Three Abbotts

We're Moving!!!

2011-07-26T13:36:00.004-04:00

No, not to Texas. Not even out of our house. We are just getting a new blog. It is in the works, coming soon (like this week) let me know if you want the new address. :)

http://smilinglittlefaces.blogspot.com/

The Three Abbotts site will remain active for another week or so to allow ample time for you all to see this posting. After that time I will turn it to a private site and will only use the new site to post updates. :)

Whee!!

2011-07-19T07:01:00.000-04:00

While Nana was here the boys discovered a new game, riding the blanket around the house. I think Nana got a great workout (and so did we when it was time for her to take a break). The boys loved this game!!!

Nature Walk

2011-07-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

While we were out at the playground we decided to go for a walk on one of the nearby paths that cut through the woods. The boys had a great time exploring and seeing a little creek. They had an even better time when we found a little spot for them to jump on the rocks and throw rocks into the water!

So big, so brave!

2011-07-15T12:53:00.000-04:00

Ryan loves going to the playground. He has specific names for each playground that we go to that he has made up. We have had to try and learn each one because his name for it isn't the actual name of the playground. His favorite one right now is the "stump" playground. I have no idea where he came up with the name. They do have a chair there that is carved out of a tree stump so maybe that is it?

Anyway since Nana was here and we had an extra set of hands at the playground, I had a great opportunity to photograph the boys. Usually this task is quite difficult because Owen tries to go step for step with Ryan and Ryan is trying to keep up with everything that he sees the big kids doing.

climbing up high

this is where he actually realized how high up he was.
he took one final step and was so proud of himself!

telling me about how he found coconuts (in the trees) with the telescope

Love this. Jeff is a great husband. The best. He is an even better father.
The boys are so blessed to have him.
They adore him and love spending time with their Daddy!

"I have something portant to tell you"

2011-07-14T19:16:00.001-04:00

"I love you Mommy. "

Exact phrase from my sweet little 3 year old this morning. Gosh I love that boy!

Summer List Double Check - Zoo & Sno-Cone

2011-07-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

While Nana was in town for her visit, we made a trip to DC to visit the National Zoo. The boys had a great time! Ryan and Owen LOVED the monkeys (and apes). I think we could have just visited that exhibit and they would have been more than happy. Ryan and Owen had a delicious strawberry sno-cone and shared some cherry lemonade with Nana. We ate our picnic lunch in the car on the way home since it was so hot! It was a great day (even though I have very few pictures of Mr. O!).

checking out the gorillas. They were SO close to us!!!

yummy sno-cone!!!

Ryan mesmerized by the Orangutang, Nana hoping that nothing showered down upon them!

following the elephant footprints

spinning some elephant poop at a poop exhibit. He thought it was pretty funny!!

checking out some monkeys!

Day 1

2011-07-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

Owen has graduated from the crib to the toddler bed! After much consideration, we decided that putting him into a toddler bed for a couple of years would be the best option for us for the time being. In a couple of years, baby girl may be ready for the toddler bed and the boys can upgrade to something really neat, bunk beds!

Last night was the boys first night sleeping in the same room and it went much, much better than I had anticipated. Ryan and Owen took a little longer than usual to fall asleep (about an hour) and there was plenty of giggling and "Owen get in your bed" going on. Then around 9pm all was quiet. I went in there to check on them and they were both in their own beds. :) They stayed there until 6:30 this morning when they both came running out of the room as happy as they could possibly be. Owen was so excited, screeching about his bed. The sound of the little feet running into our bedroom is one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard.

Water Fountains

2011-07-08T14:52:00.002-04:00

One of our favorite summer activities is hitting up the local water fountains. It is a great way for the boys to cool off, burn off a ton of "energies" (as Ryan calls them) and it is fairly easy to keep up with them when I am alone. The only problem with me going alone is that I am never really able to take my camera because I don't have time to focus on taking their pictures while keeping up with two very active little boys. Nana was with us last week and we had a great time beating the afternoon heat one day!!!

lady = not annoying but texting while your bully kid KICKS other children = irritating!!!

Summer List - Dutch Wonderland!

2011-07-08T14:33:00.000-04:00

Last week we made a quick trip up to Dutch Wonderland. We stayed at a fantastic, family-friendly hotel. One that I would absolutely recommend and stay at again and again. The boys probably enjoyed the hotel and accommodations more than Dutch Wonderland. We bought a preview pass so we could go to the park 3 hours before closing and then have regular admission the next day. I am glad that we went ahead and got that ticket since it was the same price as regular park admission.

Ryan has recently started a phase where things are "scary" or he is "scared." Since he is in the midst of this phase he would not ride many rides at all. He enjoyed the train, the bull dozers and a few other things at the park. Owen on the other hand had a great time and was open to riding just about anything he was able to!

We didn't push the issue. We let Ryan ride what he wanted to ride and we just took it easy and enjoyed our time together. :) I am sure we will head that way again next summer...but with 3 kids! YIKES!!!

kind of blurry -- Ryan said he wanted to ride the slide. Once was enough for him...not a fan.

LOVED the slide!!!! Went on several rides. :)

Loved this one too!!! Both boys enjoyed the bull dozers many times each.

Big boy Owen rode the Pandas all by himself!!! He loved it!

The only picture with me in it from our entire vacation. :(

riding in a buggy in Amish country.

Sky ride. Ryan said he REALLY wanted to ride it. Then he got on and I snapped this one! oops! He really did enjoy it though.

Owen loved the big, huge airplane!

Giant water slide ride, both boys said they wanted to ride it and both did! Not sure either one of them actually enjoyed it though!

Ryan loved the sprayground!!! His favorite part of Dutch Wonderland was the "water playground" and he would have stayed there the entire time if we would have let him!

Summer List - Waterpark!

2011-07-08T14:20:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to a local water park. I had grand plans of toting my camera around and trying to get pictures of them while they had fun. Then reality hit. We have 2 boys that LOVE the water and water + my nice camera do not mix. So after snapping a couple of quick photos I decided to put the camera into a locker where it would be safe and sound and enjoy pool time with my boys!

Owen's First Sentence

2011-07-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

Owen hasn't been much of a talker until recently. You can usually understand some of what he says but most of it is just babble still. He rarely puts two words together unless it is bye-bye _____ or night-night _____. Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I walked into his room to get him up from his nap and he exclaims, "Hi Mama...I poop!" Me: You pooped? Owen: "Yeah!" Me: "You sure did!" Owen: excitedly jumping up and down in his crib!!!!

Making Cookies

2011-07-07T14:55:00.000-04:00

We have been trying to find all kinds of things to do in order to beat the heat. One activity the boys enjoy is making special treats. A couple of weeks ago we made funfetti cookies. If you haven't had them, you should. The recipe is on the side of the Funfetti CAKE mix box. Do not buy the cookie mix, it is not the same, cakey, yummy goodness. The cake mix makes those cookies that you can buy in the plastic packages with the yummy frosting on top.

note -- my helpers now have their own little helpers. :)

Strawberry Picking

2011-07-07T14:27:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago we took the boys to pick strawberries. Last year we found a great farm not too far from our house and going there is quickly becoming a favorite tradition. The boys helped us load up with over 10 pounds of fresh strawberries. Due to the fact that we had lots and lots of rain this spring, the strawberries were some of the juiciest I have ever tasted! We had so much fun picking berries with the boys as they stuffed their bellies full sweet, strawberry goodness!!!

We went through the strawberries in no time. I used some (maybe 3 pounds worth) to make strawberry jam. I now have 8 jars of strawberry jam in my freezer and it is delicious!!!!

Preschool Promotion Ceremony

2011-07-07T14:12:00.001-04:00

Like I said, I am way behind. At the beginning of June, Ryan finished his first year of preschool. I can't believe how quickly the year went by. We started the year off at one school and finished at a different one. It was one of the best decisions I could have made! Ryan has told me several times that he misses his friends from school and his teachers. :) I know that he is going to love going in the fall as well. The only slight issue is that the baby is going to come the same week as Ryan starts school. I hope he doesn't feel like he is being sent to school because of the baby!

Anyway - they marched into the sanctuary of the church and graduation music was playing. Tears. Ryan spotted us and smiled from ear to ear and kept walking, more tears. Their class got up on stage and Ryan stood there watching the crowd. Then he realized that he was on a huge screen and turned around to look at himself. I laughed. Then the whole Tues/Thurs morning kids got up on stage and sang "You Are My Sunshine." Ryan spotted me with my camera and just giggled and posed for pictures. Priceless!!! When we got home he showed us that he did indeed know how to sing the songs. He is only able to do his singing when he has his microphone though.

proud daddy!

proud Mommy!!

Behind...

2011-07-07T13:56:00.001-04:00

Ok so I am constantly behind on the blog. I currently have 14 posts on a piece of paper that I need to blog about. YIKES!! I am sure that there are even more than that but my brain can only handle so much. Anyway I will start with another post of what we have been up to lately. All pics from my phone.

First up, we made homemade donuts. Donuts are tricky with Ryan's allergy but we made these from biscuits. The boys loved them!

Owen watches Ryan like a hawk and does everything that Ryan does. Ryan is very patient and rarely gets frustrated with Owen. I can't imagine having someone copy every little thing I did all day long, but I love watching the two of them interact.

Loved it!

On Father's Day the boys made a sand table. We had to venture out to Lowe's to get play sand for our new table. Ryan pulled the wagon himself. Those were 50lb bags each!!!!

Of course Owen wanted to try to pull the wagon too.

Monkey went with us...he goes everywhere with us now though.

Then we stopped at Mickey and Donald's as Ryan calls it for a frozen treat!

forget the spoon...

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful Father! Watching my boys together is one of the greatest parts of my day!

Then I got on a roll working on things around here. I sanded down the table and applied several coats of blue paint.

gosh he's cute!

and strong!

They LOVE the sand table!

Ry also loves his glasses and makes sure that he has them on most of the time!

Lounging on Mommy and Daddy's bed!

Water time!

another thing I have been doing in my free time, sewing! I am learning but feel like I am making major progress!!!

Love them!

We stayed at an awesome hotel in PA when we went to Dutch Wonderland. It was very family friendly and FUN, fun, fun!!!

look @ that chunky arm!

LOVE!!!!!!

Last Week!

2011-06-18T13:39:00.005-04:00

Here is a quick run-down of last week. I have a few things that I will put up a separate post about (Strawberry picking, our anniversary, Ryan's promotion ceremony at school) and I hope to have a few minutes to try and put up some videos!!! (all pics from the phone so excuse the poor quality).

Ryan was watching TV in the rocker, Owen climbed up in there with him and I rushed as fast as humanly possible to grab a camera and capture the sweet moment.

wasting time before Ryan got out of school..

