AhnaRyan

December?

2012-01-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems as though the holidays went too fast again this year. We had a Christmas tree hunt after we returned from Thanksgiving to get it started. The kids were great on our hunt and Santa was there as well. Cooper mostly just wanted to point and smile at him though, he didn't actually get close to him!

We took lots of walks to the park and Cooper went on his first boat trip down the river on a field trip with preschool (Dada got to go with him and take pictures)! We also took advantage of a twofer at Zoolights (2 for 1 tickets). It was so much fun to take the kids out and have them see all the lights. We even got to see the big elephant!

We spent Christmas Eve with some family, Billy and Brynne and their daughter Claude. We had a delicious turkey and all the good stuff that goes with it. The kids got to play and it was a good way to spend our time waiting for Santa to get here! After getting the kids to sleep, Ryan and I drank hot chocolate and watched Elf which I'm thinking is the beginning of a new and incredible Christmas tradition! I love that movie, it always makes me laugh. I was so excited for Christmas morning I could barely stand it. The kids got all kinds of fun books and new clothes and building blocks. Cooper got TONS of hotwheels from Santa which is pretty much all he wanted (those and a plane but luckily Santa was able to sneak in some matchbox planes!). Olivia got this awesome little walker/pusher thing. She doesn't need help walking but she ABSOLUTELY loves to sit in something and have her brother push her around. She also likes pushing it around while there are things in it. She sometimes likes falling out of it too, just depends on her mood! Santa brought Ryan a bunch of fun stuff for brewing beer as well as some other goodies and I got an awesome new camera!! I'd been wanting a point and shoot for awhile so we have a smaller camera to take with us on quick trips to the park and it is such a cool one! I've been using it almost everyday!

We hung out all day mostly in our pajamas (cause why would we need to get dressed on Christmas?). We had a great dinner that night, which almost made up for my epic failure of a pull apart (note to self... frozen bread rolls that have been in the freezer for over a year are definitely not still good).

The next day, Nonna and Papa came to visit and we had another Christmas! The kids always enjoy having Nonna and Papa around and Ryan and I take advantage by going out on dates. We went to an early dinner on New Years Eve and ended up ringing in the actual new year with my parents! I don't remember when I've last made it until midnight... so pathetic.

The weather here has been gorgeous and we have been taking advantage of it as much as possible with trips to the park and just spending time outside. In Olivia news... she is oddly fantastic at blowing her nose, something that I think is a definite skill to have. I remember being in the third grade and having my teacher try to explain to all of us the 'proper way' to blow our noses (she was a bit off though, right Colette?? :) ). She is also really excited to test out the strength of her head and she does so by falling on her face as often as possible. As soon as we get one scratch or bruise all healed up, she makes sure to put a mark on some other part of her face!

Happy New Year everybody!! Here's to a wonderful and healthy 2012!

~ Ahna and Ryan

Thanksgiving in AZ

2011-11-27T20:09:00.001-08:00

This is what it's doing in Phoenix right now. Coincidentally, it rained almost 3 inches in two days in Portland while we were gone. It's gorgeous in both places right now (although people who have lived here for many years would say we are crazy and more than one person from work emailed while I was gone to tell me they were jealous, weird).

We started out our Thanksgiving week in Tucson with a lovely family get together on Sunday, but not before Cooper gave himself a bath in my Mom and Dad's pond. He was feeding the fish and thought maybe he could test out his new swim skills?? Luckily, my Dad seems to have brushed up on his cat like reflexes and he grabbed Cooper by the foot before he was in the cold water for too long. He was perfectly fine and wanted to go back out to the pond later in the week when we got there.

We had great food and good times down in Tucson. We love being able to see as many people as possible when we visit but it is so hard to get it all in. When we can get the family together in one place, it gives us a chance to see everybody. I was in awe of Ryan's younger cousins who have grown into beautiful teenagers (or preteens) and I was just staring at them for many moments thinking about how they were about two, three and five when I first met them. I used to swing them around by the arms and give them piggy backs and now they are doing those very same things to our kids. The next night was our annual Brothers Extravaganza where just the brothers and their wives get together for some quality time. We had the kiddos with us so Cooper and Olivia got some good time in with their little cousins, Jalyn and Emree. This dinner is so special to me because I get time with some amazing women and with the boys that Ryan grew up with. He has wonderful brothers and I am so happy to be a part of the family. We missed out on some loved ones but hope to see everyone again soon.

We made our way back to Phoenix for the rest of the week where Coop and O spent countless hours out in the backyard running around. Just when I thought they would collapse from exhaustion... Brody showed up and they did it all over again! Phoenix is beautiful in November and we enjoyed every minute of it. We had Thanksgiving up at Auntie and Unc's place this year. We were there all day and made sure to pack it in. We had some Christmas cookies to ~~eat~~ decorate, some Wii Boxing to play, some water to swim in, and oh yeah, some turkey to eat.

The boys LOVED getting in the spool but I was most surprised by Olivia. She has always loved the water, she usually tries to get in her baths fully clothed because she is so excited. She'll throw one leg up on the tub and just look at us like, 'let's do this, I've been waiting forever for a bath.' I digress... We put her in their spool (spa and a pool), and she was actually KICKING her legs around and using her arms! She kept trying to just fall into the water. Hopefully I can get her started on swim lessons soon as well, I can tell she wants it.

It was another wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I am so lucky to have the husband and children I have and we are lucky that we have wonderful family and friends to celebrate our holidays with. We couldn't have asked for a better week. I can't BELIEVE the holidays are here again!!

~Ahna

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween weekend started out with some cookie baking and some craft making. Cooper thought it was necessary to do all our Halloween fun in his costume and Baby Sister needed to do the same. So they dressed up while they made cookies and glued ghost eyes on paper plates and ate cookies. It was great. Mama did most of the craft making and the cookie baking... but the kids were really good at cookie eating!

Our weekend continued Saturday night with this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1Ty-8xNxo. Apparently every year there is something called Thrill Portland in which a bunch of people dress up like zombies, show up at the same time, in the same spot, and dance to Thriller. Could there be a better way to start out Halloween? I think not. It was epic. I think I'm going to try and do it next year!

We had some friends over Sunday for dinner and fun and then Halloween was here! Cooper had a halloween carnival at preschool and then both the kids came to my office for some office trick or treating. A bunch of people I work with have little kids (or grandkids) and I thought it would be so cute to have them come in and trick or treat at people's desks. It was adorable. We took pictures of all the kids and a lot of people really had a great time getting to meet families and give out candy. We had lots of smiles that day.

Ryan and the kids (and by that I mean Ryan) carved pumpkins later that day and they turned out awesome. Then it was time to trick or treat and I was stuck at work. Ryan ended up taking the kids out to a bunch of houses in our neighborhood and I didn't make it home until it was too late for Olivia. I did get to take Cooper out to a few houses so that was fun but I couldn't believe I missed trick or treating with them. That is not something that will happen again next year. We didn't have very many trick or treaters and when we were walking in the neighborhood we could see lots of houses with the lights off. It's not like it used to be. A lady I work with said she took her daughter to the mall and there were people STANDING IN LINE at the stores that were handing out candy! Why don't people trick-or-treat at houses anymore?

Hope everybody had a Happy Halloween!

~Ahna

Happy Anniversary Pops!

2011-10-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a year. Well, it's been longer than that. But it's been a year since my Dad got some incredible new cells growing inside his bones. What more could you need for a celebration??? My parents have been going non stop since the beginning of summer. They have been jet setting all over the states. They wanted to do something to celebrate this momentous occasion so they decided to throw a party. I didn't think I could make it. We had a lot of traveling coming up and it was a very expensive flight.

Friday night before the party Ryan and I got to go out on a date here at home. We went to see a comedian, he was hilarious. The whole night, I had this nagging feeling. I was missing this party and I really shouldn't be missing it. It was a big deal, even though Mom tried to make it okay that I was missing it. I couldn't handle it. I asked Ryan if I was being ridiculous, he said it was important that I go if I felt that strongly about it. Saturday morning I woke up at an insane hour and couldn't go back to sleep. I checked airline flights for that day, I called Uncs, I texted my cousin Steven, I tried to go back to sleep. I went back to the computer and I booked a ticket. I was going to leave in a few hours for a less than 24 hour trip to Arizona. I couldn't have been more excited.

Uncs was coming to pick me up. Uncs and Auntie don't like surprises, so I knew it would be tough! I threw Olivia in the mix because it's important not to show up empty handed when visiting the grand parents. So we hopped on the plane and landed in Arizona about two hours before the party started.

When I walked in the door, Mom's back was to me and I yelled out 'I hear there's a party here tonight!'. The look on her face and my Dad's face when he woke up was worth every penny. I was so happy I could make it and be there to celebrate with everybody. Some people had never met Olivia and she of course delighted the crowd. She and her cousin Brody got the dancing gene and spent most of their time on the dance floor (yeah, I was there too!). It was a great night and wonderful morning with Mom and Dad and the rest of the family. I had been homesick for Phoenix so it was perfect timing.

We all know how rough the last 18 months have been for my parents. I always loved a good hug from my Dad and it's even more special when I get one now. It's hard to think he spent any time sick from this leukemia shenanigans because looking at him now, he seems relatively unscathed. I'm so happy we are celebrating the one year anniversary of something so amazing and can't wait to spend the next twenty years doing the same. Dad, you know I love you more than anything.

Enjoy the pictures my Mom took... I didn't have a camera!

~Ahna

Dirty Thirty

2011-10-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

What?!?! Ryan is 30! My aunts and uncles came up for a visit last week (well, like two weeks ago now, I'm a little behind). They took a few days to hang out at the coast... and they took a few days to WATCH OUR KIDS!

I took Ryan on a surprise birthday trip up to the Olympic National Park in Washington. There are a few rain forests there and a hot springs and the ocean... but more importantly... it's the birthplace of a little known book called TWILIGHT. I thought the website for the hotel we were staying in was cute because it discussed Forks, WA being the setting for the books and how this particular bed and breakfast 'slightly resembled' the Cullen House but it was definitely not affiliated in any way with Twilight, yada yada yada. We pull up to the house and this is the conversation that ensues.

Ryan: Um, the guy is in the window.
Me: What guy?
Ryan: The guy from the movie.
Me: What? That's impossible, they just said it kind of resembled the house.
Ryan: Yeah, it's him, you'll see.
Me (after getting out of the car and seeing 'the guy'): AYKM? Is that a life size cutout of Robert Pattinson??? That's...phenomenal.

So, it turns out, the bed and breakfast actually vomited Twilight paraphernalia. Every room had the books and the DVDs (even the 'Making of' DVDs that nobody ever watches). Each room also gave you the chance to pick a particular character and put that on the door of your room. The rooms were even named for certain characters (only some of them, which threw me off a bit when booking... like maybe they weren't TOTALLY obsessed with Twilight). At any rate, I'm sure Forks, WA did exist prior to Twilight, but it wasn't nearly as cool. There are stores that carry just Twilight related things (and I'm sure plenty of non-Twilight things that they just made up for tourism purposes). We got over all this very quickly and then it became hilarious. Funny enough for me to get out of the car and stand in front of a huge Twilight sign for a picture!

We quickly started our exploring on Saturday morning. The sun was out for most of the day on our 8-ish mile hike to Deer Lake. So much green and so much water, the sound of it followed us the entire way. When we sat down to breakfast the next morning (where the eggs were named after Edward or some Twilight character), the hotel inn keeper asked us how our hiking was the day before so we told him it was beautiful and we went to Deer Lake. He seemed impressed, as was I. I thought I would be a lot more sore after that hike, but it worked in my favor. These trees are amazing. They are huge, hundreds of feet in the air. On our drive, there were signs everywhere that talked about cutting the trees and replanting. They use that whole area to grow trees for the rest of the country. It was kind of cool to see where one huge area was cut down back in 2000 and then replanted in 04. You could see how they had already started growing tall again. We definitely want to go back to spend more time in the rain forest and hope we get to do the trip soon. A lot of what we saw was like a different world and we didn't get enough discovering done!

The Aunties and Uncles got a lot of time with the kids and the kids were wonderful for them. They hopefully enjoyed their week up here... even though they spent much of it babysitting!! In other news, Cooper started preschool!! I still remember the day he was born, I can't believe he's in school! He seems to be doing really well with it so far. Olivia is walking all over the place even though she continues to resemble a drunken sailor more than a tiny dancer.

~Ahna & Ryan

Vacation

2011-09-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

So, every year we go back to Arizona for a very special reason. It's to visit Ryan's grandma in Pinetop. Pinetop is special to us in many ways; it is always so relaxing and peaceful... or it was until a little thing called kids came along. Take this picture for instance, it looks like a great walk around a fun lake in Pinetop right? If you were there though, very shortly after this picture was taken Cooper had a meltdown where he decided to just stand in one place not moving for what felt like hours but was probably five minutes. He didn't care that we all kept going or that he almost couldn't see us anymore, he just didn't want to come with us. Then, Olivia decided she was done being carried and wanted to walk, only she can't; minor details. It was as if she was yelling at us that of course she knew how to walk and all we had to do was put her on the ground so she could show us just how good she was at it.

It's okay. We decided to cook in more than we ate out, because Olivia likes to crawl OUT of her high chair. And we walked around the golf course by the house instead of going on hikes because Olivia likes to put EVERYTHING in her mouth; duck feathers? Sure, bird droppings? Most likely.

Here's something else; I'm writing the blog and thinking about what to say next when Ryan walks in behind me, looks at the picture and says, 'oh yeah, the disaster walk'... but I digress.

They're kids, babies really, they're bound to have off days... or four in a row, not that anybody was counting. It wasn't all bad. Cooper LOVED getting in GG's hot tub. He asked every day to go in the 'hot pool' and he learned how to blow bubbles! This is huge progress and it will be great for him when he starts swim lessons in October (with his preschool class!). Ryan made it to a hike in Greer one morning where he took pictures of what the fire left behind earlier this summer. We took Cooper to the go karts in town and he LOVED them! Our sweet Olivia took some steps! On the last night, we were sitting on the floor and she saw me, took about four steps and gave me a hug. I looked at Ryan to see if he saw it but he didn't. Then only a few minutes later, she took about 6 steps toward me and everybody saw it! It was as if she won an oscar. We all got huge smiles on our faces and started yelling and screaming and clapping our hands. Well she turned around to face us and had the HUGEST open mouth smile I have ever seen. She knew exactly what had happened and she stood there clapping right along with us. It was an amazing moment. I don't know that I'll ever forget the look on her face. She was so proud.

We made it back to Phoenix for our last day so we could spend some time with my family and with our best friends the Smiths/Pickards/Kolsons. Yeah, it used to just be the Smiths but we all grew up, got married, got rid of our maiden names (tears), and had babies. For whatever reason I didn't get the camera out so all the pictures of that night are logged away in my memory (or on a future email from somebody that did take pictures). I loved this night. I felt like I got a chance to talk to most everybody for a little bit and I got to watch the kids play. We got to see Olivia and Toni and even Connor take a few steps. The boys played together (the little boys AND the big boys). At one point, we were eating dinner and a hush came over the crowd. Colette looked at Courtney and me and said, 'hey, look who's at the adult table' and we realized that all us kids had taken over the adult table at my house and our parents (and the other actual adults) were at the 'kid' table. We get it; we're adults now, but I don't think we always GET IT. I still sometimes look at both babies and can't believe they're mine and that I have kids of my own. It was just yesterday I was sitting at that kid table with Colette and Courtney and my brother while we plotted out our next move for the night. Would it be 'Ditch Em' in the back yard, or Atari... oh wait, my house didn't have video games until Nintendo. I'll always look forward to our 'Friday Night Party Nights' no matter how few and far between they are. It will be so great watching our kids grow together.

It was a great vacation away and it was also nice to be back home. This weekend, Ryan and I are celebrating something special. 10 years ago on Labor Day weekend, we went camping with a bunch of friends. This curly haired sophomore sat down in front of me that night and with a little bit of liquid courage asked me what he should do about a girl he liked. I still remember every detail about that moment. So, we're celebrating 10 years of dating the same way it all started... camping.

~Ahna

Summer Continues

2011-08-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

This post will be mostly pictures... I know, it's devastating. We had more visitors over the last few weeks and did tons of things, including celebrate Olivia's first birthday!! She is almost walking and eats whatever we eat. She's actually turned out to be a really good garbage disposal for any food that's lying around. We took our first overnight trip to the beach the weekend after her birthday. It was a great last weekend with my parents.

We have about a week to rest before we leave on our annual trip to Pinetop!

Enjoy!

~Ahna & Ryan

Already Gone...

