Happy Half Birthday!

Tristan turned six months today. We're so proud of him. Stats: 19 lbs, 37 inches tall, and 17 inches head circumference. He is 93% in height and 76% in weight. I never, ever, thought we'd be able to say: We have a big baby!!!


A big CUTE baby. Developmental milestones are rolling over, sitting up, eating solids, introduction to sign language, sleeping through the night. Because of his fat rolls, we think it maybe is preventing him from rolling over or sitting up well.


Most of the time, he lays there while many, including his next oldest cousin, Fiona, messes with him.


With this head fairly strong, and the fact he kept staring at people food, we started solids much earlier and he really likes to eat. Go figure.


He loves to play in his exersaucer, spinning it around and hitting each of his toys. Lots of squeals of delight. Most of the time, his demeanor is very easy going and laid back. He cries when he's hungry or there's a wet diaper.


Before bed, Patrick starts all the kids right around this age with their books. And as predicted, as with Micah and Caelan, the boys would be fussy until daddy put a book in front of them. Then....silence. They really like their books.


With a dream feed after his bedtime, he sleeps through the night and wakes up around 8 a.m. I can not complain. This is a dream come true for us! We have such a cool baby. Happy six month birthday Tristan!

Fall Family Fun

Can you believe it's already fall? I was just at the beach - what happened? The glorious autumn colors in our backyard are just short of stunning.

And to think Patrick
wanted to chop this tree down.

This year, Micah and Caelan were so glad to do pumpkin patching with their cousins who were visiting from Arizona. Trevor and Braden were so much fun.


This had been my first time to a real pumpkin patch where you got to cut the pumpkin off the vine. It was very cool. We bought a 40 pound pumpkin. Wow! (Stay tuned to see what I did with it!)

We also did a fun corn maze which had lots of great pumpkin trivia to help us find our way out. Did you know the pumpkin flowers are edible? Me either. Who knew?

My little pumpkin is asleep.

Also celebrating fall is Trevor's birthday (October 30th) who turned 8 and also their other cousin, Gabriel who turned 5 on October 7th. To celebrate Gaby's birthday, we were rolling pumpkins down a bowling lane.


Just kidding. Kids get these 8 lb balls and some rolling contraption. Here's all Gaby's pals at his bowling party. Happy birthday to both cousins!

Gaby is the one in the center bottom row with the grey shirt and funny face. :)

Beach Retreat 2011

Our annual trip with our small group family was in Topsail (pronounced Top'sl) North Carolina. This was the Ring's second time in Tops'l, as we visited my sister in law, Meghan, who was stationed in Jacksonville with her family. There's not much to do in this beach town, but we still managed to find some fun.

The boys each got some bonding time
with their dad. Caelan flies his first kite.

Tristan's first time touching the ocean.

Two engineers building a water tunnel.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy a lot of the days, but when there was a window to go out and do stuff, we took it. One morning, we went to a petting zoo.

And when the skies cleared,
we went outside before the clouds came out again.

Tristan's first time
on a swing.

The trip was very relaxing. We ate fabulous meals every night, and during the days, some watched TV on one of there 6 flatscreens, others napped every afternoon (me!), and others worked. I thought for sure the boys might get bored inside, but they always found something to do.

Mr. Paul graciously provided ipad
and iphone entertainment for Caelan.

Playdoh salamanders, anyone?

Caelan was so affectionate with Anna and Shelby,
giving them kisses as much as he could.

One of the nights, we all watched an Andy Stanley video, then the guys went to a steak dinner, and played pool and poker most of the night. While they were away, the ladies talked about them over a big pan of Lasagna and some wine. This trip was about continuing to make lasting memories. I think we did just that!

Sane

Nuts

Sweet kids photo. Oh no! Anna eats it.
Shelby is having none of it and all my boys
are looking everywhere but at the camera.

I couldn't get one photo of Tristan looking up.

That's alright, I can still make a
photo work even they don't cooperate.
It's fun to see my three sons....

Sweet memories.
Even the 8 hour drive on
the way back wasn't that bad.


We stopped at this Thai restaurant
where you take off your shoes
and eat while laying on pillows.


Too fun! Looking forward to next year.

Caelan's 3rd Birthday

Patrick and I always struggle whether or not to do a big theme birthday party--- but in the end, we are grateful because it's a great family celebration. Also, while they're under 5, we didn't want to regret not doing them while we could. This year - Caelan wanted a knights party. So we did the best we could--Happy 3rd birthday my sweet precious boy!


First, we were supposed to have a Bouncy castle outside (silver & gray and lots of balloon swords), but it rained all day. What to do? We immediately went into "make do" mode and so we converted our unfinished fourth bedroom in our basement into the party room.


Which was awesome for painting and for cupcake carnage. And Patrick was proud of my spending. For six dollars, you can get four watercolors and thin paintbrushes and make copies of knights. It was a total hit.





For $10, you buy a bag of prizes and get everyone to play hot potato in a circle. Ms. Jessel is having them do a practice round with a ball. Cost of potato is free.


When the music stopped, you were out. But you didn't go empty handed, you got a prize. The next cost-free toddler game: Freeze Dance. I was simply amazed at how good they were at staying still. Wow.


When we asked Caelan what he liked best about his birthday, he said is was his sword cake. Thank you Grandma Ring. He got to pull it out and everything.

The kids got to enjoy their Royal cupcakes.

Not bad for a make do party. And bonus, we also combined it with my side of the family's housewarming, filled with family and enough Cambodian food to feed an army. Good times!