Aaron dancing

Aaron seems to be unable to not dance when he hears music. It doesn't matter if it is Pop, Country, Xmas, Children music, etc. As long as it is uptempo, his body is moving. Finally got a chance to video him - not his best effort, but it is still fun!

Ryan Paul is FOUR today!

Today is Ryan's fourth birthday! He has been very excited today to celebrate his birthday. He started the day by going to preschool and taking a special treat of chocolate chip cookies....he even ate some! (Ryan doesn't typically like sweets or candy and usually will not eat snack at school). Then we went to McDonalds for lunch and ate inside! Then we went to the doctor to see how big he is getting! He weighs 47 1/2 lbs and is 42 1/2 inches tall! Needless to say the doctor is not worried about his growth! After an afternoon of flying a kite (yes...flying a kite in Ohio in December...not normal!), and putting up Christmas decorations, we went out to eat wherever he wanted. Of all the places suggested, he wanted to go to XRAY (Xcaret-a mexican restaurant) to eat chips! Grandma and Grandpa Clement joined us for the celebration and Ryan got to talk on the phone to Aunt Jill and Grandma Sadler who were excited to tell him Happy Birthday!

For his birthday party, we celebrated at Ryan's Grandma/Grandpa Sadlers last Sunday. We had Thanksgiving dinner and then swiched it over to a birthday party! He received a ton of awesome gifts and had a beautiful cake made by his Uncle Marv. The only problem with the evening is that Ry wouldn't eat any cake! I seriously do not know how I gave birth to him :) Anyway, thank you everyone for the presents, cards, and birthday wishes! We appreciate them all and are so blessed to have Ryan in our lives! He has grown into such a loving little boy that makes us very proud! We love you Ryan and are so glad you be your mommy and daddy!

Here are a few pictures from the birthday party!

Ryan with is Baloo Cake! Great job Uncle Marv!

Waiting to blow out the candles while we sing Happy Birthday! (the small cake to the right is his daddy's cake)

Blowing out his candles all by himself! Way to go Ryan!

A John Deere sweatshirt! Uncle Brian will be so proud! Thanks Grandma Sadler!

An Indians Ball and bat...hopefully he'll learn to hit better then the current Indians!

Happy Thanksgiving Dinner!

This Thanksgiving, Ryan really started getting into the spirit of the day! We had a total of 4 Thanksgiving dinners and for every one he would said, "Happy Thanksgiving Dinner" I tried to explain to him that it was Happy Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Dinner, but I guess he decided to do his own version! Not a surprise if you know Ryan! He was also pretty upset that he was not allowed to go to preschool on Thanksgiving since it was Thursday and he thought he should still be able to go. After some coaxing and play time with Emma, then he came around and enjoyed the day!

Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with Brian, Gina, Emma, and Kaitlyn (and mom and dad)! We absolutely LOVED spending time with them and hope they did as well. My favorite comment from the week was when Gina said, "Isn't funny that kids know when they belong together even when they do not see each other much" That is sooooo true Gina and I love that our kids "belong together"!

Here are some pictures from the week that we celebrated Thanksgiving (since we had 4 dinners...it took a week to celebrate!). We also had Aunt Gina's birthday, Daddy's birthday, and we celebrated Aaron's belated and Ryan's early birthdays on Tues at Chucky Cheese. Whew was it a whirlwind of fun! Thank you very much Uncle Brian, Aunt Gina, Emma and Kaitlyn for helping the boys celebrate their birthdays! We had a blast!

All the kids in their John Deere apparel....brainwashing them already!


Kaitlyn and Aaron hanging out at Chucky Cheese

Grandma and Kaitlyn...she is so cuddley!

Ryan looking like a mouse :)

Emma at Grandma and Grandpas!

Oh yeah...one more story....Emma is very imaginitive and has nicknames for everyone! Hers is Alicia (from Go Diego Go), her daddy is now a Wonder Pet (demoted from Diego), her mommy is Mama Jaguir, and her sister is baby Jaguir. Ryan is now Diego, Uncle Paul is Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Aunt Kim is Ruby....Ryan has started following her lead and now calls his mommy Ruby and insists that she call him Diego...luckily it's only once in awhile and not all the time... Especially since mommy has a hard time remembering his real name sometimes!

Bye-Bye Crazy Hair

At the ripe age of 1 year and 5 days old, Aaron finally has gotten his first hair cut. His thin blond hair has gotten out of control, so Mommy took him to get a trim. Here is the before and after picture.

Happy Birthday Aaron James!