2011-07-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the entire month of July is already gone. It started out lovely with a long visit from Uncle Bryce-y Bryce and Aunt Manda. They came right after the fourth which we celebrated here at the house; just the four of us. I got some sparklers for the kids (they won't be awake for real fireworks for years to come because they don't start until very late here). It was the first time they'd seen anything like it and they were both in awe. It was great.

Our visit with Bryce and Amanda was great. They did tons of exploring the city via bicycle and I had a workout partner for a couple weeks! The boys went hiking and did some brewing, you know, pretty normal weekends for the Wards. Oh yes, I also got some MUCH needed shopping in at a huge outlet mall south of Portland. It turns out, Bryce is also quite handy with landscaping so we got some cheap labor and a lovely looking front yard! We got to go out to a few new places with them and even got a date night with them while the kids were looked after.

I attached a bunch of pictures that were taken at random and are mostly a collection of us just hanging out over the last month. We are closing out our month with Uncle Dylan at the house (that's the third brother in 6 weeks!). Today we went on a walk out by a waterfall and we found what I think might be a new favorite place for me. It's a picnic area by the water. It kept reminding me of a place I went to as a kid. There is a picture of me with my brother eating something on a blanket. I don't remember where it is, but this place today reminded me of it. It made me think of how much fun it will be in a few years when the kids are a bit older and can run around and play in the water. I wonder what they'll talk about??

There are all these perfect places here, I don't know if we'll ever find them all.

Stay tuned for Olivia's 1st birthday!!

~Ahna

Visitors Galore!

2011-07-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Summer has sprung and the Ward house has been bustling. A few weeks ago (yes, I'm that behind), Gran came to visit with Kyle (the brother closest in age to Ryan). They DROVE up from Arizona! The drive was good and not too long (about 24 hours from Phoenix, in case you were wondering). The great news about them driving was we got to fit EVERYBODY into one car while they were here because she brought her new minivan! We didn't plan a lot of things to do but we definitely got a lot in. I was working so Ryan took them out to Vista House and to many different parks around town. We walked to dinner almost every night and I loved it. We went to pick strawberries which was only marginally successful because the strawberries still weren't in season. We also got to go to Washington Park (where all the roses are)... but THOSE were in hiding as well! All the things that usually come out in early June were behind because of our rainy spring. They made their appearances about a week ago.

They left and a few days later, my Mom and Dad came to town! It was my Dad's first visit since we moved here and it was over Father's Day so it was quite special. We too did lots of walking around our neighborhood. We also got to take Cooper on a surprise visit to see a LIFE SIZE Thomas the Train. He was in complete awe. We got to take a ride on the train and take pictures with Thomas and play with mini trains. He was overwhelmed the WHOLE time!! The place where Thomas was visiting happened to be the home of an Oregon winery. So, of course, we took some time to taste (and buy) some delicious Oregon wines. Our cousin Merle and his wife Sarah and their daughter Tea were passing through Portland on their way back to Seattle so they hung out with us for a day too! Cooper loves having other kids around and having Tea was no exception.

While Mom and Dad were in town, Olivia learned how to walk around with a little walker! I can't believe she's already doing that. It gets more fun everyday to watch Cooper and Olivia together.

We are spending a quiet weekend together just us because on Tuesday Bryce and Amanda get here for another visit! The weather will be much nicer than when they came to visit in January AND we'll have quite a bit more room in this house for them!

~Ahna

Neighborhoods.

2011-05-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I have been together for awhile and have lived in a few different humble abodes. We have never had the pleasure of a community or neighborhood to enjoy. In our 'neighborhood' in Vegas, we lived in the same house for almost seven years and I waved at the same people almost daily for seven years and I typically got a blank stare in return. We have lived here for two days and the people around us have gone out of their way to introduce themselves. Earlier today, we were sitting on the porch and the next door neighbor was out talking on her phone. After about 15 minutes, she turned our way, stopped her conversation, waved and said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't see you guys. I'm just out here acting like I'm ignoring you!'

We had some nice neighbors at our rental too, but I think we feel better about our new home because we want this to be our forever house. On Saturday, our movers/friends helped us move for a little over six hours. On Sunday, we had to get the kids out to explore the neighborhood so we walked to a farmers' market a few blocks away. We almost went broke. There were flowers that we just had to have, a muffin/cookie/brownie that were calling our names, a breakfast burrito that literally stole money out of our pockets (with good but not Ryan fantastic salsa). Then, oh yes, then there were the plants we had to buy; tomatoes, african blue basil, another kind of tomato plant. It was phenomenal. After that, Cooper ran around on the playground that was close by. Should we decide to frequent that market, we will be sure to leave our wallets and purses at home.

Ryan has already spent a few hours outside taking care of the front and back yards. The front yard is gorgeous with lots of flowers, plants, and these AWESOME little teeny tiny flowers that fall literally everywhere from the big tree. You could sweep the porch all day long and those little things would just keep showing up! Fun times I tell you.

Today was perfect so we took a walk around the neighborhood after eating some delicious burgers. I threw the kids in the bathtub after that. I had to take a picture because this was the first bath in over a year where Cooper got to have ALL his bath toys out. It was pretty crowded now that he's got Olivia tagging along in the tub!

Happy Memorial Day!

~Ahna & Ryan

Colorado

2011-05-25T10:30:00.001-07:00

We were able to spend a few days in Colorado this last weekend. Our friend from college married the woman of his dreams. They met in Chicago but have set up shop in Denver, CO. We left Portland on a gorgeous, sunny day and got to Denver... where it was pouring... awesome. It rained for about three days but the day of the wedding was lovely. We were able to explore Boulder which reminded us alot of Flagstaff and a little bit of Portland. It was beautiful. The wedding was amazing. Cooper was a ring bearer and did a fantastic job getting down the aisle. At one point, I said 'go to Dadda' and he ran up to one of the groomsmen... the only other groomsman with curly hair... but not Dadda.

Olivia isn't much for just sitting on my lap and enjoying the scenery so soon enough we were at the back of the group standing and swaying while the ceremony went on. The ceremony was beautiful and very well put together. Then we headed inside for dinner and dancing. My Mom and Dad decided to make a road trip up to Colorado to 'babysit' which helped them get in some much needed grandkid time and helped us really enjoy our friends and their day. Shortly after the ceremony they drove out and picked up the kids. Another couple there, some very close friends had just had a baby and he hung out with us almost all night, just kind of napping and eating. He is adorable and I got to dance with him, so that's always fun!

On Sunday, we got to go see some family friends that we hadn't seen in years. The men went on a brewery tour and we hung out at the Brewery restaurant. It was the coolest place, it had a pond and a sandbox out back. I was worried about Cooper hanging out for over an hour before we even would get to eat, but he was in heaven! He kept throwing rocks in the pond (no worries, there were tons of rocks already in there) and playing with some other little kids that were there. It was touch and go for a minute because he hadn't napped that day and was a bit 'yucky pucky' on our drive there. But in true Cooper fashion, he performed for the crowd with his utterly charming personality.

To be continued...

...

2011-05-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

And upon our return... we picked up the keys to OUR NEW HOUSE!!! We are in love with our house. We found it on a whim back in March when we just went to see some open houses. It's in a neighborhood we love, where we can walk to a coffee shop, or a bar that has live music every night, or a kids bookstore. There are some great parks only a few blocks away and an indoor pool (cross your fingers for swim lessons this summer!).

We will be moving in over the course of this week and hopefully be enjoying our Memorial Day BBQ in the backyard.

Here are some pictures!

~Ahna & Ryan

All About Cooper!

2011-05-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

For a few months, we'd been saying that it was probably time to cut Cooper's hair. It was getting mullet-ish in the back, not a style we wanted to bring back with our son. So, Thursday before his 3rd birthday, we took him to a place. He did great! The lady said he was her 'best first hair cut ever' (she probably says that about ALL the kids!). He didn't move or squirm or make noise. I think he was either really scared or really relaxed! It was adorable and she did a nice job. His curls are really knocking them dead now!

On Saturday we had a few people over to celebrate his birthday. We let Cooper open gifts throughout the day. He would just come tell us that he wanted to open another present and we would all watch. He was a little overwhelmed but seemed to enjoy the company. He loved all his gifts and has been playing with them (or reading them!) ever since! He sang Happy Birthday along with the rest of us... Video Here!

I can't believe he's been around for 3 years now. Babies are a real pain, but sometimes all it takes is a look from Cooper to make me remember how wonderful it is too!

Mother's Day was great! Ryan made a special french toast breakfast for me and we enjoyed some Peeps (champagne and cranberry juice). I got to have a pedicure with a friend and then got to hang out with my babies. It was fantastic!

~Ahna

Springtime!

2011-05-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after a successful egg hunt, we headed down to the Tulip Fest. It was one of the first things we did last year when we moved here and it's very special for me. It was perfect to do it on Easter. It was cloudy and rainy on our way down there. But the moment we started our walk to the tulips, the rain stopped. Then the sun peeked out and we frolicked amongst the flowers (and then with impeccable timing, the rain started again once we got back in the car). Cooper was much more interested in the toys they had up by the gift shop so we headed back up there for him to play for a bit. He also enjoyed his first taste of McDonald's that day, chicken Mcnuggets. I poison tested one and oddly they don't taste as good as they did when I was a kid! We ordered our bulbs for next season, which should go quite well in the front yard of our NEW HOUSE! We move in at the end of this month and we couldn't be more excited. We found a house that will be a great fit for us and it's in a neighborhood we have loved since we moved here.

Later on in the week, we had some family friends in town for a visit. They were checking out all of Oregon and ended their trip with us. They had lots of fun playing with the kids and we took them to the Saturday Market yesterday before they left. Then we spent most of the rest of the day outside because it was gorgeous. Olivia modeled the new hat she got for Easter and spent some time eating grass. She's still like a puppy in many respects. She got some grass in her mouth (we took it out), then she tried to eat some that was still connected to the ground, like a baby cow. She is crawling all over now which makes being outside more difficult because she wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. The fun part about her crawling is that Cooper is so much more interested in actually playing with her now. He crawls away from her really fast and then goes around a corner, waits for her to catch up, and then peeks around the corner and surprises her. She thinks it's hilarious.

Next week, Cooper will be THREE! I can't believe how quickly time has gone by.

Enjoy the pictures!

~Ahna

April

2011-04-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

We've been spending quite a bit of time at the park the last couple of weekends. This park is right on the river. Cooper has quite a penchant for throwing rocks and sticks into the water. It's one of his new favorite things to do. Something else we've been doing?!?! Watching Olivia pull herself up! She knows how to crawl and goes at least half the distance of the goal before realizing she would MUCH rather scoot around on her belly army style. This morning, she was on the ground just hanging out and next thing I knew, she was standing up next to my leg, drooling away. Unbelievable!

We have tons of fun with them! Here are some pictures.

~Ahna

The Great Flood of 04'

2011-04-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago today, Arizona was getting over the worst flood it had ever had. Okay, I MIGHT be exaggerating. All I know is that it was enough rain to make me change the venue of my wedding the DAY BEFORE MY WEDDING. I'm a pretty laid back lady... it takes a lot to unnerve me... but this was totally unacceptable. In the end, of course, the place of the ceremony doesn't matter as much as what it's all about. Do I still get kinda mad when it rains on or around my anniversary? Yes. Don't get me wrong, I love it when it rains just not right around now.

We have enjoyed many years of laughter and love together. We've been to lots of new places together. We've brought two beautiful children into this world together. I get to hang out with Ryan all the time and I wouldn't ask for it any other way. To this day, he makes me laugh until I tear up and it is my mission in life to do the same to him. I am happier than I ever thought I could be.

So, three years from now when we are celebrating our 10th anniversary... I expect you all to be in my parents' backyard with bells on... that's right, we're doing it again. If it rains, then we will all be dancing in bare feet and getting wet. It'll be epic. It will mostly just be a HUGE party, but I'm definitely wearing my wedding dress. I'll even get it cleaned for the occasion. PS, let's hope Mom and Dad are copacetic with these plans!

Happy Anniversary, Love.

Wow

2011-03-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that it has already been a year since we moved to Portland. We love it here and still speak often about how happy we are that we made the decision to move. It does make our time in Arizona extra special as we don't get there nearly as often as we'd like to. We were able to make a quick trip down over St. Patrick's Day. We hadn't seen the family since Thanksgiving. Some of Ryan's family made a trip up to visit which made it even better.

St. Patrick's Day was a blast, as always. My Dad was playing this year so after the first part of the day at the Dubliner, we headed down to a bar in North Phoenix. It is so cool to watch him do something he really loves. He and the band played mostly Irish music (obviously, it WAS St. Patrick's Day!). I got to 'win' some free St. Patrick's Day flair and the day is never complete until I do so. I have a hat... I don't know if you all know this, it's a green hat. I won it MANY years ago at a bar in Vegas. I wear the hat every year and every year, I get compliments. I will never part with this hat... unless I find an exact replica. Two years ago, a girl offered me $100 to buy the hat, I said 'thanks but no thanks', she said, 'it's your loss' and I said, 'nay, I believe the loss is yours'. The year before that, the hat came in handy when I 'borrowed' some St. Patty's Day decorations from an Irish bar in Vegas that could neither be called A) Irish or B) a bar. They were serving NO Irish beer and were playing NO Irish music; the only thing they had were some sad looking decorations. My hat happens to have a hole in the top, it's the perfect place to put things if you don't have a purse... it was also the perfect location for some decorations that I use in my home to this day. St. Patrick's Day is a fantastic holiday.

We had a great time with Auntie and Uncs and got some quality time in with Josh and Brody. Brody and Cooper do SUCH a good job of tiring each other out. I can't wait to see them together again.

We also got to have Friday Night Party Night. The clan is ALOT bigger now with 6 kids running around. It's also a lot more work for the big kids who now call themselves parents to the little ones, have I lost you yet? Joshua, Dad to Brody; Colette and Jake, parents to Waylon and Toni; Courtney and Jon, parents to Connor; and us, parents to Cooper and Olivia. Back in the day when it was just Josh and me and Courtney and Colette, it was so much easier!!! Now, when we try to take pictures of the group... we get something like this. I don't know why we can't get 6 kids under the age of 5 to sit still for us to take 100 pictures of them... weird. Our time together is never long enough!

It was so great to visit everybody and it was also great to be home, back in Portland.

Here are some pictures from the trip!

~Ahna

Awesome

2011-02-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have heard about a little movie called... GOONIES. Yeah, it was a little known production out of Astoria, OR back in the 80's. A couple small stars that were in it, Mikey (Sean Astin), Brandon (Josh Brolin), and also, Sloth. When my cousin Steven was in town last weekend we drove out to the coast. We started at Canon Beach, it was REALLY windy there though so it didn't last long. We did stop at a toy store where Cooper got to play with this; a track not unlike the one he has at home, but that's beside the point. On our way to Astoria, Cooper looked like this. He was not happy that we took him away from the toy store! We got to Astoria in time for lunch, which was at a Brewery. On our way out of town, we were discussing the fact that Goonies was filmed in Astoria. At first I thought this maybe wasn't a big deal, but then I decided how it would be AWESOME to see the house that Goonies built. We pondered the best way to find the house when I gave the boys this nugget of information, 'Google it.' Sure enough, Google had the answer; it had the exact address actually. So away we went! About 5 minutes later we pulled up to this. Right when I got out of the car to run up the hill and take pictures the mailman was delivering mail. He said 'hello' as all strangers seem to do in this area and I said, 'How exciting, the Goonies house, huh!!!!?!?!' Ryan told me later that as he walked away from me, he was shaking his head in that 'what a crazy lady' way. On our way out of town, we also stopped by the jail (in the beginning of the movie, one of the bad guys gets broken out of the slammer), and the museum where Mikey's Dad worked.

It was certainly the highlight of my weekend (besides just my cousin being there with us!!). I made sure we completed the day by renting the movie and reminiscing. I proceeded to tell everyone I saw on Monday about it and how exciting it was. The town of Astoria is pretty cool too with a huge bridge and fun roads.

It turns out one of my favorite phrases comes from Sloth in that movie, 'HEY YOU GUYS!!!!!!' It was epic.

Cooper got into the 'holiday' spirit by making Valentine's Day cards, heart cookies, and chocolate covered strawberries or 'strawber-erries' as Cooper now calls them. We finished up our weekend in a neighborhood nearby with a lunch at a place called 'The Grilled Cheese Grill'. Delicious food, although, what grilled cheese sandwich isn't??

Pictures!

