Merry Christmas 2011

2011 has been a busy year.

We started the year in Murray, KY. We never thought we would end the year back in Nebraska! But here we are...and even though we miss our friends in Murray, we are so happy to be close to family and friends in Nebraska. We have been able to see uncle Mike Gesell play basketball, Ryan gets to play with cousin Addison and uncle Mike Wiltse has been able to stay at our house a few times when he is working near Lincoln. The grandparents love getting to see Ryan (and us:) more often. Grandma Lou has been down to visit many times and now that it is basketball season we are seeing Grandma Vicki and Papa Tom almost every weekend!

Tim has been very busy with work. He started his new job on May 24, 2011. He really enjoys working at Lincoln Industries. It is a great company!

Work keeps him busy but he still finds time to play basketball! He plays on a "Y" league, a Lincoln City league and a 3 on 3 league. So far he has been on the championship winning team in 2 leagues (he is very proud of this:).

We are thankful he has a job that he loves and that allows me to stay at home with Ryan!

Since moving to Lincoln Ryan and I have been very busy!

We moved into our house in August. So we have been organizing and cleaning...re-organizing and cleaning again.

Ryan loves Story Time at the Library which we attend a couple of times a week. We have a YMCA membership (which is across the street from the library) so I try to make myself workout a few times a week. Ryan loves going to the nursery and playing with the other kids so that helps motivate me.

Ryan also loves his Kindermusik class which we attend on Friday mornings.

Recently I started attending a women's bible study group and a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group. Childcare is provided for both so it's another opportunity for Ryan to play with other kids his age.

Starting in January Ryan will be taking a "float for life" swimming class at the YMCA. In March, we will take "Toddler Team Up" classes at the Lincoln Children's museum. Tim's work will pay for all but $50 for a year membership to the Lincoln Children's Zoo and the Children's museum so we will remain busy!

I have been able to continue teaching Body Pump. I let the church we attend know I was available to volunteer (with things that could be done with a toddler/ at home) so they have been giving me odd jobs to do mostly at home.

We are thankful for all of God's blessings in 2011 and look forward to all that He will bring in 2012.

As 2012 approaches I remember...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Merry Christmas!

WE ARE THANKFUL!!!

Ryan is growing, changing and very busy. He makes everyday exciting and new! We are so thankful we have a happy, heathy and super smart baby boy!!!

He is almost 16 months old. He is talking a lot. He can make the sounds of many animals too.

Animals sounds: dog, cat, cow, horse, chicken, lamb, bee, snake, lion, owl, etc

Favorite words: NO NO, bye bye, HI, Hello, Yum Yum, ball, help, head, hair, please, thank you, up, down, downstairs, outside, shoes, book, Uh Oh, WOW, help, etc

Some of this favorite people (that he can say the names anyway): Mama (of course!), Dada, Addi, Papa, Mima (grandma Lou), Grandma (grandma Vicki), Mike (Mike G and W), Dave, Jess, Cha Cha.

His favorite color is Yellow (Yewow), Blue, Green. He is starting to name colors but most of the time when we ask him what color something is it is YEWOW!

He is also starting to put words together. He will say Bye Bye (insert name).

He loves to dance, stomp his feet, clap his hands, spin in a circle, read books,story time at the library, kindermusik, and play with the neighbor boys.

More Orlando Pictures

Orlando

We spent the last week of July watching Uncle Mike (Gesell) play in the national basketball tourney in Orlando, FL. His team finished 5th out of over 100 teams. GREAT basketball watching AND big name coach watching! We saw Coach K, Huggins, Calipari, and Roy Williams (Picture to follow...Ryan with Roy Williams:) Mike played awesome!

It was a fun week that went too fast.

Ryan and cousin Addison were able to spend a lot of time together. A lot of time was also spent at the pool and exploring with Papa T (Grandpa Tom). We went to a lot of really good restaurants...YUM!

Nebraska: The Good Life

We moved into our beautiful new house on August 1st...with a borrowed mattress, card table, couch, a few pots and pans, Ryan's pack-n-play and our clothes.

August 9-13- Ryan and I flew back to Murray, KY to be at our KY house while the movers packed and loaded. Ryan went to his old daycare during the day while I cleaned.

