Ryland David Rader

Well, to say that a lot has been happening since I last posted is quite the understatement. Sorry to those of you that thought we may have fallen off the planet. Since our last post we visited California, Utah, Tennessee, and Georgia in one summer, found out we were expecting our third baby in three years, celebrated 4 years of marriage, potty-trained two toddlers, started Jonathan's masters degree, gotten several new church callings, had more than a handful of house guests, and planted our first garden, among many other noteworthy events. So we have been a little busy.

We didn't want to miss announcing the birth of our third child, Ryland David Rader.

He was born on February 24, 2010 at 12:15pm. He weighed 9lbs 4oz and was 22 inches long.

He is the sweetest little boy and is adored by his older brother and sister to a dangerous level. They always want to hold him and touch him and check on him. I am hoping that they will get used to him very soon.

Leighton said, "Mom, Ryland is crying. We need to take him to the doctor."

Savannah held up her baby doll with a pink outfit and said, "My pink baby, your green baby," pointing to Ryland in his green outfit.

For those of you who want to know about the birth...

I was having contractions very consistently Tuesday evening for several hours. I had been to the doctor that day and was still just dilated to a 3. I had been scheduled to be induced on Sunday, two days past my due date. Around midnight we decided to go to the hospital. We live very close to a new hospital which unfortunately hasn't opened yet, so we were over 30 minutes from the hospital where we were going to deliver. We didn't want to take any chances with the baby coming too fast. A wonderful friend came to stay at our house with Leighton and Savannah, and we headed out. My contractions slowed some on the way to the hospital and basically stopped when we got there and I was sitting in the hospital bed. I was very frustrated. I was still only a 3. They had me walk for one hour and I had contractions and progressed to a 4. Because I had progressed in one hour I was considered to be in active labor. We were admitted. Then my contractions stopped again when they had me in bed. I had to wait till almost 9am when the doctor came in. At that point they broke my water and started me on pitocin. The nurse later said I probably only needed my water broken, because my contractions picked up right away. I delivered at 12:15pm. We only stayed at the hospital one day. Ryland is doing great. And I am glad not to be pregnant anymore.

The Greatest Show on Earth...

Well, last night we got to go to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus and it really was the greatest show on earth. This weekend they are at the Phoenix US Airways Center where the Phoenix Suns play basketball. We got there early because they have an All Access Preshow that starts one hour before the show. It is so neat because you get to go out on the floor, meet some preformers, try on their costumes, etc. They even had a little tightrope that was about two feet high that the kids could walk over while holding hands with the performers. Leighton loved that. It isn't the greatest picture because we didn't get the tightrope, but here is Leighton walking across it.

The picture above is of the family in our seats before the show looking somewhat tired and bored.

The picture below is of my sweet Savannah watching in amazement at the show.

All the acts were amazing. It is a great show for kids of all ages. Mine are 14 months and 27 months old and they loved it. Especially Leighton, the two year old. However, it is very entertaining for adults too. I saw numerous adults there without any kids. Jonathan and I enjoyed watching it too. It is great to find some fun things to do together as a family that everyone will enjoy.

If you haven't been, you NEED to go! It is so fun. And there is a great coupon code where you can get 4 tickets for $44. Additional tickets are only $11. Just go to ticketmaster.com and use the coupon code MOM.

Twitter Backgrounds

I am not up to date with social networking at all. I don't do Twitter or any of that. But if you do...Check out tweetestbackgrounds.com for free twitter backgrounds.

Winner...

And the winner of the 4 pack of tickets to opening night for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus in Phoenix is

Crystal Hunter who wants to give the tickets to her sister in Arizona.

If you missed the giveaway, or you didn't win, don't forget to use the coupon code of "MOM" on the Ticketmaster website. It is a great deal for your family.

The winner was chosen using random.org. The Results: It picked number one out of three.

Crystal, please email me within 24 hours to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you, another winner will be chosen.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus!!!!

