Dear Lexi and Josiah,
The last time I posted we had decided on a name for our sweet baby boy, but I didn't touch our Thanksgiving adventures at Myrtle Beach. So we don't have any updates from November until now....and there are a lot of things that have happened the last (almost) year! I guess this post will be a quick update of the last year, then I will break it up into smaller posts to add pictures, which is my favorite part!!
October
October is always busy for our family. There are so many fun events happening that I want to go to ALL of them. This year we went to the State Fair, which was freezing and fun. We had so many amazing foods, my favorite was the fried banana pudding!! We went on a few rides, explored the booths, and at tons of food.
We also went to the Pumpkin Patch, which is always an adventure! Lexi loved re-organizing the pumpkins and playing in the bounce houses. They didn't allow adults in the bounce houses, so she would run to the far corner and refuse to get out, it was hilarious and frustrating!
Halloween is always great! I think I already posted about everything leading up to Halloween, so I will skip that part. Halloween night was fun, Lexi loved walking up to the doors and getting candy, she finally understood what was happening and instead of eating each piece of candy, she wanted to run up to all the doors to get more! It was a lot of fun!
Thanksgiving
We went to Myrtle Beach for Thanksgiving again this year. It was awesome, even more fun than when we went in 2010. Lexi was old enough to LOVE the beach, enjoy the kid areas of the science museum, and go to the different activities the hotel offered. She had a blast with her cousins and overall it was an amazing week.
Christmas
This year we started two new *hopeful* traditions. The first is Elf on the Shelf. Our Elf's name is Princess and Lexi had a lot of fun finding her every morning. It was great being able to see her face light up when she found her.
The next tradition is Christmas Eve Eve. Daddy likes being able to be at his moms house for Christmas Eve, he likes doing the puzzle and being with everyone, relaxing and eating food. But mommy likes having individual family time, time to drink hot chocolate, watch a Christmas movie and drive around and look at lights. So we started the Christmas Eve Eve night. Where we do our own family things. It was fun! Lexi loved eating popcorn and drinking warm chocolate, she also loved all the lights! She would get so excited and point out the Santas, reindeers, and penguins.
On Christmas Eve, we went to grandmas house and hung out. The kids played, the adults ate food, and we all just had fun being together. We went home and opened our Christmas jambes and went to bed. It was a fun and relaxing night.
Christmas morning we woke up early to open presents! Lexi loved her presents and was able to play with them for a few minutes before we went over to grandmas house where there were more presents and breakfast! Then we had a Christmas miracle....SNOW! So we spent the rest of the day playing in the snow, playing with our toys, and relaxing.
2013
After Christmas life slowed down a lot. Gabby moved out in March so we decorated Josiah's room. We spent Easter at home doing a little Easter Egg hunt. We started getting Lexi prepared to have a sibling, which was fun. She was so excited for her brother to be born!! She even started to have a baby Josiah in her tummy too! Josiah was born in May, even though he should have been an April baby! Daddy graduated from college, WOHOO!!
California
We took a nice relaxing trip to California in June. We went to Disneyland, Burney Falls, and my friend Katie's wedding. We loved being able to just relax at Tom and Jerri's house and not have to rush around. I took Lexi to a ballet while we were there, I have never seen her sit so still for so long! She absolutely loved it! I will post more about this in another post!
Summer
The summer flew by! We tried to keep busy going to the park, mall, library, and other indoor events. Lexi did a week long dance camp which she loved, we got a new kitten, and Lexi learned to swim!
It has been a great year, I am so happy with our family and feel incredibly blessed every day! I love watching the two of you grow up!
I love you tons and tons,
Love,
Mommy
Lexi was born May 27, 2010. Josiah is due April 29, 2013. Being a mother is absolutely amazing and I love sharing this blog with friends, family, and eventually my grown up children.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Monday, December 3, 2012
What's in a name?
Dear Lexi and Josiah,
When we were about 10-11 weeks pregnant with Lexi, mommy came up with the name Lexi Ann. I absolutely fell in love with it. Mommy had a feeling Lexi was a girl, daddy didn't believe her, but mommy just knew. When it was confirmed at 21 weeks, there was no doubt that our little girl would be named Lexi Ann. We wanted a name that would sound professional and have the options of nicknames, so Alexis Ann was decided upon.
