Kerry Family Blog

Halloween with Fire Polar Bear

2011-10-31T22:04:00.003-04:00

Hey gang,

Lots going on at the end of October with Max's birthday, the end of football and Halloween. Enjoy our picks of the festivities!

Ryan is all about going to the potty and washing his hands all on his own these days.

Amy came to town again from Colorado, so here we are with Mindy and Colin for our annual "The boys and their momma's" pic. The boys are only 5 months apart.

I look at all our kids together in one picture and can hardly believe how much has changed in the last 18 years. So glad I have the Geurink girls in my life!

We took Ryan to Klackle's Obnoxious Orchard (ok, not their name, but they seriously could rename it and no one would disagree.) Ryan was in heaven with the largest sand box I've ever seen. So many trucks, so little time.

Ryan had a blast jumping on the air cushion.

Here's Ryan with his Milestones BFF, Sammy, showing off their muscles. Sammy definitely had implants.

Ryan and his class during their Halloween party on Friday.

Nami and Ryan about to sing "Happy Birthday" to daddy.

Max enjoying his "Maximus" beer. Soon to be enjoying the second in his brand new HOT TUB! He's out there as I type!

Enjoying the last days of Fall this past Sunday.

Painting a pumpkin. He insist the smaller one was his since he is smaller than Mommy and Daddy.

Ryan's own idea for Halloween: To be a Fire Polar Bear. Though within minutes he was just a fireman with a tail.

Check out his tiny polar bear tail.

Ryan with his neighborhood lady friend, Tessa. She's such a doll.

Our neighborhood clan. All this from just 20 houses. And to think we're down 6 kids since a neighbor with a half dozen moved out!

Yes, our child is trick-or-treating with a wine gift bag. Don't judge me.

34.5 Months

2011-10-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

Well, Grand Rapids has been hopping the last few weeks with lots of cool things. Among our favorite is ArtPrize returned for it's third year. Its the largest open art competition in the world and our entire town gets over-run with art. Over 1500 artists took part this year.

On top of that, football is entering into week 8 this Friday. Though the team started the season with 4 wins, the last few weeks have been tough since the scheduled is stacked with state champs. This weeks game against East Grand Rapids looks promising, so if we make it with a win, we have a good shot at State playoffs for the first time in school history.

Last Friday marked the end of my extra-curricular activities for Fall. The inaugural Derek & Dylan Taatjes Golf Memorial turned out great. We had 128 golfers and many additional dinner guests. We raised over $10k for the family, had an amazing auction (I actually won something...ok, so I actually won two packages!), but most importantly, we were able to honor Derek & Dylan and spend time together doing so. Honest to goodness, two rainbows appeared as we finished play, one on either side of the sun...though it was 82 and perfectly sunny with no rain. This weekend a group of our friends, including Charity, are running in a marathon in memory of them as well. Hard to believe it's been 6 months tomorrow. You can check out more about the event, including a video I put together of the boys at http://livelikederek.com/ddtg-golf-outing/

Ryan is coming out of his night terror phase. In fact, he's completely amazing us on a daily basis. He's now full time preschool and loving it. His language skills are taking off (he likes to critique things and say "that's cool" or "is that a good idea?") We're into the third week of swim lessons and he's jumping off the side, swimming in my arms and putting his face in the water. He can even pull himself in and out of the pool on his own and move along the entire perimeter of the short side of the pool without me. We have a fish on our hands for sure!

We've taken full advantage of the weather to play outside as much as we can....however, we're definitely into fall. Ryan's already has had two colds and currently has a nasty cough. Tonight he told me that watching a "movie" (it was a documentary on how cities deal with massive snowfalls) would make his throat feel better. Somehow I was convinced. His funniest trait right now is his ability to tell very long stories, with great detail, and back up every fact with an over-animated expression. He gets so excited to tell every detail of emergency response vehicles, police cars and construction vehicles out on 10 mile (our main road into our neighborhood is under massive re-construction. We hate the traffic jams, Ryan loves them since he gets to watch the workers!)

That's all for us for now. Hoping fo r a win this weekend and more of this great weather. Love to you all,

Courtney, Max + Ryan

Ryan at ArtPrize posing at the biggest mosaic mural I've ever seen.

Ryan and Max during ArtPrize. I have a similar picture from last year of them doing the same thing. Amazing how much Ryan has grown.

We were able to surprise my dad with a retirement party at the club right before they left on a much deserved vacation. Ryan held his own in a room of 40 grownups for the entire night...of course the raspberry chocolate mouse helped.

Ryan's latest obsession, artwise, is Playdough. Here he is with his cheeseburger birthday cake. We play birthday a lot and talk about what toys he thinks he'll get. We're working on "want" versus "need."

One of our most frequent activities is playing zoo or making a nest. Ryan is baby polar bear and I am momma polar bear. He's been super cuddly lately and actually very clingy to me in particular...not that I am complaining though. I'll take every minute of it (to the point I've been late to the office since I was trapped in a "cage.")

Rockford celebrates three weekends of Harvest Festival. Here Ryan and I are making our annual scarecrow. If you live here, it's basically a requirement. Our is currently wearing my college train conductor overalls complete with hole in the butt, has one fushia arm and one florescent orange arm, with a red plaid shirt. Ryan did the dressing.

Here I am with Amirah (co-chair), Nicki (amazing centerpieces and more) and Robyn (coordinator of registration extrardinaire). We had so many amazing volunteers. And best of all, I get to call them friends!

Ryan was AMAZED at the pink sunrise the other morning when we were headed to Milestones. Here he is shushing me so he can watch the sun come up.

Here Ryan and our neighbor, Hayden, are making a "pretty storm" as they called it. They wanted to be sure they used every color of chalk in the bucket. Not only did the sidewalk get covered...so did they!

34 Months

2011-09-20T20:56:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,

Well, the school year is in full swing as you'll be able to tell from my lack of posting. Max's team suffered their first loss of the season (though it was so close it went into overtime...they would have won if not for a bad call by a ref). Their record is now 3-1. This week will most likely be a win.

I had the CASA fundraiser last week and it proved to raise the most money out of our five years of the event. People came out in a huge way to support abused and neglected kids in Kent County. Work is full of change too. We're at the tail end of a complete remodel of the entire 6th floor that has spanned a summer and we continue to add to our workforce. Last count was 44, and I welcomed a new designer to my team last week. All good changes. I'm flying to New Jersey again for the day next week for more meetings that offer promising assignments. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I'd know about spinal fusions and vertebral compression fractures, I would have laughed and ran the other way. Now I watch open spinal procedures and help write educational materials for doctors. How did this happen and where did my overalls and paint brushes go? Oh the unexpected paths we take...

Ryan is enjoying a new season at Milestones too. He's in the midst of transitioning to full-time pre-school. He loves it and would have been there weeks ago, but we're just finishing up potty training. We're now having more accident-free days than the alternative. He gets two Jelly Belly's when he's had a success. One for what he produces, the other for washing his hands. For some reason, he loves the white coconut jelly beans. All this transition has also brought some defiance issues (he's a big boy and knows best) and night terrors. We hear it's normal, but still are keeping a close eye on things. He started swim lessons on Saturday as well and did great! All in all, he's super happy, curious, and always explaining the world around us to him. He tells stories in such detail that it would blow you away. Most are about firetrucks or traffic. His love of all things transit does not fail. Today I referenced a car that drove by and he was quick to point out it was " a truck mommy." He's 2 and a half and I'm already wrong. Can't wait for the teenage years :)

That's all for our little clan. Hope you and yours are doing as well.

Love,

Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan on the vistors side at Northview game. We always sit on that side so we don't have to hear parents complain and the kids can run around.

Part of our regular cheering section: Uncle E. Auntie K, Eric's Dad George and my newly retired Dad, joined Ryan to cheer on the Wildcats. Note the firetruck....even at football games!

Wildcat Stadium at sunset. It ooks as epic as our win was that night.

Ryan got to wear Daddy's headset after one of the games.

My parents are prepping their house for sale, which means I officially got kicked out. Here Ryan plays with my sweet music making machine.

Happy boy!

One of Ryan's favorite neighborhood playmates, Tessa.

Our child was the only child soaked head-to-toe the day we took him to Meijer Gardens. It's amazing how many parents will try and keep their kids dry while they play in a WATER FEATURE.

We have a photo from a year ago of Ryan doing the exact same thing...amazing how he's grown.

Does this look like a line backer's stance or what?

Over Labor Day we had our first family camp out in the backyard. Ryan loves the s'more .

Sweet Max.

Also over Labor Day, our friend Charity hosted a beach cookout for everyone at Lake Michigan. It was so windy people were surfing like California, but it was a blast.

As if the candy that day wasn't enough, we decided ice cream was a good idea to, so we hopped over to Grand Haven and got some Temptations!

We also got to check out the big train. Ryan loved it!

This is what potty training look slike most days.

And this is what Ryan's plumber's crack looks like.

(Just heard Ryan yelling back from his crib to Max as he goes down the stairs "I love you too!")

Ryan has done great at his chores of helping Max mow the lawn. He also likes to let Cali out, set the table, and clear his plate.

Crazy. Busy.

2011-08-20T09:45:00.000-04:00

Hi all,
Maybe it's the norm for all of us to call ourselves crazy busy. It's all relative, right? Or maybe it's that all of us over-extend too often. But with back to school just around the corner, we find ourselves booked...but with really fun stuff!

This past week either Max or I was gone every night. Me with social and work functions (ask me about taking people from Atlanta to our best fine dining...during a Brittney Spears concert. Lots of hair extensions, short skirt and sequins on the over 40 set. Shocking.) Max with football related activities. Two a days started two weeks ago and his calendar is filled with practices, scrimmages, scouting and breaking down film. His first game is a 6 days away and they lost their quarterback to a broken collar bone last night during a scrimmage. Lots of revising this weekend! He's off the mattress sale fundraiser in a bit. You can follow Max's team at http://nvwildcatfootball.com.

For me I am in the midst of planning a few events. September 15th is CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Annual House Party. This is our 5th year planning the event and it serves as the single largest fundraiser for CASA. If you don't know about CASA and their mission to give a voice to abused and neglected children, you should learn more!

Also on the docket is a memorial golf event that I am co-chairing to remember Derek and Dylan. As many of you know, our dear friends were lost in a house fire in April on the street we used to live on. This event is meant to raise support for the family and also take time to come together doing something that Derek loved to do. We just launched a new website this week honoring them both and you can register for the event that takes place October 7th at www.LiveLikeDerek.com.

Many of you have asked for an update on Charity and her two girls: They are remarkable and in the midst of re-establishing a "revised" norm. Currently they are living in an apartment waiting to possibly begin building a new home. She has a tremendous support community around her as she goes through each new wave of emotions. I learn so much from her during our conversations since she openly shares where she's at and what new challenges she's trying to overcome. I suppose it's strange since you'd think she'd be the one getting support or encouragement out of these times together. Instead, I find myself able to grieve more honestly or laugh more fully when we hang out. And our friends from high school that also lost their friend are more open with one another, both in honesty about their grief as well in their feelings towards one another. A lot of good has come from something so awful and I think we're just beginning to see the impact that Derek and Dylan's legacy will have.

So this leaves Ryan's social calendar to discuss. He's about to start his third week of his "normal" schedule. He was so excited to get back to seeing Levi (he's with Deb and her boys Tues and the Fridays I have to work). And he's also doing great at Milestones the remaining three days of the week. He's rocking potty training and starts big boy undies next week. (I just hit goodwill for an assortment of pee worthy shorts!) We are getting at least three completed attempts a day with many more tries that that. On these days he likes to shout out "trifecta!" He's as into trucks as ever. When he gets to watch TV, he only wants to watch history channel documentaries on how different types of trucks are made. We're fully in the imaginative play stage and his observations keep us amazed and laughing all the time. (The other day he said, as casual as a 12 year old. "Hey mom. You're going the wrong direction." And he was right.) It seems no matter where we drive, the kid can spot "vehicles" from miles away.

Ryan: "A police car!"
Us: "We don't see a police car."
Ryan: "Right there."
Us: "Oh yeah...in that parking lot...behind the dumpster, a 1/2 mile up the road."

Needless to say, we don't get tickets since Ryan busts their position before we can get caught speeding!

That's all for now. We'll be sure to post more often as summer wraps up and the season is underway.

Love to you all,
Courtney, Max + Ryan

Enjoy these videos. The top is of Ryan playing air hockey with Max and my dad (on his birthday). The other is Ryan's reaction to fireworks during a baseball game. Everyone was laughing so hard!

Max and Ryan's annual picture at Wildcat stadium during the family picnic.

Ryan during a coaching meeting.

Ithaca Families Photoshoot

2011-08-19T10:14:00.000-04:00

Here are just a few of the photos taken by Julie Prisloe during our stay in Ithaca. She did an AMAZING job and I highly recommend her services. She has allowed us to post her (copyrighted) work here, but if you want to see the entire 2-day session, visit: http://prisloe.zenfolio.com/ryan.

We're so grateful that she was able to capture both our families in Ithaca...even during 98º heat!

The cottage we've rented the past two summers is behind Ryan.

Grandpa and Grandma Kerry with Ryan.

Grandma Kerry (aka Patti).

Uncle B (aka, Max's brother Brian).

Grandpa Kerry (aka Bill).

The entire Kerry clan.

Ryan and Max in front of the "Where the Wild Things Are" mural.

Ryan with his wand like Max in the storybook.

The Ettinger/Kerry Clan...sadly not all the Ettingers or Emily could make it...We have a new goal for a complete family portrait sometime soon!

Nora (Nana) with her boys....though Johnny is missing!

The boys.

Nana!

Ryan and Uncle Billy.

Look at those lashes!

32 Months

2011-07-28T20:12:00.008-04:00

Not sure how it's been almost 2 months since we've posted. But clearly that indicates there's been a whole lot of summer happening in the Kerry household. Probably the most interesting thing we've done as of late was our annual summer trip to Ithaca. We rented the same cottage on the lake and got home last weekend. It was a perfect trip in every way. Max and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Ryan had a blast swimming and at the zoo on the way to Ithaca. The smile on Ryan's sweet face in the pics below say more than I ever could!

Love to you all,
Court, Max + Ryan

This pic does not due justice in representing all the quality time Ryan spent with his Uncles. Uncle B (Brian) and Billy were at the cottage a ton. And even Uncle Johnny flew in from Nashville for our mini-reunion. Last year, Billy taugh Ryan to text. This year he taught Ryan how to play washers. He learned how to eat Sals Pizza from Uncle B. And how to have a lake bath from Uncle Johnny. (The image is still burned in our minds :)

Aunt Emily (aka Sugar momma) and Ryan were picture perfect at Stewart park after the sprinklers. Our only disappointment is that the schedule didn't work for her to make the family pictures. Thank goodness I'm good at photoshop!