After strawberry picking we headed out for a nature walk/playground time

He loves the baby swing because he can go so high in it! He still occasionally forgets to hold on to the big boy swing so he has to go fairly slow in that one.

The day Owen discovered how fun the slide could be.

I LOVE these boys!!!

He is only allowed to climb up the slide if no other children are at the playground...he loves doing it though.

I see my future..

After Ryan's promotion ceremony at school we let him pick lunch. He chose Chick-fil-A. We said he could have a special ice cream treat afterwards, but only if he would wear the hat. ;)

10 on the 10th

2011-06-18T13:27:00.004-04:00

Ok so it is the 18th and I am just posting this but oh well, at least I actually remembered to do it this month. Several months ago I came across a day-in-the-life post on another blog that I follow. I have been meaning to do it ever since but I somehow always forget. Basically you take one photo per hour for 10 hours on the 10th of the month...so here's our first 10 on the 10th!

9am - reading his favorite book, Snuggle Puppy

10am - snack time before playtime!

11am - playing at the fountains - the only shot I have where both boys are pictured.

Noon = naptime = Happy ME!

1pm - time to clean

2pm - naps still going strong, time to enjoy a nice, cold glass of freshly made strawberry lemonade! YUM

3pm - Hello there bed head!

4pm - pool time!

5pm - dig in the dirt time --- help Mommy with the gardening time, (quickly followed by bath time)

6pm - 27 weeks pregnant belly shot ---- getting ready for an anniversary celebration with my wonderful hubby! Happy 9th anniversary, Jeff!!!!

Our Week...through my phone

2011-06-18T08:15:00.006-04:00

This week the weather was fantastic! The temperatures were perfect, allowing for plenty of outdoor time and plenty of picnics. I wish it could be that way all year around!

Ryan picked up this rock and exclaimed, "Mommy, it's the biggest rock I've ever seen!"

Enjoying a nice walk outside.

What better way to finish up a picnic than with oreos?

Help, I'm stuck!

After a morning walk and errands this little boy passed out in a beanbag.

After naps we made cookies!

Then went for a long walk to another playground!

of course Monkey came with us. He had a fun time!

Checking out a new playground

Got to go see a kids concert on Thursday!

I finally (after almost 3 years of owning it) plugged in my sewing machine, threaded it and attempted to sew a straight line. Need a little more practice. lol

and then went to the playground again after naps.

Friday we had to go get a Father's Day gift then hit up yet another playground. Looks like someone was having a great time!

Later we went to our neighborhood playground again..

last week Owen finally discovered that he REALLY loved the slides. Up until last week we practically had to force him to go down. This week he progressed to the twisty slide. He LOVES it. Even more fun than going down is climbing up!

Decided that the double jogger is easier to use than the wagon. Even though it is HEAVY!!! The stroller = at LEAST 35 pounds, Ryan = 35 pounds, Owen = 28 pounds. Ummm that is a lot of weight to be pushing around!!! But easier to push it than to pull it in a wagon!

wordless wednesday

2011-06-15T15:26:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T14:53:00.001-04:00

Summer List

2011-06-07T13:24:00.002-04:00

Summer is my favorite time of year. Yes, it is unbearably hot at times, but there is SO much to do in a day. The days are long, the sun shines bright, the activities are plentiful -- summer is GREAT!

After reading this post yesterday I decided that a Summer List was a must do for our family. I hope that it becomes a yearly tradition. As the kids get bigger I fully intend to have them come up with some of the items on their own. I am so excited to get started on our list and looking forward to creating memories with the boys!!!

My summer list isn't as cute as hers but that is not the point. Here is our 2011 Summer List! Blank space at the bottom for us to add items as we go. :)

I can't wait

2011-06-05T21:49:00.003-04:00

To print these images up ---- big and put them on my wall!!! When did my boys get so big?

Random Things

2011-06-05T15:02:00.003-04:00

I was looking at the blog the other day and felt a little blah about the images. I never take time to edit the images of my own kids. I also haven't been making them big (I totally forgot that I knew how to do that). Anyway, since I don't keep a baby book, I am going to make an effort to do a better job with the pictures of my children.

These were all taken on a random hot day last week. We had the boys outside playing in the pool/water table. Owen still isn't a fan of the pool. He really doesn't care for water much at all. Even baths for him can result in a major meltdown. He is not, I repeat NOT a fan of getting his head wet. He does however enjoy splashing in his water table.

I want to remember these pudgy fingers forever. The rolls of baby fat mean that my child is well nourished.

My sweet Ryan is growing into more of a little boy every single day. The things he says constantly make me laugh. The other day he asked for a brown lollipop. I wasn't sure he would like the brown one (root beer flavored). One lick and he loved it! I asked him what it tasted like and he proudly stated, "A wheel barrow!" I guess those taste pretty good. ;)

(not sure why this picture is now small)

Just don't let that water get him in the face!!!!

Smile on Sunday...

2011-06-05T14:58:00.001-04:00

006, a photo by shannon.pink02 on Flickr.

This goofy little boy is all grins, almost all the time. His silly smiles can make anyone smile. :)

Fun at Grandpa Jerry's

2011-05-25T21:54:00.005-04:00

The boys had a fantastic time while we were staying at Grandpa Jerry's house. Their favorite activities there were playing with the dogs, the pianos and the water out back. At first Owen HATED the water. If even one drip of the water hit him he would have a complete meltdown. Finally on our last day there Owen decided to have at the water. He had so much fun and was soaked head to toe!

Thank you so much Grandpa J for all you did for us!!! We appreciate you so much! :)

love!

one of a few trips to visit the ducks

Ryan, you keep feeding those ducks, this stuff is good!!!

Still not giving the bread to the ducks..

Sprinkler FUN!!!

I'm gonna get you...

Finally, he loves it!!!

Picture Overload

2011-05-25T21:36:00.006-04:00

I have been meaning to post pictures from our trip to Texas and I keep forgetting or getting side-tracked or too tired by the end of the day to actually do so. I hope I can keep this blog going when I am chasing around 3 little ones!

Brandon got the boys water guns --- they were a huge hit!

Kind of funny that Ryan adores Uncle B and Owen loves to be with Uncle A.

This face has mischief written all over it!

Owen and Grandpa J

Ryan helping Papa with the leaf blower...

Easter baskets!

they were so excited about the chocolate bunnies...

Ryan helping Owen get a few eggs..

Getting the hang of it.

oooohh lookie here!

Relaxing with Mommy after a long day!

What a difference a year makes...

2011-05-19T19:07:00.001-04:00

This actually makes me kind of sad. Mainly because it forces me to see how fast time is going by and how much changes in just 365 days.

Ryan riding the Babe's tractor in April 2010

And in May 2011

Our Day with Uncle B!

2011-05-17T12:47:00.005-04:00

I found out a couple of months ago that my brother and his band would be coming through DC, finally! They have been touring for over 2 full years and this was their first trip to the DC area. Anyway, he had just enough time that day to stop by and play with the boys and get a good, home-cooked meal before his big show. Jeff and I went to watch the guys. I don't think we had seen them play live since before Ryan was born so it was a treat to finally get to see them again. The boys love their Uncle Brandon and had so much fun playing with him!

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures!!! Love it!

My Little Whistleblower

2011-05-17T12:44:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the low quality of these pictures, they were taken with my phone. A few weeks ago I bought some very inexpensive whistles to put into the Easter Eggs at Ryan's school. Ryan had fun with his whistle and trying to figure it out. Suddenly Owen picked up a whistle of his own and started blowing it. He actually was able to figure it out a little faster and blow much louder than Ryan. He thought it was hilarious. :)

Don't want to forget..

2011-05-17T07:46:00.002-04:00

There are a couple of things that I wanted to share quickly that I just want to make sure I remember. First up is one about Owen. Owen, you are a great sleeper! Some times you might not think you should go to bed but trust me you always end up falling asleep in seconds once you are in your bed, even if there are 10 or so seconds of tears. Once you wake up you are quiet as can be. I think you would be content to stay in your crib for most of the day if you could. When I come to get you 99.9% of the time you snuggle up as close as you can to me and you will happily stay that way for as long as I will let you. Yesterday after your nap I just let you cuddle for 10 minutes. It was so sweet. You are so sweet!!!

Ryan --- you have recently become scared of pretty much everything, or so you say. There are now monsters in our bathroom (although you can never tell me where they are, but you are sure they are in there). You see a spider out on the back deck while you are inside and state that you are scared of the spider. You are funny!

18 Months!!

2011-05-10T13:40:00.006-04:00

A couple weeks late but oh my goodness...Owen is 18 months old already!!! Wow! I cannot believe how fast he is growing and how big he is acting!!! We go for his official 18 month check up later this week so we will know how he is growing but he has had some really big changes in the past month! He has gotten a couple new teeth and a couple more are starting to break through. He has become much more talkative. Most of what he says though we still don't really understand. He is SO friendly to everyone and everyone we meet. He is very much a go with the flow child, unless it is something that he really just doesn't want to do. Trust me, if that is the case he will let you know. Owen has a scream like none other and isn't afraid to throw an occasional, rare tantrum. YIKES!!

18 things Owen loves at 18 months!

1. Mommy cuddles

2. Glasses - he will swipe yours if you aren't paying attention. :)

3. Hats

4. The book Snuggle Puppy. He will read very few books but this one is one that he requests over and over and over again. He loves it.

5. Splashing in the water.

6. FOOD!

7. Saying "cheese" for the camera.

8. Cake!!! Are there people out there that don't like cake?!?!?!

9. Anyone who remotely looks like they could be a Grandpa to him. He LOVES people in general but is especially fond of middle-aged men.

10. Crocs. He was constantly trying to wear Ryan's until we finally caved and bought him his own pair. He loves them!

11. Doing whatever his big brother Ryan is doing.

12. Being a helper.

13. His paci. He is officially an addict. I probably need to be a little more stern with allowing him to have it but really he only gets it if he is sleeping or if he is having a really, really rough day!

14. Being outside!

15. Chasing birds and/or ducks. Hey, it is super-duper fun to make them run/fly away!

16. Pointing out babies anywhere we go. Then he repeats baby baby baby over and over and over again while waving and pointing in their general direction. :)

17. Waving bye bye to every single airplane he sees. He will say "bye bye a pan" over and over and over again anytime he sees an airplane fly past.

18. Bubbles!!! The child asks for more more bubbles 1o0 times a day. He adores them and giggles with delight anytime we bring them out.

Let's Ride Bikes!!

2011-05-10T13:16:00.001-04:00

On one of the first semi-nice days we had this spring we decided to take the boys out to try out the new scooter and bike. Owen is really fond of Ryan's bike and Ryan is still trying to get the hang of the scooter. He really thinks he should just stand on it and be pushed around. We are working on it. :)

Owen Loved Ryan's Party too...

