We are so excited!

Today is our sweet Jack P.'s 1st birthday party! There will be cupcakes (although they are not the cutest!), balloons, presents, and lots of family! We can't wait!

I really can't believe that my BABY is going to be a year old! This year really has just flown by! We are so thankful for Jack P. Ramsey! He is the perfect addition to our family and we are all just so in love with him!

I will post party pics later this week! 

What we have been up to...

 

We have been keeping busy having lots of fun in our house lately. Jack is turning 1 next week... I can't even believe it! This past year has just flown by! He is super close to walking. He has also started doing lots of copying. Yesterday he picked up my cell phone and held it to his ear and he spent some time trying to put Sophie's shoes on his feet. He is such a smart cookie!

Jack also likes to get into EVERYTHING! He even is convinced that it is his main purpose in life to take full rolls of toilet paper and stuff them in the toilet. He even screams when you take him away from his "work". We are trying hard to keep bathroom doors shut but Max and Sophie have a hard time remembering!

And I also can't believe that our little girl is going to be 3 in just a few weeks! Which makes it also hard to believe that we have been living in St. Louis for 3 years now!

And Max will be starting preschool soon! Someone hold the phone on this one! Preschool? Seriously? I can't believe that a year from now he will be getting ready to go to kindergarten!!

We are excited for our week and plan to spend a lot of it prepping for the BIG birthday bash on Sunday!

I hope everyone has a great Monday!!

Having a ball!

This week has been super busy but we are having a great time! With Nick and I both volunteering at VBS it is crazy getting dinner prepared and to get everyone out the door before 5 and then we get back home around 9 (okay... now that I am typing it out it actually doesn't sound that bad! And it isn't bad! We just aren't used to it! Ha!).

Nick and I are both having a blast volunteering. It has been a great way to start to get plugged in at a new church. Nick is helping with 4th graders and I am helping with 6th. My 6th graders are so much fun but man am I tired at the end of the night. During the program part there is lots of jumping up and down and yelling and of course I have to join right in... I am not sure when my calves will stop being sore!

The kiddos and I have been spending our days mostly at home just playing but yesterday we did get out for a little Target trip with my mom. These fun balls were on clearance so we couldn't resist!

Tonight is the last night of VBS so life will be returning to "normal" soon! But... when is life normal when you have 3 kiddos age 4 and under??? :) It is always craziness! But... we wouldn't have it any other way!

Back in business...

Thank goodness! Our internet has been out for the past few days and it was awful! I guess I might be a little too addicted! I couldn't even cook some of the meals I had planned because I look up all my recipes online! And of course I had to abandon my dear sweet blog! :(

We have had a pretty good weekend and are gearing up for a very busy week! This will be Max's first year to get to go to VBS and Nick and I our volunteering! So, every night from 5-8:30 this week we will be at the church for VBS. They have childcare for Jack and Sophie so our whole family will be busy! We haven't been a part of VBS at Element Church before so we are very excited! But, I plan on keeping our days very low key since our evenings will be so crazy!

Our weekend was actually pretty laid back. Friday night Nick and I got to have a little date night. We went to dinner at a super yummy italian place in Chesterfield (Babbos Spageteria for you local peeps) and then did some shopping/wandering around. We acutally ended up doing some birthday shopping for the kiddos which sort of defeats date night but we had a great time and got to shop together so I think it was fun!

Saturday we hung around home most of the day. I went over to my Grandma's for a little while with my mom and then we went to church Saturday night. Sunday Nick was feeling a little under the weather so we spent most of the day just playing and hanging out around the house. I was also able to get some housework done.

I hope you all had a good weekend and are gearing up for a great week! I can't believe it is already the end of July! Summer will be over before we know it!

Max and Protein... a {love story}

How sweet is this boy? Well... lately... pretty stinkin' sweet! You might remember from some of my "Sunday Letters" blog posts that Max had been having a rough time lately. And by rough I mean... well... basically out of control half the time. Lots of screaming fits. Lots of agression. SO not our Max. I finally (after some encouragement from some awesome friends) decided to talk to our doctor about it. After a lot of talking (I cannot say enough how much I LOVE our doctor who actually LISTENS... if you are in the O'Fallon area looking for a new doc I will give you her info! And she loves Jesus! Hello! She rocks!) Anyway! She suggested we make some sleep and diet changes.

So now our little Maxy-Max is back to taking a nap (or at least a rest) for two hours everyday and is eating a diet of mostly protein, dairy, fruits and veggies. Basically we are avoiding all starches, anything processed and sugar. She said it is the diet she puts her ADHD kids on or kids with behavior problems. I am already seeing a huge change. And I notice when we fall off the wagon a little bit how quickly he goes back to wigging out at the drop of a hat.

So, it is awesome. BUT... oh my gosh it has been a challenge. You don't realized what a sugar/processed foods/carb obsessed world we live in until you are trying to avoid them! I feel like we can hardly go anywhere and have him stick to his diet. Thankfully our family has been awesome at keeping things "Max friendly" so that has been a huge help!

I am working hard at trying to keep meals and snacks creative! And I am working hard at keeping Trader Joe's in business because I can get a lot of great foods for Max there that are fairly inexpensive!

So, if you have any great recipes along this vein please shoot them my way! And  I am sure I will be sharing lots more healthy recipes as we go on this journey with our favorite 4 year old!

