight I could hear both Rex and Ry laughing hysterically in the bathroom. I was drawn to the laughter and went to inspect. I found Rex holding Ryan and he was doing mini pull-ups on the bar that holds that shower curtain. I am not sure where Rexer comes up with all of these crazy ideas. I never new he was so creative. I guess as a parent you will do anything to get a smile or to hear your child laugh. This is not the first time that they have turned our bathroom into a mini gym. If you all did not know the towel rack also can double as a chin up bar. I think it is so amazing that they both are entertained by the simplest things. So of course we took about 10 pictures and had to video tape it. Someday Ryan is going to be so embarrassed by us and all the pictures that we take. But until then we will continue to snap shots like this one!!! Hope you all enjoy.

Call the Fire department

So last night before I went to bed I started the dishwasher. I was on the phone with Rex and I had noticed that the dishwasher was really loud. We continued to talk and I did not think anything about it. Once I hung up the phone I noticed that it was quite, good I thought whatever was wrong with the dishwasher had fixed itself. I laid in bed trying to get to sleep. I could not stop thinking about the dishwasher. So finally after about 5 minutes of me trying to convince myself that nothing was wrong I went downstairs to check out the dishwasher. I am so glad I did. When I opened the dishwasher door smoke came pouring out. I make a majority of Ryan's baby food. I put it in little containers to store it. One of the plastic containers had fallen and melted. It smelled sooooo bad. I was unsure what to do so I called Rex. He proceeded to ask me several questions and than asked if I wanted station 12 to come and check it out. Everything was fine, but I thought it was just humours. I could just imagine the ganter that would go around the department.

Today is an interesting day. Rex is on the last day of his 72 hour shift and he just called to let me know he has a wildland class tomorrow. That means that he will not be home until about 5pm and than back at work for another 24 0n Thursday. I am so thankful for the overtime, but it is so quite around this house without him. I love being a Fireman's wife, but sometimes it is so lonely. I have to be independent and do a lot of things that he normally does. Like taking out the trash and feeding the dog It is a weird feeling to know that I have to be able to survive without him. I had lunch with the Gonzales family and Grandpa Ralph, but it is not as much fun with out Rex. We got our Christmas tree on Saturday and decorated a little around the house. I have finished all the decorating, the weirdest thing is that Rex has not seen any of it. Today we went and saw him at work and he started to cry when he saw us. He loves his job, but he loves his family more. I am thankful that Ryan has been sleeping through the night and taking good naps. That makes it easier on me. I never realized how much Rex misses out on until we had Ry. Prospective I guess. Ryan discovers or does something new everyday and 72 hours is a lifetime to a child. I also miss him like crazy. So I pray that he gets home early tomorrow and that the next 28 hours fly by.

Pancake Feed

Just a reminder the East Pierce Fire and Rescue Pancake Feed is on December 6th at Station 13 in Sumner. It is from 7am to 12pm. Hope to see you all there!!!

Go little guy go!!!

As a parent you are always excited when your child reaches the next milestone. It is exciting to see your child figure out the world around him or her. Well needless to say Ry started to crawl. He has been moving around pretty good for a while, but on Thanksgiving he really started to take off. It is insane how fast he goes. While setting up the Christmas tree on Saturday I sat him down so I could run upstairs to grab a diaper. By the time I got back he was pulling on the tree. I am so thankful that he has reached this big milestone, but boy we are in trouble.

Christmas Tree

We went and got our first Christmas tree for our new house. It was a lot of fun. Julie had found a place close to there home in Gig Harbor. We were all excited to support the local tree farm, but when we got there it was not what we had expected. I am not kidding we drove up and about 95% of the trees were the same size as Elisha. It was so funny. The girls thought it was a blast because all of the trees were little. Some how we all found our trees, but we had to hunt for them up hills and through mounds the dog poop. The Gonzales family found their tree first at the top of the hill. And I am not kidding we found our tree at the bottom of the hill in the corner and Mom and Dad's was somewhere in between. Julie and Rex must had steeped in dog poop like 3 times each. So on the way home in the truck it smelt like dog poop and tree sap. It was one of those days that everything was so funny that almost everyone almost peed their pants. Once home, we put up our tree and and of course a fire hat was the first thing to go on our tree.

God is Good!

Tonight my little boy was so exhausted from the past few days that he fell asleep in my arms. God is good. I sat and cried my eyes out watching my little boy sleep in my arms while he held my hand. Rex came in the room and put Ry in his crib. He took the opportunity and stood and snuggled our little boy. Ryan Blesses me every second of everyday. I am honored to be his Mommy.