2011-05-10T13:13:00.002-04:00

I should have posted these ages ago but I totally forgot until I was weeding through photos. After Ryan's birthday party, Owen had an absolute blast playing in the cars. His personal favorite was Lightning McQueen of course. He also tried to imitate the Michelin baby and hopped into a tire for a few quick photos. :)

We're Back...

2011-05-09T14:18:00.001-04:00

We just returned from an almost 3 week trip to Texas. We had a great time visiting with friends and family and did not want to leave. If anyone happens upon large sums of money or knows a legal and legit way to "get rich quick" let me know. That way we can move! We are happy to be back home and into our normal routine again and are enjoying this wonderful VA spring!

Lots and lots of new posts coming...hopefully I can get through one or two a day in order to get caught back up!

It's a Girl!!

2011-04-10T21:04:00.003-04:00

Well we weren't going to find out the gender of our baby. Then we decided it would be really fun to find out and actually be able to share the news with our family in Texas in person as we are soon making a trip. Then we actually found out and realized that we were too excited to hold in our news for that long! We had Ryan make some phone calls to all of his grandparents and to his Aunt Jenn and Uncle B. Everyone was super-excited! No one even knew that we were going to find out so when Ryan called them to say he was going to have a baby sister, most of them thought that he was just wanting a baby sister. :)

I was 100% convinced that we would be having a boy. Ever since I was pregnant with Ryan I had visions of us having 3 boys. I even had dreams about having another boy. The only thing that has been different with this pregnancy is that I have had cravings. I never craved anything with the boys. This time I have been craving junk food to the extreme. I will probably gain 100 pounds if I am not careful...yikes! Jeff has been saying it's a girl from day one and Ryan even got it right! :)

We are so excited to welcome a sweet baby girl into our lives. I look forward to all that is ahead for our growing family. I love having my little boys, don't get me wrong. But I have dreamed of having a little girl forever. I am so excited about all that is in store for us and for her! :)

Cherry Blossoms

2011-04-07T20:38:00.001-04:00

In Texas they have the lovely bluebonnets. Here in the DC area, we have the Cherry Blossoms. They are one of the first signs of spring every single year. We didn't make it down to DC this year, but there are plenty of beautiful blossoms all around our town. They are scattered all throughout our neighborhood so today on our walk (as many of the petals were starting to blow away) I snapped a few quick photos.

There were 4 cherry blossom trees together on a hill..

Play Ball!!

2011-04-06T14:17:00.005-04:00

One of Ryan's birthday gifts this year was a baseball tee from my Dad. I have to say that these memories will remain etched my mind for a very, very long time. Growing up I played softball. I played from the age of 4 until the age of 18. When I say I played softball what I really should be saying is that softball was pretty much my life. I played on a traveling, tournament team starting around the age of 9. We played year round and it was a family affair.

My mom kept score and was the loudest cheerleader in the stands. She was not the annoying parent that gripes when their kid doesn't do well, but the biggest supporter there. She cheered for everyone and I could hear her loud whistles echo through the park anytime anyone did an extraordinary job!

My Dad was, for a very long time, my head coach. He never went easy on me though. He made me earn my spot just like every other girl on the team. He was a great coach. I remember watching other coaches scream and yell at their teams, but my dad never would do that. We knew when he was disappointed in how we played but he would never say that we did a bad job. My dad lead our team to the state championship when I was all of 12 years old! That is one of the most fantastic weekends I had as a kid.

My Uncle and my cousin even helped coach our team for a while. Those were the fun days! My cousin was 10 years older than the rest of us girls and we really looked up to her (I still do). She was also a great softball player too.

I always thought that my kids would one day continue the tradition and play baseball or softball. They don't have to be super competitive but I do want them to at least try it out. :)

So back to the reason for this post --- Dad got Ryan a baseball tee for his 3rd birthday. As soon as Ryan opened it up, he was ready to go outside and try it out. I grabbed the camera and darted out after them to capture the memories. These photos hold a very special place in my heart. I know that my Dad taught me how to swing a bat and he got to help Ryan learn how to swing a bat too!! This was Ryan's first time using a bat and/or tee. :)

Getting ready for the first swing! (Trying out the right side first, even though we are 99.5% certain that Ryan is a lefty).

And a hit!!!

Ryan was so proud of himself!

You could tell that Ryan was uncomfortable on the right side though. He kept trying to hold the bat with only his left hand. We switched him around and let him try out the left side.

Determined little boy, trying it out on his own!

Love everything about this.

Random Funnies

2011-04-04T12:52:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to post a couple of recent things that Ryan has said that really made me laugh. I love how he says the funniest things without even realizing that they are funny. :)

On a windy afternoon...

Ryan: "Mommy, where is the wind coming from?"

Me: (very uncertain as I don't think I have ever really thought about it) umm...the sky.

Ryan: "No, Mommy, it is coming from that way." (pointing in the direction the wind is coming from.)

Getting dressed in shorts for the first time of the warm season...

I see Ryan walking around trying to pull his pant legs down.

Me: "Ryan, what are you trying to do?"

Ryan: "Mommy, these pants are way too short for me."

Me: "Ryan they are shorts, that is how they are supposed to be. You wear them when it is warm outside so you don't get too hot."

Ryan: "Mommy, I think we need to find my jeans."

Ryan has also started trying to tell time on a regular clock. He will look at the numbers and say it is 4:10 -- but in reality it is 4:50. I never really thought about how strange the clock was until I thought about how I would explain that to a 3 year old. (Well, 2 is really 10, but only when you are counting in minutes). It is funny how things that we don't even think twice about are kind of complex to explain. Lucky for us, simple explanations work for now. :)

Banana Bread

2011-03-24T13:48:00.002-04:00

For the record, I am not a baker. I do not enjoy the process and I do not enjoy following recipes to a T. I like to be able to improvise and add in things as I see fit which is why I prefer to cook. That said, this is a very good banana bread. I usually make it into muffins since the kids think they are getting a super special treat when they have anything remotely shaped to a cupcake!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour for all or some of the flour to make it healthier)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter (I usually do 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce to make it healthier)

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups mashed bananas (I do not measure this but usually use 5 bananas).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease loaf or muffin pan.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar. Stir in mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture --- do not over stir, just moisten. Pour batter into loaf pan.

3. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour if you are using a loaf pan. Approx 25-30 minutes for muffins.

4. Cool & Enjoy.

You can also add other things into this banana bread to make it even more delicious. Fresh blueberries are good and chocolate chips are even better. You can never go wrong with a little chocolate. At least not in my kitchen. ;)

Lately

2011-03-23T14:21:00.005-04:00

Here is a bit of what we have been up to lately -- courtesy of my phone pictures.

A few pictures from a children's museum. Ryan asks to go to a children's museum about once a week. He really enjoys all the fun stuff they have to offer.

They had this chair from Ikea at the museum. Owen played in the chair for at least 15 minutes. I am thinking this could be a good Christmas or birthday gift idea!!!

I think it is time to go to the next shirt size. How is this little 16 month-old already needing 2T?

Ryan's cheesy little smile. LOVE!

Ryan was telling Owen about the cows at the farm. I love that Owen has a mixture of Cheerios and Kix stuck to his rear end.

Paci addict. He literally had 4 of them in his hands and couldn't figure out which one he wanted the most so he just kept rotating. hahaha

Cars Party!!!

2011-03-19T14:36:00.012-04:00

We celebrated Ryan's 3rd birthday with a Disney Cars themed party. Thanks to the work of my crafty Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Dad, husband and a little of my own elbow grease, we had fabulous decorations to go with the party! :) I found a few ideas from other blogs, but several things I came up with myself. We had a great time and I think our friends did as well.

Flo's V8 Cafe - we served pizza (during lunch time, had a stack of chocolate donuts (tires), fresh fruit and drinks.

Coke & Sprite

My awesome SIL made us cupcake holders but they were too big. I was SO sad not to use them. :(

Since it was such a nice day we moved this game outdoors once the party started. Luigi's Casa Della Tire Toss.

At Ramones House of Body Art the kids painted unfinished wooden cars and received temporary tattoos if they wanted them.

We also had a pin the tire on Lightning game but I don't think I took a photo...uhoh!

Thanks to my super duper Mother-in-Law...

Front door...

The cars. We got this idea here we tried to somewhat recreate it. The kids loved the cars!!! We only made 5 -- they were a ton of work.

Grandpa J blew bubbles -- Owen's favorite!

Then it was time for pizza & cake (what 3 year-old doesn't love this combination??) Owen LOVED the cake!

We finished off the party with the pull-string pinata. We had so much fun and so did our little ones! :)

BIG HUGS from my sweet birthday boy!!!

Grandpa J and his little grandsons..they are so glad to have him here and so am I!

2011-03-19T14:36:00.001-04:00

Baby 3!!!

2011-03-15T13:24:00.002-04:00

I am sure that most of you know by now that we are expecting our 3rd baby! Baby Abbott #3 is due 9/10/11 but will likely be born about a week before that date. I am currently 14.5 weeks along and I feel like I look about 20 weeks. I guess the 3rd time the belly just knows what to do because it is definitely starting to pop. In fact, I tried on my maternity pants last week out of desperation. Unfortunately they are HUGE. I am not sure what my next move will be. It is still to cold to wear capris, skirts or dresses. I guess I will be a fan of leggings and yoga pants for a while.

Jeff and I are so excited to welcome another baby into our family. We are thinking that we will not find out the gender this time as we really do not care either way whether we have a boy or girl. For the record, Jeff thinks it is a girl and I am certain that it is another little boy. We haven't told the boys yet. Mainly because they would think that means a baby is coming tomorrow. Once my belly is really noticeable we will tell them. I am excited to see how Ryan and Owen react to another baby. I think Ryan will be more into it this time and really want to help. I think Owen is going to have a bit of a difficult time adjusting as he is very much a Mommy's boy.

I need to come up with something to call baby 3. B3? I don't know. It doesn't seem to flow the same way that B2 did with Owen.

500th Post

2011-03-15T13:15:00.002-04:00

I started this blog almost 3 years ago. As I sat down to write Ryan's 3rd Birthday post, I noticed that I was on number 499!!! I am so glad that I decided to document this big adventure for our family. I have a terrible memory so this blog really does help me remember the times we have had, good and bad! :)

Looking forward to the fun in store for my next 500 posts. :) My pace has dramatically slowed in the past year or so. It might take me 8 years to get through the next 500.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

2011-03-14T13:23:00.007-04:00

Ryan turns 3 years old today. Three years. How is that possible? I remember, in detail, the day that I found out that I was pregnant with him. I remember Jeff talking to my belly every night and watching as Ryan moved all over the place the entire time. I remember the moment that I saw his sweet face and the overwhelming love I felt in my heart when that moment finally arrived.

