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!

Good things come to those who wait

 What a month it has been!  We started out with a new addition to our family ... and it isn't Ryan's baby sister ... it was time for mommy to get a "mom car" ... no more Mini Cooper for me!   My Mini could barely fit just Ryan and I ...

Here's my new addition - we haven't named her yet (yes, a car is a member of the family in these parts :))  It's a Subaru Outback, great car - not too big but plenty of room for the family and our stuff we take along :)

Next in line was Mothers Day!  We celebrated with Scott's side of the family on Saturday.  Ryan got to see his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and his cousin Alexis!  It was very special to see her as she treated her mom to her very first mother's day :)

On Sunday Scott, Ryan and I got up and had a nice breakfast at our favorite spot near our house.  Since Ryan is our early bird, we were up bright and early and at the restaurant before the crowds came.
We did a delicious dinner with my parents - Ryan loved visiting with his grandparents and his aunt and uncle too!

Here's Ryan enjoying some time with Grandma Cec and mommy!

It was a wonderful Mother's Day!

After Mother's Day I had one more week of work and I started my maternity leave!  It's the waiting game for Ryan's sister now!
Ryan and I have been enjoying our time together - he's helped me finish up getting ready for the baby and we have done some fun activities too!  Here's a glimpse of our time together!

First, he helped me finish up his sister's room ...

Watching Sesame Street ... what a fun show!

Coloring a nice big picture!

Trying out finger paints ... not so sure about this ... we don't like messy hands!  I guess I should enjoy that while it lasts!

Play date at the park and enjoying a nice swing!

It's been pretty hot a few times and our new place is fantastic BUT we have no AC.  So to cool off we have played outside with some water fun ...

Here's our new water table!  Instant hit!
... though clearly it's serious stuff!

Watching airplanes fly by with mommy ...

You can't go wrong with buckets of water!

And when all else fails, popsicles are great fun and nice and cool!

We like catching bubbles too - almost blowing them by ourselves but not quite yet!  For now catching them is great fun though!

 Ryan made us some eggs for snack ...

We haven't had too many food adventures this month, but Ryan did pick up a new self help skill!  He's drinking out of his sippy cup!  Here's my big boy enjoying his cool water!  He loves this new skill and loves water - great timing for the summer heat!

 Ryan also learned how to sit in his new chair!  He loooves having his own chair!

Our vocabulary continues to expand - we have words for so many things - grass, trees, cheese, keys, truck, car, cat and grandpa ... are just a few!
He's also mimicking sounds like "hmmmm", "mmmmmm", "shhhhhh" and "brrrrrr".
His Early Start teachers are very impressed with his improvements and new skills.  In some areas we continue to work - speech and self help skills - and in others we are exceeding expectations - gross & fine motor skills.  Great job buddy!

A very fun age and a very fun little boy!  We are enjoying the wait for his sister together ... and he's most definitely going to be a wonderful big brother!  

... on to the next adventure!