Family Photos

Yeah for professional photographers, and amazing ones at that!

We had an incredible experience the weekend before Ryan took off with Stacey from Labor of Love Photography. If this sounds like a testimonial, it is. We highly, highly recommend her to anyone in our area! I only wish she lived closer to everyone I love. She captured our family perfectly and helped us create amazing memories that we will never forget.

Here are some of our favorites. Enjoy!

There are about 145 pictures total...you may just see a few more show up here from time to time! Happy weekend to all and to all a good day :)

It's Now February!

December and January were great...just in case you were wondering! Life continues to challenge us with new adventures here in Maryland with a new residence in Texas for Ryan followed by a period of military medical service in the Middle East (I think that sounds a little less dramatic than deployment!). Kids truly keep you living in the moment though, and living in their moment to moment experiences leaves no room to build up worry, which is really good for me.

Look at those boys...matching in their army green!

This is Cole's favorite place in our house - Lily's room

We just spend the weekend at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. We highly recommend the making snow angels, having an ice skating lesson, and our favorite, the sleigh ride on local Amish farmland. Our sleigh driver enlightened us about his views on natural and organic farming...nothing like getting it from the source!

It has been a wonderful winter so far and we are looking forward to Spring! Stay tuned...with Ryan "taking leave" for a while, my updates will be more frequent, I promise!

Grateful Indeed

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday by far. This year, I have so much to be grateful for. Of all the many blessings I have received this year four take the cake:

1. The healthy and beautiful birth of our little Cole
2. Lily our busy, bouncy, beautiful 3 year old
3. Ryan, my brave and resilient husband
4. The gift and knowledge of my Savior, Jesus Christ

And onto Christmas we go!

This picture pretty much sums up our life....happy Ryan, surprised Cole, and a silly Lily!

Yeah, yeah, I know...I never update my blog!

Hello to all my faithful readers!!! Hello? Hello? Hello? Ok, I think everyone except my Mom has given up on me, so Mom, this one is for you! Life has taken an interesting turn over the last month or so and I have felt like we have been living in limbo land. That is my excuse for not blogging, does it work Mom? I hope so! As you know, we had a terrific time at Disneyworld, a fantastic visit from the Jergs fam, and a very "sweet" Halloween! I love you Mom, and thank you to anyone else who took the time to catch up on our lives (I'm guessing Monica and Liz read it too!)! I am going from the present to the past in terms of pictures here....too tired to change it now!

Candy!

Lie sideways to see the cutest Tinkerbell ever!

It's Tinkerbell and Peter Pan of course!

A visit from the Jergensen Fam!

A little wet....it was the dolphin's fault :)

We loved the Aquarium!

Lily was in heaven with the Jergensen kiddos!

And now.....Disney!

Cousins snug as bugs in their Minnie PJ's! (Thanks to Aunt Amy Lynn!)

Yeah Norway, Vikings, and Trolls!

Oh it's Cinderella herself! Check out Lily's face!

Yup...this pretty much sums up our trip!

Breakfast with Micky and Minnie!

!

Overdue Update!

So I really am not that busy...I do have time to update my blog, but I often find myself just sitting still during those quiet moments not wanting to move, think, plan, problem solve, discipline, correct, clean, throw away, organize, sweep, wipe, call, etc. etc. etc. Mostly because of these two cuties:

So the adventure of the day involved a major blow out, followed quickly by a pee fountain cascading onto my nice clean white bedspread....I know, I know, why in the world do I have a white bedspread? I am hanging on to some degree of adulthood in this kid filled world! Luckily, Lily, Cole, and I laughed through the whole thing. We are surviving, even though I am totally dozing off as I type these last few words........hopefully I made sense. I am heading to bed to prepare for yet another day in the land of two little ones (which honestly, I am really loving!).

Here are some updated pics of the little guy. He is quite adorable if I do say so myself!

She is 3! We have 2 children! I have NO time!

Hello all....I am sure anyone who ever read this blog has long given up on me, but I am still here, trying to keep up with life with two little ones! Since it is almost 9:00 p.m., I have two sleeping kids, I know I will be up in two hours to feed one of them, and I desperately need ice cream I will be keeping this short!

On April 5, 2010, Cole joined our family. He is a precious little 6 week old now and we are loving having a little boy! Lily is an excellent big sister and loves to help with diaper changes, baths, and wiping never ending spit up from little Cole's face, and Mommy's shoulder.

Lily turned 3 years old last week....what???? Where did all that time go? I wasn't planning on having a party this year, but she had other plans, lots of other plans. So, to avoid scaring my child for life, I gave in and boy did we party! Princess style of course.

Sorry for the lack of details, but like I said, the freezer is beckoning! Enjoy and good night!

Snowmaggedon 2010!

Just in case you have been living in a nice cozy cave for the past week or so, let me provide you with a little weather update here from the east coast......the DC area has broken all records for snow accumulation in the past two months since the year 1899! I never thought a snow storm was equivalent to a natural disaster, but in this neck of the woods, it is indeed. I got a huge lesson in emergency preparedness these past 7 days. Here is a list of the top ten things I have learned through all of this :)

10. Honeybees are amazingly resilient...and quite aggressive when they are cold.
9. Cell phones are not too helpful when the power goes out....oh and neither are lan lines for that matter.
8. 2 1/2 year olds can be perfectly content playing in a house in which the temperature is 57 degrees and falling, quickly.
7. AAA charges A LOT to change a battery.
6. Toyota cars have this very special part that connects some cable to the car battery...after a snow storm, it can take hours to get a hold of one of these special little parts.
5. Plumbers make unexpected, and expensive house calls (although after he did show up to fix my shower without me calling, I was very grateful to have hot water for longer than 2 minutes...long story...)
4.5. Fireplaces can provide you with plenty of heat - that is if you have wood, which we didn't.
4. Furnace fix it men can make it to your house in a snow storm...if you play the "pregnant with a 2 1/2 year old and a VERY busy husband" card.
3. Even doctors can't make it to the hospital sometimes - which explains why poor Ryan was stuck at the hospital for longer than I want to mention.
2. Grilled cheese sandwiches and Campbell soup tastes like a 5 star meal when made on a snowy back porch on a tiny camp stove.
1. Good neighbors can make any disaster seem like a breeze - thank you to ALL my amazing neighbors!

So there you have it my friends. Lesson to be learned, get to know your neighbors, buy a camp stove, have spare firewood, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Did I mention that I really want to go back to Florida? What do you say Liz?