At 3 years old, Ryan is such a good boy. He is a joy to be around, has an infectious laugh and smiles pretty much all the time. He loves to be silly, loves to scream at the top of his lungs, loves to play tag, loves to boss his little brother around, loves to be a helper in any way that he can, loves to play with my iPhone all day long, loves to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, loves to cuddle, loves chicken nuggets, loves going to the play ground and being as daring as he possibly can be, loves his Fluppy dog, loves to play with his friends, loves to look at the toys every time we go to Target, loves chocolate milk and pretty much anything else any other 3 year-old enjoys to do.

He constantly says the funniest things. He takes after his Dad and is very, very silly. I am actually a little afraid of some of the things in my future! In Ryan's words, today is his "Three Birthday". We look forward to celebrating with just our family tonight and with some friends and family on Saturday!

I say this all the time but I have been so blessed. I was chosen to be Ryan's Mommy and I could not be any happier. There have been many long days, many days where I thought my patience had been pushed to its limits. I know that those days will be plenty in my future. There is not one single thing that I would do differently. I am amazed that no matter how long some of those days may seem that the years seem to click off at warp speed. My little boy is growing so fast and becoming more of a "big boy" every single day! I love you Ryan and I am so proud of you. I look forward to seeing what is in store for you in the future!!!!

A quick (well not so quick really) walk down memory lane.

1st Birthday

The day we brought Owen home from the hospital...

2nd Birthday

1st day of school..

yesterday...

***I am so glad that I am a crazy mom with a camera. I have taken over 10,000 pictures of Ryan in 3 years...actually way more than that. I have 10,000 on this computer alone! ha! I cherish the memories!***

Ryan's New School

2011-03-08T22:35:00.003-05:00

Last week I made the decision to take Ryan out of his preschool program. Ryan seemed to really enjoy the school but one thing after another really irked me about the program. It might seem like a lot of little things to some but after a while little things (like not really knowing about peanut allergies and how to accommodate them and not taking my child to the bathroom the entire morning) really add up and I decided that enough was enough. I knew that he was set to go to a school that I love next fall and figured he would just wait until September to start back to school. On a whim I decided to contact his new school to see if they had any current spots available. Strangely enough a little boy just moved last week so they had exactly one opening! YAY!!!! I spent Friday and Monday running around gathering paperwork and taking Ryan to tour his new school and meet his teachers.

Today was Ryan's first day and I was absolutely amazed. I guess I didn't realize just how unorganized and poorly run his old school was until I saw the new school in action. The teachers are outstanding. The way they greet the children by coming down to their level, smiling and hugging each child just warmed my heart. At the end of the day one of the teachers stepped out of the room to tell all of the parents exactly what the children had done that day. She went on to talk about how well behaved the children were. :) Ryan had a fantastic day at school. The teachers both told me that he was great and that he fit right in and played well with all of the other children. The teachers give hugs to each student as they leave for the day. They genuinely seem to love their jobs and love their children!! Ryan talked the entire way home about all that he did at school -- he went fishing in a bucket (it is fish week at school), went to the playground and found a cave, painted with blue and red paint, played in the water but didn't waste it, had pretzels and fruit for snack, went to chapel and prayed, played with the kitchen and a few other minor things. It was wonderful to see him so excited!!! I am looking forward to many more fun days ahead!

A share...

2011-03-07T14:10:00.003-05:00

I have a blog that I absolutely love. I follow it daily even though I do not know the family or the photographer at all. I only know that she is a former professional photographer who took some time off from her business to raise her family, 3 boys and a baby girl. I love the way she captures their every day life in such great detail. Many of her posts have inspired me to look at life in different ways, change my perspective, enjoy being in the moment that much more! Sometimes it might seem as if I am not blogging much or not taking as many pictures as I should (which technically I am not). But I am doing things more important than that...I am creating memories with my boys and enjoying every single moment of this short time that they are little!

If you are interested in checking out this blog, and I highly encourage you to do so, click here.

How about a Potty-sicle?

2011-03-07T14:00:00.003-05:00

A few months ago I found these fantastic little popsicles, Mighty Minis. They are tiny melt really slowly and they are the perfect treat for little kids. Ryan calls them potty-sicles which I think is absolutely hilarious. Owen isn't sure what to make of them. He has to have one whenever Ryan gets one but he doesn't actually enjoy the cold sensation one bit.

Ryan with his waaayy overgrown hair.

Ok that wasn't bad...

but I still prefer to eat it this way..

16 Months!!!

2011-03-07T13:24:00.005-05:00

I am about a week and a half late on posting this but Owen is now 16 months old! He is still a man of very few words but he is able to communicate his wants and needs. We have noticed in the past several days that he has been trying to imitate most of the words we say. I know it won't be long before he is stringing words together and has a word for everything! Owen loves to be outdoors exploring the world. In fact, I have noticed that when he is outside he is very interested in what is around him. He points at things trying to discover what they are, what sounds they make and what they do. He loves airplanes and loves to wave good bye to each one that passes by our house (Ryan did the same thing when he was smaller too).

Owen has started to become a little more particular on what he will and will not eat. He still eats pretty much anything he can get his hands on but he has made it clear that he does not like broccoli, popsicles (I think they are a little too cold for him..haha) and beef.

Owen has started to transition from 2 naps to 1 nap a day. Most days he will only nap once from about 12-3. If we have an errand to run though he often will cat nap in the car and take a shorter nap in the afternoon. Owen is now wearing almost all 24 month clothing, a size 6.5W shoe and size 4 or 5 diapers. He is not a fan of brushing his teeth -- of which we are now up to 8! He has the 2 on bottom in the middle, the top 4 and then 2 molars on top.

One of my favorite memories from this month has been watching Ryan and Owen interact. Every night before bed I rock Owen for a few minutes. In the past month or so it has become a family event. Jeff brings the boys to the chair, I hop in then he helps the boys get situated in my lap. Then Ryan instructs Jeff to leave and turn the light off. We listen to classical music and sit and rock for a few minutes. The boys usually do something sweet or silly like hold hands (the first time they did this they thought it was hilarious) or play games with Owen's paci. Those few minutes spent in that rocking chair have quickly become my favorite time of day. I also find myself wondering how long we will be able to do this with my growing belly and how on earth I will be able to fit another child into that chair with me!

Happy 16 month birthday, Owen!!! Here's your first goose-egg!

At a friend's birthday party. Owen thought he was so big and sat with all the other 3 year-olds waiting for his pizza and cake!

and because EVERYONE has been telling me how much R & O look alike here is a comparison of my sweet little Ryan at 16 months! My oh my how fast he has grown.

Hello March!!

2011-03-01T14:29:00.004-05:00

March is a great month! It might start off cold and blustery but just the thought that spring is right around the corner leaves me feeling refreshed and energized! Throw in the fact that three years ago we welcomed our first child in March and it easily becomes one of my favorite months of the year! :)

The past week or two we have been given some sporadic nice days. The boys have really enjoyed getting out and enjoying the time in the fresh air and sunshine. This past Sunday was one of those beautiful days. We took the boys for a very long walk and then headed to a play ground for a bit. Owen love, love, loved getting out and walking. He didn't want to be carried the entire time. Our walk to the play ground (we took the longest route possible) took an hour and he walked the entire time, less time spent crossing a major road.

Seriously he was squealing with delight and saying hi and waving hysterically to anyone who passed by.

Big boy does the BIG slides all by himself now!

I think they had fun...don't you?

Vegetable Soup

2011-02-26T17:24:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our menu. I grew up in a family where if there wasn't meat in the meal then it wasn't a real dinner. Times have changed and with our family trying to eat as much organic as we can afford, we have decided to have a couple of meatless nights to stretch our grocery budget (and try new things too)!

I found this recipe from the Food Network. I made several changes that I will note below. Jeff and I loved the soup and Owen gobbled it up as fast as he possibly could. I am a horrible recipe cook though. I am constantly adding different things into soups or taking things out. I think that my additions, especially the seasonings really added a great flavor to the soup.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped leeks, white part only (from approximately 3 medium leeks) -- we didn't have leeks on hand so I used onion
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
Kosher salt
2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds (approximately 2 medium)
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into 3/4-inch pieces (instead of fresh veggies I used a bag of frozen mixed veggies, carrot, corn, peas and green beans)
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
4 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes (I used only one can of diced tomatoes)
2 ears corn, kernels removed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 to 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
I also added a bit of dried basil, dried oregano and dried thyme

Directions

Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the leeks, garlic, and a pinch of salt and sweat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the tomatoes, corn kernels, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the parsley and lemon juice. Season, to taste, with kosher salt. Serve immediately.

Too Much Chocolate Cake

2011-02-26T17:19:00.002-05:00

Can there really be such a thing? Probably not. This recipe is fantastic and has been requested several times. On top of being delicious, it is also easy as can be to make.

Thanks AllRecipes.com!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix (you can really use any type of chocolate cake mix)
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Now for the chocolate glaze that I top the cake with...mmmm!! Note - you can leave the cake as is or top with powdered sugar too. I like the extra kick of chocolate though.

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and melt. I use the microwave because it is easiest!

ENJOY!

Today...

2011-02-18T19:26:00.005-05:00

We started the day off with Owen's hair cut (previous post) then after we picked Ryan up from school the boys had lunch and took a nap. Jeff surprised us by coming home from work VERY early for a change. YAY! About the same time the kiddos decided to wake up so we headed out the door as fast as we possibly could to enjoy this beautiful afternoon.

First stop - Ryan's turn to get a haircut. Ryan really didn't care for sitting still too long this time. He kept telling the man we are all done over and over again. Then we had a little snack outside while Jeff got his hair cut too.

Then it was time to head to a favorite playground.

Ryan climbed to the top by himself -- very proud little boy!

Funny thing at the playground. There was another man there who was wearing a green striped polo very similar to Jeff's. The man also had dark brown hair, facial hair and jeans and was about the same height as Jeff. Well the man's little girl ran over to Jeff and grabbed his leg thinking it was her Daddy. Once she looked at him she realized oops, not my daddy. Then moments later Owen walked up to the other man saying "Dada" and waiting to be picked up. I had to usher him away. A few minutes later Ryan was running around the playground and stopped in his tracks to look at that man. He kept walking back over to go and make sure that the man wasn't really his Daddy. We thought it was very funny. :)

After we played for an hour or so, we ran over to the nearby mall. Ryan loves to go and see the fish in Nordstrom. Ryan requested Chick-fil-A for dinner and we happily obliged. Then we went for a ride on the mall's carousel.

After our ride we came home and had a little tv time. Ryan's new favorite is Jake and the Neverland Pirates on Disney Junior.

2nd Haircut!