~Ahna

January

2011-01-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

It's funny, people keep telling us we won't see the sun for months now which is what makes Oregon winters so hard. But that sun keeps rearing its ugly face! We definitely take more advantage of it when it comes out and make sure to get the kids outside for walks and the park, etc. A few weeks ago, we found out that the Chinese Gardens had free admission for the day! We packed up the kids and headed out... to downtown Portland. The gardens are literally in the middle of downtown. We were trying to find a place to park and I was staring at all these tall skyscrapers and hotels and even said to Ryan, 'well, I don't get it... is it on top of one of the buildings?' We found it though and not on top of a building. It's surrounded by solid white walls but inside it's gorgeous! I want to go back in the spring because I can imagine the colors are beautiful. It was a small enough area that we could kind of let Cooper run around without losing him and we even sat down and had some lunch there!

The weekend after that, Bryce and Amanda (brother in law and girlfriend) came to visit. Bryce-y Bryce's birthday is right after Christmas, so Amanda got him tickets to come visit as a surprise! They love Portland and have talked about moving here. We would, of course, be elated if that happened! We spent the weekend walking around downtown and checking out the sites. We even got a chance to go out to dinner with them, without the kiddos!

Cooper is more and more of a little boy and less of a baby. Sometimes when I get home from work, it's like he's actually become more of a boy in just a day. He keeps us on our toes and laughing all the time. He can repeat lines from books to us and does so out of the blue. Last night, we were getting dinner ready and Ryan said, 'noses are good for making holes', and Cooper finished, 'in trees, and roofs, and barber poles'! He typically does it unprompted, and it's hilarious.

Olivia is crazy! She is really cute and quite smiley. She LOVES watching everything Cooper and every night when we put her to bed, we have him give her a kiss and hug and she actually reaches for him and nuzzles into his face. Someday they'll fight, but right now, it is beautiful to watch.

Here are some pictures!

~Ahna

Was Santa good to you??

2011-01-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

Cooper was REALLY into it this year. He helped Ryan put out the cookies and milk for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer) and he got really excited for Christmas morning. Usually he just knocks on his door for us to come get him, but on Christmas morning he started opening the door! But we weren't ready! This was our first Christmas waking up in our own house and the first Christmas that Cooper had somewhat of an idea of what was going on. We couldn't miss his face on Christmas morning, seeing all the presents that the Big Guy had left for him and Baby Sister! I successfully held him hostage in his room for about 1.2 minutes until I heard Ryan tell me he was ready and then I let him go out. The video is kind of dark so I won't post it, but he just had this big, confused smile on his face! The first thing he did after staring in awe at the presents was walk right over to his Dad and give him a big hug. Then we were off!! Cooper got to help open all of Olivia's presents this year so he had a lot of work to do! He seemed so grateful for every present, taking time to play with each one after it was opened. We were so excited watching him that it took us a really long time to open our presents too!

I made pull apart (monkey bread, sticky buns, whatever you might call it) the night before, so we snacked on that while opening presents and we had a fire going by the time we started our stockings! Santa was good to ALL of us this year and we had lots of family send boxes to us for the kids. After we put the kids down, we sat on the couch with some wine and a fire. It was a wonderful weekend and great holiday. Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

~Ahna

Holiday Fun!

2010-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

On our date night last weekend, we found a Christmas light display close to the house. We decided to take the kids back this weekend to check it out! It was in an historic building (a really old house!) up in the north part of town. They had a big backyard full of lights and the house was all decorated as well. There was also a gazebo out back that was closed in where they had hot chocolate and hot apple cider and... a HUGE train track with a village! Cooper's favorite thing right now is Thomas and Friends so he was of course delighted when the train that flew past him was the bright red James from the show! He talked about it for the rest of the night. We are going to check out another light display later on this week before Christmas.

Ryan and I got to leave the kids AGAIN this week to go on a boat cruise down the river. It was with my company but really I just went to see the all the lights! The boats get all decorated and go up and down the river each night so our boat floated by them. It was so cool to see them all and to see the whole Portland skyline at night. What a cool trip!

This morning we got up and decided to make some new cookies that Ryan found. Cooper has gotten really involved in helping us in the kitchen. We noticed that when he helps us make our dinner, he ends up eating a whole lot more! So, we all squeezed together in our tiny kitchen to make cookies and they turned out DELICIOUS! If Santa is really lucky, there will be a couple left on Friday night that we can leave out for him.

In other news, Olivia has started eating/spitting out cereal. She has also become quite adept at sucking on her big toe, or her entire foot depending on the angle. Cooper has done a good job at finding all the Christmas presents in our room, whether they are wrapped or not. The other day, he tried to convince our friend that there were 'presents in Momma and Dadda's room for you'. What a little manipulator we have!! Oh AND, I taught myself how to crochet some hats... and this is what I made!

Hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas week, I know we will!

~ Ryan & Ahna

Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum

2010-12-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

This year, Ryan and I packed up the kids for the long trek to get our Christmas tree... and then an hour later we were home! We still got to cut down our own tree, but it didn't take a three hour drive to Utah and a half a day walking through knee deep snow. Don't get me wrong, that has it's perks... but this was SO GREAT! Especially with two babies! We went to a Christmas Tree farm and walked up and down rows of trees that were made just for the purpose of being put in your living room. Oregon is the number two state in the country for christmas tree production (I'm sure that statistic is at least close to accurate!), so they definitely know how to make em' up here! We spent the day decorating and listening to Christmas tunes. We also tried, unsuccessfully, for the PERFECT picture for our holiday cards. This proved to be fairly difficult so we called it a day and spent the rest of the night inside!

This weekend Ryan and I got to go on our first date since moving to Portland! We had some friends come over and watch the kids and we went to a play. It was fantastic and wonderful and so nice to get out of the house by ourselves. We even spent a good portion of the night talking about things besides kids!

Olivia is getting so loud now that we have trouble having conversations when she is around. When we put her on the floor, she rolls over almost immediately to her stomach, but then realizes she doesn't actually like it there and starts to whine. She lifts her head and her feet (imagine the boat pose in yoga) and rocks from side to side. It's quite a predicament for her as she obviously likes to roll over just because she can only it is just not the position she wants to be in long term! I will post some videos of her doing this soon.

We have talked to Santa about all of the necessities for this Christmas and while the magic hasn't faded, I understand a little bit more about the stresses of being one of Santa's elves. As I type, Ryan is diligently working on some decals for a toy for Cooper. I think maybe we'll look for things that are already assembled in the future... I mean, that exists right?!?! Cooper was eating dinner last night and he looked up and said, 'Trick or Treat is all gone... now it's Happy Holidays!' The best was the other night when our friends were over, he picked up his drink and said, 'Cheers! Happy Holidays!' If only we had a video camera constantly going at our house, we'd edit the boring parts and just let people hear what he says!

~Ahna

Thanksgiving

2010-12-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

What a week we had! We won't be in AZ for Christmas this year so we had to make the most of our time while we were there for Turkey Day. We left Portland in the snow and woke up to 75 degree weather in Phoenix the next day! We drove to Tucson for the first part of our trip. Our first night there was a special dinner with just the five brothers and their better halves. We spent the whole night eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves; we even got a game in! The picture above is the table that Emily decorated (my newest sister!), she did such a beautiful job! Ryan has a great relationship with his brothers and it is always so awesome to watch them together and know that I get to be a part of their family forever. Thanksgiving was wonderful at Gran's house as always. We helped her set up and had the whole family over. Then we got to spend some time at my sister in law's house with her parents. We tend to overdo while we are in town, making the most of our time and trying to see as many people as possible. Ryan even had the opportunity to go flying over Tucson with his friend Matt.

We said our goodbyes and headed up to Phoenix for a second Thanksgiving and some time with my family. We did the obligatory family picture, which is getting bigger every year! This year we had a hard time fitting everybody in the photo! We decorated Christmas cookies with Auntie and Uncs and had some great food at Mom and Dad's later that day. Luckily Cooper got some much needed Brody time in. Brody was battling a cold and we weren't sure if he would make it over, but Dad took one for the team and wore a mask for most of the day. There was some McKiernan/Smith fun to be had and what is a holiday without that?!?! We also got to see our friend Laura and her new baby girl, Jocelyn. She is about seven weeks younger than Olivia. I spent a lot of the Thanksgiving holiday remembering being around all these people when I was 12 and 14 and feeling like it was yesterday and now we are all married and having babies of our own.

We were lucky to be able to take as much time as we did especially because we won't be down in AZ again for many months. By the time we go back, Olivia may just be walking! She's a really strong baby and is spending most of her time talking to us with shrieks and rolling around on the ground. We have already gotten out of the stage where we can leave her on the couch to go get things done. Within minutes, she is teetering on the edge and dangerously close to falling. Lack of movement... it was fun while it lasted.

~Ahna

Oh Sundays...

2010-11-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

Cooper loves to lay where 'baby sister' is. I sent him out to the family room this morning while I went into the office and I heard him say 'good morning baby sister' and give her a kiss. It's
adorable.

~Ahna

Wedding Weekend Part 2

2010-11-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

We've got a little three-fer for you today. This blog is about our weekend in Iowa to watch the Pretties get married, Halloween, and a lovely fall! We flew to Chicago a mere two days after they got hit with the worst storm in 4 decades or something like that, then rented a car and drove a couple hours to Clinton, Iowa; hometown to Jill Patterson, nee Elsasser. That was the setting for their wedding. We call them the Pretties because they are just that, really ridiculously good looking. We met Jill and Brandon in Vegas and became very close. They moved away shortly after Cooper was born and we were so sad to see them go. They are amazing people and a great couple. Jill planned almost the whole wedding and it was beautiful. We got to join them on the 'party bus' (I think this is a midwest tradition that should make its way into cities nationwide) which went to a few locations for pictures after the ceremony but before the reception. Her dress was gorgeous and everyone kept saying she should be on the cover of a bridal magazine!

We had tons of fun on our first weekend away from the kids. While we were there, Auntie and Uncs came up to stay with Cooper and Olivia. They got Cooper well prepared for Halloween by making cookies and teaching him to say things like 'trick or treat' and 'Happy Halloween'!

We got home Sunday afternoon, just in time to carve pumpkins and get the kids ready for trick or treating. Olivia sat this year out, she stayed home with Uncs to hand out candy while we went to a few houses on the block. Cooper did awesome, saying 'trick or treat' at each house and then 'thank you' or 'Happy Halloween' after getting his candy. We weren't sure what to expect for trick or treaters because our neighborhood down in Vegas didn't get too many kids (we were all the way at the end of a cul-de-sac full of houses that kept their lights off!). I bought a 3 1/2 pound bag of candy assuming I'd take half of it to work the next day but we were ALL out by 8 o'clock! We weren't even handing out that much to each kid! By about 7, we were handing out no more than two pieces each. Cooper was a lion for Halloween and Olivia was a monkey. Cooper was a monkey for his first Halloween and seeing as how it was only worn for a few minutes, I thought it would be okay. I won't always make Olivia wear what Cooper used to wear, I promise! Although, the lion outfit was worn by Brody a couple years ago, so I'm sure I could get one more use out of it next year! Truth be told we were originally going to have Cooper be a ghost, but he ended up not wanting to have a sheet over his head (shocker), so luckily I had the lion on standby.

Fall is in the air here in Portland, tons of leaves have changed color and the sun is making less of an appearance (though it does still come out at least once a day). We have already made a few batches of pumpkin bread and cuddled up to more than one cozy fire. Before we know it, another holiday season will have come and gone! It has gotten crispy outside and colder, of course. We spent the weekend enjoying the weather, checking out a new park, and changing our clocks back (Oh Arizona, you are so smart for not getting involved in that pesky daylight savings shenanigans... I envy you). We took some pictures of the leaves and by we, I mean Ryan. He takes some awesome pictures!

~Ahna

Wedding Weekend Part 1

2010-10-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

We spent a wonderful, albeit warm weekend in Arizona. Dad was in the hospital celebrating the birth of some new cells inside his body and there was a wedding to attend! When we got off the plane at 10:30 Wednesday night and felt the blast of 93 degree heat that hit us, we were in shock. I mean really people, it's mid-October already, I think even those that LOVE the heat are wondering when it will end!

We got to see Dad for a bit Thursday morning before heading to Tucson for the wedding. Ryan's brother, Kyle was getting married and the whole family was excited. Kyle and Emily are a fantastic match and we couldn't wait for the big event. Friday was the rehearsal and it poured rain for a little bit before we started the practice rounds. While I love the rain, it brought back some not so fond memories of a time about 6 1/2 years ago when we were forced to move to plan B at our wedding. Sadly, we had no plan B and why would we, it just didn't rain enough in Arizona in April to need a plan B for an outdoor wedding. If anything, we had to worry about being too hot. But I digress...

A couple of nights before the wedding, Ryan got to attend the bachelor party and I hung out with the blushing bride. The wedding was at a gorgeous house with lots of outdoor areas for cocktail hour and dinner and dancing, it was just beautiful. Kyle and Emily asked Cooper to be the ring bearer so he walked down the aisle with the flower girl (our niece Jalyn). It was adorable, they were a hit! The ceremony was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We had a great breakfast Sunday morning with Ryan's grandma and then headed back up to Phoenix for the afternoon.

Brody was over so we got some long awaited pictures of the three kids. The boys got to play together and Olivia did what she does best... sleep (oh, and cry too!). We also got to see Dad again for a little bit. That guy is an anomaly. He doesn't look the least bit sick. If anybody saw him walking around the hospital, they would probably think he was a doctor, not a patient. He just looks and acts like a perfectly healthy Papa. The news right now is he will be headed home sooner than expected so we cannot wait for our trip down at Thanksgiving when we will get to see him at HOME where all is right with the world. I know both Mom and Dad are excited to get to the next chapter in their lives together.

Enjoy pictures from the weekend, I know we did!

~Ahna

Happy Fall

2010-10-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was our final weekend of "retirement" meaning Ahna's last weekend of maternity leave - we decided (of course!) to try to make the most of it; we spent Friday night with my cousin Billy and his wife Brynne and their four month old baby girl, Claude. We didn't take pictures and realized that while it's great to spend time together, we are still all getting used to babies, so our time together seems rushed and never enough!

On Saturday we headed to one of our favorite parks to attempt some updated Cooper and Olivia photos. We definitely tend to underestimate the amount of energy Cooper likes to expend when he is let out into the open. I had this semi-romantical idea that Cooper would stay put for more than one second and pose lovingly next to his baby sister during which time I would be able to take many adorable, tear-inducing photos. While Cooper DID manage to stay put for a little while, we also got to do a little WRESTLING him into submission, CHASING after him (there are many photos of the back of Cooper's head in our photos, just look around), and even tending to a scene of PUBLIC URINATION. Jeez, I honestly don't understand where the phrase 'terrible two' came from. I guess our disposition allows us to see Cooper more like the best investment ever made -- he gets exponentially cuter with each passing day!

On Sunday, we found a gold mine. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry has really cheap admission on the first Sunday of every month, so we took advantage of the deal!! We all got in for $6 when usually it would cost us close to $30!! We had no idea what to expect but it was fantastic! We hit the kids discovery area first and let Cooper play with cars and water and blocks, and of course, his trademark lining things up in neat rows, oh my... the museum was awesome especially for the deal we got because we couldn't stay too long with the two little ones. We will definitely take advantage of that deal again. I love finding fun things like that to do, ESPECIALLY when they're cheap!

Photos

~ Ryan & Ahna

A Vacation from our Vacation

2010-09-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog comes from my days back in Vegas. Upon my return to work after giving birth to Cooper I was in a meeting where a person made a comment about me 'essentially coming back from vacation'. I turned to him and said 'believe me, being home with an infant is no vacation'. So, about a week ago, we got to take a 'vacation' away from home and the 'vacation' I've been on since Olivia was born! We flew to Phoenix (Olivia's first flight) and got to see Nonna and Papa. Olivia and Papa had never met and oh what a magic touch he has. Whenever she was fussy, I gave her to him. Where are Nonna and Papa when we need them at 2:00 am??!? We spent about a day in Phoenix and then drove up to Pinetop to visit with our Gran/Great Gran. We've been going every year now since we were married and it is a week that we look forward to for months ahead of time. We spend time with her at the cabin, we get massages, we go for walks, we take hikes; it is truly a relaxing and wonderful time every year. It is one of our favorite places. We took our annual trip to Greer and went hiking for the day where Cooper decided to get in the creek. He was too little last year but was definitely interested in trying it out this time. However, the first part of it was really muddy and I wasn't sure how deep so I took my socks and shoes off, hiked up my jeans and took him in. I've never been a big fan of wet clothes and I hate wet jeans even worse. Was I nervous about dropping Cooper in the creek and getting completely soaked? No. But I was nervous about getting the bottoms of my jeans wet and the possible icky feeling of that!! The things we do for our kids... he had a great time and ended up getting his shorts soaked (but not because I dropped him, phew).

