24 Month Check-up

Grant had his well baby visit today.  He weighed in at 31 pounds and 35 and 3/4 inches.  When the nurse had him stand against the wall to be measured he tried to stand on his tip toes!  On his tip toes he would have been over three feet tall!  He doesn't have to get shots until kindergarten.  I can honestly say I do not miss dragging the kids or myself to the health department to get shots!  The year that I was pregnant with Grant I took Elizabeth to the middle school and we stood in line for hours so we could both get our H1N1 shots.  My kids both do really well with shots, but it's nice to have a break for a few years!  I asked again about his umbilical hernia and I was reassured that most of the time they will self correct and they don't want to do surgery too early unnecessarily.  We will continue to wait and hope he falls into the "self correcter" category!  The doctor asked if it bothered him and I told him I didn't think so, he does like to play with it!  What a boy! How many times do I say that?! We are so blessed to have two very healthy children.  As the St.Jude run approaches I am reminded of truly how lucky we are to have kids that can fight over a scooter, because that means they are healthy enough to be out there playing.  Which goes with my new mantra, "Embrace it."  Whatever situation I encounter I just try to find the positive and say in my mind, "Embrace it Alison, just embrace it!" I think I may need to paint this on a few walls in my house as a reminder!

Grant's Birthday Party

The cake! The rocks were edible and the cones/barricades were made from tootsie rolls.

The birthday boy had his party on Saturday.  He got to start his day going to the Old Settler's Day parade with Aunt Amber and Mimi.  Then they wore him out with a little swimming.  He was actually still napping when his party started!  But he soon woke up to join the festivities.  

The inside of the cake was my idea, but Brandon executed it for me!  The stripes don't line up perfectly, but they are pretty close - close enough that I hope you can tell it looks like construction tape diagonals.  

 The theme was construction trucks.  I had looked at Party City online and they had a lot of stuff.  You can only imagine my disappoint when we went there Friday night and found out that their store isn't big enough to carry every theme.  So on to plan B.  Menards sells caution tape and we just had to live without the construction cone candles!

I also put Brandon in charge of the center pieces - he did great!  He was such a trooper all day preparing for the party.

We used Grant's trucks as serving vessels

The official kids table! 

Unwrapping the gifts.

We have great video of Grant blowing out the candles, but it's hard to shoot video and get pics at the same time!

 The girls did such a good job watching Grant open his gifts.  But at one point Elizabeth did blurt out, "Can we just have cake now?!"  Grant did a nice job with the unwrapping.  He really wanted to play with each and every gift and he got a lot of great ones!  He got two remote control cars, which is perfect for racing his sister! He also got some new books, 70 matchbox cars (!), a growth chart, puzzles, a mud pie making table, water ballons and water guns!  We are going to have a lot of fun this summer with the new outdoor toys.  Elizabeth picked out a Thomas the Train gift for him.  Brandon said she choose it because it had two trains it (the girl was thinking ahead, one for him and one for her!).  Brandon and I got him something called Chalk City.  You can draw obstacles courses, signs and arrows with patterns/templates with sidewalk chalk.  It also has a thing that holds two pieces of chalk equal distance a part and you drag it behind you to make a road.  So bring on the sunshine, we are ready to play!  We were lucky to have so much family to celebrate with.  We were only missing Uncle Brian and Aunt Sara and Uncle David - we missed you guys!

My grandma's birthday was the day of the party, so we made her a cake too!

Speech

I have been concerned about Grant's speech for the last few months.  He says less than ten words..."mama, dada, ball, Jack, Bubba, hot, no." Today he had his evaluation and I was not at all  surprised by the results.  It was nice to also be reminded of all the areas he excels in, however his expressive speech is at a 14 month level.  So to speech therapy we go!  I am actually really excited about this for him.  I know he gets frustrated at times simply because he can't tell us what he wants.  He's receptive speech is at a 27-28 month level.  We now have validation that he does indeed understand what we are telling him!! He really liked the therapist that worked with him today and I think he will do well with her.  He even made the "p" sound for her, which was a new one for him.  I can only imagine the conversations we will have over the dinner table with our little man!

Grant Ryan Turns 2!

It's hard to believe that our little guy is two years old, buy in other ways it seems like he has always been part of our family.  I went into labor on Father's Day and he was born early the next morning.  Here are some older pictures of him...

Ready to go!

It's a boy!

6 mt picture - when we still thought his crazy fuzzy hair was cute!

The helmet days!

His 1st Birthday

Easter 2012

A royal tantrum...enter the terrible two's! But he's cute when he's angry!

Such a grin!

I wanted to do something special for his birthday. We decided to go to Farm Park and my mom went with us.  We hadn't been there yet this year.   It was overcast and the cloud coverage was nice until we got rained on, but because we still need the rain we didn't complain!  The kids of course loved feeding and petting all of the animals, I know this surprises no one!

This was the birthday boy's morning expression - he is so full of it!

Petting the bunnies

Saddled up!

Elizabeth is still talking about milking the pretend cow! 

