65 years!

This past weekend we went to Ft. Wayne for a party celebrating Ryan's grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. It was amazing to see all the people (77!) there to celebrate this godly couple's life together. I started thinking about the legacy I want to leave for my children. One gift they have is the marriages in the family. All of their great-grandparents had/have had long marriages, their grandparents are still married, and Ryan and I are commited to stay married for life. I am thankful that I have that family history of long marriages and that I married into a family with similar values.

Ryan's grandparents (Violet and Gerald Ringenberg), Caroline, and me (Ryan's grandpa was a bit windblown from taking things out to the car!)

Here is a video of Grandma Violet making Caroline giggle--love it!

Sitting Pretty

I've begun to work with Caroline on sitting. She does a pretty good job of tripod sitting for a short period of time. It's bittersweet because I know that it's just the beginning of the big changes in store for the next 6 months. *sniff*

Caroline, sitting pretty and quite proud of herself

...and the fall that inevitably occurs about 30 seconds later

Croup!

Let me just say, it's probably amazing that we haven't had croup in our house prior to this. My children are always sick with a variety of ailments. However, I didn't expect my 5 month old to be the first to get croup, especially since she hasn't even been to the Y in weeks!


It started on Monday. Caroline has been quite drooly lately and started coughing with a hoarse cough. I just assumed it was because of teething. That night she woke up coughing at 10:30, and I was pretty sure we were dealing with croup. Her breathing was labored, so I took her into the steamy bathroom. She still seemed to be having a hard time so off to the ER we went. The nurses both thought that she sounded like she had croup, but the doctor said she had RSV even though the test came back negative. They sent me home with nothing, and she still sounded bad when we got home at 1:30 am. I took her back into the steamy bathroom in an attempt to clear her up a bit before laying her down. Fortunately, it seemed to work well enough that she slept until 8.

Tuesday morning I took Caroline to the doctor, who said she had croup and prescribed a steroid.
Hopefully she will feel better soon!

One benefit of the ER was that Caroline was weighed. My "little" girl is now 18 pounds! No wonder she's grown out of the 3-6 month clothes already!

Growing Up

This weekend we had some big excitement in our house, full of big changes and big fun. We bought bunk beds for the boys! Jack has been talking about this for a couple of weeks, ever since a co-worker asked if we'd like to buy theirs. Needless to say, he was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS when they arrived!! Even Grant was excited and said a new set of words: "bunk bed." Ryan set them up, and the boys promptly laid on them. Jack's favorite part: the ladder. Grant's favorite part: the ladder. We sense this could be a problem on the safety front. Grant was so excited about the bed that he wanted to move out of the crib and into his new bed. He said, "Own bed." So...he's now out of his crib and into his "own bed." At this point he's not the "jack in the box" that Jack is, but I'm sure that day is coming. Here are some pictures of the boys loving their new beds.

the new beds

I went to take pictures of the boys sleeping in their beds. Grant was awake, reading his new favorite truck book. Jack was sound asleep. When I took Grant's pillow away, he promptly laid down and fell asleep. I guess he wasn't used to the pillow and couldn't sleep on it.

On the Caroline front, she turned 5 months on Saturday. It is such a bittersweet thing. On the one hand, I am thankful that she is getting bigger and older. On the other hand, I know how quickly time passes and that she will be 4 1/2 like Jack before I know it. I saw a little boy who was born almost exactly a year before she was and realized that is how she will be next summer. She'll be walking and playing and trying to keep up with her brothers. I have resigned myself to the fact that she's too big for her 3-6 month clothes and that she needs to move into the 6-9 month clothes. I've begun the painful process of putting the clothes away, and I hate it--not only because it's such a hassle but also because it makes me want to cry. My baby really is growing up!

Caroline at 5 months--her new favorite thing is chewing on her finger.

Grant's favorite things

Grant LOVES trains, cars, and trucks. He is our little BOY! He is also our verbally challenged child. (The ENT attributed that to his gender--not sure about that but whatever.) For MONTHS I've been concerned about his speech, or lack thereof. Each month I would count up the words until he finally hit 51 just shy of 27 months (refer to previous entry). A few weeks ago I finally decided that I would contact the early intervention program after not hearing new words for awhile. Just as I was looking up the phone number, he said, "Up high" to tell Ryan to lift him up. Hmmm...maybe no call is necessary.

