Two videos of crazy Evan

Here are two videos of crazy little Evan from our visit to Pennsylvania this month. The first is Evan exploring the cornfield at Shelsy's family's house. The second is Evan exploring a stream at my family's place. This kid is all boy and loves getting dirty and exploring new places.

Amber meets the fairies

We visited Magic Kingdom this weekend and Amber requested to go see the fairies, which is rare for her. She used to be semi afraid of the characters at the theme parks, only wanting to see them from a distance. But lately she's asking to see specific princesses or characters, and this time it was Tinkerbell.

She's visited Tinkerbell at the Magic Kingdom before, but it's been a while. Here she is meeting Tinkerbell and Vidia.

Evan playing with a fork

Here's Evan, playing with a fork at Sweet Tomatoes. He was really making us laugh, and it was too cute not to share. :-)

Amber's tricycle

Here's a video of Amber riding her tricycle outside. She loves it, and asks to ride it almost every time we're out there.

Backyard tree swing

For Christmas last year, I told Shelsy that one of her presents would be a custom-built swing for the tree in our backyard. Well, a month and a half later, the project is finally done. I think it looks pretty great, if I do say so myself. Shelsy likes it, and both kids are really enjoying it, too. Here are some pictures!

 

 

 

 

Trick or Treating

By: Shelsy 

Jasmine and Aladdin

This is the first year I took the kids trick or treating. It was quite an adventure. Amber was really excited but Evan ran straight down the driveway to check out the mailbox, which is his latest obsession. All he wants to do is open and close it and then throws a tantrum when we finally tear him away. So we started off right away with a little meltdown when we moved on from the precious mailbox. I strapped him in the stroller and we headed to our neighbor's house. Amber was really excited about the candy but they had one of those motion sensor skulls that moves and talks. Amber was not a fan. But, we brushed it off and headed to the next house.

As soon as we got to the driveway about 15 older kids ran up and pushed past us. Most of them were wearing scary costumes. And this guy's house was totally decked out. He had the creepy music playing, ghosts and skeletons everywhere, lighting effects, everything. Amber never made it past the driveway. She totally chickened out. At this point I realized that I never really prepared her for the scarier parts of Halloween. She's only just starting to get scared of things, so it didn't really occur to me. And I forgot to warn her about all of the other kids' costumes. Double mom fail.

So then we got to the next house, and the guy answered the door in a scary mask. I pretty much lost her there. She never really recovered. We made it to one more house before she was ready to call it a night and head home.

So we headed back and at this point Evan had managed to slip out of the straps and was standing up in the stroller. So I let him down and he immediately sprinted into the street. I had to abandon everything and chase him down. I finally got both of them back in the house and no sooner did we walk in the door when Amber announced, "Okay, I want candy now." At this point I realized, belatedly, that after the first house I told her she could have some candy when we got back home. The entire reason she wanted to come home was so she could eat a piece of candy. [facepalm]

I asked her if she wanted to have a piece and then go back out to more houses. Nope, she was done. Then about 15 minutes later she asked if she could put her costume back on and go back out and get more candy. By then Evan was already in his jammies and ready for bed, so no dice. Our trick or treating was over for this year.

Between the two of them they got about seven pieces of candy. We were out for maybe ten minutes and made it to three houses. It was pretty sad, really. But, that's okay. I didn't expect to get very far with them and that's how these things go with little ones. And I think that now that Amber understands the concept, next year is going to be a totally different story!

Evan Trying to Talk

Here's a video of Evan saying a couple of new words:

He also occasionally says "up," "down," and "sit."

Recent videos

Here are two recent videos of Amber and Evan. Enjoy!

Random pictures

It's been awhile since we've posted. We've been super busy unpacking, doing assorted projects around the house (I love saying that!), and more unpacking. Here are some pictures I've taken from the last few weeks:

New house!

Well, folks, after lots of effort, we finally have a house! The house hunting process was a long and complicated one for us, lasting almost a year with lots of false starts. But this time it worked out and we have a new home that we really love.

