Who let the dogs out?

This morning while playing with Avery and Riggs, I put "Who let the dogs out?" on my iPhone and the twins went crazy dancing.  Both Avery and Riggs wanted to hold my phone while the music played, so I gave Riggs Anne's phone so they would each have one.  Smart boy knew that his was not playing the music, so he pulled the ol' switcheroo on his sister (see second video) and got ahold of the "good" iPhone.

Geaux Tigers....and Wildcats!

If my kids were in movies during the 20's

My little girl growing up

Notice the nails...Auntie thought red would be the way to go for her first ever manicure!


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Moments with Aunt B

Blair sent me this email one afternoon while she kept the kids at my house:

Frances threw a ball in the fountain causing water to splash in Avery's face. She ran away crying, so I went to comfort her. Turned my head for less than a minute and when I turned back to look at the fountain, Riggs was gone. Started to panic, calling his name. After saying his name about 10 times, out he came from the doggy door. I said, "Riggs Trey Ryan! You scared me to death! Don't do that!" which got Avery over her tears. She came running to the door and started shaking her finger at Riggs. "No! Wigs. No. (pause for effect) Wigs. No."

She is a spit fire!!

The funny part is I can see her doing this. With her little finger moving side to side.

Avery's got rhythm - Part 2

Dancing to Selena Gomez's "Round and Round"

Avery's got rhythm - Part 1

Playing at Aunt B's

Yesterday after school Anne had an important errand to run and need help with the twins.  I eagerly offered to watch them since it has been so long since they have come over to play!   The kids had a great time playing and Charlotte loved having more "students" around to play school. 

Looks like Riggs and Avery take after their mama!

But not too surprising, Avery won out and got the treasured toy!

Aunt B, how do I eat this cheese and suck on my nu-nu?

Let's see...like this?

Why isn't this working!?

Much better.  One at a time.

Riggs loved his "ball" (a balloon) and loved tossing it up in the air.

The coolest cook in town.

What?  This is how Aunt Clair does it.

Poor Riggs had enough of these loud ladies and kept running to the front door.  He would hang on the door handles and cry, "Mama!  Mamaaaaa!"

Trying to put on the sun glasses like Sister.

One handsome dude!

Avery watching Charlotte eat very closely.  She studied Charlotte for a good two minutes before she tried eating her own dinner.

Okay, okay. I think I can do this.

Success!  BIG bite!

Riggs on the other had needed me to load his spoon, but after that he took over....unless Aunt B happened to put a carrot on his spoon. He is not a fan of carrots and would shoo away any spoonful that had a visible carrot.

Big bite for Riggs.  Either he is scared of my cooking or he tasted the carrot I snuck in there.  I'm going with the carrot!

Hey!  Where did all those loud girls go?

Shhhh...don't tell them I am enjoying the peace and quiet.

Happy Birthday Dearie

Avery just wanted a little taste.



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Avery Moment

Avery Moment: we had to walk to the car in a drizzly rain after MDO. As soon as the rain drops hit her head she whined and then covered her head as if she didn't want to mess up her hair. Little does she know she has my hair...the rain isn't what messes it up it's the humidity!!!


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Caroline's 2nd birthday party

This morning was Caroline's second birthday party at the zoo.  The twins had a blast despite the heat and enjoyed climbing around on the big play set. 

Here are some moments captured by Aunt B and Mama.

Avery having a blast

Avery getting kisses from Daddy.

Avery, the very serious lion

Riggs, the silly lion

Avery (still serious), Frances, Charlotte, and Riggs (more interested in posing behind the lion)

Baby Stats

Just a little update on our Crying Ryans! This is from our 18 Month well baby appointment.

8-02-10

Avery Kathryn

Weight: 26 lbs 1 oz (70th percentile)

Height: 32 inches (50th percentile)

Head: 19 inches (74th percentile)

8-02-10

Riggs Trey

Weight: 25 lbs 10 0z (45th percentile)

Height: 31 1/4 inches (15th percentile)

Head: 18 3/4 inches (40th percentile)

No more Crying!!

Today was the first day since they started the toddler class that neither kid cried when I dropped them off at MDO!



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Tee Tee on the potty!!

Tonight my baby girl tee tee'd on the potty!!!

I got the potty a while back because the kids loved to sit. So I figured why not let them sit on the potty (one that plays music) to get familiar with it. Well Avery loved this idea. She sits on the potty all the time, even with her diaper on. Every night before her bath, after we take her diapeb of we tell her to tee tee on the potty. She sits for a bit then stands then sits again, then she just wants to get in the tub.

Tonight she sat on the potty, tee tee'd just a little then stood up and finished her business. It was precious. I threw the bath mat on the floor to cover the tee tee and she said "uh oh."

Once I had both kids in the tub I called daddy to tell him the good news. His first question was did it play music? I said no, but right then the tee tee drained toward the music sensors and played. Avery heard it and danced a little.

We were sad Daddy missed it considering he does bath time 90% off the time!

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Riggs can say Avery!!!

Tonight while the kids were taking a bath we were "chatting" with them. I'd ask questions and not really get many answers. Well when I asked Riggs to say Avery, HE DID! It was such a precious little moment.

Riggs doesn't say much even though I know he understands. For the past few days he has really been expressing himself with less grunting and more communication. This is very exciting.

I'll have to get a video of them saying each others name!!


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Happy Father's Day art from Riggs

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Happy Father's Day Art from Avery

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Fun with Daddy after bath

Avery can say Riggs!!!

A couple of days ago Avery started saying Riggs. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! Will post a video as soon as I get one!

Thank God for the beautiful sound of JOY

Today wasn't a typical day in the Ryan household. We had our alarms set for 5:45am because Avery was scheduled to have an MRI (more on why in a bit) at 6:45am at Women's and Children. Riggs woke at 5am just to make sure he got a little one on one time with me and Tim. No need for alarm clocks around here!

