Monday, March 23, 2009

Cousins


My sister came to visit last week. With her came her friend Sara (Ryan's new best friend) and her 4 kids, Hannah (8.5), Jay (7), Daniel (5) and Julia (3). When I'd tell people she was coming with 4 kids, people thought we were crazy... but it actually was easier for me than just having my 4 kids as mine are so entertained by their cousins. 

Andi & Sara were so very helpful and spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing things in my house that I just can't get to right now. We also went to the zoo and the Children's museum. They were here from Sunday night to Friday morning, which was great - though I don't think I could ever say they stayed "long enough". I love having them around!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

All dressed up


We all went to church on Sunday - our first outing with Erika. Quite the cute group! 

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Erika Lynn Priano

Here's our newest sweetie. There are a lot more pictures here.

Erika Lynn Priano
March 3, 2009
9:25 am
7 lb, 12 oz
20 1/2 in

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Holy Cow


There are 2 things in this world that Ryan really loves: Veggie Tales & cows. Every time we go to Mops, Ryan is soothed into staying in his room by the cow toys available for him to play with. One of the workers in his room, who has an especially soft spot in her heart for Ryan, brought this cow in for him today as a gift. It's ginormous. He's really funny with it. He's got quite the collection of cows now, but this is by far the biggest. 

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I have just one more week until #4 is born. I'll be posting here sometime after his/her birth with more information. So exciting!!!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Here We Go, Steelers!


Here's a picture of us in our black & gold. We had a nice time watching the Super Bowl. The kids stayed awake for most of it, but fell asleep half way through the 4th quarter... so right about the time it got REALLY exciting.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Bekah's First Boyfriend


Tim & his brother Danny took Bekah & Joey to Piratefest yesterday. They had a great time doing a lot of different things, including batting, catching, going through an obstacle course, and the biggest deal - meeting some of the Pirates. Joey's favorite was Nate McLouth and Bekah's favorite was Ryan Doumit. She was just giddy about getting her picture taken with him. Now we just have to hope that he doesn't fall victim to being traded, as most Pirates do at some point or another.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!


Yesterday was Ryan's 2nd birthday. We had a party for him on Saturday. He's just such a sweet and fun boy. He felt a little bit shy about all of us singing happy birthday to him (as seen above), but warmed up to the idea once he realized he got cake out of it. If you'd like to see the cake, click on the Cake link on the side.

I'm really looking forward to another fun year with Ryan. I'm sure this year will be full of big changes for him - becoming a big brother, being potty trained (hopefully!), watching Bekah & Joey start preschool - should be an exciting time!

Click here if you'd like to watch the video of Ryan from ages 1-2 that we showed at the party. For some reason the music didn't seem to upload. I'll work on that.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Build-A-Something

This past summer, we told Bekah that when she started using the potty all the time, I'd take her to Build-A-Bear. Joey decided that he'd like his reward to be going to a Pirate game with Daddy. So all this time, Joey has been antsy to get a build-a-bear. We told him when he started staying dry through the night all the time, we'd take him to Build-a-Bear. Rebekah picked an adorable pink bear with white hearts on her, and a Jessie costume (from Toy Story 2). Since that time, Joey has said he'd like a Buzz Lightyear Bear. Sounds good to me.
So over the last little while, Joey has had success at night, and his elephant memory has served him well and he has been very eager to go to Build-a-Bear. Last night was the night. We talked about Buzz Bear for days. He was so excited yesterday. We all went to the mall. Tim, Rebekah & Ryan went to the play area and Joey & I headed for the store.

We walked around and I wasn't seeing any Buzz costumes. Uh-oh. So we went and asked the worker if they had Buzz. Nope. Joey was disappointed - more confused than anything. She started telling him other things he could get: Bob the Builder. No reaction. We could dress one up like a cowboy. Yeah, not happening. On and on. And then... Spiderman. I had no idea Joey liked Spiderman. But there was no talking him out of it, which is fine. I really wanted him to have whatever he wanted. I wasn't going to inject my opinion. Oh, and he HAD to have a cowboy hat. Okay...

Now to pick a "bear". Cute brown bear: no. Penguin: no. And then he saw it: T-Rex. He was in love. So T-Rex got stuffed, we picked up the costume, got the birth certificate & paid. Then we dressed T-Rex. It was... interesting. The lady working there commented that she thought it was WAY cooler than Buzz Lightyear. Right. I commented that I'm guessing that it's not one of their more common combinations.

Upon arriving back to the play area, Tim kind of responded with a wow... what happened to Buzz? Joey ran off to play with Bekah & Ryan. I sat with Tim to discuss Spidey-Rex. Tim had me crying and not really breathing in laughter within minutes. 

I seriously don't think there has ever been an uglier stuffed animal. I guess love really is blind. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family: Spidey-Rex. 

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year


We had a very nice Christmas & New Years and hope you did as well!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Ryan's Prayer


Each night Tim prays with the kids right before bed. He asks Bekah & Joey what each of them thought was the best part of the day, then they thank God for that thing/person/whatever. He just started trying to incorporate Ryan into this too. Here was their conversation a few nights ago:

Tim: Bekah, what was your favorite part of the day?
Bekah: Spending time with Aunt Laura.
Tim: Okay, why don't you thank God for such a nice Aunt Laura that you get to be with so frequently.
Bekah: Okay. Dear God, thank you for a nice Aunt Laura and all the nice things we do with her.
Tim: Okay Joey...
(Repeat similar to above)
Tim: Okay, Ryan, Say "God, thank you for a fun day."
Ryan: You're welcome.

Hmm... we might need to work on that.