It was a good thing Lexi was a girl, otherwise we might still be debating names. Boy names were incredibly hard for mommy and daddy to agree to. So mommy started keeping a list, it ended up being pretty long, of all the names mommy liked for boys and girls. Mommy likes to be prepared, we always knew another baby was in the plans, so mommy kept the list for when that time came.
Kenady (Kena) Rose Lucas Ryan
MaKenna Renee Jacob Ryan
Taylor Lynn Samuel Paul
Dakota Rose James Paul
Those were a few of the names on my list. When we found out at 16 weeks we were having a boy, mommy started thinking of what works best with Lexi. She quickly decided that Lexi and Luke were perfect together. Now she just had to convince daddy. Daddy was not so easily convinced. Daddy actually refused to discuss names because of school stressors. Which I guess is fair. So mommy held onto her desire to have Lexi and Luke. She started making arguments in her head as to why the name is perfect for baby boy. And she waited, for when daddy would be ready to talk about names.
The time came to discuss names on our trip home from Myrtle Beach. Seriously, I had 20+ hours in the car to convince him that Lexi and Luke go perfect together. Well, that didn't work. Not only did he shoot down Luke, he shot down my whole list of 8-10 names. By the way, I deleted my list daddy for sure didn't like them, so the above 8 are the ones I remembered.
So I read though baby center and different baby blogs. After what seemed like hours of stating hundreds of names, we mutually agreed on 4 names. Yes, four. Out of the hundreds of names from various different lists and websites, we agreed on 4.
Tristran
Nicholas
Josiah
Jaxson
Then, mommy did something crazy. She decided to let daddy pick the final name. I guess that it was a fair decision since technically I decided Lexi's name and Ryan didn't have a say. Ryan quickly decided on Josiah. Once it was determined, it felt so right. It felt like baby brother was just waiting for us to realize what his name would be, once it was determined, everything seemed perfect. Except the matter of a middle name.
This started a new battle. Mommy wanted something that had meaning, Ann comes from mommy's mom and daddy's mom, so it was only fair that Josiah's middle name have a history to it. We threw out tons of names, but again, we were not agreeing.
Josiah Allan-Ryan's mothers maiden name.
Josiah Thomas-after my foster dad.
Josiah Lynn-don't get a big head Micah, Lynn is after my foster mom. :)
Josiah Paul-Ryan's middle name.
When we were about 10-11 weeks pregnant with Lexi, mommy came up with the name Lexi Ann. I absolutely fell in love with it. Mommy had a feeling Lexi was a girl, daddy didn't believe her, but mommy just knew. When it was confirmed at 21 weeks, there was no doubt that our little girl would be named Lexi Ann. We wanted a name that would sound professional and have the options of nicknames, so Alexis Ann was decided upon.
It was a good thing Lexi was a girl, otherwise we might still be debating names. Boy names were incredibly hard for mommy and daddy to agree to. So mommy started keeping a list, it ended up being pretty long, of all the names mommy liked for boys and girls. Mommy likes to be prepared, we always knew another baby was in the plans, so mommy kept the list for when that time came.
Kenady (Kena) Rose Lucas Ryan
MaKenna Renee Jacob Ryan
Taylor Lynn Samuel Paul
Dakota Rose James Paul
Those were a few of the names on my list. When we found out at 16 weeks we were having a boy, mommy started thinking of what works best with Lexi. She quickly decided that Lexi and Luke were perfect together. Now she just had to convince daddy. Daddy was not so easily convinced. Daddy actually refused to discuss names because of school stressors. Which I guess is fair. So mommy held onto her desire to have Lexi and Luke. She started making arguments in her head as to why the name is perfect for baby boy. And she waited, for when daddy would be ready to talk about names.
The time came to discuss names on our trip home from Myrtle Beach. Seriously, I had 20+ hours in the car to convince him that Lexi and Luke go perfect together. Well, that didn't work. Not only did he shoot down Luke, he shot down my whole list of 8-10 names. By the way, I deleted my list daddy for sure didn't like them, so the above 8 are the ones I remembered.
So I read though baby center and different baby blogs. After what seemed like hours of stating hundreds of names, we mutually agreed on 4 names. Yes, four. Out of the hundreds of names from various different lists and websites, we agreed on 4.
