Wednesday

Our Wednesday started off like almost every Wednesday does in our house. We went to the gym this morning, ran a few errands then came home for lunch. Ryan took a nap this afternoon and I finished up some cleaning.

Ryan and Gracie checking things out. Ryan loves his big sisters and always curious as to what they are doing. And of course they always want to know what he is doing, ha!

Ryan found his toy basket today and decided to pull out some toys. Nosey little boy is into everything!!!

My family arrived safely this afternoon and we are looking forward to some fun filled days. Yay for spring and warm weather!

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

What got two exciting things in the mail today. Matt and I sponsor a child through Compassion International. I've known about Compassion for many years but God pressed on our hearts to give and sponsor a child last November after reading Kelly talk about her life changing visit to El Salvador with Compassion Int'l. We have been so blessed and God laid on our hearts to share that blessing.

Our sponsor child's name is Mumba and he lives in Kenya with his mom and dad and brothers and sisters. I was so excited to get our first letter from him in the mail today. He said he wants to grow up to be a doctor and his favorite Bible story is the Prodical Son. He is just precious! Not only are we changing his life but he is changing our lives.

The other exciting thing that came in the mail today may not look very exciting but I am so excited about this. It's called a speed light. It's used on a camera to enhance and manipulate the light. I've been told we will love it and it will really make a difference in the quality of our pictures. I can't wait to start figuring it out.

Ryan's grandparents and uncle Matt are coming in town tomorrow and we are sooooo excited! We can't wait to see them! We have a fun few days planned!

Monday Madness

Today was a cold and dreary day but we had a nice day at home. Ryan took a long morning nap and I took advantage of the time and cleaned the house.

This afternoon we had a photographer come and take Ryan's nine month pictures. Despite Ryan not taking an afternoon nap he did great and turned on the charm. I know I'm biased but he is so photogenic. He gets the biggest smile on his face and you just want to squeeze his cheeks. I can't wait to see the proofs!

This weekend Ryan decided to use his crib as a teether. Yup, my dogs never chewed on furniture but now my adorable son does. I put Ryan down for his nap on Saturday and noticed some small teeth marks on the side of Ryan's crib. When I went to get him after his nap I noticed some NEW teeth marks. Momma is not happy!!! He has a convertible crib that converts to a full bed and will hopefully last a long time. I've ordered these and for the mean time I put a towel around the side rail he chewed. Oh what is a mom to do?

Weekend

We've had a great and busy weekend! Saturday morning Matt got up early and cleaned the grill and cut the grass for the first time this season. It's hard to believe that it's already time to start cutting grass. We went over to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Ryan was a little too small to hunt eggs but it was fun to catch up with the neighbors. Maybe Ryan will do a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard next Sunday.

Saturday night we had some friends over to grill out and hang out. We have an awesome group of friends from church and always love getting together with them. It worked out great having it at our house since we could just put Ryan to bed and we could hang out without being distracted. We had a great time and enjoyed lots of food and lots of laughs!

We are looking forward to a busy week ahead. Tomorrow a photographer is coming to our house to take Ryan's 9 month pictures. We are using a new photographer so I am excited and anxious to see how they turn out. She is coming in the afternoon so I'm praying for a good afternoon nap.

Ryan's grandparents and uncle Matt are coming to visit later this week so I will get busy getting things ready ie. cleaning the house! It's supposed to be absolutely beautiful and in the high 60's while they are here so I'm looking forward to getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Now I need to go work on this weeks "to-do" list. I love making lists, even if it's just to cross it off my list and say it's done.

Show Us Your Life: Cleaning Tips

Today on Kelly's Show Us Your Life we are showcasing CLEANING TIPS. I absolutely love a clean and tidy house. There is something comforting and warm about walking into a clean and clutter free home. Doesn't even have to be my home, ha! I try to keep our house clean and picked up all the time but as every mom knows that can be very challenging.

