We're about to enter the brave new world of having a four year old, since Ryan's birthday is just two days away. Meanwhile Elise is hitting her 5 month mark tomorrow. Both shared a well-child appointment this past Tuesday and were declared healthy and happy. It should come as no surprise that both of their heads measured in the 90+%. Ryan's weight and height was also in the 90% percentile and Elise was in the 60%. I like to think their heads are so big due to increased smarts, but only time will tell.

We're prepping for Ryan's party this coming weekend. It's a construction theme and we're celebrating with my family and our pseudo-family (those boys that Ryan has grown up with as cousins). We've recently gone through a rough patch with his behavior...he had his first yellow warning and a red warning all in the same week at school. This is a big deal to a pre-ker...It hasn't happened since, but we're working hard with him to off-set the example being set from a kid in his class who is out of control. The child is very physically violent and it's gotten worse over the last year and a half. It's hit a point that we're considering either leaving our center or at least moving him to a different class. Outside of Ryan knowing how everything on Earth works, he's generally very sweet and helpful. Most mornings he spends playing trucks or trains, but instead of just moving them about, there's complicated stories and missions that his trucks are involved in. He's counting way into his 60's and is writing most letters and starting to spell the basics. His language and storytelling skills keep us rolling most days. And he LOVES his "Little Miss."

Elise has been doing great (though she reacting badly to her shots). She likes to stand on your lap and look around, always with her finger in her mouth and a coy smile. She's not the biggest fan of tummy time, but her neck and arm strength are great. She just prefers to be held so she can see what's happening or to sit in her bumbo. She's a doer. She also has a voice! Sometimes it seems like she's saying "hi" and she loves to shout loudly when she's happy. We've yet to master rolling from front to back, but she is rolling side-to-side, so any day now. Most nights she only wakes once around 4am, buts she's in a co-sleeper in our room, so it's no big deal to nurse her and then put her back down. She's loving her time with my parents three days a week, and I'm loving having two whole days at home during the work wee to spend with the kids (though Ryan sometimes spends one of those days with Levi.)

Max and I are both very busy at work, but are working hard to try and leave it at the workplace so we can better balance family life at home. It's a never ending challenge. We're super excited for Christmas and have some good family time together as well. Oh...and we're VERY excited for the renovations to our house to be done this coming week...it's been a month and we're over it. Happy for the changes we've made. But excited for the dust to leave and for order to return. We'll post images when the projects are done.

Love to everyone from Rockford (city of a million twinkle lights),
Courtney, Max, Ryan + Elise

After a short phase of dis-interest in anything that wasn't outdoors or truck related, Ryan's been back into drawing, play-dough and scissoring.

Thanksgiving we spent the day at my parents, though Ryan was very sick with a fever.

The finger in the mouth. She usually looks like this...

...or this most of the time.

Dinner time in the bumbo. Elise is now our centerpiece while we eat.

Ryan and Max did the tree-sleighing this year since it was too cold for Elise...she snoozed in the car while the boys did the dirty work.

Ryan and Max did a ginger-bread house....Ry was anxious to eat the heads off the gingerbread men.

A nearby mall has an amazing train every year for Christmas, but this year Santa was there while we were visiting. Ryan did great telling him exactly what he wanted (a blue car carrier) as well as how Elf on the Shelf works.

Ryan and his buddy Conner excited about the trains.

Waiting for our horse-drawn carriage to come. (Every year our town has free rides through the lights.)

Elise did great both during the outdoor wait, as well as on the actual ride.

Elise's eyes are bluish brown these days...so I guess that's hazel?

Ryan making his very own ornaments from lids, tin foil and glitter.

Ryan K. and Ryland K. at our town's Santa parade. Ryland ans Mason are some of Ry's favorite friends in the neighborhood.

Elise slept through the loud sirens of the passing trucks, but woke for the second half of the parade.

16 Weeks

Somehow Elise is 4 months old, Thanksgiving is next week and Ryan's birthday and Christmas are right behind. In the midst of all of this, Max's football season has ended with a week's extension (so 10 weeks long) as they made it to playoffs for the first time in school history and we've entered into renovations on two levels of the house!

In hindsight, I'm not sure why—specifically I—felt like this was no big thing given I've only been back to work for a month and I'm entering into our busiest season with Stryker...Maybe it's because we thrive in chaos?