August 15- the moving truck arrived with all of our stuff (we have WAY to much!)

We are currently unpacking (and boxing up items to donate) and living in chaos but we love the new house and the neighborhood. We are about 1/2 a block for a new elementary school being built. We have many young families on our culdesac and we are a little over a block from a walking trail that leads to a playground.

Our realtor from Murray called and said there have been over 7 showings at our Murray house so we are hopeful it will sell soon.

Happy 1st Birthday Ryan

Ryan is 1 year old!!! We had a birthday party and Grandma Lou's. In honor of Ryan's southern roots we served BBQ nachos and bread pudding. It was a lot of fun with friends and family.

Ryan weighed in at 19 pounds at his 12 month appointment. Measuring in the 25th percentile for height and weight.

Ryan's favorite foods: fruit, beans, yogurt, and eggs with cheese.

Ryan's favorite activities: stroller rides to the park, dancing, clapping, reading books, playing with water, boat rides.

Ryan will say mama, dada, Addi (for cousin Addison), daba, shh, no, yea, yum yum, yup, nana (banana), Mi (when trying to say MIke), papa, grandma (or close enough for grandma Lou:)

We love our baby boy and are so blessed to get to be his mom and dad.

Mouth Full of Bananas

Ryan has started a band called MOUTH FULL OF BANANAS. The name of the band comes from fellow Kentucky boy, Heath. We were at Heath and Julie's for a pool party. I mentioned that Ryan had wiped his mouth full of bananas on the leg of my pants. Heath thought that sounded like a great name for a band and since Ryan is always making a drum out of EVERYTHING we named his "band" MOUTH FULL OF BANANAS!

Oh Ryan!

Ryan is 11.5 months old. Before we moved back to NE, grandma Lou came to stay for a week. It helped me out A LOT!!! Tim was already back in NE working and I was still working in Murray. The week grandma Lou visited Ryan did a lot of "firsts". He signed "more" and he started blowing kisses. Grandma Lou asked him to bring her a book and he DID! He also has found his belly button, mama and dada's belly button! The attached picture is Ryan in his baby seat as he has his morning bottle. I was busy getting ready for work and when I turned around this is the position Ryan was in:) He is too cute!!!

My Old Kentucky Home

We'll are sad to leave Murray but we'll always have a piece of Kentucky with us...Ryan!

Pictures are from Heath and Julie's crawfish boil. Boating with Tony. Heath, Trigger and Sara. Julie and Ryan. Matt, Tim and Ryan.

Ryan feeds himself??

I have a hard time getting Ryan to eat especially now that he wants to do everything himself. He can use a spoon...almost! Enjoy the pictures.

Perfect 10

Ryan is 10 months old!

He has 8 teeth (and working on more!), he has gone from crawling to pulling up to cruising and now he has started taking steps! He is on the move...ALL the time. He still loves books, bouncing, outlets, biting and anything his goofy parents are doing. He also loves being chased. Anytime he hears "I'm going to get you" he starts to laugh and takes off, Stopping often to make sure we are still coming to get him:)

Everything is going in his mouth. We look away for a second and something is in his mouth that shouldn't be!

He is eating and sleeping well...most of the time.

He is still on the small side. Weighing 17 pounds and 27.25 inches long. The doctor asked if anyone in our family was short! uh oh!!! Tim's thinking we might have a wakeboarder instead of a basketball player:)

Ryan loves to laugh!

Ryan loves to laugh. The video is of Ryan laughing as we gently drop a stuffed basketball on his head. He also thinks it's pretty funny when we balance a plastic cup on his head...especially when it drops on the floor. He also had a great time at our friends Heath and Julie's Kentucky Derby party. He stood at their screen door and would laugh EVERY time one of the dogs barked! He really liked it when Heath put his hat on Ryan's head. He didn't even mind all the kisses from Roux, Heath and Julie's dog. Enjoy the video and pictures.

Jeff Galloway!

I work for the Murray Calloway County Hospital's wellness center. This year the hospital hosted it's first 1/2 marathon. We had over 600 runners. I was responsible for all volunteers...Friday registration, water stops, cheer teams, road blocks, etc. It was a lot of work but it was well worth it. The event was a huge success and they will plan on making it an annual event.

