Big Brother!

What a busy month June was!  Lots of adventure in Ryan's world ...

Ryan and I are both animal lovers ... and so we started out the month of June by saving a little kitten that was left by it's mommy in our yard.  Every morning we could hear the little guy meowing out there and so Ryan and I spent a day catching it in a trap provided by our favorite no-kill cat organization and shelter - Nine Lives Foundation.  We caught him/her and brought it to the shelter so that it could be taken care of and adopted into a new home!

Ryan loves cars and his Faster Farms friends ... here we are at the summer picnic.  It was a hot day, but that didn't stop Ryan from cruising around and checking out the cars and people!

Father's Day was a nice day ... low key this year - we thought that we might be at the hospital with little sister ... but she decided she wanted to make her arrival a bit later than her due date ... so while we waited we celebrated Father's Day with the family at our house.  Scott and I loved hosting at our house - we BBQ'd and enjoyed our backyard.
Ryan loved visiting with his grandparents and his cousin Freida!

Daddy and Ryan

Ryan and Grandpa John

Ryan enjoying some time with his auntie and uncle and cousin Freida!

The family :)

And at last Ryan is happy to announce the birth of his little sister Eleanor "Ellie" Louise Parsons!
Ellie made her big debut on Tuesday June 18th at 8:45am.  She weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and 20" long.  She's already stolen our hearts and is a wonderful addition to our family.

Ryan is a wonderful sweet proud big brother and helps mom and dad by offering endless hugs and kisses to Ellie.  He's already protective of her and gets quite upset if she's crying.  Of course this results in two upset little ones ... but he's very sweet to worry :)

... here we are at the hospital ...

(Ryan isn't so sure about this ... but he warms up to the idea quickly!)

Ellie's newborn pictures ...

Mommy's favorite picture :)

The days that followed Ellie's arrival were long with a few "hiccups" but also a lot of fun since we had daddy home!  So many opportunities for adventure ... and also fun ways to cool down in the big heat wave we had!

Ryan loves our backyard!

Ellie already making faces ...

Ryan loves to "rock" his sister ...

One of our many trips to the grocery store to cool off!

Ryan taking a close look at Ellie

First ice cream cone!  Yummy!

Cooling off in his pool ...

Mommy and Ellie hanging out by the pool

A fun-filled morning at the Children's Museum!

More time in our pool :)

Ryan just loves it when we pour water over his head!

Having some more fun in our yard ... lots of time outside to get out of our hot house!  :)

Already 3 weeks old!

Big brother smiles!

Big brother love ... so precious.  I'm so lucky.

Our little hiccups have given us some challenge, but Ellie is already learning from her big brother.  She's been tough just like Ryan - at 2 days old she was diagnosed with dual ear infections.  Then just 2 weeks later she had another ear infection.  Seems that ear infections are a trend in this family, but at least toughing it out is also a trend :)
But as you can see that hasn't stopped us from having a lot of fun!  And other than that, Ellie has acclimated to her family quite well and we are one happy bunch!  I'm one lucky mama ... these kids are incredible.

This is a contribution made by Ryan ... he's taken to photography it seems!

... on to the next adventure!