Mommy-Daughter Date

I think it's important for kids to get one-on-one time with their parents, so this morning Ryker went to play at Grandma's house while Ilyana and I went on a date! To start our adventure we went to the Ladd Library for a Halloween party! Ilyana wore her panda costume (which received lots of compliments) and we got to watch a magic show, do crafts, play games, and trick or treat around the library. The magician was hilarious and entertaining and Ilyana loved coloring a little pumpkin. She also got a tattoo on her hand which she was very pleased with. She continued to point it out to me all morning "Mama! Dog! Woof woof!". Ilyana was also excited to receive a toothbrush and a book from some of the trick or treating stations. She also got a small kit kat bar that I let her eat. Ilyana has had M&M's before but besides that has never really had candy. She thought the kit kat was pretty delicious!

After the library we stopped back at Grandma's house to feed Ryker and then we headed to HuHot for lunch. Ilyana and I were both very pleased with our lunch. As I was paying for lunch I found an unused Von Maur gift card in my wallet so we decided to go there and pick out a cute outfit for Ilyana. Ilyana is in love with puppies and kitties right now so she picked out this cute pink and sparkly puppy shirt. As we were leaving the mall Ilyana asked to "throw?" as we passed the fountain so I let her throw a few coins in, one of her favorite activities.

After leaving the mall we went back to Grandma's to pick up Ryker and then headed home for naps. Ilyana didn't even make it home before falling asleep. I carried her inside and she woke up just long enough to roll over and snuggle with her Pikachu. We had such a good time this morning and I look forward to more opportunities to love on my little girl!

A weekend in the life - Sunday

Yesterday morning started off with Jake and I taking turns showering and getting ready for church while the kids ate breakfast and played. Around 9 Ryker went down for a nap and Jake mentioned not feeling the best so I offered to take Ilyana out for a walk to go get doughnuts from the Casey's down the street. She was not thrilled with the idea but we went anyways. On our way there we saw a squirrel and we watched it eat an acorn and then scramble up a tree. Ilyana was highly amused. At Casey's we saw our neighbor so we had a nice chat with her about our plans for Halloween, got our doughnuts, and then walked back home. Once we got home and Ilyana realized what a doughnut was she was pretty excited so we sat and ate our doughnuts and told daddy all about our adventure.

Around 10:15 we woke Ryker up and headed to church. Ilyana freaked out in childcare so we missed most of the message but it was enjoyable seeing everybody! Ilyana was having a bit of a rough time so we headed home with the intent of feeding her quick and putting her down for a nap but apparently Ilyana didn't want to wait and she fell asleep on the way home. I carried her inside and enjoyed the rare sleeping snuggles while Jake made her some lunch (hot dog, black beans, and some fruit) and then woke her up so she could eat and then go back down for a nap. Ryker went down for a nap about the same time as she did.

Jake and I both napped and ate lunch while the kids napped. Ryker woke up around 2 and came downstairs to play. He loves the new Bubble Guppies books too! While he was playing I used the rest of the fleece I had bought on Saturday to make diaper liners for his cloth diapers. Basically they just go in between the baby and the diaper so if he poops I can just throw away the liner without having to wash poop off the diaper and if it's just pee I can wash the liner to use it again!

Ilyana woke up around 3 so we got the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes and headed a Halloween party with our friends from Ilyana's old mommy and me class! Ilyana is dressed up as a panda and Ryker is dressed up as Harry Potter! As a little snack I brought strawberries dipped in white chocolate that looked like little ghosts. They were tasty! We had a lot of fun playing with our friends at the party!

After the party we headed over to Pete and Raylene's house for family night and had some delicious beef stew for supper. We had a lot of fun hanging out with family. While we were there Ilyana went up to uncle Nate and said "Hi! What are you doing?" We were all pretty shocked. Around 6:15 we headed home to put the kids to bed. After the kids were sleeping Jake and I read and discussed a Bible study and then watched some Netflix and before heading to bed ourselves. It was a good day!

A weekend in the life - Saturday

Both kids woke up around 7 this morning so we went downstairs and started them on breakfast and then Jake and I took turns showering. Around 9:15 I put Ryker down for a nap and then Ilyana and I went to run a couple errands. We went to a fabric store to get materials to make Ryker's Halloween costume and then went to Target to get some cough drops for Jake and a few items to make a treat for a party we have tomorrow.

Once we got home I checked the mail and found that a couple of books I had ordered for Ilyana had arrived! Ilyana is absolutely obsessed with Bubble Guppies lately so we decided to get her a couple of Bubble Guppy themed books. She was amazed by the books! Her and Jake read and re-read (and re-read a couple more times) the books for about a half hour while I made the treat for tomorrows party.

Around 11 Ryker woke up so I nursed him quick and then we went to Bart's Farm (a local pumpkin patch)! We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch even though it was a bit cold. We walked around the big pumpkin patch, picked out our pumpkins, and Ilyana got to pet a farm dog. I asked her if she wanted to say "hi" to the dog and she walked up to it saying "Hi dog! Hi dog!" and then had a blast petting it. She was pretty sad when it was time to leave!