One year ago today, Aaron James was born! He has brought a lot of joy into our world and we are so thankful for him! It has been an eventful year filled with many firsts in his life. Unfortunately he is under the weather for his first birthday, and he is pretty miserable and grumpy! Therefore we will not officially take his picture today, but will put one up from Sunday to compare from his birth day! Here's to hoping that your next birthday is much better then this one and that you have a wonderful 2nd year of life! We love you!

Aaron James 8 lbs 4 oz 20 inches long

Look at that hair!

Smiling for Grandma Sadler...all 24 lbs 10oz, and 30 inches of him!

Actually playing a little, even though he's sick! Still trying to get over his hair!

The next generation of wrestlers...

Paul and his best friend Paul have had a competition going on since they were in Jr. High...they nicknamed it Pauls Basement Wrestling (PBW). A championship belt was even made to be given to the winner of the matches and this weekend Ryan officially become the champion of PBW. Here is a picture of him with his championship belt showing off his muscles that helped him beat Paul Mesker in the match of a lifetime!

Aaron's first birthday-part 1

Since Aaron's birthday falls during the week we had a birthday party for him on Sunday. Everyone that lives in the state was able to make it and we had a good time! Aaron has really started becoming a little person and actually started giving kisses to everyone as they left! It was one of those open mouth slobbery kisses, but a kiss nonetheless. He wasn't exactly sure what to think of the birthday cake that his Uncle Marv so cleverly made for him, but he really enjoyed the bath afterwards!! Aunt Lisa was just excited that he was able to get covered in blue icing :) Anyway, here's some pictures from his party and a video of his brother and cousins singing happy birthday to him!

Sitting on his tricycle that Grandma-Papa Clement gave him! He got lots more toys and clothes! Guess mom needs to weed out some of Ryan's old stuff to make room for the new!


Just getting started on his cake. It was Zee from Noggin

Mom and dad proud of their baby boy on his first birthday!

Aaron happy at last in the bath tub!

Aaron with his godfather Paul

Fun in the leaves!

Last Saturday was a beautiful warm November day, so the boys and I spent some time outside playing in the leaves. Ry enjoyed making the leaves fly and Aaron didn't like the leaves at all! Here's some pictures and a video of the boys enjoying this rare fall day!



Mom and Aaron playing in the leaves. Ry is becoming quite the photographer!


Aaron DID NOT like sitting in the leaves!

Ryan enjoying the leaves

Ryan and mom are having a leaf fight at the end....in case you cannot understand what he is saying...

Harvest Party

At Ryan's pre-school they had a harvest party. I helped with it, by having the kids play a game a little like cornhole, but w/ trick or treat buckets and wiffle balls. They had a blast! The other game they played was "doggy, doggy where's your bone". They also had cupcakes for snack and got to make a leaf wreath. . here's some pictures from his first school party!

Ry getting his backpack on....Maddy and Natalie were sitting beside him.

Ry waiting to be dismissed from the table.

Proud of his craft and treats! Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Parade and Trick or Treat

This year, the entire Sadler family participated in the Wapak Halloween parade with my work. This parade is not messing around because there are approximately 100 entries and goes approximately 1.5 miles...if not more. They have had it in the past, but we've not participated for one reason or another, but decided to tough it out this year. It was quite the experience! Especially since this was the first time Paul had ever been in a parade (Ryan and Aaron too for that matter!), that did not include a state title! I'm not sure which is worse...that he hasn't been in a parade, or that the only ones he has been in involve a championship of some sort :)

Anyway, a week later the boys went trick or treating. It was a beautiful night in the neighborhood. We probably went to about 30 houses and got a lot of chocolate! Unfortunately/fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Ryan doesn't like chocolate, so Paul and I have been eating a lot of it! After we got back from eating supper, we watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...that is our tradition we started last year, and Ryan looked it so much we watched it twice.

Here are a few pictures from the nights of dressing up.

Ry the dinosaur (dragon)

Boys getting ready to trick or treat

Aaron after trick or treat

Look at the happy scarecrow!

Ryan's first field trip

Back in October, Ryan's preschool class took a field trip to the fire station. It was a quick walk on a very nice day. They learned a lot of safety tips and were able to walk through an ambulance and practice fighting a fire. They even talked to patch the fire dog in his special car! Here are a few pictures from the trip!

Aaron's first steps

Aaron just took his first real steps today. He took a total of 10 steps by himself from Daddy on the couch to Mommy on the snuggler. Even Ryan gave him a standing ovation! Aaron is less than two weeks away from his first birthday, and we look forward to celebrating it next Sunday.

Aaron close to walking!

Tonight when Kim was reading to Ryan before bedtime, I was downstairs w/ Aaron. We have a walker toy that Aaron hasn't shown much interest in. Well, I put him on it tonight, and his just took off walking everywhere! Here is a video!


