Hello Underwear, Bye Bye Binky

Rylan has had several major accomplishments these past few months. We started potty training Rylan in late July and within a few days he was trained as far as pee pee goes. Poo poo took a little longer but he finally got it down and he hasn't had any accidents in weeks. Yeah! We are so proud of him!

I am happy to report that Rylan is not only potty trained but binky free too. It is exciting, yet at the same time sad because diapers and binky were the last baby things about him. We had been telling Rylan that the binky fairy would probably come before his 3rd birthday, and sure enough, she did! She left him gifts three nights in a row! We were really apprehensive about his binky going away because he was pretty attached to it, but it went over much better than we ever would have anticipated. He was so excited about seeing his gift (matchbox cars) that he wasn't the least bit worried about his binky being gone. After the newness of the toy wore, he went to look in the spot where we always kept an extra binky. He cried for about five minutes when he realized the binky fairy took that one too. Then, he was over it!!! He slept fine that night and hasn't asked about it since. What a relief! I thought for sure we'd have a few rough nights.

We will forever cherish these sweet pictures of Ry with binky:

Ry Ry loved his binky!

It went with Ry on camping trips,

on stroller rides,

in the bathtub,

on the couch while watching cartoons (bear and bug tagged along too),

outside while playing in the back yard,

in the car,

in Mommy's arms while sleeping,

and when he was just lounging around the house, etc. You get the idea; he took binky everywhere!

This is the last picture we have of Ry with his binky-September 2010

Bye, bye binky!

Silverwood

We have a yearly tradition of going to Silverwood Theme Park at the end of the summer. We like going in early September when it isn't so crowded and we can spend more time going on rides than waiting in line for them. Rylan loves Silverwood and he isn't afraid of any ride. I think he would even go on all the roller-coasters if he was tall enough. He is one brave little guy!

We went on the train ride through the park.

Rylan got to drive an old, antique car.

We went on the log ride many times as this is Rylan's favorite. Apparently, people can put quarters into a machine that will spray people while they are on the log ride. That gray box you see in the picture is where the water comes out. Well, on our last ride of the day, we had some teens spray us really good. We heard them saying it would be funny to get all the moms and little kids. Nice, huh? At least it was right before we left. We were soaked and it was cold outside. Even poor Ayla, who was in her stroller on the other side of the fence from the ride, got soaked while watching us. Little did we know that the water sprayed that far. Good thing she is such a mellow baby! The water certainly surprised her but she didn't seem to mind. Her face even got covered in water, but she never cried!

We were so proud of Rylan...he even went on several rides by himself. Mommy and Daddy were too tall to go on this ride, but that didn't stop him.

Wheeeeeeee!

Rylan loved the train roller-coaster. It went pretty fast!

Ayla watched from her stroller the entire time. She is such a good baby! Maybe next year, she'll be able to go on a few rides.

Happy Campers

We were determined to take Ayla on her first camping trip this summer and we finally made it in early September. We went with our good friends, Travis and Jenny, and their son Kyle. We camped at Fort Spokane on Lake Roosevelt and had a great time. September is such a great time to camp since there aren't as many people and you can usually get the best camp spots.

Ayla is such a happy little camper. She loved her first camping trip! She didn't whine or fuss the entire time, even when it got cold at night.

Our camp site in the trees.

Bryon and Travis made some delicious breakfast burritos one morning. Food always tastes so good when you're camping. Careful with the knife, Bryon!

Snuggling with Daddy to stay warm. The nights were pretty chilly.

Peek-a-boo! Rylan loved sleeping in his sleeping bag in the tent.

We enjoyed hanging out by the fire in the evenings.

It was Travis's birthday that weekend. Here he is opening his presents.

Mommy's little love bug.

Early mornings were pretty chilly too, so we warmed up by the fire. Lots of snuggle time!

Rylan and Kyle had tons of fun playing and exploring together.

Even the dogs got to have fun swimming in the cold water.

So glad we have two happy campers! We look forward to camping again next summer!

Disaster

We had just arrived home from a fun, relaxing, summer weekend at the lake cabin. As I walked in the door, I heard something that sounded like spraying water. My first thought was, "Is someone in the house?", then "We didn't leave the faucet running, did we? No, I think we would have noticed." A million thoughts were going through my mind in the few seconds it took to reach the kitchen. Then, I saw it...water everywhere!!!

