Rylan Turned 2!

Lots of pictures, I know...it was an eventful day as we celebrated Rylan turning two yesterday.  He is such a sweetie and getting so big!  He really loved his cake and ice cream and his presents too!  Most of all though, I think all the kids just had a blast playing together!  Happy Birthday buddy!

Dying Easter Eggs!

Today mom decided it would be a great day to dye some Easter eggs.  It didn't work out for Emily and Adam's family to be there but we did get to see Molly and Gavin and Nate.  Gavin and Kezzie always get along well and enjoyed doing the eggs together.  Austin even got into it!  Rylan and Adah just caused problems!  I didn't even let Adah near a cup of dye.  Jamie at least let Rylan do a little!  When it was all done we ended up taking home 17 eggs between Austin and Kez.  I guess we will be having some deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches in the near future!  Thanks Mom for heading this up and keeping the mess at your house!!  We love you!

Rylan's First Birthday!

Rylan turned one on the 23rd. He is so sweet and so laid back. Enjoy the video of his first birthday. He did great with his cake too!

Rylan Comes to Visit!

Jamie and Keith went away to Hawaii for a while so between my mom and I, we are watching Rylan! We are so lucky! He is such a cutie and so easy going! I had him Tuesday night until tonight. Jamie and Keith put him to bed on Tuesday night before heading to Rochester. This evening (thursday) my mom came to my house as soon as she got off work and took over. She is going to stay until tomorrow and then her and Rylan are heading to the river for the remainder of their time together. I will be right behind her tomorrow...as soon as Austin is out of school! Rylan did a great job for me. He hardly seemed like he was missing his parents! He and Kez loved 'playing' together, and Adah loved watching them! I think she was kind of wondering what he was doing here and why he was taking her mommy away from her! Kezzie also enjoyed feeding Rylan a bottle, watching The Wiggles in the recliner with him, and helping me feed him his veggies! I love how Adah is sitting so nicely next to me just watching Rylan get fed.
As hectic as it was, it was a lot of fun and very rewarding. Now to see how the rest of the week goes at the river! Wish us luck!

Just for fun!!

I don't really have a reason to post these pics other than they are super cute! A couple of Adah cheesing it up and a couple of her so preciously asleep! I love the ones of me and the two girls (now if only I could get Austin to agree to jump in there). Kezzie had just woke from her nap and needed some love from mommy! The picture of me and Brian is one taken by our newest photographer in the fam...Keziah! She frequently finds my camera and takes a billion pictures with it. There's one of Rylan from just this last Sunday at mom and dad's (can you believe he is almost 7 months old?). The one of Kezzie with her stroller (completely loaded with stuffed animals and blankets) is her running around the table as fast as she can with it. She loves doing this (learned it from big bro Austin) because she gets the dogs all riled up and they chase her and bark. Mommy doesn't like it so much because of all the noise, but I gotta let loose every once in a while, right?!

Some cutie pics!

The top two are of Rylan. He is quickly approaching 4 months old already! The top left one is of him laying on his stomach showing off his new skill of rolling over! He is such a big boy! The bottom two are just of my darling daughter who I believe to be the most adorable little girl ever! We missed Halloween since we were visiting baby Henry so today I just decided to at least put Kezzie in her Halloween costume and take a picture. She ended up loving the dress and kept stroking the sides of her body say 'bootiful'. She also loved to twirl in it and would watch the bottom spin out. It is amazing how girly she can be at less then two years old!

Grandpa and Rylan!

Just a cute photo I snapped yesterday of my dad and 3 month old baby Rylan! He's growing up so fast!

Sunday Funday!

Today we got together as a family again. I promise I won't post every time we get together when we are doing it more often. I had to post some much need recent photos of Rylan and the kids had so much fun playing together so it was hard not to include pictures of that too! Rylan is now a little over 2 months old. He is starting to coo and smiles at you when you talk to him. He is getting so big! Kezzie and Ethan and Austin played doctor with the play doctor set. Kezzie went around giving everyone shots and taking their blood pressure. She also got a kick out of 'listening' to people's heart beats! Austin and Ethan had fun playing in tubs! Bennett is getting so big too. He is walking behind a walker and has mastered the art of going down stairs bottom first (before he would gracefully go head first). I know it won't be much longer and he will be taking his first steps. I can't believe how strong he is getting! What a fun Sunday we had together! That is one thing about Winter I am looking forward to...being together on Sundays again!

