what parent in their right mind...

... would EVER think it would be "fun" for their kid to have these shoes?!?! And as far as removing the squeaker goes (read on, my friends!), don't we all have the time and patience to chase down a toddler, remove their shoes, remove a part from such shoes, and put shoes on again?


This in an actual product I came across in an e-mail - so crazy!

Squeak Me Shoes

Squeak Me Shoes are high quality, comfortable and flexible squeaky shoes with non-skid soles. They are designed for babies and toddlers and are lots of fun for both parents and children. They are fully lined with a very soft genuine leather, and the uppers are made of composition leather. Squeak Me Shoes encourage proper “heel to toe” walking in early walkers and parents can hear where their children are at all times. For those quiet times, the squeaker can be removed by an adult and reinserted later to squeak once again.

one month!

This sweet, sweet face is one month old today!


At risk of jinx-ing myself, I will say that he is a pretty good baby - we are definitely getting decent sleep at night and things are being accomplished during the day. He is super-tolerant of William's well-intentioned pats and kisses and really only fusses when he is hungry or trying to go to sleep. In the past couple of days, he has actually taken real naps during the day - not just the doze for awhile, awake for a bit thing that the newborns do.
I can already see he is changing - getting chubbier - and I am a little sad about it!

Happy one-month birthday, sweet Ryan!!

making dinner and attending a birthday party - wow!

So William and I were discussing Christmas on the way to school this morning. I was trying to explain a little more about the whole "reason for the season", thinking that he might be able to understand a little more.

I was telling him that Christmas is Jesus's birthday. That was a little confusing - both concepts of "a long time ago" and "far, far away" are not fully grasped by an almost 3-yr. old. I went on to explain more that Jesus helps us and all the wonderful things we have are from him.

this is where it gets good...
After hearing the part where Jesus helps us, William promptly informed me that Jesus could help us make dinner.
And the part about all the nice things we have are from him - well, he told me that Jesus could come to his birthday party!

now I'm not saying I expect to see the Holy Spirit appear as I stand next to the stove tonight (or drive through for take out - let's be real!), but it is a nice reminder that Jesus is with us wherever we go and in whatever we are doing!

love that sweet boy! Happy Tuesday!

it's a bird, it's a plane...

... it's SUUUUU-PER WILLIAM!

pumpkin-head and dragon-head

Jeopardy - boogers category

Let's play Jeopardy:

the answer is : "the result of a child licking the black icing off the freshly made pumpkin cookies and getting it up his nose, then waking up the next morning with a runny nose from the aforementioned black icing nostril"

the question is: "What are black boogers?"


Do you see the black icing up his nostril? This was the night before, immediately post-cookie licking.
Who could have predicted we would be greeted by black boogers in the morning?!

yeah, we did it too...

... seems like the new "do-it-or-you're-a-bad-parent" thing to do is a trip to the pumpkin patch before Halloween. Oh yeah, we went. With our 2-WEEK-OLD BABY! (actually, it went pretty well)

A visual (and slightly verbal) summary for your pleasure

what William did:


what Ryan did:


what William did:


(Ryan was sleeping on the hay ride)

what William did:





are you getting the picture that he ran around crazy for most of the time? it was hard to get a face-shot!

(Ryan was sleeping)

what William did:







who knew that climbing a small mountain of pumpkins could keep a kid entertained for 20 minutes?

(yeah, Ryan was still sleeping)

what William did:


finally, Ryan did something!:



the LAST thing William did:


Do we get our parenting prize now? ha!