The entire kitchen was inch deep in water and it had also spread to the dining room. I yelled for Bryon and he came rushing in. We both agreed that this wasn't good, but we could deal with an inch or so of water. Just mop it up and as good as new, right? Wrong! As soon as Bryon ran downstairs to turn the water off, I heard him yelling and I knew it must be bad. I raced down to take a look and I could barely believe my eyes. It looked as though it was raining in our basement, the Sheetrock from the ceiling had caved in and all our belongings were soaking wet. We were in a state of shock! Even poor Rylan came downstairs to survey the damage and was so upset to see his new train set and table full of water.

I can't even describe the feeling of seeing your house destroyed (at least for the time being). Your house doesn't feel like a home anymore, but more of a place you want to escape from. It is a sadness I can't describe, and an unsettling feeling. Would our house ever be a "home" again? How will we ever get back to the way things were before?

Well, thankfully, my parents raced over to help us begin cleaning up the mess. And, of course, my dad knew just the people to call to help dry things out and begin the restoration process. Slowly, but surely, our house began getting back to normal (with a few bonuses too)!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the flood in progress before the clean-up crew arrived...we were too shocked to even think about taking pictures. But, I do have plenty of pictures of our house all torn up after the first clean-up crew came in.

Before restoration:

The linoleum in the kitchen was ripped out so they could dry the floor. Our cabinets were actually taken out at one point too so they could dry underneath. They were able to reset them without any damage.

The carpet in our dining room and living room was ripped up to dry underneath. Several legs on our dining room chairs were damaged.

The basement carpet was ripped up too.

You can see the missing Sheetrock in our ceiling. We found it on the floor when we arrived home. Additional Sheetrock was taken out too as the stuff that remained in place during the flood was pretty wet.

During restoration:

We decided to upgrade from linoleum in the kitchen to hardwood floors. We already had hardwood in the entry way and we always wanted it in the kitchen too. We figured there wasn't going to be a better time than now. We had to stay with my parents for several nights while it was being installed.

We had also been wanting to put a door to the backyard in our basement. Again, now seemed like the perfect time since everything was already ripped up. This is the "before" picture when it used to be just a window.

Now, we have a door. Bryon had to dig all that dirt out to make the door level with the ground.

Here's the view from the outside.

After restoration:

We had to get new carpet on the main floor in the living and dining room, which was covered by insurance. We loved it so much that we decided to bite the bullet and get it installed in the remaining rooms on the main floor, and the entire upstairs as well.

We originally had this hideous chandelier hanging in our entry way. While we had an electrician here wiring lights outside our new door downstairs, we decided to have him replace the chandelier with a new fan.

This looks a million times better!!!

During our construction process we discovered that our dishwasher had been leaking, as well as the main drain pipe to our basement. So, in a way, the flood was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Who knows what would have happened if those leaks would have continued without detection?! Anyways, we had been wanting stainless steel appliances. We had to get a new dishwasher because of the leak so we decided to go ahead and get all new, matching appliances. We love them!

While the ceiling in the basement was ripped up, we had a gas line put in for the stove. We got a gas stove with a convection oven and the bottom drawer is an oven too! I love it and could never go back to electric!

We love our new hardwood floors!

Work In Progress:

Since we decided to put a door in our basement, we now have the project of making the ground level with the door which means we have to dig down about three feet. Bryon had a friend from work bring his tractor over and help Bryon hammer out the basketball court and begin the digging process.

We got a lot dug out but still have more to go come spring. Bryon has big plans to build a patio area with a fire pit, BBQ area, etc. Can't wait to see the final product!

Remodeling is contagious!!! We have a few more things we'd like to do while we're at it; granite counter tops in the kitchen, hardware on the cabinets, and new paint on the walls. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

After nearly two months of construction, we are settling nicely into our house (seems like we have a brand new house) and are glad to be back to normal again. Our house does feel like a home once again.

Big Brother, Little Sister

Is there anything sweeter than brotherly/sisterly love? I just love to sit back and watch the love being shared between these two. Rylan is so gentle, sweet, and kind with Ayla. He is always watching out for her and making sure she is happy, content, and taken care of. There is no way anyone is going to mess with Ayla as long as big brother is around. He shares his toys with her, fetches her binky when he thinks she needs it, covers her with blankies when it's cold, and gives her hugs and kisses. In return, Ayla gives him the biggest smiles you've ever seen! It is obvious she is happy when he's around. She's constantly watching him in fascination as though he's the coolest thing that's ever walked the earth. I know they both feel happy to have one another and will be great friends as they grow up together.