Springtime!

Ahhh....I am so happy Spring is here! I love hearing the birds, wearing short sleeve shirts, playing outside and opening the windows in the house! That is something that really makes me smile! Here are a few pictures of the kids out and about.

We were lounging around a few nights ago and Ryan and Lola were entertaining us! Ryan took a trip into the shower and Lola decided to show us her funny faces. They are mostly all the same, but cute nonetheless!

Ryan thought he'd try hiding out under the sink. He took everything out and spread it all over the floor. Fun to watch, not fun to clean up!

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

Wow. It's been quite a while since I have updated our blog. I haven't dropped completely off the grid, just kinda! I am going to try to post new pictures once a week like I was doing before. Now that I've said it, I will have to, right?

Things have been OK around here. Not too much to report (which I think is a good thing). Ryan has 2 bottom teeth as of right now, but his gums look like they are about to explode, so I think any day now he'll be getting a bunch more. Poor little guy is pretty miserable, but he's still smiling! He is trying to stand up on his own, but he gets nervous and sits down quickly. He crawls so fast sometimes we have to hustle to get him. I can only imagine what it will be like when he starts walking...or should I say running? Ryan loves Lola. When she leaves the room, he cries.

Lola is a crack up. Every morning after she wakes up she puts a leotard and tights OVER her pajamas. She dances for me and sings pretty much all day. She says really funny things, too. The other night we had put both kids to sleep and a few minutes later Lola came downstairs and said that she had to go to the bathroom. So she went in and several minutes later I walked in to see what she was doing and I asked her if she was finished. She said, "I didn't go yet because my butt wasn't trying!" I cracked up!

Here's a few recent pictures:

I had put Lola to sleep in her own bed and a little while later I went up to check on her. She had moved herself to the floor to sleep on Lulu the Lamb. It looks like she is sucking her thumb here, but her had was just next to her face.

Jordan, Lola, Ryan, my mom, and I went to Boulder for the day. It was a lot of fun. Good restaurants and lots of fun people to see.

Here's Lola getting ready to go outside with Jordan to make a snowman. She got bored so it really only ended up being a small mound of snow. But they had a great time.




Just thought this was a cute one!

Merry Christmas!

Happy girl!



This was one of Lola's favorite gifts. She got a baby stroller set from Yaya. She's obviously screaming about this one!





Woah! Too. Heavy.



Lola's been asking for a pair of sunglasses lately. She got these sassy things and can't get enough of them!




Ryan was so excited about this computer from Tia that he tipped over right after opening it!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had a lot of fun this year, despite the circumstances, because this was the first year Lola understood the excitement that comes along with this holiday. On Christmas Eve, we sprinkled magic dust and Reindeer food (thanks Kim) outside so Santa and his team could find us. Lola thought that was really fun and was very concerned whether or not the reindeer liked it or not.

Christmas morning was exiting. She woke us up at about 6:45 and we waited a while for my mom to venture out of the guest room. Lola was very patient, but ready to head downstairs. Jordan waited downstairs to take some video so he got the best angle to see how excited she was.

I have tried several times to post the video, but I can't get them on here. Does anyone have any advice on this?????




Yummy. Nice new hat from Santa, too!



Does he look tired or what? Not Ryan, Jordan!

Stocking time! This is my personal favorite part of Christmas.

This is not from Christmas, but cute nonetheless. Check out his hair!

This isn't from Christmas either. Just a smily boy picture!

On A Happier Note!

Here are a few recent pictures of the kids. Nothing exciting, but I haven't posted any pictures in so long that I wanted to share a few cute ones!
Lola loves to get in bed with Ryan in the morning. Lola things that squeezing all the blood out of his little hand is showing how much she loves him. But, alas, Ryan is still smiling!


Lola and Emma playing with my old math manipulatives for school. Whatever works!


Ryan is eating peas for the first time...still smiling!That's his smile that makes us crack up! His cheeks swallow the rest of his face. I know he's in there somewhere!

Who's that baby over there?

Still smiling!
Lola thought that was the entire Christmas tree! She couldn't wait to set it up so she held it the whole time Jordan put everything else together!


She helped "decorate" by putting about ten ornaments on one branch. It was beautiful...but I changed it while she wasn't looking!

I figure that's just a little Christmas smirk.

My loving family...or is she strangling him?

My Dad

My dad passed away at about 7:25 this evening. It was very peaceful and we were all there with him when he died. Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls and notes. It really means a lot to us.

Update 2

We got the pathology report back this morning. The neurosurgeon explained that the type of cancer my dad has is very aggressive. The words he used are metastatic and anaplastic to describe the tumor in his brain and that it came from most likely his lungs where the tumors are too many to count. He told my mom that he estimated my dad will live about 1 month; however, my dad is very strong so he said he could last longer. He advised that we look into hospice care for the coming weeks. Whether that means at home or elsewhere, we are not sure. Our main concern at this point is that my dad is not suffering. He struggles with speaking, so I imagine he is frustrated. They inserted a feeding tube, so hopefully he will get strong enough to communicate at least. Keep us in your prayers.

Update 1

Today is Thursday and there is not much to update. Because we have not gotten the pathology on the tumor back, the doctors are not moving forward with anything yet. But when they do, they will advise us on what the best plan of action is. They found several tumors on his lungs and his liver has fluid around it. The liver is definitely secondary. The lungs are definitely worrisome. But again, they can't move forward with anything until the pathology report comes back.
He has had no pain meds or sedatives but is is still very sleepy, but he tried to talk to me today. I couldn't understand him, it was very jumbled. I am hoping it is just because he is still so groggy. I just keep expecting him to wake up and talk to us like normal. I told him to wake up and tell us a funny story or cheesy joke like he often does.
Please keep us in your prayers. I will update again by tomorrow.