We had two trips to Stweart park, one for the family pics of Max's mom's side and once for a run through the famous fountains. Ryan clearly enjoyed every second...except when he fell.

Max surprised me by renting a paddle board on our anniversary, something I've wanted to do. Ryan loved riding on it too...

...and jumping off it too!

Everyday was spent in the water, especially since the thermometer topped off at over 100º one day. Hot or not, we were blessed with only one evening thunderstorm and a cottage with air conditioning.

A big draw this year were the ducks. all 20+ of them. They were so tame they would come within a foot of you to get food. Ryan loved it.

Because it was so hot, Taughannock falls were only a trickle in comparison to how they normally are. Located less than a mile from our place, we were able to walk up the mile long creek bed to the falls. Perfect relief from the heat.

Max cannot stand the "Ithaca is Gorges" legacy (did you get the pun? Ithaca has TONS of gorges and waterfalls. It's like Hawaii with hippies and scholars.) Ryan loved embarrassing Max by wearing his tie-die edition to an actual Gorge...(I'm sure Max grew up saying, "When I have a kids, he's never wearing one of those...")

The boys loved paddle boating. One day we had a race while I was on the paddle board...I let them win.
Ryan had a great time making cupcakes for the very first time with Grandma. She even had his very own apron and oven mitts.

Baywatch.

Ryan made a huge step forward in the water this year. We're rarely at a pool, so at the hotel on the way to Ithaca, he impressed us with his kicks and his willingness to put his face in the water. It was only his third time ever in a pool. He even would jump off the side to us. At the cottage he worked on his kicks and more jumping. He'll be a fish in no time.

Nana and Ryan had many great meals together and story time at the cottage. And the monster truck she surprised him with was a constant companion on the trip. He even slept with it!

I look at this photo and realize how fast time is flying. He looks like such a BOY!

Half of the Kerry men, kicking back in the rockers on the front porch of the cottage.

30 Months!

2011-06-04T21:38:00.011-04:00

Hi all,
We're easing out of the end of the school year and into summer. Next week is Max's last week at school and Ryan's last week of Deb / Milestones. He'll still attend Milestones once a week to hold his spot and to keep him connected to his school, but will be with daddy the rest of the week (and mommy on Friday's if I can "respect the flex"...work is getting crazy again and I may have to work the Friday's I normally don't.)

Max has spent the last few weekends either laying 9 yards of mulch or building Ryan's "condo" so we're excited to kick back tomorrow after church and head to the zoo. Ryan's insisting we go. It's his favorite game to play. He pretends to be a polar bear and piles every pillow and blanket in the room around him and then cuddles into me with this sad pathetic face that says "feed me polar bear mommy." It's pretty sweet. He has surpassed the "why's" and moved fully into "where did ___ come from." Two days ago he asked where his hands come from. What do you say to that? He's getting good at telling us every detail of his day. It's always funny when he tells long stories but says things like Yoda. I hear a lot of "I have to need it." He's also really into singing right now. He tries to sing along with just about every song, regardless of if he knows the words or not. Although he surprised me at bedtime the other night when he sang the words to an old slave song about God that I used to sing to him as a baby. Nothing sweeter than that.

Well, that's all the bragging I can do for tonight. Here's to summer.

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

For two days we had to help Ryan up the climbing wall on his new Condo. Then Max turned his back on day three, only to find Ryan up top on his own!

Grandma and Grandpa Kerry came for a visit and we had the best time. Ryan taught Grandma how to race cars.

Grandpa (pe-paw) is on Ryan's mind constantly since they left. He was talking about all his family he gets to see when we go to the cottage this summer.

The artist at work. We had friends over the other night and Rhonda drew a road for Ryan (on his command). Then we started chatting. When we stopped to admire his drawing, Ryan had taken this abstract line and turned it into a semi-truck. This was a game my dad and I used to play when I was 8! Not 2!

It's all about sorting, grouping, and lining up the fleet lately. He'll do it by size or color or movie association. And as if we weren't already bananas over Cars, the sequel is coming out this month. Ryan has invited just about everyone we know, and others we don't, to go see the new film with him.

Too cute not to post all three. Ryan and Cali are BFFs!

Maybe some of you remember a picture f Ryan at 4 months old with a stuffed frog. We're graduated to the real deal. The new house if full of opportunities for Ryan to intersect with nature. We love it!
Today was hot, so we let Ryan have the run o f the hose. He figured out how to spray it and change the spray stream on the front dial. Needless to say, Max, Cali and I were soaked.

No one was safe!

This shot pretty much sums it up. Look at Max's face!

Ryan playing zoo.

And another round of zoo, but this time the polar bear was kept company by a giant lion named Cali!

2.5 years old!

2011-05-11T20:42:00.000-04:00

Hi all,
It's been almost a month from our last post. In some ways it feels like ages ago. In other ways it was just yesterday. We've spent the last few weeks involved in the celebration of Derek and Dylan's lives, but also deep in mourning. Thankfully we're not alone, as sad as it is to say because if I could spare anyone this type of pain I would, but instead we find ourselves back in the throws of friendships I've had for over 15 years. Yesterday was spent helping at a benefit in the girls honor. People showed up from everywhere to listen to bands, eat, and mainly be surrounded by those that really love the Taatjes. In all, we raised $9,500 towards living expenses and the girls education with only a few short days of planning. It felt good to see Charity laugh, the girls dancing and giggling with their friends, and old friends speaking honestly and openly to one another. Derek would have been so happy to have been at this event.

And in the midst of all this is my sweet friend Charity. Her grace and honesty is inspiring. She knows herself well and is patient with those around her as we stubble around her trying to anticipate her needs. (As if our small gestures can really ease the pain. But we pretend that it helps and she takes it all in stride.) Mainly I think I just want to be in her presence so I know she's ok in that very minute. But most amazing of all her traits is her brutal honesty where others would hide behind a mask of "what you're suppose to say or do." Charity, just like before these losses, continues to live as passionately and as real as she and Derek ever did. If you want to learn more about our friends or learn about how to donate to the family fund, check out the blog we set up.

Out of this experience and all the "grief bursting (TM)" (we think we should trademark the term :) comes an undeniable ability to see everything as beautiful and nothing beside our family and friends as very important. Ryan drops his fork and it's more precious. I small his hair too much and I am constantly looking for excuses to pick him up. So you can also guess that this has led to an obsessive amount of photo and video-taking. Ryan is doing great. Obviously he's picked up on our sadness, but he's so sweet in that he empathizes and tries to care for us. He's loving the warm weather and his newly formed friendships with the neighbor kids. His hair has remained curly and red. I think he's getting freckles! So take a peak at my obsessive picture taking and give me a little grace for the over-indulgence. Make sure you kiss your loved ones tonight, tell the people around you how much you value them and thank God for every blessing around you.

With love,
Court, Max + Ryan

As I packed up for the morning, I found Ryan reading his Bible to Cali.

Mother's day. He already looks like he 16 and waiting for his "buddies" to pick him up. He calls all his friends "buddies."

My dad took out my tricycle and cleaned it up for Ryan. You can still see my name spelled down the back of it!

Still not so sure about the peddles, he got around just fine!

He's waring an adult size cap these days.

The building of the "condo" (as it's affectionately called) has begun. This coming weekend will be spent doing most of the building of this monstrosity.

Uncle Billy (Max's brother in case you can't see it by looking at him) and their dad came for a visit the day after the funeral. It was a welcome high point on the week and wonderful to have two grownups around to dote on Ryan since Max and I were not much good.

48 hours after they arrived, I got a horrible case of the flu, so we sent the boys out of the house and to Ryan AND Pepaw's first professional baseball game at Whitecaps stadium!

Max's dad spent most of his time on our floors playing either trains or racing cars. The competition was fierce.

Intense.

Our gang of friends that threw the fundraiser gathered around Charity (center). Brad, behind me, sold one of our shirts for $200 in an impromptu auction! (I made them with iron on transfer paper and paid $2 for the shirt....nice ROI.)

How?

2011-04-16T16:52:00.004-04:00

Today there is a hollow space in the world that Derek and Dylan once occupied. That's how today feels. Less full of the good stuff and more full of the dark.

As everyone in Grand Rapids knows, a young youth pastor and his 6-month old baby, Dylan, passed away late Thursday night after their basement caught fire. Every newspaper, newscast and internet post is dominated by the story. And every time they flash Derek's picture, my heat skips a beat and I smile inside and think, there's Derek. And then I realize why they are showing our friend's picture and I begin to cry once more.

I am a Christian. I believe in Heaven. I know Derek and Dylan are there RIGHT NOW. I feel it. But I see the hell left behind right now for the hundred's of people that love them both and I feel that fully too. It's almost a conversely morbid relationship: the bigger the life you live, the more you love on others and inspire and teach, the more we're left with pain and confusion when something this unjust happens. This is the ultimate test of faith. And still his amazing wife Charity finds the strength to both lament her loss and trust God in the same breathe. I only hope I could be this strong.

Even now, 24-hours after having lost a friend of 16 years and all the potential that was within Dylan, I cannot truly say this is real for any of us. Short of obsessive checking of facebook for updates on how we can help, there is nothing to do, but play this over in our heads again and again....what if I hadn't had told them about this great house four doors down from ours that was on the market. What if we hadn't had moved....the fire started at the time we always walked Cali right past their front door. What if our neighbor had looked in the window and saw Derek on the couch rather than just knocking on the door...I guess this is what we do to try and make our heads catch up to the pain in our hearts.

I ask everyone the knew the Taatjes, and even those who don't, to keep them in prayer right now. Charity and his little girls, Ella and JoJo need all the care and positive energy we can muster to help them rise again each day and figure out what the new normal may look like. These children need to grow up knowing who their daddy was. How larger than life he was, not just physically (Derek was imposing at well over 6 feet), but in personality, spirit, and will. The concept that physical harm could have come to him is still unreal to me. They need to remember his booming voice. His constant smile. His prodding questions. His silly antics. His energy and charm. His strong morals. His sense of community. And his trust in God. I hold up these examples in my own life and aspire to have half the impact on the world as he's had.

April is here!

2011-04-10T13:05:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone,
As I write, it's 80+ degrees and we're grilling out after a perfect birthday weekend. It appears we are out of our slump! Friday was my 34th birthday and all-in-all I could ask for nothing more.

As most of you have heard, we learned last week that Max's job was spared. He was just three names away from the cuts, but we were blessed by the fact that the school board revised their original estimates from 50 - 60 pink slips to 47...we were shocked once we did the math. Had their original estimates been fulfilled, we would be waiting until August to know if Max still had a job.

And in my work life, I didn't die in a fiery crash when we flew the small, small, very small jet to New York. So that was good too. (I was a little nervous to say the least, though trying to act all Beyonce when we landed at Teterboro amongst the richy riches.)

Max and Ryan spent the week together having fun over Spring Break. I took Friday to be with them and we headed to the GR Children's museum. Ryan had a blast, until we were "those parents" with the screaming, over-tired two-year old. All we could do is laugh.

That brings us to the "What's new with Ryan" portion of tonight's blog. Since I've last written he's:
- Climbed out of his crib again. Only to climb back in without me noticing....that is until I discovered his light on and pillows stacked across the room. He then pronounced "I not fall so I not go to the hospital."

- He's singing his entire ABC's, as well as The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Baby Bumble Bee and parts of Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA." His musical choices are diverse to say the least. His favorite part of a song to shout out is "Play that hot new thing!" Makes us laugh every time.

- Today we discovered all our once hibernating neighbors, which challenged Ryan's social graces. Highlights include Ryan saying "Peace Out" to his friend as we left for lunch and tonight, when Max and I shook hands with our new neighbor, Ryan stepped forward and did the same, all on his own.

- He loves playing out doors in his play house. He' also pro at riding his scooter fast down the driveway.

- Ryan says "I love you" when we leave in the morning an is getting great at "Please, Thank You and No thank you." He's also been practicing "I'm, sorry for [insert hitting or throwing food here]."

- Last week at Milestones he used the potty twice. We're on our way.

We'll let the pictures do the rest of the bragging. Love to you all!
Court, Max & Ryan

Ryan hanging out with the grownups as we celebrated my birthday.

Everyone questions the color of his hair, but those curls are clearly from mommy!

Ryan loved spending time in the doghouse at the Children's museum.

Ryan was mesmerized by the bubble table as daddy helped him.

Coloring at home in the conductor's hat that Nami and Papa brought home from Arizona.

Ryan camped out in his fort that Nami made him. It fits over out kitchen table. He spends lots of time reading to himself under it.

Daddy and Ryan reading the "History of Chevy Trucks." Did you know the El Dorado's body remained the same between '68 and '67, though the braking system changed? I bet your answer is no. I wish I could say the same.

Getting silly with the yogurt. He now has to open it and mix it all on his own.

Ryan and Henry Danger (Ryan cannot say just his first name) after a night of wood fired pizza at the Elzinga's.

Blowing kisses.

Putting his hands up to the lyrics of his favorite songs. A few weeks ago we had new friends over for dinner. Music was quietly playing in the background, so faintly that the adults didn't notice. But suddenly during dinner, Ryan thrust his hands up. And so did little Abby and her mom and dad. It looked like a bank robbery around our dinner table. Abby's mom asks me (with arms held high), "What's this about?" Loved how she just followed Ryan's lead with no clue what it meant!

March Update

2011-03-22T21:16:00.005-04:00

It's raining. It's snowing. It's thundering. And it's lightening. This is Michigan people. I kid you not that as I type, all of this is happening at the same time.

This month is half way over and I am just now posting. Time is flying by. Both on the calendar and before our eyes as we watch this little one grow. Ryan has blossomed into a full sentence- speaking, thoughtful communicator. When asking him questions like "Can you sit in your seat like a good boy?" He answers "YES. I. DO." He's figured out the "grey stuff" of life too...using words like "almost" and "not so big" to describe things. We still have the occasional misunderstanding of what he's saying. Just last week we solved a two-week year old mystery, figuring out that "Papa No Knees" is not a person, but rather the Pizza topping, "Pepperoni." I won't tell you what his pronunciation of his train "Percy" sounds like:)

Ryan blows us away at reading time. He's able to complete the sentences of virtually any book that he's heard three times. I sometime test him on really difficult passages and he gets it right without missing a beat. The terrible two's are becoming a bit more terrible, but I think it's more reflective of Max and I dealing with work stress and having a little less patience than usual. Needless to say, the time out chair is getting more use than it has in the past.