Tristran
Nicholas
Josiah
Jaxson
Then, mommy did something crazy. She decided to let daddy pick the final name. I guess that it was a fair decision since technically I decided Lexi's name and Ryan didn't have a say. Ryan quickly decided on Josiah. Once it was determined, it felt so right. It felt like baby brother was just waiting for us to realize what his name would be, once it was determined, everything seemed perfect. Except the matter of a middle name.
This started a new battle. Mommy wanted something that had meaning, Ann comes from mommy's mom and daddy's mom, so it was only fair that Josiah's middle name have a history to it. We threw out tons of names, but again, we were not agreeing.
Josiah Allan-Ryan's mothers maiden name.
Josiah Thomas-after my foster dad.
Josiah Lynn-don't get a big head Micah, Lynn is after my foster mom. :)
Josiah Paul-Ryan's middle name.
After a lot of debating, mommy decided to just start over and come up with a name we like even if it doesn't have a history to it. So we were throwing out names on night with Aunt Sandra and Somehow we got into a biblical name stand off. Josiah Luke, Mathew, Mark, Abram, Amos....mommy thought it would be funny to say Josiah Mosiah (from the Book of Mormon). Daddy thought that sounded amazing. He probably told 10 people that night that baby brothers name would be Josiah Mosiah.
Once mommy reasoned daddy out of that name, we started looking at names again. Grandma said what about Taylor? President Taylor was a prophet of the LDS church and is also related to the Matteson family. So far, we both like that name and it sounds right. So baby brother is going to be Josiah Taylor.
So you see, names are challenging things to mess with, especially when daddy doesn't agree with mommy. ;-)
I love you both so much and I can't wait to meet you Josiah!!
Love, mommy!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Halloween
Dear Lexi,
Halloween this year has been a blast so far and we haven't even been trick or treating. I will update this after tomorrow night to let you know how you enjoy trick or treating, I'm sure you are going to love it.
We started off the festivities with a trip to the Halloween store. Mommy had great plans for Halloween, we were going to do a family themed costume; Little Red, grandma, and big bad wolf. You changed that plan. You, my little independent free spirited child, decided that you wanted to be Belle and you were not being swayed any other direction. We walked around the store for 30-45 minutes looking at costumes. You would ooh and ahh, but you would not put that Belle costume down. So, Lexi 1, mommy 0.
You even agreed to wear the crown, although it always seems to fall off. Gabby also bought you a costume, a Minnie Mouse dress that you wore for a week before we bought the Princess one. Mommy needs to fix it because you tore a hole in it during a moment of toddler terror.
We went to the Pumpkin patch with the family. There were a lot of us there. We had daddy, mommy, Lexi, Karissa, Wendy, Grant, Abi, Remi, Gage, Collin, Hunter, Sandra, Brooke, Allison, Ammie, Lili, Carolynn, Deliah, Matteson, and Elizabeth. It was a great day! You did not want to leave. There was a point where we were walking by the car and we wanted to put some things away, you screamed, "NO! I don't want to go, I need to play some more!" You loved all the adventures. You especially loved the merry go round with daddy. You picked out a tiny pumpkin that you added to your collection.
We also did a trunk or treat at the Church. You had fun decorating mommy's trunk, handing out candy, and eating apples instead of awesome chili! You have been asking to go trick or treating every day since that Chili Cook Off and Trunk or treating. I think you like the concept of saying, "trick or treat," and receiving candy.
Tonight, we carved pumpkins. You weren't terribly impressed by the process. You were amazed at all the gunk, but refused to touch it. You loved the pumpkin seeds! You kept asking for more and more.
Tomorrow we will go trick or treating with the family. I'm sure you will have a great time! We also have your Halloween party at school! It will be a busy day! I love you pumpkin!
Love,
Mommy!
Halloween this year has been a blast so far and we haven't even been trick or treating. I will update this after tomorrow night to let you know how you enjoy trick or treating, I'm sure you are going to love it.
We started off the festivities with a trip to the Halloween store. Mommy had great plans for Halloween, we were going to do a family themed costume; Little Red, grandma, and big bad wolf. You changed that plan. You, my little independent free spirited child, decided that you wanted to be Belle and you were not being swayed any other direction. We walked around the store for 30-45 minutes looking at costumes. You would ooh and ahh, but you would not put that Belle costume down. So, Lexi 1, mommy 0.
Love,
Mommy!