2011-02-18T13:04:00.003-05:00

After I dropped Ryan off at school this morning I took Owen in for a haircut. He was WAY overdue for a trim (his last haircut was in October). Owen was such a good boy the entire time. He really didn't seem to mind one bit to have someone messing with him and wasn't bothered by the noise of the clippers either. After his haircut we went to Panera for a special treat. Then headed out to the outlet mall to do a little shopping. Owen spent most of the time walking and he did such a good job staying with me. Anyway - here is my baby looking so grown up!

New Look

2011-02-15T13:36:00.002-05:00

So I changed up the look of the site. I think I like it, but it still needs a little work. :)

Today I went to the gym for the first time in over 4 years. Yeah, it's been a LONG time. The kids went to the children's area and it was not until I was getting ready to drop them off that I realized that I have never left Owen in an unfamiliar environment without me staying there. I figured it would be ok though since Ryan was there and he could just be near Ryan. Well I suppose there was plenty of fun to be had because Ryan bolted and left Owen standing in the dust. Ryan had a fantastic time in the kids area. :) After my work out I went to go grab the boys and noticed one of the workers giving Owen extra cuddles. She said that he was walking around and just started getting big crocodile tears in his eyes. POOR BABY!! As soon as he saw me he started crying and saying Mama Mama. :( I hope he gets used to the play area and that he likes it. I have a feeling that next time he won't do quite as well at drop off since he will know that Mama is leaving.

I have a confession

2011-02-01T15:15:00.003-05:00

It will likely come as no surprise to most of you, but I hate February. While it does have a few redeeming qualities, my brother was born in February, Valentine's day and several of my friends will be welcoming babies of their own this blustery month, as a whole February just kind of sucks. The days of gray skies, cold weather, ice, snow, winter weather advisories, heavy coats, gloves, hats, warming up the car, shoveling and scraping ice off of the windshield really wear me out. I am looking forward to the promise of spring in March, to seeing little signs that warm weather is on the horizon and to seeing little buds on trees. Although February is only 28 days long, it seems like it is 28 weeks (or maybe that is just me). I wish I could just temporarily relocate to somewhere warm and sunny. Winter is wearing me out. :(

This little boy...

2011-01-27T21:47:00.003-05:00

-makes me laugh every day (even with a big milk mustache)

-never ceases to amaze me

-is the silliest kid I know (that flash is super bright)

-has decided that he loves to cuddle lately

-calls sandwiches "shammits" and sometimes it sounds like a really not so nice word. Especially when he says that he would like to watch Oso's shammit.

-is full of joy every day!!!

-sometimes will actually look at the camera and grin

-is the most wonderful helper

-has a ton of patience, especially with his brother

-teaches me to enjoy every moment

Thank you Ryan for being the super-fun little boy that you are! I am so proud of you!!

Air and Space Museum

2011-01-27T21:36:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided to get out and find something to do indoors since it has been such a cold winter. We ended up heading to the nearby air and space museum. The boys had a fantastic time there. They loved that they could just walk around or run around and explore. We will definitely be heading back soon!

Ryan pointing out the space shuttle

What?

This little boy had a BLAST!!

15 Months!

2011-01-26T13:57:00.005-05:00

Owen is 15 months old!! He is growing so fast. It seems like everywhere we go now people ask me if the boys are twins. I guess, well I know that Owen is big for his age. We went to the doctor today and found out that Owen is 27 pounds!!! The child knows how to eat! We go for his official 15 month appointment next week so we will have full stats at that time.

Owen is trying really hard to talk! He knows and understands a lot of what we say. So far he is actually a really good listener as well. He just doesn't have a whole lot of actual words in his vocabulary yet. He loves to say Go, Up, duce (juice - this really means any drink), ball (which comes out more like baaaa) and more. He knows what sound almost every animal makes and he knows several body parts as well (nose, mouth, ear, tummy, toes).

Owen is up to 7 teeth now. He absolutely hates getting his diaper changed. He likes to be held. He loves to be rocked at night. On nights when I am not home to rock him I think he wakes up on purpose just to get his extra snuggle time in. Tonight for instance -- Jeff worked late so I didn't have time to rock Owen like I normally would. About an hour after he went to sleep he woke up crying. I went in there rocked him for 10 minutes and he was ready to go to bed. He loves his cuddle time!

What better way to celebrate turning 15 months old than by getting pink eye and a double ear infection?!?! This was Owen's first time to ever go to the doctor for being sick so I think he has had a great run! Thank the Lord!!!

Owen is also starting to transition from two naps to just one. I actually have mixed feelings about it. Right now the morning nap time is my getting ready/alone time with Ryan. Once Owen is no longer napping then we can do things in the morning. With only one nap -- Owen barely makes it to 11:45 and Ryan doesn't go down until 1 so there isn't as much overlap of their naps. Right now they both nap at the same time in the afternoon which allows me some much needed alone time.

Example of a 1 nap day. By 11 he needs his paci or he is not happy..

Starts getting very, very sleepy while I am preparing lunch -- which never happens otherwise! He LOVES to eat!

Often only eats a couple of bites and then he is all done and ready to go to bed. This day I let him stay in the chair for a total of 3 minutes and he was out.

Sick, sick, sick...

2011-01-26T13:48:00.003-05:00

I am so tired of someone in this house being sick! It seems like the day we all get well that someone gets some illness again and it slowly gets to each and every one of us. About 3 weeks ago Ryan started with a runny nose..a few days later Owen had one too. A few days after that I was dealing with a terrible cold, fever and all. The next day it hit Jeff. Jeff and I got better and the boys kept holding onto their runny noses. It seemed like some days they were good and the next day the nose was back to running again. So fast forward to Monday morning and I notice Ryan has goop in his eye. I cleaned his eye only for it to return in 30 minutes. My first thought was pink eye. Made him a doctor appointment and got a prescription for eye drops. :( Monday night Ryan spikes a fever. Tuesday Ryan continues with the fever and it gets higher (of course not until the doctor's office is closed). As I am putting Owen to bed I notice green goo in one of his eyes --- great! Wednesday morning both boys are diagnosed with double ear infections and obviously both have pink eye. Sleep has been laughable lately -- both kids are up multiple times at night (it doesn't help that Owen is also cutting molars). I am hoping that with their new antibiotics and eye drops that they are happy and sleeping through the night again in no time!! I am tired of being cooped up inside. I am tired of Lysol and Clorox wipes (at least on the scale with which they have been used lately).

How to Potty Train in 180 Days

2011-01-19T14:03:00.008-05:00

It all started in July when Ryan told me he was sorry that he went poopy in his diaper. When I took off his diaper and he literally ran across the house to the nearest bathroom, hopped up on the potty and went. I decided that day that maybe he was ready to be potty trained. I didn't realize that Jeff and I would also have to be equally ready. We were also planning a couple of big vacations and long car rides and well -- one of the things I didn't want to do was stop every 20 minutes for someone to go potty.

Ryan did great with potty training for a few weeks. Then he started to have accidents. They got to be more and more frequent so I put him in pull ups. Really I think pull-ups are probably the worst thing ever to do for a kid that is potty training. Why? Because they are a diaper and it really doesn't bother most kids to pee in a diaper. So we had major regression and since we were going to the beach, then school was starting, then we were going to Disney, I decided we would just wait a while and start again.

So Christmas break was the time to start Ryan's second round of potty training. Due to a little snow we had an extra long Christmas break. He was a pro at going potty, except when he was wearing underwear or a pull-up. I knew that he just needed to learn that no matter what every time you need to go, it goes in the potty. In a few days Ryan had it down!

I hesitate to say this for fear that we might have another issue with regression but Ryan has been in big boy underwear for over a month now! YAY Ryan! I am so proud of you!!! He still likes some type of random treat after he goes potty. Owen still claps and says yay for Ryan every time Ryan goes potty. I love it and think it is adorable.

Lesson learned that in order to successfully potty train a child --- everyone, including the parents have to be 100% ready and pull-ups, well, those are just a waste of money. :)

2010 in Review

2011-01-02T15:12:00.016-05:00

Here's a quick summary of 2010. What a wonderful year it was!!!

January - I don't remember much about January really because it was cold. Very cold and there was snow on the ground and I didn't get out a whole lot because it was no fun going anywhere in the cold with a newborn and an almost 2 year old. I think we went to Target a good bit, sad, I know.

With all that cold weather, I had plenty of time to work on my photography. There were almost daily photo sessions.

We went to a couple of parties..

Decorated cookies at Panera Bread

and I finally got a few pictures of both boys looking at me together.

February - by far my least favorite month of the year. On February 5th we were hit with a record snowfall. A few days later even more of the snow came. We spent the majority of the month stuck indoors.

No really, it was a lot of snow (this is a little mountain we had from digging one of our cars out of 30+ inches of snow.

But I got some new photography equipment and resumed the daily shoots...and prayed for the 28 days of February to go a little faster.

March - YAY the weather warmed up and the snow melted away day by day!!! I had a birthday and spent it with the most wonderful men in the world. Ryan turned 2 years old. We got to finally get outside and play without our snow gear on! We discovered that Ryan has a peanut allergy after he had a very scary reaction!!! We made our first trip to Texas with Owen.

The boys met the Easter Bunny

I got to play with this cutie and watch his personality develop

Ryan tried out his birthday gift!

April - We spent the first couple of weeks of April in Texas visiting with our friends and family and introducing Owen to all of his relatives. When we got back to VA the weather was perfect! We spent lots of time outdoors, had plenty of picnics and decided it was time to officially start working on my photography business.

Relaxing in Texas!

Boys meeting a very special lady, Great-great Aunt Doe

One of my favorite images of Owen, ever.

May - We had a visit from my Mom, got some really warm weather, went strawberry picking, got out our pool, Owen started solid foods, went and played with big trucks and much, much more.

Another favorite of my 6 month old cutie pie!

Owen's First Swim

Totally Trucks 2010

A rare moment where Ryan actually looked at the camera and smiled.

June - Jeff and I celebrated our 8th anniversary, we spent lots and lots of time outside playing in the water, playing at the playground and going to the pool. Ryan helped me pick strawberries that we grew ourselves.

The boys on Father's Day!

Ryan enjoying one of many pieces of watermelon he consumed over summer.

Owen was still totally content to pose for the camera just about anytime!

July - Owen finally started sleeping through the night and he started crawling! We went to a couple of fireworks shows and Ryan loved them! Ryan went to his very first movie in the theater (Toy Story 3 with Daddy). Ryan decided he was ready to start potty training. I was super busy with my photography business!

Ryan and his friend Libby -- both potty training at the same time!

Another one of Mommy's photo shoots with the boys.

Another favorite of Owen.

Beating the heat by watering the plants in nothing more than Mickey undies and Crocs.

Ryan on the way to his first movie, Toy Story 3.