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Night out in Carlyle

Nick and I and the Little R's headed out to Carlyle, IL to visit Nick's sister's family in their new home. They moved from Indiana and {we are so excited} to have them living closer. Nick's younger sister Kate came too! She is doing a summer program at Wash U so she is currently living it up in STL too! We have had so much fun getting to spend some extra time with her too!

Here are some photos of all of our Carlyle fun! It was SO hot but I think the kids didn't notice they were having so much fun!

Bunco Night {with my girls}

I play on a Bunco team with a super fun group of girls once a month. (Bunco is a super easy and fun dice game... played mostly by suburban housewives I think!) This past Friday was my turn to host! It was super fun! I love the girls I get to play with and it is so fun to have a night out!

But, of course the most important thing after fun friends is {the food}. And I was not going to let my Bunco girls down! I mean, look how cute these girls are? How do you not give them the best?

1. Fruit with chocolate dip! (one part plain Greek yogurt, one part Nutella and then some shaved chocolate on top!

2. Cream puffs (store bought in the freezer section with melted chocolate and powdered sugar on top.

3. Bacon Wrapped Pretzels (wrap pretzel rods in bacon and cook at 350 until bacon is crispy!)

4. Bruchetta (mix cherry tomatos with a couple swirls of olive oil, a handful of feta cheese and some fresh basil and put on top of sliced french bread and bake until toasty!)

5. Chocolate dipped pretzels (dip pretzels in melted almond bark)

Throw in a little Sangria or if you prefer a dry party go for my fav... Diet Coke! and you have yourself a par-tay!

Middle of the night ramblings...

Well, it is 2am and I can't sleep! Not so much fun! So, I thought I might give a little update on what our family is up to lately. I mean, what else do you do when you are up in the middle of the night and can't sleep besides blog? Ha!

Anyway, we took Max to the doctor last week to address his behavior and irritability issues. I was just feeling like it was beyond what is normal for a 4 year old (obviously 4 year olds are going to be cranky sometimes!). So, our doctor is having us make some sleep and diet changes. So far the change has been huge which is crazy considering it has been just a week! But, I am having a hard time getting used to the new diet. I feel like the only things I can give Max are fruits, veggies, meat, and dairy! Ha! (Yeah, basically the diet we should all be eating anyway! But still!) Plus, she has him taking a nap/rest time again. I can't begin to tell you what a sanity saver it has become to have a little down time in the day where all three kids are sleeping. I didn't realize how even when Max was playing peacefully as long as someone is up I wasn't really relaxing. We are keeping this up until kindergarten!

Jack turned 11 months old on Saturday. Can you believe it? I can't wrap my mind around it. I never thought a year could fly by so fast. With every kid time seems to just speed up even more! It is beyond crazy! How can my sweet baby be less than a month from turning one? But, he is ready for it! Oh my goodness is he a crazy baby! My calm little laid back baby has turned into a man on the move. Every moment that he is awake and not restrained in his high chair is spent trying to get into trouble. Trying to get up the stairs or into cabinets or to climb on top of his siblings... yeah, good times. He wears me out! Thank goodness he is so adorable!

I guess since I updated on the other two I should give a shout out to my little Sophster. She is doing good! I can't believe she is almost 3! She is potty trained except for at night which is nice! It has been almost three years since I have had only one kid in diapers so that in itself feels like a little vacation! She is pretty much a little grown-up girl. She knows what she wants... and 90% of the time that is her Daddy. She makes us laugh and as long as she isn't tired she is pretty much the sweetest thing ever. She has started calling people "girl" or "boy" appropriately... At the 4th of July she was calling my Aunt Teri "Girl". She would be polite but it was like, "Excuse me girl, could I have a drink?" It was cracking us up.

And let's see, I guess that makes it Nick's turn. He is good. Skinny. But good. He has lost almost 50 pounds in the last year. This past weekend he ran 4 miles a day... you know... just because. Ha! But seriously! He looks great! And I had to buy him size 32 pants this week! He said he hasn't been this small since jr. high!

And me. Well, I am good. But, so busy. My friend Heather moved today and that is really bumming me out. Thank goodness for phones because I need a little Heather in my days and so I am glad I will still get that! I have been super busy lately. I feel like I am out so much in the evenings lately which is not my favorite thing. But, it has all been fun. I am taking a Bible study at Element Church which has been amazing. This week was about our value in Christ... life changing stuff. It is also Muny season so I have gotten to go see Legally Blond the Musical and Kiss Me Kate so far! On Thursay my sister-in-law and I are going to see The Little Mermaid! I am really excitied.

All right, well... I guess I should try to sleep! Wish me luck! (Although by the time anyone reads this it will be morning and too late, but thank you for the thought anyway!)

Our 4th of July

Wow! The R's had a {fantastic 4 day} weekend! I can't believe it is over! And I absolutely need another weekend to recover. Our weekend was filled with time with friends, time with family, swimming, Daddy dates, etc. And of course the 4th of July festivities!

Oh, and to celebrate I made these little cuties! Very festive and delicious! I try to avoid using almond bark (I don't love the taste and would rather use a good white chocolate but those can be harder to melt) but for these I went ahead and used it and then rolled the pretzel rods in sprinkles and they actually turned out to be quite tasty!