bath time

6 years ago today....

six years ago today, joel and i were married. these have honestly been the best years of my life. i am so overwhelmed by joel's love and devotion for me. i couldn't have asked for a more wonderful, caring, sexy husband! and not to mention what an incredible father he is. seeing how he treats and loves our children blesses me so much. they are so fortunate to have a daddy like him. and saying all this i have to ultimately give credit to God. His ways are so perfect! i am forever thankful for the gift He's given me in joel and our two beautiful children. thank you, Lord, for giving me the desires of my heart! i love you, joel!

park time!

yesterday we took ryan on his first outing to the park. he seems to really enjoy riding in the stroller because he fell right to sleep and didn't wake up until we were back home. which meant lots of playing time for lauren, so she was happy!

a few cute photos

little ryan has been such a smiley baby. and he has the tiniest dimples in his cheeks. so cute!

and lauren has been such a great big sister. she is always giving him toys and carrying on conversations with him. today i was in the kitchen and ryan was in the living room in his swing. i could hear lauren say to him in a very concerned voice, "ryan, did you spit up a little bit?" i went in to see and sure enough he had. as i was going into the kitchen to get a cloth lauren said to him, "your mom is going to get a towel to clean you up. don't worry."

ryan timothy has arrived!

well, the wait is finally over! on july 7th ryan timothy was born. however, it took a little bit of work to convince him that it was time to come out. after being a week overdue, there were no signs that he would be born anytime soon. so much to my hesitation we chose to head into the hospital for a scheduled inducement. it's very different walking into the hospital to have a baby without any contractions or labor pains. they slowly got things started on monday night and by 11:13 on tuesday morning he was born. for the most part everything went really well. once it was time to push he was out after only 3 contrations. so glad considering he was 9lbs 6ozs!

we have been home for a week now and he has been such a wonderful little baby so far. lauren adores him and i always find her checking on him when he's sleeping in his bassinet. joel and i feel so incredibly blessed by the amazing family God has given us. and we greatly appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from all our friends and family. thank you!

4 days overdue

well, no baby yet. even though i was glad to spend the day with my entire family (it had been over a year and a half since we were all together last) i was hoping that today would be the day our little guy decides to enter the world. i can't complain too much, however. this has been a great pregnancy and i've felt pretty good even up until now. my patience is just wearing thin and i'm so anxious to meet our little boy. i have to keep reminding myself that we are SO close to the end and i know that at some point this next week our baby will be here. yay!!