August - I must have been really busy because I only blogged 4 times and those were mostly -- I'm way behind and way busy posts. ha! Ryan decided that maybe he wasn't so ready for potty training after all and we took a family vacation to the Outer Banks in NC. We took a trip to PA to visit the Strausburg Railroad and we went on several family picnics and park playdates. We also booked our Disney vacation and started a countdown to see Mickey!

Having a blast on the beach!

Family time at the park.

Riding the railroad!

September - Ryan got rid of the paci, turned 2.5, started preschool AND went to a big boy bed all in the first couple of weeks of the month! Owen started pulling up on everything in sight and cruising around the furniture. We went apple picking. Owen got his first tooth.

Ryan in his big boy bed. He was so excited about it and has done very well in his bed from the first day!

Ryan's first day of school!!!!

Picking apples with daddy.

Owen showing off his talents by standing and drawing at 10 months of age.

October - What a busy month. We spent the first week of the month with Nana and Papa in Disney World! Then Jeff had a birthday, Grammy came to visit, Owen took his first steps, we celebrated Owen's birthday and then had lots of Halloween festivities! We watched as the Texas Rangers made it all the way to the World Series for the first time ever!

Birthday boy!!!

Happy Halloween!

Ryan with one of his favorite people in the world, on one of his favorite rides at Disney, Dumbo!

November - We enjoyed lots of very nice days and lots of time at the playground. I had a ton of photo sessions and when I did have free time we would stage our own sessions to try for the perfect family picture for our Christmas card. We celebrated Thanksgiving with some good friends of ours!

My little boys humoring their mom on yet another photo session.

Silly boy loves his Woody jammies.

Me and two of the people that I am most thankful for in this world on Thanksgiving day.

December - I took the entire month off from photo sessions. Then was able to re-evaluate and decide once and for all what to do with my business. Ryan decided he was ready to potty train again, no looking back this time! We had lots of fun with holiday activities. Nana and Papa came to visit us! Owen had the stomach flu, I had the stomach flu, more holiday fun, Jeff's work Christmas party, snow, lots of freezing cold weather, hot chocolate, wrapping Christmas gifts, driving around looking at all of the beautiful Christmas lights, talking about the REAL meaning of Christmas, celebrating Christmas, celebrating the new year and making goals for 2011! What a fantastic year 2010 was...looking forward to all that 2011 brings our way!

I don't think he liked the snow one bit.

The boys had their first experience with the Santa at the mall. They had met Santa before but never at the mall.

Christmas morning fun!

Merry Christmas

2011-01-01T21:42:00.005-05:00

This Christmas we decided to make a last-minute trip to Texas. Unfortunately just before we were to leave (the little ones and me were flying ahead of Jeff by a few days) I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu. It was pretty much too late to rebook another Christmas flight so we will be making a trip to visit our families sometime this year.

Even though our plans were different from what we had hoped, our Christmas was absolutely perfect. We spent the entire day relaxing and playing with all of the boys' new toys. They took their time and while we started with the Santa gifts at 6am -- there were still unwrapped presents under the tree at 11:30 in the morning!

I just woke up...what is going on here and where is my breakfast?

Checking out the trampoline...

Took the gifts one at a time and everything had to come out of its box and get played with before we could move on to the next gift..

Thanks Nana and Papa!

The funny thing about this is that now Ryan always wants to sit in the "red" chair and Owen goes for Ryan's blue chair...too funny.

A great toy to share..

Halloween 2010

2011-01-01T21:28:00.004-05:00

Ok -- this post is WAY overdue. The photography business was crazy busy from September - the first week or so of December so I just never had time to actually upload a whole lot of pictures from that time period.

Anyway -- this year for Halloween I had ordered the boys superhero capes. Ryan was not a fan of his at all so we went with plan B instead. Ryan was an engineer, which he still talks about and Owen was a skeleton. Ryan had a great time trick or treating and even made sure to say thank you to the kind neighbors who gave him treats! He asked to go trick or treating almost every other night for about 3 weeks after Halloween. :)

One problem with Halloween in NoVA is that you never know if you are going to be hot and sweaty or freezing your tail off. This year was definitely chilly, of course it was since the boys were not dressed super duper warm!

14 Months!

2010-12-28T08:48:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Day Owen turned 14 months old! I am not sure how time has gone by this fast. Some days literally seem to drag on and on but then weeks and months go by fast as lightning. It really makes no sense. Last Christmas I had a tiny little newborn who was starting to sleep long stretches at night and really never made a peep. This year I have a toddler who is into everything. He is really working on all of his gross motor skills. He has walking down pat and seems to be trying to run or at least speed walk already. He loves to climb on everything, he loves to bounce and jump.

Owen is working hard on developing his language but he quickly becomes frustrated by the fact that he isn't able to communicate exactly what he wants. My baby who never ever cried now screams a lot. I think it is mainly due to the fact that he is frustrated about communicating his wants though. His patience is short. He has a few words and he has his own "words" or sounds for other things.

Owen loves to eat. He can out eat Ryan and probably me at most meals too. When the food runs out and he's still hungry he gets MAD!!!! Luckily he eats very nutritious foods and will eat pretty much anything that I give him. Despite the fact that he is an eating machine, I actually think he is thinning out. Probably due to the fact that he is always on the go.

Owen is still a cuddler. He loves his special cuddle time and loves to give hugs and big, wet, slobbery kisses. He is happy as a clam almost all of the time and really just goes with the flow. He has been cutting teeth non-stop lately. He is now up to 5 teeth. He loves to read books, loves to rock in the rocking chair and loves to feed himself with a fork and spoon (he is surprisingly skilled at it too).

Owen is curious about everything. He loves to do whatever Ryan is doing and really could care less about the "baby toys" and baby things we have. He wants to be a big boy just like Ryan. He is still taking two naps a day but sometimes the morning nap is very, very short. I am somewhat dreading him giving up the morning nap. :( He is wearing 18 month clothes and 2T pajamas (he's huge) and a size 6W shoe!

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2010-12-28T08:40:00.004-05:00

I found this basic recipe on Allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit to add more flavor and reduce some fat. It was absolutely delicious and is now on our usual winter rotation.

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

1 pkg long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

1/2 tsp salt (I omitted this as it was plenty salty with the seasoning packet)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup flour

5 tbsp butter

2 cups milk (I used low-fat, but skim would work well too)

2 cloves garlic - chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

1 onion chopped

Olive oil

1. In a large pot over medium heat add a swirl of olive oil to pan. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery and sautee until tender (5 minutes). Then add chicken broth, water and rice. Cook for 15-20 minutes (per directions on rice).

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter. Reduce heat to low and add in flour, salt and pepper slowly to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

3. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice and cook over medium or low heat until heated through (10-15 minutes).

4. ENJOY!

Snow Day

2010-12-16T17:26:00.003-05:00

Today we had our first real snow of the season. We took Ryan to school this morning and then ran into Target. When Owen and I went in the store there were a few flurries in the air but when we came out of the store the ground was totally covered in snow. By the time we picked up Ryan there was probably about an inch or so on the ground! The boys were too excited about the snow to take their normal naps so we headed out to play. Ryan would have stayed outside for a very long time, but as soon as Owen actually touched the snow he was done. He definitely takes after me. LOL!

First off -- this snowsuit has gotten plenty of use! It is a bit big on Mr. O but he didn't seem to mind. LOL at all of our snow gear in the chair behind him. It takes a lot to get two kids ready to play in the snow.

Really happy before

A few minutes later -- not happy about the snow -- not one bit!

But this little boy loved it. He wanted to stay and play but since it was just me with a screaming 13 month-old, we had to go back inside!

Stomach Bug and Snowflakes

2010-12-13T07:55:00.002-05:00

I think most of you know that the Abbott house was hit with the stomach flu of 2010. From what I have been told from friends and family it is going around everywhere right now! YUCK! Owen was the first to come down with the bug and it was pitiful. He recovered very quickly, thankfully. Day 2 was my turn. It seems that we were able to quarantine ourselves enough to not spread our ick to the rest of the family though. Ryan was super-sweet when I felt bad. He would sneak into our room and give me hugs and Jeff taught him to say "feel better Mommy". He even came to take a nap with me. He is such a sweet little boy!

The same day we had our first round of snow. Luckily it was nothing like our first round of snow last year! We had a very, very light dusting that only lasted for a couple of hours. I do not like snow or winter for that matter so I am hoping for lots more snow-free days!!!

Catching Up..

2010-12-08T13:51:00.002-05:00

We had a really busy weekend here in the Abbott house. Jeff's parents came to visit which was WONDERFUL!!! I will upload a few pictures from the visit later today, as well as a recap of the visit.

The boys went and had their picture with Santa on Monday. The choices were limited because we could not get both kiddos smiling at the same time, but I love the little look on Ryan's face here.

Everything is going great and we are busy with Christmas preparations, crafts and treats! I hope to get lots of photos in the next few weeks and lots of blogging done. :)

I love Shutterfly!

2010-12-01T13:05:00.001-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Accommodating Food Allergies

2010-11-30T14:57:00.004-05:00

My good friend Julia posted this article on her blog today. I have copied and pasted the majority of it below. It is a great resource for info on accommodating Ryan's food allergies. I have changed the first paragraph of her posting to reflect Ryan's allergies.

Back in March Ryan was diagnosed with food allergies. He is allergic to peanuts, pine nuts and pistachios (a tree nut). We were told to avoid all kinds of nuts due to the likely cross-contamination. Therefore, we cannot eat peanuts, pine nuts, pistachios or really anything that has been produced in a facility with peanuts or tree nuts.

How do you accommodate such allergies? There are three things to check for: ingredients, processing facilities, and food preparation.

Ingredients
This part is pretty straight forward. We just check the ingredient list for peanuts or tree nuts. Tree nuts include macadamia, brazil, cashew, almond, walnut, pecan, pistacho, chestnut, beechnut, hazelnut, pine nut, ginko nut, and hickory nut. For tree nuts, walnuts and cashews are the two nuts that cause the most reactions.

Processing Facilities
By law, food manufacturers must list allergens on the label. The hard part is remembering to look at the label. Then, it's one thing to know that there are no nuts in a particular food; it's a whole other thing to check non-nut items to see if they were processed in a facility that processes nuts. For example, although the following foods do not have nuts in them, they are often processed in a facilty that processes nuts:

Candy
Chocolate
Pancake batter
French onion soup mix
Cookie dough
Cake mix
Boxed mashed potatoes
Rice mixes

Ice Cream

For every food item I buy, I check the ingredient list and then check the processing facility.

Food Preparation
The last part of accommodating a food allergy is the way the food is prepared. Even if the food doesn't include nuts and hasn't been processed in a nut facility, it must steer clear of other nut foods during preparation. For example, a child who is allergic to peanuts cannot have sugar cookies that were baked on the same cookie sheet or plated on the same platter as peanut butter cookies. Same goes for the cooking utensils. Cross-contamination is a fairly easy problem to avoid in the house; it is a much larger problem when we go out to eat.

