Smiley Guy

For a few weeks now, Ryan has begun to smile and pose when he sees a camera. It's the funniest thing but he can be crying and if you hold the camera up to snap a picture he'll stop fussing, look at you and smile... then go back to fussing aftewards. It's hilarious to watch and has allowed to get several good pictures of the little guy. Since getting rid of his most recent ear infection a few weeks ago he's been in a great mood and so much fun to play with. He's decided that doing the worm is the quickest and easiest way to get around so he baby breakdances his way across a room to get where he needs to go.

(Steve got Ryan a mini adirondak chair for the lake and Ryan looks so grown up sitting in it)

(here he was loving smiling at the camera but blinked
every time it flashed; he thought it was a game)

My mom was in town Thursday so Ryan got in some good grandma time and enjoyed the company of his Horton cousins that night, too. This past weekend we went to the lake with our friends Tom and Amy Seymour from Lawrence. We had a wonderful time catching up and eating good food. The weather was clear and warm on Saturday so we took a boat ride and enjoyed an evening outdoors by the fire. Ryan was quite the charmer for them and loved the extra attention. He did however christen Amy. He was on her lap playing and having fun, then out of no where and as quick as could be, unleased a gut-full of spit up all down her front. We of course all broke out in hysterics, grabbed the camera, laughed some more, then finally offered to help.

(Amy was a great sport and totally took getting spit up on in stride)


(Amy is Todd's oldest friend.
They began preschool together and 22 years later
graduated from law school together.)

Ha Ha Tonka

This past weekend we enjoyed a perfect fall weekend at the lake with just the four of us (counting Callie of course). We had a nice fire on Saturday evening and Todd made veal saltimbocca for dinner which was delectable. Sunday we drove down to Ha Ha Tonka state park at the southern end of the lake and went for a hike. The park features the ruins of a burned down, turn of the century castle up top a bluff overlooking the lake and trees in every direction. There are several trails and the one we chose took us down several hundred feet to the lake and past a natural spring. Fortunately for me, I got to carry Ryan down the trail and Todd carried him up, which included as part of the trail 316 steep steps. The trees were starting to change and it was sunny and almost 60; we couldn't have asked for a better day. Ryan was absolutely enthralled by his surroundings. Every time we looked at him he was wide eyed and - while he obviously must have when we weren't looking - we never saw him even blink. As we strolled through the parking lot just 10 feet from the car, Ryan fell asleep in the carrier. Apparently riding and staring can be quite tiring:)

Family, family and more family

This past week we were able to see many family members and enjoyed catching up with everyone. I took the Horton kiddos to paint pottery for their birthday outing (only 3 months late, but better late than never I guess!) so Ryan got to spend the afternoon with Aunt Michelle and see his cousins briefly.

With cousins Katie, Maggie and Jonathan

Friday and Saturday Ryan and I were to Wichita for a work event and baby shower for my cousin Ryan's wife, Jeni. We stayed with my cousin Mandy, her husband Brad and their adorable and precocious 4 1/2-year-old Isabel. I had a wonderful time visiting with them and Bell made us some excellent waffles for breakfast. Unfortunately, my cousin Beth's two little boys were sick so Ryan didn't get to meet Carter and Tyler and we weren't able to visit Beth as long as we'd hoped. She hosted the shower though so we got to see her for a while and her and Paul's new home is beautiful. While in Wichita, we were also able to see my Aunt Sally and Uncle Gary. Gary is recovering from a serious car accident this summer and is doing great. It was good to finally see him and we're all very happy his recovery is progressing so well. My mom came down from Clay Center for the shower and brought my Aunt Mary with her who was visiting from Denver. Since we can't make it out to Colorado very often, it was nice to see her and catch up. While at the shower we also got to see my cousin Jamie and her daugther Kailey and my Aunt Karen and cousin Aran's wife Kate from Manhattan .

with Nana

with my Aunt Mary from Denver

with my cousin Beth who hosted the shower

Upon returning to Kansas City, we got to visit more family on Sunday. My step-sister Erin and her 10-month-old daughter Tessa were in town from Denver to help her cousin Nicole do some wedding planning. We were able to get Ryan and Tessa together for the first time and got a glimpse of the constant activity we can expect over Christmas since we'll have 3 babies under a year in one place! They were very cute together and it's fun to see how advanced Tessa is and anticipate the neat things Ryan will be able to do in a couple months.

Ryan and Tessa on the move


Ryan hugging Tessa goodbye. He doesn't really
know how to hug but it was a very cute coincidence.

With Grandma Marcia

On their way home from the lake, Grandma and Grandpa A stopped by with their friends the Williamses from Lawrence. Mary Ann is Jane's best friend from their childhood in Linwood and is like family so it was nice to get to see them again and for John to meet Ryan.

With John and Mary Ann Williams

While Ryan and I got intimate with the Kansas Turnpike visiting many of our family members, Todd was back in KC for a conference he spent the past year helping to plan, then enjoying KU Homecoming and doing house projects. We missed him a lot and are very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend at the lake with just the three of us (and Callie).

Crawling & Applefest

Creeping, crawling, whatever you call it, Ryan started doing it tonight. We were at the Collins' and Ryan wanted Charlie's sippy cup badly enough that he started crawling to get to it. I guess this is our cue to get out the baby gates!

(Ryan, Meghan, Charlie and the crawl-worthy sippy cup)

Yet another slice of Americana this last weekend...the Versailles (pronounced vur-sales) Applefest. There were very few apples at said Applefest but the corn dogs and people watching were worth the trip. Matt and Katie Fitzgerald and their 14 month old Abby joined us and we had really fun weekend relaxing, taking boat rides and hitting the Applefest. Ryan's still getting over his sinus/ear infection so he did well during the day but gave us a run for our money Saturday night. Hopefully we'll soon get the little guy feeling better 24/7 and breathing more clearly.

Ryan "playing" with Abby which really means trying to poke her in the eye.