Winter fun

 We've been busy having lots of fun so far this winter. The holidays are so much more fun with kids.  Seeing all the holiday magic through their little eyes is just amazing.  Rylee is REALLY into it this year. She had great time meeting Santa, decorating the tree and the house, making cookies, wrapping presents, making a gingerbread house, etc. etc.  She LOVES it all!

 Our course she was a big helper making cookies this year, even though a lot of the dough ended up in her mouth instead of the cookie sheet!  =)  She does a great job measuring flour/sugar, cracking eggs, and stirring the dough.

 

Grandma and Papa brought over our old train set and helped set it up.  Rylee is just a little bit obsessed with it!  Carson just likes pulling it off the tracks.

Rylee decorated her little tree for her room, and also helped with the big tree.  She got bored hanging ornaments after a few minutes, but had a blast looking through all of the different ornaments.  Carson likes to pull as many ornaments off the tree as he can, luckily he has only broken a couple.  Needless to say, our tree is pretty bare at the bottom!



This last weekend we went out to the beach house for some R & R.  Rylee just loves it out there.  The Christmas boat parade went by Friday and Saturday night so that was fun to watch (even though there were only 4 boats... Shelton is pretty small)!

Happy holidays to you and yours.  You better believe I will be counting my blessings and holding my babies extra tight this holiday season.  XOXO

10 months

 Happy 10 months Carson!  What can I say, he is on the move.  He is in to absolutely everything.  Thank God for baby gates and cupboard locks.  He can climb the stairs now, and pretty much is obsessed with it.  He loves to walk around the house while pushing his sister's little chair.  He is a super fast crawler.  He likes the Christmas tree and pulling off the pretty ornaments.  He is still my sweet snuggle bug too.  As much as he loves causing trouble he loves being held too.  He would be perfectly happy being held and carried around all day.  He also loves the water and has no fear.  He doesn't mind jumping in and getting his face wet.  He will be a swimmer like his sister I'm sure.

 

His sleeping patterns have much improved since last month I am happy to say.  We used the "cry it out" method and after a few days he was back to sleeping through the night.  Mommy and Daddy are much happier and well rested now.

Fun with Rylee

Here are a couple videos of Rylee doing her favorite things.  She is quite the swimmer now.  She can swim pretty well without her life jacket (she is practicing up for our trip to Mexico).  She also loves to dance, as you can see in the above video.  She is currently in a ballet/ tumbling class and they have a recital coming up next month. 

And... he's off!

 

This little guy is growing WAY too fast. 

9 months

 

Weight: 22lbs 14 oz (75%)

Height: 29 1/4 inches (75%)



Happy 9 months to my sweet baby boy!  You are growing so much every day.  We were just looking at pictures from the hospital yesterday and having a hard time believing you were ever that small!  You are learning so much these days.  You are talking more and more.  You say mama and "da."  You can pull yourself up on every thing and take a couple of steps while hanging on to things.  I have no doubt you'll be walking in the next month or two.  You have to be able to catch your sister, I know!  You are starting to eat more people food which you love.  I think you are just about over that mushy baby food.

 

The one thing that we are not happy with are your sleeping patterns.  You hardly nap during the day, and when you do it's only for 30 minutes at a time. You have also started waking up multiple times a night.  No, not just one or two times.  You wake up 4, 6, even 8 times a night some nights.  For some reason you wake up, stand up in your crib, and scream at the top of your lungs until someone comes to get you.  This makes for two very tired and frustrated parents.  We are hoping this phase passes very soon!!  I know we are the cause... we just love snuggling you so much!


Trick or Treat

 

Happy halloween from Minnie Mouse and the cutest little pumpkin ever.

Maris Farms

 We visited Maris Farms not once but twice this weekend!  The first day was sunny and we spent some time playing and picking out pumpkins.  The second time we were there for a birthday party.  It rained, but that didn't keep us from having fun.  We pet the animals, went down the slides, rode ponies, jumped in the bouncy house, played in the corn house and rode the cow train.  Rylee keeps asking when we can go back again!

 

8 months

 

Happy 8 months little man!  You are still the love of my life.  You love smiling and laughing and are still a very content little guy.  You have started wanting to be a part of everything.  If we are in another room you will scoot over to find us.  You still like to play by yourself but will eventually scoot over to your sister and try to join in with whatever she is doing.  You have recently discovered your voice and have been yelling and babbling loudly.  Between you and your sister there is never a dull or quiet moment.  You have started saying "mama."  I think it's to me (I've been coaching you), but your dad isn't so sure.  Nevertheless, you are almost ready to talk.  Today we noticed your first tooth is cutting through!  With that on top of a little cold you are not a happy camper today,  but we still love you like crazy.  You've grown so much in the last couple months, I can't wait to see where the next few take us!  (Although I would love to keep you small forever).  Never forget that we love you so much and will always be here for you.

Happy 3rd Birthday Rylee!

 We celebrated Rylee's 3rd birthday on Sunday.  She has been asking for a "Mickey Mouse party" for at least 6 months now, so that is what she got.  We had a "Hot Diggety Dog" bar, lots of Mickey decorations, Mickey and Minnie cake pops (courtesy of Aunt Julie), and a hunt for Pluto's bones (dog bones hidden around the yard).  It was a beautiful sunny day so the kids were able to play outside.  She had lots of little friends over to help celebrate her very special day

 We got Rylee this wagon for her birthday.  Her and Maddie spent a good portion of the day riding in it and pulling each other around.  These two were inseparable.  SO cute.

 I can't believe my little girl is 3!  She is such a fun spirited happy girl.  Sure, she has her moments, but so do all kids.  We argue but she is always quick to give lots of hugs and snuggles to make up.  She loves to sing, dance, run, ride her tricycle, color with markers, and do "projects."  She helps take care of her brother and just loves him to death.  She likes to dress herself and has to always wear a skirt, no matter the weather.  She is still in the 90th percentile for both height and weight.  We love her so much and feel so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl to call our own.

 A pic of the Wyss and Craig kids.  Rylee is 9 months older than Maddie and Carson is 2 months older than Logan.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!!!

Doin' the Puyallup x2

 We had so much fun at the fair this year we had to do it twice.  Rylee is a little dare devil and couldn't get enough of the rides.  Her favorites were the swings and the balloon ride.

 Of course she had to ride a pony.  She had a blast and we can't wait to do the Puyallup again next year!