This picture reminds me of a story. Ahh yes, we were headed home from lunch (it was a short two minute drive in the club where Gran lives) when Ryan pointed out what seemed to be a bee buzzing around her windshield. She started to close the sun roof so he wouldn't get in, when he came up with some sort of super bee speed of light flying and LITERALLY dove and crashed into my chest. I thought he bounced off... but then I felt some tickling inside my shirt. Yes, the bee had flown so dangerously close that he landed inside my shirt. I have zero affinity for bees, I thought for sure after reading The Secret Life of Bees I would be less inclined to detest them as I do. Sadly, that was not the case. I felt as closely as I could to him and PINCHED him between my fingers. You'd think that would kill him but he was apparently a very strong YELLOW JACKET and was still trying to find the best spot to sting me, I just know it. So, by this time, Gran has stopped the car so I could jump out and do a fun dance to get him out of my shirt. I narrowly escaped near death without question. Bees, pshhh...

After about a week in Pinetop, we drove back down to Phoenix where a multitude of people and parties awaited us. Apparently, we're kind of a big deal... or I should say, the kids are! First, we had Friday night Party Night with the Smiths (now the Smiths/Pickards/Kolsons) and some really old family friends from Wisconsin, the Tuttles (which is not to say they are actually really old, just that they've been friends with my parents since college). It was just wonderful to see all of them. Of the group, we had three brand new babies, Toni (born 7/1), Olivia (8/4), and Connor (9/9... awesome day). We took tons of pictures, I'm talking paparazzi amounts of pictures of the three of them and the group of us with all our kids. I thought there would be hundreds of great pictures, but it turns out that it's REALLY hard to get a good group shot when there are three new babies, a two year old, and a three year old. It was just practice for next time!

The next day, we had a little open house so some family and friends could come meet Olivia. It wasn't too big as we were trying to be careful about too many people around Dad and it was just lovely. Everyone was there to see her and hold her and eat good food! On Sunday, we spent time with the Hadleys because they couldn't make it Saturday. It was good to see them as always. I always have a great time with the Hadleys and I laugh A LOT!

Our long week came to an end Monday when we had to head back to Oregon. For the first time ever though it was a bittersweet goodbye. Whenever we lived in Vegas we would get sad for a whole day before leaving family because it was never really a place we wanted to be. This time, leaving just felt different. We were sad, so sad to say goodbye to the family, but we were really excited to get back 'home'. For the first time since leaving our childhood homes, we feel comfortable calling somewhere else home. We are forever indebted to both our families for being so supportive with our move an we only hope that Southwest will keep having phenomenal deals to get us back to Phoenix and Tucson for multiple visits each year!

Enjoy the pictures!

~Ahna

Labor Day Weekend!

2010-09-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Oh man... we have been out and about this weekend! The other day there was a free concert in the park down by the waterfront... it was the Oregon Symphony!! We LOVE free stuff and there seems to be a lot of it here in town. I do, however, make the mistake of thinking we are the only people who like free stuff, so when the concert started at 7 and I said, 'oh we'll just get there around 7 or 7:15', this is what we saw. Whoops, apparently EVERYBODY likes free stuff! When they played the 1812 Overture, there was an army unit there shooting off cannons in time with the music. It was in the evening and because it was close to Cooper's bed time we didn't stay long.

Then we went found a new park near our house that is actually hundreds of acres of hiking trails! It was so much fun! We are headed there again today for another hike with Cooper. He seems to like it and while we were on the hike, there was a mom there with her son and they saw us and said, 'are you guys slug hunting too?'. Sure enough about 100 yards later, there was a HUGE slug right on the path. So then Cooper thought pretty much every leaf and piece of dirt was a slug for the rest of the trip!

On Sunday, we took a drive up to Seattle to visit my cousin Merle, his wife Sarah, and their baby Tea (pronounced Tay-uh). We hadn't been up to Seattle since we moved here and it's only about a 3 hour drive (as long as you don't hit traffic). There is a park right by their house and right by the beach so we had Cooper play there for a bit to tire him out and he went down the slide all by himself for the first time!! Then the kids fell asleep in their strollers while we walked... and walked... and walked! It was so beautiful! At one point, we spotted a baby seal just hanging out on the beach getting a sun tan. By the time we walked back, someone had come and put caution tape up around the seal so no one would touch it! It was the first time I got to meet Tea and Cooper just loved her! Hopefully we can see them again soon so they can play.

Ryan and I also get to celebrate 9 years together this weekend and what fun it's been! Happy Labor Day everybody! Pictures here.

~Ahna

Shoes!

2010-08-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

At some point a few months ago, I noticed that Cooper had a shoe fetish. If he sees shoes, he makes sure that the left and right are together and perfectly lined up. But the funnier thing is that when he sees shoes, ANY shoes, he will put them on. Sometimes they are on the right feet and sometimes not, but regardless, he will put them on and walk a few feet in them before realizing it's more difficult to do when they are about 4 times the size of your foot. I have taken the liberty of capturing some of these moments on photo and thought I'd share them! He is just so fun!

~Ahna

What We've Been Up To!

2010-08-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

We've mostly just been hanging out and enjoying ourselves. We love having Olivia around and Cooper seems to love her as well. He is still stuck on wanting to hug, kiss, and hold her. There are only a few moments that he has gotten upset with having a new baby sister!

We spent a few afternoons up at the beach where two different rivers meet. We had to go there to get out of the heat! Olivia was only about a week old at that point. We drove out to the Coast one day, we checked out the parks so Cooper could play in the water, and today we stopped by the children's museum and had a ball.

It's hard to say if we take as many pictures of Olivia as we did of Cooper... Cooper seems to be in most of our pictures with Olivia! He just likes being a big brother.

~Ahna

Our Sweet Olivia

2010-08-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

At 2:47pm on Wednesday August 4th, Olivia Marie joined our family. We were 39 and a half weeks and she joined the world exactly 5 days early, just like her big brother. The similarities end there as she was almost two pounds bigger (8/3!!) and 2 inches longer (20 3/4"). The most surprising detail was that she was born with a full head of hair! Her middle name is after Ryan's grandmother Lois Marie and great grandmother, Gwyn Marie. Mamong or Gran as we call her is a wonderful and amazing part of our lives. Back when we were celebrating my birthday we went hiking and spoke about names for just a few minutes. Because we named Cooper after my side of the family (Michael, after my Dad), we felt like it would be nice to pay homage to part of Ryan's family as well especially because of the relationship we both share with Ryan's grandmother. Gran will get to meet her namesake in about 6 weeks when we take our annual trip to Pinetop in September.

Cooper has been absolutely amazing. He is constantly asking to hold his baby sister and wants to give her kisses and hugs as well. He usually wants to give Olivia a binkie, kind of like he is saying "this is good stuff baby sister, trust me." He seems to be quite protective of her, and he gets really concerned when she cries, saying "she's crying" in his Cooper language. When Cooper and Olivia are in the same room, it is constant borderline cuteness overload, and sometimes it goes into full-on cuteness explosion, causing tears of joy in any adults in the room with a pulse.

Enjoy photos

~Ahna & Ryan

More Berries!

2010-07-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed back to the farm!! New berries are in season, so we spent some time picking raspberries, boysenberries, and marionberries. What are marionberries? I'm glad you asked. It's a hybrid berry that was invented here in Oregon, but more importantly... They. Are. DELICIOUS. It was more enjoyable picking these berries because they grow from the ground up so I did not have to try and bend down for hours on end!

On Sunday, we spent some time at a jazz festival here in our neighborhood. It's free which you can't beat and tons of people just showed up for an all day party. It was at a park by our house that we hadn't been to yet and it runs right into one of the rivers here in town. As soon as Cooper saw the water, he diverted from our original plan to throw some rocks.

It was another great weekend! Only a few more weeks before the Bean is here and we are slowly getting ourselves prepared! I added a picture of my belly taken yesterday at 37 weeks.

~Ahna

Fun Visit!

2010-07-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend our friend Kara came to visit. She has lived in Phoenix since we graduated but has always loved the northwest... so I did my best to convince her to move here! On Friday night we went to dinner and a concert in the park. Because the summers are really nice, there are always concerts or movies or things going on in the parks across the city, so we tried that out. We got Cooper to dance a little bit and it was really nice to not be in the hot house!

On Saturday, we went down to the waterfront, which is just a fun place to hang out and on Saturdays in the summer they have an arts and crafts market... AND there is an awesome water feature. I think these are so fun for Cooper and was so excited when we found that! I immediately took off his clothes and let him go in... and yes, his shorts are a bit big, but don't worry, they didn't stay on long! He loved it and was running around to all the water shooting up at him. It was so fun. After his nap on Saturday, we went to one of the biggest street fairs in the state on Mississippi Street. It was really hot again, but we cooled down in the shade with some snow cones and lemonade. Ryan grilled lots of good food for us to enjoy when we got home!

Sunday was all planned out. It was the World Cup Final! There is a square in downtown Portland where they were playing the game on the big screen so Kara and I packed Cooper up and headed that way. We got there in plenty of time... only it appears there were TONS of other people that had the same idea. We walked around the square for a minute to find a place to sit, but such a place did not exist. Apparently soccer is kind of a big deal here. After trying about three more places to watch the game, we made it home for Cooper's nap and the second half. Well, we tried. After Cooper's nap, we drove up to Washington Park, one of our favorite places. There is only a little time left for the roses there, so we walked around and took Cooper to the playground, where he let us know it might be time to go.

It was such a fun weekend and we can't wait to have Kara visit again! Cooper asks for her at least two times a day!

~Ahna

Weekends of Shenanigans

2010-07-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

We've just been hanging out. A couple weekends ago, we went to an Organic Brew Festival for a little while. Cooper played on the playground... so did some of our friends. The boys enjoyed some organic brew and I enjoyed some people watching. We spent the fourth of July watching our neighbors light off fireworks and watching the real fireworks on TV (it doesn't get dark enough to do fireworks until after 10 here, so it wasn't really an option to take Cooper anywhere).

We got to hang out at another fun park with a rose garden and playground. This week, temperatures are dangerously close to the 100 degree mark, which would be fine except there are many, many houses in Portland with no air (it's usually only a necessity for about three weeks throughout the summer)... our house is one of them. Yucky pucky. Luckily, it cools down in the evenings but wow, it is definitely uncomfortable for a few hours in the afternoons.

Enjoy some of our random pictures!

~Ahna

Strawberry Fields Forever

2010-06-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

As I write this I am suffering from a strawberry coma. Yesterday we drove south of Portland about an hour to a Strawberry Festival! It was really just a farm where you can pick your own strawberries, but this farm had all their animals out for the kids to see and feed. For Cooper, picking the strawberries was kind of a sidenote! He couldn't get enough of the animals. We finally pulled him away and walked toward the field of berries and got started. Cooper is at the perfect height for finding berries because you have to get under the green... only he couldn't quite comprehend which berries to pick. Sometimes he just tried to pick up ones from the ground that had been stepped on! He got a quick 'yucky pucky' from us for that. Once we realized that Cooper wouldn't be much help in the picking department, we had him hold the basket and just handed him our strawberries. It worked out really well until Ryan found the perfect strawberry to eat and had Cooper take a bite. Then Cooper thought he should just be eating whatever strawberries ended up in his basket!! It ended up being quite a bit more of a workout than expected, my back definitely needed a massage by the days end.

This morning we woke up and Ryan made breakfast (I know, I know, it's Father's Day, but he loves to cook). We opened up Father's Day presents and decided to take a drive north of town to a place called Sauvie Island. It's also known for it's farms as well as quite a few wildlife areas and outdoor fun. It was raining most of the day, but the drive there was quite nice. There was a lavender farm where we were going to pick our own FLOWERS... except it was closed. So, we went to the other farm we had read about and... picked more berries! What!??! That's right, we had at least a half of a flat at home and we picked another little basket worth of berries. The part I mentioned about it raining made this picking just a bit more fun. Why you ask?? Because most of the berries had been washed off by the rain. So, it was more like a strawberry for the basket and a strawberry for me and so on and so forth. We were going to pick raspberries but got waylaid by the strawberries and just ended up with those. The little basket we picked would run about $2.50 in the stores... it cost us $1.13! Sadly, the berries didn't make it home. We ate them all in the car on the way!

Then we made dinner, followed by a dessert of strawberry smoothies! Hopefully, we don't break out in hives. Happy Father's Day!

~Ahna

Phoenix Weekend

2010-06-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

We got to make a quick trip to Phoenix last weekend... one more trip before the Bean will keep me grounded (don't think we're trying to hide the name from you because we keep calling her the Bean... we just have LITERALLY no idea what to name her). Dad got out of the hospital two weeks ago Sunday so our weekend there was his first weekend home. He got to have both his grandson's there and the rest of the family. There was no better place to be. Dad has gone into remission, his last biopsy came back clear. It's celebratory news to say the least and we are keeping our fingers crossed and spirits up for the next part of the journey. He will go in for chemo next week (just to make sure the bad guys stay away) and then we wait... wait until a donor is available for a transplant. He looked absolutely wonderful and is still wearing his bald head quite beautifully.

Our boys got to play together all weekend. It is so fun to watch them together, even at two years apart, they spent every moment together. They even made sure to have their shirts and/or pants off at the same time... and at one point we heard them discussing what characters were on their underwear (Brody had Cars and Cooper had Sesame Street, and yes, I fully expect them to be embarrassed by this story someday)!! It was ridiculously HOT there, which is not a surprise considering it's June in Phoenix. I must have already acclimated to the moisture because I could not get enough water down my gullet! We spent as much time as possible in the pool. I'm thinking we need some lessons for Cooper, maybe this summer would work. They both seemed to love the water though.

We got to see our good friends Laura and Rusty and their two boys (with a girl on the way in October) AND we got to visit with Colette-y and the Pickard clan for a couple hours at her baby shower. Toni is only a few weeks away from arrival and everyone looked great. This picture is of me, Colette, and Courtney, each of us is due one month apart (Colette is July 1, I'm August 8th, and Courtney is September 11th). Cooper got to play with Waylon for a little bit, but there were lots of kids so it was a bit overwhelming!

It was a great weekend to be with family and friends but Ryan and I were both elated to land back in Portland where it was 68 degrees... I think we might be in our dream spot! PS, for those who would like to visit... I suggest coming anytime between now and November, it's only going to be gorgeous!

~Ahna

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after Cooper's nap we headed to what will I think will become one of our favorite places, if it hasn't already. Washington Park. This is a view from the top. And this is a view from inside the rose garden. It is gorgeous there. The sun broke through a few times and Cooper loved being able to jump in the puddles and get wet! There is this area you can walk through that is full of roses and they start blooming in mid May. You can walk through the whole area and see beautiful flowers until about July so I can imagine we'll be back there soon.

This morning after breakfast, we packed up again and headed out to the Coast. It's about an hour and a half trip to get to the beach and the drive out there is amazing. We kept saying all the places it reminded us of (Ireland, Scotland, Greer AZ) and then got excited all over again about the fact that we live here now! It was the first time we saw pine trees on the beach. It was hard to believe that when looking straight ahead of you in the car, you saw green trees and rolling hills but then there was an ocean right out your window. The Coast was beautiful, albeit misty. We saw Haystack Rock, one of the largest coastal monoliths in the world. Cooper was enjoying the sand everywhere, including in his mouth. It was too cold to get in the water, but he definitely tried to break free from us a few times and get there. He's getting mischievous as he ages. We ate lunch at a brewery in Cannon Beach and then drove down a little further along the coast to Tillamook (you know... where they make the CHEESE!). I thought for sure they would have tons of cows that they milk to get their cheese and ice cream, but it turns out they just have 1.7 millions gallons of milk brought in EVERYDAY to make their goods. We had to sample the ice cream just to see if it was any better from the factory; it's delicious! After that, we headed back to Portland on another gorgeous drive through the country. We didn't take nearly enough pictures but we will definitely be going back.

~Ahna & Ryan

PS

"A Haiku by Ryan Ward"

Pretty Oregon
Where have you been all my life?
I love your greenness

--Bet you didn't see that little gem coming, did you?

What We've Been up to

2010-05-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been spending many of our weekends outside exploring the city. I thought I'd better get a blog up before we take off on our next adventure. We're driving to the coast this weekend for a day trip! We are very excited!

A couple weeks ago the weather was gorgeous for about 5 days straight. During one of those glorious days, Ryan and Cooper came and stole me from work for a picnic at the park! The park was up by the river so we got to see a 'big boat' (as Cooper likes to call them) come in to the harbor. That weekend, we went to the Hoyt Arboretum here in town. It's basically a huge park with all the local trees, bushes, and flowers. It was a gorgeous day and there were lots of people just enjoying the weather.

