The Rest of 2012!

Since school began for Colten and me, life has been so busy and so filled with sicknesses too.  It seems like Colten and thus the rest of the family has been battling colds, ear infections, and the like since September; coughs and runny noses are the norm right now!   But I guess they are building up their immune systems on the bright side.  Since I am so far behind as usual, I will give a quick recap of the past few months, using mainly photos too!

Ryan started walking in late September at 10 months old!  That was about the same time Colten walked too but it seemed like Ryan was much steadier and quicker sooner.  I feel like he went from crawling and walking along furniture to walking as if he had always known how!

Walking! September 2012

Discovering all of the toy box treasures!  And what a mess he can make so quickly!

Ryan loves his food!  And his messes!

I remember trying to transition Colten to solid foods and the difficulty I had to say the least, so when it was time to begin feeding Ryan regular foods, I was so apprehensive.  To my (pleasant) surprise, he LOVES EVERYTHING!  And I mean LOVES EVERYTHING!  To this day, Colten is a selective eater who still doesn't eat pizza or pasta just to name a couple.  But Ryan eats and enjoys everything from pizza and pasta to brussels sprouts, beets, creamed mushrooms and all foods in-between!  And he has a special place in his heart for marshmallows and chocolate chip cookies!  Aside from enjoying so many foods, he also simply enjoys eating and devours so much food.  I always tell people how much he consumes and how frequently, but until they witness it, they never fully understand what I mean.  The most astonishing thing about his love for food is how small he is.  Despite how much he eats, he is still a tiny nugget.  At his one year appointment, he weighed 20 lbs 6 oz (~10-25%) and measured 30 3/4 inches (~50%).  I don't know where all the food goes, but I am thrilled to have an adventurous eater!

Autumn and Halloween - To kick off the fall season, we made our annual trip to White House Farm for their fall festival and craft show in September.  Colten and Daddy look forward to the yummy doughnuts, and we always enjoy a horse-drawn hayride through the apple orchards and of course choose our pumpkins too!

Just by chance, every year Carol and Ike lead us through the orchards even though they run 3 different sets of wagons.

Enjoying the ride!

"This one is just Ryan's size!"

"And maybe this one for me!"

I love Ryan's crinkle nose!

Continuing with our pumpkin adventures, we headed down to visit Uncle Mike in mid-October so we could check out the pumpkin festival in Circleville.  I have wanted to go for the past few years, but it never seemed to fit our schedules.  This year, I was determined to go and even made plans to meet up with the Belschner family there too.  We made it to the festival, but things didn't work out as I had hoped.  We never met the Belschner's because it was rainy and freezing (and as you can tell from our fall jackets, I wasn't much prepared for either!).  Since we drove about an hour to get there, we still walked around, grabbing something pumpkin (pancakes, doughnuts, chili, burgers, cheesecake - you name it, they made it with pumpkin) and hiding under a roof to stay out of the rain.  As I was huddling Ryan and Colten in a doorway, a nice woman stopped and told me that just down the block there was a building that we could go in to get warm.  What an angel she was!  I can't remember what the building really was, but it reminded me of a VFW hall; everyone inside was welcoming, so we warmed up and dried off and I was able to feed Ryan too.  Luckily, the rain let-up after that a bit so we were able to walk around more before heading out.  Despite the rain and cold, I really enjoyed it and hope to venture back another year with hopefully better weather.  These are the only pics I have of our adventure; in fact, Colten refused photos all together.

Ryan and Uncle Mike

Ryan with Mommy and Daddy

In the spirit of the season, Colten decided that he wanted to be a knight this Halloween and then requested that Ryan dress-up as his dragon.  They were too cute if I do say so myself!

Sir Colten and his Dragon Ryan

Let the battle begin!

Success!

We celebrated Halloween for just under 2 weeks.  I wanted to  dress the kids up the weekend before so we could enjoy trick-or-treating over Papa's and Grandpa and Grandma's houses without rushing home for baths and bed since it really fell on a weeknight.  So off to Papa's we went...

but not before painting pumpkins!

"Ta-Da!"

Trick-or-treat! - Practice for the big night!

Colten and Papa

 Luckily, Uncle Marc and Aunt Amanda were able to bring Payton over too!

Payton as a cupcake with her cousins Colten and Ryan

And then off to Grandpa and Grandma's we went for more trick-or-treating!  I have to say that I was really happy with how willing both Colten and Ryan were to change in and out of their costumes multiple times in one day.  What great sports!  But it may have been all in the name of candy!!! 

What a handsome knight!

And adorable Dragon (with Charlie Brown of course!)

Colten's Halloween celebration continued at his first school Halloween party!  I never could have imagined that he would collect so much candy from 17 other students!!!

Colten with a few of his classmates just as they arrived for the party.

When Kayleigh arrived as Cinderella, Miss Angel told Colten to go get her and escort her to the room as her Knight in Shining Armor!  

Princess Kayleigh with her Knight Colten

Due to terrible weather, Halloween was postponed until Saturday!  This was the first year we actually took Colten trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, and he loved it!!!

Getting ready to head out for some candy!

"Trick-Or-Treat!"

After a chilly trek around the block, this is how I found Colten in his room...

"What do you have?" I asked with a smile in my voice.

"A kiss!" Colten replied, hopeful!

"Why is it still in the wrapper?  You better eat it!" I responded, knowing I made his night!

In his glory! (And with a kiss in his mouth!)

Off to bed my boys go in their matching ghost camo pjs! 

Ryan Turns O-N-E!!!
I can't believe how quickly this past year went.  Ryan is already one!  And changing more and more every day.  I love to watch him grow, but with each passing milestone, I also mourn the babies I will never have again.  No more nursing.  No more baby food.  No more crawling or first steps.  But there is still plenty of "Mommy Moments" to keep me counting my blessings everyday.  Ryan is going through his "Mommy" phase where he only wants me and cries hysterically if I even leave the room for a moment.  While sometimes, it drives me crazy because I cannot even get laundry or make dinner without him crying for me, I also love every second of it and hope that both of my boys always have a special place in their hearts for me.
 Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Playing with the balloons before guests arrive!

So happy that Uncle Mike made it in from Columbus!

"Yay! I'm ONE!!"

Time for cake!  Ryan wanted to dig right into this one but when we gave him his smash cake, he wasn't too interested.

"Happy Birthday, Ryan!  We love you!"

Trying a slice

Ryan with Grandma and Grandpa

Ryan was so tired that he couldn't even make it to open presents.  So unfortunately we had to open them after everyone had left.  I wanted Ryan to at least try to open them when he woke up from his nap, but Colten had lots of fun tearing into all of the gifts instead!  Ryan received so many wonderful presents and has been enjoying them ever since!  A special thanks to everyone for their thoughtfulness!

Papa gave Ryan this Rockstar Elmo, and Ryan loves to dance with Elmo!!

On Ryan's actual birthday, we went to JCP to take his year photos and our Christmas pictures.  Long story short, it was a disaster...I had made the appointment months ago, taking the 11am slot since it was the first appointment of the day even though that is usually around Ryan's nap time.  Regardless, we made it work in an attempt to avoid waiting.  Or so we thought.  Some time after I made the appointment, JCP began their holiday hours so when we arrived, the place was packed.  As you can guess, Colten and Ryan were happy while we waited but by the time our turn arrived, Ryan had had enough.  He did not smile for one photo (but we did manage to get a few good shots anyway).  Then, of course, just when it is time for our family Christmas photos, Colten says that he has to go pee.  Since the restrooms are across the store, I hoisted him onto my hip and ran for it, mind you we are all in our fleece holiday pjs.  As we were running through the store, Colten was laughing and said, "isn't this fun, Mom?"  I just smiled and said, "yes, fun!"  After a quick pee, our ran back began.  Needless to say, I was frustrated and sweating by the time we returned.  Ryan still did not want to cooperate but again we managed to get a few photos that we liked.  However, the madness ensued while we tried to choose those pictures.  Both kids were hot, tired, and hungry (and their parents were too).  We were "those parents" with one screaming one-year old who we could only keep quiet with yogurt melts and puffs and with a three-year old who insisted on crawling under the chairs like an obstacle course.  Once we left, we couldn't help but laugh at the chaos but at the time, it didn't seem so funny.

So happy to be 1!

At the end of the night, Colten gave Ryan one last birthday hug and insisted that we all sing Happy Birthday to him one more time!  I love these sweet (unprompted) moments!

Thanksgiving - For some reason, I barely took any pictures on Thanksgiving, but we had a fabulous time and so much delicious food.  We started a new tradition in having my Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck over as well.  They made the holiday extra special!  As usual, Ryan chowed down on everything from turkey and mashed potatoes to creamed mushrooms and green beans and stuffing while Colten made a meal of only corn.

"Yummy!"

Perhaps my favorite part of the holiday is going shopping on Black Friday as most of you know.  I am not one to shop all night but rather prefer to wake up around 3 or 4 am to head out.  This year, I made a slight exception.  While I could not convince anyone to come with me, I headed to KMart for 8pm to get PillowPets for the boys along with a few other things since I was there!  I arrived about 7:50pm to find the line running the length of the building.  I contemplated going home, but thought I would at least see what happened once the doors opened.  So I got a cart and found my spot in line; luckily it was a pretty decent night temp wise.  I couldn't have been happier with my first Black Friday (or Thursday) shopping trip.  I got right in just after 8pm, grabbed my pillows and few other items and was heading home by 8:30pm - Success!  Then after some sleep, my mom and I headed back out around 4am.  We had the best time as usual, scoring lots of deals but most importantly having a blast together.  We ended our day with lunch at Cheddar's and are looking forward to next year already!

Christmas -  We kicked off the Christmas season with our annual visit to Kraynak's Christmas Tree Lane.  Evey year Colten's excitement grows while looking at all of the displays.  This was always one of my favorite things to do as a child, so I am thrilled to see Colten enjoying it just as much, and I look forward to Ryan's growing interest in the coming years.

I love the wonder on his face.

And of course we had to visit Santa at the mall.  Colten was so excited to tell Santa that he wanted "Devastator, Bruticus, and Menasor" - all transformers of course.  He also wanted to tell Santa that Ryan wanted a pillow and a blanket.  I just wanted a decent photo of them with Santa but figured that Ryan would cry.  And I was right.  As soon as I put him on Santa's lap, the tears came, but luckily one of the elves had some toy that flashed and made sounds.  It distracted Ryan enough so that we could get a photo - no smile but no tears either - Success!  And then Colten was able to relay his list.

Colten also took a train ride while we were at the mall.  This was the first year, he went by himself and didn't cry!

Time to decorate the tree!  Colten and Ryan both played with the lights a bit, but then I put Ryan to bed before the three of us actually got involved in decorating the tree.  Ryan goes after everything and doesn't quite listen to "No" so I hoped that if he didn't see the ornaments going on, he wouldn't want to take them off.  Colten loves ornaments so was a huge help in making our tree look so beautiful!

I love the quiet wonder

Checking out a few ornaments

Playing by the tree the next morning

Colten's letter to Santa that he mailed at school.  I transcribed what he said and then he drew pictures of some of his requests for himself, Daddy, Ryan and Mommy! (Sorry - I can't figure out how to rotate it.)

Ryan loves to sit on the fireplace and play!

In early December, we attended our church's lunch with Santa, but we didn't have the same luck with Ryan while visiting Santa this time!

Screaming all the way!

But loving the ornament on his present afterwards!

 In addition to the presents Santa gave every child, Colten also won a set of 10 puzzles.  He was so excited because lately he has really been interested in putting them together and never ceases to amaze me in completing them nearly all by himself!  But the funny part of the story is that when they announced his name, the man called for "Cotten McCutcheon" to come pick a prize!  Tom said it was because I rushed while filling out his ticket, but either way, I couldn't help but laugh!  Good old Cotten McCutcheon!

Because we don't really get to spend much time with Uncle Marc, Aunt Amanda, and Payton on Christmas, we had them over for an early Christmas celebration along with Papa and Uncle Howard.  The kids had so much fun opening presents but by the end of the afternoon, Colten had a 102 degree fever - poor guy.

Aunt Cindy and Payton opening gifts

Uncle Marc helping Colten out with his new dart gun

Colten also had his first school Christmas pageant.  He was sick with a fever and ear infection the whole week leading up to it and missed that entire week of school, but luckily he was better for Saturday's Christmas brunch and performance.  Colten's class dressed as angels (Miss Angel's Angels to be exact).  They had the Christmas brunch at a local banquet hall so it was such a special event; Grandma and Grandpa and Papa came to watch Colten too! 

Colten and Mommy right after he "angeled-up"

Colten and Miss Angel (his teacher)

When we arrived, our tables were reserved with framed photos of our kids and what they requested from Santa.  It was such a surprise that I even started crying before the show began!

Then all of the students processed in and up to the stage to sing the holiday songs they had been practicing over the past month.  I was so proud of him and of course cried some more!

Our little angel

Singing on stage (Kayleigh is just down from Colten in a plaid skirt)

Santa also came to celebrate!  Meeting Ryan!

Santa checking in with Colten

Colten and Kayleigh dancing after breakfast

Grandma and Ryan (gotta have the boogie wipes handy!)

Shortly before the holidays, Santa called Colten on the phone!  It was a priceless conversation; you could see the wonder in Colten's eyes!  Just as the conversation was ending, Santa asked if Colten would be leaving him at least one chocolate chip cookie because those are Santa's favorite.  Of course Colten told him yes and inside I groaned.  Of all the cookies we have on Christmas, chocolate chip is not one of them, but it will be from now on!  I found a fabulous recipe on Pinterest and thought we would give it a try.  Of course I didn't get to taste them, but Santa, Daddy, Colten and Ryan seemed to love them!

Mommy's cookie helper, race car apron and all!

In go the chips

Big stir!

The next day was Christmas Eve, and we began our celebration by heading over to my parent's house to eat and open gifts before attending mass.

Inside Colten's mind: "Enough pictures already. Can we please just open presents?"

"Yay! A new megazord!"

Ryan wasn't too interested in opening gifts this year, but he sure looked cute in his Santa hat!

Ryan and Mommy

And he insisted on climbing on top of this box

And was thrilled with himself when he stood up on it!

Santa visited Grandma and Grandpa's house a day early!

So excited for his Bumblebee ornament!

After playing with all of the new toys and eating a delicious lunch, we headed to 4pm mass and continued our beautiful celebration.  The plan was to head out to Tom's grandparent's house after mass, but Ryan was tired and getting fussy; plus it had begun to snow, so Tom took me and the boys home and ventured to his grandparent's without us.  I was sad to miss them, but Ryan really needed to get to bed.  When we arrived home from church, Colten found new matching pjs that his elf left them, but I couldn't even manage any pictures because Ryan was so tired, but you will see them in the Christmas morning photos.  Once I put Ryan to bed, Colten and I met Kayleigh and Krissy outside so we could sprinkle the reindeer food they got at school on our front lawns.  They wanted to be double sure that Santa and his reindeer stopped at our houses!  They had so much fun!  In fact, when we came back inside, there was just as much glitter and oats on our coats! But it must have worked too!

Kayleigh and Colten

Giving that food a good throw!

 Once inside, Colten got Santa's cookies and milk ready and then it was off to bed for Colten because when Santa called he gave clear instructions - that he would not come until every head in the house was on a pillow and fast asleep.  Colten took that very seriously and even told his Daddy, who is known to stay up really late, that on Christmas Eve he had to go to bed early!

Arranging the cookies

"We are all ready for you Santa!  Enjoy the chocolate chip cookies!"

As excited as Colten was the night before, he still is too young to wake up in anticipation of what Santa brought and even slept in later than normal because of the hectic day before.  In fact, we woke him up at 6:30am because Ryan had been up for a while and let's face it, Tom and I were excited too!  But don't get me wrong, once he was up and realized that Santa had come overnight, he was ready to go!!  We opened our family's presents first and then moved on to see what Santa had brought.

Christmas morning

Colten helping Ryan open a gift.  Notice the chocolate chip cookie in Ryan's hand.  He found the lone bite that Santa had left on the plate and snagged it! 

"Hooray!  I got a new ball!"

"And I got a new Megazord combiner!"

Time to see what Santa brought!  Must be a lot if the stockings are even too heavy for their hooks now!

Checking out his stocking

"Devastator!!!"  This was Colten's most sought after gift!

After a fun morning of playing with Colten and Ryan and all of their new toys, we headed back to my parent's for Christmas lunch with Uncle Mike, Papa, and Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck.  In fact, Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck blessed us with a gorgeous pencil sketch of Colten and Ryan!  I was so surprised by the gift itself and of their thoughtfulness.  We absolutely love it!!!  Lunch was fabulous as usual and it was wonderful to visit with everyone and watch the kids play.  Unfortunately once again, I don't have many photos.  It seems like once the festivities begin, I always forget to take pictures, and then later I realize that I did not get photos of everyone.

Mommy and her boys and her most special gift.  Daddy took Colten to Build-a-Bear and Colten picked out exactly what he wanted me to have.  He knows his mama loves pink so she is decked out in a tutu, sparkly shoes and a purse and even a sequined hoodie!  But the best part is that in one paw is a special message from Colten and in the other is Ryan saying Mama!!  I could not ask for anything more.  I love all 3 of my guys so much!

Colten, Uncle Mike and Chase

The family

After lunch at my parent's, we all headed to Karol and Jerry's for more celebrating.  Since my Aunt Tunny passed away last Easter, this was the first Christmas without her, and I still found myself telling Colten that we were going to Aunt Tunny's next.  Even with her absence, everyone had a really nice time; in fact, more extended family made it in this year than in prior years so it was great to visit with relatives that I rarely ever see.  And of course the food was delicious once again!

Our celebration continued on Friday when the Melnik and Moss families made the trek up from Columbus to visit.  Colten and Braden had a blast playing together, especially with Colten's new castle from Aunt Joyce and Uncle Frank!  And I loved seeing Ella jump and dance to Gangnam Style - too cute!

Colten and Braden in a knight's world

Ella is getting in on the action too!

Ryan wants to check it out now too!

 This holiday season was more than I ever could have imagined, and I hope everyone else's was filled with the same love and magic as ours.

Other bits and pieces...
While I was putting Colten to bed one night, he was drawing and said that he was going to draw me a picture but that I couldn't look yet.  When he was finished, he turned the board toward me and said, "I drew you a heart because I love you."  My heart melted (it was so sweet and it actually looked like a heart!)  I had to capture it since it was not on paper so I ran for the camera and had him take a photo with the picture he drew for me.

One day over Grandma's, Ryan was trying to get his ball and he discovered that he could crawl behind the couch and come out the other side! So fun!

Go Notre Dame!

Grandma cruising Ryan around the house on his 4-wheeler!

Ryan enjoying having his teeth brushed.  He has been teething a lot so I think it felt really good on his gums.

Taking a big bite of ice cream at Menchie's

Just after Christmas, we had our first major snowfall of the season, and Colten couldn't wait to get out there and play!

Making a snow angel!

Colten with Ryan and Mommy

I can't believe we got this photo of two boys.  Literally a second later, Ryan fell down and started crying - great timing Daddy!

Warming up after playing in the snow.  I love their matching camo and that they are both eating chocolate chip cookies!

A quick funny story about the snow:  After running a few errands, we stopped at Cheddar's for lunch.  Colten asked me why some snow looks like "that."  And I said that sometimes snow turns to dirty slush.  As I was getting the bags out of the car, Colten asked, "why is some snow white and some is a dirty slut?"  I just smiled and laughed, saying "I don't know..."  Priceless!

In early December, Payton turned one too and had a bowling party!  That was the first time Colten has been bowling but he really enjoyed it and said that he wants to have a bowling party too! 

Uncle Marc helping Colten bowl for the first time!

"Look at it go!"

A big throw with Daddy!

And Ryan gives it a try too!

Over the summer, Colten learned how to ride his bike!

I know that is an abrupt end, but I am exhausted.  That is what I get for not writing since early September.  Happy 2013, everyone!!!