Calvin Ross Ryan and 20 weeks

I have so much to catch up on around here, so I will just start from the most recent and go backwards. Lael's 3rd birthday party was on the 16th and her actual birthday was the 17th (still not used to saying she's THREE), which I will post pictures of later. Fun times!
BUT, that brings me to the subject of sweet baby Calvin, born to my best friend, Jess. 
I pretty much have the best best friend in the world and I will tell you why.
Ever since I planned on Lael's birthday party being on Friday afternoon, November 16th, we had both been afraid that baby Cal would decide to join us outside of the womb on exactly that day. Which would mean that I couldn't be there. 
Which would mean that I couldn't take pictures of the delivery. Which would have really stunk.
SO, when it came down to it, things were really progressing and the doctor felt, for a number of reasons, that it was about time for Cal to come out. Jess had the option of having him on FRIDAY... THE Friday that I couldn't be there... OR wait a whole weekend and have him on Monday.
And after months of uncomfortable contractions, and well, just general extreme uncomfortableness, this saintly woman opted for Monday when I could be there. The best, I tell you.

So, without further ado... I present to you Calvin Ross Ryan. Perfectly precious in every way.






















Here we are right before delivery of baby boy #3 with me expecting baby girl #3...




and here we were in 2011 right before the delivery of her second son, Thomas, and me pregnant with my second daughter, Ruthie...




After delivery with baby Calvin atop my 20 week belly...

and back in 2011 with baby Thomas atop my 32 week belly...

Just for comparison...

June 2009 at 20 weeks with Lael.

January 2011 at 21 weeks with Ruthie.

11/19/12 at 20 weeks

Yikes. I'm getting bigger by the baby. BUT I'm feeling pretty good and enjoying this "honeymoon" phase of pregnancy. Baby girl is still a girl and she is healthy and growing right on track. She's a little wiggly worm which makes me so very happy because there's pretty much nothing cooler than feeling another person moving around inside of your body. 

So much to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving... a growing baby girl on the way, and a new,handsome, healthy baby boy for Jess and her family.

Welcome, sweet, sweet boy.

Pin It

for the simple things

I'm thankful for the simple things...

echos in the bathroom,

of smiles that I can hear...

tender moments and touches...

these things I hold so dear.

Not one can be bought, not one can be sold.

These are the simple things... 

the ones that don't get old.

Pin It

fantabulous fun at the fair

THIS was the year of the fair! We always look forward to it and Trey and I haven't missed a year since the first time we ever went together in the fall of 2004. We had just become engaged and nothing is more romantic than making out on the ferris wheel. Riiiiiiiight.  Anyways, we have made it one of our fall traditions, as I'm sure many families do. There hasn't been a year yet though that has topped this one! Lael was just tall enough to be able to ride the kiddie rides all by her little self. Seeing her all encompassing joy made my heart flutter. As did the massive amounts of sugar that I consumed. Whatever it was, it put a smile on my face.

Here we were last year with tiny baby Ruth...

 our little family back in 2010...

and us in 2009 waiting for our first baby girl to arrive!

I prefer to be with child when I attend the fair.

This allows me to: 

#1 Take cute belly pics backlit by pretty fair lights.

#2 Eat absolutely anything and everything I see.

#3 Not give a rip about how much my belly is sticking out after I eat all of the said food because hey, I'm preggers.

16 weeks pregnant with baby girl #3

 2009- 4 weeks away from            2010- Pregnant with Ruthie,

giving birth to Lael.               unbeknownst to me.              

                                          

  

The fair is exponentially more fun with Pat-Pat, Aunt Meg and Uncle Bryan.

The rides- oh, the rides! Lael was all about picking out her special horse, car, bike, etc. These decisions are important, you know.

My Ruthie girl was full of smiles and "cheeeese" for the pictures...

Once you finish chuckling at the expression on her little riding partner's face please check out Lael's look of pure elation...

Don't you love that she picked the pink barbie car? And no, we didn't know this little girl but she sure was a cute and fun passenger to ride with.

I love this picture of Lael and me together...

and when I was posting it I recalled another picture that looked really similar to it...

My baby girl and me together on the ferris wheel 3 years ago right before she was born. :)

Trey forgot to pack a long sleeved shirt from home, so he looked through my Daddy's old shirts and picked this one to wear. 

He pretty much rocked it out.  

Shoulder riding is essential at the fair.

And so are fried mushrooms.

Oh, and don't let me forget about ice cream cones.

Here's to a fantabulous fun 2012 at the SC State Fair... 

until next year!

Pin It

nurse Lael: second edition

This Halloween Lael dressed up as a nurse in the nurse costume that was made for me and worn by me when I was about her age. She loved every minute of it...

and took advantage of the photo op...

Here I am in the exact same costume back in the day...

(Had to take pictures of the pictures in the Halloween scrap book that my mom made.)

I would call this the golden year for trick-or-treating. She had a BALL, and after one house she was ready to hit the next!

Regardless of the fact that I had this nurse costume ready and waiting for us this Halloween, Lael had already acquired a love for nursing and had been practicing her nursing skills for quite a few months. She enjoyed checking her G-daddy's ticker when he was so sick back in April :) ...

My two lil' punkins ready to go trick-or-treating!

and my sister and me then...

and now... 

Pin It