Here are just a few of my tips for keeping a clean and tidy house:

1. I pickup the downstairs before going to bed each night. This includes putting all toys away, folding blankets, putting pillows back in place on the couch, washing bottles, clean kitchen counters and make sure all dishes are in the dishwasher. Basically putting things back into place. I love walking downstairs in the morning to a tidy and clean family room and kitchen. I also make our bed every day. Even if it's 3:00 in the afternoon. It makes me feel put together when it's made.

2. I do laundry two days a week, Wednesday and Saturday. I do towels both days and wash bed sheets every Saturday. This helps to keep the laundry from piling up and waiting to get put away. I usually have to do Ryan's laundry every other day. One of my favorite lifesavers is a waterproof mattress pad that snaps around the rails of his crib. It eliminates having to pick up the mattress when changing the sheets. It just lays right on top with no need to change the "pretty" fitted sheet

3. I make a list each week of what I need to clean. I write down bathrooms one day, dust another day, vacuum another day etc... For me after I vacuum I feel like I've tackled a big portion of a dirty house.

Unfortunately Ryan has been a light sleeper lately. I'm worried if I vacuum while he's sleeping I might wake him up. The other night I went to check on him and lightly touched his back, he was sleeping on his belly with his knees under him and butt in the air. As soon as I touched him he popped his head up. I jolted out of the room, ha! He started to fuss a little but thankfully went back to sleep. I hope it's a phase and my deep sleeper will return soon.

4. Here are some of my favorite cleaning products. I use the Oxy Deep for stains in the carpet. Works so great! I love Clorox Wipes, I have some in every bathroom. And they are great for the kitchen. I love Soft Scrub for the kitchen sink and bathroom. Also works great on a glass top stove. Some of my other favorite products are Dreft stain remover, Magic Eraser and Lysol toilet bowl cleaner.

(Oh I just love this pic of Ryan! He's giving me the look like "really Mom, another picture",HA)

5. When cooking I always clean as I go. One of the major reasons I don't like to cook is I hate the clean up. I clean as I go so then there isn't a huge mess to clean when I'm done. I HATE leaving dishes in the sink. We fill up the dishwasher during the day and usually run it every few days. I put away the dishes in the morning that way we can fill it during the day.

6. Do you use Dawn Foam??? We use it A LOT! I love it for washing bottles since I wash them by hand. I was buying a bottle a week when Matt googled and found the recipe online. Amazingly it's 2/3 water, 1/3 dawn soap. So we just keep some regular dawn soap and fill up the dispenser when it runs out. Saves SO much money. Thanks Dawn for charging me for water!

Hope these have been helpful tips and inspired you to do some spring cleaning! Reading the links from Kelly's site have definitely inspired me to kick spring cleaning into high gear.

Little Monkey

Mommy says I am getting more mobile everyday. I like to explore everything. I especially like cords, I can spot them from far away. I like to stand up holding onto the coffee table.

I love standing at my music table and playing. I can pull up to my knees. I try to pull up on everything.

This morning we went to MOPS and I had fun playing with the other babies in the nursery. I even took a little nap. We came home for lunch then mommy and I played on the floor. My teeth have been bothering me so I didn't nap very good this afternoon.

I'm always excited when Daddy comes home. I always greet him with a big smile. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with mommy and daddy.

Lions and Window "Mis"treatments

We had a typical Wednesday. Went to the gym this morning for cardio resistance class. It was good. I'm for sure going to be sore tomorrow!

(Please excuse the mess on Ryan's shirt! He is drooling like crazy cutting a top tooth right now. And of course the spit up doesn't help but I will say it's getting much better.)

We came home and played for a little bit then Ryan took a 3 hour nap. These don't happen many days so I took advantage of the time. I cleaned, did laundry, ran the dishwasher and caught up on my Beth Moore Bible Study.

I got Ryan this riding lion the other day. I thought he needed something to push around the house. He can also sit and ride the lion as well. He loves it! When I put him on it and push him he gets the biggest grin on his face. So fun!