Tonight he got new shoes (poor kid has only had a single worn out pair for the last 6 months.) We asked, "How do they run?" and he would not stop running and jumping in them. I think he really believed that they made him move faster! And of course, they were all the rage since he though they were "Connor's Shoes!" (he has dropped the "Na-New.")

We're entering a killer week next week, so if we're MIA, don't worry. I start a stained glass window making class Monday (my anniversary gift from the best husband ever). Tuesday I head to Chicago for a tradeshow and Thursday it's to New Jersey for meetings (we are taking a private plane though so no over night and no airports! Yeah!) Friday marks the start of Max's Spring Break and we need it.

In other news, if you've been keeping up with Michigan's sad state of affairs, you know that there are some very grave cuts coming to education. For the 7th year, we're anxiously awaiting the news of pink slips (March 31), knowing they are giving them to nearly 60 teachers in Max's district. If you have the time, please educate yourself on the issue, the cuts to the School Aid fund and the new law that allows Emergency City Managers to over-throw elected school boards. We need to each take it upon ourselves to understand the system that educates our kids AND to let our voices be heard when we don't agree....Just this week I got two rather nice form letters from my State Reps :) Hoping at least it's logged into some system that tally's "this plan sucks" emails. Only time will tell. Then again, nothing was sent to me by our Governor...[stepping down from my soap box now.]

Hope each of you have great weeks.
Love Court, Max + Ryan

PS. Lots of new videos up on our YouTube channel. Although I seriously got a warning letter for copyright infringement from Sony due to Ryan dancing to "All the Single Ladies." Is there any humor left in the world. Pretty sure Beyonce would have thought it was hilarious too.

Nami made Ryan a tent that sits over our kitchen table, complete with landscaping, wildlife and doors and windows. He loves it!

His photo books of family and friends are constantly coming out. They're great since they keep our people that live far away actively in his life.

Videos on my iPod keep Ryan entertained. He can find and play games, though he's yet to purposely dial anyone. He has called my client a few times by mistake. Embarrassing!

I love this picture in that his 1-year portrait is hanging behind. Makes me realize how much he has grown.

Apparently Cali was Irish, since Ryan spent most of St. Patty's smooching on the dog!

This is 100% our child.

Can you tell this is the timeout chair? His fleet and him must have been drag-racing again.

Ryan is all about making funny faces these days. Love this one.

And this one too.

Caught him reading to himself the other day. His imagination is so active. He makes his cars and trucks talk to one another. He loves tipping them all over and then having one hero truck go around and flip the others back to standing.

Again with the iPod. He thinks watching himself is so funny!

Mid-February Update

2011-02-23T20:33:00.011-05:00

So Max and I are sitting here with huge smiles on our faces. We're downstairs and just put Ryan down. American Idol was on the tv and we realized we have our own American Idol in his crib! Ryan was singing Twinkle Twinkle (every word). But best of all, once he finished, he cheered to himself. Now he's as quiet as a mouse. And before he was singing....he was fake snoring. Note to readers: we do not watch American Idol. It was just on Fox when we turned on the tv.

Ryan has recently began with the singing. Sometimes songs we had no idea he learned at school. His language skills have really expanded the last few weeks. He's speaking in completely logical statements and asking really smart questions. Full sentences and pretty profound thoughts.

In other news, we want to send our love to both my extended family and the Holohan clan. This weekend my Great Uncle Red (mom's uncle) passed away at 91 from pneumonia. He was truly loved by so many and one of the funniest good old boys around. My grandma loved him so much. It's comforting to know they are together now. We were also heartsick that our friends the Holohan's lost Kevin's mom to cancer last night. 15 years ago she welcomed me into her home as part of Mindy's extended family when I lived in Chicago and her visits have always been a bright spot.

So to continue the sentiment of my last post, we can't wait for February to be over. March has got to be better than this month! Love to you all,

Court, Max, & Ryan

Hide and seek at Nami and Papa's.

So serious.

Not so serious.

More hide and seek.

And even more hide and seek, though we can find him behind this door when he hides and we seek.

We painted for the first time at home this weekend. So fun!

Multi-tasking: cooking and playing games on mommy's phone.

The nursery.

Bathtime.

Ryan drawing a truck all on his own. So talented!

February

2011-02-04T15:55:00.008-05:00

February is here and already I wish it were over. Winter is stretching out too far in front of us. It's like the weather is mimicking the dreary state of affairs that keep rearing their ugly heads for those we love best. So many of our friends are in the midst of really challenging "stuff." Work lulled for all of 2 days and boom, things are springing up again. Ryan is cooped up and we cannot seem to stay sustainably healthy. (Learned today I've had an upper respiratory infection for weeks. And now Max is feeling less than 100%.) It tends to make us feel helpless and hopeless and the weather is certainly not helping things. We'll look to March to renew everything.

Despite it all , the boy continues to grow like a weed and evolve like a brain-i-ac. I remind myself daily that his resolute determination (mostly expressed with swinging arms and the use of "no") will someday serve him well, just as Max's determined nature makes him so good at what he does. Generally he's really sweet, happy, and curious about the world. He's always telling us that he's happy or finding somehting / someone around us that is too.

I'm excited that he spends massive amounts of time creating art. And he's really good! On weekends, his cumulative, un-forced art time is around 1.5 hours a day. He just can't get enough. And his sweet nature continues to show through, no matter if it's him telling Cali that he loves her or him bringing me over the puppy figure to give me a kiss when he apologizes after time out. Lately we catch him in conversation with himself (or the dog or his cars). Right now "Big Puppy" (which is a bear) is a constant companion as well as Curious George and Pooh. He also LOVES reading, which is so important to us. We spend 30 minutes every night before bed reading (the same books over and over...and over again.) He's counting to 10 on his own, though he skips 4. You'll gather from the photos, his train set and trucks / cars are his main interest. Anything police car or firetruck related is an obsession. When our friend Deb cares for Ryan on Tuesday's and Friday's we drive past 3 fire stations. I never imagined my entire morning existent would consist of scoping for emergency vehicles, snow plows and big rigs, but I find myself shouting out when I see one, even when Ryan's at childcare and I have a coworker in the care. (They are never as excited as Ryan is.)

Writing all this makes me realize there is lots of good all around us to focus on too. So to those of us we love dearly, in the midst of the junk of 2011....we love you. We're praying for you. And we're here.

Love Court, Max + RyanRyan sitting inside the ottoman, reading his Richard Scarrey book to his puppy.

The artist at work.

Mischief maker for sure! He thinks walking in our shoes is hilarious.

Since Christmas, Ryan would not combine his trains because they came in two different sets. This is the first instance of "Supertrain."

Thank God for washable Crayola markers. I will never complain that crayola is more expensive. They are WORTH EVERY penny considering how much marker makes it from the page to his face, clothes, and hands!
Ryan drew this while I was cooking and proclaimed "Dizzy Izzy" (a vehicle from his truck book.) I was really shocked that he had moved from simply making colors, to intentionally drawing wheels, the body of a car, and the grill.

Here is his police car. The blue horizontal lines above it the lights and sirens he told me.

Other than drawing vehicles, these "B" are consistently what he draws. And no, we're not so obsessed with our kid to convince ourselves that he spelled "Bob."

This photo is from the last week of the Binkie! He gave it up three weeks ago and has not mentioned it in two weeks. It was a rough start for three nights, but he handled it like a champ....and we don't miss combing the floor for it at 3am when he'd wake up upset!

Ryan showing off his "Buddha and Bebo" (Belly and Belly Button).

Christmas and a New Year

2011-01-15T21:07:00.006-05:00

For all the grand parents waiting to see Christmas photos, I am sorry! We've had a heck of a three weeks since Christmas. Starting with Christmas (I was sick) and heading into this week (all three of us passed the stomach flu around for a week) we've been fighting to stay healthy. On top of that, my work is in it's peak season and the schedule is crazy.

So looking back on the holidays, we can say we were blessed beyond belief. Max's mom Nora came to stay with us for a week, we celebrated with my family both days, we heard from all our loved ones and we saw friends too. We were reminded of how lucky we were to share the holidays with one another when we were given the news of the loss of a friend. Pat coached with Max and taught with him at Wayland. He was a father of four, a strong Christian, a husband to his high school sweetheart, an educator, and one of the nicest, most funny people we've been blessed to know. Seeing someone of our age, with so much going for him pass so suddenly (heart attack at 39 on Christmas morning) has really shaken Max and I. Something like this makes you take stock, be grateful, and hold your baby and one another a little closer. So in the spirit of what Pat's loss has taught us, let me tell you how much we love everyone reading about our lives. And how thankful for you and all our blessings.

I'll end this post with some upbeat photos. Ryan continues to be our joy and is changing so much. It's hard to explain it, but it's like he's morphing into a boy right in front of us. He talking in full sentences. And he is so ironic. Yesterday for example, he sneezed while in the car. I said, "What a big sneeze." His response, "Yeah, bless me." When he's done with certain foods, and if he's not throwing them when his naughty comes out, he says "No thank you, no thank you," until you remove it. He's shot up in the last three weeks and sometimes is wearing a 3T. He's in the midst of transitioning up to an older classroom at school, early pre-school, and he's excited. He knows all his letters, colors, many of his shapes, is singing songs and reciting books from memory. Most of all, he curious and playful and always happy....that is when he's not showing his red headed temper. We certainly are loving this stage since it really feels like we're building relationships, not just being caregivers.

I'll leave you with this. Yesterday Ryan and I were deep into playing trains when Max came home. Ryan stopped, got a huge smile on his face and ran to greet Max. When Max picked Ryan up, Ryan gave him a huge hug (and made the "ummm" noise I make when I hug him) and just said on his own for the first time, "I love you Daddy." SO sweet it bring you to tears.

Love to you all,
Court, Max + Ryan

Christmas Eve with Papa.

The new "DJ Station" has arrived. His new music maker has a turn table to scratch, a recording station and sampling station. He loves it.

After Christmas Eve dinner our angle began praying for a train set....

The tree was PACKED for Christmas morning. Santa was good to us.

The jingle bells from Grandma and Grandpa were a big hit...where were they when he needed to sing Jingle Bells at school? I think this music maker may be the only thing that could have un-frozen him!

In true form, like his mommy, Ryan has begun his bowling career at age 2. And he's better than me already. Look at him checking ou that pin placement before taking his form.

Though you can't tell by the facial expression, Ryan's new train was a hit!

Ryan was so into opening presents and then playing with each gift after, that opening took almost 4 hours!

Not sure who was more excited, Uncle E or Ryan for his new Fire Station. No it is not a doll house. It is a fire training facility with figurines.

Christmas dinner on my new table linens! It was a perfect day.

Rosy cheeks after time outside on the sled. Ok, daddy was on the sled. Ryan was into watching.

Nana and Ryan playing with his new puzzle cards.

2 Years Old!

2010-12-12T17:00:00.008-05:00

It's official. We have a 2 year old! The time has flown so fast it's unbelievable and we were blessed to have friends and family call or spend the day with us in celebration of Ryan Kerry.

Ryan's party included his best buddies (except Levi couldn't make it due to a wedding). The two year old crowd featured: Brady, Colin, Conner (NaNew), and Henry Danger. Accompanying them were all their parents and siblings. It was a blast and the kids left with a mix CD of all the crowd's favorite songs.

So for those of you far away, here's a way to share it with us. Wish you all could have been here. Love to all....now off to hibernate. We're getting slammed by a winter storm...listen carefully. You can hear Max and Ryan chanting "snow day. snow day. snow day" since there's a new sled in the garage waiting for it's first whoosh down the hill.

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

The week started with Ryan's 1st Christmas pageant with his class at Milestones. He was chipper, cute and excited going into it...

...but not so excited to perform in front of 200 people once it started. As the door opened and the class entered, the room went silent. Then everyone heard a "NO!" from outside the doorway. Max entered carrying Ryan and ended up on stage for the entire thing. He looked like the only male teacher at the school!

This is the exact expression he had on his face for the ENTIRE performance. He never moved. Just look at me in the audience frozen. It was priceless. My poor family traveled 30 minutes to watch him sit expressionless on a stage for 3 minutes.

Things went better after he could escape.

Knowing that the party later in the day would be filled with activity, we opted to give Ryan our gift as well as his gifts from max's side of the family in the morning. He loves this new hoop from Nana (Max's mom).

Since he got two gifts that could not be wrapped, we asked Ryan to close his eyes. This is what that looks like.

Uncle B (Max's brother Brian) scored big points with a bathtub basketball hoop that is now part of our kitchen. Not sure it will ever see the tub. But hey, dinner time's more interesting.

Ryan's really starting to understand what gifts are, so this Christmas will be fun. When asked to open a gift, he immediately runs to assume this position on the couch.

The camera (it's a real video and still camera) from Grandpa and Grandpa (MeMah & PePaw) was a huge hit too. Now he won't be grabbing ours all the time.

Here is Ryan's first self portrait. Very introspective.

What to get your two year old son you ask? Well a vacuum of course!

Now Ryan has a replica of our Dyson that really works. Consider this early training for chores.

After morning gifts we built a heck of a mass-transit bridge in the living room.

The party was great. He was excited for his new cooking utensils from Nami & Papa.

Here's Max helping with the opening.

A high five between Henry Danger and Ryan. Apparently the cake met their approval.

The birthday boy, unsure why mom is not the one behind the camera (thanks Carrie!)

The morning after his party. The inside of the ottoman is his new favorite fort. He spent most of yesterday playing with balloons.

23.75

2010-11-30T21:50:00.006-05:00

I cannot believe a month has passed since we last posted, but November flew by. Though the end of football has brought new freedom to Max, work at ddm has ramped up. I make my second trip to NYC / NJ on Thursday in the last two weeks. It all just means work is steady and we're doing well.

Ryan is stellar. He's become a boy. Last Christmas he'd stand at the front window and watch the neighbor's moving Christmas extravaganza and his head only reached the first pane of glass. This year he reaches the top of the second pane and the dazzling displays only hold his attention for a short time before he's off to something new. Max and I still find ourselves watching him play every evening amazed and in love with this little guy.

We're excited about Christmas and tomorrow marks the first day of gifting Ryan with our Advent calendar. We'll share some more details below. Hope everyone is happy, safe and excited for the holiday's too.

