The Island of Many Treasures

We just returned from our annual trek to Treasure Island, FL for our 4th of July vacation with Nick's family.  We had a great week at the beach visiting with family and friends. We missed Aunt Jessica this year. She just finished up as a unit leader at Camp Pinnacle for the summer.

Ryan loved playing on the beach in the sand, running into the ocean, and jumping into the pool.  He is our fearless toddler, which meant that Mommy and Daddy did not get much rest on this trip.  We went to the beach and the pool usually twice a day and luckily, there was a long nap for Ryan (and sometimes Mommy) between the two!

Ryan liked to sit in his stroller right when we got to the beach
every day and people watch before exploring!

Ryan started saying a few more words while we were at the beach, including ocean, Oskie (aka, Oscar the Grouch), sit (thanks to our dog, Maggie) and sky.

Sky!

On the 4th of July, we had a great time. Nick's dad (who lives in Florida now) came to our place to have homeade tacos with us for dinner. And, then we all headed out to the beach for the fireworks. Let's just say that Ryan was not a big fan of fireworks and he had a hard time sleeping through them. The city of Treasure Island shoots off fireworks on the beach every year and they were extremely loud! 

Daddy & Ryan

Mommy & Ryan

Sweet Ry-Ry

Kisses from a precious little boy!

Maggie got to come with us for the first time.  We had to pack a little lighter, but it was so nice to have her with us. She loved being with us and enjoyed the beach. We picked one morning to take Maggie to the dog beach at Fort DeSoto. Maggie had a blast running in the ocean to chase balls. Ryan also loved being at the dog beach and seeing all types of dogs. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera to the dog beach.

Maggie on the beach

Brother and Sister on the ride home! 

We had a great time at the beach, but we were all glad to be home. Ryan was so excited that he ran around the house kissing all of his toys and the vacuum cleaner (his newest obsession). 

So it's been a while

It has been a while since our last post!  The Awesome Arnolds have had quite a schedule lately.  To catch up somewhat, let's start with our recent trip to the beach.  We went to Surfside to visit Mimi (Mandy's mom) over Memorial Day.  We had a nice relaxing (well as realxed as one can be with a 1.5 year old BUSY boy!) time.

Due to the busyness of our trip, we took only a few pics.  I'll post a couple more at the end.  Ryan enjoyed the sand, and ocean, and LOVED the pool!  Our friends, The Fullers were vacationing at Surfside with some of Nick's co-workers while we were there also, so we visited them one day while we were there.   As I mentioned before, Ryan loved the swimming pool!  In Mimi's neighborhood there is an indoor and and outdoor pool, both with kiddie pools...Ryan was back and forth between both pools making for one tired mommy and daddy since he had to constantly be chased!  We're so happy that he loves water, as we both enjoy swimming!  

Ryan's 1st Swim Lesson

Upon our return from the beach, we enrolled Ryan in swimming lessons at Swim Atlanta.  We'll do five lessons for this semester.  So far he's learning to float, blow bubbles, pull up on the side of the pool, kick and splash.  The lessons are a tad long for his (and dad's) attention span!  40 minutes of holding a squirming child is a long time!  After about the first 20 minutes, he's over it and ready to do his own thing!  But, all in all he's doing really well, and learning, what more can we ask?!

On June 4th, Mandy threw Nick a SURPRISE 30th birthday celebration.  Nick turned 30 on May 25!  Several neighbors and friends/family attended the special occasion, and we're really unsure how Mandy pulled off a surprise for Nick - given his inquisitive nature!  But, she did and a good time was had by all! 

Nick's calculator cake!

So, here's the deal with the cake - it was so cool!  Nick wanted a calculator cake as his grooms cake at our wedding. He's an accountant, grooms cakes are typically "themed."  Long story.  So, he finally got it, and it couldn't have turned out more perfect!  The actual calculator was a rice krispy treat covered in fondant icing.  Very, very cool!

June has brought us more busy weekends and more HEAT!  We've been in the 90s pretty steadily for the better part of the month.  

