26 weeks, 5 days

From this past weekend as I turned 27 weeks today...time is flying by!!

through the years...

27

28

29

The Big 3-0!!

Mike's birthday since we have been married - or I have owned a digital camera

2004 - 27 in Florida

2005 - 28 in Augusta

2006 - 29 in Charlotte

2007 - 30 in Charlotte -- so fun!!

2008 - yeah, Ryan was only 4 weeks old. He was lucky to get a card

2009 - we did go out to eat last year and I know we have a picture of it, but I cannot seem to locate.

33 - seriously

Ryan "heped" with the candles

Can it be...is Mike really 33? Are we really there? Wow!! Time has flown!!

Mike and I have celebrated almost every one of his birthday's together...even the few when we weren't actually "together" were spent in correspondence. I even sent his favorite cake up to Massachusetts one year when he lived up there going to school. I know, a cake...in the mail...who does that? Well, I did...and it was a fun gesture.

The first birthday we spent together was Mike's 17th. I can't believe that the one time I want to scan an old picture for the blog I can't. This never happens, but we were freeing up space in the nursery and I sent some old scrapbooks home with my parents...just this weekend. Figures.

Anyway, the first birthday that we spent together was in 1994. Mike got a chocolate chip cake with powdered sugar on top for his cake and that has been "mike's cake" ever since. I think he has had it for most birthday's since that point.

We, unfortunately, didn't get to do alot for Mike's birthday. I wasn't feeling so hot - stayed out of work all week with a nasty cough and eye infection (you will see my swollen right eye in the pics above), but we did manage to get a baby-sitter and have some time out eating burgers and going to a movie. It was a fun night out even if it didn't rival some of the past birthday festivities. Guess that is what happens when you turn 33 and you have a pregnant wife that cannot seem to fight off illness anymore. I promise, next year...we will do something BIG!! Don't know what that will be with our 3 yr old and 6 month old at home, but we will figure out something.

Love you babe!!!

Ryan...

Don't ya just love that little grin!!

So serious about measuring and pouring

Lost the shirt

Clapping his hands when he was finished playing

It is so hard for me to think back just 6 short months ago and remember that Ryan barely spoke 10 words and signed about 4 more. The frustration he felt was tremendous and we even looked into speech therapy for him. Well, he certainly has no problem now...the child talks ALL THE TIME. Guess he was just waiting for the right opportunity to let his wants/needs/ideas be made known. He is a little chatterbox around the house and, honestly, I think he probably talks more in school than he does at home...is that possible?

A few cute things he does now -

Every other word out of his mouth is either: I hep (i help), I do, or I get.

He also will say "I get" and then turn back around to you while holding his finger up and say, "be back". Just like "be back in a minute".

He loves to pretend "asleep, asleep" so he can keep his pacifier and doggy out of the crib longer.

Tonight we were talking about Mike not feeling so well and I said that he was feeling stuffy. Ryan was sitting beside me watching Boz the Green Bear (more about him later) and all of a sudden he jumps up and runs out of the room and says, "wipe, wipe". Mike and I just look at eachother -- in he comes with a kleenex from the bathroom and proceeds to try to "wipe, wipe" Mike's nose. He also can tell you when he would like his nose wiped, or if he would like to "blow".

He loves saying his teacher's name and the children in his class. He talks about them all the time. So cute to hear what they do.

Mike picks Ryan up from school most days when he is in town and he says that every time he picks him up, Ryan runs out of the room and climbs up to the window of the nursery to knock on the glass and tell the babies "bye bye". I thought that was so sweet. I started telling him a little more about his sister tonight. He knows that something is going on with my stomach, but I still don't think he grasps that there is a baby in there. So, tonight I reminded him about the babies at school and told him that we were going to have one of those soon and that she was in my tummy. We talked for a few minutes and then went downstairs for some last minute "birfday" - this is anything sweet, not necessarily birthday cake -- he spontaneously leaned over to my chair and kissed my stomach. I asked him if he was kissing his sister - YES, he says and proceeds to kiss her over and over and over. I could just eat him up on nights like this.

Another favorite thing to do right now for Ryan is play in the water. Any time I am washing dishes, Ryan is right there beside me "heping" by playing in the other side of the sink with water. He knows that he must push up his sleeves to play with the water and he also thinks that if his clothes get wet he must immediately take whatever piece is wet off and put in the dryer to, "dry, dry." That is where these last pics come in. I started taking some pictures of him and then his shirt got wet and nothing would do except to take it off and "dry, dry" in the dryer. (which he also has to turn on)

My little chattering love bug is just the cutest thing ever. I swear, 2 year olds are hard...I mean, challenging, testing, everyday (especially Ryan who thinks EVERYTHING is a game), but they are also the sweetest, cuddliest, most adorable little beings to ever walk the planet. I am so in love with our Little 2 year old!!