4 Months Old!

Time has gone by fast - Ryan is already 4 months old. At his doctor's appointment he weighed 13.9 lbs (29th percentile) and was 24 3/4 inches long (52nd percentile). Most of the time, he is a very happy baby. He is usually smiling; especially at Sean. When Sean is in the room, Ryan just follows his every move. He adores his big brother. Ryan is close to sitting up and we just took out the exersaucer toy and he loves it!

Really the only area that he is not doing so well is his sleep. He's been in his crib for about a month and a half and still struggles to sleep. We had a couple of good nights where he would sleep for 3 hours straight, but the last few nights have been extremely exhausting with Ryan waking 2-3 times per hour! When I saw the doctor, his first question was "Is your baby sleeping for at least 6 hours at a time at night?". I exclaimed "NO!". He gave me some tips and basically said that he felt bad for me! Derek and I definitely long for a full night's sleep. I honestly don't know how I function during the day. God gives me the energy I need each day to make it through.

We also started feeding Ryan solid foods. His first food was rice cereal. He actually was very calm about the whole experience and is pretty good at keeping more of it in his mouth now.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are so thankful to God for how he has blessed and provided for our family this year. Derek's dad, step-mom Diane, and grandma are visiting. We usually take a trip to Pinetop/Lakeside to visit them for Thanksgiving, but since Ryan is still a little guy they made the trip here this year. As usual, we ate way too much!

Derek and I braved the Black Friday after Thanksgiving sales. We took Ryan with us and he was such a good boy sleeping most of the time. We got some really good deals, but the crowds were nuts. The weather was also bad and we woke up to icy roads and snow. The Lord kept us safe, but we saw several cars slipping all over the roads.

Enjoy the video of Ryan eating his first food and some pictures of the boys!

Get That Bird!

Here are some videos of Ryan playing on his toy playmat and really trying to grab a hold of the bird that flies over his head. In the second video, he really grabs a hold of the bird!

How Cute!

Sean's pre-school had a costume party in October and Sean decided that he wanted to dress as a cowboy! I had a very cute "Winnie the Pooh" costume that my sister gave me and he wanted nothing to do with it this year. He told me that he would dress as "Winnie the Pooh" next year. Somehow I don't think he will feel that way come next October!

We made his costume out of some things we already had at home including a cowboy dress-up outfit that Grams gave him. Anyway, I have to say that he was the cutest cowboy I've ever seen.

Ryan was dressed in a warm Halloween pajama outfit picked out by mommy from a clearance rack last year before he was even born!

Daddy and Sean went trick or treating around the block with his friend Grace who lives behind us. Sean wasn't scared a bit and went right up to the houses. He came home with a full pumpkin of candy and now thinks that he is entitled to candy everyday. Thankfully, the candy is almost all gone (with the help of mommy eating it too!).

When he was done, he enjoyed handing out candy to the kids who came to the door. He is so outgoing and reminds me of his daddy.

SOLD

As usual, I'm a bit late in posting this news - after more than a year and a half our house in AZ finally sold! We are so thankful to God for selling our house. Along this tough journey, He strengthened our faith and taught us much about contentment and patience. We also thank all of you who have continually prayed for our family and specficially the sale of our house. The best part of this news is that the house stayed in the family. My sister Michelle and her husband Bryan purchased the house. It's a great house for their growing family as they prepare to welcome a new baby boy (Anthony Michael) in March.