We had a nice dinner at home with daddy and then we met the Paulis at the Ice Cream Shack for a birthday treat.  The big party isn't until Saturday, but I think he had a good day and felt special.  Elizabeth asks if everyone could feel special on Grant's birthday!  We had to remind her several times that she would get her turn.  She promised Grant could help blow out her candles, but we told her no, he blows out his own candles.  Before she asked we also informed her that he opens his own presents too!

The birthday boy must be in an ice cream induced stare!

Strawberry, Vanilla & Chocolate

Cooking & Dancing

Today was the Kids in the Kitchen Day 2.  On today's menu was cinnamon rolls.  She missed not having her buddy Gavin there, but I am not sure that it mattered as I am fairly sure she doesn't speak a word while she is there!  That's our Elizabeth, just soaking it all in!

It was also Elizabeth's first day of dance lessons.  It is a pre-school combo class of ballet, jazz and tap in 45 minutes!  She looked adorable in her outfit and I think she really enjoyed it.  The studio is setup with a viewing window, so you can still see the girls but not be in the same room with them.  Due to nap schedules, my dad picked Elizabeth up from cooking class and took her to dance.  What a trooper!  He said he blended right in with all the other moms!  Thanks Pops!

On the Grant Ryan front, he has decided to not only lick lemons but actually eat them.  I guess we don't have to worry about him getting his Vitamin C today!

We were making Lemonies, a lemon brownie, my new summer dessert.  Here's the recipe in case you are interested!

Lemon Brownies

3/4 C flour

3/4 C sugar

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter, soft

2 eggs

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1T)

zest from 1/2 lemon (about 1t)

Combine the flour, sugar and salt

 in a large bowl.

 Mix in the softened butter.

In another bowl whisk the eggs with 

the lemon juice and zest.

Add to the larger bowl and mix well.

 Pour into prepared 8X8 brownie pan.

 Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

You can double the recipe and bake in a

 9X13 pan for 30 minutes.

Remove and let cool, then glaze.

Glaze

1/2C powdered sugar

1 T lemon juice

additional lemon zest

stir together

Father's Day

We are so blessed to have wonderful fathers in our life!  We spent Saturday evening celebrating with Brandon and his dad.  This morning we spent time with Brandon and then daddy and Elizabeth went on a special birthday shopping trip.  Later today we will celebrate with my dad.  We will be watching the US Open and hope to teach Grant a new word. Remember when we watched the Masters on Easter he learned to say, "Bubba!"

I love the way Grant is looking at his Daddy!

Unwrapping his gift...a remote control helicopter!

PS Grant did not learn to say Web Simpson or whatever the guy's name is who won the Open!

Kids in the Kitchen - Summer Series

Elizabeth had so much fun with her "cooking" class in the spring that when I saw that they were offering it in the summer I signed her up!  This time her friend Gavin joined her as well.

Jessica (Gavin's mom) and I are tag teaming the drop-off and pick-ups so our little boys can still get a good nap.  Jessica dropped them off this week and I picked them up.  On the way home I was asking them how they made their treat, which was Chex Party Mix.  Elizabeth starting explaining how they measured the cereal, she thought it was called Chex.  I asked if they added seasonings next.  Gavin starts listing the months (October, September, November).  I am a little confused and I say, "Gavin what are you talking about, I asked if you remember what seasonings you used." His reply, "Those are all the seasons I know!!"  Too cute!

Field to Fridge & Boo-hoo-hoo

Really, not a great title, but it captures the topics!

You know that story when the teacher asks the student where does milk come from and instead of saying a cow he/she says a grocery store.  We are driving in the car today and Elizabeth pipes up with, "We need rain because rain helps the fields and that is where we get our food from."  I am pretty impressed with this fact and very proud that she didn't say our food comes from a grocery store.  But then she continues with "and food comes from gardens."  Awesome! I'm doing something right!  But then she continues, "and grocery stores!"  I just had to laugh to myself! Hopefully she has at least connected the dots that it all starts in the field!

At one point I used to ask myself how old my kids would be when there was one day, just one day without crying or tears.  I have since decided that I am so far away from this day that I shouldn't even think about it!  Now I ask myself, how long will it be before we can make it through a day with a band-aid!  I really don't allow band-aids unless there is blood and yet one of them still seems to need a band-aid everyday!  We had some FSA money left to spend at the end of the year so we stocked up on band-aids.  We have quite the collection and I can't help but wonder if this feeds the need. I was complaining about our band-aid usage to Brandon and said we had plenty and it wasn't a big deal.  We will see how many we have left by summer end!  Grant seems to be ok with the large generic variety sized pack.  Elizabeth however will spend much time debating over Tinkerbell, the Disney Princesses, Micky Mouse, Toy Story, Hello Kitty or Sesame Street!  Lately, Hello Kitty usually wins, which is kind of ironic considering that is really the only Hello Kitty thing we have besides some stickers.  Oh if they only made Doc McStuffins band-aids!  Well, here's to not wishing these tearful, band-aid days away too fast! One of them is crying...got to go!

