2011: Year in Review

January ~

Ryder brought in the New Year sick, just like he did in 2010, but he was soon feeling better and enjoying being a curious, hilarious, fun-loving 22 month old.  Mommy was 15 weeks pregnant when the New Year came and this is the month we found out our new addition would be a baby girl!  We had fun having family and friends over for the big reveal where we all found out the news together when we bit into our PINK filled cupcakes!  Mommy had a birthday this month :)

February ~

We celebrated Valentine’s Day this month and Ryder finally showed interest in watching TV, only Blue’s Clue’s though!  He got his very own thinking chair and still to this day refers to recliners as thinking chairs.  We decided that our baby girl would be named Maisy Liza and got a glimpse of what she looked like through 3D sonogram.  Ryder went to his first Monster Jam and loved watching the monster trucks.  By the end of the month Ryder’s nursery got converted to a big boy room!  Complete with bunkbeds, a toybox, a workbench, and all Harley Davidson decor. 

March ~

March is always a very busy and exciting month for us.  In the beginning of the month Mommy & Daddy celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary with a weekend away.  We replaced most of the carpet in our house with wood floors so we had a week of renovations going on.  Then it was time for Ryder’s 2nd Birthday!!  We had a cook-out at Poppy’s for his party and had a great turn out of friends and family.  At the end of the month Ryder went through his first round of Constraint Induced Therapy where we casted his right arm to encourage his brain to start making new pathways to his left arm & hand in order to gain better function.  This was a very stressful time for us…yet very rewarding!

April ~

Ryder spent half of April with his arm still in a cast but the longer it was on the more he adjusted to it, then finally after 3 weeks we were able to get it taken off.  He went back to using his right hand but gained a lot of strength in his left arm.  Mommy was 7 months pregnant and started getting overloaded with Doctor appointments.  Everyone was taking lots of precautions to make sure Maisy was healthy!  We celebrated Easter this month and Ryder absolutely loved going on Easter egg hunts!

May ~

Mommy was getting H-U-G-E but celebrating Mother’s Day was a great reminder that all of the pregnancy pains are SO worth the end product of becoming a Mommy to these beautiful children.  We got the news that Ryder’s therapist Miss Erin would be moving which made us so sad to be losing someone so important to us.  Some really great friends put together a dinner and Maisy got LOTS of cute things!  This made the anticipation of her arrival reach its peak.  By the end of the month we had her room ready and we were all ready for her to get here.  Ryder spent lots of time in her crib talking about his baby sister.  He even made his own set of stairs leading up to her crib.

June ~

The weather was nice so Daddy & Ryder spent lots of time outside and at the pool.  Mommy stayed inside doing last minute preparations to get ready for baby girl!  We had a celebration for Maisy lunch, the blog name changed to Marsh Madness, we celebrated Alan for Father’s Day, and then Maisy made her big appearance on June 24th.  She was 8 pounds 8 ounces, 21.5 inches long, and perfectly healthy!  She was such a wonderful addition to our family.

July ~

July started with Daddy on Paternity Leave and Mommy on Maternity Leave enjoying every second at home with our children!  Ryder proved to be such a great big brother, always very concerned with what was going on with his new baby sister.  He was very patient with us in all of the new transitions.  Having a new baby around along with Mommy trying to heal from another C-Section brought on some big changes in his routine, but he handled it like a champ!  We had lots of visitors and were so proud to show off our newest Marsh :)

August ~

This month Maisy flashed us her very first smile!  Ryder started making lots of progress with potty training using his potty chart.  We were having so much fun being home together, making library trips, doing crafts, and even joining the YMCA.  All good things must come to an end…Mommy eventually had to get back to work and it was back to Nana’s for Ryder & Maisy.  At the end of the month we had to go stay in a hotel because Hurricane Irene caused an extended power outage in our neighborhood.

September ~

In September we celebrated Labor Day weekend then had some more really crazy weather that caused some pretty serious flooding.  The floods caused a lot of damage in our neighborhood, including a huge dam to break which meant we had no access to Nana’s house for a few weeks!  By the end of the month Maisy had already turned 3 months old and Ryder was 2 and a HALF! 

October ~

We always start off October with Daddy’s birthday – this year was a milestone!  We went to the State Fair which was a lot of fun and definitely something we’ll be doing every year.  A couple of “firsts” happened this month: Maisy rolled over, she started eating baby food, and Ryder got his very first haircut!  6 inches later he was still our long haired little boy, and still being called a girl!  We enjoyed lots of Halloween festivities like going to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving party, and trick or treating.  Ryder dressed up as a Pirate and Maisy was a Panda.

  

November ~

We participated in the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk for the 3rd year in a row as Team Ryder.  Ryder had a lot of follow up doctor appointments this month and got all good reports!  Thanksgiving was filled with lots of family, food, and reminders of everything we have to be thankful for.  Our Christmas spirit started stirring up right when Thanksgiving ended.  We decorated, put up our tree, and Ryder got to sit on Santa’s lap for the first time ever. 