Then, last weekend we went to a botanical garden that is maintained by some old residents of Portland on the outskirts of town. It was like a huge forest with a creek running through it and it was all FREE! There was this whole area on how to do compost (that's right, lots of environmentally friendly people up here!), and then on our way back around to the car... there were two deer following us! We got some good pictures. Cooper wanted to try and pet them but luckily they were a bit too far away so even at a dead sprint, there was plenty of space between them! Cooper is still learning to excel at running but it's funny to watch him try!

The weather has been crazy all week with tons of rain today, but it must be okay because I still get a big smile on my face when it's raining outside!

Happy Memorial Day weekend everybody!!

~Ahna

Cooper is TWO!

2010-05-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Cooper turned two last weekend. We had a great weekend celebrating. Friday was the actual day, so when I got home from work, we had dinner, presents, and CAKE! We actually made him 'blondies' which turned out fantastic. Ryan said I under baked them but I mean really, a half baked cookie is THE way to go! On Saturday we went to the pet store to get Cooper's gift from us... a fish! He loves animals and I have wanted to get him a fish for his room since he was really little. He says 'night night fishie' every night and every morning says, 'feed fishie??'. We also spent some time in the park, which I can see us doing on most weekends for the foreseeable future as the weather has gotten gorgeous here.

Sunday was Mother's Day. It started with some delicious crepes made by Ryan... then I got to open MY present!!! Oh man, I got a game that I've been wanting for months now! It's called Just Dance and it's for the Wii. It's hilarious, or I should say I LOOK hilarious dancing to it. I am 6 months pregnant, so I can imagine people that might catch a glimpse of a ginormous pregnant lady rocking out to the TV would think it's quite comical. It was a great day and a fantastic weekend!

~Ahna

POPS

2010-05-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

I know I'm not alone here when I say that my Dad is hands down the most amazing person I've ever known. I got to spend the weekend with him and my Mom on a spontaneous visit. You may or may not know he was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). He was even, for lack of a better term, adorable when he broke the news to me over the phone. He said, 'well, it's not exactly good news.' I laughed when I thought about the conversation later because I am entirely certain the news should have been laden with lots of profanity and expletives; not delivered in a calm and cool demeanor, but that's my Dad.

Over the years, Ryan and I have gotten to know my parents more as people and have come to cherish our time with them. In making our decision to move to Portland, being further away from them was the hardest part. Not everybody gets along with their family like we do and while we all have our weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, our strengths come together beautifully in a crisis. My Dad is stuck in the hospital for a minimum of six weeks at this point, he's on week three. My Aunt and Uncle have been there almost every other day and every single day on the weekends. They've brought my brother and our nephew to come visit and driven countless miles back and forth, just to be with my Dad. My Mom is inherently upbeat; she exudes positivity from every pore in her body. She has been so strong and solid for him through this it's unbelievable. She spends most all her days there and some of her nights, but it's not just because my Dad needs it, it's just where she wants to be. My parents aren't the sort of people who are meant to be apart. You look at them and think what a wonderful couple they are and then to watch them through this and actually see them grow stronger is amazing. Each day we got to that hospital room, my Dad lit up to see my Mom come through the door, and while they have always been that way, it's still nice to see it after so many years. He makes my Mom happy and I think that's actually all it takes to make him happy. This weekend we were talking about marriage and he said 'you have to choose your mate wisely'. He told me when Ryan asked for my hand in marriage, he asked him why he thought we could make it work and Ryan said, 'I think I can always make her laugh'. He told Ryan that was good because all he cared about was that I would be taken care of and that I would be happy. My Dad is amazing for a plethora of reasons, not the least one being that he just wants to see his family happy.

I kept trying to prepare myself for this really sick person in a hospital gown with cords and needles and the like attached all over his body. So walking down the hallway to his room, I was taking lots of deep breaths. When I walked in the door, this is what I saw... He was dressed to the nines (as he always is) and he was just my Dad. I didn't even pretend to shed a tear during the long hug I got from him. We were able to walk down to the patio and have some coffee and talk about everything that was going on. The only difference was that it wasn't our patio at home, he hasn't seen that patio for three weeks; but he will again soon. The next day, my brother came up and we had a head shaving ceremony (you can see pictures at www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelhmckiernan). And wouldn't you know... my Dad looks G-O-O-D. Of course he has a perfectly shaped head and no weird bumps or dents so it's as if he just decided to cut off his ponytail and go hairless for the summer heat. It was not as if he was losing his hair already due to chemo. He actually looks perfectly healthy. It doesn't make sense that he's sick on the inside because he's SO not on the outside. He's so strong for me and for my Mom, so when something little happens; a bloody nose, or putting on a mask to leave the room, it takes me by surprise because it's only then that I remember he can't just escape the walls of this hospital whenever he wants to. I met lots of his nurses and doctors while I was there and many of them hugged me as if they knew me. Apparently my Dad talks about me once in awhile... hopefully, they all know that I am only the person I am today because of my parents.

My Dad is not like anyone I've ever known. He's strong and compassionate and really intelligent (although I think it took years of convincing from my Mom for him to believe that) and he's also really good looking! While you could use those words to explain a lot of people, I think most people would understand that I'm ONLY using those words because the real words to describe my Dad don't exist; you can't put it into words. I sat in that hospital room for three days and I can't even count the amount of times I heard the words 'lucky' and 'grateful'. To think we were talking about him having leukemia is odd. We were 'lucky' that they seemed to have caught it so early and we are 'grateful' that he happened to be in such good shape when it happened so he can be stronger to fight it. In reality, I don't feel 'lucky' at all. I'm glad I still have my Dad, but not glad he's in the situation he's in. Being lucky would have meant NO ONE would ever have to encounter this. And yet, there we all were, together, telling stories and laughing and singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' to Cooper before bed.

We spent my last night there with my Aunt and Uncle having a candlelit dinner and talking about how nice it was to be together. It will be a long road to recovery but Dad is only 62, so he has a whole bunch of years to spend with my family and his Grandbabies. And yes, we are thankful. We are thankful to have the support of our immediate family and the thoughts and hope of our extended family all over the country and world. And although I would like to be spending my next trip to Phoenix with my parents at my childhood home, I'm open to spending it anywhere as long as we are all together. Saying goodbye this morning was much different and a whole lot harder than saying hello, so hopefully we'll be saying 'hello' again soon. I love you Dad and can't wait to hug you again.

~Ahna

Addicted Much!?!

2010-04-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself. Ryan and I aren't entirely certain where Cooper's love for Motrin came about. Yes, we give him Motrin, not like it's candy but just when he's clearly running a high fever. We noticed it seemed to work a bit better than Tylenol and it seems to work quite well when he's teething. So, a few months ago, we noticed he actually ASKED for Motrin from time to time. Because it's ridiculously expensive, I find myself using my finger to get the last droplets out of the measuring cup and letting Cooper lick my finger (this non-waste thing is all thanks to my mother). Cooper is clearly popping out a tooth again soon and we know this because of A) his fever and B) how he says 'ow' when we hit a certain spot while brushing his teeth... it turns out it's NOT rocket science. Anyway, tonight, I gave him some Motrin before bed so he could possibly sleep without the fever and this is what I caught him doing...

PS, I don't know why we can't put the video in the blog anymore... tears.

~Ahna

Hood River Day Trip

2010-04-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went on a trip just outside of Portland. It took us along the river between Oregon and Washington and deposited us in a little town called Hood River. Along the way we saw a whole slew of waterfalls. They were amazing. There was one in particular we were out to see called Multnomah Falls. It was gorgeous. We taught Cooper to say 'waterfall' that morning so for most of the trip, that's what he was saying, 'waterfall, waterfall, waterfall'! I think he missed what it actually meant because when we got to the falls, he just kept screaming 'WATER' with such delight. My face hurt from smiling because I was watching him smile! We also stopped at one called Latourell Falls which was a great pre-cursor to Multnomah. On the way to the town of Hood River, there is a dam where the salmon swim up ladders and they have built an underground area where you can go watch them get through! This was another favorite activity for Cooper for the day. We ate at a brewery for lunch where we could look out over the river you see above. The drive back took us around Mt. Hood which is where Ryan and I will go snowboarding next season, now if we could just find some free babysitting... hmmm...

It was an awesome day trip, one we will definitely take again. For almost the whole ride, Ryan and I just kept saying over and over, 'I can't believe we live here now!'

~Ahna

Perfect Child...

2010-04-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Since our Portland arrival, I have had the opportunity to see what a stay-at-home parent has to go through on a regular basis. For the most part it is pretty tolerable but Cooper is definitely changing as he comes to the end of his second year. When we were in Vegas, I had no problem leaving him alone in the room next to me or two rooms away, and Cooper never really got into any real trouble. Now, however, he has decided to become much more mischievous. Just this morning, for example, I was in the garage for a few minutes and came inside to find Cooper enjoying a package of Juicy Fruit gum. He was starting on piece number two when I got to him. Then, not an hour later, he was left alone for about five minutes and decided to re-purpose our couch cushion as an art easel. Once he realized how upset it made me, he was very sad and apologetic - at least that's what I am telling myself for now... Cooper's little sister has no idea how fortunate she is for coming along when we THOUGHT children were perfect little angels.

I was fortunate enough to be able to elicit an apology and video tape it - for everyone's viewing pleasure.

-Ryan

Hello Portland

2010-04-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

We got to our hotel around midnight on the 1st and spent the next few days waiting. Our animals got to the house before we did and our things were scheduled to arrive on Saturday morning. It was touch and go for a bit, but our movers showed up early Saturday and were gone by mid morning. We spent the next two days trying to figure out how to situate all of our boxes! The house we moved into has the same number of rooms but much less storage space. I had to go to work but Ryan spent the whole week getting the house the way we want it and now it really looks good! I think we will thoroughly enjoy our year here.

This weekend we got to go out exploring. We took Cooper to the zoo yesterday so he could see his favorite thing... animals! We got to see hippos and rhinos and cows and lions and tigers and bears... OH MY! Today was fantastic though! We drove about 40 minutes south of Portland to a place called Woodshoe Tulip Farm for their annual Tulip Festival!! It was amazing! 40 ACRES of tulips, so many different colors and types, you could just walk up and down rows of them! Cooper also got to see tractors and eat some Elephant Ears (or as we know it in the Southwest, Indian Fry Bread).

We are excited for what next weekend has to bring!

~Ahna & Ryan

Goodbye Las Vegas

2010-04-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Our original plan had been to stay in Las Vegas for five years. We overstayed by about two years so when the opportunity came for us to move to Portland we were extremely excited. Due to our moving arrangements, we had to stay in a hotel for the last two days we were in town. Ferguson has some sweet deals in Las Vegas, one of them being the MGM Grand. All we did was ask for a room with a 'little living area' because it's easier having Cooper sleep in another area away from us. You can imagine our surprise when we opened up the set of DOUBLE DOORS at the end of the hallway leading us to the view you see above. We stayed in a suite which was bigger than the house we now rent in Portland. At first we were a bit annoyed by the fact that we were not even going to be able to be in our own house on the last night we were in Vegas, but once we saw how awesome the room was, we decided it was a fitting way to say goodbye to Las Vegas.

We said our goodbyes to friends on Wednesday the 31st and flew out that night. I was not completely prepared for my departure from work and cried on my way out the door. We will miss our friends there but hope they come visit us soon!

~Ahna & Ryan

Birthday Weekend

2010-03-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ryan told me to pack up early on Wednesday the 3rd from work and to take Thursday and Friday off. That's it. That's all I knew. He came to get me on Wednesday right at 12 and we were on our way. We drove toward Arizona so I thought we were going to Phoenix to see family for my birthday... but we did NOT take the turnoff for Phoenix, we kept driving. Then I thought, we must be going to Flagstaff because that's the next logical place and we both love it there. When we got close to Flagstaff, Cooper was getting a little antsy so I was messing around with him in the back seat. By the time I looked up, I saw we were headed south... away from Flagstaff! 'What?!?!?' I thought... where are we going? Then I realized... he was taking me to Sedona! We had to go the long way because the weather had shut down the pretty route to the city. We were late for dinner he said, but wanted to check in at the hotel first. We drove into a tiny little parking lot and he got out. When he came back, he had a letter addressed to both of us, wishing me a happy birthday and telling us to enjoy our stay at their... bed and breakfast! Ryan and I have never been to a bed and breakfast, what a romantic! Then we hurried back down to the town to dinner. When we walked in, the place was packed with people and he grabbed Cooper and walked to the hostess desk. Within minutes, she was waving us back and I turned a corner to see a table all decorated for my 30th birthday with the smiling faces of my parents and Auntie and Uncs waiting for us!

They had driven up from Phoenix for the night to go to dinner and then they were taking Cooper back with them for the weekend! What a cool thing! We had a great dinner and dessert and then promptly fell asleep in one of the most comfortable beds we have ever slept in! We spent the whole weekend hiking all over the city! There were so many hikes I didn't know about! On Saturday, we headed to an early St. Patty's Day parade and then a small hike, followed by Alice in Wonderland. We just loved being able to spend all that time together, just the two of us. We took tons of pictures. We will definitely be taking that trip again!

~Ahna

New adventure...

2010-03-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Can you guess where this picture was taken? It's a new place that Ryan, Cooper, the Bean and I will be calling home. About a month ago, I was offered a position with my company out of state. It's a place Ryan and I have ALWAYS talked about going but never seriously tried to do because it's further away from our families. We love our families and friends in AZ very much but we didn't necessarily feel like that was really where we wanted to be. When the opportunity came up, we felt like the there were a few signs pointing us in that direction and so we jumped on it. You see, we had a five year plan to leave Las Vegas... and we are quickly approaching year 8 of that 5 years!!

As of April 1st, Ryan and I will be moving Cooper and the Bean to Portland, Oregon!!! We are so excited for our new adventure and hope it will be everything we are looking for. We will miss our friends in Las Vegas but will be back to visit. We will also be budgeting more for travel so we can fly back to AZ as much as possible! Cooper loves his friends and his grandparents all over the state!

We have been waiting to share the news until we knew it was all a definite yes and I signed the offer letter last week. Now we are in the process of trying to rent out our house here and find a place to live up in Portland. And really, who doesn't want to do something like that when they have a baby on the way?!?! Talk about impeccable timing!

~Ahna and Ryan

Introducing...

2010-03-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

Baby Girl Ward!!! Cooper is going to have a little sister! We are so excited to bring her into this world. We haven't even started thinking of names yet; we were going to wait until we knew the sex. We'll just have to add that to our list of things to do!

Hope everyone has a good night... I know I will... it's the last night of my 20's!! HA! Will I be crying myself to sleep or excited about the next decade?!?!?

~Ahna

Tax weekend!

2010-02-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not that we were excited about getting our taxes done... but we were excited that it took us to Phoenix for the weekend. Not only was it cloudy and rainy all weekend but we got to hang out with some of our favorite people! On Friday night, we got to spend time with 2/3 of the Pickards, Colette and Waylon (Jake was out of town working). Cooper and Waylon got to play with trucks and ride around in a little car and take a bath; they had a great time! Then on Saturday, Cooper and Brody got to hang out ALL day together! Ryan and I got to go to an art exhibit at the Phoenix art museum (a Valentine's Day gift) and spend some time with Auntie and Uncs while Nonna and Papa watched the boys.

We had a great weekend and as always, I should have taken more pictures. Brody was in love with Ryan and Cooper and on Sunday morning when Cooper woke up, the first thing he said was 'Where's Brody?'

Stay tuned for more fun news next week as we find out if the Bean is a boy or a girl!!

~Ahna

The Bean!!

2010-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

We are ecstatic about our newest addition... the bean that is marinating in my belly. When we found out we were pregnant, the internet said our baby was the size of a bean, so the name just stuck. We are about 15 weeks along and growing by the day. This pregnancy is much like the last, I mostly just forget everything! We will find out on March 2nd if The Bean is a boy or a girl! Right now, our due date is August 8th so we'll see if the measurements change that at all in a couple weeks!

We heard a heartbeat at the last appointment and it was fantastic! Hope you are all having a great week so far!

~Ahna

Part 2

2010-01-30T13:28:00.000-08:00

We went hiking again last weekend. We have an annual pass to Red Rock and it had rained the entire week previous to our hike. Luckily for us, it snowed in the Red Rocks. It was so awesome. We did this same hike some time last year with my parents. Except this time, that spot looked more like this. It was like a whole different world. My mom was able to come up on a last minute trip for the weekend so she went with us on the hike and so did Charlie. It was the first time in a long time that we got more comments about Charlie than we did about Cooper!

