Mack is 6 months old

Mack is 6 months old as of yesterday. It is hard to believe six months have gone by since he was born and I have a hard time remembering life without him. He has his check up tomorrow so I will post his stats later, but I had a minute to get these pictures uploaded...isn't he as cute as cute can be.

First trip to the sledding hill

Last weekend we had all the cousins spend the day together. We painted Christmas ornaments and went sledding. All of them loved the sledding and were so daring. Isac and I had a big wipe out. Emily built a snowman and decorated it with what she had on hand...her hat and Mack's pacifier. That night my grandma Tutu came over to give the kids their Christmas gifts. It was a fun preview of Christmas and the kids all got such neat things. Isac has played with Emily's chimes more than she has and he has already memorize songs. The girls spent the night so we set up the little tent downstairs for them to sleep in. It was so fun having them over. I wish I could be a kid again.

gingerbread houses

A few Sundays ago with got together with some of our neighbors and good friends to build gingerbread houses. We have done this with them every year since we moved in and it has become one of our favorite holiday traditions.

Top 5 Reasons Amy loves Ryan

Today Ryan and I are celebrating our 5th Anniversary!! This may not seem very significant but we're thrilled we have made it this far. So in honor of the day I thought it would be fun to post this Top 5 list:
5. Ryan cleans up throw-up. I know this is a weird thing to mention, but after a recent round of the stomach flu at our house it is fresh on my mind so stay with me. I don't hate very many things in this world but I definitely hate throwing up and anything associated with it. I am the mother who runs in the opposite direction when her children start to puke. Thankfully Ryan is always there to take care of things and to me that is priceless.
4. Ryan has so many strengths and talents that I never realized when I agreed to marry him. I won't attempt to list them all but I will mention as an example that when he suggested remodeling the basement himself I didn't have a clue how gigantic of a project we were looking at but I thought there would be no way he could do it and that it would only be a matter of time before we were calling in a crew. However he surprised me by doing almost everything on his own and I now enjoy the fruits of his labor. And I don't question him anymore (at least not as much) when he says he knows how to do something.
3. Ryan has given me three great kids that I wouldn't be able to manage without him.
2. Ryan works so hard to take care of our little family and our home. Even though his schedule is so full he still manages to maintain our house, get things done at work, and make good grades in school. I have to remind myself alot when I want to complain or be mad that he is hardly ever home that he has it worse than I do because he is the one running in every direction.
1. Ryan helps me be who I want to be and accepts me for how I am even when he's not thrilled about it. I am grateful to have a husband that is so considerate and respectful of me. We have come along way over these five years and made so many wonderful memories and I look forward to many more. Here's to another 5 Lovey!!!

I wish I had a Time Machine

I realized today that a time machine could be a good thing to have. Our activities today were very different than they were on this same day a year ago...We were in Hawaii for my sister Arin's wedding enjoying sunny skies and warm weather. Today was exactly opposite but Emily and Isac had fun playing in the snow. Isac was ready to come in the house before Emily and he had to bribe her inside with hot chocolate. Isac went back out later and had a snowball fight with the neighbors. I can't believe all the snow.

Fall Finale

Ryan and the kids attempted to clean up the leaves in the back yard this week. It is a huge job and they haven't even all falllen off the trees yet. Isac and Emily had alot of fun jumping and hiding and playing in them. Emily was such a helper by carrying one single leaf at a time to the pile. Pictures to come when Blogger will cooperate.