Look How Far He's Come

As usual the summer was a blur of heat, swimming and as many indoor activities I could think of. The kids had a great time getting settled in our new home and I was glad that we had more space to play and have friends over too.

Summer is busy with mommy teaching swim lessons and the kids’ activities. We are lucky to have friends helping us think of creative – and cool – play date ideas!

Here we are making the best of what Arizona has to offer us in the summer!

Pool day at our community pool! 

Ice cream treats!
... Ryan wasn't so sure about the cone and he didn't like the nuts ..

Ellie enjoyed the entire thing ...

 Ellie loves messy fun!

 When it's 115 degrees outside ... mommy gets creative with the games ... Here's the first round of "Foil Ball" ...

Ryan started swim lessons!

We practiced at home in our "pool" ...

Baking day!

School starts at the end of July on our year round schedule. Ryan was ready and excited to start his second year of preschool. He loves to learn and play with his friends. This year has been a better year for Ryan. He’s more confident and most of the kids know that he’s a little person so there aren’t as many questions and/or social challenges as last year. His teachers tell me that there are still some incidents where kids aren’t nice. I’m working on letting it go (angry mama bear instinct!) and he’s working on communicating in these situations. The confidence gets better daily. I’m really glad that he’s in school at a young age so that he can have practice in these situations. It’s also good for me … since I also need practice … I know that if I can get over it, Ryan can too.

Here’s Ryan on his first day of school!

The end of September is a very special day for our little man! Ryan turned FOUR years old! Time goes too fast, I can’t believe that he’s already four years old. Ryan celebrated his birthday with some very special fun. We had lunch with daddy at Ryan’s favorite restaurant – Red Robin of course. And a few days later we celebrated with a Disney Planes party with some special friends!

Special lunch ... 

Birthday Boy

Special birthday gifts!

Yummy!

Ellie likes cake too ...

Party time!

At the end of October we made a trip to CA for Ryan’s annual doctor appointments. We have kept him with the same specialists he has had since birth. ALL of his doctors said that he’s doing really well! We’ve been lucky to avoid a lot of complications that achondroplasia can have. We are still watching his ears since the ear tube holes never closed. For now, it’s nice since it’s like “built in” ear tubes. But in a few years we will have to have them closed. As of now they aren’t affecting his hearing – so Ryan’s caught in a lie … he CAN hear me when I tell him to clean up his toys. Nice try Ryan! Ha ha. Ryan’s Genetic doctor doesn’t require an annual visit but I like to check in with her since she oversees new needs and ongoing things. She and I decided that he has slight bowing in one leg that should be looked at by an orthopedic doctor just in case we can manage it. I am proactive when it comes to Ryan’s medical care and I don’t want to miss anything!

The trip was fun for the kids – we had a nice visit with family and friends over the weekend. And then Ryan – a trooper as usual – had doctor appointments Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. These aren’t all easy and they are time consuming. He is a champion. We are glad to have good news overall. He’s come so far, I am stronger and so is Ryan.

Here are the kids enjoying their visit in CA.

Only a few weeks after getting back home and it’s the holidays! What a blur this year has been. We kicked off the holidays with a fantastic Halloween! It was the first time we got to know a lot of our neighbors. What a great bunch we have! 

Our "My Little Pony Ballerina Princess"! 

(she made that up all by herself)

And our Garbage Man!

 "Trick or Treat!"

After a fun Halloween we ended November with a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Being out of state from our family is a bummer on some accounts but we also love being able to spend time with our new friends and each other. The kids had a whirlwind of a weekend with daddy home from work and their new friends.

Already we are getting ready for Christmas! Ryan's counting down until the day Santa comes ... and in the meantime I'm looking forward to getting the kids involved in as many holiday activities that we can. There's so much more to Christmas than Santa!

Already the end of 2015. It’s been a great year for our family and for our adventures with Ryan. We look forward to continuing our success from 2015 and finding new adventures in the new year too.

… on to the next adventure!