Christmases 3-5

Ryan has thoroughly enjoyed all the various Christmas celebrations with family. We spent Christmas Eve with Todd's parents where Ryan received a basketball goal and tunnel. Both were big hits and get to stay at Mimi and Papa's house since they have more space than we do and he will love playing with them when he visits. We were fortunate to be able to celebrate Christmas at home but Ryan surprised us with an explosive diaper (courtesy of the amoxicillin he'd been on) that prompted a shower and lots of cleaning before we made it downstairs to see what Santa left for him. It was nice not to have a schedule and let him play with each toy before moving onto the next item. That evening we headed to Clay Center for our final Christmas celebration with Nana, my siblings and all the cousins. Ryan especially enjoyed playing the piano, playing with the trains, playing with his cousins and hiding things, namely our car keys which prompted a family-wide, house-wide search so we could leave Monday morning (thankfully, they were located in Maggie's boot).

Ryan is feeling much better after having the "new school crud" and continues to get more and more talkative. Each day he says new words that surprise us and with more words come fewer meltdowns over miscommunication which is a blessing for us. We're finally headed to the lake this weekend after our longest hiatus since we got the place nearly four years ago. We can't wait and will be excited to ring in the New Year in a low-key, yet very fun weekend at the Ozarks.

modeling Olivia's boots

excitedly checking out his new Wonder Pets video

Yeah, it's my own basketball goal;
and I do a really good job of tackling it, too.


Checking out my new bath/pool toys on Christmas morning.

And playing with my new car toy, too.

Getting piano lessons from Maggie.

Melting down during Nana's Christmas picture.

My awesome new hat.