In Ryan news, he turned 18 months on May 13.  He weighed 25 lbs, 12 oz, 33 inches tall - 50% for both.  He is ALL BOY, into EVERYTHING!  He keeps us on our toes!  He is eating like a champ, talking up a blue streak, and keeping us very busy and very entertained!  Some of his newest words are apple, ball, car, daddy, duck, HI!, mommy, outside, sister (Maggie).  He LOVES Chick-fil-A (can't imagine why?!)  He has learned his way to the chick, which we have dubbed "the cow" - Eat Mor Chikin, anyone?! and when we get near CFA he starts saying "MOOOOO."  It is really too cute!

We are just enjoying Ryan to the fullest, and enjoying our summer!  We will leave next week for a week at the beach with Nick's mom at Treasure Island, Fl.  Looking forward to more beach and July 4th!  

We're getting back on the blogging wagon, so we'll update more frequently (when we're not chasing Ry-man!)

Ryan loved chilling in Mommy's beach lounger!

Ryan and Mommy enjoying the pool!

Catching UP

Hello there fellow readers!  It's been a while since our last post - no good excuse - just been having fun with our favorite one year old!

So, Christmas was great at our house.  Santa was really good to Ryan - he must have really impressed the jolly ole elf!  We spent Christmas Eve attending church and having Nicholas's family over for food, fun and presents.  We then went and spent the rest of the evening with some great family friends.

Ryan's Santa presents

Christmas day we spent with our little family for breakfast and Santa stuff, then Mandy's mom and sister, Beth, came down for Christmas dinner.  This was all of our first WHITE CHRISTMAS!  It's been over 100 years since Georgia has experienced a White Christmas, so it was quite a treat.  Hopefully we'll see  another one, but it's not likely.  Here are a few pictures of our Christmas gatherings and our white Christmas.

January - things started off normal, we were just getting back in the groove from the holidays, when more snow came.  This time, we had about 6 inches of snow that turned into 6 inches of ice and remained in that state for the better part of the week.  It was an unexpected break, but a very welcomed break where we enjoyed family time and relaxing from the hustle and bustle of December.  We had been on the go pretty much since Ryan's birthday, so it was a nice break!

We've had a pretty chill January with not too much going on.  We were able to celebrate Libby's first birthday right before the big snow hit ( If you want to see pictures, then you can link over to Libby's blog to see them or we have some on our camera that we need to download)!  That was lots of fun!  We also got to spend that weekend with Aunt Jessica.  Other than that, we've just been enjoying playing with Ryan and watching him grow and learn.  He is walking all over the place, into everything and keeps us on our toes!  One of our favorite new things is asking Ryan where his nose is. He points to his nose once or twice. Then, he wants you to ask him where you nose is, so he can point to it. It is so cute. Mandy and I have decided that this is our favorite age - as they all have been!

Libby's 1st Birthday Party (Libby, Ty and Ryan in her new ball pit!)

Isn't Libby's outfit so cute?

We're enjoying a heat wave of sorts in Atlanta this weekend so we've taken advantage and headed out to the park to enjoy this break in weather.  Ryan and Maggie have loved being outdoors after being cooped up all winter.  I know it's just a tease, and will make us long for spring to get here.

Holiday Rush

There is so much to tell since our last "real" blog post!  We have had a very busy schedule from Thanksgiving to now.  We'll get all you readers (all 2 of you) caught up on the Arnold happenings beginning with Thanksgiving. 


Last Thanksgiving, Ryan was about 10 days old, so this one was more enjoyable for everyone, including Ryan.  We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with Nick's family and extended family, ate yummy food and hung out for a while.  Thanksgiving night, we hosted some of our good friends, Warner, Melissa, and Caroline.  We also had Mandy's sister, Beth join us for the evening as the rest of Mandy's family was celebrating at the beach.  It was a fun time, and we all enjoyed more good food, and more laughs! 

Gobble Gobble!

On Black Friday, we did not venture out with the crazies. We chilled out for awhile and tried to do a little Christmas decorating.  Later that evening, we had a get together with some of Nick's high school friends.  It was a lot of fun to catch up and let our kids play with all of Ryan's new birthday toys! 

