Playing Catch Up

Since Ryan's baptism, I have returned to work, and while it is very difficult, I don't have much to complain about. I knew that I would be getting very little sleep and that has remained true, but the end is already in sight as my last day is May 30th! I so wish that I was still at home with the boys but do enjoy the intellectual conversations that I get to have with my students and fellow teachers. The hardest part is finding time to grade and plan; I spend my only free period at school pumping and at home I have absolutely no free time. In fact, I have been really down on myself for my lack of exercise lately too. I can't even seem to find 30 minutes and by the time I do, I often choose sleep over the elliptical. I went from working out literally every day for the past 4 years to maybe finding the time twice a week if I'm lucky...ugh...but I keep telling myself that I will get back to it come summer when hopefully Ryan is sleeping better and I can get a few moments for Mommy.
Here are the highlights of our lives since February.

Colten turned 3! Yes, 3! and I can't believe it! He is growing and developing so quickly. I love to listen to his stories and watch his imagination flourish as he plays with his toys and makes up stories about going to the desert or battling the bad guys while wearing one of his many superhero masks. Because of his new found interest in superheros and dressing up as such, he had a superhero party.

On his actual birthday
Licking the frosting off of the candles of his birthday cupcake.

His Spiderman cake

Blowing out the candlesBefore the party with Grandma and Grandpa

Playing with his friend Christian on the swing set. (This was the first time Colten had a few friends attend; I wanted a photo of all the kids including Kayleigh and Vincent,
but that never happened...)

Opening so many gifts gets exhausting...
Thank you to everyone for all of the amazing toys!
This is a photo of Colten opening the 'big blue car' that he talked about for months.

Uncle Mike as Wolverine and Colten as Optimus Prime the day after his party.
We went out to eat the day after his party, and Colten wore this cape and mask and his Optimus Prime helmet. He looked super cute and was the star of the restaurant! I always looked forward to the day I could take my son out dressed as superhero. I guess that day has come!
Colten as Darth Vader
As part of his gift, Uncle Mike got Colten this spiderman bed-tent.
Luckily he had the mask to match!
The day after the party, Ryan tried out some new gear too! Here he is in the jumpster. We had this for Colten but never set it up. Ryan loves it!

We also set up the exersaucer and both Ryan and Colten enjoyed themselves!

Ryan is growing quickly as well! He is going on 6 months old and has started eating cereal and green beans, peas, and apples. I went from complaining that Ryan pooped 10+ times a day to now wishing that he didn't struggle so much to poop. My poor baby has been constipated since starting solids; he pushes so hard and cries out with little success so the doctor suggested that we start apples even though we are not through all of the veggies. We are hoping that eating apples once a day will help with Ryan's digestion. This is a moment of mommy over-share so feel free to skip ahead if you are easily grossed out. Yesterday I even found myself pulling on his poop as he pushed to help him along. Together we were quite successful and Ryan was much happier after. I never imagined that I would be doing such a thing but mommy-hood gives us the power to do anything that our kids need.

Colten fed Ryan one of his first bites of cereal.
I love how Colten opened his mouth too as he tried to get Ryan to eat the spoonful.

Daddy feeding Ryan

Ryan eating cereal.

And loving it!

First bites of green beans!

Not so sure...

Papa was sweet enough to take us all to the circus at the end of March too! Tom and I hadn't been to the circus in a good 25 years so we had just as much fun as Colten! Before the show started, they had a pre-show for the kids on the floor with bounce-houses, clown shows, elephant viewing, and so much more!

Here we are before the show
Daddy, Colten, and Papa wearing clown noses
Mommy got in on the clown nose action too!
Colten loved the elephants! But complained that the show was too loud and bright too.
Thanks Papa for such a fun time!

Before the circus, we also visited CCW preschool and registered Colten for the fall! I loved it there! Now I just have to hope that he is potty trained by then; otherwise he can't go...
While at the preschool he just wanted to play, but he brought home supplies to make a bunny mask. Here is Colten with his masterpiece (with Daddy's assistance of course!)

Here are some photos of silly everyday moments. Colten and I decided to put Ryan in Colten's Build-a-Bear car and then Colten wanted to get in on the fun too!

Colten tried to dress himself in Build-a-Bear clothes,
including Browns football pants and football shoes ~ silly boy!

And even more photos of the boys ~ I can't get enough photos of the two of them together! I love how sweet Colten is with Ryan and I love how Ryan just watches Colten's every move! They truly will be best friends.

Both in bumbo chairs - Colten dressed as a race car driver ~ a mini John Force (except Colten will be the first to tell you that John Force wears green, not red!)

Colten loves to "touch Ryan noses!"

It's Easter time!

Ryan meets the bunny for the first time!
And Colten asks the bunny to bring him a football helmet for Easter!

Easter wouldn't be complete without a visit to Easter Bunny Lane at Kraynak's.
Colten loved it and yelled out everything he was seeing from "trees", to "dogs" and "bunnies"!

Colten coloring eggs with Grandpa

Drawing a design on the egg before putting it in the dye

Check out my great work!

Colten got a big wheels from Grandma and Grandpa for Easter!

Colten being silly as he waits for the Easter egg hunt to begin at Grandma and Grandpas

Trying to get a cute photo of both boys in bunny ears; this was my best shot

Let the hunt begin!

Yay! Colten found Buddy in one of the eggs!

Off to Papa's for more Easter fun! Papa found a cookie coloring kit!
It came with 4 pre-baked and iced cookies and 4 food coloring markers
so Colten could actually color the cookies with markers and then eat them. Too fun!

Coloring cookies with his new "friend" Laura. Laura truly has been our savior since my mom has been battling cancer. For a while we thought that we might have to put the boys in daycare since my mom was just too tired from chemo, but Laura rearranged her work schedule for the boys and cares for them 3+ days a week. They love her so much, and I can still be at ease while at work, knowing they are in such loving care. My mom so misses watching them every day but also is so thankful that it is Laura who is taking care of the boys. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Laura!

It is finally Easter morning and the Bunny came through! He brought Colten a Brown's jersey and helmet! Usually when Colten wakes up in the morning, he waits for us to come into his room before getting out of bed. Even Christmas morning, we had to go in to him and bring him out to see what Santa brought, but this Easter morning, he came running out of his room, excited to search for baskets. It was so cute watching him scurry around the house, peeking in every corner as he looked first for Ryan's basket and then for his. I loved the excitement on his face when he found each one, and then even more so when he realized that the Bunny brought him his helmet!

Ryan looking so cute in his basket!

After mass. It is not the best photo of their outfits, but I dressed the boys in matching pink and white shirts with a navy sweater vest that had pink accents. They looked adorable if I do say so myself. And I figured that, having two boys, I will not have much time to dress them in such a cute, matching way; needless to say, I am taking advantage of the time I have before they learn to protest!

Colten wanted a photo in his basket too since he saw Ryan do it earlier.

Well before I was even alive, my Aunt Tunny has hosted an Easter celebration for the entire family. Every year since I can remember, I have most looked forward to eating her Polish Sweet Easter Bread. In fact she would even shape some into bunnies just for the kids. I always ate my first one during the 2 minute drive home from blessing baskets at church. For the past three years, Tom and I have tried to carry on this Easter bread tradition by making the bread ourselves since Aunt Tunny was no longer able. Granted my bunnies look little like a bunny but my bread seems to get better every year. One day I know I will figure out that bunny shape too! Unfortunately this Easter we had to celebrate Easter without Aunt Tunny's physical presence. She passed away peacefully shortly before we arrived at her house for our Easter gathering. While the celebration was much smaller this year than normal, it was even more special. Yes, we were so sad and missing Aunt Tunny, but at the same time, it seemed sort of right that she pass on a holiday so special to her. We ate and shared stories; we shed tears and we laughed. We were together as a family, celebrating Easter, celebrating Aunt Tunny, mourning our loss, and watching the life and wonder of Colten and Ryan. Every year that I make that bread and try my best to shape it into bunnies, I will do so in Aunt Tunny's honor. We love you, Aunt Tunny.

Ryan's first Easter shirt.
I had to do an outfit change just to get a photo of him in this too.

End of the night. Winding down for bed.

The following week was my spring break; I was so excited to spend more time with the boys again! Boy did my wish come true...we rushed Tom to the hospital Monday morning because he was in such intense pain. In fact, we called an ambulance because he couldn't even wait for my parents to get to our house to watch Colten and Ryan. Luckily, it was only a kidney stone, but don't let Tom hear me say that! I say luckily because it was nothing too serious, but Tom was in so much pain and didn't pass it until 4am Sunday morning, almost one full week later. Needless to say, I had time with the boys and lots of it, so much so that I was even more exhausted than when I work too. As much as I complained about not getting much help from Tom, I know that he couldn't and I did like putting Colten to bed again. It was difficult trying to manage both boys' baths and bed at night, but I do miss reading to Colten before bed. Tom took that over after Ryan was born just to help out so it was nice to spend that quiet time with him again.
But this did not make for a very special 31st birthday for me. In fact, I made chili and ate a bowl of it in the living room with Colten. That was pretty much the extent of my day, but Colten gave me the best present of all the night before. As I was putting him to bed, I said, "tomorrow is Mommy's birthday. Are you going to wish me a happy birthday when you see me in the morning?" He replied, "no, Mommy. I am going to say thank you. Thank you for you." That is better than any happy birthday any day. My little man always knows how to brighten my day.