We got home and had leftovers for lunch and then put the kids down for naps. Once the kids were sleeping I cut up the fabric that I had bought earlier and got out my sewing machine to try to sew Ryker's costume however it seemed to be jammed so we had to give up on that idea. Ryker woke up around 2 so we played for a little while and then started getting ready for the wedding reception. Around 2:45 we woke up Ilyana  so that we could leave. She wasn't too pleased, but the promise of food made everything better.

We arrived at the wedding reception a little late but we had lots of fun celebrating with the bride and groom, eating delicious food, and catching up with friends. Ilyana was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people so Jake and Nate took her outside to explore for a little bit. They had a lot of fun walking around and playing with sticks. Ilyana is becoming quite the brave little explorer! 

After the reception we headed over to Grandma Raylene's house to catch up with some out of town family. We weren't able to stay long since the kids were needing to go to bed, but it was good to see everyone for a little bit. We headed home around 5:45, got the kids fed, and I put Ryker to bed while Jake played with Ilyana for a little bit and then put her to bed as well. Once the kids were in bed I ran out to Walmart to grab milk and glue sticks for my glue gun (we gave up on the sewing machine). After I got home I realized that the glue sticks I bought were too big. Ugh. So I called a neighbor friend who saved the day and lent me her hot glue gun. Jake and I watched the final two episodes of Gilmore Girls while I finished up Ryker's costume. We're both excited to see the four new Gilmore Girls installments in November! After the final episode (cue tears) I wrote this post and now we'll probably relax for a little bit and then hit the sack!

A weekend in the life - Friday

I've been meaning to do another "day in the life" post but keep forgetting to take pictures, and let's be real, that's what people really want to see. So now that I remembered to photograph our day, I figured I'd make a weekend of it!
This morning started off a little rough. Both kids were a bit hangry (hungry+angry=hangry). Once the kids were both fed and happy (and mama too) we started the morning off playing with toys and reorganizing the toy bins we have. A few months ago I sorted all of our toys into 6 themed bins to help decrease clutter and help our play times have fewer toys and be less overwhelming. The bins have since been mixed and matched and needed some TLC before we could effectively use them again.

Once all the bins had been organized it was time for Ryker's first nap. We've been having some napping issues lately so we decided to try pushing his nap back until 9:30 and that seemed to do the trick! He happily went down with minimal crying and ended up sleeping for almost two hours! While Ryker napped I turned on an episode of Bubble Guppies on my phone for Ilyana to watch while I showered. After showering I quick cleaned our bathroom and put away some shoes that were sitting in our room then we went downstairs, started supper in the crock pot, and started putting away diaper laundry. While stuffing diapers Ilyana and I shared some animal crackers as a snack. She would pull two out of the bin, eat one and hand me the other saying "thank you!". This girl cracks me up!

Around 11:15 Ryker woke up from his nap so we went upstairs and played in the play room for a while. Ilyana had a lot of fun playing with the door on the little people school house. She would close it, knock while saying "knock knock", then open and say "hello!". It's been so fun listening to her talk more and getting a little glimpse of what is going on in her mind! We also read a story out of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" while upstairs. I've been having so much fun introducing my kids to Harry Potter! Before going downstairs we also put up a mesh crib liner in Ryker's crib to hopefully help keep pacifiers contained in the crib better.

Around noon we went downstairs and had lunch. We had leftovers from last night: BBQ pulled pork and corn. Both the kids ate really well and Ilyana had a lot of fun telling the dogs on her place mat to "sit!". Ilyana has been obsessed with animals lately, especially dogs and cats. Whenever she sees pictures of cats she pets them and says "aww, kitty!". She even found a Halloween card at Target yesterday with a big cat on it and carried it around showing everyone the "kitty".

After lunch, Ryker and Ilyana played peekaboo with a bucket over their heads and then Ilyana helped me unload and load the dishwasher. She was happy to accept two M&M's as payment for her labor. Once lunch was all cleaned up it was time for Ilyana to nap. Ryker and I cleaned up the living room and then read books for 15-20 minutes and then it was time for him to nap again also.

While the kids napped I started a load of laundry and finished putting away the cloth diapers then relaxed and watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Both kids woke up around 3 and we had somewhere to be at 4 so after a quick snack we packed up and left the house. We had about 20 minutes to kill so we stopped at the park. Grandpa Pete saw us playing while on his way home so he decided to stop by and help play too! Once we were done at the park we headed over to a church to help my brother-in-law Ben, and his wife Amy set up for their wedding reception! Ilyana did a great job just sitting and playing while I wore Ryker in the baby carrier and helped set up.

