Christmas....

It went by way too fast. We enjoyed spending time with our loved ones and the kids had a blast...well Ruby did. Finn was a hit and miss, he really needs his sleep.

This was Finn's thoughts on opening presents...
This was Ruby's.....

It was a great Christmas and we feel blessed to be able to spend so much time with all of our loved ones! Bring on the New YEAR!!!

Finn and stuff...

First I must say I really stink at keeping this blog up, but I really want to get better....I do not scrapbook so this is my only way of remembering cool events....

Ok, so Finn turned 1 on the 2oth....it was a busy weekend with a dance competition on the same day, Beaver game and Casey's mom and sister and family were/are in Haiti so we had decided we would wait and celebrate on Thanksgiving, and again when the family returns from Haiti.

Finn's 12 month stats:
Weight: 25lbs
Height: 31 inches
Favorite things: eating, cuddling, head butting, climbing, dancing and playing with his sissy

Finn is our cuddle boy. He loves hugs and kisses! He gets really excited over the smallest things and laughs all the time. He really is a joy to be around but he definitely is a mommy's boy :) I don't mind one bit! He has been walking for awhile now, but he still crawls too.


Here is our BIG BOY.......
Here's a pic from when he was a few days old...how did he grow so fast?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINN TYLER!!!!


IN OTHER NEWS.....

Casey:
-getting ready to start his last stretch of student teaching in Jan.
-is home all the time and I love it!
-just finished p90x (only missed 1 day!)good job babe

Ruby:
-crazy as ever
-loves to come to dance with me and boss the girls around
-loves to boss everyone around
-obsessed with swimsuits and leotards...its all she wears

Jess:
-dance is in full swing (girls just placed 1st in their hip hop and modern piece....yay)
-subbing at the HS....undecided on my feelings towards it.
-really want to open a dance studio

Ruby turns 3....

Wow I'm behind....Ruby turned 3, October 1st and we celebrated. She had a blast. A few outfit changes, lots of friends, and yummy food, oh and no rain!! It was a success. I just can't believe she's 3!
Decorated their picture frames...
Super Girl to the rescue.....
Getting her 1st pair of heels...she is such a girly-girl
That's one BIG package...
You can see the excitement :)...

Happy Birthday my sweet jewel you are growing too fast. Love you xoxoxox

Pure Neglect...

Wow it's been a LLOONNNGGG time. I guess we've been busy, but not really. It may or may not be because of the excessive time spent on facebook...ooops :) Well anyways we have been going through some pretty exciting changes...

Casey:
- Quit his job to finish his masters
-Started student teaching at a local k-8th grade school, he's really enjoying the little ones
-p90xing it, i wont post photos but dang he looks good (he will kill me when he reads this, i'm just a proud supportive wife)
-Enjoying all his free time now that he isn't a slave to at&t

Ruby:
-so so so independent
-really enjoying learning to read and spell
-loving being a big sister
-turning 3 in a few weeks and has requested a batman party, sure why not

Finn:
-LOVES food, seriously its crazy
-crawls like crazy
-stands, and walks behind things
-he is my lover
-can say; mama, dadda, boo, and hi
-very shy

me:
-Dance...dance...and more dance
-loving all the new family time we have since Casey has quit



Love this photo...
my sweet sweet boy!

Picture Update....

Crazy kid
Cheeks
Ruby Leigh
fountain fun
Ruby and her daddy
He is so sweet I can't get enough
Take down from Uncle Mike
Frisbee fun
Pearl

Just cute
Teeth
Swimming lessons
She hated the fireworks...HATED
Pearl turned 1, in May
My hottie playing frisbee

BOOOOO....

So the sun finally comes out and my kiddos decide to get sick :( .... so sad! It started last Thursday with Ruby acting a little out of character. See she is quite the chatter box as of late, and my dad decide to walk her home from our towns "Thursday Market" and the whole way home she didn't say a word. That night she told me she was tired and going to bed at like 8:30, she usually will try to stay up till at least 10:30 (I know bad). Then when I got up to check on Finn, Ruby was blazing hot, I took her temp and it was 104.1! Finn has been our more sickly child not Ruby. Ruby has had 1 other fever and a few running noses here and there, but nothing too extreme. Anyhow all Friday, Saturday and Sunday Ruby pretty much slept and watched movies. Her fever never really went down even with medication. Then Monday came and Finn woke up at 4 am!!! with a fever and nasty cough. I decided to go see the doctor and Casey's hunch was right the kids have croup :( Ruby is on the mends and Finn is doing better today so hopefully tomorrow will be even better! Sick kids are so sad!!

IN OTHER NEWS.....

It's been awhile so I will give a quick update on everyone...

Casey:
- Crazy busy at work with the NEW IPhone (53 hr work weeks)
- Crazy busy with school, and his practicum for school
- Doing lots of small house projects that we all are enjoying :)

Ruby:
-Started swim lessons, not as much of a fan of swimming as she was last summer
-Loves her new swing set
-Won't sit still for more than 10 minutes (unless she's sick)

Finn:
-Growing SO fast (20.6lbs)
-Sits up, and gets from sitting to laying down just fine, but refuses to crawl. He'll just lay on his tummy and cry and kick his legs until someone helps him (usually Ruby)
- Loves to eat, his favorites are strawberries, bananas, spinach, and carrots. He does not like peas (I don't blame him I don't either)

Jess:
- Staying busy with kids, dance, and running
- In week 4 of the 16 week training plan for a full marathon (no plans to race a full, a half sounds way better)

what is going on...

this is the 3rd time I've blogged in 24 hrs...CRaaazzzzYYY! Ok so you all know Casey is in grad school, yes?! And he is doing awesome I might add, 4.0!! Way to go babe....anyways, his student teaching portion of his program is fast approaching and in attempt to cut out any unnecessary expenses (sense we will be a zero income family), and to simplify our lives so we can focus on the important things we have....

