Growing UP

 

Six months has just FLOWN by. My baby is no longer the littlest one everywhere we go, and I am wondering where all that time went. People are constantly asking us how Elle is doing and we really have nothing but good things to say. Elle is such a happy, content baby. She lights up the room and gives the best smiles to whoever talks to her. From day 1 she has been a great sleeper and a great eater....what more could I ask for. Elle started sitting up at 4 months, army crawling at 5 months, and now at 6 months has mastered the crawl, today she even pulled herself up and was standing by the chair....we keep telling her to slow down but she is a go-getter. We love you little Elle!

Ryder doesn't talk very often on skype so I feel that I need to share some of the things he says, and I want to write it down before I forget.
The other day Ryder was laying down for a nap when Dad got home from work, so of course he had to get up to say hi, and next thing I know he is running in asking if he can go to the beach. I told him probably not until after his nap....well I saw the melt-down coming, Kyle quickly interjected and said he WAS going since it was his only day to do it....so I gave in. Ryder ran out of the room totally elated and next thing we hear is "Pheww that was a cwose one" Ryd had the brow wipe and all. What a funny kid, I don't even know where he would have picked that up.

Today we had a few good liners....while grocery shopping he was talking about how he was a boy and then in his not so quiet voice he says "ELLE not have a Willy!?" (I know we are lame and don't use proper names for our parts, but who cares!)
Later on in the day he lifts up his arms and says "Mom, I not have any hair" I turned to see that he was pointing at his armpits, then to end the evening off he shook my stomach and said "Mom your stomach is a little bit jiggly" (Thanks, like I didn't know that already).

I was not having the best day today, feeling overwhelmed by all I needed to get done and my kids not co-operating with me. But when I think about it I probably won't remember how my house was messy and my laundry wasn't done, but I will want to remember all the fun things I do with my kids. Sometimes it is so easy to get frustrated with them, but I would take all the crumbled up bread on the carpet and sloppy joes under the table, toys spread out everywhere,kids constantly asking to play games, and have snacks and crying babies who just want their mom to snuggle her ANYDAY!

Happy Birthday Ryder!

October 21 2009. Ryder turns 3!




Just a few good memories.....

1.Before anyone can leave the house,you have to make sure they give everyone a HUG, a FIVE, and a KISS....

2.You love love to snuggle your mom and dad.

3.I am rarely called by mommy anymore...we have gone straight to Lins, or Linsey.

4.Every day you tell mom and dad we are your best friend....Even at the Library the other day in the middle of story time from across the room you caught my eye and leaned back and said "Your my best friend mom". My heart melted with that and your darling smile!

5.You are a smart little boy you love to count, read, color, and build things.

6.Sometimes your words get a little mumble-jumbled and I can't stand to correct it...our favorite is "I got for-tell you something, or mom you got for-tie my shoe".....

7.Everyone knows you LOVE the Little Einsteins movies...you are slightly obsessed, so whenever you hear classical music it is always little Einsteins...not Bach or Mozart.

8.You love to sing around the house and all of your answers tend to be in musical form, "NO, NO, NO, NOOOO" often carries the tune of one of Bach's symphony's.

9.You have a really tender-heart and don't often like to be disciplined.....but you do like to push our buttons as far as you can.

10.You are a great big brother, sometimes you can be a bit pesty, but you are good at helping mom with Elle, sharing your toys, and making her laugh.

11.Dancing is another of your passions, you turn the music FULL blast and jump, roll and march around with your endless amounts of energy.

12.I asked you the other day what you wanted to be when you grow up and you said a GREEN SUPER HERO who plays baseball and saves people.

13.Almost everyday since you turned 3 you tell us that you got bigger, when we ask you how you tell us that you ate your Veg-e-tables.

This was our conversation in the car the other day.....
Ryder: Mom I got bigger!
Mom:You did? We don't want you to get bigger.
Ryder: But I have to.
Mom: What are you going to do when you get bigger?
Ryder: Drive our car really fast.
Mom: Oh, Great!
Ryder: It is great...

Ryder we really don't want you to get bigger, we want you to stay our little boy forever! But it is so fun to watch you grown and change and these have been the best 3 years of our lives, we love you SOOOO much, and we can't wait for all the other birthdays to come!
Love, Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa Wood visit Australia!

