Preschool Christmas Fun

Daniel had his first show today, and he was a super star (actually he was a sheep, but what a great sheep he was). I wasn't really sure if he was going to be able to participate because both boys have been battling illnesses. Daniel still has really large lymph nodes in his neck, still talking like he has marbles in his mouth and his tonsils are huge. We went to the doctor yesterday, where we saw two different physicians, and they are perplexed at the cause. He had a strep test which was negative and all the lab work he had done came back normal. We have an appointment next week with an ear, nose and throat specialist. Hopefully they will be able to figure things out. Ryan has a runny nose, cough, running a fever on and off since Sunday and has had several bouts of diarrhea.

OK, enough of sick talk, back to the performance. We were instructed not to wave to the kids because they wanted them to focus on their teachers and not on trying to find family. Of course as Daniel is crawling down the aisle (remember he is a sheep), he gives me the biggest grin and says "Hi mommy!" There were three classes and all three classes walked down the aisle as they told the story of baby Jesus. They then sang Away in a Manger. Then each class performed to a different Christmas song. It was adorable. You had several kids that were crying, some starring off into nothingness, kids that were so excited and singing loudly, and those that were looking all around to find out what everyone else was doing. Daniel fell into the last category. He kept turning around and watching the kids next to him. But I was so proud of him for at least knowing some of the words and movements to the songs. He was perfect!

Daniel's Sick Day

Yesterday I came to pick Daniel up at my mom's and she mentioned that he was talking funny. I checked him out and his lymph nodes were large and he couldn't open up his mouth very wide. I was concerned and took him to urgent care. It was a very tramatic night. It took two doctors to hold Daniel down to look at his throat. He screamed and cried, I felt horrible. They determined that he needed a shot of antibiotics because his throat was really infected. The shot was really thick and it hurt a lot going in. We had to wait for 20 minutes until we could leave. Daniel shed lots of tears and eventually fell asleep in the docs office. My mom took a picture of his neck today.

Welcome Charlie

Daniel and Ryan are now cousins! Welcome to the world Charlie Schoonover!

Super Halloween

Daniel's new favorite show is Super Why (pbs kids show). He absolutely loves it! It is about a Super Hero who solves problems by reading books. I'm so excited that he might grow up to be a "nerd". He loves books and is learning how to read.

I was going to make the costume, but as it started getting closer I realized that it was just something that I was realistically not going to be able to do. My mom is my saviour and made it for him. She has always made the BEST costumes! I don't even know what I was thinking about trying to do it myself. I had some of the coolest costumes growing up and I know that my kids will always get the best too.

Scott and I took Daniel (and Ryan ) trick or treating. Daniel said the cutest thing as we were walking down the street. He was holding my hand, looked up at me, and stated "This is the best street ever!"

My mom even made noukie a costume, it's batnoukie!

Blue Ridge Bash 2008

Ryan and I went to GA to visit my best friends from college and my friend Nikki took some great pictures of Ryan (check out her website Nicole Puckett Photography). We all had a great time catching up. We don't get to see each other enough, but whenever we are able to spend time together its like we were never apart. Thanks Lauriann for organizing it!

We had quite the game of pictionary and Nikki and I completely dominated the game.

And I think the picture below completely explains why we won. The word was Flash, the "normal" person thinks of maybe a camera flash (see drawing on the right), but if you notice Lauriann had a completely different interpretation.

1st Day of Preschool

My baby is growing up! I can't believe that he is old enough to be going to school. But he was ready and very excited. He loves his teacher and has made a friend in class, Mason. I don't get to take him to school, but I am lucky because I get to pick him up everyday. He always has great stories and he loves to show me what he made at school that day. We are going to have many, many treasures in the years to come. After his first day of school he gets in the car and I asked him if he liked it. He exclaimed in a very excited voice, "I did so much stuff today!" It was great.

Cute Pictures of Ryan

Ryan is now smiling all the time now. But getting a picture of the big smiles is nearly impossible. As soon as put the camera up he becomes mesmerized and is only interested in staring at it. I did get some cute half smile pictures though.

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Scott's parents came to visit last weekend. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, but I did get a great one of Scott's mom and Ryan. Daniel had so much fun seeing Grandma and Grandpa. He took full advantage of them and they spent many hours reading to him. He LOVES books, which I love. He would bring them book after book and being good Grandparents they obliged and read many, many stories.

Water Country

Tonight we decided to take advantage of a cloudy day and go to Water Country. The cloudy days are the best because not many people are there and you don't have to wait in line for the slides. Daniel is getting old enough to go down the big slides as long as it is a two person raft. We thought Water Country closed at 8, but we were greeted with a 7 pm closing time. This meant that we only had 30 minutes at the park. But it was a great 30 minutes! Daniel and Scott went down one slide several times and then they were able to play in the wave pool.

Daniel was telling me that there were two tunnels on the slide.

Ryan enjoying a little snooze.

Feeding the Thomas Obsession

I found some baby Thomas PJs at Target and couldn't resist buying some for Ryan. I figured as much money as we have put into Thomas, all of our kids better love it! So, I am going to start early and make sure that Thomas trains are also one of Ryan's favorite toys. Enjoy the photos!

Dinosaurs and Smiles

Last weekend we took Daniel to the Virginia Living Museum. We didn't know how the whole museum experience would be received, but he loved it! He was so overwhelmed he was going from one thing to the next so fast. The main reason that we went was to view the Dinosaur exhibit. He has been showing interest in dinosaurs lately thanks some books from my sister. He was infatuated with them. There was one display that had a dinosaur nest and some of the eggs had baby dinosaurs hatched out of them. There were quite a few kids that were just staring at the eggs that were rocking back and forth. They were convinced that dinosaurs were going to hatch out of them anytime. I had quite the discussion with Daniel about how the dinosaurs were mechanical and nothing was actually going to come out of the eggs.

I finally got a picture of Ryan smiling. Although he has been smiling since the Myrtle beach trip (you can check out photos of that trip by checking out my friend Nikki's blog) every time I try and take a picture he just stares at the camera. He is getting a lot more alert, and cuter and cuter everyday.

Great Purchase

Last night Scott and I bought Daniel a pool and some water guns and we bought Ryan a shade tent. I have been feeling a little trapped and needed some stuff to do outside the house, even if it was in our own yard. The weather today was perfect, highs in the mid 80's. I asked Andrew to come over and help me set everything up and run around with Daniel. Daniel had so much fun and loved that his uncle "wedrew" was here to play with him. The only thing that would have made the afternoon more perfect was if Scott were here to enjoy it with us (he was stuck inside at work).

Week One

Well we have survived our first week home. Ryan is a great baby, he is very laid back. Daniel is coping well to the new addition. He loves having everyone around and is totally taking advantage of it. Whenever anyone comes to visit they have to play trains with him.

WELCOME HOME RYAN

Jenny and Kevin gave Ryan a Bumbo seat and Daniel decided that it was just his size. He looked as us and said "It's just right!"

Asleep for the first time in his bassinet

It's such a hard life.

My baby is growing up. He looks so big now!



Monkey see, Monkey do! Daniel newest hobby is taking pictures.

Daniel playing with Ryan on the baby gym