Family

I woke up this morning so excited to have Thanksgiving at our home tomorrow. I cannot believe that we will have about 35 people coming over to our house. I have to admit at one time I felt a little overwhelmed, but the more I think about it I feel Blessed. The more and more people I tell that 35 people are coming to my home the more I understand that this is not normal. Growing up we all tried to always celebrate holidays together and over the years as we all have gotten married we just have added more family members to the madness of the holidays. I know that I sound silly, but I thought all families did this. But like I said I am quickly realizing that this is not the case. You do not have to come from the same blood line to be family. So to the Buchanan, Kenyon, Gonzales, Rutkosky, Rutkosky, Roggenkamp and Orcutt clans; Rex, Ry and I would like you all to know on this Thanksgiving the thing that we are most thankful for is all of you. I know that I say this often, but we would not be the people we are today with out all of you. The best part is that we as parents get to share all of you with our son.

The simple things

Life can get so crazy that sometime we all need a reminder to slow down. Yesterday was my reminder. Mom called us early in the morning, she had made french toast-my favorite but only when my mom makes it. It is no secret that I love to spend time with my family every chance I get. But yesterday seemed extra special for some reason. Julie and the girls stayed the night so they were already at Mom and Dad's. So we packed up and all went over in our pj's.
We showed up to Johanna in her undies, Elisha fully dressed everyone else in their pj's and Julie and Grandpa Ralph still asleep. We ate a wonderful breakfast. I was enjoying my french toast and I looked over and both my parents are sitting around this little pink table with their Granddaughters. It was the cutest thing to see my Father sitting at a little pink table. The funny thing was that this is normal. My parents are amazing Grandparents, to all of the grandchildren. They love all of them and have special relationships with each individual child.
It always is amazing that my mother's sparkly house turns into a mad house with stuff everywhere when we are all there. She does not even blink an eye. They have every toy and everything there so we are all comfortable. Leroy showed up after work. We just had a great relaxing day with family. My favorite part was bath time. All three grandchildren took a bath in my parent's big tub. Which us kids us to do. After that it was the bed time routine. Lotion and pj's. Johanna turned up the music, and everyone danced and laughed. Well some of us cried- only because it was so amazing to step back and see the innocence of all three children. The room was filled with little giggles and all of the children trying to sing. Ry even tries to keep up with his cousins. At Gram's house the kids get to jump on beds and stay up late. They even get extra treats and tons of hugs and kisses. I guess what I am trying to say is that, family is family. And simple Sundays are so important to have. Life goes by so fast. I remember when it was Julie, Brian and I in that big tub in my parent's room. And now my son is in there with his cousins. WE ARE SO BLESSED-what else can I say.

Daddy and Ryan

I always love when Rex has time with Ryan, just the two boys. This is a picture of Ryan in Rex's Yamaha sweatshirt. This picture reminds me of me when I was little. He is all snugly in a sweatshirt that is way to big. Rex and Ry spent the morning together. I took Grandpa Ralph Christmas shopping. It was really nice to spend one on one time with him.

Morning Tea

I have decided that my favorite time with Ryan is in the morning. He usually wakes me up-big surprise. I can hear him playing in his crib or talking to his doll. Than I try to get him to come and snuggle with me in bed, this never works anymore. Ryan hits the ground running when he wakes up. So we wake up and walk around the house and open the blinds saying good morning to the sun. Than I put him in his highchair and I start breakfast. I usually have a cup of tea, toast and banana and he usually has his baby food. Lately he has been eating almost half my banana and today he had a bit of my whole wheat toast. The days of having a nice quite breakfast are over. I do not consider myself a morning person, but Ryan makes me want to get up. Everything is new to him and he seems so excited to wake up and start a new day. I love having my son as a date for breakfast. We are always in our pajamas and nothing else in the world seems to matter.

Rex has been tagged

1. I never thought I would be a singer, but I sing to my son every chance I get.

2. I wear boxers at home and boxer-briefs at work. :)

3. I love to do all of those honey-dos around the house.

4. Every time I get a hair cut, I take another shirt to change into because I hate all of the hair on me.

5. I secretly want to be a photographer, I love to take pictures.

6. I love new shoes, especially new tennis shoes.

7. I still have and wear a shirt from 6 grade baseball- Go Braves!!!

I have been tagged

How Fun, I have been tagged, by my Sister Julie. I am tagged and supposed to share 7 things that you don't know about me.

1. I am done wrapping my Christmas presents!!

2. I cry almost every night when I watch my little boy sleep. There is something so special about the innocence of a child.