Something must be funny!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to the annual Mitchell Santa Party.  Some of Nick's family friends host this lovely party every year, and since we've had Ryan, we've gone the last couple of years.  Ryan is not Santa's biggest fan, yet!  We had a nice time seeing Santa and enjoying the company of friends...what a nice way to usher in the Christmas season. 

Oh Gosh!  Hurry and take the picture! Santa is scary! 

To close out Thanksgiving weekend, we took a family field trip to get our Christmas tree.  It was coooooold, so we picked a tree quickly.  I always enjoy the smell, and the look of a real tree...and this one did not disappoint!  It was fun taking Ryan and seeing him look at the trees and such.

December began with a bang as Mandy attended the annual GHBC ladies Christmas tea.  We attended Owen Gleaton's Christmas party at Anthony's Fine Dining in Buckhead. We had our Christmas card photo shoot, and a good visit with Nick's cousin, Karen. That weekend, we had another Santa encounter (our 2nd one of the season).  Ryan's school, hosted a Santa breakfast that was really nice.  Since Ryan was not impressed with Santa this go round either, we opted for a family Santa picture, that actually turned out very good! 

The next weekend was just as jammed...Friday night we attended Holder's Christmas party at the Atlanta History Center.  It was a nice evening out!  On Saturday, we went to our annual Christmas dinner with Nick's Georgia Pacific friends...we do a secret santa and gift exchange and it's always a blast!  We closed out this weekend with the Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival...it is the choir and orchestra cantata, and it was incredible!  We went with grandmama and grandpa and they enjoyed it as well! 


We celebrated Maggie's 4th Birthday on December 14! 



I know you're probably tired...bear with me we're getting near the end.  I'll save the Christmas post for next time!


The weekend before Christmas, we took Ryan to Phipps Plaza to see Santa Claus.  This Santa is the real deal, and we're so glad we began this tradition from birth.  We will have all of his and our kids Santa visits on DVD, which will be nice to look back on one day when we're empty nesters!  Anyways, this time he did fairly well with Santa!  We had to wake him up from his nap, but he did remarkably well to have just been woken from his slumber.  We filled out his wish list and got in line to wait to see Santa.  Mandy took him up to put him on Santa's lap, and the crying began.  BUT, Santa calmed him down, and we were able to get a decently good picture!  Santa reads his wish list and talks to him a little after the photo, so after about a minute of idle Santa chatter, Ryan was done, and begging Dadddy to resuce him!  It was a great memory! 

That afternoon, we (Mandy) did a little Christmas shopping, and we had the Mays' over for Christmas dinner and a little gift exchange. 
The next day, we went to Ian's birthday party. The McFadden's were in town from Chicago for Christmas and had his "Atlanta" birthday party while they were here.  It was good to see them! 

Happy Birthday Ian!

Whew...if you're still with me, congratulations!  I think this is plenty for one post, and we will get a Christmas post up shortly! 

Last Minute Christmas Shopping

Ryan helped Mommy and Daddy finish their Christmas shopping today! He was such a big help and the carts at one place were just his size!


We are looking forward to a very Merry Christmas with our families. We have lots to blog about and plan to catch up after Christmas!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ready, Set, WALK!

Ryan is walking! We knew that he was getting close, but he took more than a few steps on Saturday while Karen (Nick's cousin) was here to take some family pictures for us. Ryan just loved Karen and she was so excited to be a part of his first real waking adventure throughout the den. Ryan definitely has the concept of give me 5 and clapping when he is proud of himself down pat. When he would walk to one of us, he would give us 5 or clap when we would clap and say yay! It was so stinkin' cute! Here is a quick video of the big event...

We have been dealing with lots of sickness at our house lately. Ryan went to the doctor on Thursday of last week after almost a week of feeling bad. Dr. Roe was not in the office, so we saw Dr. Bramwell. She was AWESOME. Ryan had an ear infection and some serious wheezing. We came home with an antibiotic and a breathing treatment. Ryan seemed to feel brand new after the breathing treatment. We were so glad to see him feel better and moving air throughout his lungs a little better.

