I scream u scream we all scream for ice cream!

Yesterday afternoon we went up to the Gonzales homestead for dinner. We all decided to go out. We all totally piled into the van and drove to Sivlerdale. It is about 20 minute drive. The kiddos thought it was pretty cool because Julie and I sat in the back with them. I was in the far back with Ryan and Elisha and Julie was in the middle seat with Johanna. Ryan sat in one of Johanna's old car seat. Check out the flowers!!!! The rule with car seats is that the child can be front facing when they are 1 and or above 20 pounds. Well Ryan is 22 pounds and almost a year so we let him sit in in forward facing. It was tooooo cute. He thought he was so cool. After dinner we went out for ice cream. Ryan got to try some of Elisha's ice cream. He really liked it. He got just a tinny bit, but he sure did make a mess.

Partners in crime

I really feel like Rex and Ryan are partners in crime. The house seems to be filled with laughter and adventure when Daddy is home. I love to listen to Rex and Ryan play together. Our home seems to be a jungle and they are both explorers. They go up and down the stairs, in rooms that Ryan is not aloud in unless Daddy is home. Simple things like changing a diaper or folding laundry seem to be so much fun. One day I will video tape their conversations. Although Ry does not talk, they have their own secret language. Rex will do anything to get Ryan to laugh or smile. I love it when Ryan will laugh and then Rex laughs and then before you know they are both laughing really loud together.

In the past few days Ryan has made more and more attempts to stand. He is starting to get the hang of it. He will either stand by himself or use something to lean up against. I finally got a picture of it. It is so funny because about half way through it I think he realizes what he is doing and he gets scared so he sits down. He gets the cutest look on his face right before he sits. I will try to capture that on film soon. Until then this is the best picture I have of him standing.

What a trooper!

My little boy who is going to be 1 in 29 days is such a little trooper. I a so Blessed. This morning with the help of Auntie Kelly I took him to the doctor. Rex is on shift. Ryan has pink eye and a cold. Well I guess pink eye is a not a medical term, but you all know what I am talking about. I have to put medicine in is eyes 3 times a day for 5 days. I think I laughed out loud when the doctor said that. Ry will never let me put that gunk in his eyes it is going to take literally three people to do that. I tried a little while ago and was so unsuccessful that it was not even funny. On day like today I hate that my husband will not be home until tomorrow. As For Ry, he is still in pretty good spirits. He doe not smile much and constantly wants to be held. I am ok with the last part. He does smile when I dance and make funny faces at him. So needless to say there has been a lot of dancing around here.

New Addition

Over the last two days Rex and I have been working around the house adding new things. We added a fan to our room, a new light in the master bath, handles and new lights in the kitchen. It is amazing how just those few things make such a difference. Our home was beautiful as is, but it is so much fun adding our own personal touch. I love the kitchen, I can finally see with the new lights.

bye bye tree

I came home from my moms group to see this. Rex finally was able to cut that eye sore of a tree down! Although there was snow on the ground this morning, he was going to cut it down and so he did. These pictures were taken from our master room looking down.

Who me? Take 2

Tonight I was sitting on the couch after putting Ryan to bed, I was really proud of myself. Ryan was asleep and the house was clean-that does not happen very often. I was enjoying some quite time reading my Bible and I heard Ryan giggling. I went up to see him in his room, Bunker (our dog) had gotten in there. Bunker was licking Ryan's hands and Ryan kept on giggling. When I opened the door they both looked up as if to say who me? That seems to be the theme of the day. I now have a third mischievous thing to write about in his baby book!!!!

Who Me?

I was looking through Ryan's baby book getting ready to update it. I turned the page and one of the pages was dedicated to mischievous things that your little one does. I thought about it and I could not think on anything that Ryan does that I would write about or have pictures of. Well I had that thought too soon. Within the hour of reading that Ryan have given me two things to write about. We were upstairs, I was picking up his room he was wondering the hall and playing in his play room. We have a baby gate at the top of the stairs so Ryan can crawl all around. Usually the bathroom door is closed. I say usually because today it was not. You know as a mom when something is not right because it is really quite. Sure enough I found Ryan in the bathroom unrolling all of the toilet paper. He has done this before, but not this bad. I walked in there and asked him what he was doing, he just looked up at me as if to say who me??? It was so cute I had to get a picture, of course. So we cleaned up the tp and went down stairs to play. He was in the kitchen and I was vacuuming the family room. When I do that I close the baby gate that goes down the 3 stairs into our living room. He was playing and I was vacuuming everything was peachy!! All of the sudden I looked up and he was standing on the baby gate. He had climbed up it and was standing holding on for dear life. He has tested the water before with this one as well, but he thought he was so funny this time. I just cannot believe that he can move so quickly. Ryan in safely in his crib taking a nap, well that is where he is suppose to be!!!