Ok so I know it has been at least 4 months since I last blogged, but we have been busy and there were just sooo many pictures to go through....so of course I avoided the situation! We had my parents here for a whole month and we went and saw a lot of different things around Northern Queensland. We really loved having them and we wish we weren't so far away so it could happen a LOT more often..someday! So be prepared for mega picture overload!!!!

 

Grandma and Grandpa arrive in Townsville Queensland Australia, after a LONG LONG journey.

Billabong Sanctuary and Magnetic Island. This island is just minutes away from where we live, but it feels like a whole different world there, so many beautiful beaches to see.


Elle's Blessing Day, what a little cutie she is!



Our trip up to Cairns...we LOVED it up there, we stayed at The Mango Lagoon Resort and enjoyed the beaches of Palm Cove, we took the train up and the skyrail down through the Rainforest, and we made it out to Green Island and got to snorkel around the most beautiful white sandy beaches and coral reef, part of the great barrier reef ( I can't seem to find the pictures of Green Island, just know it was fabulous).
P.S. sorry about the picture mom and dad....we just thought they were funny!


We dug lots of sandcastles


Hike up Castle Hill, overlooking our city.


Saunders Beach


We attempted to visit most of Townsville's 70 parks


All of the beautiful plant and wildlife....minus the Goanna that snuck up on mom in the rainforest and almost sent her into cardiac arrest!


We slept when and wherever we could......


We had lots of fun and lots of smiles......


Thanks for coming! We loved all of our excursions and for the time we spent together, we can't wait to do it again!!!

Elle 1 month old

 

Elle is 1 month old. It is hard to believe that it has already been that long. Elle is such a good baby, she is a great eater and sleeper and she has such a nice temperment....only when we push her just a bit too long does she get upset and when she does she really lets us know. At her 1 month check up she was 4.4kg (nearly 10lbs), she has grown over an inch and her head a couple of centimeters. She already looks so different, and we can see a lot of Ryder in her. I can't wait to see what the next few months bring and to see how she changes even more...but hopefully not too quickly.

Famous

Well we kept hearing about the humongous picture of Kyle's head on the highway from everyone we talked to. So we had to go take a picture of it to show everyone from home. Hopefully it does what it is supposed to and new patients start piling in!

"Back with a Brand New Addition"

Well I have a minute so I thought I would blog about the events or "Event" that occurred this week in the McCandless house. We had our little Baby Girl last week Wed May 20th (your welcome mom). We thought she would never come, but when she decided to make her appearance she sure did it with gusto......
Tues May 19th (my due date) we went in to the midwife for an appointment. The midwife stripped my membranes to try to get things moving, and she told me I was then dilated 3, and we would probably be having a baby that night or so. So Kyle, Ryder and I headed home and waited very impatiently. I was having cramping/mild contractions every 30-40 min or so, but nothing major. Kyle was asking me like every 10 minutes "anything yet"!? Anyways, so I went to bed and would wake every once in a while with a contraction, and then at 4am I decided I would get up and take a hot shower since I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. I showered and then went out to relax on the couch and started having contractions about every 10-15min. 5am I woke Kyle up and told him I was feeling nauseous and they were getting pretty strong. I showered again and had like 4 contractions in 15 minutes. So Kyle started calling people to let them know what was happening, contractions were about 5 minutes apart, and then all of a sudden 3 minutes apart. We got everything in the car, and woke Ryder up and left the house around 6:20am. We drove 15min to our friend Julina's house and dropped Ryder off, then quickly left for the Birth Center. We hadn't been from our friends to the hospital before and we were a bit frazzled and nearly took the wrong exit, Kyle quickly cut across the median to make the right turn. I was dying by this time, my contractions were about a minute apart and I was having no break at all...it was the all time worst car ride of my life! So we pull into the hospital driving area and suddenly I said to Kyle " I have to push!" Kyle just said to just hang on, we then got behind a car taking it's sweet time to turn, I really didn't know if I could make it....well we quickly pulled in front of the Birth center and got out, Kyle started yelling out for someone, and we went into the room where Dawn our midwife was filling up the tub. I laid down on the bed and right then my water burst and the head was crowning. I got up and went to the tub and climbed in, Dawn had to run and get someone, she was gone for about 40 seconds, meanwhile I had pushed the head out and Kyle yelled "Dawn the head is out" she came in just as I pushed the rest of her out and then I pulled her up out of the water. So after everything had settled down we figured out that we had pulled up at 6:53am and Elle was born at 6:55am.....talk about speedy! It was so intense and then all of a sudden it was over. Kyle plopped down on the couch I think quite relieved, especially that he didn't have to rub my back for 5 hrs straight like last time.

