It's wedding season!

In the last year, my brother Eric, and my sister Emily have both gotten engaged! Emily and future husband Gabo will be married in Mexico June 19th and will again celebrate in Indiana July 2nd. Eric and Cindy will be married in San Francisco March 18, 2011. They are meeting us in Mexico for Em and Gabo's wedding.

We are ready for the weddings! Rylan has his suit and passport (for Mexico). I am a little nervous about air travel but am sure we will work it out like usual. I'm sure Rylan is not the most high maintenance baby to ride a plane. Here are some pictures of our preparation

Spring Family Photos

Last week my brother came over to take family pictures for us. He has an art degree and does well with photography even though it isn't his favorite. The plan was to wear our Cubs gear and wear regular clothes, and hopefully get some pictures outside. Well, Rylan was in an okay mood until right before the pictures when he got really, really tired. Here is the best picture. We will be scheduling another session.

Swimming Lessons

Last month we signed up for Mom and Tot swimming lessons. This is a class at the Y that helps kids get comfortable with the water while their parent is holding them. We met Shannon and Lilly for our first class. The kids did great! We sang songs, kicked, splashed, and moved in a circle to the music. It is a great class. Unfortunately, Rylan got ear infections the following week, and has been sick off and on since. We were able to move our payment to the next session. That was a big bonus! We will be ready for the lake when the warm weather arrives.

Bath Time!

Rylan is now 7 months old! We can't believe how fast this time is going. We are enjoying every minute of it. We got out Rylan's new seat for the bath tub today because he has grown out of the baby tub. He seemed to like it! Maybe next time we'll get out the bubbles.

The last two weeks have been something...Rylan has begun cutting his teeth, so that has brought sniffles, a fever, and minor fussiness. Fussy for Rylan is not really that bad. I am also getting my energy back from not feeling well. We are looking ahead to spring. I can't believe it is already mid-February. Our calendar is filling up fast as usual.

6 months old

Rylan is 6 months old already! He is getting so big. At his 6 month apointment, he was 18.6lbs and 28.5 inches. We are geting ready to transition him to the bigger carseat because the infant seat only goes up to 29 inches.

We love making him laugh. (Which then makes us crack up!) He is beginning to sit up now and loves his musical toys. Our favorite thing is probably that he knows who we are and sometimes reaches for us.

We are adjusting well to the routines of work and daycare. I can't believe how fast my time home went. Rylan is doing well at daycare and I like it better each time I go in walk in both at the beginning and the end of the day. God has really worked this out for us.

Christmas

People told me this summer that having Rylan at Christmas would be so much fun, and IT WAS! We had so much fun planning,preparing, and celebrating...now I am close to putting everything away. We were all over town visiting with family all week long. Rylan was a trouper as usual. Even his "fussy" isn't that bad.

Now I'm gearing up to go back to work Jan. 4th. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

I can't believe how fast 2010 is approaching! Happy New Year!

(I worked for days to make a picture collage...I'm still working on it.)

Me With the Bigs...

A couple of months I met (and had my picture taken) with the superintendent for the state of Indiana, Mr. Tony Bennett. This meeting and working alongside Mr. Jim Kapsa, and the South Bend Schools is all due to some great kids living in South Bend.

Beginning in April 2007, God began lining up things that would truly change my life. Since October of that year, I have been involved with the Son City Kids After-School Program. I have a passion for inner-city kids and their education. We have been meeting weekly, showing these kindergarten through fourth graders that they and their education matter. Just this year we have teamed up with the school corporation to help the kids as much as we can. The kids are improving in their skills, and we are mentoring them along the way. Each week more than 20 volunteers meet with these kids. I am so proud of them. This is a good team!