Maisey not only loves her new camera, but she loves ours too (this is from ours). Here is one of the many pictures that she begged me to put on my blog. Her excuse for every picture she takes with her camera is, "Mom, I need a picture for my blog"- no matter how inconvenient the timing may be.
EVERYBODY is showcasing dinosaurs right now: Omsi, The Children's Museum, and now the Zoo. Friday we went to the Zoo and it was a little warm for our liking but at least we got to cool off in the new Dino exhibit. We almost passed it up but our friends wanted to stop in and it turned out to be free for members that day. It was pretty cool... One of the Dino's spits out water if you choose to stand in its path and aside from the water, the exhibit also included a path of fog, a slide, some loud roaring, and of course lots of mechanical Dino's.
Summer is near and the corn is arriving. As a child my dad use to drive me to sleep through the corn fields and he referred to my brother and I as "the children of the corn". Well, my love for corn is still alive today and Maisey loves it too- maybe as much as I do. We eat it with most our meals all summer long and sometimes we even get to share daddy's because he is too lazy to give himself a long good floss afterwards.
The pool days have begun so come on over! Maisey spent many hours in the pool this past week and sadly I got to watch from the side. Ryley took his first dip and he wasn't as thrilled about it as we hoped... The pool was overcrowded (probably because people didn't have their air condit
ioner's installed yet) and the sun was very overpowering to the eye, especially Ryley's. We are definitely a water family and in the summer it isn't unusual for us to swim 12 or so times a week. However, we realize we will (or Ryley will), need some time to build up to that. But when the next hot spell comes, I will be ready, suited up, and Chad can be the one awaiting us with dry towels if need be!
Here is a picture of Ryley after a bath... We NEVER give him baths before church or other outings really because his hair is sooo crazy. As it dries it gets crazier and we constantly brush it straight or wet it down. I'm sure when he's a toddler it will be so cute but as an infant it is just so unusual- not that unusual is bad.
The jogger is always the nicest for a good walk but Ryley looks so small in it.
She cried and cried because her basket fell apart even though she begged me for a new one just two days ago. I guess now we will consider buying a new one!
Taking a break at the duck pond.
Jill's has a "hot momma" cut to it and it is just her style.
Hood River ward with family and Ryley was blessed. Being as how it was Mother's Day a couple of our friends weren't there to participate in the blessing but we are thankful for those who did.
hen I opened her gifts because she was soooo excited! I am so thankful that I have my own children to nurture, influence, teach, and love. I have always loved children, ever since I myself was a child and I will never forget how happy I was to find out I was going to be a mother- both times! 
his own, it is still special and I look forward to it in future years. 
The two of us moms spent some time alone with our newborns (4 and 6 weeks) and enjoyed going to the mall alone with out older complaining kids. The mall is somewhere we NEVER hardly visit because we never seem to make it past the toys if we try. Luckily we have a Gap, Gymboree, Target, and other stores virtually across the street for quick easy convenience. 
Of course you can see on the right Maisey has painted her face as usual. She always runs to that first but she decided it didn't look "good" and she washed it off in their bathroom during the visit!
By this time she has given up and is just holding it in for him.
When you hear about the "fountain of youth", keep in mind that I think of little youthful baby boys. Ryley continues to pee on me when I don't make the draw quick enough and I am looking forward to him gaining some control! The first time Chad changed him I warned him and I was the one who got it... I walked by the changing table to hang up clothes in the closet (Chad happened to miss the whole thing as he was concentrating on the diaper), and an unexpected sprinkler got me practically head to toe! Boys!!!
It was nice to make the short trip but we couldn't pull an overnighter because we had tons of already missed engagements here at home. But, this weekend we will make it back up for Ryley's blessing on Mother's Day for another quick visit.
He's doing something funky with his mouth and the sunset was in their eyes but he is such a cutie with his big blue eyes!
He's sure getting long! The 1.5 oz. he gained last week was probably in length, but I told the nurse we will take it!
, if Ryley makes a peep, and before I can even get to him, Maisey tells me to feed him. She tries to participate and I have to explain that it is my body and that I've done it before and that I don't need her help. I didn't think she would be as involved as she is in mothering him but I sure was wrong! She has become pretty bossy and I find myself constantly saying, "Maisey, please don't tell me how to take care of him" which only brings a scowl to her face. Maisey is so in love with him and it is really nice to see despite their age gap. I know that she will always look out for him as she already gets very defensive and protective of the littlest jokes. 
Each year I have always planted flower baskets and they've always died in the hot Hood River sun. I think that these will live since we aren't facing the sun most of the day and we have some shade too. 
If not, I will just have to keep re-planting like years passed.
I only wish I hadn't left my old ones at our old house in Hood River because they were almost identical except they were semi-circles.
I've had several people tell me lately they have been checking the blog out and haven't seen anything new... I only wish the assumption that I'm probably too tired and I'm resting when he does was the reason- but that is far from the truth. Our life hasn't slowed at all. Which has me looking forward to the beginning of June when Maisey's current activities come to an end until the summer session- which we may and probably will forgo. Just yesterday I registered for summer term (boo whoo) and the term begins in about 6 weeks on June 23rd. We will probably swim as we do every summer each day and visit with friends, and along with school work we should be booked to the fullest. Luckily I will have a month off after summer term before fall begins!
I knew things wouldn't slow down much for us with another one in tow, but I am apologizing now because I have slacked on is taking pictures!!! It is true for number two, you aren't as eager as you were to capture each moment as you probably were with the first one. It has been a month since Ryley's birth and the last thing on my mind is taking pictures. However, don't quite checking in because more are on there way very soon!