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

PS. There are new videos up at www.YouTube.com/MaxandCourt Most shocking is that I think we went viral...we have 88 views of "Ryan's Wild Ride"...we normally average around 18!

This picture is as sweet as Ryan is. He now tells us he loves us and says thank you on his own, unsolicited. Two days ago he hit Cali with his truck so he lost it for the night. The next day when we gave it back, he immediately apologized AGAIN to Cali. We were surprised he even remembered.

Strangely enough, our annual Christmas tree hunt happened with no snow. It was weird and easy, and Ryan had a great time.

Ryan tried to help Max chop down the Kerry Family Christmas Tree.

We have gotten Ryan a doctor's kit to help ease his newly developed phobia. His eye condition is not getting better and it looks as though Ryan will have to have a procedure done to clear his eye ducts sometime in January. Between the drops and the 2 hour long eye exams, he wants no part in doctor's offices. (I left with bruises he fought so hard.) So far so good. I walked into the family room this week and caught him doing his own exam on Puppy (which is a bear). And as long as he's not playing doctor with Tessa, the neighbor girl, we're happy. We busted them kissing last month in his playhouse.

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house, eating and watching football. Ryan chose lucky Uncle Eric for his sole 10-minute-a-day-cuddle session. They are best buds since Uncle E watched him all on his own while we went to a charity auction. Eric changed his very first diaper and handled bedtime like a champ.

Apparently there is a Great Turkey that gives little boys trucks on Thanksgiving. I'm a girl, so I know nothing of it. Ryan discovered a huge nest on top of my childhood little people table and in the nest was a Wow truck...and clearly, it deserved a "WOW!"

Thinking this could be an ad for the Air Car Seat. ddm can pitch them once we come up for air.

Ryan helped me make Sweet Potato Casserole on Thanksgiving in his new tower that helps him get closer to the action. He did great and loves helping...almost too much. He cries when things go in the oven.

Thanksgiving brought Amy home from Colorado so we could take our annual "Girls with Boys" photo. Amy and Cian also brought us their new baby sister, Elshan, as well as the rest of the Holohan clan. As the photos have progressed, they get funnier and funnier since we can't get the boys to sit still and smile!

Cian is 3 months older than Ryan. Granted, though Cian is a peanut, this does help those out of state understand just how big Ryan is. At 32 pounds he out weighs his buddy by 10 pounds and is the same height as Colin who is 6 months older!

Drinking from big cups is the most exciting part of dinner these days.

Wearing daddy's hat....so Ryan's head is not that big...just above average!

The plow that Grandpa (PeePaw) gave Ryan was the cause of many crying session since it was a bit too fragile for him to play with for a while. It returned this weekend and made Ryan's top 10 list for the "Best Day Ever."

Maybe you've forgotten what we look like without Ryan attached to us in a photo. Meet Max.

Ryan would not wear his hat to save his life....until he thought that Conner (NaNew) gave him the hat. Now he won't take it off. Amazing that Conner has also given us mittens, boots and a new jacket. And Conner eats all his vegetables and [insert action here].

He's also taken to dressing himself out of our basket of too small baby clothes. Here he's sporting a 12 month old sweatshirt. He wore Manpris (capris for boys) and a cropped belly shirt the previous day—They we're 6 month old clothes!

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:43:00.005-04:00

Our expectations for Halloween were not high. Every time Ryan saw his costume for the last two weeks, he'd say "no, No, NO!" Max and I tried wearing the hood on our heads. Sitting it out so he'd get used to it. Poor Cali even had to wear it twice. I created a back up costume from his normal clothes thinking that's what he'd wear (he'd have been a football coach...windpants, red shirt and Winnie the pooh in a football helmet.) But as usual, little man surprised us. Take a peek.

Before leaving for the neighborhood party, we carved pumpkins (Ryan colored his). He wanted a big truck on front.

Then we started in with his costume. It did not go great at first...

Then he figured out you get chocolate if you wore the hood, and he was in...he'd never really had chocolate candy before.

We headed to the neighborhood party and he looked so cute.

When you ask him what a Tiger says, he repeats "Grrrrr."

Most of the party was spent in the backyard by ourselves as he roamed from yard to yard to play on the different colored slides.

We caught Ryan chasing one of the twins through the bushes. It was very Jungle Cat.

Ry loved watching the big kids play. He then went on to trick-or-treat with Max for over an hour. By the end he figured out that the event is more than just seeing everyone's dogs. He was saying thank you after every candy gift. He didn't take off his costume for an hour once we were all home. Halloween 2010 was a success!

22.75

2010-10-31T21:27:00.008-04:00

There is an obnoxious amount of cuteness that we're going to share here. So delete this email if you can't handle the sweetness.

Language skills have kicked into high gear. He's saying "I love you" now and starting to crack jokes. His favorite is to say "Please Dad" when I ask him "What do you say?" after he requests things. Today he said my name was "Ryan." He's stringing together Yoda-like sentences too. Other developments: His affectionate side is really coming out. He has chores he likes to help with and is so stinking smart that he recognizes places we're driving to, even in the dark!

Our most difficult challenge right now is trying to put steroid drops into his eyes. He has tear duct issues, we we're trying this treatment to avoid surgery. Only one more week until we end this course (Just what the Coach needs...a son on Steroids!) The great news is that for all the hassle, we now have a tear-free more comfortable boy. So it's worth it.

I'll spare you any more prose and let those big brown eyes do the rest. Hope everyone is having a great week wherever you are! About to go up and put in drops as Ryan sleeps...as we call it...the "Drop Fairy."

Love Court, Max & Ryan

This is the same bench Max and I had our photo taken on during our wedding. He was admiring Nami's Koi.

We busted out my Hot Wheels collection during Max's birthday. He loves them!

Nami and Papa brought Ryan this new train on their adventures in North Carolina. He loves saying "Choo Choo" as he drags it everywhere.

Very impressed to see that train come out of the package...

The look of determination on the job site.

Cali and Ryan are so cute together. Ryan loves chasing her, taunting her and cuddling. Only he will not call her Cali and only calls her "puppy."

Does he not look just like Max as a kid? Here he is in his the playhouse max scored for $12! (Just saw it online for $68!)
We met the Elzinga's at Robinettes for cider and donuts. Only the boys were WAY more interested in the big rig that hauled the horse trailer.

We were all troubled by the fact that it appeared both Ryan and Henry were well practiced at being arrested. "Spread um boys!"

We thought Ryan would enjoy a donut ....until we realized he enjoyed 4 of them. He had taken bites out of multiple and put each back in the box until he found the one he liked.

He loves to color now! Just like his momma.

Collision on the kitchen table. Our life is trucks, trucks and cars (he finally realized the difference last week!)

22 Months Old

2010-10-10T10:00:00.012-04:00

Ryan is officially 22 months old tomorrow and is changing on a daily basis. Today he started asking questions in the form of a question ("Is that ucky poo? Very inquisitive.) We also busted him kissing the neighbor girl who is 17 mos old. It was hilarious. Ryan's now able to identify all is colors, letters, and we're starting numbers.

We've had a great time on a variety of outings you'll see below. Max's team has a tough last two games ahead, so we're looking forward to the season winding down. Work has been difficult lately for me too, but there is hope in sight and I think I'll finally get to go back to being the kind of mom and wife I strive to be.

All in all, we're headed into a great fall. Thanks for sharing our journey with us!

Love Court, Max + Ryan

HARVEST FESTIVAL

Ryan and I created our very own Scarecrow (you'll notice my signature college overalls.) For $7 you get all the makings, even the clothes. Just about everyone in Rockford has one it seems. I think that makes us officially Rockfordians.

Tuckered out after a Harvest festival adventure.

MICHIGAN vs MICHIGAN STATE

When my dad asked what we were doing for the holiday weekend, I assumed he was talking about the Michigan / Michigan State game. He meant Columbus day....He is a banker you know. They have more holidays than you can believe. Here is Staci (my college roommate) and me.

We hosted the Alguires and Holohans for the game. The kids outnumbered us: 8 of them, ages 12 - 1! Perfect weather allowed them to go crazy outside. So much fun.

Ryan asks for "NaNew" no less than 5 times a day. Here, he and Conner play trucks.

Ryan and Colin had a great time discussing every play after the game. We caught them have a CONVERSATION! So amazing and strange.

We busted Ryan taking a bite out of every apple in mommy's harvest table arrangement.

ARTPRIZE

One of the bests of living here is ArtPrize, the world's largest open art competition. It goes on for 3 weeks and featured over 1700 pieces of art across the city in almost 200 venues. Ryan loved all the publci pianos that dotted street corners. Anyone could sit down and play.

Ryan and Max took a break from the art to admire the fountain in Veteran's Park.

NAUGHTY TIME

We think the "Terrible Twos" may have started early. We've had a bit of naughty lately. And he's starting to try and whine. Don't worry. We're nipping it in the bud!

Rather than eating, Ryan loaded the "Yeahlow twuck" he stole from Levi's house with cheese!

LITTLE ANGEL

He still loves to vacuum!
He's getting more and more into coloring and chalk art. Today he was walking around the neighborhood like a rainbow.

Ryan was studying up on his truck books. He had them lined up beside each other and has figured out on his own that some of the pictures are repeated between the two books.

Ryan will cart his lawn mower to any neighbor's yard that may be mowing. Then he'll mimic them as the pass back and forth. The child identifies airplanes, lawn mowers, and sirens so well that sometime we'll be indoors and Max and I won't even notice them until Ryan shouts.

FOOTBALL

Max and Ryan before the Grand Rapids Christian game last Friday night.

Waiting for daddy before the game.

Papa and Ryan watching the Creston team loose to Max's team.

Ryan and buddy Brady enjoyed the game....and imitating the cheerleaders. (Sorry Max, he imitates the linebackers too.)

Wildcat stadium.

21.5 Months

2010-09-19T22:31:00.004-04:00

I'm realizing how this blog helps me find themes in our lives, since it's the only time I stop and take a collective look back at our whirlwind day-to-day. This week the themes are amazingly simple:
- Honoring our family by trying to find balance
- Trying to spend more time with the people we love that bring value to our lives
- Finding joy in the simple moments
These would be what Max and I are focused on. Ryan's list is a little less complicated, but still profound:
- Cali is my best friend
- Trying to help mom and dad
- Big trucks

Ryan has gone through another growth spurt. Example: I just purchased 7T wide shoes for him and had to send them back since they're too small. I'm pretty sure his feet are the size of most 15 year olds'. He's doing more and more dare-devil things too. You'll see below. The biggest change we see is in his language. I am pretty sure he's known a lot of what he's now sharing with us for a while, but now we can just communicate better. Words are now strung together in short choppy sentences. It takes me a while to realize he can do this. Like when I was driving with my hand on the back of the passenger seat, only to hear "Momma. No. No."....he had to repeat it 10 times before it registered that he was making a request so he could see out the window.

He's recognizing letters on his own. unprompted today he started verbally identifying every letter on my shirt that read "Disaster Relief". Our obstacles right now consist of his fixation on a toy snow plow we had to take away from him 3 weeks ago....it's all he talks about. And dropping him off at Milestones. The last two weeks he's burst out in tears when I leave him. It's heartbreaking, but other than that, he seems to have great days. Perhaps it's just a little separation anxiety since Max is working long hours coaching and I have been crazy with work. We're planning on him moving up an age bracket to a new classroom shortly and I think that will help. Part of the kids he had gotten to know moved up since they were older, but the center feels he skews older and might do better with older kids.

Max's team is doing great and posted another win Friday against Mona Shores... a school he used to coach against. We still know people he worked with on the coaching staff, so that was weird. Right now the team is 3-1.

Below is the best of the last few weeks. Lot's of multiples from the same events...but I cannot decide which ones are cuter. Enjoy.

Love,
Court, Max & Ryan

While folding laundry, I took a peak to see what Ryan was up to and this is what I found. One day he'll realize the other end is the better end to hug!

Tickle time is the most fun with Ryan. He has the best belly laugh that he now uses with most things. We call it the "maniacal" laugh.

Ryan thought Cali should also wear "big truck" pj's and Cali obliged.

When Ryan saw Max sweeping up last weekend, he immediately grabbed another broom and started to help.

Though he won't finger paint at school, he loves sidewalk chalk.

"No way! Blue and Black! This is the best day EVER." - Ryan Kerry

Ryan has realized he can dump out the toy bins and stand on them. Sometimes there is a line of five of them that he traverses like a bridge. Other days he just wants to get taller and stacks them all.

The rinse at bathtime is the best since our water faucet makes a waterfall and Ryan loves to put his face in it.

His top I-teeth are almost all the way through and I am sure the bottoms are on their way!

He's figured out that he can remove the bench cushion and pretend it's a slide or use it as a ramp for his cars. He trashes the living room at least twice a day...and we love it!

Henry Danger recently paid us a visit. Look at those tummies!

Henry LOVED my work heels and was wearing them all through the house!

Ryan—all on his own—has decided his chore is to put away the place mats after dinner. One day he just stared to do so. He also sets up his tray for dinner time and goes crazy if there's even a grain of cous-cous on his tray after he's wiped up.

21 Months

2010-09-01T20:30:00.009-04:00

As you can imagine due to our lack of updates, August has been a super busy month. Between football staring back up, Ryan starting a new child care situation and me working crazy hours, there has been no time to post.

Max had his first game of the season last week. Though they posted a loss, the defense (an entirely NEW defense) looked great. The 17 points scored on them we in large part to the 6 turnovers close to the end zone. Tomorrow's game will be a great test.

Work has been insane. We've grown Stryker by 7 divisions, making for lots of travel for me and about 68 hours of overtime for me this month alone.

Ryan began attending Milestones Child Development Center three days a week. The other two days are spent with our friends Deb and her son Levi. He's doing great and is nearly always excited to go to school. In truth the transition has gone better than we had expected. We've noticed a growth spurt with the little guy and he's staring to string phrases together really well. Everyday he's asking for new words, saying "What's this?" He'd got his first three freckles, further proving he's my son! Trucks in every way shape and form are his obsession. Max recently scored an outdoor playhouse for $12 and he's super excited about that. He's also trying to imitate everything. Today I caught him trying to jump up and down...then realized the picture on the front of the magazine showed a kid jumping on the bed. He's really good at copying our dance moves now too.

So enjoy the pics like we enjoy the boy they're focused on. Though we're busy beyond belief, we're able to step back everyday, focus on him and feel incredibly blessed.

Love to you all,
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan and I at the first football game of the season. He spent the entire first half walking in front of the bleachers. When the crowd would cheer, he thought it was for him. He'd strut so proud and clap as he did so. He'd also watch the cheerleaders and imitate their hands when they landed a stunt. The kids in the student section were cracking up.