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus as a child. But I remember the show and that I wanted to ride the elephant so badly. I want to create wonderful memories for my children. A few months ago we went to Disney On Ice at the Phoenix US Airways Center. Though Leighton was barely two, he still talks about the show all the time. He calls it Disney on Icing. He pretends to "scape" or skate around the house.

Now the US Airways Center is hosting the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus. The show is called Zing Zang Zoom. We are going on opening night, and we are so excited. My sister went recently to see this circus in New Jersey. Here is a link to what she said about it. It is "The Greatest Show on Earth." Thanks to Feld Family Entertainment and Mom Central....

I have four tickets to opening night to give away!!!!

That is a family 4 pack of tickets for June 24th at 7pm!

And....

I have a great coupon code for everyone else. This will be an awesome show at a great price, so get your tickets soon.

**Get 4 tickets for $44 by entering the code “MOM” in the MC promotion code box on Ticketmaster.

Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating. Cannot be combined with other offers. Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.
Come experience the all-new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
playing US Airways Center with your family!

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU!

Purchase a 4-pack of tickets for only $44 by logging onto
www.ticketmaster.com and entering the coupon code: MOM.**
Show Dates:
Wednesday June 24: 7:00pm
Thursday June 25: 11:00am, 7:00pm
Friday June 26: 11:00am, 7:00pm
Saturday June 27: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm
Sunday June 28: 1:00pm, 5:00pm

This is how it works...Leave a comment to be entered to win. You get five extra entries for emailing information about the coupon code to at least two people you know. Just leave a second comment saying that you did. Contest ends on June 16th at midnight. Winner will be chosen using random.org. Winner will be contacted using email address left on comment entry. Winner must reply within 24 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Happy 1st Birthday, Savannah!

Can you believe it? My little baby is already one. It seems like yesterday that we first held her in our arms. When Leighton was one, I was already 6 months pregnant with Savannah. In a way I was okay with him growing up, turning one. But it seems strange to have my little baby talking, almost walking. I know she is still a baby, but she doesn't know that.
Savannah- a few days old

Her birthday was actually Saturday, May 2nd. We didn't celebrate then because we were driving back from my sister's wedding in California, and we were all extremely exhausted. I took a few pictures of the kids at the hotel that morning before we left so that we would have a few real birthday shots. Savannah has been teething with her 1st molars. She ended up in the bed with us which we never do at home. We didn't want her to wake everyone up.

The kids were exhausted, as you can see.

Bathtime at the hotel

While Jonathan was taking some of my family to the airport, he took the carseats out and put them in the hotel room. Savannah crawled up into her carseat like she was so ready to go home.

Well, we finally got to celebrate today. I made her strawberry cake with vanilla icing, and we had a nice family birthday party at home.

Thanks to our wonderful families, Savannah received several beautiful gifts for her birthday including multiple cute outfits. Thanks guys! But most of all she loved her baby dolls. From us she got twin babies with a double doll stroller. Aunt Paige also got her a doll, and she was elated...until her brother kept trying to steal her dolls. Both Leighton and Savannah love baby dolls. It was interesting trying to explain to him that these were Savannah's but he could play with one of them. He wanted all of them of course. What else can you expect from a two year old.

Savannah is an angel. She is always quiet and mild. She is happy to accept any attention that comes her way, but she is not demanding at all. She plays very well with her brother or herself. She speaks several words well, but she is not as verbal up front as Leighton is. She is somewhat shy, seldom speaking around strangers but always willing to give them a big smile. She has this gentle way of communicating with her eyes and motions that helps you see how much she understands.

Savannah is a snuggler. Especially when she is tired or not feeling well, she loves to climb up and lay her head in the crook of my neck. It truly melts my heart everytime. She is continually affectionate to her family and her dolls. I know that she will be a wonderful mother some day. One of her favorite things to do is to give kisses. This evening when I was putting her to bed, I was feeding her and she was almost asleep. She stopped abruptly, put her hand to her mouth, and blew me a kiss. She kisses her dolls and even pictures of babies in some of her books.