I recently came across chef cards that alert chefs to allergies. The cards put all these instructions on one small business card:

WARNING! I am severely allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame. For me to avoid a life-threatening reaction, I must avoid all foods that include these ingredients. Please ensure that my food does not contain any of these ingredients and that any utensils and equipment used to prepare my meals, as well as prep areas, are thoroughly cleaned prior to use. THANK YOU!

Here's another one:

WARNING! FOOD ALLERGY ALERT! I have a severe food allergy to nuts and all foods made with nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, Macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, filberts, hickory nuts, and pralines. This also includes nuts in sauces, spices, salad dressing, flour seasonings, pesto, flavored extracts, pastes, topping, cooking oil, desserts, and baked goods. If I eat nuts or any food that has been cooked with them or touched them including food preparation surfaces and utensils, I will need immediate medical attention.

Food allergies are on the rise, and restaurants are getting better and better at accommodating allergies. Just the other day, IHOP cleaned one whole side of their griddle so we could be sure to have nut-free pancakes. We love IHOP! We're crossing our fingers that Sydney and Cole grow out of their allergies, but until then, we will have to accommodate them as best we can!

You're Gonna Miss This..

2010-11-29T21:59:00.003-05:00

When Ryan was first born the song "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins was on the radio at least 10 times a day. I know this because I was trying to teach him the difference between day and night and had the radio going all day long. When I would rock him to sleep, totally sleep deprived myself I would often find those words coming through the radio.

I have this blog primarily as a way for me to look back and remember things because I have a terrible memory. There are so many little things that I do not want to forget. Ever. But I am afraid that as time goes by that I will. They are the tiniest little things, every day things that most people would take for granted. Things like...

The funny way Ryan smiles when he says something that he thinks is funny.
How Ryan laughs hysterically at the littlest things. One of the things that always makes him laugh is giving Ducky Kisses with a little toy duck.
How Owen loves to cuddle and if I am home you can forget anyone else rocking him before bed.
How Owen's head fits perfectly into my hand when I am rocking him and his long lashes flutter on my cheeks.
How Owen laughs just because Ryan is laughing.
How Ryan loves to help with anything (dishes, laundry, making a sandwich, using tools, you name it and he will help!)
The sweet and cute things that Ryan says. When he wants to be held and cuddled "I want to hold you, Mommy" When he is tired of walking, "Care-up, Mommy" When he is curious about something, "how this works Daddy?" When he changes the ending of a word - for instance, eating Kix cereal, he picks up one and says "I got a kick" or he was putting a cow puzzle together and said "I got two cowses".

Thankful

2010-11-28T17:29:00.005-05:00

Holidays are hard for me when we are far away from our families. This year we were gearing up for Thanksgiving on our own (I go all out still cooking up a storm), when a friend invited us to Thanksgiving with her family. I don't think I can express how much that meant to us. Thanksgiving is and has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the gathering of friends and family, the yummy food and reflecting on the wonderful things in our lives. We had a great time celebrating with our friends. I hope that in the future when circumstances do not allow us to spend time with our family on Thanksgiving that we are able to spend the day with dear friends.

We have so many wonderful things to be thankful for this year. Some of the people that I am most thankful for are below...

Me and my little guys..

A sneak preview of the boys Christmas photo shoot...

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken

2010-11-28T17:22:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned before, I am going to start sharing other things on the blog besides family updates. I got this recipe from a friend and boy is it good! For those of you that don't know, I love my slow cooker. If it weren't for the slow cooker, we would probably have a whole lot less home cooked meals. I love the ease of this meal and that I can easily throw all of the ingredients straight into the crock pot and that I am not spending forever trying to cook!

I serve with rice and stir fry veggies and it is a hit!!!

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2/3 c soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t ground ginger
2 cans sliced water chestnuts ( I skip these b/c Jeff doesn't like them)
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, garlic and ginger. Spread water chestnuts and green onions over chicken and pour soy sauce mixture over the top. Cook on low for approx. 5 hours

It's that time of year...

2010-11-23T15:32:00.002-05:00

It is no secret that I love pictures. The fall of 2008 I had family pictures taken for the specific purpose of getting a holiday photo card! I have ordered photo cards from a couple of different places but my favorite is Shutterfly. Their holiday cards are high quality (I prefer the card stock cards) their designs are fantastic and they arrive quickly. Even better --- they are on sale for up to 30% off! Shutterfly has become one of my favorite gift giving destinations and has wonderful ideas for proud Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. Some of my favorites are their calendars (also on sale and they have some fantastic new designs this year) and coffee mugs that you can personalize with your favorite pictures!

Now the big decisions of deciding exactly which card we will use this year.

Here are a few cute ideas...

The traditional folded card. You can even customize this card with photos on the inside and there is plenty of room for text.

A flat card that combines the photograph with a bulleted list (update on the letters that some families send) - a really cute and fun way to recap the year.

Super cute and festive design in a flat card.

Meet Fluppy Dog!

2010-11-18T09:57:00.007-05:00

A week or so ago we took the boys to the Build A Bear Workshop for the first time. We let Ryan pick and make the animal he wanted. His choice, a very soft and cuddly dog. He was a little confused at first, and mainly wanted to push these sound buttons -- his favorite being the Star Wars theme song. I believe that you put the little sounds into the animals paw and press it later...we opted for an animal with no sounds. ;)

I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped to get. I also realized that I don't need to carry my professional camera with me on these outings because when I switch it to the auto mode it really annoys me. Random focal points, horrible lighting and takes up a ton of room...time to get a little point and shoot!

Not sure what to think when he was filling up the dog with stuffing. I am pretty certain he was wondering what exactly the lady was doing to his puppy!

Bath time --- Ryan loved this part and would have bathed his puppy for an hour if we would have let him. He liked brushing the dog, and drying him off with a blowdryer. I got no good pictures of this event...

Then it was on to naming dog. Ryan picked the name "Puppy Dog" or at least that is what we thought he chose to name him. Little did we know that we put the wrong name on the birth certificate, his name is actually FLUPPY dog. I wonder how much it costs to get a name change form?

Proud of his new puppy..he loves Fluppy's house too!

He wanted to carry Fluppy home just like this..

Loving on his two favorites, Fluppy and monkey.

Fluppy has been right by Ryan's side since he came home. He eats with us at the dinner table, he has been added to the animal collection that Ryan sleeps with, he is Ryan's tv watching buddy and I must say he is the easiest puppy we have ever had!

What a difference a year makes...

2010-11-17T06:15:00.003-05:00

then there's this. I wish we could just slow down a little bit....

Going Greenish

2010-11-16T13:06:00.004-05:00

No, we don't have a hybrid. No, we don't always recycle everything we should. I am making the switch to all natural cleaners! We have been using vinegar to clean things for a while, but I have decided to take the plunge and get rid of a lot of my store bought stuff in favor of making my own. With little boys who like to eat off the floor, crawl around and the like, I figure it is much better for them (and us). A couple of weeks ago our cleaning lady came. When she left I had to open up all the windows and we actually left for a little so that the aroma of cleaning products could actually diminish. I don't know if she mixed things that didn't need to be mixed or if the cleaners were just overly potent that day. I figured that it was not healthy for me and it surely couldn't be good for the boys to breathe that stuff in.

My new cleaner works like a charm! It costs pennies to make an entire bottle and it leaves most surfaces looking great! I am on the hunt for a glass cleaner (or recipe), but this all purpose cleaner is fantastic! It's amazing how much a little vinegar and a box of baking soda can do! :)

All-Purpose Cleaner

1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp. baking soda
1/4 gallon (1 liter) hot water
a few drops of essential oil (optional)

Combine the ingredients, stir, and let cool for a few minutes before pouring into a spray bottle. Tea tree essential oil has antiseptic properties, making it a winner for cleaners. But my favorite aromas come from orange, lemon, and lavender essential oils. Use and enjoy!

Look-a-likes!

2010-11-15T14:38:00.008-05:00

Everyone keeps telling me the boys look like twins (seriously I get asked if they are at least 1 time per week). I think they are kind of right, these boys are looking more and more alike! So CUTE!!!

Chop, chop..

2010-11-14T07:50:00.005-05:00

Yesterday the boys got their hair cut. I think I cried, the boys however did not. Jeff thinks I am being ridiculous because they "needed to get a haircut, it was too long" but I love(D) the way Ryan's hair curled the slightest bit behind his ear. The picture above makes me miss their casual, slightly out of control, long locks. The lady even put some sort of styling agent on my baby's hair. It was precious but seriously, gel on a 12 month old?! My boys look so grown up now and as soon as I recover from the shock of their new look, I will post pictures.

Side note - we are going to attempt family pictures afternoon. I am praying for one, just one good picture for a Christmas card. Wish me luck!

Thank you Jeff

2010-11-12T14:01:00.001-05:00

for capturing little images like these. I don't think you know how much I cherish these sweet, candid moments.

Joy

2010-11-12T13:49:00.005-05:00

This picture makes my heart happy.

and makes me think these boys need to get their hair cut.

maybe that will be an activity for this weekend.

10 on the 10th..

2010-11-11T13:47:00.003-05:00

I realize that today is actually the 11th, but I had every intention of doing this post yesterday. I think I might start it as a monthly thing, maybe.

1. Ryan recently discovered the difference between a horse and a donkey. He thinks that the word donkey is hilarious. Even more hilarious - the sound a donkey makes. The child just laughs and laughs anytime you say "Heeehawww".

2. Ryan was given a great book "What is Christmas?" from his friend Emily last year. He has really gotten into it in the past few weeks. There is a nativity scene in the book and he knows Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the wise men and then there is the shepherd. He calls the shepherd "Bo Peep" because he holds a shepherd's crook just like she does in Toy Story. It is just funny when he lists off all of the people in the nativity scene and then gets to Bo Peep.

3. I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. My friend always posts recipes on her family blog and it makes me think that I might try doing the same sometime. If I ever get time.

4. Owen's favorite game is peek-a-boo/hide and seek. He hide behind the curtains or behind a chair and peeks out over and over again. It is so much fun to play and I could sit there for hours with him and never get tired of his big grins and laughs.

5. Having 2 little boys not feel well at the same time is no fun at all. The only positive is that hopefully they will both feel better around the same time and we can have this cold out of our house faster!

6. I have decided to take a sewing class next year to learn how to use my sewing machine. Don't worry, I don't plan to sew any clothes -- maybe a pair of curtains or something. --- random I tell you!

7. Ryan has been wearing his "I moted" (I voted) sticker on his jacket for over a week now. He is so proud of it. It is losing all of it's stickiness and is starting to roll up around the edges. I should have asked for an extra.