Ryan and Max at the Red & White scrimmage.

Ryan had the best day ever getting to sit in a REAL firetruck.

Ryan wearing his backpack in preparation for the first day to school at Milestones.

Before he started, we took Ryan for a visit to get to know everyone. He was excited to see they had a giant truck in his classroom. Here he is with his new buddy Mason.

Happy boy had his first haircut three weeks ago. The curl is still there and it's still pretty red, though streaks of sun bleaches blond are coming through.

Ryan's starting to love giving kisses and hugs. He surprised Max with this one.

Look at the strength! He was holding himself up like this!

But here is where he started from.

Ryan super excited to watch Max mow the lawn. He watched the entire hour long process, running between windows at the front and back of the house to see.

Lots of time is spent building towers with MegaBloks. He spends half his playtime building, usually happy to be doing it on his own.

He's really into stacking the bins and making them into seats.

ddm is celebrating our 20th anniversary, so here's Ryan, Max with Debbie and Levi at the picnic. Ryan pronounces Levi as "Yahweh" (which ironically is Hebrew for God). In this photo, the boys were coming down from a serious sugar high. They did have smiles on their face for most of the evening. Promise.

The ddm party was at Blodger's Ranch (one of our partners) and Ryan was so excited to ride the tractor ... on the same day he got to drive the firetruck. And he got to pet a horse. Great day.

At a football family picnic we lost track of Ryan and found him on his own, sitting like a Ralph Lauren ad enjoying the scene. Hilarious.

He's growing up - 20 months

2010-08-06T20:25:00.005-04:00

We'll the theme of this week's post is: grown up. The last three days have marked so many first:
- First haircut: no worries. he still has most of his curls and much of his red, just no more Trump comb over.

- First visit to his new school: Today we spent two hours in his classroom where he'll start three days a week on Monday.

- And tonight, his first time using the potty! No joke. He was wet from playing in the pool, so we stripped him down. Just for the heck of it, we put him on the potty seat for the first time and he produced nada. Shorty after he began to streak the house. Then looked at me and ran as fast as he could to the bathroom. Though much of the "effort" was spent on the tile, we eventually got his seated and he did it. Unreal. (Some of you are saying, yeah, unreal. She's wasting my time writing about a kid taking a pee!)

Other than that we're busy and full of parties this weekend. Saturday morning is Rockford's summer reading celebration by the dam. And at night it's ddm's 20th anniversary celebration party at the Blodger's ranch. Promises to be a blast, as well as Ryan's first horse ride. Sunday is the football coaches annual family get together. Can't wait. Hope each of you are having as equally eventful first weekend of August.

Love,
Courtney, Max & Ryan

Ryan is getting taken for a spin in his new big truck. I swear, he says the phrase "big Truck" 100 times a day. This week he actually shouted out his babysitters name when the same make of her vehicle drove by.

Ryan in his "kiddie pool" and Max in his "adult lounger." Max looks like he could win a superbowl with that visor on. Sorry football humor.

Ryan admiring his fleet. He is actually responsible for the line up you see here.

It was Papa's birthday celebration last weekend and Ryan was the best gift helper you could ask for.

Uncle Billy will be thrilled to know that Ryan now has a Police Car to balance out his obsession with fire trucks. The funniest part is that 6 adults played with the car and Ryan turned out the one to discover a secret lever that popped to roof off, not any of us! Check out the wings...this is pre-haircut.

"I'm running around naked. This feels so great....Uh oh...."

"Gotta get to the potty STAT!" - Ryan Kerry's comment as he ran to go potty like a big boy for the first time tonight.

The Kerry Summer Vacation

2010-07-31T08:59:00.012-04:00

It's been nearly a month since our last post, but for great reasons! We've been having fun enjoying the summer. Here's our vacation photo album from our recent trip to Max's home town Ithaca, NY. A perfect week (followed with a return business trip to NYC for me, two days after we drove home.) My normal apologies for too many photos. But the good times are barely summarized in this "small" collection. Enjoy. We did!

Love,
Court, Max + RyanWe rented a cottage to serve as home base for our stay.

The view from our dock. Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, NY is nearly 45 miles long. And it's several hundred feet deep.
Ryan on the beginning of our journey, loaded down with toys.

Ryan enjoying a cottage meal of daddy's buckwheat pancakes and NY maple syrup.

We spent two mornings playing at Stewart Park in the sprinklers. This was a favorite play spot for Max as a kid, so it was a bit surreal to see Ryan enjoying it.

Ryan was so brave. His first pass through he ran through the center of the fountains, quickly realizing how cold it was. About an hour later he returned to conquer it again, only to learn how to block the water with his feet and hands.

During their visit in June, Grandpa taught Ryan how to do "cheers." We cannot get through a meal without Cheersing everything. Here they are back at it again.

Ryan and Max on our dock watching the "big boats." We were located right beside the Ithaca Yacht Club, so we had a constant supply of sailboats and regattas to watch.

Ryan got comfortable with the water and spent time skipping rocks and shale (no naturally sandy beaches in Ithaca.)

Ryan loved feeding the "geese" as he called them, everyday. One duck had babies while we were there, so between the ducklings, the neighbor's cat and an albino skunk (don't ask) we had plenty of wildlife to watch.

Nana and Ryan doing "cheers" before our "Birthday Party Between Cousins."

Nana and Ryan looking at his new Mass Transit book. The obsession with all things moving continues.

Little Ms. Carter Marie posing for me at the birthday party. Carter turned 2 recently and was the cutest gal at the party.
The closest we could get to a cousins/bro picture. Yes, Ryan is sticking out his tongue.

"Thank You GOD, I finally got a big truck like the kids that live back home across the street."
- Ryan Kerry on the occasion of a gift from his cousins.

Uncle Billy helping Ryan blow out his candle.

Jackson was most excited about his Star Wars action figure.

Grandpa and Ryan watching the air traffic on the way to Ithaca Airport.

Dinner on our deck with part of the fam.

We saw a rainbow right outside of the cottage on our last night in town.

Our happy little family.

This photo reminds me what a big boy Ryan has become.

Ryan and Max crawl through the new playground at Myer's Park.

Uncle Billy giving Ryan his first texting lesson. Every time the phone vibrated with a new text (every 2 minute), Ryan was trained to bring it back to Uncle Billy.

Ryan got a little wild with Grandpa in Benson's kiddie pool.

Uncle B (Brian) and Grandma laughing with Ryan on the couch.

Ryan and Benson tuckered out after an evening of chasing each other.

Grandma and Ryan watching the flowers grow.

18.75

2010-07-03T13:20:00.006-04:00

Hi all,
Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend. Our week has been full of festivities. Grandma and Grandpa Kerry visited from Ithaca NY Saturday through Tuesday. Their once a year visit is always a highlight. Ryan has changed a ton since they last saw him in person, so the visit was filled with lots of down time just hanging out.

Tuesday after they left we headed to the zoo since I had the day off. And today Max is golfing with our brother-in-law, so that left time for Aunt Kirstyn and I to take Ryan to Meijer Gardens for the Chihuly exhibition. Ryan left soaking wet and exhausted...a sign of a GREAT excursion.

Cali is transitioning into the new title of "dream dog." Max installed an invisible fence and she is now free to roam and doing a great job with it. Now when she howls, we can just put her outside which relieves a lot of stress.

That's all for now...I'm off to fill up the new kiddie pool while he sleeps and hope to fit in some yoga...I'm terribly out of a workout routine and trying to find the time (and energy) to get back into things!

Hope each of you have a fun-filled 4th ahead of you. Anyone and everyone's welcome here for a cookout! Enjoy the fireworks and the fun!
Love Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan saw this Chihuly being installed (it's all glass) and was amazed to see it up...he kept shouting "big Truck" which I think is his only way of saying something is big.

Little man LOVED the walkable fountain.

He came out soaked!

His most favorite part was playing in the replica of the Great Lakes. They had tons of boats and fish he could play with. WE played for a good 45 minutes!

Ryan also thought the treehouse was great and enjoyed playing dinnertime. He filled up all the plates with his water bottle.

Let me introduce you to "Naughty Ryan." Look at that face knowing he's about to get busted for putting his toy in his mouth.

Running outside of the zoo.

Daddy and Ryan posing at the zoo grounds.

Ryan got to touch a rooster for the first time and was not afraid at all.

Grandma Kerry and Ryan having breakfast together. We'll all be together again in a month, so we're excited to spend more time together.

Chasing his favorite outdoor toy...the popper.

Grandpa Kerry getting Ryan hooked on electronics (shocking...) Max's dad owns an audio / video /electronics store so he was doomed to crave high functioning sound making gadgets. Beside teaching him how to use the video camera and how to detect low quality speakers in public places, Grandpa also taught Ry how to do "cheers" with his drinks.

But wait, there's more!

2010-06-23T18:36:00.008-04:00

Just downloaded our other camera to find these gems that belong to last week's post! Wow we've been busy!

Captain Ryan aboard the SS. Fellows at Torch Lake.

Me and Ryan checking out the other boats.

Max and I at Tiger Stadium. They won!

Ryan at the Rockford festival excited to see 7 fire engines in a row. The only kid who did not cover his ears!

Chef Carrie preparing out woodfire pizzas in her backyard oven. Yum!

Henry and Ryan devouring their woodfired treats.

Max and Ryan at the Grand Rapids festival just after a good dancing session!

18.25

2010-06-23T17:11:00.005-04:00

Somehow with the arrival of "Summer Max" we missed the update for Ryan turning 1.5 years old! His well baby check went great. He's 70% for weight and height....and 96% for head circumference. Shocking considering Max's skull. Max and Ryan are truly enjoying their time together as Max adjusts to a new pace and Ryan to a new schedule. (He asks about Deb and Jenny often :) He's saying colors now and talking to himself more often. The best is when he tries to sing the ABC's with us. He runs really fast through the house and has taken to galloping. He's also making the animal sounds for dog, horse, lion and cow.

You'll see lots of Father's Day below. The holiday capped off a CRAZY week of fun for us. I went to a NASCAR event two Sunday's back (yes, NASCAR, but I had pit passes and $500 seats), then Max and I met his brother Johnny in Detroit on Thursday for a Tiger's game. Saturday we drove north 2 hours to Torch Lake to hang out with our good friends, the Fellows, whom just moved back from CA. Don will be coaching against Max this upcoming Football season, but Patty and I committed to siting on each others' visitors sides when the time comes. We weathered the volatile bleachers of Mona Shores when Don and Max coached together so nothing will separate us now! Yesterday we hit the Blues on the Dam concert series in downtown Rockford and ran into everyone we know that doesn't live in Rockford!

This week marks lots of fun ahead too. Kirstyn (sister) celebrates her 31st bday with us Friday and then Max's dad and step mom come for 4 days. We can't wait. All in all an eventful two weeks (I didn't event mention the tornado at 1am this week and today's earthquake!)

We hope each of you are well and enjoying the summers. We promise to update more often.

Love to you all,
Court, Max & Ryan

Ryan was left a BMW by some friends that moved out of state. Yes, our kid drives a better car than we do. And he seems as surprised as we are.

Father's day hanging out in Papa's chair.

Checking out Nami's pond.

Looking at the waterfall.

Running and running and running.

Here's Ryan walking up the path that I walked down on our wedding day. We're getting nostalgic since my parents are prepping the house to go on the market.

Checking out the pond again.

Big foot. Check out those dogs. Size 7's already! They are so wide we can't get anything else to fit.

Ryan spent the evening wearing bins as hats...as did Max and I. Very creative.

Nami and Ryan have been sharing lots of time together since she now watches him 3 days a week for a few hours when Max is coaching.

Yogurt with a fork?

Playing "night night" or "flop" as we call it.

This is our child.

2010-06-01T23:04:00.003-04:00

I am so glad God gave us this specific child with these specific quirks!

17.75

2010-05-27T21:19:00.013-04:00

We had a stellar weekend! Here's the highlights:

Friday I took the day for myself : painted Ryan's bathroom, got a haircut and facial (thank you mom and dad for the mother's day gift), and got our compost bin. Perfect day!

Saturday we headed up to Canadian Lakes to visit our fake relatives (the Schroeders have been roped into playing our Aunt / Uncle / Cousins for most of my life. They're stuck with us. And I'm glad about that!) Max had grad class and they let him out EARLY! So he got to join us. Ryan played with Baby Aiden and we learned that Jenny and Rael are expecting #2! A true miracle. And I got to drinnk two bottles of Strongbow while sitting by a lake all day. Perfect day take 2.

Sunday we headed to the zoo of which, our favorite part was watcing Ryan's current favorite animal, the bears. Only the even better part was observing the parents explain to their kids why they were mounting each other. So funny. And so glad Ryan is clueless still. Then we came home and got a substantial amount of yard work done. Even bought the new exterior lights for the house. (The old ones have NEVER worked since the previous owners built the place.) Perfect day take 3.

Monday the clouds parted just long enough that we could take Ryan for a 2-mile walk up and down the White Pine Trail. Then the skies opened up and it rained like hell. Literally. Rockford is under a boil advisory for our water since we got 6 inches of rain and hail in about 2 hours. The rain did give us a nice break to watch Inviticus while Ryan slept. Then my parents came over for an indoor Barbecue. Oh, and if anyone remembers the "Stigmata" that we had on Mayfield. It has followed us. Our molding here leaks too! Thus, an almost perfect day.

Trying to get back into the swing of a very hectic and challenging work week. Good timing since Max is coming down from Baseball and all we have is the banquet on Thursday. All in all, Ryan is great. Molars are coming in on the bottom so he is not too thrilled about that. Tonight he hung with the neighborhood kids and tooled around the dam with us. He's so happy just exploring independently. Got to love him. That's all from these parts. Love to each of you!

Courtney, Max + Ryan

Someone was really excited about the view out Papa and Grandma's window (Mother's Day.)

Mother's day with my baby.

Deep in Thought: Lately Ryan has taken to sitting in the big chair in the mornings and sometimes we catch him folding his hands.

Ryan loves his new bubbles. Here's his first time experiencing them.

He did his best to try and catch them.

Look at those teeth! Top molars are almost completely in. Bottoms are just starting. He's taken to biting lots of weird things...like the stops on the inside of the kitchen cabinets.

So he's not really Irish, but he looks it, doesn't he? This is he "kiss me" face.

Most days Ryan is wearing one of our shoes. He's even mastered heals. Not to jinx him, but I've never seen him fall. The kid has amazing balance.