New Colors!!

If you did not notice, things look a little different on our blog. I needed a change. Hope you all like it!

My husband the lumber jack!

I beleive that secretly Rex wants to be a lumber jack. As you all know we are redoing most of our yard. Rex is so excited, he is like a child. The yard is all he talks about, thinks about and I am sure he also dreams about it. I am thankful my husband is one of those men that like to start and complete a project as soon as he can. But I do not love yard work as much as he does. He has to work tomorrow and then is on a 4 day, he is already mapping out all he can accomplish in the yard. Today among several others things he wanted to cut down this plum tree in the back yard. He started to cut and realized that he needs a new bade for the chain saw. That stopped him in his tracks. I have not heard any engines starting so I am unsure what kind of trouble he is getting into in the back yard. Here are some pictures of when he started to cut down the tree. I do have to say Rexer always keeps me laughing, that is for sure!

Ryan's 10 month pictures are ready to view. Just visit http://www.kellybphotography.com/. Click on online ordering. The password is ORCUTT. Get the tissues out they will make you cry they are so beautiful!! Thank you Aunt Kelly for always doing such an amazing job.

Just because you are not blood, it does not mean you are not family!!!

What an amazing last two days we have had. Rex and I started to plan out what we are going to do to our yard. Many people have helped us with different creative ideas on how best use the space. Last night we went out to dinner with the Rutkosky, Rutkosky and Roggenkamp families. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. Eric and Ryan sat at each end of the table. They both are clearly the kings. At one point they were kind of talking back and forth, just for a bit. It was a wonderful evening filled with laughter and good times. I love making lasting memories. At dinner we were already planning Saturday morning breakfast with Big Ryan and Kelly. They were here at the house about 9:30 and Rexer made his famous pancakes. The boys then went to work on the yard. The job turned into a little more work than they first expected so they went and got the backhoe from the Rutkosky house. Ryan then drove it 3.5 miles back to our house going less than 7 mph, what a sight to see. It took about 30 minutes. Good thing Uncle Ryan is a patient man!!!! The boys worked and worked all day. So needless to say we ate every meal together. The Roggenkamps also came over, so all the big boys were outside playing on tractors and with chainsaws. It is so much fun to have our home filled with people that we love and that love us. Just because we are not blood, Rex and I really feel that they all are our family for better or worse. We are so thankful that we have all of them. The Rutkoskys, Rutkoskys and Roggenkamps are all a huge part of our daily lives. I feel so Blessed that Ryan has so many amazing people that love him. Here are some fun pictures from our day!!!

When did my little boy become not so little???? Here are some fun pictures from the last couple of days! The sun has been out so we have enjoyed being outside. It is so nice to have a home with a back yard and a nice place for the kiddos to play. We played in the front yard and driveway for hours when Elisha was over. Ryan just crawled around chasing Elisha. Rex was busy planning all of our summer projects. We are going to redo the fence, plant several privacy trees in the back yard and put in new grass. So look out everyone we are definitely calling in favors this summer. We will be putting in over 220 feet of new fence. It will be more room for the dog, and I am excited for Ryan to run around. Speaking of that, he is becoming more and more adventurous. He is standing more by himself and more interested in taking little steps. I am sure by his birthday he will be walking. Just to let everyone know I am planning Ry's birthday on March 28. I will send out inventions. I already have all the party supplies. Of course it is firefighter theme. I could not resist.

Today was a fun day full of family and laughter, I love these kinds of days. We spent the afternoon at Brian's house. We finally got to celebrate his birthday. Julie and I made dinner. Mom and Dad are at the ocean so it was just us kids and the little kids. We had a wonderful dinner. Rex and I came home with another kiddo. Elisha is on break from school so she came to spend the night. We love having her, Ryan loves it as well. He adores her, he follows her everywhere. It is toooooo cute. The kiddos are playing in the playroom with Rexer, so I am blogging about it. I tried to get some cute pictures, but that is pretty impossible with to over tired kids. They just want to play. The first thing that Elisha did was orgnize all of the toys, she would put them one place and Rayn would move them. Elisha has quite the imagination, I love listening to her play. Right now Rexer is the mayor of a town and Elisha is the shoe maker. Ry is right in the middle chiming in every so often. Elisha is making shoes out of blocks and Rex has some kind of English-Elvis accent. Our home is filled with children laughing, I love it.

