What a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! This was Ryan's first Christmas in Atlanta.  It was good to be home, but we missed family.  Thankfully, we were able to Skype or FaceTime with most of our relatives. 

It really was a special time, and with family far away, our friends & neighbors are always sure to include us.  We really do live in a terrific place, and I am so very thankful we have the support that we have & that we are able to share holidays with them.  We feel the love.

On Christmas Eve, we were invited to the Kirks.  Julie and Matt (Finn's parents) had us over for a 1pm meal...and a Southern one to boot.  We had pork butt, mac & cheese, cornbread, & Grandma's green beans.  The boys opened gifts and played well together.  We could have spent more time together, but Ryan took a long nap & we got there later than expected.  Ryan had woken up at 520am that morning, and by 1030am on Christmas Eve, he was very, very cranky.  The nap was very, very needed.

After lunch, we left for Christmas Eve mass.  Ryan prefers mass since he can stay with his mommy and daddy at church.  At mass, believe it or not, we sat next to two Moms Club families.  To our left was Tara B. and her eldest son, and in front of us was Teddy & his father, Shae.  It was quite by accident that we all sat next to one another, and I can't say that we talked much - but it was so nice to be surrounded by people we knew while attending the Christmas Eve service.  I knew then that we were in the right place for our spiritual celebration of Jesus' birth. 

At 6pm or thereabouts, we had our first Christmas Skype session for the holiday.  It was almost like a Green Bay Christmas, we were right there with the family remotely.  The Puyleart-Higginbotham crew sang us Christmas carols & we talked and even got to "hang out" while they prepared dinner.  Ryan got to show off for his cousins & we were happy that we got to spend time with them on Christmas Eve night.

Santa cookies & milk

Christmas morning began around 845am.  Ryan slept in & was in a happy mood while opening presents.  When he came out, his eyes went straight to his new workbench by the tree.  We opened gifts on and off for almost 2 hours - stopping to play with new toys and to eat breakfast.  We even watched a little bit of the Disney Parade in Orlando.  Next thing we knew, it was 1220pm, and we were supposed to be at the Kemps in 40 mins.

After rushing to get the three of us ready & the cookies decorated, we walked 1 house over to the Kemp house to have a delicious Christmas feast with Chris, Evie, Maria & their extended family.  We have met many of Evie's relatives over the years, and we felt right at home.  Watching Ryan with everyone, you would have thought he had spent 10 Christmases with them.  He was thrilled to be hanging with lots of kids & did/does just fine in a crowd of 20+ people. In fact, every time he would come down the stairs overlooking the living room/great room, he would shout, "HERE COMES ME, EVERYBODY."  Okay then, Mr. Shy.

When dinner was over, we needed to get home to Skype with the Harmans/Lums then the Dean-McGilpins.  We had a brief conversation with Mimmy, Pappy, Uncle David, Cousin Andrew, & Aunt Shari with appearances from Uncle Chris, Alicia, Cheyenne & Uncle Dave.  Then we got in a good 30+ minutes with Auntie Sue & Auntie Jayne popped in from time to time while preparing Christmas dinner.  All and all, I would say it was good day! And, a busy one too!

Whew...there's the blow-by-blow of our holiday - didn't expect to write so much detail, but my friend, Bea, reminded me today that a blog does serve as a journal of sorts.

So here is what you came for:  THE PICTURES

Someone needs a faster shutter speed, but here's Ryan
coming out to get his first peak at Christmas morning gifting.

Straight to work on the tool bench

Learning about tools with Dada

I like this noise...
the incessant sound of motorized cars going non-stop, not so much

A pause for Christmas breakfast (a reindeer pancake)

Working on the "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" house
He received a farmyard that we chose to put together on Christmas morning
...instead of the night before like Mommy wanted. Ehem, Daddy.

 

This toy is from Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Dan, but since Ms. Claire's son

has this - Ryan thinks it is from her! (It is the race track pictured above).

Ry Ry - My Smarty Guy

Everyone gets a 2.5 year check up!