Dearie was kind enough to come and watch Riggs at 6:15am. And so we were off to the hospital to have an MRI done to evaluate the sacral dimple we discovered on Avery Sunday June 6th. We have been anxiously awaiting some kind of answers as to whether this was a serious issue or something that was a non-issue.

In order for them to do an MRI on a 17-month old they have to sedate them, which requires an IV. This ranks in the top 5 worst moments of my life as a mother. I have never seen my baby girl in so much pain. She is usually a trooper with these sorts of things but I could tell this was extremely painful. Not to mention she had to be starving because she hadn't had liquids or solids since dinner the night before. The ten minutes I held her after the IV was inserted and we were waiting for her to be taken and given the sedative felt like hours. Me just rocking my screaming baby. I wanted to cry but I had to be strong for her. It was awful.

Once they took her I did cry. My heart hurt for my baby. Then we waited for 30 minutes while they did the MRI. When I got my baby girl back she was loopy and confused. They said we had to stay for 30 more minutes to let the sedative wear off a little bit. I sent Tim home to pick Riggs up to bring him to MDO.

After Tim picked us up we went home so I could watch Avery and make sure she wasn't still too clumsy. After a while I decided she was ready to go meet brother at school. This is when the sound of JOY finally comes into play.

Avery's class was outside on the playground. As I opened the classroom door that led to the playground I spotted Riggs and wanted to make sure he didn't spot me, so I kinda shoved Avery out and she looked at me like "you want me to go out there ALONE!" Well off she went, then she and Riggs spotted each other.

Never have I felt such joy. They both squealed with excitement!!!!!! It was so damn cute. They ran to each other and just kept squealing and laughing. I wanted to so badly run to them and hug them but I know better, they would have never let me leave.

A little while later I got word that fortunately Avery's dimple is a non-issue. This was relief.

We are so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy (relatively ;), loving children. I am sure we wont always hear these kinds of squeals but I will always remember.

Two Year Molars

My baby girl already has her two year molars coming in!! Obviously they are a little early. I guess brother did get all the hair and she got all the teeth!


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Yummy

Today Avery said YUMMY!!! Guess she likes the little song I sing to her at meal time!


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Playing Down da Bayou

Anne and the twins came Down da Bayou last Friday so Anne could come to my sister's grand opening party for her new office. 

Avery, very much her mother's daughter, made herself right at home and had a blast playing.  She especially loved the stroller Tutu has for the baby dolls. 

Oooh, a stroller!

I love it!

She also enjoyed checking out the pool and that cute little girl in the window.

Hey there little girl!

How 'bout a kiss?

And of course when it was time for her to head home, she had to say "Bye, bye!" to all her peeps. 

"Buh-bye!  Buh-bye!"

Operation Sleep in Nursery: Night Two

Let me preface this post by mentioning that the kids have been sleeping in seperate rooms for months now. Avery has been a trooper by sleeping in the pack n play in the play room. The reason Avery got moved in the first place is because Riggs was having diffculty sleeping at night and crying out. He is also an early riser.

Previoulsy when we would try to put them together (usually while travelling) in the same room it was a nightmare. Well this past Friday we went down da bayou and stayed with friends who had two cribs. (meaning no pack n plays needed!!) Well little Miss Avery decided to sleep until 8am!!! I figured it had to be because she was so comfy in a crib. Don't get me wrong, she sleeps great in her pack n play, but I think the firm mattress in the crib did even more wonders.

So on Saturday night Tim and I agreed to put them back together in the nursery. Putting them down was one of the sweetest moments to listen to. They literally giggled themselves to sleep. I figured this was a great sign.

Before I went to bed I went in to check on them. And thank goodness I did! Riggs was stinky! We can count on one hand how many times they have pooped at night since they were newborns, so this is extremely rare. We were able to take Riggs into our room, change his diaper, an put him back in his crib without him EVER waking up!

Well this trial did NOT go well at all. I honestly can't even remember the details. I know we were up and down all night. By early morning one of them was in bed with us. Night one: 1 kids 0 parents

Last night we figured we'd try it again. They both went down relatively quickly. Around 9:30 Avery woke up screaming. We let her cry for 10 minutes and it was just getting worse. I figured it was one of her three new teeth bothering her. We went in gave her Tylenol and never heard from her again until 7am. During this screaming Riggs never woke up!

Tim sent me to the guest room so the kids could cry it out in the night if necessary. So needless to say I slept great!

Riggs did wake once at 3:30 and Avery never woke and Tim didn't have to go in there. Riggs woke up a little before 6 am and Tim gave his bottle and he went back to sleep.

I woke up without an alarm or to a crying baby at 6:15. Did a few house chores and then gave Avery her milk right at 7am.

Overall great night! Night Two: 0 kids 1 parents

First sentence!

Today Avery said her first sentence! We were outside playing and she kept chasing after Abi yelling, "Abi, tom-eha! Ahhhh-beeeeee! Tom-eah!"

(For those of you not well versed in baby talk, that is "Abi, come here!")

Way to go big girl!


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A letter from Abi

Hello Mudda, hello Fadda,

I am here at Camp Growing May Flowers. 

Camp is very entertaining.

And they say we'll have fun when Maggie and I stop fighting.

I went to pick the kids up from school.  It was exhausting.

But the wind in my hair couldn't have felt any bedda.

Aunt B is lazy.  We do lots of snuggling.

It makes Maggie jealous.  I just ignore her!

The weather is perfect.  We spend the afternoons outside playing.

Which is good because our bedtime here is 7:30!

Hope y'all are having fun in Kentucky! 
Love,
Abi