Happy Valentines Day. It is such a Hallmark holiday, but I secretly love it. As a child we always got presents. How cool is it to celebrate love, yes it is something that should be celebrated year around but to today is a little more special. Ryan was up early, I know that it is because he was so excited to wish me a Happy Valentines Day!!!!! Well that is what I am going to tell myself because it is 7 am. Well we hope that you all have a wonderful day filled with all the love and joy that one day can bring!!!!!

Fireman's Prayer

Fireman's Prayer

When I'm called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage.
Give me strength to save a life whatever be its age.
Help me to embrace a little child before it is too late
Or save an older person from the horror of that fate.
Enable me to be alert to hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.
I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me.
To guard my every neighbor and protect their property.
And if according to Your will I have to lose my life,
Please bless with Your protecting hand my children and my wife.

This prayer is hanging in our home along with most homes of Firefighters and in every Fire Hall. I am reminded of the prayer often. It is something that I find comfort in. I know that Rexer was made to be a firefighter and I take comfort in knowing that Jesus is with him every step of the way. Rex was home most of the afternoon, but went in for overtime about 3.30. He is working with a different shift, one that I do not trust as much as his own shift. He works a 24 on Saturday. So he will be home Sunday morning, right now Sunday seems a life time away. We celebrated Valentine's day this morning. When you are a firefighters wife or child you learn very quickly that holidays are not always celebrated on the day that the calender says. I actually just opened my card, without Rexer. I was reading it and remembering all of our previous 10 Valentines Days together. Not five minutes later Rexer called. He was so excited, he had just been on a fire nothing toooooo big but he got some good action. He and his partner where first in and did search and rescue. Well it was just a search, there was no one to rescue. As a firefighter he lives for fires and as a firefighters wife I hate them. Although I just spoke with him and he is fine, everything that could have gone wrong in that fire goes through my head. I got off the phone and cried, cried for several reasons. That is the love of my life and the father of my child what would I do without him. How could I live. For a moment I was a mess, I collected myself and put Ryan to bed. We said our prayers. At the end I always say Jesus loves you, Daddy loves you and Mommy loves you. Than I was reminded of the fireman prayer. Rex's job is a Blessing, I am able to stay home, he loves what he does and he is an amazing compassionate Firefighter Paramedic that loves Jesus. In that moment I was given peace, peace that on Sunday morning my husband will come home to us.

Cute pictures

One of our families favorite time of the day is Ryan's bath. He loves being in the water, he always has. He also seriously laughs the entire time. I get the best pictures of him in the bath. So enjoy!!!!

No look at the camera!!!

So we all know that Ryan is a pretty independent little guy, this is nothing new. But he is really testing my patients. When ever I get the camera out he will not look at me. I am not kidding, no matter what I do he will not look at me. In this picture he is looking at the dog. The funny thing is that as soon as I put the camera down he will look at me and smile. It is pretty funny but I took 49 pictures and this is the only one where his head is not turned or it is not blurry. 49 pictures for just one semi cute one, that is crazy. Thank God for digital cameras. He is getting so big, his pants are 18 months and all his shirts are 12 months. The thing is he is so long, so they are usually baggy on the sides, but the length is what I have an issue with. When I hold him or rock him he curls up on me like a froggy. His legs are tucked under him and his arm are on his chest. We are cutting back on the bottle. I feel like we get less and less snuggle time each day, so I am setting aside time to just snuggle without distractions. I know that it is more for me than him. I already miss that face to face snuggle time you get when feeding your child a bottle. I had my moms group today, Ryan cried for the first time when I dropped him off at nursery. It was totally heart breaking, but I handed him off and went and enjoyed my Mommy time.

Slobber kisses, just the way I like it!!!!

Today I was kissing Ryan, something that happens about a billion times a day. Unfortunately he already loves to push me away. Today I was getting slobber kisses, they are the best. It totally melts my heart when he lets me give him kisses. Now when we make the kissing noise he makes a noise back. It is so cute. I am not sure how he is doing it, but I love it. I need to get it on video tape. Today we had the pleasure of babysitting a good friend's baby. He is almost 4 weeks old. Ryan seems so big and independent next to the little baby. It is so funny how quickly you forget what it is like to have a newborn. Ryan was really sweet with him, so that makes me hopeful for when Ryan has a little sibling.