Jeff Galloway is an Olympic runner who flies around the country giving running clinics and running marathons/half marathons. He also writes articles for Runners World and he has a blog that I follow religiously! I reference his website almost every day. So when he was booked to give a running clinic and run the Murray half marathon I was very excited!

The picture is of Jeff Galloway and me at the runners expo the night before the half marathon. For those that want to start running, want to run longer distances, or find a running, walking or run/walk training program his website is very helpful. www.jeffgalloway.com

9 Months

I'm catching up on updates. Ryan turned 9 months on April 15th. He loves to practice walking while holding our hands. He also likes to brush his teeth with us as we get ready in the morning. He is eating well. He still doesn't like veggies very much. We are starting to feed him more table food. Although the look on Ryan's face doesn't say it...bananas seem to be his favorite.

Look out...here we come!

Tim has accepted a new job, with a new company in... Lincoln, NE!!!

We are equally sad to leave and excited to be MUCH closer to family and friends in Nebraska:)

Plus, how could we pass up a job that offers a relocation package. Tim's new position will be challenging but he has a lot of experience to bring with him.

Tim's last day with Pella will be May 17th. He will start his new job with Lincoln Industries on May 24th. Tim started his career with Pella on May 24, 2004 (my golden birthday). He will have been with Pella for 7 years (minus one week). So we thought starting his new adventure on May 24th seemed like a good idea:) Lincoln Industries will fly him home every 2 weeks up to 4 times during the transition. We will be in limbo for a while so we pray our house sells quick! Keeping our house clean and picked up all the time has already been challenging and we are only 4 days in.

We are so happy Ryan will get to see his grandmas, grandpas, aunt, uncles and cousin Addison more that a few times a year!

My little helper!

Ryan loves to help me around the house. With laundry and cooking dinner (pictures attached) He also is very entertained by the tupperware drawer. It's fun to watch him play. I can see the "wheels turning"!!! Another favorite "toy" is an empty kleenex box. It's fun to use as a drum. It's also fun to put toys inside the empty box and rattle them around. Ryan has been sleeping well at night and has also been taking good naps in the afternoon. He has started not only pulling up on everything but he will also "hover" and balance before falling back on his butt.

Happy 5 year anniversary!

Friday, March 18th Ryan was diagnosed with RSV...Happy Anniversary! Saturday night Tim and I were talking about what we were going to do. Ryan couldn't go to daycare (and we didn't want him to with all the germs!). We could ask friends to help but not for the entire week! We were short-handed at work, so I knew there was no way I could take time off and it's never easy for Tim to take off either.

We thought we would just see if either of the grandmas were available. Grandma Lou had two proms and a wedding that she had to design flowers for so we tried Grandma Vicki. Grandma Vicki was in Omaha visiting Addison and even though she was very busy with work she was able to come to Murray for the WHOLE week!!! We were so lucky Grandma Vicki could come and help because it was an especially interesting week! After 2 days of breathing treatments Ryan developed a rash that covered his entire body. Back to the doctor we went. The only connection we could make to the rash was the breathing treatments. After changing the medication and adding steroids for 4 days and a children's allergy medication to help clear the rash we were back in business. Ryan was feeling much better by the end of the week. The pictures attached show Ryan's rash!

Nebraska State BBall Tourney

The Nebraska state basketball tournament was March 10-12 in Lincoln. We flew back to watch Mike and the South Sioux City Cardinals WIN state! It was fun seeing family and friends. The weather was beautiful for March. Ryan loved seeing his grandparents, aunt and uncles and cousin Addison!!!

7.5

Ryan is over 7 months old. Over the last 2 weeks he has changed so much. He is eating GREAT at daycare. At home he would prefer to be nursed:) He loves squash, sweet potatoes, peaches and bananas. He has also started eating "puffs". He has also mastered the "sippy" cup!

P.S. I started this post over a month ago! So much for a weekly update.

Snowman!

It snowed 4-5 inches on Monday and it has snowed another 3 inches today! We have closed early and/or opened late everyday this week so far at the wellness center. It has worked out well for me because I am sick for the 3rd time this winter with some sort of stomach bug. Ryan keeps bringing home germs from daycare and I'm the one that keeps getting sick! Yuck!!! The pictures are from Monday. The snow was perfect for building a snowman.