8. It is my sister-in-law's birthday today and I wish we were there to give her a big birthday hug and eat some cake!!!

9. Ryan learned a blessing at school and he sings it before he eats. "God our Father we thank you, for our many blessings, for our many blessings, (and then mutters something that I cannot understand)" then he finishes by exclaiming, "Now let's eat muffins!" He refers to cupcakes as muffins and obviously they have been getting a lot of treats at school lately.

10. Ryan calls iced tea "teet". It is hilarious for him to run around saying "I need teet!"

11. Bonus - ever since our trip to Disney Ryan will say things like, "Go take a nap, wake up, go to Mickey Park, ride rocketships and see castle?" or he will say go to shiny ball, ride Nemo. I just think it is neat that he remembers so much from our trip! Can't wait to take him back again!

Simplifying

2010-11-11T13:39:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago one of my Mommy friends shared this link on Facebook. I read the article a few times and it really hit me hard. It caused me to take a step back and reevaluate things. It made me want to simplify my life, check to make sure the priorities I claimed to have were actually the same ones that I was living. I am now making an effort to go through all of our things and get rid of the things that really are not serving a purpose. It is a great article and I highly recommend it. :)

Project Simplify is in full swing here in the Abbott house. Jeff made a trip to the dump this morning to get rid of a bunch of junk and I have toys, clothes, kitchen gadgets, extra utensils and more heading to the donation center this afternoon!! Next up - our home office.

Silly

2010-11-04T17:52:00.001-04:00

Revamp

2010-11-03T00:04:00.001-04:00

I noticed my header picture was over a year old...my oh my how the boys have changed. I am working on updates and plan to start blogging more. The new stuff is not perfect but it will do.

We voted!

2010-11-02T16:18:00.002-04:00

We voted (well Jeff & I, not Ryan). Hoping to get the gears of "change" moving in the right direction for this country.

Disney Trip

2010-11-02T09:43:00.004-04:00

I am way behind on blogging. At the beginning of October we took a week-long trip to Disney World with Jeff's parents. We decided to drive for a variety of reasons. The drive down was not bad at all but the drive back frankly sucked. The kids did great but we were gone for 10 nights and I was just ready to be back in my own bed. We broke the drive up into 2 days and it really was not bad at all -- just seemed like we were never going to get home.

The boys had a wonderful time in Disney and I think that Jeff and I had an even better time than they did! Ryan loved everything about the Magic Kingdom except for the loud fireworks shows. We tired him out every single day by 1pm. It only took 3 weeks of being back home for him to stop asking to go to "Mickey Park" 3 or 4 times a day. Now he likes to look at all the pictures we took on the trip instead and talk about all of the things he did while he was at Mickey Park. Owen was a trooper and as usual was in a great mood the entire time.

Here are a few favorite pictures from the trip. We are already thinking about when we will go back. Next time though we will stay on the Disney property in a hotel that has quick access (boat or monorail) to the Magic Kingdom.

Ryan met Pluto the moment we walked into MK for the first time. He was SO excited that we had to hold him back in line.

Ryan's first glimpse of "Mickey's Castle"

Mid-air on the rocket ships, one of Ryan's favorite rides

Waiting on the train at the Animal Kingdom

Pluto was the hardest working character at Disney, we saw him several times a day, every day.

Our date night, we cancelled our dinner reservation in favor of a night out at Magic Kingdom

Fun night at Mickey's Not-So Scary Halloween Party and Ryan's FAVORITE ride, Dumbo.

I love all the pictures with the castle in the background.

Love!

Mickey Ears!

Happy Birthday Owen!

2010-10-29T10:25:00.004-04:00

Owen is ONE! Can you believe it? My sweet, little boy is a whole year old already. Owen has changed so much in the past month. Thankfully he is still my little cuddle bug and loves to give hugs, be cuddled and rocked to sleep on occasion. Last night while I was rocking him I found myself quickly in tears, holding my sweet little boy and savoring every single second of that special moment. Tears filled my eyes as I thanked God for giving me such a wonderful gift and blessing more tears as I prayed for Owen and the person he would one day become. :)

Now on to the milestones!!! Owen loves to wave Hi and Bye-Bye to everyone. He says hi and waves hysterically to pretty much anyone we see. He loves to point out every single tree, bird and airplane he notices. When I sing he starts clapping like crazy the second I am done. He loves to play peek-a-boo (especially hiding behind the curtain), he loves to do anything and everything that his big brother is doing, he has a 2nd tooth, he eats as much if not more than Ryan at every single meal, he has started taking steps here and there but his favorite method of getting around is the crawl (he is very speedy), he thinks going up the stairs is one of the coolest things ever, he gives hugs on request and he loves to dance when he hears music.

Owen loves everyone. He is one of the easiest babies I have ever known. I feel incredibly blessed to be his Mommy. Happy Birthday little man!

Never Grow Up

2010-10-29T10:14:00.002-04:00

So today I decided to preview Taylor Swift's new album. I am not usually a big Taylor fan, but this song made me buy the album immediately. There are so many days that I just want time to stand still and to freeze these boys just the way they are forever. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykXuRHXJSw&feature=related

Never Grow Up lyrics
You're little hands wrapped around my finger
And, it's so quiet in the world tonight
You're little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So, I took you in
Turn on your favorite night light
To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I had, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
It can stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, and never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And, you're mortified
You're mom's dropping you off
At, fourteen there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots
But, don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older too
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your PJ's getting ready for school

Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
It can stay this simple

And no one's ever burned you
Nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to
Just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad get's home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all you're little brothers favorite songs
I just realized everything I had is someday gonna be gone

So, here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So, I tucked myself in and turned my night light on
Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh, I don't wanna grow up
Wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up
Wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple

Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up
It can stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even you want to
Please, try to never grow up

Oh, whoa
Don't you ever grow up
Oh, whoa
Never grow up
Just never grow up

Birthday Boy!

2010-10-25T15:04:00.002-04:00

We just finished up Owen's cake smash photo session. He loved the cake and I thought my friend did a fantastic job!! More posts and pictures coming soon, but in the meantime -- Happy Birthday Owen! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Busy!

2010-10-13T21:40:00.002-04:00

We just got back from a very long vacation to Disney!!! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again sometime. :) We are trying to get back into our routine and I have some blogging to try and catch up on soon.

Until then here are a couple of things I just wanted to say ---

Most nights before bed Ryan likes to look out the windows and find the moon. Once he finds it he talks about the moon and stars and after a few minutes he goes to sleep. Tonight we had the windows open. Ryan was looking out of our bedroom window and the moon was not visible from that window. He yelled out the window "Yooouuu-Yoooouuuu, oh moon, where are you?" Then Ryan crawled over to the window and Ryan showed Owen the airplanes and cars as they passed by. It was a really cute and sweet moment. :)

Next --- my baby boy will be 1 whole year old in less than 2 weeks. He still loves to cuddle with his Mommy and he loves to give hugs. The fact that I can still rock him to sleep from time to time makes my heart happy. I love that he is such a little cuddler. :)

Big Boy Bed!

2010-09-26T20:30:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we spent some time working on Ryan's big boy room and moving him to a big boy bed! I was hoping to keep him in the crib as long as possible, especially since he is such a good sleeper and didn't mind being in the crib. But he was getting a little too daring and was going to get hurt trying to scale the crib so it was time to move on. I am really pleased with how Ryan's big boy room is coming along. We need to do some more painting --- we tried to touch up a few spots and the paint was not the exact same color. :( And I need to get something on the wall alongside his bed. He was running around like crazy today with excitement.

We kept telling Ryan that he was going to be in a Big Boy Bed and he has termed his bed "My boy bed". It is cute to hear him say that over and over. :)

Fresh out of the tub and ready to start the bedtime routine.

Apple Picking

2010-09-24T09:33:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we took the boys apple picking. Ryan had an absolute blast!! He was so into it and loved picking the apples up and putting them into our bag. He tried to eat just about every single one he picked up, but we did our best to teach him not to do that. They did need a good washing. We stayed about an hour and ran around and had a great time. Here are a few favorites from the day!

love this little foot...so precious!

Running around with Daddy -- tons of fun and giggles!

Proud Dad!

Amazed...

Just the right height for Ryan!

Not digging it so much - I don't think he was feeling so hot either though.

Hunting for the perfect apple..

Thank you, Jeff for capturing this sweet moment.

Ryan 2.5

2010-09-21T08:14:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe that my baby is 2 1/2!! The same week that he started preschool he also turned 2 1/2. I have to say that while I might have over-estimated what he would or should be doing at a year old, that he has by far exceeded any thought I ever had for what a 2 and a half year old would do or be capable of doing. Ryan is such a smart little boy. He learns things so quickly and it seems like every single day he has something new that he is learning, saying or doing.

Ryan loves to read. In order to do so he must be sitting in your lap. He doesn't like having to share your lap with his brother (although he is great at sharing pretty much everything else) and he doesn't like to read with Owen because Owen doesn't sit still and Owen tries to turn the pages and skip to the end. His favorite books for the moment are Green Eggs and Ham, If you Give a Cat a Cupcake and a disney pixar book. He is starting to enjoy longer books more and more so I need to get a few more for our collection.

Ryan is a wonderful big brother. He asks about Owen all the time. He likes to check on Owen when he is taking his naps and he likes to help get Owen up and out of the bed. Ryan is very patient and doesn't get upset when he has to share toys with Owen. He doesn't mind if Owen accidentally pulls his hair or pinches him. He likes to share food with Owen and he likes to get Owen a pacifier if it falls on the floor. The other day Ryan even gave Owen his beloved Glow-worm. It is so sweet to watch the two of them interact. Oddly enough, Ryan is just now starting to want to hold Owen. Owen is almost as big as Ryan is though so it makes me a bit uneasy. Ryan will stand behind Owen and try to lift him off the ground in a bear hug style. Yikes!

Ryan has become quite a picky eater. I used to think he was a great eater -- but he is only a great eater if his plate is full of exactly what he wants to eat. He is not a fan of meat unless it is a chicken nugget, egg, hotdog or piece of turkey lunchmeat. He does not like combined food like casserole, but he will eat rice, chicken and peas separately. He loves muffins and pastries and it breaks my heart that he cannot have most of these items that he sees at the store (due to the peanut allergy). If you ask him what he wants to eat he will tell you a waffle, fries, or chocolate. His new thing is to tell you that he NEEDS chocolate. ha.

Ryan has started to say funny things too...

when he burps he says "scoots mees"

when we are driving in the car he says "green means go, red means stop, yellow means go FASTER, yay -- checkered flag". - do we see racing in his future?

I am trying desperately to hold on to every single moment because while everyone warned me that time flies, I didn't realize just how quickly they meant until Ryan was born.