December ~

For us December was ALL about Christmas.  We saw Santa a few more times, shopped, wrapped presents, went to Christmas parties, and finally the big day came.  It was so magical this year, the kids absolutely loved it.  Well Ryder loved and understood it all, Maisy just loved the wrapping paper and the fun toys inside!  We’re ending the year with a 6 month old and an almost 3 year old.  Just when I think things can’t get any more fun…I’m sure they will!  

2011 has been another great year for us.  We got to watch our son learn and grow all while overcoming many obstacles.  We got to meet our baby girl and experience that deep bond and love all over again in a whole new way.  One word to sum up our year would be BLESSED.  We are so thankful to God for every blessing He has given to us, even though the road hasn’t been perfect or always easy, He knows exactly how to get us to that perfect place He wants us to be.

Here’s to another year! 

6 Months!

Can you believe it??  Me either!  A half a year already.  Here’s what our 6 month old is up to these days:

• She is 27 inches long which is the 90th percentile for height.  She weighs 14lbs 15oz which is the 10th percentile for weight.  A tall skinny girl :)
• She fits in both 3-6 month clothes and 6-9 month clothes – but has to have the bigger size for her sleepers because she’s so long.  She wears size 3 diapers.
• She eats 6 ounce bottles every 3-4 hours throughout the day with Stage 2 foods in between at Breakfast & Dinner time.  On Christmas day she managed to get a bite of banana nut bread, pineapple and a spoonful of jelly thanks to both of her Grandfathers and her Daddy – girl knows how to get what she wants.  Thank goodness she didn’t have any food allergies as a result!!
• We went through a rough patch with her sleep this month.  After she got sick she got used to waking up in the night and went back to waking up once in the middle of the night.  Then she stopped falling asleep during her bed time bottle so I had to start putting her to bed awake which she hated!  After a week of letting her cry it out, she is now back to being laid down peacefully and sleeping through the night, thank goodness!
• She goes to bed at 7pm and is up around 5:30am.  She takes 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
• She has been getting up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, only a matter of time before she takes off!  On her belly she will inch forward to reach things and is constantly rolling back and forth.  She’s getting good at sitting up, but still not completely unsupported. 
• She loves to smile and laugh, it really doesn’t take much to get her to do either.  She’s very ticklish on her neck and thighs!  But she’ll smile just by saying hi to her. 
• The things she doesn’t like are when big brother holds her arms or legs down (stop laughing!), when she’s left in a room by herself or being ignored, riding in the car when it’s dark outside, and peas.
• The things she loves are Mommy & Daddy, laying in her infamous pose to watch everything going on around her, pears, chewing on anything she can, the bug that rides in the car with her, and getting lots and lots of kisses.
• I can’t believe she’s 6 months old and still likes her swing!  She loves to get in it and take little cat naps. 
• She says Dadadada all day long!  Just recently she has added Nanana to that…but no Mama :(
• She stopped taking a pacifier around 2 or 3 months old but now she loves to get ahold of the all rubber ones and chew on the opposite end of it! 
• She has learned what NO! means…she’s so curious now and wants to get into everything!  She unwrapped 2 presents under Nana’s tree (before Christmas!) and got in trouble.  And at home she loves to knock everything off her changing table when I’m trying to change her.  When you tell her “No No!” she freezes and stares at you like…ME????  Or are you talking to my big brother???

I think this is a great month for some comparisons!  It’s amazing how much she has changed from month to month!

And just for fun, here’s a picture of Maisy at 6 months and Ryder at 6 months.  (We thought Ryder had long hair!)

 

Even more proof of how fast time really does fly by!

Our Christmas

What an awesome Christmas we’ve had!  Here’s a recap…

Christmas Eve we cooked a big pot of soup and had a couple people over for dinner, then headed to the Christmas Eve service at our Church. 

We came back and the kids got to open their very first Christmas presents! 

 

Ryder got a 4-wheeler from Mary that he’s had so much fun on!  And they each got Christmas pajama’s from Doodle! 

Once we got them all cozy in their jammies and ready for bed, we had to get our plate of goodies ready.  HoHo’s for Santa, Cookies for the Reindeer, a glass of milk…and 30 minutes after bed, Ryder screamed for me because he “jus’ remembered that Santa would really like a chip!” and so we added a chip to the plate.

So everyone went to bed and Santa came! He really did!

He left presents, crumbs, and Rudolph even took a bite out of the cup of milk!