We also got to watch Owen on Saturday for a few hours while his parents worked. He is such a cute kid. We put all our baby stuff away up in the attic to make way for Cooper's more sophisticated toys so we didn't have a whole lot for Owen to do. It was impossible work, holding a three month old all day... just kidding, I forgot how much fun it is! He is smiling now, so we took a few pics and sent them off to mom and dad at work so they could smile for the day.

On Saturday night we got a chance to go out with some friends (we had a free babysitter in Nonna after all!) and we got to see the Blind Side. It was so great! I wanted to see it but didn't think it would be that good, I'm a sucker for sports movies though. Remember the Titans?? Practically an epic.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

~Ahna

Hikin'

2010-01-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

In case the title didn't give it away... the Wards went hiking this weekend. We went out to Red Rock early in the morning and found a new trail. We tested Charlie's limits, by the end I was convinced I'd have to give him some Tylenol to get through the night. We found a good stop overlooking much of the canyon to take some pictures and let Cooper out of his backpack. It was a little unsteady at first but he figured out how to crawl over spots that were too hard for climbing. He seemed to really enjoy it. He pointed out the rocks and planes that he saw for us and counted out three rocks everywhere he went... 'one, two, fee!!!!' and sometimes he would say, 'one, two, fiiiiyyeeee' (his version of five).

Charlie loves hiking with us, he just isn't as quick as he'd like to be. We got to a few steep areas and instead of following our steps, he tried to walk along the side of us! It took some getting used to. He also doesn't understand the concept of just drinking the water he sees as he goes by it. It was around 55 degrees out and he would drink half of the little body of water he saw and then try to lay in it. Odd, he doesn't like to swim, but he will immediately lay down in any body of water he finds.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

~Ahna

Christmas Fun!

2009-12-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

We can't believe the Christmas season is already behind us again. We always get so excited and have so much fun and then it's over as quickly as it started! This year we got to spend a couple of days with both our families and it was just wonderful to see everybody. Christmas Eve Day we had a brunch with Ryan's family and followed that up with dinner at my grandparents' house in Ahwatukee. There was a lot of driving but it was all worth it. Christmas morning was awesome with great gifts and good food. It's always nice when Santa stops by.

We got home on Sunday where Ryan and I got to have our own Christmas. There were a couple of presents under the tree for Cooper, but let's be honest, mostly it was all about us! After spending four days opening tons of new toys for Cooper, he proceeded to spend all of Sunday evening... playing with old toys that he hadn't played with in months... We kept trying to get his new stuff out but it was hilarious watching him play with his old toys as if they didn't exist until that night! By the next day though, he had all his new blocks and other toys strewn about. Ryan and I got a bunch of vacuums for Christmas, three to be exact! We couldn't tell if our family thought our house was REALLY messy or if they just thought we needed a better vacuum (it's the latter of the two, I'm sure of it). The other night, Ryan got one of them out and used it in the kitchen; you'd have thought we got a new video game or something. He was saying, 'Cool! It's just a battery! Look at all the hair it sucked up from Charlie!' I think he used it three more times that night. It seems odd to be excited about vacuums, but I really am! It's the little things in life right?!?!

On to the next month and a new year! Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

~Ahna

Tree Hunt 2009!

2009-12-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we went up to Utah for a tree hunting trip. I've had the experience of cutting down a Christmas tree with my family every year and it is always so fun. We got up really early Saturday morning and headed to Cedar City, UT and the Dixie National Forest. For whatever reason, we never think Utah will have snow on the ground in December so we typically end up unprepared... this year was no different. We were in snow up to our mid-calf for most of the morning. At least this year, we wore knee length socks!

Despite a tiny bit of hypothermia we found a great tree and got it back home safely. We were talking about how fun it will be in a few years when we can make a whole day of it. Cooper really liked the snow but wanted to keep putting his hands in it and then every time he touched it, he would start to whine because his hands were too cold! It's so funny, all the things they have to learn on their own.

PS, Cooper ate with a shovel the other day. We couldn't take it away, we were laughing too hard... but we did get some fun pictures!!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

This year, my family came up to Vegas for Thanksgiving. Ryan was so excited to cook the dinner this year, he started planning weeks in advance. He cooked everything and I was his prep cook! It was lots of fun.

The weekend started out pretty touch-and-go as Cooper was winding down a fever he had been fighting for a few days. On Tuesday, I called the doctor and left him a message letting him know about Cooper's fever. You see, a few months ago, I told the doctor that their 'non emergency medical help line' was neither A) non-emergency nor B) medical help. When you call in with your symptoms, they make you feel like it's a medical emergency and make an appointment right away, only for the doctor to tell you to give your child Motrin or Tylenol and be on your way. It tends to be waste of a few hours. The doctor laughed and told me to just call him and he would call me back within the business day. Well, IT WAS A THANKGSIVING MIRACLE!!! The doctor actually called back on Tuesday afternoon. He said I should bring Cooper in just in case because we were going into the long weekend and it sounded like he had some sort of throat thing. Cooper is really good when he's not feeling well, just a bit more easily aggravated. IE, if you don't hold him as long as he wants to be held, he will immediately scream. This is not to be confused with his other screaming, the one he does when he's not getting his way. It's a hard life, being 1-1/2.

On Thursday, everyone was eating by noon, napping by one, and taking a walk by two. We had our dessert at four-ish and then proceeded to play a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit... for FIVE HOURS. I mean really. It was a wonderful day and was only the beginning of the weekend! On Friday, we took the family out to Red Rock and did some hiking and then made our traditional Christmas cookies that afternoon. We got to see two GREAT Christmas-y things. There was a tree lighting on Friday night... and a whole bunch of Christmas lights on Sunday night! Cooper was in awe of all the lights, and now says 'reindeer', 'snowman', and 'light', which sound more like 'rayeer', 'momah', and 'ligghhh'.

It still amazes me that the little things Cooper does make us both laugh so much. Nobody tells you how hard parenting is and even if they tried, most people wouldn't really understand it; but the one time your child gives you that perfect look, it makes all of it worth it. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes that look won't come for 9 or 10 months, but when it does... it's definitely the best thing in the world. He did that for us all weekend long, smiling and laughing... and then this.

It was a wonderful start to our holiday season and we are really excited!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we didn't take Cooper trick-or-treating; but we did stop by his new friend Owen's house. Owen was born a week earlier on October 23rd. When we showed up for our visit, Ryan... the other Ryan, it's confusing. Recently, there were about 6 of us hanging out and 50% of the people there were named Ryan... I digress. So Ryan asked 'what is Cooper dressed as?' (At the time Cooper wasn't wearing his hood). We said, 'a giraffe!', thanks Colette! Well, it turns out Owen was a giraffe, too! He was a sleepy giraffe and spent most of the evening napping, so Cooper kept him company. At one point, Cooper thought the car seat might be for him, so he walked right up to it, turned around and tried to sit in it!

We tried to get home in time to get some trick-or-treaters of our own... but only 8 kids showed up (and 6 of the 8 showed up in one big group). Ryan and I ended up taking way too much candy to work on Monday. Happy Halloween!

~Ahna

That's Why God Made Mexico

2009-11-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

It's a song by Tim McGraw. Last year when we were in Mexico, the hotel played it EVERYDAY during the midday water aerobics activity. I loved it, but they only played part of the song. I started remembering the song again a few weeks before we left for the trip. That song always makes me smile and think of our trips to Puerto Penasco. We were lucky enough to accompany my parents and and Aunt and Uncle (and another couple, Gail and Gary!) down to the beach yet again this year. We look forward to this trip every year now and get excited when we get close to it. This year was going to be especially exciting because Cooper was walking and could really have fun at the beach... or so we thought.

On Friday when we drove down there, Cooper was battling a high fever. He spent the next three days doing his best to feel well, but still high on Motrin! Once the fever subsided, this new, odd and not at all fun thing happened. Cooper decided to learn how to exert his independence. He just thought it would be awesome if he threw what's called a temper tantrum in the middle of the pool where everyone was relaxing and enjoying the sun. The TT was unlike anything either one of us had ever experienced before. It's not like we thought Cooper wouldn't ever have one, it's just that we had never thought about it AT ALL. Then about four days into this trip, I took Cooper out of the pool to put a dry diaper on him. What's confusing here is that he had a diaper that was FULL OF WATER, why would he not want it off you ask? I asked the same question when he started wriggling all over the bed, screaming and trying to crawl away from me as if he were possessed. All I could think to myself was, 'Really?!?! You chose the pool in front of an audience for your first TT? Awesome.'

One night, some clouds were rolling in and we went down to the beach for sunset. Cooper started the walk out there like this, fully clothed. Seconds later, he looked like this. Let me preface this by saying earlier in the day, I could not, under any circumstances get Cooper to go into the ocean without crying. So, we get down to the beach and Cooper becomes enthralled with the holes in the sand, something Nonna had shown him earlier. Within a few minutes, I took off his sweater, just in case he got wet and didn't have anything dry to wear. Auntie walked with him into the water a bit but let him know that if he wasn't careful he would get wet; then because I knew Auntie was right, I gently guided him to a more dry area. Then this happened. So, he ended up looking like this. By the look on his face, you'd think he did that all on purpose!

It was a trip full of changes and new things. Cooper started eating chips and crackers whole, he decided he would rather eat from the adult plates and drink from the adult cups and do whatever the adults were doing. He said different words that were new like moon and beach. He started out the trip eating almost nothing (due to the fever most likely) and ended the trip eating more in one sitting than we've ever seen him eat! He has a voracious appetite for anything mexican; guacamole, salsa, quesadillas, anything.

We of course had a great time and learned alot. We're crossing our fingers that the TT's are over, that's not too much to ask right?

Family Wedding

2009-11-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

It wasn't Cooper's wedding! He just found a friend to play with and she just might have happened to fall in love with him within a few hours. Many people do, so it was no surprise to me. We got to watch Cassandra get married, finally! She and her husband had a long and frustrating journey, but they made it. It was unseasonably warm, which is not unbelievable; it hit the 100's, what!??! Who doesn't love 100 degree weather in October? I tried not to let it bother me seeing as how we were going to be on the beach in a few short days. The wedding was at the Walker's house and it was beautiful. Cassie's Dad, Dan performed the ceremony and he did a wonderful job which I'm sure wasn't easy.

We didn't plan on staying all night but enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, dancing through the evening. We were glad to be a part of their night and hope they both enjoy each other as much as possible.

We were also lucky enough to spend our Saturday with Brody. It is so much fun to watch him and Cooper play together. They mostly played a game called 'Chase me', which is tiring but fun for all parties. We took a few (and I use that term loosely) pictures of them together.

~Ahna

Weekends

2009-10-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, we took Cooper to the park for a picnic and photo shoot. He was kind enough to model for free and we (and by we, I mean Ryan) took copious quantities of pictures. Luckily, Cooper is an easy target. I got into a few as well. One thing that made for a difficult photo shoot was that Cooper likes to take most pictures on the run and it is ridiculously hard to stay in front of him, so many of the shots were side profiles or just the back of his head, and what a nice head it is. We were also lucky enough to encounter gale force winds which wasn't a huge problem for Cooper seeing as how he's still perfecting the art of growing hair, but it did make picture taking for me a little more problematic.

It is so fun to watch him watch things and learn about things. He says 'doggie' and 'outside' and 'bubbles' and essentially any word that comes out of our mouths; yes, we are working on our vocabulary daily.

This past weekend, Colette and Jake came up for a quick trip and we got to watch Cooper and Waylon play around. They enjoyed some quality time together while us moms had some margaritas out on the patio. This morning I was thinking how we had a bunch of pictures from the weekend but none of the two of us, then I read Colette's blog and she had the same sentiment! Before the boys were born, I remember entire weekends where we ended up with ONLY pictures of us... hopefully, we log that away and take pictures of us next time!

We really love our weekends. I am already excited for Friday!

~Ahna & Ryan

Red Rock Hike

2009-10-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'm about a weekend behind. Last weekend we decided to get out early and go to Red Rock Canyon for a hike. The weather has continued to cool (which is what happens when entering into the winter, I'm aware it's not a new phenomenon), so we got excited for a hike. Then we saw it was still supposed to be in the 100's. Oh well, the hike was on.

Red Rock Canyon is about 45 minutes away and consists of a 13 mile loop. You can stop quite a few times along the way. We got there a little later than expected and were nearly killed by an out of towner who thought the road was A) actually a 65 mile per hr speed limit and B) designed to pass on the left (in actuality, it's a 25 mile per hr speed limit and just one big lane). We drove almost all the way through the canyon before we got to the hike I've been wanting to do for some time. It says it goes through Ponderosa Pines and there is water and I always love hikes where I can find water. I didn't want anything too strenuous as Charlie was with us and we are still learning just what he can do physically. We threw Cooper in the backpack and were on our way. About 30 minutes in, we came across a meadow... that's right, in the middle of the desert, a meadow that was full of green grass and trees. Right on the other side of the meadow was the promised water. Charlie was thoroughly pleased as he enjoys my affinity for anything water related and promptly found his way into the pool, laid down and stared at us, like, 'Are you guys comin' in or what?'

We had a great time, aside from the hiker on the way back up the trail who made a comment about Charlie's age... 'speaking of 68, that dog LOOKS 68'. He's 49, thank you very much. Sheesh...

We are enjoying our last weekend at home for the foreseeable future. I mean really, who doesn't love travelling with a 17 month old?!?!

~Ahna & Ryan

Camping Tastes Good!

2009-09-23T19:50:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we took Cooper on his first camping trip. Much like the beach, he was dirty within seconds. There is a certain theme to the pictures you'll see...eating. Eating rocks, eating sticks, eating plants, eating the camping chair. The only thing we didn't take pictures of was Cooper actually eating food.

It was a quick one night trip to get Cooper accustomed to camping and to get us out of the heat. We had a great time. We saw actual stars, amazing I know. After living in Las Vegas for a few years, one can forget that the sky actually fills up with them at night; all we get to see are the lights on the strip!

On Saturday morning, we went up to the top of the mountain and took a quick hike. Charlie went with us and let us know when he was done by lying down in the middle of the trail and giving us the evil eye. We had a great time and are very excited for Cooper's next camping trip!

~Ryan and Ahna

Cooper's First Ride

2009-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

While I was pregnant with Cooper, Ryan got me a sweet ride so we could take Marly out at night for exercise. Most nights we would go out bike riding with Marly for a few miles and get her good and exhausted. Shortly after receiving my shiny new bike, the baby doctor told me I shouldn't be riding bicycles anymore... for fear of losing my balance and falling three feet overboard. I'm not still upset about it or anything.

After Cooper was born, I was excited because now we could go on bike rides with him! I'm pretty sure when we were kids, Moms and Dads just put us right up on the handlebars and we had to hold on. But nowadays, that's looked down upon, so we waited until we had a proper seat and helmet for Cooper. For his birthday, Nonna and Papa and Auntie and Uncs gave him this awesome helmet! It's adjustable so he will be able to wear it more than once before his huge head grows out of it. Tonight was THE night! It has been too hot all summer to go out but Ryan got the bikes out today and got them ready.

We tried to put the helmet on Cooper before we put him in his seat, but he was not happy with that option. Once we got him settled and the helmet in place, we took off! He smiled and laughed for most of the trip!

~Ryan and Ahna

Labor Day on the Beach

2009-09-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

Oh joy! Our friends Blake and Charity let us come visit this weekend for a quick trip to the beach! They were having a heat wave as well, but it was only in the upper 80's. The good news is that the water was the PERFECT temperature so we were able to swim and dive in the waves and have an all around great time!

Cooper loved being on the sand, this is what he looked like about three seconds into our day. This time we got to go to the Stone Brewery for dinner which was pretty nice. Cooper was in rare form so I spent most of my time letting him walk barefoot all over the place. I'm sure some of the looks I got were due to mothers wondering where his shoes were. To be totally honest, we only have one pair that actually fits, it's a flip flop type shoe and he has trouble walking in them so I just leave him barefoot most of the time. This wasn't a problem until this last weekend where he decided he was a marathon walker and that was all he wanted to do.

It was a great weekend with friends and so much fun at the beach!

Zion!

2009-09-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had the chance to leave this horrid weather and travel a couple hours north to Zion. We got to stay in a great hotel that we stayed in a few years ago and just hung out. They happened to be having the 'hottest day of the year' there, which was of course delightful seeing as how that's what we were trying to get away from. But Ryan had to work so Cooper and I hung out in the pool. The next morning we went to a Farmer's Market and let Cooper play in some grass. It could have been the highlight of his life thus far considering he had just started walking and was able to touch grass! Can you imagine?? We can't because there isn't much grass in Vegas. We have a two by two foot patch of it in our front yard, but I'm fairly certain that doesn't count.