So today Ryan asked Grant what his favorite thing about the day was. We've been doing this question pretty regularly for some time, and generally Grant's answer is silence. Today, when Ryan asked the question, Grant said "choo-choo ride." (He rode on a train at the mall.) What??!! He not only said the word "ride" but also answered the question!! I'm thrilled by the words we are hearing! What words will tomorrow bring? It is fun to know there is a little person with real thoughts living in that body!

Art Appreciation

When I was young, we often moved, and in each city, my parents took us (kicking and screaming?) to art museums. On more than one occasion I swore that, when I was a parent, I would never make my kids go to art museums. Well, yesterday Ryan and I took our kiddos (for the record--not kicking and screaming!) to the Indianapolis Art Museum. It had been several years since Ryan and I had visited, and in the time between visits there has been a major remodel. We would have liked to have seen more, but we had to keep moving. Our double/triple stroller did not stop for long, lest the little natives become restless. I was pleasantly surprised to note that we were not trailed by a guard during our entire visit, probably because the children were all strapped into the stroller.

The main reason we chose to go to the museum was a new outdoor exhibit that opened a few weeks ago: "100 Acres." The boys were able to climb on and interact with the art. They loved it, and we enjoyed seeing the joy and excitement on their faces. What a great way to introduce children to art!

Jack, enjoying the art, which was pieces of a skeleton

Grant, contemplating how to jump between the pieces

Caroline, trying to figure out her seat belt

climbing on the art

fun for all ages

Cow Appreciation Day

Q: What is black and white and says, "Cheese"?

A: The Ringenberg family at the annual Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day!

Let me just say, we LOVE Chick-fil-A! The other day, when we learned that it was the day when we could get FREE Chick-fil-A meals, I started thinking about how we could dress for occasion. (For those who don't know, you get free meals if you dress up as a cow for this day. They are very lenient on the "dress like a cow" part at our CFA.) Last year when we did it, we weren't sure if we really wanted to dress as a cow, but this year we put a bit more time and effort into the endeavor. Here is the end result:

our family--notice Grant is NOT dressed up. He is a 2-yr-old through and through. He refused to wear the ears and nose. I had hoped that I could at least get the garbage bag on him, but he would not do it. I brought it just to show them that we did have something for him. Ryan and I are black cows. (Are those called Holsteins? I'll have to pay attention at the State Fair!)

I love this one because you can see Caroline dressed up with her ears, nose and COW DIAPER! Who knew she'd have occasion to wear it in order to dress like a cow?

Happy birthday, Ryan (and America)!

For Ryan's birthday we were at my parents' lake house just west of St. Louis. He didn't get to celebrate with his twin brother, but I think we still had a lot of fun! Jack went on the paddle boat and enjoyed being the "Captain." He even brought his own captain's hat along. Both boys also fished off the dock with Ryan and Papa. And Caroline just blessed us with lots of big smiles!

Ryan, Captain Jack, and Papa ready to set sail (notice Jack is ready to steer)

Caroline with her big smile and big bow to match!

fishing fun off my parents' dock

Grant helping to husk the corn--he's surprisingly good at it!

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Fireworks Fun!

We celebrated our country's independence with a fireworks display at my parents' lake house. I took a ton of pictures, so I'll attempt to narrow them down to just a few.

the kiddos before dinner and fireworks (hence, the still-white shirts!)

even the lawn mower was patriotic!

Caroline's already a girl--lovin' her purse!

Daddy and his little girl

Mimi and her granddaughter, who is making a silly face

Aunt Melanie and her fiance, Greg, were really good at entertaining Jack while we waited.

Grant did NOT like the fireworks. We had to cover his ears, and he had to wear his sunglasses. Poor boy!

These two, on the other hand, loved the fireworks.

Camping!

Ryan was driving with Jack last week and passed a house that had a camper in front of it. He told Jack that we have a tent and that sometime they could go camping together. Well, it finally got cooler and stopped raining so Ryan told Jack that they could go "camping" last night. I love that Ryan took the intiative and that I wasn't involved in this! (Camping is not my thing!) Instead of camping overnight, though, Ryan decided that a 4 and 2-year-old could only last until 10 pm. They loved it and had so much fun with Ryan. What a great daddy he is!

the boys checking out the tent

Ryan making s'mores for the boys

the boys enjoying the s'mores (Grant loved them, Jack didn't)

Grant trying out the sleeping bag

The boys obviously had a great time, judging by their smiles.