September and October
Dear Lexi,
September was a pretty slow month. We had a lot of family in town which made things really fun. We bought a trampoline for the playroom, which you absolutely love! We announced to friends and family that we were going to have a new baby, which they absolutely loved.
And we just relaxed and spent a lot of time together. We started a Friday night movie night. So far we have watched: Mulan, Up, Bolt, Cinderella, countless random princess movies, and other Disney classics. You love cuddling in my bed and spending time with me and I love cuddling with you and spending time with you.
We spent a few weekends at the Farmers Market where you turned into a street performer. :)
Mommy bought you your first princess dress, which you wore for 3 days....
And we did family pictures with Becky! I will add those in a new post. :)
In October, we kept busy with the fair, the pumpkin patch, family, and other Halloween events. I will post Halloween in a future blog post. Here are some great pictures from the fair and October. All Halloween events will be coming soon. :)
September was a pretty slow month. We had a lot of family in town which made things really fun. We bought a trampoline for the playroom, which you absolutely love! We announced to friends and family that we were going to have a new baby, which they absolutely loved.
And we just relaxed and spent a lot of time together. We started a Friday night movie night. So far we have watched: Mulan, Up, Bolt, Cinderella, countless random princess movies, and other Disney classics. You love cuddling in my bed and spending time with me and I love cuddling with you and spending time with you.
We spent a few weekends at the Farmers Market where you turned into a street performer. :)
Western Days was rainy and cold, but you had a great time!
You even agreed to take pictures!
Modeling your new dress!
Pretty ballernina!
Graceful gymnast!
The fair, was freezing! But you had a blast!
Carousel with daddy!
Kid Country grand opening!
I love this picture, it is blury, but it shows your complete freedom as you let go of the rope! You are so brave!
We have had some great times these last few months, with more great timees to come in November and December!
I love you,
Love,
Mommy!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Oh the things you say....
Dear Lexi,
I think I am just going to use this post to keep track of all the crazy things you say! Eventually, I hope to make a book! You are just so full of wittiness!
October 17:
Mommy: Lexi, that makes me very sad!
Lexi: it makes you sad?
Mommy: yes
Lexi: why?
Mommy: because you pooped in your underwear.
Lexi: that would make me sad too.
October 8:
You wanted me to go to the store so you could have chocolate milk...
It's sad when you pick your two year old up from daycare and the first thing they ask you is, "did you go to the store?" Lol!
October 3:
Lexi I sitting on the bathroom counter because she "needed" a bandaid on her owie. I ask her if she wants to get down, she says no. I say, sarcastically, you are going to sit up there the whole time mommy is showering?
She looks at me and says, "ya, I gotta watch you!"
Weirdo!
October 1:
Lexi, do you see Swiper?
Ya, that's one sneaky fox!!
September 21:
Lexi and I are watching Cinderella, we get to the part where Cinderella tries on the glass slipper....
Lexi: oh my gosh! I have to get my shoes!!!
She then proceeds to pause the movie, finds her princess shoes, puts them on, then starts the movie again. Love that kid!
September 17:
We were walking downstairs this morning, Lexi starts looking around confused...
Lexi: where's our puppy?
Mommy: what puppy?
Lexi: (looks at me like I'm an idiot) our puppy!!
Mommy: we don't have a puppy.
Lexi: it must be a Caca's house.
Mommy: you mean Duke?
Lexi: (another I must be an idiot face) no thats Allison's puppy.
Apparently Micah and Brooke have Lexi's puppy. Daddy probably hopes its stuffed. Lol.
September 13:
Lexi: There is something in my eye!
Mommy: let me see.
Lexi: okay
Mommy: I don't see anything.
Lexi: there is a spider in my eye.
Mommy: no, there isn't a spider in your eye.
Lexi: I know.
I will continue to add more as the days go on. I need to remember to write them down when you say them!
I love you baby!
Love,
Mommy
I think I am just going to use this post to keep track of all the crazy things you say! Eventually, I hope to make a book! You are just so full of wittiness!
October 17:
Mommy: Lexi, that makes me very sad!
Lexi: it makes you sad?
Mommy: yes
Lexi: why?
Mommy: because you pooped in your underwear.
Lexi: that would make me sad too.
October 8:
You wanted me to go to the store so you could have chocolate milk...
It's sad when you pick your two year old up from daycare and the first thing they ask you is, "did you go to the store?" Lol!