That same weekend, we had a baby shower for our friend Julie and her husband Ryan. They are due in October! It was great to have people over and talk about fun things like babies and labor and the sheer joy of those first few months, HA!

The very next weekend we drove down to Phoenix for KARA's 30th birthday! She looked gorgeous and Ryan and I had a great time hanging out with her and some other friends. We spent our day in the pool with Auntie and Uncs. Cooper really seems to enjoy the water. He's a little too fearless with his stepping off the pool bench into nothingness. I guess he just trusts that someone will be there to catch him! He's gone under a few times but knows how to put his arms up and cough out all the water! It was so much fun spending the day with Auntie and Uncs and the great news was that Cooper loves Uncs again! Last time he saw Uncs it was touch and go but Cooper totally redeemed himself that weekend and even laughed at Uncs in the pool. Here are some photos.

Cooper continues to develop his passion for household chores. When I was sweeping the kitchen the other day, he grabbed the Swiffer and started to mop for me. I can't say this upsets me and hopefully in a few years he will find this activity equally as exciting.

~Ahna

Just some pics.

2009-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

We've been away for awhile. We have nothing to show for it but some pictures...

Cooper has been hilarious and below you can see his new tricks! He says fun things like 'Wubby' (Love you). He also gives me back rubs when I'm sitting on the floor with him. He'll crawl around behind me, stand up and then start patting my back. It's fun and I'm going to gently coerce him into doing that as often as possible.

Here's a couple videos for your enjoyment.

~Ahna

Summer Vacation

2009-07-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week long trip through AZ. Last Friday, we headed to Phoenix to visit the family and go to the lake with the Pickards (you can check out our good Party Night times here). We hung out in the pool with Mom and Dad on Sunday and left that afternoon for wonderful Pinetop. Pinetop is definitely one of our favorite places to be. We enjoyed five whole days of gorgeous weather and relaxing... it was glorious.

We stayed with Ryan's grandmother at her house in the White Mountains. It's rainy there every day so during Cooper's afternoon nap, we just sat out on the porch and watched it rain. It depends what kind of vacationer one is, but for us, this was the greatest. We got massages and facials, we played in the spa, we went hiking in Greer, I read three books. We cannot thank Ryan's grandma enough for having us all week. She and Cooper got to play together and spend quality GG/great grandson time. It is such a joy to spend time with her.

I could say more, but you know what they say about pictures!

We Love You, Beach!

2009-07-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th of July weekend in California with a few friends. We stayed at a friends' house a few miles from the beach and got to spend all day Friday there!! Cooper was hilarious. At first he wouldn't get anywhere near the seaweed, going so far as to lift his knees off the sand and crab crawl around it. That only lasted for a few minutes, then he decided to start putting it on his head. Ryan and I got to hone our skills playing beach volleyball while Cooper frolicked about on the sand.

We really enjoy Encinitas and definitely did not want to be driving back to the 100 degree Las Vegas weather on Sunday.

~Ahna & Ryan

Fast Friends...

2009-07-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

We've had Charlie now for a few months and Tatum is still unsure of the purpose of another dog. She mostly stays away from the kitchen where Charlie is most of the time (and also where her food and litter box reside, but that's a story for another day). After much deliberation and thoughtful consideration... I decided it would be best to just put Tatum in the same spot as Charlie and let Charlie sniff and lick away. He is a horribly lovable dog and never goes after Tatum. I think he would prefer it most if she just cuddled up next to him while he napped... but instead, we get a lot of hissing and long, drawn out meows that make it sound like she is dying inside. I decided it would be best to document the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

I mean, she doesn't look THAT mad. For the first time tonight, she approached the kitchen entrance and sniffed around. But Charlie got excited and sniffed louder; it's a half sneeze, half sniff. She ran away. They'll get over it.

~Ahna

What the?!?!?!

2009-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

The other day I got to wake Cooper up in the morning and take him to daycare because Ryan had to be at work early. This is a rare occurrence as Ryan is typically the one to take him. We have resorted to putting Cooper to bed in a few select onesies or t-shirts that he doesn't wear during the day as opposed to buying him new PJ's. I do it, why can't he??? So, that night he was wearing an over sized t-shirt. I went in to wake him up and get him changed and out the door. When I got into his room and peeked into his crib, I was met with the sight of his bare butt up in the air. Cooper likes the 'stink bug' pose (I'm under the impression most babies like to sleep this way, with their knees up by their stomach so their butts are in the air). It took me at least 4 seconds to register the fact that his butt was without a diaper and that we do not put him to bed sans diapers. I looked up at the corner of his crib and saw what you see above. It took everything in me not to burst out laughing. I snuck out of his room, ran for the camera, and went back for it. He woke up half naked with a crooked smile on his face. The child figured out how to get his own diaper off in the middle of the night... so that explained the random laughing I heard at 1 o'clock the night before... Hmmm...

Father's Day Celebration

2009-06-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Father's Day 2009. We celebrated over two weekends, our first was down in Phoenix. We had a 30th birthday party for Colette-y and a Father's Day brunch on Sunday. It was great to see everybody and enjoy ourselves. Ryan worked on the shop with Dad and Uncs, it's almost done! I got to hang out with Brody a lot and I loved it. I always feel like I only get a few minutes with him when I do get to see him and it's never enough. He was so awesome with Cooper. He would RUN really fast past Cooper and Cooper would laugh out loud and then crawl after him. It was their version of hide and seek which was really more of an 'I'm gonna run to the other side of the room and wait for you to catch up with me.' Pretty soon, they'll be chasing each other everywhere. I've never seen Cooper interact with other kids that way, it was just adorable.

We hung out by the pool and just relaxed for most of the weekend... it's just never quite long enough.

Morning Coffee

2009-06-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

On the weekends when the weather is nice as it has been for the past few weeks, I like to drink my coffee outside on the patio and enjoy the morning. Last weekend, I did just that. Cooper was up already so we had some breakfast and then headed outside. I was wondering how I would contain him seeing as how he crawls and whatnot and I came up with a brilliant idea. Some family friends gave us a few things a couple months ago and one of them was a plastic fence type thing that can be made into a playpen of sorts. So, I ran to the garage and got that set up outside and put a bunch of blankets and toys in and then plopped Cooper down and started reading and enjoying my coffee. Cooper was enjoying himself for awhile (and by 'awhile' I mean one minute tops), figuring out how to get his shapes into his sippy cup. He started to get restless.

I stopped reading my book and got up to try and get him resettled. After I sat in his playpen with him for a few minutes, he was fine again and I snuck out and back to my book and coffee. I began re-reading the paragraph I was in because I was interrupted. About 45 seconds later, he started to whine.

At this point I figured my reading time was as good as over and I grabbed the camera. His retort to my picture taking was to look sad and dejected and as cute as possible.

Then he got really mad, spit out his binkie and looked up to the sky as if to say 'why are you keeping me in this prison?'

He won, I took him out. I put him in his swing and sat behind him reading, drinking my coffee, and pushing him every once in awhile. We made it at least 30 minutes out there, but I didn't get much reading done. The whole point was to enjoy my coffee out on the patio, but I worked for it. One day, I'll look back on this and laugh... right?!?!

~Ahna

Game Night Initiation

2009-05-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

I realize this isn't the most flattering picture of Cooper and years from now he may take up some issue with that but that's beside the point. On Friday night we went to a friend's house for Game Night. It's been a long time since we had a game night and we were ready for some fun! Cooper came with us, of course, and we put him down there. He sometimes has trouble going down in new places and because we put him to sleep on a bed we had to make sure he was really asleep before we started our games. Well, the mark on his nose comes from his battle with the bed. We were ready to leave after Cooper had been sleeping for some time and I went to get him.

When I walked in the room, the bed was empty and there was no baby to be found. I heard whimpering and ran to the other side of the bed. It was as if he had scaled down the night stand to the floor and then got down on his stomach to crawl under the bed to get to the door. I could only see his diapered butt sticking up in the air. I grabbed him and hugged him for a minute as I figured this was a bit traumatizing to him. It was only after I looked at his face did I see the copious amount of blood trickling down his nose. Traumatizing wasn't the word for it! I ran him into the bathroom and threw on the light which only delighted him further and threw a towel over his face. This was clearly more painful for me than it was for him because he had zero tears. The bloody nose was quickly healed but the cuts and scratches remain. We actually thought we would wake up to his first black eye but luckily we came through with his gorgeous face still in tact.

I went to bed that night wondering exactly how the next years of his life will go. Ryan handled his bloody nose much better than I did, what will happen when he breaks an arm falling off the monkey bars, or dislocates his knee in soccer?!?!? I guess I'll have all these little episodes prepare me.

~Ahna

Another one Bites the Dust

2009-05-24T17:05:00.001-07:00

Our sweet little Dyl Pickle has graduated high school. When I met Dyl Dyl (I bet he loves all my nicknames) he was 10! At that time, he wanted to follow in his oldest brother's (Ryan) footsteps and go to NAU. He taught me to play some awesome songs on the guitar and in a few years, maybe he'll do the same for Cooper. We headed to Tucson on Wednesday to watch him graduate (middle brother Tyler is missing from the above picture, he had to take his baby girl home to get some sleep). A bunch of the family was there to watch him walk across the stage and get his diploma and we all cheered VERY loudly. We did all kind of wish that his last name started with a B instead of a W, but you take the hand you're dealt.

We spent the rest of our time with Ryan's mom and brothers. She got lots of Cooper time and I think we talked her in to coming to visit soon! It was cloudy when we got there and proceeded to rain for two days; I was in heaven. It's so rare to be able to sleep with the doors and windows open in May in Tucson. We got to see all the brothers and future sisters-in-laws, and we got to spend a bunch of time with Tyler and Vanessa's little girl, our niece, Jalyn. It was so cute to watch her and Cooper together. We'll see them again in November and they'll both be walking, I can't imagine the kind of trouble they'll get themselves into then!

We are very proud of Dylan and we are really proud of his Mom, Laura. She raised five beautiful boys by herself and got them all out the door (well, Dylan will be moving in August). She did an incredible job, now she can go have some FUN (right Laura??).

Hope everybody is having a happy Memorial Day weekend!

Our New Bundle of Joy

2009-05-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

And he is a bundle... all 80-ish pounds of him. Meet Charlie, our new Golden Retriever rescue dog. He is full of sweetness. He is seven years old and he spent the last year and a half living outside with no human contact. He did have a sister (the other one we fostered for a few days) but she was quite mean to him and we didn't think they should stay together. It's possible he'll need a doggie friend to keep him company...

He does really well with Cooper, he loves to lick his whole head until it's wet. He also loves the water. I bought him a baby pool so he could get in that instead of our pond and the first time I filled it up, he walked right into it and laid down. It was great. He has been a great addition to the family.

And Then He was One...

2009-05-17T19:00:00.001-07:00

Cooper celebrated his birthday on May 7, 2009. He was battling a cold and what I can only assume was teething all at one time. That's a lot to deal with for a one year old. On Saturday, we had some lovely friends over for a birthday celebration, he was a little overwhelmed but he did alright. He was the typical 1 year old, enjoying the bags and the wrapping paper more than what was inside, but I enjoyed it for him. He got his first soccer ball! It's full size, so chances are good Ryan and I will have fun with it for a few years first.

Mom, Dad, Auntie and Uncs were in town for the weekend. We went to see Love on Friday night. This show comes highly recommended in the Ward household for those of you that may come to Las Vegas for a weekend. On Mother's Day we had a wonderful brunch before Auntie and Uncs left and then Mom and I went shopping while the boys went to see Star Trek.

Enjoy pics from Cooper's weekend!

Glutton for Punishment

2009-05-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

Cooper lost his beloved Marly last August... okay, okay, we lost our Marly, Cooper wasn't old enough to remember. We originally thought we would go without a dog until we had a bigger back yard. But we wanted Cooper to have a dog now! So, for some time, we've been teetering on the brink. We filled out applications for a few different rescue organizations about a month ago and have been going through the process ever since. That's right, it is nearly as difficult to adopt a child as it is to adopt a dog. We were actually DENIED at our first choice organization, the Weimaraner rescue. We know Weims and Dalmatians have the same demeanor and personalities and we thought we'd be a good match for them. However, the Weim people felt like we were not worthy of rescuing a weim because we were not either A) independently wealthy or B) retired; so they did not feel we would be home for enough hours of the day to hang out with the dog.

While that was a massive blow to my ego, I figure everything happens for a reason (only after much convincing from Ryan that it was going to be okay) and we went to our second but equally as impressive choice, Golden Retrievers... good family dogs. So, on Saturday we got THE call. They told us they had a brother/sister set and would we be willing to take two? We decided to give it a try, but think we might go crazy before our seven day 'fostering' period is up. Cooper has already lost one rubber binkie down the gullet of Daisy (she swallowed it practically whole, yuck). Here a picture of the duo, Daisy and Dante.

Last weekend, we walked in our fourth annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K. We had a great time and raised just over $1700 as a team! Cooper came with us even though he was battling a fever. He was a champ.

More updates will follow soon as Cooper has his FIRST birthday on Thursday!

~Ahna

This weekend.

2009-04-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

Cooper is becoming sneaky in his old age. In the evenings before his dinner but while Ryan is cooking ours, he sometimes has what we call 'chill out time'. This is when we put him in his swing to hang out and listen to music while we do adult things in the kitchen. A couple weeks ago, I did just that and admired him from afar while he made singing type noises. I walked into the kitchen to get his food ready and noticed after what seemed like five minutes but was probably only seconds that the noises had stopped. Upon peeking around the corner... I see Cooper, out of his swing, standing up against the ottoman, throwing the blanket on the floor (he's a neat freak like his Dad so any area that he is standing by must be completely free of clutter/anything at all). This is all amazingly brilliant, of course. You may be asking yourself, how did the child who cannot walk somehow get/fall out of the swing and end up standing perfectly straight two feet away from the swing? Or at least, that's what I was asking myself.

Ever since that day, I've been watching, waiting, hoping for him to pull off such a feat again. This weekend was my chance. We had some friends over for dinner and I put him in his swing, it was time. A few minutes later, while we were talking to each other I was watching Cooper with one eyeball. I watched him roll onto his belly (in the tiny, tiny swing), scootch his mid section close to the edge of the swing, and casually drape his legs over the side until they hit bottom. Let me just interject here to point out that the swing is on full speed this whole time! I'm laughing as I write this, so I may have a typo... It was one of the funniest things EVER. We almost thought we should put him back in the swing just to watch him do it again, but thought some people wouldn't see the humor in that.

While I was doing laundry this weekend, I threw the clean clothes back into the laundry basket and put them on the floor so I could get the next load started. When I came back to the clothes, I saw this. Apparently Cooper wants his chores to include laundry. As soon as he has more control of his opposable thumbs, I'll look into teaching him about folding.

After work today, we took advantage of the nice weather and walked to the park. By park, I mean the ridiculously tiny 12x30 foot piece of grass that they threw in on the corner of two streets because they couldn't get the city to approve another house there. It's more of a grassy knoll, but good for children who are discovering grass for the first time... and for discovering LADYBUGS. There just so happened to be tons of them, so we found as many as we could and put them all over Cooper to see what he would do! He immediately took one between his forefinger and thumb and went straight for his mouth. I know, shocking. He seems to enjoy putting everything in his mouth except his actual dinner. It's like when Cooper's characteristics were being decided, my Dad got his two cents in and said, 'give Cooper the same eating habits as his mother, that will show her! HA! HA!' (Sorry Dad!) Needless to say, the last few days of meal time have been a battle and once again I'll blame it on teething. I mean really, the child is almost one, he must be close to a tooth by now?!?!?

~Ahna

Easter

2009-04-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it was a tiring weekend. But it was fun! Cooper did a little crawling to his Easter basket. He took out the first thing he could grab and promptly put it in his mouth. It made for a delicious snack, even though it was just a bottle of bubbles and he was sucking on the bottom of it! He got to paint his first egg. He saw a whole bunch of family including Uncle Kyle, Uncle Dylan, AND Grandma Ward! It's hard to believe that a year ago at Easter, Cooper looked like this and now he looks like this.

I posted just a few pictures of Easter, it turns out we didn't take many. Apparently we were more interested in finding eggs!

One of the pics in this series is of Cooper by our sliding door. He so closely resembled this picture that I couldn't help myself... Marly used to love hiding in the curtains... come to think of it, so does Tatum!

Ryan went on a hike this past weekend with a friend of ours, who also happens to be Ryan. It was an all day hike, but they got some great pictures!

Hope everybody has a great rest of their week!

Sedona!

2009-04-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in Sedona with my parents. We went for a wedding of a college friend, met my parents there on Thursday, and spent Friday celebrating (yeah, we celebrate a lot!) our anniversary with a train ride through Verde Valley. Sedona is such a gorgeous place. We took a hike through Red Rock State Park on Saturday morning and then went to eat at a local brewery there in town. The wedding was Saturday night on a hilltop in Sedona, which couldn't be more beautiful!