Though Savannah is mostly mild, she can stand up for herself. She happens to have an older brother close in age that has a tendency to strip her toys away from her and be rough at times. She will fight back, which I am trying to stop her from. But I like the fact that she has some feistiness. I think you need some guts to survive in this crazy world. You have to stand up for what you believe in. Savannah has the strength to do that.

I love the way her bright blue eyes light up. Whenever her brother comes down from his nap, when you go get her in the morning, when she discovers something new, when her daddy comes home, when you read her a book. That light reflects her spirit. I just can't wait to get to know her even better through the years.

I love the way she loves her brother, following him around, giggling with him after her bath, playing trains together, holding hands in the car, showing true concern for him whenever he cries, clapping for him as he kicks the soccer ball outside, waiting patiently as I take care of him.

I love the way she is mine, my sweet little girl. I must say that she is a momma's girl. I know that has something to do with her age. But I hope that we will always have the bond that we have today. I hope that she will trust me as she does now. I hope she will want my help when she needs it. I hope that I can teach her things that will help guide her life.

I love you, Savannah! Happy Birthday, my chubby monkey.

Mamalicious Monday- Spilled Milk

Last week I won the Mamalicious Monday post on The Gift Closet! I was so excited. I am going to get a great vinyl wall art from Inspire with Style for just writing a mom related post on my blog. I love to win things. Just ask my husband. He says that free is my favorite word. Here is my Mamalicious Monday post for this week.

I am the kind of person that doesn't often share my inner thoughts and feelings. This can make me somewhat boring to most people I presume. I have always been so shy and reserved from infancy on I think. But today I feel like sharing my feelings. I have a two year old and an eleven month old, and things don't always run smoothly in our house. This is not because my kids are wild, but mainly because I am trying to learn to be a mom. And on days like today I feel like I am utterly bad at it. All day I have these ideas about things I should accomplish, but don't. This morning I took the kids to Walmart to do some shopping. We really needed groceries. I think that one of the best inventions is the cart for two children. My son really likes the ones that look like a car, but I don't care what they look like as long as they work. But it seems that the ones at Walmart always have broken straps. The one we had today had one working strap and one broken. Leighton of course had to have the broken one. This would require him to sit down in his seat the entire trip. I will leave the majority of the experience to your imagination, but after about 20 minutes of fighting with Leighton, I had to take Savannah out, strap Leighton into the working straps and carry Savannah the rest of the time while pushing the cart. It wasn't exactly easy, but we did somehow make it home with a little popsicle bribery (I'm awful, I know.) I fed the kids lunch and got them to bed. Today I really wanted to clean my house because it really needed it. So I worked the entire time my two little ones were napping simultaneously on laundry, dishes, straightening up, and sweeping and mopping my floor. Now, I hate mopping. Well, actually I like to mop, but I struggle to get to it because I usually have to have everything else clean first and it is impossible to accomplish it with two little ones running around. So I have to spend precious time when the kids are napping to accomplish it. My 11 month old little girl, Savannah, has just started going to one nap, which has been helpful because she can nap at the same time as Leighton, my son. But this makes this nap time especially precious. So I finished all my housework today and was especially proud of myself. I finished just as the little ones were stirring upstairs. The day ended with some frustration resulting from numerous spills on my newly cleaned floor. I must say that you may not even know that I cleaned it. But at the end of the day, I look back and see that it didn't really matter. I end up wishing I hadn't fussed at my son for dumping the entire bag of popcorn on the floor. I feel incredibly selfish and humbled when I see others who have true difficulties, not simply a messy floor. I see that I could have been a little nicer, kinder, gentler. Hopefully tomorrow I can remember that there is truly no use in crying over spilled milk.