Our garden, pre flood. Oh, it was so pretty. So pretty big turtles would visit us (see just right of fence pole).

Ryan LOVES to vacuum when I do. Look at the enthusiasm!

Ryan at Max's last game of the season (they beat Lowell!). Ryan walked among the players like he owned the joint.

17 Months

2010-05-08T18:16:00.005-04:00

Hey all,
Busy week, but a good one. Max's team continues to be successful with a 14 & 2 record. Nice to be on the winning team! They're so good that when Ryan and I tried to make it to a game, it was over by the time we got there...at 5:30! Max has started another grad class today so the next few weekends through mid June will be filled with him sitting behind the desk.

Work has been busy for me as well, but good. Yesterday I got to see some old friends from Okemos on the occasion of a baby shower for Darci. So nice to reconnect with old friends.

Ryan is busy becoming his own person. In the last week he's started going down the slide on his own (a big slide!), climbing down the stairs, giving kisses and has had his first official temper tantrum. He is a force.

Lot's of pictures this week, so onto the show....

Love Court, Max & Ryan
While cooking dinner, Little Man got himself into this mess...or basket. Notice he is carrying a water bottle. First Cali thought every water bottle on Earth was hers. Now Ryan. And we don't even buy bottled water! Not sure where he finds them all.

Ryan's latest trick at dinner time. He loves to bite the spoon and not give it back to you.

Oh and another surprise (as if finding him STANDING in his high chair two weeks ago wasn't enough), boy wonder can crawl up on the couch all by himself. He likes to make a bridge with his body between the sofa and the ottoman too!

His hair is getting curlier by the day. He's even taken to brushing it.

Does this face say "I fed myself" or what?

On our trip to Toledo for my grandfather's funeral, we made a pit stop at the Toledo zoo (we're members of the GR zoo so we get in free! Awesome benefit!). Anyhow, I haven't spent much time in Toledo, but apparently I found our secret family legacy at the newly built elephant display. I am so proud.

He loved the animals. Especially the prairie dog, the sloth, and the polar bears (just like Josie!)

I had to prove that he is not sunshine and giggles all the time. Here's his first tantrum...and I'm sure it won't be the last!

Big boy on the slide!

16.5 Months

2010-04-28T21:25:00.009-04:00

I'm sad to write that my Grandfather passed away on Monday night. My dad's father had been in hospice / nursing care for the past several months and passed peacefully in the presence of my Grandmother, who had been with him for 68 years. Saturday is the funeral down in Toledo so the fam will be headed that way on Friday.

Ryan will be joining us and we're hoping that it won't cause too much of a commotion. We think he's beginning to cut his bottom molars since the top ones are fully through. Last week we swore he grew in front of our eyes. And he's beyond independent. If he hurts himself he barely wants to cuddle the hurt away. If we try to brace him before he falls, he pushes our hands away! Today he went down the slide at the big boy park on his own: a major challenge. This morning he started amusing himself by crawling backwards.

We'll keep it "short" and let the photos do the rest. Thanks for everyone's support and prayers over the past few months.
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan loves his new big boy bike...It was actually a Christmas present that has made an appearance with Spring.

We took Ryan to Meijer gardens to see the butterflies (out-of-towners: they fill an entire tropical atrium with butterflies that flutter around visitors.) Here he is in the children's garden area.

Ryan had a tea party at the gardens with some of the other children. He actually went up the the girl in the foreground and rubbed his head against her lap like he nuzzles Cali. It was so funny.

Ryan loved the peek-a-boo window in the tree house at the gardens.

Our friends Kelly and Seth came over for dinenr and spent a little tickle-time with the boy.

This is "So Big."
Ryan got a new hat for playing out-doors and loves wearing it. His red hair is already starting to bleach out to blond from just a few days outdoors without it.

Ok, so he got two new hats cuz mom couldn't say no.

Here's my little activist wearing his shirt for March of Dimes. Even though it was rainy, we made it through and had a great time supporting an important cause in honor of our friend's granddaughter Iris.

Another left eye injury...this time no black eye, but just a scratch.

Last Sunday Henry, Carrie and Dan came for a visit. The boys were so excited to see one another. It was great to watch them together.

Ryan loves to take his four red fire trucks and line them up in order of size (and variations of tech...from wooden to battery operated singing) on various pieces of the furniture. He's recently taken to stacking them in size order on top of one another.

16 Months

2010-04-15T20:56:00.012-04:00

It's been too long since I posted, so I'll keep the words to a minimum since the pics are at a maximum! Since last I wrote, here's the low down.

Max went to Florida
Max returned (after a great trip)
Ryan got a black eye (yo yo to the face)
Ryan is getting molars
He says "Hi" to anyone he sees (most don't hear him and it breaks my heart!)
Has become a yogi and likes standing on his heads
Found out we're not eligible for the repeat home buys credit (too early by 7 days!)
I turned 33, though I thought I was 34 for most of the day!
Ryan is a stacking prodigy
We celebrated Easter.

All in all, life is good. Hope it is for you too.
Love Court, Max & Ryan

We busted Ryan hiding his toys in a decorative box on the bookshelf. We didn't even know he knew it could open!

Back eye day 1. You'll see it get darker and darker over the days to come. He hit himself in the face with a yo yo.

When you ask Ryan "Show me your funny face," this is what you get. He's also doing "So big" and gets very excited when you ask him how big he is. Oh, and he thinks he's jumping. And he's walking on his tip toes.

I went to the kitchen. Dowels wear bear. I came back and he had stacked the train blocks by HIMSELF! It actually looks like a train. He does better at it than I do.

Ryan with his new golf clubs and old man socks.

Yogi Ryan. When he thinks no one is watching he does this, plays with his belly button, or sneaks into Cali's water dish.

So no one believes me, but he can stack blocks like no one else. Check out this sequence.

In the last week he's learned that bigger arched blocks cannot stack on smaller. He'll actually reverse order so they'll stack correctly!

He loves to make them crash!

Ryan learned to play "Night night" from Levi. We did not figure out it was an official game until this past Tuesday. So for the last month we've thought he was just really tired. We found him cuddling with his puppy on this night.

Ryan helping daddy fix the vacuum. I have never seen a human being get so excited about vacuuming. He loves following us around while we clean.

Ryan loved his cousin Jackson's remote control car, so he got one from the Easter bunny too! He's pretty good at driving it!

His bib says "Chicks dig me." And they do.

Everyone was glad when daddy came home and life returned to normal again.

Our little explorer thinks Tupperware is pretty great. Check out that balance!

15.5

2010-03-28T21:22:00.010-04:00

Hi all,
We've had a good past two weeks, though Ryan's "down" again. He came off the respiratory infection and the pneumonia cleared just fine, but when we went in for his well-baby exam they found double ear infections again. The doc thinks this is the same one from earlier in the year (orange fluid rather than white for you medical types). He believe we're not completely fighting it each time. So Ryan is now on a really powerful antibiotic, one so strong that his bottom is a mess. Our current regiment sounds like a baking recipe: he sits in oatmeal baths and we have to cover the ointment on his but with Crisco baking spread on top of about 5 other tactics. It's working though.

In addition to all this, Ryan Kerry has his first black eye. We'd like to claim that it was earned standing up for a beautiful young maiden. However, it's a result of a yo yo gone awry. He hit himself in the face just right and now he's a bruiser. (It's kind of adorable in a domestic assult kind of way.) Other than that he's doing great! Lots of talking these days. When Baylor won this past weekend, our friend Derek shouted out "Baylor?!?" to which Ryan replied "Baylor." It was so unexpected and really funny. He also loves to say "out" and "bird." His most common phrase these days is "what is that?" And at night he and Max play a game saying "night night" back and forth until Ryan gets the last word and Max is downstairs.

Other accomplishments include walking backwards, reaching doorhandles, playing outside pushing his lawn mower, pushing each and every button in site, brushing his teeth for the first time yesterday and DRINKING MILK. It finally happened. Had to go Organic Vanilla for now which we'll eventually cut to whole milk, but at least he's drinking the stuff.

In other news, Max leaves tomorrow for Florida with the baseball team. Just yesterday we realized he'll miss Easter and my Birthday (we like to live in the moment). We've decided to postpone the secular part of the celebration until the weekend he returns since Ryan is starting to understand the holidays. My parents made it home from Arizona yesterday after a month long stay. I surprised them with Ryan and they were so excited. Tonight's a family pizza dinner to welcome them home and send Max off. I swear, it's a revolving door here. Someone from our little family of the three of us has been out off state every month since Christmas! After Florida we're staying put for a while. I think that's all the news for now...but it's early...and I'm positive I've forgotten something! We'll catch it on the next one.

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

Curly top after a huge nap Sunday with mommy on the couch. He's starting to love to cuddle.

Ryan had his first visit to a farm Sunday. We saw over 20 lambs and 15 sheep. (Our friend's son owns a farm).

First time walking in big boy shoes. He loved the clomping noise they made.

Though you'd have hoped he was excited by all the lambs, it was the cat and dogs that he was thrilled about.

Much like taking your kid to Disney only to have them scream scared at the characters, Ryan was ok with the lambs for about 15 seconds and then lost it.

We were visited by our own leprechaun on St. Paddy's day!

Ryan likes to mimic us vacuuming (with his popper) and cleaning up after meals.

He's obsessed with feeding himself from the same forks as we eat with. Somehow he got the peas on his tray down, though he looks as amazed as we were!

15 Months

2010-03-15T20:56:00.011-04:00

This just in: Max has won Father of the Year!

Ok, no one other than me has bestowed this award upon him. But, none the less, it's deserved! Last week I got called away on business (The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons in New Orleans) and Max stepped up in a big way. Ryan spiked a fever two Saturday's ago. Tuesday it was still high and Max stayed home with him. By Wed it was still there and Ryan wasn't eating much.

While I sat in Midway Airport, Max made his way to the urgent care with Ryan late Wednesday night, only to discover he had a bacterial respiratory infection with a touch of pneumonia. Thursday Max nursed Ryan back to health and by Friday when I returned my skinny little boy was waiting for me at the window! He's dropped some weight but is starting to gain it back. The antibiotic is helping, though his tiny butt is broken out beyond belief! Needless to say, as I trucked around the convention hall (40,000 male doctors and device salesmen, I think about 3 women and lots of images of bloody surgeries and scary tools) New Orleans was about the last place I wanted to be. But Max did a great job and in the end, the trip turned out to be very fruitful for ddm and our team. And yes, I did see Bourbon Street for the first time. However, I was in bed by 9pm.

Today, Ryan is back to his old self. Runny nose, but back to his old self again. He's pretty funny these days. And smart. Sunday he was reading his color book and when it got to the shoes page, he got up, talking to himself, and ran to the back hall and brought me back my shoes...matching shoes from the vast pile of options! He's great at putting his puzzle together (check out our latest YouTube video). And his dancing has taken on an Aerosmith-esque swagger. He's talking a ton and loves his stick on tub letters. X is his favorite to say. Every car/truck/suv is called a "tu-tu." And most other things are called "apples." (I think this is his word for any food, actually).

That's about it for now. We're excited for Spring and can anticipate it with weather like we had today. We actually got to take a walk in 50º temperatures! Ryan loves watching the birds out the window. Baseball tryouts started today for Max, so the longer this weather can stay, the better!

Love to you all,
Court, Max + Ryan

PS. Please keep our dear friends, the Elzinga's, in your thoughts and prayers. Carrie's grandfather passed away Friday, surrounded by three generations of family. We should all be so loved.

The little prepster. We're starting to take the binkie away, however, since he's been so sick and unhappy lately, we're caving a bit.

Climbing under things and on top of things is what's in these days. I was questioning if he'd outgrown this toy since it's evolved since he was born into its current form, but now he can crawl through it, so the dj station lives on!

Can you say sick and miserable? Poor little man.

I think he's trying to imitate Cali here.

"This is how I role." - Ryan Kerry

What the heck?

2010-03-05T16:37:00.005-05:00

Many of you might be wondering about the state of the blog...With the addition of Max's blog for school, the identity had to be changed so kids did not find our personal blog on the web, so you'll be getting posts from here on out from Northview Wellness. Sorry for the change. Also, I think a post wen out twice, so I apologize for the repetition!

In other news:
Check out the latest video of the boy at: www.Youtube.com/maxandcourt

Also, we had family portraits taken two weeks ago. You're welcome to check out the winners (and the losers) at http://www.candiddesigns.com/index2.php

Click "Clients" at the bottom of the page and use the password "Kerry".
Kerry must be key capped.

Hope you each have a great weekend!

14.75

2010-03-03T15:01:00.008-05:00

Hi all,
The sun is finally shining in Michigan and you can feel Spring on it's way. Chances are that now that I've posted this, next week we'll see a blizzard!

This week marks the beginning of Max's busiest season. Some would think football would top the list, but between a manic baseball schedule (over 30 games in 1.5 months), Spring training in Florida, and the conclusion of the school year, he's swamped. Tonight is also the start of parent-teach conferences. If that wasn't enough, he's just started a blog Wildcat Wellness (for students) and is helping to craft the state online curriculum for health. Yeah, he's a busy guy. But he always finds time for us!

Ryan is getting funnier and funnier everyday. Most evening we sit in the family room and he's the entertainment. Funny moments this week:

He goes over the the iPod and says "More" meaning, play my "Sharing Song." It's a blues song about sharing by Jack Johnson. The second it comes on, he's dancing. And the dancing has evolved beyond the bouncing you've seen before. Now it's as if he has a hula hoop around is waist that he's trying to keep up. He tolerates the song after it and even the two slow tunes after that, but the minute those wind down, he's saying "uh-oh."

Saturday when I was unloading the dishwasher, he decided to remove the decorative grate on the bottom of the fridge. I then had to lay on my side like an auto mechanic and figure out how it went on. No small task it turns out. Ryan thought this was hilarious, but what put him over the edge was figuring out he could sit at my feet and tickle them! Lately he's been trying to kiss our toes or lay his head on our feet. Weird! Especially considering my scarred up, mangled feet!

Other things he likes lately include: turning daddy's alarm clock off and on before bed time, grabbing everything he can off the kitchen table, chasing Cali, laying on Cali, hugging Cali, feeding Cali....basically, Cali is his favorite thing! He's also constantly talking to himself. And when he's no doing that, he's squealing like a teapot. Today at the store (with tall echoey ceilings and breakable everything) he was letting himself be heard! First public melt down. He's asleep now.

That's all from Michigan for this week. Hope each of you are looking forward to Spring and seeing the sun!
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan's very first drawing. An important moment for a mom who is an artist!