Aaron has been very active in pulling himself up and walking while holding onto furniture. He is also in the stage where ANYTHING he can grab a hold of, he is going to get a hold of it. Aaron has quickly gone from low-maintenance to high-maintenance!

Ryan in his monkey jammies - helping w/ Aaron!
Family picture in front of our new Brutus!

Aaron and Ryan at Play

Random pictures and videos:

Honey's 95th Birthday

Sunday we celebrated Honey's 95th birthday started with a celebration at Honey's church. They presented her with a quilt during mass, then had a special cake and punch celebration afterwards. After re-loading the kids, we then headed to one of Honey's favorites - the Landeck Tavern so that she could have some of their famous chicken.

Aaron at church w/ Papa Sadler!

Ryan's first day of Pre-school

Ryan started pre-school last week. He was pretty excited when he got to the school, but when it came time for Mom and Dad to leave, he was a little upset. Turned out that he was fine after we left and had a great day! Here is a video of Ryan going to pre-school for the first time! At the end, Ryan recognizes a girl that goes to his baby-sitter...and yes, he does hide behind Mommy when he sees her!

Check-ups

Today I took the boys for their check-ups. Aaron had his 9 month well baby and Ryan had to have a physical for pre-school. Aaron did pretty well with his check-up especially since there weren't any shots involved. He is right on track developmentally and needs to eat less food and drink a little more formula! We need to work on using the sippy cup and developing his pincer-grasp (finger-thumb coordination). Otherwise, he is healthy with three teeth in (bottom two, and right upper) and one almost in (left upper). He is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He weighs 21lbs and 4 oz and is 29 inches long. Again, not quite as big as his brother was, but close enough!



Ryan was also a trooper. He cooperated very well even when she looked at his ears-which is a first! He weighs 43 lbs and is 41 3/4 inches tall. No issues with him at this time and is glad we are sending him to preschool! I really can't believe how big my babies are getting!

OBX videos

OBX Vaction

Well we are finally home from a great vacation in the Outer Banks! We decided to drive straight through, and made it back home around 8:30 after leaving at 5:30am. Ryan was great on the ride; he watched a couple DVDs and even took a nap as we entered Ohio. Aaron was pretty grouchy as he has caught a cold. He was officially done after Dayton, but there was no stopping there! Kim also has a cold, and didn't have a fun ride home - but she was a real trooper, just like the boys!

Our house was in Rodanthe, it was about a 30 minute drive south of Nags Head. Info for our house can be found here. We shared it with 5 other couples, including the Swick's. There were a total of 15 children (13 boys, 2 girls!) from 9 months to 17 with 8 of them being 4 or younger. The house was about 100 yards from the water, so it was a nice easy walk to the beach. We tried to go to the beach and the pool each day. Ryan really liked the pool - he learned to jump in and would sometimes venture to shoulder-deep water - but he still preferred to stay by "his steps".

Our beach was great! The beach/water was really clean - no seaweed, garbage, etc.The beach had a "hump", so when high tide came in, it filled a channel-like tidal pool. The kids had a great time splashing in the water.

With the exception of the last day, the ocean water was cold, but you would get used to it. Ryan started the week afraid of the water, then would stand in the crashing waves holding hands, then finally braved the waves by himself (w/ Daddy or Mommy there to grab him for bigger waves of course). Ryan also collected some seashells and built a sand castle. Aaron mostly splashed in the tidal pool or sat on a blanket in the sand. We would also hold him while we stood in the waves w/ Ryan.

We ate a couple good restaurants (Kill Devil Grille was my favorite - Cheesesteak Egg Rolls!!!), and the gang cooked 3 great dinners and every breakfast at the house. BTW, we saw dolphins in the water every day, including while we were in the ocean the last day!

I have a photo gallery of the trip on Facebook, and will put up some videos really soon.

We really liked the OBX, and look forward to going back!

Outer Banks update

We are in Day 3 of our Outer Banks vacation and having a great time. I'll recap our drive down and a few pics w/ this update. We split our drive into 2 days, leaving at 3:30am. We made great time, and surprisingly, didn't encounter any construction or traffic. We got to Raleigh, NC just after 3:00pm, plenty of time to unwind w/ the kids at the hotel. They had a nice indoor pool (and a live performer!), and the kids had a good time!

We were anticipating a lot of traffic going to the Outer Banks, but again had smooth sailing. We arrived in Rondothe in about 3 hours. I'll write more about our vaction later, but for now, here are some pictures.

Ryan's first steps in the Atlantic Ocean.