My Two Youngest Nephews!

My side of the family finally had a Sunday where we were all together again. Summer has been really busy so it has been rare to see each other. While we are blessed to be close enough to each other to have this opportunity, it just hasn't worked out for several weeks. What a great time we had together! Here are a couple pics of my youngest nephews, Bennett and Rylan! Bennett is getting so big and doing such a great job with his skills. He is starting to walk if he is holding your hands and will cruise around a table by himself. He loves trying to put lids on and putting things inside containers. When he concentrates or is nervous he tends to suck on his upper lip! Here is a picture of Austin and Bennett playing with Austin's Flart (don't ask, it's some gross slimy stuff)! Rylan is getting bigger and soon approaching his one month mark...it's so hard to believe!

Ethan turns 3!!

Ethan turned three on 8-7-09 but we celebrated his birthday today. I cannot believe he is already three! Time is flying by! He is such a brilliant little boy, so shy and timid. I love his personality! At his party there was a truck theme. Emily put his mud pie dessert in the back of his big dump truck with gummy worms sticking out of it. We had a very delicious dinner of meatballs and cheesy hash browns along with a few other tasty sides. There was a stubborn pinata that even Kezzie took a crack at trying to break open. I think Austin got the first piece of candy to fall with his mighty swing! Ethan got some great gifts. We got him a fishing pole and chalkboard book. Austin went through his millions of cars and took out a gallon sized bag full of cars to give Ethan for his birthday. Ethan's eyes lit up when he saw them and I think as soon as he was done opening gifts he went in the kitchen and dumped them all out to play. It was a really great time and fun to see Adam's family members again too. I even got to hold baby Rylan for a good portion of the time we were there! Happy Birthday Ethan! I love you buddy!

Recker Home Visit!

Aside from Keith needing to go back to work and me being worried about Jamie home alone with a 'sewn up' stomach and newborn, I just couldn't stay away. I just love that Jamie is home and I can see baby Rylan pretty much whenever I want!! So here we are again today, already. A couple of photos were from when we stopped there on Sunday after they had gotten home.

The Recker Family

Here they are...the official Recker family! I can't believe this is my little sis!

Another Hospital Visit!

We should know it is impossible to stay away when we are a mere 40 minutes away from Waverly. So here we are again on our millionth trip to the hospital. This time we happened to be there when my oldest sister and her husband and son were there. Gavin just turned four. He's the one sitting next to Kezzie on the couch. And I just LOVE the picture of me and my kids with their newest cousin! And I gotta say...Brian looks pretty handy at his skills holding a newborn!

Proud to announce...

Baby BOY....
Rylan Donald Recker
Born at 9:47 am 7.23.09
7lbs. 15.5oz.
20.5 inches

Jamie went in to be induced this morning after meeting with the doctor yesterday and the doctor expressing some concerns that the baby was getting too big. Jamie and Keith were there by 6am and after starting some meds they could tell the baby wasn't going to handle the contractions well. Its heart rate would drop and then take too long to recover, plus a look at the placenta showed it was deteriorating and not supplying enough oxygen to the baby. So with all that going on, a c-section was in order. Enjoy the pictures of our newest wonder!

I have to make note how Kezzie reacted since in a few short months we will be bringing home our own bundle of joy...We walked in and there were a couple nurses present monitoring Jamie. I think that kind of scared Kezzie but mostly I think her reaction came if the baby and Jamie were in view. She was a shaking mess. I was holding her the whole time and trying to get her up close to see the baby and her whole body would shake the minute Jamie and the baby were in sight. I don't know if she didn't like seeing Jamie in the hospital bed or if she was anxious about seeing the baby, but it took her a long time to warm up. If I was standing, she would immediately start saying "chair, chair" to get me to sit back down with her and when I would sit she would then bury her head on my shoulder and just lay there. Regardless of what the reasoning was behind it, I was shocked at her reaction! I think she is over it now since ALL she is talking about is "baby, mamie (Jamie) and Keith"!