Click here for pictures of the trip and Cooper pictures (as always!).

Estd. Five Years Ago...

2009-04-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated five years of marriage. After a wonderful dinner, we decided to watch our wedding video. Maybe in the future, we will not be so compelled to reminisce (we fast-forward to the good parts -- like the speeches). After watching those speeches, we just wanted to say a few words...

Colette,
You were right. The best part of being married is being together.

Dad,
You were right. The most important thing in a marriage is the ability to listen to one another, and to work as a team.

Kyle,
You were right. Ryan is irreplaceable.

Ryan,
You were right. Ahna is the most gorgeous woman alive and is definitely capable of inducing speechlessness.

It has been a wonderful (although VERY fast) five years. We feel lucky to have shared them with each other, and look forward to the rest of our lives together.

Other things we have learned from the video and from our wedding:
-A good DJ (or iPod full of your own tunes) is worth paying for.
-The party is the best part.
-If you have to - pay extra for digital copies of your photos (otherwise, you will have to make one up - as seen in the photo at the top of this post).

And that's it for now. We love you all.

Ahna and Ryan

St. Patrick's Day 2009

2009-03-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Talk about good times... The die hards took half days and made it to the bar early. The good thing about that is I was also home and in bed by 8! Not much to say about St. Patty's Day except that it was AWESOME. Not to mention the fact that we ended not paying any cover charges! Green beer was flowing and green flare was in abundance. Man I H-E-A-R-T St. Patrick's Day.

Creepy Crawler

2009-03-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Our little man has learned the fine art of crawling. It's less of an art and more of a work in progress right now, but he'll fine tune it. He enjoys crawling to things that aren't toys... the cat, the remote control, a cell phone, the stereo receiver, anything that lights up (the only toy we can get him to work for). He does not enjoy crawling for any other reason and when you put him on his hands and knees and try to get him to crawl for entertainment purposes only, he looks up at you like you're nuts with a face that says, 'Look people, I have already showed you that I'm perfectly capable of this crawling thing and I have no intention of doing it again.' Then, he lunges to his belly, rolls over to his back and pushes himself up to a sitting position. It's quite comical.

He certainly enjoys walking more, so we put him up to our coffee table and he has races against the clock to see how fast he can get around it. His daycare provider lets him do the same thing at her house; we've had a pretty tired baby the last couple of days.

The weather has been perfect the last few days so we've been taking Cooper for lots of walks. I get so excited for new-ish things, so I took along the camera on one of our first walks. He's a pretty easy target for pictures! Stay tuned, I'll be posting St. Patty's Day in a moment...

Ahh... The Joys...

2009-03-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes... you just have to do what they say. I had been away from Cooper all day on Thursday (not unlike a normal work day) and when I came home, instead of playing with him and cuddling with him... I had to get the house in shape. Mom and Dad were coming for the weekend. So, instead of letting him cry it out... I threw him in the Baby Bjorn. In his defense... he's teething (although I've been using that excuse for a good 6 months now and nothing has popped through!). Anyway, I threw him in there and went about cleaning the house and of course he seemed perfectly normal. He barely even inhaled all the cleaning stuff I sprayed around! HA!

We had a great weekend with my parents. Mom and I did some shopping on Saturday while Dad and Ryan worked on the pond. We got some little fishies out there! I've been wanting those for a long time! Then on Sunday, we found a great little art festival in Henderson. We stopped by there after we had a great breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Green Valley Ranch. Usually I get annoyed with that place because it always seems packed with people and you are lucky if you get everything you need service wise. But they recently moved into a bigger space and we just so happened to get one of the best servers in Las Vegas! My Dad pegged him for an education student right away. We ended up over at Border's for a little while before they left. It was really a wonderful weekend.

I can't believe it's already the middle of March!

Picture Tag

2009-02-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Here's how it works...

1. Go to your documents/pictures.

2. Go to your 6th file folder.

3. Go to your 6th picture.

4. Post and blog about it.

5. Tag 6 people to do the same

I'm not gonna lie... I had to count 6 file folders of 'family only' because otherwise there would have been a picture from 2004 with a bunch of people we don't even talk to anymore! This was taken Easter 2005 after we had our fill of searching for eggs and baskets. Marly was tired! Anyway... I tag Colette-y, Court-y, Heather, Mom, Erin, and Tiffany!! If you'll notice... you are the only people I know that blog and read this blog!!

Enjoy!

~Ahna

The Beginning of the Greatest Month Ever...

2009-02-28T16:57:00.001-08:00

I enjoy March for several reasons, two of which I'll divulge here. It's my birthday month, and it's the host of the greatest holiday ever... St. Patrick's Day.

Last night a group of us went to Fado's for Happy Hour. Our mission was to find out exactly how we were going to enjoy the St. Patty's Day festivities without paying a ridiculous cover. We thought if we got there when they opened up Tuesday the 17th at 8:00 am that we'd be able to be there all day without cover. We were told though that once they start charging a cover at noon, anyone already there would have to pay that cover in order to continue drinking... Whatever. Either way, we made friends with the manager, Terry and the general manager, Ian and in the end they told us we could enjoy ourselves for half off the cover. I think once the day rolls around though, we'll be able to be taken care of for free. So, we somewhat accomplished our mission. For some of the people there, it was their first time meeting Cooper and most of them commented that he was a really good baby. We know this, of course! While we were enjoying ourselves, I gave Cooper my cell phone to play with (it's the one I use for work and it's pink which should tell you how much I loathe it, so I didn't mind if it got a little drool on it). He opened it up to see the fun lights and then started 'drunk dialing'. You know what I'm talking about. He dials the one and only Pretty BP. I noticed what he was doing and was able to say hi to Brandon for a minute and let him know that Cooper was very excited to be able to call him.

As promised... pictures of Cooper eating those horrible puffs, which he now loves. Also, I've attached some pictures of him in his new swing! Good times. Thanks Nonna and Papa... He pulled himself up the other night but by the time we got the camera to catch the standing up in action, he decided he was frustrated with the maneuver and wanted someone to do it for him. Clever kid.

~Ahna

On The Immediacy of Crawling...

2009-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Recently I have learned that once your baby is about six months old, people start asking if he is crawling yet. I would say that nine out of ten people ask that as their follow-up question to "how's the baby?"

Now, I have absolutely no problem with the fact that Cooper doesn't crawl yet. First off, I have always known that whatever offspring my wife bore would be woefully behind the curve, just as I was all throughout my childhood (and some would say a bit into adulthood as well). The truth is, at this point I would probably prefer a relatively immobile baby as opposed to one who is able to just amble around on his own accord. Right now, we can leave Cooper on the floor and leave the room for five minutes and return to find that he hasn't really moved from where we left him.

So, I would say that if we were to speed up Cooper's crawling training, I would probably need a little bit more incentive. I mean, if I am going to teach my baby a skill that will make him more difficult to look after, I should get something out of it as well, right?

Well, during some routine web-surfing the other day, I came across what might help out with the situation. Please click here for the fantasticness...

-Ryan

Some Time In The Future...

2009-02-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

I will be having a man-conversation with Cooper and I will remember back to the time when Ahna told me she wanted to change the blog template...

"One day, when you were very young, your mother came to me and told me that she wanted a new blog template..."

And then I will have to go on to explain about how we used to have to go to a machine with a keyboard and push these little keys to get the words on the internet machine. Cooper will undoubtedly have some sort of realization about how difficult it must have been to deal with such primitive technology, and then he will retreat to his Minority Report-type interactive computer where he will have some virtual conversation with his friends about how lame his dad used to be.

When I was younger, I had a similar conversation with my mother. It was something like this...

"Your father and I used to have to buy our music on vinyl discs. So, when we wanted to hear the new Bee Gees album, we would have to take a big piece of vinyl and put it on that faux-wood paneled odd machine that has been collecting dust since before you were born..."

Man I remember thinking about how ridiculous it seemed that there was something bigger than a CD that was used for music. And so, like sand through the hourglass, these are the technological advances that separate generation from generation...

Anyway, I really had no point in telling that story other than to say that we have a new blog template! I won't say exactly who brought this on but lets just say that Ahna spoke and I took the hint - then after a couple of days of fiddling with things it seems that we are up and running!

-Ryan

Hello... Who are You?

2009-02-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

Cooper has spent a few hours getting acquainted with mirrors lately. While we were in Phoenix this weekend, my Dad got a bunch of pictures of him enjoying his reflection. Ahh kids, what will we do when mirrors don't entertain them anymore!??!

We had a wonderful, fantastic weekend down in Phoenix over Valentine's Day. We actually went to get our taxes done... on Valentine's Day... talk about romantic! But we still made the best of the weekend. Cooper got to see some of his best friends... Waylon Pickard, Joe and Jake Cash, and his cousin Brody!

We just started giving Cooper some cereal type pieces of food (the little ones that dissolve in your mouth. You could call them a more expensive, baby version of Cheerios). When we saw Laura this weekend, she said they were the best so we tried them out for Cooper. I'll have to see if Ryan can get a picture of his face when he finally gets one in his mouth. It's hard to explain the hilarity of it and I think only a picture will suffice. Check back soon for one of those... but until then, enjoy some pics from the weekend!

2009-02-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is what we woke up to Sunday morning in Flagstaff! If only it had done this on Friday night, our snowboarding trip would have involved fewer rocks on our rides down the mountain! We met my aunt and uncle in Flag for the weekend. Uncs and Ryan and I went up to the mountain Saturday morning and Auntie stayed at the hotel with Cooper all day! We hadn't been able to go snowboarding for two years due to Cooper being strategically placed in my belly last winter so we were both nervous about our abilities! Turns out it's just like riding a bike, so we did just fine. Uncs got some new bindings for his board at Christmas so he couldn't wait to test them out. We had a great time hanging out with them and hope we can do it again!

Ryan and I were so excited about boarding that we hope to make one more trip before the end of the season. Brianhead in Utah is a little bit closer than Flag, so maybe we can make it up there!

We absolutely love Flagstaff and love spending time there. It has some sentimental value of course, seeing as how we met there. If I only knew back on that August day that I was meeting the person I would spend forever with... I probably would have paid more attention to what I was wearing! I can't imagine a day in my life without Ryan, I am so lucky to have found him. I love that we both laugh so much and I love that Cooper laughs with us now too. He clearly doesn't always know what he's laughing at but these things take time!

We had Cooper's nine month checkup today, he was 27 inches long and weighed in at a hefty 16.6 pounds! Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!

Aqui Estan Los Burros de Las Vegas...

2009-01-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

There isn't really any reason I titled this post in Spanish. I guess I just really wanted to grease the proverbial wheels on the section of my brain where my two years of High School Spanish are stored. Seems to me I haven't forgotten a thing :) Time for another trip to the Mexican beach!

But seriously the Burros de Las Vegas were encountered on a recent hiking trip we took through Red Rock Canyon which is just outside of Las Vegas. These are probably the hippest burros in the southwest, considering they have a pretty sweet view of the Las Vegas Strip just over that ridge in the picture. Other Burros are probably jealous of these guys. Anyway, wow, I have been talking about Burros de Las Vegas for far too long. I came here to update the blog. Duh...

Sorry for the short delay in updates. We've been keeping busy with the young one and the like. Over the last few weeks we have been keeping it pretty low-key. We got to try out our cool new Cooper backpack carrier contraption on the hike through Red Rock. He seemed to really like it - especially when he realizes he has his own "reigns" which I call the hair that sticks out of my head. But hey, if it gives Cooper a laugh then I guess it's worth a couple of infant-sized handfuls of hair missing from my head.

So, we posted some pictures from the hike as well as a few other random shots of Cooper (he seems to be a running theme nowadays) for your perusal.

He Speaks...

2009-01-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

Well, not quite sure if he knows what he's saying, but he certainly has that "follow the leader" thing down. Or maybe it's more of a "monkey see, monkey do" sort of thing.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T09:30:00.001-08:00

Cooper and Brody will be great friends in no time. Just don't tell Brody, he's not too sure about that just yet. We had a wonderful Christmas with the family. Cooper got tons of toys. We will need to put an addition on the house just to make room for all of them! Ryan and I got a Christmas present to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens where there was a Chihuly exhibit, he's one of our favorite artists. We did that on Friday morning and headed back home on Saturday.

We spent New Years' here in Las Vegas with Ryan's family! His grandma and aunt and uncle were here with our cousins, Ashlyn and Jim (J3). We had a great time with them and hope they come back to visit soon. We are really enjoying watching Ash and J3 grow up. They are great kids.

Cooper is waving at everything now and we are doing a new sign with him, 'all done'. He likes to take steps when we hold his hands but he's not nearly as excited about crawling.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

December

2009-01-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

December went way too fast! Cooper celebrated his first St. Nick's Day, his first Christmas, and his first New Year's! We spent a weekend down in Tucson with Ryan's family. His grandmother had a holiday open house so we wanted to be in town for that. We had a great time with the family and can't wait to get down there again!

Let it S-N-O-W!!!

2008-12-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

That's right everybody!!! That is the view right now from our street. It has already snowed about 3 inches and they are expecting more! There is a winter storm watch until tomorrow morning at 6. It's the most snow Las Vegas has seen in 30 YEARS! Wow. Cooper is napping right now, but we might get him out for one picture later on!

Almost Christmas!

2008-12-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it's almost Christmas. You'll have to excuse the delay in updates... our computer was, uh, resting for awhile. But now she's back! We had a great Thanksgiving in Pinetop with both my family and Ryan's family. We got in Wednesday night and Cooper met his cousin Jalyn for the first time. She is exactly three months older than him. It was snowing by Thanksgiving morning, the way Thanksgiving should be!

We had a wonderful time making Christmas cookies, cutting down a Christmas tree and of course, eating turkey!

Cooper is getting closer to crawling. A few weeks ago I figured I was in no rush to have him crawl because as soon as he does that, he'll be all over the place. So for right now, we're just enjoying his immobility! He started waving the other day! The first person he waved at was Daddy.

We are teaching him sign language. The first one we tried to teach him was 'more'. We think he might be getting it now. So we're using that in conjunction with 'all done'.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and fantastic holiday season!

Ahhhh Mexico...

2008-11-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Our week in Mexico was delightful, we loved it. Cooper did wonderfully! Every day was the perfect day; we spent time on the beach and at the pool. They had these beds down by the pool that were covered and kept Cooper and all of us in the shade for lots of the day but we all did our best to get tans! We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our family and hope to meet up in Mexico again!

We spent Cooper's first Halloween down in Mexico (they celebrate the Day of the Dead down there on November 1st). We had a bunch of different costumes to choose from, but due to luggage constraints, we could only take one with us! He was a monkey!

To get to Mexico, we flew from Vegas to Phoenix and when we landed in Phoenix and stood up with Cooper in our arms, at least two people behind us looked at us and said, 'You had a baby this whole time???' He made almost no noise and was perfect for both flights!

I attached several pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

2008-11-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

Cooper started rolling over about three weeks ago. It's so cute! He's really good at it now, but we captured one of the first few rolls on video. We take him for his sixth month checkup in a couple weeks (a bit late) to see how much he weighs! It's getting colder, finally, so we can put him in even more cute clothes, including hats! In a sad way, it's good that he spits up so much because then we can just keep putting more outfits on him! Poor kid...

So Cute!

2008-10-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

We leave for Mexico next weekend! Just wanted to add a few pictures!

2008-10-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy few weekends and it's not likely to let up between now and January! In a few weeks, we are headed to Mexico for a family vacation. Cooper is going to meet some of the family for the first time!

Cooper and I surprised Ryan with a trip to Flagstaff for his birthday. We were met there by his brother Kyle (who's birthday is the day before Ryan's) and his girlfriend Emily, his best friend Matt (who's birthday is the same day as Ryan's) and their Mom, Laura. They were just sitting at a table at Ryan's favorite restaurant when we walked in. It was great!

Last weekend, Nonna and Papa came up to babysit Cooper for our first night away. We went to a wedding in California. They had a lot of fun getting to know Cooper even better. He is such a fun kid, especially when he's spitting up all over the place right Nonna?? They brought extra t-shirts just in case.

I'm pretty sure Cooper will hate us for this in years to come, but about a week ago at daycare, he had gotten all of his onesies dirty so the woman that watches him had to get one of her 10 month olds onesies for him... her 10 month old is of course a girl (her two year old sons clothes were all packed away). We couldn't resist and had to take a picture of him in the outfit. He's not old enough for this to cause trauma, so we figured we'd be safe to take a picture.

Happy October!