1. Sold our flat screen tv (yes this was all Casey's idea, cool huh)
2. Sold our pilot...got and outback, and now....
3. Bought a 1992 wagon....and going to sell our outback to get rid of all payments

Crazy....so much change but it feels good to have no car payments, well as soon as the outback sells!!!!

teeth...

Finn cut 2 bottom teeth a couple days ago and I think he's workin' on 2 more, poor guy is super cranky :( I'll get a picture of them as soon as they are a little bigger and he's a little happier about them :)

BOB...

You are my hero! My wonderful parents and lovely husband purchased this exact stroller for me as an early birthday gift to help me with my "training"...haha. My goal is to do a half marathon this year. It was getting really difficult to get my long runs in with Casey's crazy schedule... sooooo the BOB was the best solution. Although I'm having to build my endurance up to run with a stroller (so much harder than it looks) it is really nice and convenient. I still enjoy running on my own every now and then, it's a good mental break for me. I totally zone out while running I love it :)

Also me and my running buddy are talking about doing the Vegas half....Dec. 6th if anyone else is interested :)

Finn is 6 months....

Tomorrow our little man turns 6 months! I can not believe he is already 1/2 a year!?!?! Where does time go? Finn is an absolutely terrific baby. Once he hit about 5 1/2 months he just seemed so much more content and happy! It's so nice. He goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes around 6-6:30 (yuck)...He's changing daily. Ruby loves that Finn can sit up and play with her now. She loves to get him toys and make him reach for them. Although he has been sitting up since about 5 months he still doesn't roll? I mean he will roll onto his side to grab something but he doesn't roll all the way over...weird!?!?! I'm sure he is pushy 20 lbs, he's nice and healthy.


Finn standing up.... I love his legs :)
His smile is just so infectious....
I just wanna eat those cheeks...
Ruby helping take pics....my sweet little boy, I hope he is a momma's boy!
oops duplicate...
this was taken a few weeks ago...his hair is growing fast

Happy 6 months sweet boy!

similar ages...

oh, to be 2 again....

Such a fun age right now. Ruby is really getting her own little personality and Casey and I seriously just laugh at her all day long. She is so imaginative, and creative. She has many imaginary friends, and I really never know when they are just going to show up! She loves to talk and explain things as she sees them. She is very outgoing, she must get that from Casey. She loves to play with other kids, and help me with Finn. Her favorite thing to say to Finn is, "Oh, no, no, no, no sweetie..." it cracks me up!

But, let me not forget about the nice tantrums she can throw too. Oh my, door slamming already?!?! YIKES, I know! I think we may be in trouble. Ruby definitely likes things to go her way. Thank goodness we can reason with her now, otherwise I'm not sure I would've survived the last few weeks. I got the book on CD ,"Have a New Kid by Friday" I'll let you know how Leman's strategies work out for us :)

Case and I have been very blessed with 2 amazing kids. Can't wait until they can actually "play" together :)



This is her "mean mouth" face

5 months...

It's hard for me to believe that Finn is already 5 months old! He's changing and learning so fast! Let's see he sleeps great, only wakes up once during the night to eat. He's still super lazy, he'll scoot himslef around on the floor but really doesn't like to roll. No teeth yet, but I can feel them right under the surface. We think he will be getting his fangs first, just like Ruby did. He laughs all the time, squeals too. He's even a snorter, just like his momma. He loves to blow raspberries, which Ruby doesn't like too much (she thinks is gross to spit, good girl!) Oh and he weighs the exact same amount as my 11 month old niece! He really is a solid boy!


look at his ears!!!
silly kids
Ruby loves her brother

Update....

We are finally getting healthy in the VandenBos household. Finn came down with what I thought was just a nasty cold, but after staying up with him for 4 hrs on night 2 of his symptoms, screaming, crying, coughing (a nasty dry cough), and gasping for air we took him in to the doctor. I thought he would just work it out and be fine but nope. Doctor told me he had bronchitis and a touch of croup (which she also said he is a little young to get)... BOOoo...So after a steroid injection, and 5 days on an inhaler he seems to be on the up and up.

A little behind...

Finn is officially 4 months old! (like ago)

he weighed 16.2lbs at his check up (HUGE), and is 26 inches long!!! no wonder my back is killing me. He almost weighs as much as my 9 month old niece.

Let's see he is an amazing sleeper, and eater (no wonder he's so big), he loves to watch ruby play he laughs so hard whenever they play, i just love it. he's pretty lazy, he can roll over but really doesn't like to do it. he's a great little guy and we feel blessed to have him in our lives!




Major hair loss :(
just content sitting and watching (i just love his birthmark)

State...

Some very tired coaches....what a full fun weekend!




Dance is officially over! My ladies did amazing I could not be more proud of their dedication, and talent. Lebanon took home 4th place! I'm going to miss my seniors, but I absolutely enjoyed every moment with them on team. What a beautiful group of girls I got the privilege of working with :) They impressed me daily! I wish I had a video to share, I always cheer too loud so I don't like sharing my video, hopefully it'll be on YouTube soon!!!


Lisa's beautiful team, West Albany...They put together a very impressive show, good job ladies!!


Coaches (minus one very import one, Barbie) and their trophies... I think it's more rewarding for me to place as a coach then it was as a dancer!!

After the first night...These 2 lovely ladies keep me grounded and focused! Love you both so much, coaching would not be the same without you! Your support is so encouraging!