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.

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.

Courier Post Article

Gearing Up For Fall

Yikes!  We now have two crazy kids to chase after because Ryan is on the move!  Nathan and Ryan love playing together.  Nathan is teaching Ryan to throw a ball...too bad it's inside the house.

Here's an update on each kiddo.  

Nathan - In mid-September, Nathan started 2 swimming programs and 1 soccer program.  I can't believe that at 3 years old, we already have sports occupying 3 days of our week.  It's nuts.  But he loves it so I can't complain.  Nathan has also been working super hard at school learning to write better.  He is a pro at writing his name and is now moving on to other letters.

Look at this dribbling...

Ryan hasn't learned the "no hands" concept yet.

Here is Nathan at his new swimming lessons at the Moorestown Community Center.  He's learning different skills than he does at the YMCA.  Watch out Phelps...Nathan's coming after you.

We took the boys to the zoo and Nathan rode the camel.

Ryan - In just a few short weeks, Ryan went from walking to running to playing like a big boy on the slide!

And he isn't a baby anymore. Check out his new haircut.  We really think he looks like Nathan now.

The jersey has been passed on.  Ryan wears it proudly.

Ryan's new favorite thing to do is to relax on chairs.  He is so proud of himself that he can get in and out of chairs all by himself.

We had our first fro-yo visit.  I think the owner was regretting putting metal tables inside because Ryan banged on them for 20 minutes straight.

This was the first time I put both of them in the wagon together.  They really liked getting pulled around the neighborhood...and it was a workout for me.

For some reason, posting videos is not working for me.  As soon as I get that up and running, I'll post the vids I had intended to.

Ryan Turns 1!

Our baby is 1!  It has been the most amazing year with a lively and super fun infant.  He has kept us on our toes and will continue to do so as a toddler.  The whole family got together the day before the party to hang out at Hershey Park.  Luckily the weather stayed dry, but we weren't the lucky for the day of the actual party.  The theme of the birthday party was Rubber Ducks.  Nathan and I had fun looking at different rubber duck decorations for the past few weeks.  Here are some of our favorite pictures from the day.