20 Month Super Baby

This week has been crazy at our house. Brad had to leave for Illinois yesterday afternoon to be with his mother. I wish that we had all been able to go, but Brad didn't want Ryan to miss out on school since this was his first week. Becky had surgery today and we are anxiously awaiting word on improvement.

Today Emerson is 20 months old. I am amazed at what a brilliant, sweet, fearless little girl she is. She is learning words by the handful everyday. She is very inquisitive and asks me, "What's that?" to everything she doesn't know. She has started signing dog and cat. Almost a month ago, we started going through the "Your Baby Can Read" program. Emerson doesn't like TV so we are only doing the sight words and flip book. She loves both and asks to read them MANY times everyday. Monday night we were sitting together in her room and going through the flip book. I pointed to the word nose and she pointed to her nose and said nose. I screamed and scared the tar out of Brad at the other end of the house. I couldn't be more proud! I love watching her learn.











She wore a really cute outfit tonight and I was lucky enough to get some really cute pictures of her when we arrived at my grandma's house for family dinner. After a really yummy dinner (with homemade pumpkin pie, none the less) the two kids played and danced in the living room.

First Day of School 2009

I can't believe that another school year is here. Summer goes by way too quickly and I am always a little sad when school kicks off again. I am incredibly spoiled in the summer and get to spend a lot of extra time with Ryan and my mom. Once the school year begins, they are so busy with school and we don't get to see each other as much as I would like. The beginning of the school year also means that it is the beginning of the busy season at my office. I really enjoying being busy, but don't enjoy having to go to work early in the morning.

We got off to a good start this morning. I told Ryan last night that back to school pictures were in the front yard at 7:00 sharp. We took a few pictures and pulled out of the driveway by 7:10. It really helped that Ryan loaded most everything we needed for today last night before it was dark. I made these adorable personalized animal print notepads for 5 of the teachers at Ryan's school and was anxious to get them delivered this morning. I went a little overboard and I don't think they will need notepads for a LONG time. I was feeling very creative and decorated gift bags with animals from the Animal Kingdom Cricut cartridge (sorry, no pictures).

We pulled into school this morning and Ryan immediately started looking for his friends. He really doesn't get to see anyone from school during the summer since we live out of town. I barely got him to stop long enough for a couple of pictures

Ryan is very excited about his teacher this year. She is a great teacher and wonderful friend to my mom. I feel so blessed to know that he is in such capable hands (and I know she won't let him get away with anything). I took a couple of quick pictures and left Ryan to get settled.

Emerson and I couldn't leave school without finding my mom. She has early morning duty all this week and was helping move people as quickly as possible through the line at the cafeteria. I was amazed how many people showed up for breakfast AFTER the bell rang for class. Emerson was so excited to see Grammy. We got to have a wonderful homemade cinnamon roll and hugs before we headed out.

Friday Night Fun

This evening was wild and crazy with the Hubbard gang. Ryan had his last football practice of the week. Brad got Ryan all geared up and took him out to practice tackling. Ryan played flag football the last two years with Upward, but nothing has prepared him for the world of tackle football.



It definitely took him some getting used to. He took a couple of really hard hits and was taken down hard at the beginning of practice. Brad and the coaches worked on encouraging him to press on and fight back. I got to the field about a hour and a half into practice and Ryan was discouraged. I could see the look on his face emanating defeat. I gave him a small hug and told him to do his best. The two boys would lay down on their backs and the coach would blow the whistle. The two boys were told to tackle each other until one boy was down or the coach blew the whistle again.



I won't lie, it was hard for me to watch. We now raise boys in a society where they are told that they can't fight, they can't wrestle, they can't be tough boys. Then we throw them on the football field and let them go crazy.

The first two boys that I saw Ryan go up against took him down easily.





Then Brad told him to ask the coach if he could go up again a boy named Brennan Mason. This boy really impressed Brad. Brad and Brennan's dad had been talking on the sidelines during each practice and Brennan had played with the team last year. I could tell that Ryan was scared. The first time the coach blew the whistle Ryan just froze. The coach went over and encouraged him and the next time Ryan jumped up and Brennan took him down quickly.



The third time the coach told Ryan to keep going and not stop. Ryan gave it everything he had and hit Brennan hard. It actually made me jump when the two boys hit the ground. I didn't get a picture and am kicking myself for it. The coaches went up to Ryan immediately to make sure that he was ok. Brennan walked over to Ryan and shook his hand and told him that Ryan had made his head hurt. I went to check on Ryan and he had tears in his eyes. I asked him if he was scared and he told me no, he was happy.





Brad came over and smacked him on his shoulder pads and gave him a big pep talk. It was really moving to see.



I left the boys at practice and went around the elementary school to my cousin, Brittney's new classroom. She will start teaching 3rd grade in one week. She only has a few days to get EVERYTHING done in her classroom. Her classroom is really large and really old. Brittney is so creative and has so many things in the works to spruce up the room. I helped hang red paper for bulletin boards along two walls. I can't wait to go back and help again tomorrow.

Thursday Evening Fun

Today is Miriam's 8th birthday and I miss her terribly! I wish that she were here so that I could give her a huge hug and take her shopping. Miriam and I always have the most fun together and December cannot come quickly enough for me. She started at her new school in Costa Rica last week and I am hoping that Mina will send pictures soon.

Brad took Ryan to football practice tonight. It was the first night that Ryan got to wear his helmet and pads. He had a great time and didn't get home until 8:40 tonight. He was absolutely exhausted and can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

Emerson and I enjoyed a pretty quiet evening around here. We spent some time in the yard watering the plants and shrubs. Emerson enjoyed playing on her little fort and was super photogenic for me. She also decided to help me water and ended up soaked. It was so cute and funny. I am so thankful that I changed her shoes and put her favorite Dora Crocs on before heading outside.

Kyle Kahl is Kool! Saturday, August 8, 2009

Ryan is excited that Kyle Kahl got to come and spend two nights with us this past weekend. Kyle was actually born the day that we found out we were pregnant with Ryan. What a small world! Kyle lives way out in the country the other side of Abilene from us, so our families don't get to see each other near as often as we would all like.

We picked Kyle up and headed to Chuck E Cheese. The two boys were so excited to be turned loose with almost 200 tokens. Emerson actually enjoyed herself and played for almost two hours. This is the first trip that she has sat on the rides and smiled. She even rode the carousel. I wish that I had been able to snap a few more pictures, but all I had was my iphone. The boys were very kind to share quite a few of the tickets that they earned with smaller kids (just like Ryan received countless times from strangers).

Sunday evening my mom and I took the 3 kids to the Abilene Swim Club for a few hours. Ryan and Kyle swam like pros and my mom and I hung out in the shallow end with Emerson. Emerson didn't fuss too much about wearing her floaties and enjoyed being in the "baby section." I packed a nice picnic of "pool sandwiches" (turkey and cheese with mustard), Doritos and Chips Ahoy and we washed it down with Capri Sun. Ryan loves having pool sandwiches and eats as quickly as he can so he can get back in the water.