3. I cannot sleep if my house is messy. (Thanks mom)

4. I love to cook and bake for others, I always have a meal on hand in case anyone stops by for a visit. So please stop by anytime if you are hungry :)

5. I love to organize and have a place for everything. I am a nerd at heart.

6. I want to adopt at least 2 children.

7. This is new-I love to cut coupons and find sales. It is kind of addicting.

I hope that you learned something new about me!

Trying to escape

Last night Rex and I laid Ry down for the night. About 20 minutes latter we could hear him in there moving around. He likes to roll over and play with his toy that is connected to the crib. He has figure out that if he kicks it or hits it the music will stop and start again. He also has a doll that he sleeps with that his Aunty Niea sent him all the way from Germany. Anyway last night we both went to check on him and it looked like he was trying to escape. He had pulled down the bumper and was reaching his arms out of the rails of the crib. It was cute that we had to take a picture. We were laughing so hard. I think it is one of those things that is only funny to the parents but I thought I would share.

Little Man

I love this picture. Ryan just woke up and Rex had just changed him. His hair has a mind of its own. I love that he has rosy cheeks when he wakes up. It reminds me of Grandpa Ralph. Two nights ago Ryan had whole wheat noodles for the first time. He loved them. I cannot believe he is seven in half months old. He is crawling better each day. It is pretty funny to watch. He officially has a play room. Our extra room is now an office and play room for the kids. It has turned out really cute.

My Amazing Husband

Yesterday I was taking a nap because I had a terrible migraine. Rexer had a work meeting so he was out and about. Instead of waking to a crying baby I awoke to a beautiful bouquet of Lilly's and roses. It was a nice change. Rexer always has a way of making me feel loved, appreciated and beautiful. I am thankful for my amazing husband and honestly really wanted to share.

P.S He also spent way to much on these flowers so I wanted others to enjoy them.

We are done Christmas shopping!!!!

Bump on the head

My cute little boy has a big bump on his forehead. I was running around this morning trying to get ready to leave the house and I set Ryan down by some of his toys. I ran upstairs and I heard a thump followed by him screaming. I ran down stairs like a mad woman to see my little boy crying and smiling at the same time. He has a beautiful wooden fire truck that we found at a second hand store. He always wants to pay with it, it all comes apart and he can undo some of the big wooden pieces. He crawled over to it and seriously bumped his head. I think he was proud of himself that he made it to the fire truck, but he was really hurt. He has a huge bump on his head that is all red. Of course we went to go show Daddy and Rex did not even notice it. It was so traumatic for me. It is always amazing to me that when anything happens to your child everything seems to matter and everything is worse case scenario. Ryan is fine, it was me that I think that Rex was worried about. But how can I help it that is my little boy. I always knew that I would love my son, but I never thought I would be in love with him. As all mothers understand the love that you have for your children is unlike anything you could ever express. Here is a picture of the HUGE BUMP on Ryan's forehead. -yes I know you can hardly see it.

Shower time

So I have to share my funny shower story. Today I was taking a shower and trying to shave my legs for like the third day in a row. But as all of you moms know there is not such thing as an uninterrupted shower once you have children. I looked over at Ryan and he was about to put Rexers boxers in his mouth. When I take a shower if Ry is not asleep than I set up a blanket and several toys in our bathroom for him to play with. Well Ryan was apparently not interested in the toys and went straight for the dirty clothes. He is not fully crawling, but he is so close. He can crawl backwards and I am assuming that is how he got to the dirty clothes. I was laughing so hard, he never got them in his mouth. Ryan thought it was pretty funny that Mommy jumped out of the shower and ran over to him laughing and waving my arms. I yet again did not get to shave my legs-well I guess I will try tomorrow.

Pancake Feed

On December 6th is the 12 annual Pancake feed at the Fire Department. This will be the third year that Rex and I will be the main organizers. It will be at the Sumner Station from 9-12.

Rexer goes back to work

On November 30 Rex will be returining to shift work. We are thrilled. He has been on light duty for the past 6 months. He tore his ACL May 1st and had surgery on June 16th. I am really excited, but I have not been alone in our new home yet. I am a little nervous, but I have a great support system all within 5 miles north and south of me. He is counting down the days until he gets back on shift work. The fire department has been amazing and totally taken care of us.

Our first blog

My amazing sister has inspired us to do a Blog. I thought that it was cheesy at first, but I have loved reading her blog. Also I think it is a great way for people to get updates about our family. So I hope that our blog will Bless you all as my sister's has Blessed me.