I wanted to make some window treatments for our half bath. I've had the fabric for a long time but didn't really know how to make something that looked halfway decent. I found this website awhile back and thought I would take a shot at making some window treatments. Here is the window before any window treatment.

And here is what it looks like after. Our walls aren't lime green, they are a light green, almost celery color. I used fabric tape that you iron on for the sides and safety pinned up the bottom. I am very pleased with how it came out looking to do more windows in our house.

Happy Fifth Birthday Annabelle

Today is our sweet Annabelle's fifth birthday!!!

Annabelle is our first born four-legged baby. I moved to State College,PA in 2005 to be closer to Matt. We had been dating long distance for a year and yearned to live in the same city. So I moved to PA and got a job there. My boss had miniature dachshunds and the VP also had a mini doxie that she brought to work everyday. I have always loved dachshunds ever since our neighbors had one when I was growing up. I never had a dog growing up and used to beg my parents for a dog. I knew when I moved out on my own I would get a dog.

Soon after I moved to PA I saw some mini doxies for sale in the paper. I came home excited to show Matt their picture and said "let's just go look". Oh famous last words, haha! We went to "see" the new litter of puppies that were just 2 weeks old. I picked up Annabelle and immediately fell in love! She started crying and wimpering. She had such a sweet spirit about her. I knew right then I had to have her.

The above picture is Annabelle on the right with her daddy Mason on the left. Originally the breeders called Annabelle Macy b/c she was the only puppy in the litter that looked exactly like Mason. In honor of her dad we kept Macy as her middle name.

Ever sense we brought her home she has been a delight and blessing in our lives. I can't believe she is five years old already. My how time flies! She's been through so much with us. From moving to Cincy from PA, us getting married, buying our first house and most recently our addition of Ryan to our family.

I am so excited to watch Ryan play with his doggies and grow to love them. Of course right now he stares at them and wants to pull their tall or grab their face. He definitely finds them fascinating. The three of them are going to be best pals before we know it.

For both are pups birthdays we always get them a cupcake. We light the candle and even sing happy birthday. They are totally part of our family.

Annabelle LOVED her cupcake and devoured it within minutes. Gracie even got a little bit of cupcake. She inhaled her piece. It's so funny to watch her eat because she eats so fast. When she's eating her food if you pull her bowl away she eats it even faster. Matt thinks it's hilarious to do this.

And I couldn't leave you without pics of my sweet baby boy. He has mastered putting cheerios and things in his mouth. It's so neat to watch him.

This afternoon I was eating some popcorn and was playing with Ryan on the floor. Annabelle and Gracie were in their usual begging state sitting right beside me waiting for a popcorn piece to fall. Meanwhile, Ryan put down the toy he was playing with and crawled over to me wanting some popcorn too. Not only do I have two doggies who beg for my food but now I have a baby boy who eyes and wants everything I put in my mouth!

This Or That?

This morning we had Ryan's 9 month check-up. We are so blessed to have a very healthy and active little boy. He weighed in at 20.5 lbs (50%). He measured 29.5 inches tall (85%). And his head cir. is 60%. So proud of our growing boy. And he is growing so fast!

He is right on track for meeting all his millstones. The doctor said he will soon be "walking" holding onto the table or furniture. Oh my, life is about to get VERY busy!!! Tonight Matt was giving him a bath and he was wanting to crawl in the tub. This boy does not like to sit still! Oh I just love him and love this stage!

Now I need your help!

I purchased two vests for Ryan's Easter/9 month photos. I'm going to keep one and take the other back to the store. But I'm having a hard time deciding which one I like better. So today I put both vests on and took some pictures.

The first vest. Adorable puppy dog. Love this photo of him!

Very springtime and fresh look!

And here is the second vest.

I will say this vest is a little big on him. It's a size 12-18 month, they didn't have 6-12 month. The puppy dog vest is size 6-12 mo.

I love Ryan in brown. It goes great with his brown eyes.

So help me out, WHICH VEST DO YOU LIKE BETTER???

(And Mom, I want a comment from you too telling me your favorite)