We spent much of the weekend at home, since Ryan was still recovering. We did go to Ryan's school on Saturday morning to see Santa Claus and we got a great picture of the family with Santa. Ryan is just not sure about Santa yet. We hope he will love jolly Ole Saint Nick next year!







And just when we thought Ryan was feeling better, I got a call from his school today that he was having gastrointestinal issues. He was pitiful when I got to him. A little TLC from Mommy seemed to help and he ate a banana before bed. We just hate when our sweet boy is sick.

The switch to milk has been more of a challenge than we thought it would be. But, we are making some advancements. We are half formula and half whole milk at this point and that works for us. Ryan is eating really well and LOVES green beans. Of course, our new mealtime game is for Ryan to throw the sippy cup and he says uh oh. You pick it up and he does it again. We love that he knows the concept of uh oh. I love to hear him say it.

Here are a few recent pictures of Ryan.

Ryan loving on Maggie!

We're Bananas for 1st Birthdays!

Ryan is ONE! We cannot believe that it has been a whole year since that sweet little boy came into our lives. It has been the most exhausting and exciting year ever. We love him a little more every day. Ryan has the cutest personality and he is always laughing about something. Here is a picture of Ryan in the outfit from his 1st birthday party (We will share more pictures from his 1st birthday shoot in another post)!

I am ONE!

Ryan's 1st birthday party was so much fun. We chose a sock monkey theme for the party and it turned out really cute. Ryan loved opening his gifts and eating cake. All of our family and close friends came to help us celebrate. It is hard to believe that our little monkey is one! We thought it would be easier to share the photos from his party as a slideshow. Enjoy! 

It was a great day of celebration. We were so happy to have our family and close friends to celebrate with us. We missed all of you guys who live too far or could not be with us to celebrate Ryan's 1st birthday.

We took Ryan for his one year appointment with Dr. Roe last Thursday. He is in the 50th percentile for head, height and weight. He is 30.5 inches long and weighs 22 pounds. Dr. Roe said he looked awesome! Ryan has been given the go ahead to start drinking whole milk. And, the doctor said to keep Ryan rear-facing until he is 2. We were really looking forward to turning his car seat to the forward-facing position. It is so hard to figure out what to do, especially when he gave us such alarming statistics about car accidents and one year olds. The worst part of the visit was the 4 shots that Ryan needed. But, Ryan took it like a champ and only cried for a minute or two. Ryan even gave Dr. Roe knuckles before we left his office!

Ryan's little personality comes out more and more each day. He loves to laugh at funny noises, puppets and anything remotely silly. He loves to shake anything that will make noise and clap when music is playing or when he is excited. Ryan is almost walking. He takes three or four steps before falling. He can get all over the house holding onto the furniture or the wall. He is just scared to let go and take off walking. Ryan will walk between us if we sit a short distance away from each other. We are in no big hurry for him to walk because he is already busy enough crawling and surfing! Ryan is a decent eater and enjoys some foods more than others. He definitely eats better during the day and it is a battle to get him to eat at night. From what we have read, it looks like food battles will go on for several years!

Ryan loves his new school and has lots of new friends. His teachers, Mrs. Sue and Ms. Chantae are awesome! Ryan had a birthday party at school with all his friends and he ate so much cake that day. It was so funny to watch all of those babies eat cake. They all seemed to enjoy themselves and Ryan loved having his mommy and daddy at school. I have a picture to add of Ryan at his birthday party at school, but Blogger will not cooperate.

This cake is so good!

To finish up this blog post, Ryan has formed a serious attachment to a monkey. We call him George and he goes to school with Ryan every day. Ryan hugs George and kisses on him all the time.  George even had his ears checked at the doctor the other day, just to make sure that they were not infected. It is so cute how much he loves that little monkey. We even had some pictures made for his 1st birthday with George!

Sorry about the sideways picture, I cannot figure out how to get it turned....

We are looking forward to Ryan's second year of life and all the fun that it will bring!