Ryder came to meet his little sister about an hour later, and as soon as he saw her he got rigid with excitement and a huge grin. He just wanted to lay by her and hold her, he was so thrilled she was here too. He has been a great big brother already, he helps me get diapers and throw them away and he loves to hold her and help push her in the swing. I think it has been a bit of an adjustment for him even though he hasn't been acting up. He has missed mom doing everything for him. Kyle has tried to make him feel really special too and takes him to play basketball and go to the park. I forgot what it was like to have a newborn but Kyle has really helped out so much. He gets up with me at night and makes sure I am doing ok, and gives me a break if I need it. Elle already loves her dad and calms right down when he holds her. We are really tired but love our little family, and we really feel lucky to be parents to two darling little kids.
So now life is starting to settle in, we are figuring out life again without any sleep and the needs of a newborn but it has been pretty great so far. I feel really blessed that this is my job, I get to hang out with my favorite people all day long, couldn't ask for too much more.
Elle we are so happy you came into our family and we can't wait to see what you will be like, you are already a sweet little baby, you don't ask for much just to be wrapped really warm, although when it doesn't happen fast enough you do have a bit of a temper...I think this impatience you get from your dad. We love you and we are so glad you are here!

Not so Terrible

So I have really enjoyed this stage in Ryder's life. I can't say that the dreaded "Terrible Two's" have been a part of our lives. Ryder is such a sensitive, pleasant little boy, and it has been so fun to watch him grow and learn. He loves to color,paint,cook,read, and count...he is all the way to number 11. He has been talking quite a bit lately and I forget all of the little things he says, so I thought I should write down a few things so I can remember them a little better.
One of our new favorite sayings is when we ask Ryder if he likes something his comment is always "Sure Do, Mom", or tonight when I asked him if he was mixing some yummy dinner he also said "Sure Do". And whenever he answers a Yes or No question it is started off with an "Ohh YEP or Ohh Nope". Most people know that Ryder is not the best eater, he rarely tells me if he is hungry, so I am always holding him so he will sit still and eat. But the other day he came up to me and out of no where said "Mom, Ryder RALLY-RALLY-RALLY HONGRY!" With the dramatics he put into it you would have thought I was starving the kid. He gets a kick out of himself too. He has the funniest fake laugh, usually to something that everyone else is laughing at and then he says "Pretty funny".
I just think it is so fun to hear him come up with these sayings. We sure love this little guy and really feel like he is such a blessing in our lives. He is so excited to have a little sister, and he is constantly kissing my belly and telling me what a nice belly it is....I'm glad he appreciates it! Kyle and I can't get enough of him. I know we are so far away from family and friends and we wish mostly that you all could know him better, but at least this way you get a little taste, which is so yummy!

"SQUITO BITES"

 Well we have had quite the week. Ryder came down with the Chicken Pox or as he calls them "squito bites" and we have been quarantined to the house. We have had restless (for me sleepless) nights and rough days, but we seem to be pulling through it. I am just glad that this happened before the baby came...I don't even want to think how rough that would have been! So this is just to document my little guy who looks not like his cute little self, he told us today his face was "Rally Metsy"....I had to agree.

P.S. Sorry about the picture quality, it is off of our video camera, since our other camera is Out of Order.

Camping Trip

 

We spent the weekend at Mission Beach camping with some good friends. We enjoyed swimming in the ocean, exploring the rainforests, visiting the most beautiful waterfalls, and braving the wind and rain storms. We finished off the day with an Easter egg hunt, it took the kids a minute to understand the concept, but they loved finding all the chocolates the Easter Bunny left behind. Ryder loved going camping, especially with his pal Ellie, and he was so devastated when we pulled into our driveway, we promised we would go again soon. We really are enjoying visiting all the places that are around, but there is so much more to see, we are trying to scope out the best places for when you all come for your Aussie adventure, but until then here is your glimpse at what we have to offer.

new house

 