October 3:
Lexi I sitting on the bathroom counter because she "needed" a bandaid on her owie. I ask her if she wants to get down, she says no. I say, sarcastically, you are going to sit up there the whole time mommy is showering?
She looks at me and says, "ya, I gotta watch you!"
Weirdo!
October 1:
Lexi, do you see Swiper?
Ya, that's one sneaky fox!!
September 21:
Lexi and I are watching Cinderella, we get to the part where Cinderella tries on the glass slipper....
Lexi: oh my gosh! I have to get my shoes!!!
She then proceeds to pause the movie, finds her princess shoes, puts them on, then starts the movie again. Love that kid!
September 17:
We were walking downstairs this morning, Lexi starts looking around confused...
Lexi: where's our puppy?
Mommy: what puppy?
Lexi: (looks at me like I'm an idiot) our puppy!!
Mommy: we don't have a puppy.
Lexi: it must be a Caca's house.
Mommy: you mean Duke?
Lexi: (another I must be an idiot face) no thats Allison's puppy.
Apparently Micah and Brooke have Lexi's puppy. Daddy probably hopes its stuffed. Lol.
September 13:
Lexi: There is something in my eye!
Mommy: let me see.
Lexi: okay
Mommy: I don't see anything.
Lexi: there is a spider in my eye.
Mommy: no, there isn't a spider in your eye.
Lexi: I know.
I will continue to add more as the days go on. I need to remember to write them down when you say them!
I love you baby!
Love,
Mommy
Where to start?
Dear Lexi,
I realized while reading a friends blog that I haven't updated ours in so long. So much has happend and changed over the last 9 months! I will quickly recap in pictures....
For Christmas Lexi got pretty rain boots and a matching umbrella from grammy! In January, she insisted on wearing them, non stop.
In February, we went to a sock hop at Church! It was a blast. We also took some time to take a couple mommy daughter pictures!
In March, we moved into our new house! We loved being able to decorate. There is still so much more to do, we need curtains, wall decor, a mantle, and tons of other things. But we are so happy to have our own place. I love having a permanent address.
In April we celebrated Easter in our new house. I was so excited, then it rained. We found eggs inside the house though! We also took Bluebonnet pictures with Sandra and the boys.
July was Independence Day! We also went camping for the first time! We went with daddy, Micah, Allison, Collin, and Sandra. You had a blast!
In August, mommy enrolled in school for her masters degree in Social Work! We went to the Circus for mommy's birthday and mommy introduced you to the joys of bouncing on the Sky Jump at the mall. You also started at your new daycare!! Which all of us love!
That is just a quick recap of this year! It has been an adventure! I will update later about September and our fun times in October! Oh, in August we also found out we were pregnant!! We are so excited to add another member to our little family! You are going to be a great big sister! I love you little girl! More than the stars in the sky!
Love,
Mommy
I realized while reading a friends blog that I haven't updated ours in so long. So much has happend and changed over the last 9 months! I will quickly recap in pictures....
In February, we went to a sock hop at Church! It was a blast. We also took some time to take a couple mommy daughter pictures!
In May, Gabby came to live with us! That was such a huge adventure! Mommy and daddy also left Lexi for a whole week while we went to the Bahamas with Micah and Brooke. You had a great time with Wendy, Sandra, Grammy, Gabby, and all the cousins! When we got back, we celebrated your 2nd birthday! We had a small gathering at our house! You had a blast and you loved all your presents!
In June, we celebrated summer at Hurricane Harbor, lots of swimming, some visiting family, trips to the Farmers Market, and potty training! You did pretty good with potty training, but we are now in October and we still haven't got it down yet. I guess only time will tell how long it takes until we are accident free!
Love,
Mommy
Thursday, December 29, 2011
My beautiful Snowman
Dear Lexi,
Even though it didn't snow in Christmas this year, we still had a beautiful snowman to make our Christmas merry. Your aunt Ammie made you a beautiful snowman outfit and you absolutely loved it. I was so surprised when you actually liked putting on the outfit! You loved the tutu, scarf, and baby legs. I was so surprised that you didn't mind putting on the outfit, but you loved it so much that you didn't want me to take it off. We went to the Dallas Arboretum and everyone loved your outfit. Random strangers were wanting to take pictures of you and you soaked up the attention. We also went to the Gaylord Texas to take family pictures. You loved all of the lights and Christmas trees.
I love you, Love,
Mommy
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