Jake met us at the church after his haircut and helped to set up as well. Around 5:30 we headed home to eat dinner. We had some chicken taco soup that had been cooking in the crock pot all day. Usually both kids go to bed around 7 but Ryker started losing it around 6:15 due to teething so we loaded him up with Tylenol and I went and put him to bed. This actually worked out really well because Jake was planning to help some friends move out of their apartment tonight so I was going to have to put both kids to bed by myself. Jake left once I got back downstairs and Ilyana was getting pretty grumpy so we went upstairs and she took a fun bubble bath and was off to bed as well.

I came downstairs and wrote this blog post and I'll probably watch some more Grey's Anatomy until Jake gets home. We're two episodes away from finishing Gilmore Girls (a second time) so we'll probably watch that together tonight!

We have a fun weekend ahead of us and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you!

7 Months - Ryker

My baby boy turned 7 months old today! Mobile is the best descriptive word for Ryker these days. He loves to sit, crawl, pull up to stand, cruise on furniture, climb stairs, and today he even stood by himself for about half a second. There is no stopping this kid! Trouble is another descriptive word for Ryker. He loves to find power cords and every little speck on the floor goes directly into his mouth. He also likes to beat up on his sister every time that I lay her down for a diaper change. Every once in a while he'll stop moving long enough to get a little snuggle and nursing session in but as soon as he guzzles his milk he's back to playing again. As far as sleeping goes, he continues to get better. He usually takes two 2 hour naps and a third catnap during the day and at night he usually wakes up once to quickly nurse and then go back to sleep. We've been exploring more solid foods this month and he absolutely loves it. He seems to especially like pancakes and graham crackers although he'll eat most anything we give him. He's recently started to sign 'more' during meals on occasion. We love using sign language with Ilyana and hope that he'll pick up on it too. As far as vocal sounds go he mostly just screams, both happy and mad screams, or growls. He thinks it's hilarious when we growl back. I love my little monster and have been enjoying watching him grow!

He is bigger than a flood

Over the past couple of days we have evacuated our brand new house to seek refuge from an impending flood. If the predictions are correct we will most likely only receive water in our basement however with the risk of mold and mildew accumulating throughout the house we had to take everything out of the entire house. Thank goodness we had a fair amount of warning compared to the flood of 2008. On Thursday evening we met with 5 other church families that reside in the flood zone to discuss plans for moving all our items and finding housing for our families and our possessions. Friday morning the hard work of emptying all of our houses began. By Saturday most of our 6 houses were completely emptied. The love of God was tangible as people came from everywhere to pitch in. There were at least 30 people from our church helping in any way they could, whether that be packing boxes, moving furniture, coordinating help, or babysitting kids. Not to mention the amount of people praying over our city. We had co-workers and neighbors helping people they didn't even know. My dad said there were so many people helping with sandbagging efforts that it was a traffic jam to get into the sandbagging stations. I have heard of several companies donating boxes, storage space, trucks for hauling, and locations to keep vehicles and pets. With all the bad in the world it is refreshing to see so many people helping in any way they can. We asked for God to provide us with the help we needed to prepare our house for the flood and He went above and beyond. Not only did he provide physical help but he provided "peace that surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). It has been amazing to see how intricately detailed His plan is as every last detail falls into place just in time. It has been comforting to think about how no waters will even touch our house without God's approval first. He is in control and as long as we trust Him there is nothing we need to worry about. Even as the flood crest approaches and we wait to see just how much damage is done we will continue to trust that He will provide everything that we need because He is bigger than a flood.

We're going to the Zoo!

Today we took our first family vacation and we went to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. The kids aren't always great passengers in the car so we have shied away from road trips in the past. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the zoo today and that seems to be about their limit on car riding. On the way there Ryker napped for about the last hour and a half. Ilyana played with some toys and we saved our surprise toy for the last hour when she started getting antsy. We rented a kids tablet from the downtown library which had some fun pre-loaded games on it. She was definitely a huge fan! Once we got to Des Moines we grabbed some lunch and then headed to the zoo! We purposefully went in the middle of the week after school had started so it wasn't crowded. Ilyana had a ton of fun looking at all of the animals, holding her arms out wanting to hold them, and learning animal noises. I think that her favorite animal was the wallabies that were jumping around. She was also a big fan of the macaque monkeys and the flamingos. In fact, we got to see a two day old flamingo. My favorite animal was the lion, which surprisingly wasn't sleeping! Jake's favorite animal was the giraffes which were beautiful! I ended up wearing Ryker in my baby carrier which he enjoyed. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he took a nap for the last 45 minutes that we were there. We made it through the zoo in about an hour and a half and then we headed back home! Ilyana fell asleep almost instantly when we got in the car. We must have wore her out! The Blank Park Zoo was perfect for our kids and we definitely plan to go back again next year!

Our little Kangaroo

This turtle was HUGE!

family selfie!

She wanted to go get the wallaby!

Petting a llama

Too funny!

Going through a groundhog tunnel

She kept forgetting to breathe she was so amazed by the seals!

Ryker enjoyed the carrier!

Watching the lion with daddy

Must have been comfy

Worn out!