Cautionary Tale

Last week when I was getting ready to blow Elizabeth's hair dry I noticed that she had grabbed the round brush and was playing with it.  I took the opportunity to share my "round brush" story with her.  When I was fourteen I was headed to a Bon Jovi concert with two of my best friends.  Prior to leaving the house I decided to use my mom's small round hairbrush.  I was fourteen and should have known better, but I got it stuck in my hair and I mean really stuck.  It was on the side of my head and the hair was wrapped tight. My mom had just left to take my brother to a baseball game.  My dad tried, but had no luck.  My dad and my friend's dad were driving us to the concert.  We had a couple hour drive so my friends worked on my hair the entire drive.  My head was so sore.  We were approaching our destination city and I still remember pulling over at a gas station and my dad getting out his Swiss army knife.  This was major drama for a teenager!  The brush was cut out of my hair.  My dad assured me that I would blend right in the other concert goers!  So when I saw Elizabeth playing with the round brush I told her my story.

Apparently, I should have added to my story/lecture that combs can also get stuck.  This morning as we were getting ready Elizabeth walks in and shows me a comb stuck in her hair.  I panic. I tried to loosen it but I felt like I was only making it worst.  My panic is becoming obvious.  Elizabeth starts crying and repeating "I'm sorry mommy, I'm sorry mommy, I didn't know."  I pick up the phone and call my friend, who happens to be a hairdresser.  She asks me what kind of comb it is and I explain that it is a plastic one.  She asks me if I can break it.  Break the comb? What a brilliant idea!  Why didn't I think of that?   Great, I am now that person who can't think clearly in a somewhat of an emergency situation!  Sure enough it snapped in half easily and I was able to untangle it.  Phew!  What a great start to a Monday morning!

Random Cuteness

Onesie and firefighter boots/undies and fuzzy plastic heels = ready for my cousin's wedding!

At the wedding with clothes on!

Yeah, I got my hat!

Brandon's habanero pepper popper eating contest.  He is confident that he could have beat the record if we hadn't had to have left to get to the reception!  Next time baby! For the record, he got three down with no problem.  

You crazy kids!

Holding hands to ask the neighbor girls over to play.  Melts my heart everytime!

The girls all doing their bridges while Grant crawls under.  I heart summer!

Sprinkler part - the cheapest entertainment on a hot day and apparently also quenches a thirst!

A little crafting with buddy Gavin.  We had to laugh at the differences between boys and girls painting techniques!  Elizabeth's bird house was named "Rainbow."  Gavin's was named "Nimojo" or something like that!

A trip to Lou's and mommy finally let them have a baby root beer.  Elizabeth loved it.

Grant on the other hand...not such a fan, but loved holding the mug.  He looks manly that way :)

St. Jude Kid's Run

 Another awesome community event that we did this weekend was the St. Jude Kid's.  Once again, Grant wasn't quite old enough to participate, but next year buddy! Pops got Elizabeth a special shirt to wear ;)  She was very excited about running in a "race."  Her race kit had a tattoo that we put on her ankle where all the hardcore St.Jude runners have the real footprints tattooed.

Pre-race 

The zoo lady was there doing her awesome face paintings.  Elizabeth choose a butterfly and then wanted to be called "Butterfly Elizabeth" the rest of the day!  

 I ran with her and we made it all the way around the track and held hands the whole time.  She tried to walk a few times, but I kept dragging her along!  I was really just trying my best not to look winded in front of all my friends!  She did terrific, but I think it wore her out and apparently we asked for one too many pictures as indicated by her less than smiley face.

However, after a drink and a small meltdown (smeared butterfly because of tears) she was back to her cheery self!  We are really proud to now have two St.Jude runners in the family! Great job EB!

Cherry Festival

So it wasn't the front page of the PJS, but good enough!  Yes, that is Elizabeth and Brandon in the background.  Dustin and Lauren are our next door neighbors and very good friends who we went to the local Cherry Festival with.  We have to laugh about this photo because the photographer took a lot of shoots of just EB and B, but after the girls got down we realized B's fly was down and we joked that he wouldn't make the paper because his pants were unzipped!  I love Elizabeth's smile in the picture.

 It was a beautiful evening and not too crowded, probably because we were there on the non-wrist band day and paying full price for the rides!  The kids had an awesome time.  Elizabeth's expressions say it all!

The jet ski ride was a little rough, must have been white caps! EB's head hit Lauren's!

This dinky train ride was one that Grant could ride, but the dragon ride in the background was the real thriller for the girls!

 About 3/4 of the way into the evening Grant starting crying because he couldn't ride the same rides as the girls.  He will be tall enough next year!  If we are counting the Dells roller coaster experience Elizabeth rode her second coaster at the Cherry Festival.  I think it was a little intense for her, given the look on her face the first time around.  However, by lap 3 she was smiling and almost laughing!  Daddy and her are going to have a blast someday at Disney!

The big boy ride!

I finally got to try the famous cherry tacos this year.  They are a pulled beef with a cherry sauce, that I would call pie filling!  It sounds a little weird, but I enjoyed it!  The kids had hot dogs and we got cotton candy on the way out - yep they loved that!  Our friends came over to our yard and we watched the fireworks.  I love the hometown/community feeling of these types of events.  Hooray for small towns!