The process of moving was equally complicated and crazy, but after lots of blood, sweat, and tears (all three quite literally), we are completely moved in! The whole thing feels even more insane as we look back on it, but it's far too long of a story to write here. Someday soon, I'll write down the whole saga for all of you who have been asking about it.

For now, we're just happy that it's over and that we have a great house we can enjoy for many years.

As for pictures, the whole place is in that typical disorganized state of unpacking, so we don't have many pictures of the inside. Look for those to come later. Until then, here are a few pictures of the outside and unpacking.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for this process. It means a lot and we couldn't have done it without you. Also, huge thanks to Aaron, without whom this whole ordeal would have been quite impossible.

Evan's first haircut

This post is a couple months overdue, but better late than never, especially on something this adorable.

Back in early February, little Evan got his first haircut! After one too many times being mistaken for a girl, we decided it was high time for a haircut.

Before

So, naturally, we headed off to Disney World. The Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street has a special package for boy's first haircuts which includes the haircut, certificate, and a special pair of "first haircut" mickey ears.

During

Aside from being very distracted by the other activity in the shop, Evan did great and got tons of Mickey stickers. Amber even got to watch a parade go by while we were in there, which worked out perfectly.

After

His new hair looks very handsome and he actually got several comments on it that same day. And for the rest of his life he can say that he got his first haircut at Disney World. How cool is that?

Halloween 2011

Thanks to the seemingly unending creative talent of +Karen Joseph, Amber and Evan once again had seriously excellent Halloween costumes this year. They were characters from Toy Story, with Amber being Jesse and Evan being Woody. They wore their costumes to Sea World and Magic Kingdom and got crazy amounts of attention wherever they went.

Monster Toes

By: Shelsy

Another Month

By: Shelsy

Evan is getting bigger by the day. He's now up to 15.5 pounds. It's practically an Olympic sport to hold him. He constantly tries to propel himself out of my arms and across the room. And he just rolled over today for the first time!

Three Months

By: Shelsy

I can't even believe it's been three months already. The time is flying by. I blinked and suddenly he wasn't a newborn anymore. He is quite a happy baby. He smiles all the time. He rarely gets upset, and when he does, it's usually because he's sleepy. This child loves to sleep. He gets upset if he wakes up and still wants to be sleeping. He fights hard to fall asleep. He is very different from his sister in this way. Amber, even as a newborn, used to fight hard to stay awake.

Amber's first Bible verse

Amber has successfully memorized her first Bible verse. She loves reciting it and is (of course) super adorable doing so.

Site redesign

If you always read our posts via email or in Google Reader, you should definitely take a minute to visit the site itself. Just head to RyanAndShelsy.com to see the complete redesign. It's faster and cleaner, while still maintaining the original design idea of the first site.

Posts are now collapsed, making it easier to scroll through the main page without having to scroll past an entire post to see the next one. Beneath each post is a big, "continue reading" link that will take you to the full post with more pictures, etc. You'll also notice new social sharing buttons below each post, including Google's new +1 button.

Thanks for continuing to read our little blog here. It's hard to believe this site has been up for over 3 years.

Big Boy

By: Shelsy

Believe it or not, yesterday was Evan's six-week birthday. I can't even believe it's been six weeks already! He weighs 12 pounds, 9 ounces. He can hold his head up, though he's still a little wobbly. He also smiles a ton--so cute! Everyone always asks how he's sleeping, and I'm happy to report that he's an excellent sleeper. He's slept "through the night" (5 consecutive hours) a couple of times now. He generally wakes up 2-3 times during the night to nurse. I can't complain at all.

Welcome baby Evan!

The second addition to our little family arrived early Sunday morning. Little Evan was born at 1:20am Sunday morning, and was 9 pounds even. Shelsy did great and everyone is doing great.

Amber's 2nd Birthday

by: Ryan

It's really hard to believe that our little girl turned two this month. She's become a total little person now, with a serious personality and preferences that she is clearly able to communicate to us. It's been amazing watching her grow and every day brings something new.