little milestones

Ronan is 3 1/2 today! He is growing up so fast...it's crazy! My family has a tradition of celebrating half-birthdays, usually with gifts like socks and underwear (: Memaw & Papa gave Ronan new camouflage pajamas and candy! We decided to take Ronan to Papa's Pizza, one of his favorite places to eat & play, and then to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. I think he felt very special (:

Here are some funny things Ronan has said lately:

• "Gum is so good for my heart."

• "I was on the moon last night."

• As we were coming in from the snow the other day, Ronan was whining & acting upset and Josh said, "Are you cold, Ronan?". Ronan said, "No, I'm just freaking out." Ooops, I wonder where he has heard that before??

Ronan has learned a lot at preschool this year...

• He can identify almost all of the letters in the alphabet and is learning to write them too.

• He can say the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't realize that he knew it, but I was reading a book about America to him one night, and when he heard me saying the Pledge of Allegiance he joined in and finished it on his own. We continue to be amazed at his memory! That same book also had a section about Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. The next morning I asked Ronan if he remembered the name of the first man to land on the moon, and he said, "I don't know...wait, I do know! Neil Armstrong". I think that's also when he told me that he too was on the moon. (:

Griffin has the same jammies, so I had to get a picture of them wearing them together.

Griffin turned 14 months old on Saturday! His vocabulary is starting to expand and he is really starting to show us that he understands what we're talking about (:

Griffin's Words:

• Mama
• Dada
• blanky ("ganky")
• dog ("gog")
• up
• all done ("ah done")
• Papa
• pop
• banana ("nana")
• bye bye ("bah bah")
• bubble ("bubba")

He knows a few animal sounds: dog, elephant, and cow (it comes out more like boo rather than moo)

Above: Signing more
Below: Learning to Feed Himself

Peek-a-Boo!

More Snow Fun

School was canceled today because of the snowy weather. When I told Ronan that there wasn't school today, he said, "Oh no! Zack is going to be so sad". Ronan didn't mind missing preschool, but he was sure concerned about his buddy (:

The boys and I went to my parent's house to enjoy the field of snow across from their house. LCC was also closed so Papa was home and ready for a day with the grandkids! Becca brought her kids over and she went to work for a few hours. When Tyler and Sadie got out of their van, they ran straight to the snow and Ronan followed quickly after...they were ready!!

Tyler, Sadie, and Ronan took turns pulling each other around on the boogie board.

Griffin and Sadie taking a break together.

Tyler was showing Griffin how to make a snowball (:

Tyler and Papa worked on rolling a huge snowball. Cohen was a little tired and cold, but he hung in there (:

Ronan, Sadie, and Memaw also worked on rolling a big snowball.

And here's Sadie and Ronan standing on the finished product.

Snow!!

(View from the attic space of our new house.)

We woke up on Sunday morning to lots and lot of snow!! The ground was covered and it snowed most of the day...we couldn't believe it! We bundled up and went outside to build a snowman and play in the snow with our neighbors. Ronan and I made this little snowman. He was ready to play, so he didn't have the patience to make a big snowman (: (He ended up knocking it down shortly after it was finished anyways...oh well) Griffin was very interested in the snow...he looked so cute in his over sized snow gear (:

Ronan's buddy Konner brought out two sleds to play with, and there was a perfect little hill between our houses to sled on. Here's Konner giving Ronan a little push...

The kids had a blast! Griffin even tried out the sled...and he loved it (: You could tell he wanted to do everything that the big kids were doing.

Konner and Ronan sledding at the same time.

After naps we headed back outside and played with our friends April, Miles, and Julian (also neighbors).

Ronan had the idea that he wanted to snowboard, so Josh got out a boogie board for him to try. He was a natural! He figured out how to balance on the board and that kept him entertained for hours.

Here's Josh sledding with both boys. They got pretty creative (and daring)...I'll post some videos later (:

Josh and Griffin

And here is baby Julian. His eyes matched his fleece and the snow...he is so sweet (:

I took these pictures from the bottom of the hill where we were sledding.
Above: Our house (fence built by Josh)
Below: The house we are building

Fun Friday

We started off the day by going to Tiny Tots with my friend, April, and her boys, Miles and Julian. They can bring a guest with them once a month, so we were excited that they chose to invite us (: We had been there one time with them before, but I think it was a year ago. When I asked Ronan if he wanted to go to Tiny Toys he said, "I do! I'm going to ride in the jeep." He doesn't forget anything (: Sure enough, as soon as we got there he found the jeep right away (with a little girl occupying it) and asked for a turn. He had a lot of fun and Griffin did too. They have a wide variety of toys for all different ages and interests...riding toys, a play kitchen, a work bench, climbing toys, etc. We spent 3 hours there playing, eating snacks, and playing some more. Griffin fell asleep on the way home and took a nice long nap...Ronan and I did too (:

Later on we went to dinner at Darren and Katie Haynes' house along with the Chase family. The Haynes' just joined our small group at church and we have enjoyed getting to know their family better. The kids ran around the house and played the whole time. It was a zoo most of the time (: We joked that you could tell we were all used to the commotion because we were still attempting to have conversations with each other as the kids were running wild in the background (: We really did pay attention to the kids...and we all took turns making sure they were all playing nicely! Here is the only picture we got of the kids gathered in one place. They ate their dinner standing around the coffee table and the adults ate at the dining table with the babies (Griffin and Emma). We had a really fun time and look forward to doing it again...maybe when the weather is nicer and the kids can take their busy bodies outside (: No, really, it was fun to be around other families who were comfortable just having a casual dinner and letting the kids be kids!

House Update

Above: Forms set up for front walkway and back patio (not pictured)
Below: After pouring concrete.

The plumbers worked on installing bathtubs and drainage systems.

New Friends

We have lived in our house for over 5 years now, but just recently we've started to really get to know our neighbors. There are three families (with young kids) who live close by and are becoming good friends of ours. It's been a blessing for me, especially, to have other stay-at-home moms nearby to get together with during the week...

On Saturday night we were invited to a potluck at Shaun and Karl's house. They have a son, Konner, who is the same age as Ronan. There were two other families there that we hadn't met yet...one had a 3 year old boy and the other had a one year old girl. Our boys had a lot of fun playing with the other kids and ALL of Konner's toys. Josh and I took turns eating and keeping an eye on the kiddos. It was a little busy, but we had a really nice time (: The other families were vegetarians, so I found a new recipe to try out...Tarragon-Almond Green Beans. Shaun made a pineapple curry rice dish that was really delicious. She's going to send me the recipe, so I'll post it when she does. I could almost become a vegetarian....almost (:

This morning Griffin and I were invited to Sydney and Marcus' house (our neighbors down the street) for a play group. Marcus is 20 months old and he is such a sweet boy (: We met them during the summer...I would see them going on walks around the neighborhood with the same kind of jogging stroller we had. (I think that's what sparked our first conversation) We started meeting up to go on walks every so often, and this Fall Sydney started coming to the moms group at our church, so we get to see each other on a regular basis now. Anyway, we really enjoyed going to their little play group today. Altogether there were four moms, four toddlers, one infant, and one dog- which Griffin loved! (Ronan was at preschool) It's always fun meeting new people and getting together with other moms who can relate to what you're going through (: I found out that one of the ladies just started coaching for the volleyball club that I used to play for when I was in high school...that doesn't have anything to do with being a mom, but I just thought it was kind of a crazy coincidence.

It felt good to spend some time with our neighbors this week! It seems like we see each other more during the summer when we are spending time outside of our houses...so during these cold winter months we actually have to make more of an effort to plan time together (:

Wrapping

Rather that putting regular house wrap under the siding of the house, Josh decided to go with Polyiso Insulation to create a more energy-efficient home. He put a few sheets up on Wednesday after work, then my dad came over last night and today to help out. It seems like a big job, but they are making good progress. He hopes to get all of the insulation up (& tape the seams) before it rains again. Everything has finally dried out inside the house, so his timing might be perfect!

My dad worked on taping the seams.

Josh nailed up the sheets of insulation.

My mom came along last night to hang out with me (: and help out with Ronan and Griffin. They loved having Memaw and Papa over! Today my mom took the kids to her house for a few hours to give me a little break. It was nice (:

A few other little details:
Our framers worked on the covered entryway last week (the posts are temporary supports).
We now have concrete in the garage.

Cousin Time

Our Moms of Grace group was canceled on Tuesday, so Becca invited us over to play. We had a good time visiting with each other and the kids played really well together! Sadie is a year older that Ronan and Cohen is a year older than Griffin...it's been fun seeing Griffin and Cohen become buddies just like Ronan and Sadie did when they were 1 &2 year olds (:

The kids decided to dress up in costumes. Griffin thought they were funny and he was very curious about Caterpillar Sadie.

However, he did not like being dressed as a Ballerina Bear!

After playing with toys in almost every room of the house, they all cuddled up together in Sadie's bed. They were really being sooo sweet to one another (that doesn't always happen as you can imagine)!

Roofing and Plumbing

The workers pushed through the COLD weather this week and made some great progress. Here are some pictures that might be a little boring... I never imagined I would get this excited about plumbing (:

The south side of the roof has shingles on it. (He's just getting started in this picture)

We have skylights in the attic space and upstairs bathrooms.

Plumbing is going in. Josh, Griffin, and I went to a showroom on Wednesday to look at fixtures (sinks, faucets, toilets...). Griffin sat in some bathtubs and checked out all the knobs and buttons in the store. It was fun (:

Ronan is imitating one of the plumbers who had been joking around with him.

Serious little plumber (: