My boys!

Ryan & Jeff on their way to get in the car for church... just thought it was a cute picture of them lookin' nice & all cleaned up! (at least from the back! :)

Ryan in the car on our way to church. He just looked so dang cute in this outfit I couldn't stop looking at him!
Smiley boy!
Him in the whole outfit later when we got home... I think he was starting to catch on that he was looking pretty cute! (hence the pose) :)

All better! :)

Well Ryan has definitely recuperated well from his bout with Croup. The actual Croup part wasn't terribly bad (looking back) once we got him the medicine he needed, but the runny nose, drainage cough was what kept him up at night... therefore Jeff and I, too! We gave him some cough medicine that was recommended by his doctors office and some family members and it worked really well. Just gave it to him in the evening so he could sleep through the night and get the rest he needed. Kids and colds are just never fun! But all is well now and he's back to his busy little self!

Where's your pants?!?! No time for pants this morning... only time for a shirt and to get on the floor and play! He's definitely back to normal! :)

Busy Friday Night!

Last Friday night was a busy one for us. First Ryan and I stopped by Shelby's last soccer game (that's Shelby with the orange shirt and black shorts/pants). She did such a great job! I dropped Ryan off there with my Mom, sister-in-law and sister so that I could head to the college for an alumni volleyball game and then they'd come and bring Ryan after Shelby's game.

Ryan & Auntie Kim cheering for Shelby!! Ryan loved being at Shelby's game and was so excited for her... he talked about it for days after! While I was rotated out of the back row, I thought I'd take a few pictures and here we are! Just like old days, playing volleyball at the college.... just a little older than we were the last time we played together like this. I haven't played volleyball in 5 years since I played in college so I was hoping and praying it would all come back to me and for the most part, it did! It felt so good to be back out on the court playing again. I think after we have one more child, I'd like to get back on a Parks & Rec. team or something. We were joking that we needed to get together and play like this more often so we'd be in better shape. I forgot how many muscles are involved... but I felt them ALL the next day! And the next...
Here's our cheering section- again, just like old days with our Mom's and families up watching us play. However, this time we had a few more little (baby/toddler) additions and I think they were all boys! :)
My#1 fan!!

Croup :(

Well it's been a long day! This morning at 3am, Ryan woke up crying with a horrible cough and scratchy voice. The way he was breathing in between coughs was concerning me so I put a call into his doctors office and the on-call nurse called me right back. After explaining what was going on and her hearing him cough over the phone, she thought it very well could be a mild case of Croup. A little after the phone call, we bundled up and went out on our deck and sat for a few minutes as that's one of the best things you can do to help treat Croup. Finally we went back to bed after 5am and then made an appt. to go see the doctor when we got up. Turns out she also thought he had Croup. It's just a virus and has to run it's course, usually about 5 or 6 days, but the cough typically only last about 3 days. His ears, nose, mouth, everything was fine, but he had that terrible cough. We then went to the pharmacy and picked up some medicine that he needs to take for a couple days and we can already tell it's helping so that's encouraging. His cough sounds so much better. So we spent a bit of time today, outside getting that fresh, cool air that is so good for him to be getting right now. He certainly didn't feel bad enough not to want to play so that's always a good sign!

Him and his favorite dump truck.
On our way back in the house when he decided he was "hungry and ready to go inside". :)
This is how he/we spent most of the rest of the day after the really good nap he took this afternoon. Some days are just meant to be spent on the couch, hanging out with a blanket, watching cartoons. :) For some reason, he loves to make his own little cozy spot by taking out one of the couch cushions and laying his body on the hide-a-bed part and resting his head on the other cushion. Tonight he even found the perfect little spot for his sippy cup, too! Such a silly boy, but whatever works! We've heard from alot of people lately that there are alot of yucky bugs going around out there so try to avoid if you can!

Grandma's Birthday!

Sunday was my Mom's birthday so we had a big birthday dinner and cake & ice cream to celebrate!

Shelby helping Grandma open her present.
Ryan & Shelby helping Grandma open the present they gave her- they are quite the helpers! They also helped "taste test" the frosting on the birthday cake to make sure it was adequate for the rest of the guests to have.... they gave us the thumbs up! ;)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM/GRANDMA... we hope you have many, many, many, many more!!! :) We love you.

Our day trip...

This morning, my Mom, Grandma, Ryan & I left nice and on time to head over to our other farm over the mountains. Jeff has been over there since Wednesday, helping chop grass and oats. Since this was the first time we've done this on our own over there, Jeff went over to help with the whole process this time. We were missing him and he was missing us so we decided to make a day trip and go visit. It worked out great as my parents and brother also have a farm over there so we were able to check out both farms and made all the rounds!

This picture is from this morning when we stopped at a rest area for a potty break. Ryan said "Mommy, I'm cooollddd!" It was sunny, but definitley chilly!

Then as soon as we got to Grandma & Grandpa's house, he was off to ride the bike! He had plenty of energy to burn after a 3 hr. car ride!
After hanging out at the house for just a little bit, Ryan got to ride with his Daddy in the "big truck" when he came by the house on his way back to get another load at the field. Ryan rode for over 2 hours and loved every minute of it. He did spend about a half hour of it asleep in the truck, but that worked out well since he was due for a nap. He was soooo happy to see Jeff! It was very sweet... and the feeling was mutual! After riding with Jeff in the truck, he got to ride with Grandpa in the chopper! You can see his little body there on the right next to his Grandpa. He was happy as a clam to be in there "choppin' with Grandpa!".
After riding for most of the afternoon, us gals and Ryan came back to Grandma & Grandpa's house to visit with Grandma for awhile... Ryan got to spend time with both is Grandma's and his Great Grandma today! What a lucky boy! Earlier while Ryan was riding with Jeff and his Grandpa, my mom, Grandma & I went over to my parents farm and checked out their carrot fields that are being dug right now. We covered alot of territory in one day, but it's so nice that our farm where Jeff's parents live and my parents farm are only about 10 minutes away from each other!

Once we got in the car to head home early this evening, Ryan was out with in 5 minutes. He was soooo wiped out from such a fun and busy day on the go!
After a really good nap, and a stop at a restaurant for some dinner, Ryan was good to go, sitting watching the movie "Cars" on his DVD player, with his blanket, binki AND a sucker that he got earlier in the day... does life get much better?!?! The ride home was so nice and quiet, minus the rain that was hitting the windshield part of the way and Ryan's random bursts of laughter during funny parts in the movie... it was too funny- we all ended up chuckling everytime he would! :) What a great day!

New favorite toy!

Sometimes I really do wonder why we bother buying kids so many toys when they are so content playing with the simple things.... like a box!! We got a new kitchen sink and Ryan just loves to play in the big box it came in. His favorite game is of course....

PEEK-A-BOO!! :) Silly boy!

Ryan & Papa

Last night after Ryan and I dropped off dinners for all of the guys, we went out and had dinner with my Mom & Dad since Jeff and the guys were working late chopping corn. This is how Ryan and my Dad looked when they were winding down at the end of the night.

Cozy on the couch with Papa.... how precious!

An Evening with the Ladies...

Last week was my nieces birthday so my sister and I went over to my Mom's house to make her a special "Barbie" birthday cake. Ryan, of course, came along to help also! Here he is helping Auntie D.D. in the kitchen, whipping up some frosting!

He looked like a little chef with powdered sugar all over his face and shirt- it was quite cute!
And the best part of all was that he got to lick the spoon! Lucky boy!
After probably hitting a sugar low, this is how we found him in my parents living room.... does he looks cozy or what!? Nothing like making yourself at home.... although, it is Grandma & Papa's house so that's easy to do. :)

Before & After!

Try to never mind the cute kiddo in the picture... see all the corn out in the field behind him...

Then Ryan & Daddy in the chopper came through...
Now look- we can see our neighbors again! And we have ALOT of corn silage in the bunkers that we are very thankful for. The guys are almost done chopping and we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel! We're thankful that so far this corn season *knock on wood* has been uneventful as far as any major break-downs (minus the truck that almost tried to catch on fire!) and has been very fruitful.