Just a couple snap shots of the outside of our place.....this might be it for a while since Ryder got his little paws on our camera and it no longer works. We are loving all the room we have to move around in. It is pretty bare everywhere, but thanks to the generosity of good friends here we have been able to furnish it with most of the necessities....including a designer white plastic lawn table with metal chairs to top off the ensemble! I'm not proud. I have to learn that I can't have it all right now and it is ok if my house isn't cute....we will get there someday! Ryder loves the new house and tells everyone that it has a pool...which is a necessity here in my opinion. We think it will be great especially when the new baby comes and we won't be leaving the house for months, at least we can go for a swim. The weather is beautiful these days, it is cool in the morning and hot in the day and cools off some at night. We can't wait for everyone to come for a visit. We are planning all the places to visit when Bama and Bampa come in July, Ryder points at all the planes overhead and says "Bampa coming". We hope everyone is doing great. We love and miss you all.

A Home for Ollie

Calling out to all you animal lovers, our little Dog Ollie needs a new home. We left our Ollie with a family member in Utah and after a few months she has found out that she is allergic to him and that she is not really a "Dog Person". So we are looking for someone who would like to take care of him for possibly a year to 3 years or if you feel that it needs to be a permanent situation then maybe that could be arranged. Ollie needs lots of love, he loves to be played with and taken on walks, and he loves to sit on laps and snuggle. He is fabulous with kids, Ryder could bug him to death and he wouldn't do anything. He does have allergies so he has to have good food and be taken to the vet for regular check-ups. He would be a great addition to any family. We miss our little Ollie, but we want him to have a good home....so if this is for you, or someone you might know, let me know.

Nakey Bum Bum

So, I know some of you out there think that since we are in Australia we are out having an Aussie adventure everyday. Well the truth of the matter is that we have the same life just in a different part of the world, we have work, nap time, dinner time, and all those other times....
It has been raining non stop for what seems like months. There have been big floods and devastating fires surrounding us, but thankfully we have not been affected by mother nature destruction, despite a little sogginess outside. So we have to be creative and think of lots of indoor things to do. We visit the Library a lot, Ryder loves to color, paint, and watch movies. So on the really rainy days we build a fort and Ryder and Bear love to watch a good movie in there.....whatever works right.
Life is going for us, we are still adjusting to the ways of life over here, but we see a lot of potential....we just wish it would hurry a little faster.
So here are a few new pictures of Ryder, he is really a funny little thing, but doesn't really like the spotlight unless it is just mom and dad. If any of you have attended a party with us, you know that it isn't a party unless Ryder has stripped down to his birthday suit. As soon as we walk in the door these days the first thing he does is take off his clothes and say NAKEY BUM BUM! I spend the majority of my day dressing this kid....as you can see he would much rather dress himself to his own liking.

BILLABONG SANCTUARY

So today we spent our afternoon at the Billabong Sanctuary just a few miles away from where we live. It was a real Australian experience we held baby crocs, patted the Koala's, fed the Kangaroo's or as Ryder calls them "ROOS", and there was the hugest croc I have ever seen that they were feeding, his name just happened to be JAWS. We had to drag Ryder away he loved it so much! So here are a few pictures we thought we would share.

Just a few more pics

I need to do this more often so I don't have to add so many pictures at once....so here are a few more.

Aussie update

So I haven't really gotten into this whole blog thing....mainly because I haven't figured it out so I avoid it, but I am going to work on it a bit. We have had a few fun little excursions on Kyle's days off. Life is starting to pick up for us a bit, Kyle is bringing in lots of new patients and we are enjoying the tropical life. This week the weather has been crazy, windy and rainy and the waves at the beach are humongous. Some of the roads are flooded and one of our favorite swim spots is totally overflowing into the ocean. It is pretty amazing.

For those who don't know we are having a baby Mid-May and we just found out it is a little girl. We are so thrilled...I am excited that there are so many cute girl things to shop for, although this could pose a bit of a problem. We talk to Ryder about the baby all the time and he is so excited and even before we knew what she was he would talk about baby sister and being a big brother. I can't wait for him to have a little playmate.

So if you can believe it Ryder just keeps getting cuter.He is pretty animated and talkative....until anybody comes around and then he becomes a mute. My goal was to have him potty trained before the next baby came, so this last month we were really diligent about it, and without all that much grief Ryder is totally potty trained, it's heaven!! Ryder is pretty good at knowing all of his colors and even counting, he even walks around saying "1,2,3..time out mommy, daddy", apparently he gets it but thinks that we need to be disciplined too. We really can't get enough of him and we are so excited to add to our family.