Our Growing Family

Our Growing Family

Monday, December 31, 2012

Hello World - It's Us...The Riveras

As you can guess, our life has been a little hectic.  The sicknesses did not end with the last post.  In fact, shortly after the last post, Ryan had his 15 month check up and the pediatrician told us he needed to see a specialist for his ear infections.  As you'll see in some upcoming pictures, Ryan had tubes put in his ears on December 17th.  It is just one of the many adventures we dealt with in the last month.  So let's rewind.  We did celebrate Thanksgiving, but didn't get any pictures of it.

Later that weekend, we took Nathan to his first Cornell hockey game at Madison Square Garden.  He LOVED it!!!!  


We couldn't go all Black Friday weekend without making a big purchase.  So here is our new 60" TV. It's amazing.

We took our first holiday visit to Johnson Farms.  Ryan was not digging Santa...at all.  But he did like sitting on the tractor with Nathan.

My boys look so cute in front of our Christmas tree.  



 And they love hugging.  Most of the time, they're fighting...so I had to snap this picture.
We took the boys to Bounce U to see Santa.  I would be crying at this Santa too.

Then Ryan had his surgery.  He did so well.  Doesn't he look cute in his hospital gown?

Nathan's school puts on a holiday show every year.  Nathan was a reindeer.  He sang so nicely.

Nathan left out cookies for Santa and bread for the reindeer.  His teachers told him that reindeer like bread better than carrots.

Ryan really likes making me food in his new kitchen set.
Nathan was excited to get a new battery powered toothbrush.

Ryan loves playing with his "new" toys.



Tonight is New Years Eve.  I hope I have the stamina to stay awake til midnight.  I probably don't though.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Month of Sickness is Over!

We have had quite an eventful couple of weeks.  Although there were some amazing memories made, the majority of the last few weeks have been spent dealing with the 4 of us going in and out of some type of illness/injury. 

Let me start back where I think we left off last...Halloween.  Right before we left for Omaha for Chris and Jen's wedding, we carved pumpkins.  We tried getting the boys interested in carving but they ended up watching the Wiggles while Randy and I carved...then we tried posing them for a picture and this is how it turned out.

Look how much more focused they are when they are watching TV.

Jump to Omaha...we had some time to kill so Randy wanted a picture with the buffalo.  They are buffalo, right?  I have no idea.

Sadly, this was the only picture I took of the actual wedding.  They both looked fabulous.

We returned home from Omaha right in time for Hurrican Sandy.  The running joke was "Who is going to make it to the East Coast first...Randy or Sandy?"  Luckily, as our plane was landing in Newark, the hurricane was arriving.

This is how we passed time during the storm.  Ryan was so exhausted from all the news coverage that he passed out in his highchair.

This is a normal day in my house.

This is what the pumpkins looked like after the storm.

Ryan must not have liked what I fed him for dinner this day.

Apparently this ride does fit 2 people.

And so does this one...

A week later, we were finally able to go outside and get some fresh air.  Nathan was so proud of himself for being able to walk across these stools.

What's with kids and trying to go up the slide the wrong way...it's like an innate sense.

Since the storm was during Halloween week, official Halloween was postponed until the following Monday.  And this is how we spent that morning...in the hospital with Ryan.  We thought he was partially dehydrated so we took him in.  Thanks to my Dad and Miss Tessa for saving the day with Nathan while we went to the hospital.

I can't wait to see the bill we get for this ice pop.

Later that day we had to go trick or treating.  Yep...after the hospital everyone got their costumes on.  There's no stopping this family from getting candy!

Nathan had his speech prepared.  First you say "Trick or Treat," then "Thank You," then "Happy Halloween."  He must have told me that 100 times.

One neighbor answered the door, looked at us like we were nuts, then he remembered it was Halloween.

My boys are so handsome.

I just love this picture of the 3 of us.

The iPad has become a favorite toy to play with around our house.  Notice the bandaid on Nate's head. He fell off the bed and busted his head open.  Try explaining that one to the daycare teachers.

He was tough though...even if he does have a messed up haircut for a while.  I didn't take a picture of his black eye, but he has one too.  He ran head first into another little boy at soccer.  So he had a gash in his head and a big purple/black eye.  All in time for Christmas pictures.

After everyone got healthy again, we traveled out to Pittsburgh to see Jen, Stephen and Logan...and my Mom and Charlie too.  Of course I didn't take any of Jen and family.  I promise that when Jen has the baby, there will definitely be pictures.

Here's the tree in downtown Pittsburgh.  It was a gorgeous day for walking around the city.

The boys rode on the "trolley" and loved it.

And so did Grammy.

Lastly, Nathan started a new, more advanced swim lesson.  This one is much more independent and his teacher is pretty awesome.  Nathan is becoming quite the little fish.

Thanksgiving is in 2 days so I'll try to be a little more consistent with posts.  Oh, and there are pictures from the daycare Halloween parade, but I haven't downloaded them from the other camera...they'll be posted some day.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Pumpkin Picking!

Today was the day we decided to do the annual Rivera family pumpkin picking.  As always, we had a really fun time playing around Springdale Farm.  The boys love it there, especially the hay ride to and from the pumpkin patch.

Ryan measuring himself against the big pumpkin...2.25'  
Check out Nathan's sunglasses.  He would not let us fix them.  Here he is measuring in at 3.25'.
 It was a beautiful day for a hay ride.
 
 Ryan wanted to pick them all up.  The one in front is the one we ended up getting.  It's gigantic.
 Nathan wanted to pick a "medium" sized pumpkin.  This is the one he ended up picking.
 Don't mind my hair...it was the best family shot we could get.
 Sign we need a third marshmallow?

On Friday, we went to the annual Moorestown Firehouse Open House.  They teach stop, drop and roll, dialing 911, and what an ambulance is for.  Then we all rode on a firetruck.  Ryan acted like the siren.

Lastly, Randy and I went to see NJ Governor Chris Christie speak at the local town hall meeting on Thursday.  He is an amazing speaker and it was an event we're sure to remember for a while.  I actually asked a question about the housing market and it was featured in a local SJ Courier Post article.  Check out the link below.