Believe it or not, I have tried to update Ryan's blog at least twice since our last post (umm, two months ago), but I have not been able to finish what I have started.  I am going to give it a shot this morning. 

So, where do I start with such a long gap?  Well, I think I have been pretty good about shooting occassional pics/stories of Ryan to you all via the iPhone or email, right?  Which stories stick in my memory?  I guess the ones that show Ryan is funny & bright or age 2.

Here is a quick one from last night.  While Ryan was waiting to talk to Grandpa Dan and Grandma Sandy via Skype, he was playing with a pink marker.  He drew a "face" on the paper.  (Ryan's faces generally consist of 3 dots and a line underneath). So, he draws a face and  yells, "It's Pinky Face." I thought that so funny & creative. It later changed to "Stinky Face."

My other new favorite story is his identification of "Earth."  The other morning while I was getting ready for the day, he runs to me in my room with one of those squishy stress ball thingies, holds it up, and says as clear as day, "Mom, this is Earth."  I was like...Wow, little man.  Very good, that is Earth.  I guess if he had gone on to explain the continents or something I would have been extra impressed, but I thought not too shabby for unsolicited information from a two-and-a-half year old.

He continues to be pretty wild from time to time, especially any time you ask him to be quiet.  That is when he likes to be the craziest.  Awesome.  Oh, and he is obsessed with wanting to be a "parent" aka "adult."  Perhaps obsessed is a strong way to characterize it.  Seriously though, we have explained that Mommy and Daddy are parents, and Ryan is a "child." You know...to establish some boundaries.   He will sit in bed at night chatting to himself saying things like..."I am child? No, I am NOT a child. I am a PARENT."  I will hear him having the same conversation with his puppies. 

Which, brings me to his puppies: TINY AND TROOPER.  Also known as TNT (my names for them).  I love Tiny and Trooper.  They are great ways to communicate Ryan.  If Ryan does not want to be cooperative (which is about 3/4 of the time), then I speak to Tiny and Trooper and have them do it first OR I ask Tiny and Trooper to ask Ryan.  Love it! Tiny, Trooper, Ms. Whaley, and Wee-Wee Cat have been Ryan's consistent companions these last few weeks.  He can be quite loving to them but also has been known to chuck them out of his bed or across the room.  Who knows why? 



Hugging his besties on the way to preschool:  Ms. Whaley, Tiney, Trooper & Wee-Wee Cat



Finally, speaking of his wanting to be contradictory (self-identification phase?), I love our Garmin story.  I was lost in a very big neighborhood a week or two ago, I used the Garmin to navigate my way out of there, and every time it would give a direction he would yell at the Garmin.  It went a little something like this:
Garmin: "Turn left."
Ryan:  "No, I don't wanna turn left!"
I am thinking...Seriously, Ryan, you have to argue with the Garmin directions?!  It was near naptime.  So, there was extra ferver in his disagreement.

In order to get this out...I did some QUICK typing.  Very little review of grammar & hope there is some sequence.  In other words, to get this done - you are getting the ROUGH DRAFT.  Sorry!

Hope to get you some Christmas pics & video in the next few days (-: 

UNTIL THEN: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

LOVE - CHANTAL, DAVE, AND RYAN

 

 

 

HERE ARE SOME PICS/GOINGS-ON SINCE OUR LAST POSTING!

The videos are the last two...you have probably watched them already.

I post here for record.

Ryan likes to stop at Ike's vet to visit the resident, "Riley" aka "Riley Fat Kitty."

MOMS CLUB PARTY

 BEING A PIRATE ON A RATHER WARM-ISH DAY

 

FINISHING BREAKFAST WITH HIS BABIES

 

ATTACKING SOME RICE AND BEANS

Ry's good buddy, Lane, has moved to Charlotte.  We will miss you Lane Katherine.

WITH SANTA - MERRY CHRISTMAS
FYI - He asked for BERTIE THE BUS & some Candy Canes

RYAN CAN SING SOME CHRISTMAS CAROLS - QUITE A FEW!

Here is just part of Jingle Bell Rock.