We're getting used to what life with two feels like as we establish new routines. My parents are watching Elise while Ryan is at Milestone three days a week and I am home with them other two (although Ryan generally goes to Levi's on Tuesdays). Most of the time Max and I have the man-to-man coverage down, but lately Ryan's been harder to handle...a combination of delayed "new brother" envy, influence of some troublesome friends at school and just plain almost 4 year old attitude. He's still a bundle of sweetness mixed with hilarious observations. It's just that he also has become a master negotiator and he's not afraid to offer his take on just about every situation, including "better ideas" about bedtime, finishing dinner and toy clean up. None of this is a surprise in the parenting handbook. It's just new to us as we figure it out as first-time-parents-to-Ryan-the-almost-three-year-old-who-thinks-he's-20.

Elise is thriving too. I'm off dairy and it seems to be helping her stomach and sleep issues (and helping me loose the weight. I'm back to my pre-baby weight, though things are re-distributed and I'd like to get back to my "before infertility hormones" weight as my end goal. My broken big toe is almost done healing so soon I'll be able to exercise). She loves her days with Nami and Papa and has entered into the cooing / talking stage. She rolls over on one side, holds her head up, sits in her bumbo chair and has a heck of a grip. She even tries to sit up from laying. And she stands when you hold her hands (although she's stood since day 2.) We are actually wondering if she's teething since I did at 4 months and she's showing all the signs. Her hair has a crimp to it, though it's very thin and short for the most part. We suspect it will go blond and her eyes are now a steel grey/blue. Best of all, she's only waking once a night for feeding, usually at about 4 or 5 am. I'm feeling very rested thankfully!

We're looking forward to a holiday season of firsts and Ryan can't wait to share his love of Christmas with his little sister.

Love to each of you,
Courtney, Max, Ryan & Elise

 Ryan has inherited his dad's love of the hot tub. We turn it down a bit and he plays with his boats. Ry loves the waterfall and changing colored lights.

 Note the leg lift...I used to do this constantly as a baby into adulthood as a way to relax. Gene-pool is a powerful thing!

 Our dear friends, Mindy and Kevin, celebrated their 15-year wedding anniversary at a park. Here are Ocean, Colin and Ryan enamored with the band Northern Lights. It was an awesome gathering.

 Little Miss is close to outgrowing her Moses basket. This is what she sleeps in everynight beside our bed in a co-sleeper.

 Can you handle the cuteness?

 Spiderman and Baby Peacock made their appearances at the neighborhood Halloween party. Ryan opted for store-bought, but at least I got to make Elise's costume.

 Ryan's sweet friend, Tessa, trick-or-treated with us and then came over for chili afterwards.

 

Clearly a player like his father, Ryan was also seen holding hands with Lily at his school Halloween party earlier the same day. Sorry Tess.

 

 Ryan has just started helping with Elise's nightly dose of pro-biotics.

 Football season closed with a loss to Lowell, one of the best teams in the state. Though the loss stung, the team did amazing this season, thanks in no small part to Max's dedication.

 This is honestly how Ryan posed. Senior picture ready!

 Papa made it to practically every game with us and Nami stayed home with Elise so I could join!

 Uncle E really wanted to wear Ry's hat. He's great with Ryan and we're so thankful for all the special attention he always has for Ryan.

 Ryan and I were able to have a special date day and spent the time stuffing our scarecrow at Rockford's annual Harvestfest.

 Tummy Time!

 Snuggle Time!

 Oh so talented, Elise surprised me by feeding herself her pro-biotic!

 Ryan surveying his train kingdom. What you can't see is the other 10 feet of track behind the camera. Note his color divisions of the trains.

 We spent Tuesday night at Rockford's annual town lighting ceremony. The High School choir performs and on the count of 10, over 1 million lights (not sure I buy this, but ok, it makes the taxes feel worth it) come on all through the town simultaneously. Let the Norman Rockwell Christmas season begin.

Elise participated in her first election. The entire town rallied by letting me and my fussy girl cut inline after a kind man asked everyone on his own initiative. The little old women volunteers even held her as I cast my vote. 100 people cheered when I yelled afterwards, "Thank you everyone. I love Rockford." It was a scene from Funny Farm. Only I didn't pay a soul.