Ryan celebrating toes and learning about body parts. He knows toes and nose. And loves to stick his fingers in my mouth...and try to feed us.

The binkie boys!

Just like his momma...he loves spaghetti.

Cali is his favorite member of the family these days.

We've spent Sunday's outdoor lately. Ryan loves the fresh air and riding in his new wagon.

Check out the tummy on this boy!

Sweet child loves being pulled through the snow in his wagon.

14.5 Months and a Trip To Nashville

2010-02-17T12:37:00.011-05:00

Hey friends!
We've had an eventful week full of a bunch of firsts. When we last wrote we were headed to the doc for Ryan's ears the Monday before we were to travel to Nashville. That evening the doc found that Ryan's left ear drum was bulging and the other was still very red. He put Ryan on a stronger antibiotic that by Thursday had knocked out the infection entirely. Thank goodness!

Friday we headed to Detroit, made a pit stop at Ikea and then headed to Metro for our flight to Nashville. Since the flight was delayed, Ryan was exhausted by the time the plane backed out of the gate since his nap was delayed and he spent three hours entertaining the crowd and running around the airport. He was asleep before the wheels left the ground and slept for the entire flight until landing. Returning home we were almost as lucky. He was ornery for the first part of the flight but slept the second half. All in all, a great experience and no ear issues after all that!

Our time in Nashville was great too. Our niece and nephew were tons of fun (as were their parents.) We spent lots of time together just hanging out and watching our kids play together (which was surreal to see OUR KIDS hanging out!) Unfortunately, Ryan spiked a high fever soon after we got there and was not himself again until Sunday night. We felt like Johnny and Jill didn't get to "meet" Ryan until 6pm on Sunday only to have us leave on Monday am...but that's life with kids, right?

We're settling back into life here this week. Max had a baseball planning meeting tonight. Ryan and I hung with the Holohans after a wonderful day at work. All in all a great day.

So Ryan's firsts this week include:
- Opening a door handle
- Drinking from a straw in a juice box
- Viewing a cartoon
- Viewing a Vince Vahn movie (don't ask!)
- Ikea trip
- Airplane ride
- Meeting his cousins

That's all for now. We're prepping for Ryan's photoshoot for his 1 year portraits here at our house on Saturday. And tomorrow night we're headed to my former high school, Forest Hills Northern, to see our brother-in-law get inducted into a hall of all-stars with his FHN basketball team. Good stuff!

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

Here's the group. Top: Max, Johnny. Middle: Court, Jill. Bottom: Ryan, Jackson, Carter

Just like Ryan, Carter loves her phones!

Carter showing off the latest features of her phone to her tech savvy cousin.

Could she look any more like an angel? I swear we did not curl her hair. She's just this cute on her own!

Just 3.5 years ago Max sat in this same chair holding Jackson for the first time. Now, Jackson is this amazing boy with the best imagination I know!

Here's "Uncle Courtney" as Jackson called Max all weekend!

Jackson learning about the "Gun Show" from Max.

On MLK day, when Jackson was asked to finish the sentence "I have a dream..." he completed it by adding "...to be a Star Wars." When he turns 5 (in a year and 2 months) he'll be able to watch it. Talk about anticipation! Here he is sporting a new Star Wars t-shirt.

Carter got a new bathing suit that she refused to take off, even though there was a light snow coming down out the window!

The kiddos. Carter turns 2 in April and Ryan is 14 months....but they were the same size!

The Ettinger men listening to Ryan as he tells them about life in Grand Rapids and his views on health care legislation.

Ryan's first driving lesson from daddy. Here he is taking Jackson's car for a joy ride.

The day after we returned home, Ryan shows off his skills with the spoon. He loves yogurt!

14 months

2010-02-08T17:42:00.004-05:00

Two things are apparent by our lack of blogging lately:
1) we have a busy-bodied 1 year old who keeps us going from sun up until sun down.
2) we have decided that we actually live at 166 Ashridge and have been spending mass amounts of time nesting. (Ok, my undies and socks are still stored in a box in the closet, but we have pictures hung on the wall...there are trade offs.)

We celebrated our first semi-healthy week in a long time! Ryan is getting over a double ear infection, but other than that, he's healthy! We're headed to the doctor's in about 10 minutes to get them checked out since he keeps tugging on them. (Forest Hills Pediatric rocks. Office hours in the evening, walk in clinic 4 days a week including Saturday's and 24 hour care through GRAPES. What more can you ask for? Our appointment tonight is at 7:40pm!)

Normally we'd leave Ryan's ears alone since they are not bothering him too badly. But we can't since Friday he'll fly for the first time. We're headed to Nashville for four days. Ryan will meet his cousins—Carter and Jackson—as well as his Aunt Johnny and Aunt Jill for the first time. And I get to lay my hands on the chubby little cheeks of my niece Carter for the first time! (She was born during my horrible bouts of morning sickness). We're so excited! Could there be a better week? The Superbowl, a possible snow day for Max Wed (huge storm coming) and then Nashville! And tomorrow marks the return of Ryan's beloved Jenny, his former sitter that moved to Florida. She missed us so much that she moved back! Lucky for us just in time since Ryan's buddy Henry is sick this week and because we don't want to chance him getting ill with our trip, Ryan is not being watched by Henry's momma this week.

Other than that, Ryan is growing tall. He can now reach about a foot onto the kitchen table, so no surface is safe. He's repeating everything we say (airplane, apple, lion, dada, mama, etc) and he loves to say "Uh-oh" at the appropriate times. He's very good at carrying two binkies around and will put the correct color in his mouth when asked. He's got a bit of the devil in him too. (Good!) He loves to do naughty things and look at you with this coy smile on his face as he does so. We'll also soon post video of him dancing. He loves to shake it! Check out this months pictures and we'll be sure to post when we return from the meeting of the cousins. Hope each of you are doing well and staying warm this winter.

Love to you all,
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan sure loves his spaghetti! His hair is starting to get really long and curl up in the back. So cute!

Our little cowboy. I think of him as a Duke in this. (Duke of Hazard that is.)

Tearing apart the newspaper is among his favorite activity.

Ryan makes most anything into a toy, including this canister we found at our house. Right now he's walking around with the Xmas light control babbling to himself. Sometimes we catch him playing and talking to himself. Last week Deb caught him reading a book to himself.

Busted. Here sweet child breaks into the diaper bag on our way out the door to work / childcare.

The cutest profile there ever was!

1 year and 1 month

2010-01-20T21:19:00.009-05:00

A lot has happened since our last post. So much so that even the year changed! We've been super busy, thus the month hiatus on the blog.

Honestly, it's difficult to write a post about our blessed lives when in contrast you read the news about what's happening in Haiti. Both Max and I are so troubled by the situation. It's not like Katrina where we could go and actually physically help. Today was as close as I think I will actually get to the crisis outside of supporting charities. (Aside: check out World Vision if you're looking for a reputable place to donate. We're continually impressed with how our sponsorship dollars are spent with our child in Rwanda and these people are already mobilized and aiding survivors in Port-au-Prince.) My client, Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan, has three doctors in / leaving for Haiti and they plan on sending a rotation of 2 docs every two weeks for as long as it takes. It was so great to be able to assist them today to get the word out and solicit community support. ddm donated our time as did our copywriter for the press release. It's so inspiring to see how people (doctor's) can use these amazing skills to help in times like these.

So in light of such horrors, we definitely are even more acutely aware of our blessings. Ryan is growing so big, so fast. Honestly, he's shot up about 2 inches in the last month. He's got a great sense of humor and is so independent. He wants to do everything on his own. He's pointing and mimicking words. Today he was even copying a U2 song that has a yodel in it! And he love's to do this understated dancing. He'll hear a song across the room that I can barely hear and he'll be doing this sort of bop with his head and bouncing at his knees. Hilarious.

Our family is struggling to stay healthy though. Every week it's something new. Since we moved into our house Ryan has had the stomach flu, 2 colds, chicken pox and this week, PINK EYE! It looked like we gave him a black eye. Poor little guy! I have also struggled to stay healthy. In the same time frame I've had the stomach flu, swine flu, 2 colds and now some sort of sinus mung. Max has the immune system of an ox and had a little quietness once through all this!

Max also excelled since our last post as a single parent. I had to go to Arizona for 4 days on business and Max had to do the whole routine without me in the middle of a work week. He did great and we realized what a wonderful support system we have around us. Our friends that watch Ryan helped a great deal, as did my mom who came at 4:30 am so I could leave for the airport! The trip was very successful so that at least made leaving Ryan for the first time somewhat rewarding, but it was very hard. Thanks goodness Max is such a great dad.

Other than travel and everyday life, work is starting to get more manageable for me ... just as baseball pre-season is starting for Max. He's in the weight room every day with student-athletes and he is seeing great results.

We'll on to the pictures. Promise to post more often now that I have a return to sanity...and I promise my husband I'll unpack my clothes from the moving bins this weekend too! He's so patient with me craziness!

Love to you all,
Courtney, Max + Ryan

Heart breaker or what? Ryan's taken to being pantless as on late!

Dressed for a work day, I kept him busy with my necklace as I prepared our endless array of bags to get out the door.

We call Ryan "Fred Pace" when he wears this shirt. The back has the word "Peace in different languages. Apparently "Fred" and "Pace" are the translations in other places!

Ryan loves lemons. We were shocked. If only he loved mango slices as much. Kid loves the juice, but not the fruit.

Our family photo wall is now up in the new house and has grown by 50% in size and scale. Had to use scaffolding to get this baby up!

We did a new decal of a tree for Ryan's room and added an owl since that was his favorite animal for some time. Hint to all the moms. Do not pay $100 for a decal. I did my own our of contact paper for $5!

Could he get any cuter?

The boy loves his popper. Especially after Max vacuums. Ryan thinks that he's doing the same kind of work.

"Pink eye sucks mom." - Ryan Kerry

Christmas was here!

2009-12-29T16:49:00.007-05:00

That's right! Santa did not miss our house. When we moved in, we questioned how we would fill all the new space. Christmas fully answered that question! Though Ryan was not 100% clear on how to open presents, by round 3 he had it figured out. The pictures tell the story. Hope each of you had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to 2010 like we are!

Love,
Court, Max & Ryan

Ryan has 4 teeth on top now and two on the bottom, as the drool on his chin might indicate.

Ryan was shocked when his new Elmo phone really worked....his other three post-mom / dad cell phones are not so interactive without the batteries in them.

Our Christmas angel.

I think this is our first picture of just the two of us since Ryan was born.

About 2 hours of Christmas day were spent pushing, pulling, and dragging Ryan's new pimped out red wagon from Uncle Eric and Aunt Kirstyn. It even has seat belts, cup holders and in seat storage.

Christmas day we hosted my family and Max's mom, Nora, for our first "Kerry Family Christmas." Not as chaotic as Chevy Chase's and no exploding turkeys. Everything went just great and was edible.

Ryan in his Christmas duds.

Ryan also loved his new fire truck from Grandpa and Grandma Patti. It went great with the fireman book Max got him.

He finally figured out how to open a package...Here he revealed a new trike from Papa and Grandma Cheryle.

Grandma Cheryle could not resist the slippers. Hilarious.

It is official. Ryan is my child. Here he is DEVOURING Grandma Nora's homemade chicken parmigiana.

1.25

2009-12-19T10:48:00.008-05:00

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...crap....it is almost Christmas." - Courtney & Max Kerry

This is the sentiment that is ruling our week this week. Somehow we thought that when Ryan's birthday was over, we'd have all the time in the world to prepare for Christmas. I suppose that's because last year's span between festivities did feel like time feel like time standing still. (Leave hospital with new baby, no sleep, new hospital stay, numerous doctor's visits, Xmas). Anyhow, after today we'll have it under control...we hope.

Ryan is fully a toddler now. It's as if he knew after his birthday he would be "grown up." He has a sudden disposition to not sleep in the middle of the night. He has not crawled once since his party. His curiosity has expanded to understanding things that can go "inside, under, and around." Plus his vocabulary and willingness to repeat after us is surprising, even startling. Today he mocked back to Max "what does the teacher see?" when reading brown bear. No joke. He's eating lots of big boy foods and actually sat in a restaurant last night for an entire meal in a booster chair. And he's testing the boundaries of "non" constantly. (That goes on for about another 17 years, right?) All in all, Christmas with him this year is fun.

So on to the birthday pics for all our non-attenders. Lots of out of towners and friends that had other holiday commitments. We hope each of you can carve out sometime in the hustle and bustle to savor to moments with family and friends, remember the wonder of snow (since all us in Michigan spend half our time dreading it), and reflect on the actual reason we celebrate Christmas at all!

Love to each of you,
Courtney, Max, + Ryan

Last night we took a horse and carriage ride around Rockford with Ryan.

Bundled up and ready for a ride. We shared the carriage with a Paws for a Cause dog and trainer. Ryan paid more attention to the dog that the horses!

Though Ryan and Cali bumped into each other around the house before, Ryan and Cali now seek each other out.

Our new tradition is to decorate the "Birthday Tree" up until Ryan's birthday and then convert it to the Christmas tree the next day.

Ryan wathcing the neighborhood lighting spectacle!

Ryan's party pal, Mary and him play with his new glitter ball.
Ryan during his birthday meal Friday night. He loves Pizza!

And he loves his new Pooh! Thank you Grandma & Grandpa Kerry. He immediately started cuddling it.

Yes, there was actually a box as big as he is! Ryan got a new sled from my Parents and we cannot wait to use it.

I baked my first from-scratch cake for the occasion. Banana, Ryan's favorite flavor.

Clearly he liked it. He dug right in, spatula and all.

1 Year Old

2009-12-11T13:58:00.004-05:00

A year ago today...

God hung a new sun in our sky to gravitate around
The meaning of song lyrics changed
Responsibility became a blessing, not something to run from
A giggle and a smile became our new currency
And life never seemed as full.

Thank you to each of you for loving our son, mentoring us as new parents and supporting our little family with your love and friendships.

We are so blessed.

In love: Court, Max & Ryan

11.75

2009-12-05T17:56:00.005-05:00

Hey Team Kerry
It's almost 1 year and we're trying to figure out how the time has flown by. And speaking of things flying...last night so did most of Ryan's dinner...right from his poor little tummy. Ryan has proven his lineage from the Stevens - Butt line and did not inherit the Kerry cast-iron stomach. (Note: For those of you unaware, my mother's maiden name is Butt.) Max got the flu too, but thankfully did not get sick. It's passing through our friends like wildfire, so we're pretty sure it's not my cooking. Just praying it does not hit me since next week I have a film shoot for a client that I cannot miss!

