10 months

Look at the little guy standing all by himself!

I blinked and all of the sudden Ryan is 10 months, and Clay is almost 4! It's amazing how quickly time flies.  Ryan is the fastest crawler I know on this side of the Mississippi River.  He sprints up and down our hallway.  He is such a busy little guy pulling books off bookshelves, banging things on other things, and playing in the toilet.  Ryan sure loves playing in the toilet!  I think Ryan is eating more than Clay these days - we love his big appetite.  He and Clay are official room sharing buddies.  The other night after we put the kids to bed, I heard this big, "BANG!" I ran into the room, fearing that Ryan had finally climbed out of the crib and had fallen out.  Instead, I saw Clay sitting up in bed, wide-eyed, gleefully covering his mouth in shock, and then I saw Ryan, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo, soo excited and happy.  We have a tower fan near his crib which oscillates to cool down Ryan and Clay, who are at opposite sides of the room.  Ryan had reached up from his crib, standing on his tip toes, and grasped the tower fan, and then was able to tip it over, sending it crashing down.  What a fun evening event for Ryan! And, Clay couldn't believe his little brother was so naughty, causing so much commotion after his mom and dad had JUST put them both to bed.

Clay is sure getting big too! We have been swimming quite a bit in our pool, and Clay is getting so good at it! We are so proud of him.  I'm making it a rule that each time he gets in, he must swim across the pool and climb out.  He isn't a strong swimmer, but I'm actually shocked that he is getting it.  It seems that onc day it just "clicked" and he was able to kick and propel himself forward.  I love it.  

Ryan is enjoying his little pool floating ringy-thing that he used to use with Clay.  

This past month, we've been busy - all with fun things.  For mother's day, we ended up going to the bay area.  First, we went to Berkeley to watch a Stanford/Berkeley baseball game, and then we headed all the way into Marin for a mother's day brunch at Samuel P. Taylor Park.  We also went up to Butte Meadows one weekend with Luke's family to help open the cabin for the summer.  Clay LOVED being up there with his cousins.  To him, I'm sure, it must feel like everyone is his cousin.

Here is Ryan exploring the kids' plate and cup drawer.

Clay graduated from the Busy Bee class, to the Bear Class, at Hand in Hand.  My mom and Annie came up to attend the ceremony, and then we laid out by the pool for the rest of the day.  

Just two boys sitting on the playground slide. 

Clay, Ryan, Owen and Levi enjoying Butte Meadows on Father's Day Weekend.  

I tried to get a picture of all four boys looking at the camera AND smiling, which proved to be an impossible task.

Ryan and I before work, and wondering when I got wrinkles around my eyes.  When did that happen?!

Clay found my "beautiful" necklace, and asked that I put it on him.

Rotary hosted a "Kiss the Pig" fundraiser where teams of rotary members competed to raise the most money, because the winning team didn't have to kiss an actual pig in front of dozens of people.  They fundraised $45k!!  Unfortunately, Luke's team ended up having to kiss the pig, Henry.  Clay asked me the next day, "Why did Daddy have to kiss a pig?"  I told him it was for money ... I'm pretty sure Clay was really confused. 

Ryan LOVES graham crackers.  That's a healthy treat, right?

Colusa County Fair! Clay LOVED going on the rides this year!  His favorite was the airplane right, which allowed him to move the plane up or down with a joystick.  I think he screamed the entire time in glee.

And then Luke and I celebrated 6 years of marriage!

Fancy cheese and champagne by our pool. It was a picture perfect evening, just the two of us, except the wait staff was a bit short and needed constant attention and snacks.  

Luke and I got a weekend away to Monte Rio for my friend, Jessie's wedding.  It was a really beautiful weekend, and we got to spend some time with these lovely people. 

This month, Clay had his first dentist appointment!

My girlfriend, Jess, came up to Colusa for a couple days.  She is pregnant with her first baby (boy) and I was thrilled to celebrate her with more of our friends.  Clay may have been less thrilled. 

Here is Clay getting ready for 4th of July!