Ryder woke up at 4:45 on Christmas morning!  So we got a very early start!  Luckily he was awake but wasn’t quite sure why he was having such a hard time sleeping, so I was able to bring him to our bedroom, wake Maisy up and feed her, and put on coffee all before he realized that he needed to go check and see if Santa came!  Opening presents was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Ryder appreciated every single thing he got, he made us feel so good with all of his excitement.  And yes, Santa did bring him a boat and a space station!! :)

  

(Note to self: Next year pay attention to how many pieces things have BEFORE you buy them…my goodness!)

It was just funny to see that he got WAY more excited about things we got him that we knew he would love, rather than the things he asked for!  Like this gas station for his car:

Our next stop was to my mom’s to have Christmas breakfast with Yaya and the rest of our family.

 

How adorable are Maisy & Conner…little matching cousins!

Yaya & Paw-Paw got Ryder his very own tablet!!  Or as he calls is “his really big phone!”  He absolutely loves this thing, I pre-loaded it with all of his favorite apps and his favorite songs…I can finally get my phone back :)

Every year I do really good at taking pictures in the morning and as the day progresses and the exhaustion sets in the pictures fade!  Our next stop was to Alan’s Grandma’s house, here is the one and only picture I took there:

Then we headed to Poppy’s for dinner…no pictures :(  Shew, what a long day.  When we got home Maisy crashed, but Ryder stayed up until midnight playing with all of his new stuff. 

The next day we literally didn’t get out of our pajama’s all day, this has become a tradition for us.  Nana came over to exchange presents though, and Ryder got another really cool big present! 

His very first bike!  Miss Stacey said we could bring it to therapy and she’d help him learn how to ride it!! 

Here we are 2 days after Christmas and we’re still opening stuff and enjoying watching the kids play.  They are at such cute ages, especially because some of the things that Maisy got are still fascinating to Ryder.  Like this ferris wheel toy from Yaya:

  

What a sweet sight, to watch my two babies playing together!  We all got the best gifts from Santa, eachother, and our family!!

Leading up to Christmas day definitely brought a lot of “craziness” but as you can see, nothing can take the Spirit of Christmas from us.  We celebrated Jesus’ Birthday…and eachother!  Having my little family is my best gift ever that I get to celebrate all year long! 

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! 

Twas the Week Before Christmas

And *?#% got CRAZY!

All month long I’ve been so proud of myself for being ahead of the game on shopping, wrapping, cards, baking, making ornaments…I thought I had everything together and could just breeze on through to the much anticipated Christmas.  What could possibly go wrong?!

Then out the clear blue sky our dog Bentley had to be taken to the animal hospital because he got an extremely quick onset of anemia.  He got a couple blood transfusions which his body was rejecting and they ended up sending him home on steroids and basically told us that the chances of him recovering from that are very slim.  We’ve all been spending lots of time with him and just waiting (and praying) to see if he can make a miraculous recovery.

 

Our poor little guy is only 4 years old, I hate to see him so sad.  But he’s home with us and we’re cherishing the time we have with him.

So…what else could go wrong?!  Ryder mysteriously broke out in hives, from head to toe!  I got the call at work and rushed to get him and take him to the doctor.  When I say covered…I mean this child had hives all over him.  The doctor said he was having a severe allergic reaction to something, but who knows what.  Nothing he had done or eaten that day were out of the ordinary.  Her guesses were maybe an allergy to something in his multi-vitamin or he developed an allergy to red dye.  I guess we’ll have to do some trial and error to figure that out if this happens again.  So for the past few days, we’ve been dealing with hives.  He’s taking Benadryl every 6 hours, and as soon as the medicine wears off he breaks out again.  Today has been a big improvement as far as the size and frequency goes, so hopefully by tomorrow they will be gone.

Oh the craziness…it never ends.

Ryder and Maisy have been making the best of things though.  I found them hiding under her crib the other day!  I left the room for maybe 3 minutes, and came back to no kids…a slight moment of panic…and then I saw toes.

 

“Don’t worry Mama, I’ll get her out!”

Things have gotten even crazier the past few days with some family stuff going on, and of course all the last minute hecticness of this season…so Ryder decided it might be best to just get out of town.  First he made a train for him & Maisy and said they were going on travel.

I guess he decided he’d rather go alone so he asked Daddy to load his bike up so he could “take a trip cross-country”!  Apparently he’s really trying to get out of here.

Maisy’s ready to get moving too.  All week she has been getting up on her hands and knees, trying so hard to start crawling!!

 

You know what else is crazy?  Ryder got a note from Doodle today!

Since today is Doodle’s last day with us until next year, he waited on the chair for Ryder to wake up and they have gotten to hang out and be friends all day. 

So here we are, on the night before Christmas, and even though things have been crazy, hectic, and sad…we are ready to celebrate.  It’s still Jesus’ Birthday, we still get to play Santa and wake up with our beautiful children to see this magical time come to life for them.  I can’t ask for anything more than that! 

Merry Christmas Eve!  (Maisy’s 6 month post will have to come after Christmas because, you know, it’s just too crazy for that right now!)