So take a gander at the photos below to catch you up on our latest adventures. Looking forward to next weekend's post to report on Ryan's party and milestone of 1 year of life! (For those of you with high tech spam filters that might not have gotten the email invite: Our house, Saturday the 12th, 3:00 - 6:00. No presents. But if you can't resist, please avoid toys with batteries...and glass...and lead paint :)

Love from,
Court, Max + Ryan

About 30 minutes before Pukefest '09, we cut down our Christmas tree, unaware of what was to come...though Ryan's face might tell another story.

This morning, after the storm. Not sure where we got the 70's leisure suit, but Ryan rocked it. It's so great now. You can say to Ryan: Find your binkie and he searches it out. Plus he follows us when we ask him and is walking unaided for the most part. Top four teeth are pretty much in as well.

We saw our first snow in Michigan this week. And it was HUGE. 12 inches over night. Ryan thought it was pretty cool.

Here's our avid reader studying his animal book. He calls most things "doggie."

Most evenings are spent looking at the neighbor's Christmas display as Ryan exclaims "Santa."
Although he just said "two" earlier tonight. And is currently making a popping noise with his finger in his mouth and giggling as he tries to imitate Max.

Ryan loves his personal bathroom and big boy tub....

and he loves bubbles.

Here's the clan on Thanksgiving. Our friends, the Schroeder's, joined us again this year along with their Grandchildren Lauren and Jared. We had a great time. (Max was there, he was the photographer.)

Sporty and ready for Thanksgiving at Grandma's.

Ryan sporting his Thanksgiving PJ's and ready to feast. He loved Thanksgiving and ate everything on his plate.

11.25

2009-11-23T21:33:00.006-05:00

Anyone out there a fan of the movie "Funny Farm"? Max and I am. And now that we live in picturesque Rockford, we sort of feel like we're living in the tale end of that movie. See the photos below to see what we mean.

We've realized just how "citified" we had become when last Sunday the doorbell rang unexpectedly at 8pm and we were both panicked. Instead of some kid selling candy, a crazy next door neighbor or worse, we found a perfect family of four delivering homebaked cookies and Godiva chocolate. Even funnier was the fact that I was sick, had yet to comb my hair that day, and was covered in spit up...and the perfectly coiffed neighbor already knew everything about us!

Though I am teasing about this new found community, there's so much to celebrate. We're about an eighth of a mile to downtown. Everyone waves to one another when you drive by. The downtown plays music in the streets. And the entire town is lit up for Christmas already. You cannot be unhappy driving through this town. We're settling in and are slowly unpacking the odds and ends. We still wake up and feel like we're living in a dream house.

Ryan and I are both getting over colds. Max had it for an hour and somehow used his super teacher powers to overcome it. Meanwhile, Ryan's getting more and more adept at walking and his new record is a 20 foot sprint. He's loving his new childcare arrangement with is buddy Henry. He's also crazy teething! We're getting geared up for his 1st birthday party and cannot believe it's already been a year. So much to celebrate. So many blessings.

We hope each of you have a great Thanksgiving. Eat well and be merry.
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan first Army crawled, then walked and now finally is crawling. When my sister saw it for the first time, she accidentally said "Oh, he's crawling like a normal baby."

Contemplating that next step.

Ryan's very excited to feed himself these days. Only he misses. A lot.

"Que the deer." - Funny Farm. Only this is our BACKYARD.

Ryan and I enjoying cider after the tree lighting at the dam.

And again, with the Funny Farm references. Yes, there were real carolers in the streets and we do not think they were getting paid like in the movie. At least not by people trying to escape Rockford.

Ryan enjoyed the lights and the sites.

Downtown overlooking the dam. Earlier in the week when we were there, the entire dam was too good to be true. Kids on bikes with golder retrievers trotting behind. Multi-racial families getting their photos taken. Even an armless fisherman. No joke. It was like a marketing piece for the perfect town.

The face of shock and awe!

11 Month and a Few Firsts

2009-11-12T21:33:00.012-05:00

So I was reminded tonight of how quickly time passes when you don't mean for it to happen. Tonight at our annual CASA house party fundraiser I was re-introduced to someone who forgot our meeting as "The huge prego lady last year." That felt good in a backhanded sort of way. A year ago I had ankles so swollen I could barely wear the boots I wore tonight! Now I have a little man who is currently conked out up in his new room after his first day of being watched by our friends Carrie and Dan (parents of blog-worthy Henry from earlier posts).

So lots has happened in our little family in the last two weeks. We:
- celebrated Max's 32nd birthday
- moved out of 109 Mayfield
- moved in and out of 220 Mayfield
- celebrated Ryan's first Halloween
- moved in to 166 Ashridge in Rockford
- survived the Swine (just Court got it)

In light of all these transitions, Ryan is doing remarkably well. It's been a week tonight in the new house and he's sleeping through the night and tooling through our new place like it's all he's ever known. In fact, this little 11 month year old has now started what will be an all too-familiar phenomenon for the next 18 years: he leaves a path of destruction everywhere he goes. Toys, socks, pillows are left in his wake as explores every nook and cranny of our new home.

Here's his latest stats:
- Though his bottom two teeth came in "normally" that's not the case with the top. Ryan will be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" since his I-teeth are what are coming in first on top. He also likes to hang upside down...hoping this is not a sign of a future nickname: Batboy.

- Ry is able to walk about 5 feet without holding on to anything. In the last day he's also able to carry things with him as he moves and doesn't lurch forward towards the end of his walk. Most days are spent with him cruising the perimeter of rooms holding on to the wall and furniture. He loves that at the new house he can see out of all the windows!

- He's very vocal these days and babbles to himself a ton. His most common words are: dada, doggie, and cali. He even tried to mimic me singing a scale today.

- His favorite possession is my old red cell phone. He actually has 3 cell phones thanks to the move, but the red flip is his fav. Then again, anything remotely shaped like a phone goes to his ear and he pretends to talk to all his people that live out of state.

- We catch him dancing all the time. Be it to our iPod which is always playing or the tune on his play station, he has this little ghetto bounce that just cracks us up.

The pictures below can catch you up on the rest. What's not shown is a lot of unpacking and flu recovery (Feeling lots better. Now I just have the upper respiratory cough.) We'd also like to ask for prayers for my grandfather (my dad's dad). He was moved into hospice this past week and is resting comfortably in a beautiful room overlooking the woods. We hope that my grandmother and him can celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary this week.

We hope each of you is doing well and are able to enjoy this extended fall that we're being blessed with. Love to each of you,
Court, Max + Ryan

Our New Contact Info:
616.866.2266
166 Ashridge Dr • Rockford, MI 49341
(wow we have a lot of 6's!)

Showing off his muscles. He's been lifting a lot and it shows. He's also been dialing the ladies.

Max and Ryan celebrating his birthday 3 days before our move to temp housing. Ryan got Max "Where the Wild Things Are" so they could read the adventure of Max the boy together.

Last bath at the old house. He's now graduated to a big tub in his own bathroom!

Ryan was a monkey for Halloween, or rather, a Monkey on the Phone! We spent the evening at two parties. Trick or treating at Deb and Nathan's with Craig, Staci and crew. And then touring a haunted garage at Halloween-a-Han (at the Holahans).

Ryan and Conner loved trick-or-treating together.

Halloween morning playing peek-a-boo. We moved out of Mayfield at noon and we're partying by 5!

The day of the big move. We had help from my family, our former Mayfield neighbors—the Vandergrounds—and 5 of Max's players.

Laughing with daddy after walking to the ottoman.

Ryan loves his sunny new spot in the kitchen. He is now eating just about everything we are and loves yogurt. He can't get enough of the Yo-Baby!

As you can tell by this shot, Ryan was less than happy to say goodbye to his Jenny. Our sitter made the move to Florida this week and we are so sad about it. Here they are exchanging presents. Ryan was pretty bummed.

Jenny's present, Curious George, quickly became a prized possession. It started Ryan's newest thing: cuddling. He rubs his head against his stuffed animals or against our faces and it just melts your heart. The next night I got the flu. When I had to nurse Ryan wearing a mask, he'd just laugh and laugh (we thought he'd be afraid), but we realized later, it looked a lot like the cone of the monkey's face!

Exploring the new kitchen on tip toes.

10.5

2009-10-26T21:08:00.005-04:00

We are living someplace between complete normality and camping right now. I am sitting on our coach, Ryan's in his bed fast asleep and Max has a game on the TV. However, we have no dining room table to speak of (though we take turns eating at Ryan's high chair), most of our clothes are gone, all of our other furniture is in pods out back and our walls are blank. We close on our new house Friday and then get possession a week later.

So to that end, hear this cry for last minute moving help. Things are a lot slower with the little guy so what we'd normally get done in hours is taking days! (Max and I are pros at moving. We once moved him in 3 hours our of necessity and this is my 20+ move.) Here's where we could use some help. If interested in pitching in, can you email me back with what works for you?

- This Friday: Max has the day off to finish up moving us to my sisters. Anyone free? He'd also take an hour of someone's time any night this week.

- This Saturday: 8-Noon. We have to be out of 109 Mayfield by noon, so if anyone can help us move our couch, bed, rugs, and Ryan's crib to my sister's house a block away, we'd be grateful. We're also in need of help doing the final cleaning.

- Saturday, Nov. 7: 1pm - 6pm. We need help moving from my sister's on Mayfield to our new home in Rockford. Though we are using pods, we have furniture, baby gear, and other effects. We'll be serving dinner and have a keg. Plus you can come see our new place!

Now on to what all you out-of-towners care about: Ryan. He's great. He tries walking more and more everyday. Last week he wound his way through our maze of furniture to surprise me in the kitchen. An impressive feat! He's very into full hugs this week and reaches from person to person to be passed around. His newest talents include high-fives and pretending to talk on the phone. He now has some old cell phones that he holds to his ear when we tell him he has a call. Hilarious. You'll see in the photos below, but he is flying high in his swing....considering this week will be his last swing be his last swing we're giving him as much fly time as possible. (No doorways big enough in the new house.)

Anyhow, thanks in advance to all you that help us move. Hope you're each having a great week.

PS. I just got the BEST news: Christmas came early this year! My parents got us U2 tickets for this June. They're playing Spartan stadium. Could it get any better than that? Ok, maybe if I got to have dinner with Bono...I got to have dinner while Bono spoke once to the Econ club, but definitely not the same.

This gives you a good idea of Ryan's passion for swinging!

He looks like a little football player with his muscles showing.

Laughing with "Ta Da Da." That's what we say when Max walks through the door at the end of the day.

Getting some air!

Ryan loves reading and turning the page. His attention span is getting longer and longer.

Checking himself out in the door kick plate. He loves to open and shut doors right now.

10.25

2009-10-18T12:41:00.006-04:00

A great week for us with lots to celebrate:
- You got our last post. Ryan has joined the world of the uprights. Everyday he's getting braver and braver. When we try a "session" of walking he tends to laugh when he falls down.

- Ryan has begun to give kisses, reach to be picked up or move from person to person to be held, pass things back and forth when asked to give and take, and loves to say "brrrr" (like a motorboat). He's also slept through the night for the last week and a half. I think he's fluent in Japaneses, as this is what his chatter sounds like. Oh, and Uncle Eric thinks it's amazing that he can palm the beach ball like Lebron James.

- Max's team officially has a winning record for the year! They beat Christian on Friday night, a game no one thought they could win. The last game of the regular season is Lowell. They have been state champs for consecutive years and were in the top 100 in the nation last year, but if we can beat them, we'll be number #2 in the conference and be in the playoffs. Regardless, even with a loss, there is a slight chance we can still make it in and we'll be #3 in the conference.

- Last weekend I met Elizabeth "Ella" Constant Alguire for the first time and am officially in love with this little girl. There's nothing better than holding a 2 week old baby and spending the afternoon with one of your best friends. Congrats to Staci and Craig, Big Sister Allison and Big Brother Conner.

Other than that we're packing and preparing to move into my sister's house next weekend. We have 4 pods that we are slowly loading. Though we'll be out of 109 Mayfield next weekend, we have the following week to clean. If Max and team make play offs, we'll have the first game the night before we move. We still do not know when we're closing on our new home, but hope to be moving in sometime the first 2 weeks of November. Big stuff!

That's all for now. Hope each of you have a great Sunday.

Love,
Court, Max + Ryan

Our family portrait outside of 109 Mayfield.

Ryan and I headed to an orchard yesterday to pick freegan fruit (in other words, we had free access to all the apples we wanted through our friends Carrie, Dan and Henry). Here's Ryan's first experience with a whole apple. He loved it.

I carried Ryan in the front pack and he had a great time as we picked the fruit off the trees.

In 16 years I am positive we'll see this scene repeat itself: Ryan with the keys to our car, dressed up for a night on the town.

In preparation for walking, Ryan has been using Max as his personal jungle gym.

Zoned out after his bath.

Could this be an ad for Johnson & Johnson's or what?

Dressed up for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Ryan and Cali have figured out the negotiations that a true friendship requires. Cali allows Ryan to climb all over her. Ryan repays the favor in food. Ryan loved his first taste of noodles....he is my kid all the way.

Ella and I got to know one another on Saturday of last week.

With so many people we love far away, Ryan's quickly come to understand the importance and magic of the phone. Here he's calling Uncle Billy and begging him to come for Christmas. (Yup Bill, we're turning up the pressure.)

He Walks

2009-10-16T11:34:00.002-04:00

This just in. Boy wonder has officially walked. In truth, we could have sent out this email on the 12th. But being a new mom, I was not sure if it was an intentional walk or a "I stumbled into your arms because I forgot to hang on as I walked around the ottoman after three steps." Today was different.

Ryan was in his room and very excited to be hanging onto the rocker's footstool. Then he looked up at me, got a HUGE grin on his face, let go and took four steps to me and fell into my lap. He was so excited. Very proud of himself.

Honestly, I thought most kids did the "hold your fingers and practice walking" thing before actually doing it on their own. In true Kerry fashion, he just jumped in, got it done and now walks. (Sorry Kirstyn that he did not accomplish this one month earlier to actually walk in your wedding!)

Also, for those of you wondering, we did get the house. It as touch and go this week. Apprasial came in low Monday night and we had to renegotiate. Got the news yesterday evening that they agreed to the lower price (our original offer anyhow). We may still be on track to close on the 30th and be in the following week.

Love to each of you!
Court, Max & Little Trecker