Halloween, etc.

Here are some more pictures from recent days for your viewing pleasure:

All dressed up and ready to go stand in a cold, windy parking lot for 2 hours waiting for the H1N1 shot..

More pictures! Here's one that Mike took the other day after he had taken both kids to the doctor's office (by himself!) to get Aurora's seasonal flu shot. I am so proud of him ;)

Alan had his first official taste of solid food! (Ranch dressing on dad's finger doesn't count) Applesauce was a hit - he couldn't quite get the hang of swallowing but he sure loved smooshing it around in his mouth!

Cute tummy time pictures - please note the ever present drool on his chin! He's discovered how to make raspberries so we've had to make peace with the copious slobbering.

Halloween was fun - we went to an outdoor concert on Friday night and consequently didn't get quite enough sleep, so we skipped the festivities on Saturday and just stayed home and handed out candy. It was fun, quiet, and I didn't have to fight anyone into a costume, so I consider it a win!

Here's the pumpkin Aurora and I carved - she loved eating the guts as they came out (she's weird)

Bringing home a baby bumblebee - I let him wear this costume for about 5 minutes before I took it off of him. He was sweltering and REEKED of chemicals so I quickly gave him a bath. No telling what's in that Chinese polyester! (guess I have to start making his costumes too!)

Here's my little girl all dressed up in her homemade Tinkerbell costume - of course she was unhappy and impossible all day long but she still managed to get her picture in the newspaper!

Fall in Yuma

Cleaning out the camera again!

This time I have all sorts of random things to show you :)

Aunt Reeny answered the plea for more closed-toe

school shoes - much to Aurora's delight!

Daddy brought home a bunch of tadpoles for us to

grow into frogs - here they are, ready to be released

to our pond! I couldn't get any good pictures of the

tadpole stage.

Grandma Ringler came for a short visit and we had a

wonderful time with her even though Aurora was still

getting over her bout with swine flu.

Aunt Lora sent some beautiful clothes for Aurora, but

she chose to wear the ones meant for Alan instead!

This is a 12 month onesie on my 33 month old kid

(over her clothes!)

We spent a wonderful day at the park, playing and

watching the sailboats while we had a picnic snack.

And the pumpkin patch finally opened on the day Grandma

was to fly back home - so on the way to the airport we stopped

and literally ran in, posed, and snapped as many pics as

possible. Of course since we were in such a hurry, no one

was having a good time - as you can see!

(Sadly, this is just about the best shot I got!)

Aurora got to go to the airport and watch Grandma get on

the plane and fly home - and she's been talking about it

ever since!

And I finally broke down and bought an Ergo - and am I ever

glad I did! Yesterday we were having one of those days -

neither kid would nap, I had a mountain of laundry and ironing

to do, and I was just worn out! So when dear old dad got

home, he strapped Alan to his back and took Aurora out

to the backyard so they could play while I made dinner.

It seemed to be just what Alan needed!

And Miss Aurora is FINALLY feeling well enough for school

again - this morning she woke up and said "I want to go to

school today" for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks! And it's the

time of year where its cool enough in the morning for a

sweater, but warm enough in the afternoon for shorts.

So, shorts and a sweater it is!

Pics for GG

So I'm pretty sure my grandma might be the only person still reading this blog, so I thought I might stick up a few pictures just for her :) But if anyone else is reading, you can look at them too!

My little thumb sucker - in his natural state - asleep!

There's that curly hair!

Bundle baby - a rare shot of the boy awake

Aurora's new big girl bed! She's growing up so fast -

almost completely potty trained and sleeping in a twin

size bed already.... we might as well just buy her a cell phone and

a car while we're at it!

Flying a kite with dad

Gratuitious Giggling Baby

Just thought I would share our after bath giggle time with everyone... guaranteed to put a smile on your face! I just can't believe this kid is only 11 weeks old - he seems so big and strong and smart...not that I'm biased or anything ;)

First Day of School!

Well, the fall is upon us, meaning everyone is heading back to school! This includes little Miss Aurora - by the grace of God I managed to hijack a spot in Yuma's best preschool program which also happens to be on my own school campus! This is great because now she can come to school with me and I can stop in and visit and have lunch with her whenever I want to :) Her first day went pretty well, I think - I stopped in to check on her at nap time and of course she wasn't napping, so to keep her from bugging the other kids I took her on a tour of campus and we had lunch together in the cafeteria. I took her back to her class for the rest of the day, and on the way home at 5 she passed out in the car - maybe next time she'll take the nap! Here is a picture for posterity:


First day of School!

From YEAR TWO

And while going through pictures, I found one I really like from when Grandma Miller was visiting. I didn't mention it here at the time but she was definitely a lifesaver for us while Alan and I were in the hospital! We couldn't have done it without her, and I think Aurora really enjoyed having her around :)

From YEAR TWO

Aurora's second day of preschool is tomorrow so we're getting everything packed up and ready tonight...I'll be back with more stories later this week!

Just trying to win a contest :)

Fall in love at first “spray” with Kinesys Spray Sunscreen! The simple solution to sun protection for the whole family.  Read about the experience mom blogger Kalisha at UV Skinz had with  this fast, simple and effective sunscreen. Enter for your chance to win a Kinesys prize package at UV Skinz.  Giveaway ends August 23. Open to U.S. only.

Alan's 2 month checkup

Well I'm a few days late in posting this, but I wanted to mention that Alan had his two month checkup on Monday and weighed in at a whopping 15lbs, 8oz! And he is 24 inches long, so he's a chunky little monkey for sure :) He was a total charmer at the doctor's office, too - smiling and wiggling and just being adorable - until the SHOTS. But even the shots didn't slow him down too much.. he just cried a few minutes and then all was well again. I am really happy with how laid-back and sweet this kid is.. he just goes with the flow and nothing bothers him! We even took both kids to Sea World last week (3 hour car ride, day at Sea World, 3 hour car ride home) and he was just as perfect as can be! No major meltdowns, no traumas, no crises - both kids were amazing. He did get a tiny bit of a sunburn across his nose, but even that didn't bother him. Yep, I'm a lucky mama. Enough bragging - here's pictures!


Yep, I made him wear the same clothes and sit in the pink chair so I could compare them:

From Alan James

From Alan James

Twins two years apart, right?


Waiting in line for the Elmo ride at Sea World-

From Alan James

Sunset from the rest stop on the way home -

From Alan James

An orca snuck into our car to eat our child while she slept-

From Alan James

(just kidding - she has slept with Shamu every night since we got home)

Good view of the suburn -

From Alan James

I would say she's regressing a bit-

From Alan James

Long Overdue Update

Even more pictures....

Doreen's Photo Slideshow

Things are settling down around here... our little boy is just the sweetest, most good natured guy you've ever met. He smiles for EVERYBODY and even for nobody.. he only cries when he's hungry, wet, poopy or gassy..once you fix the problem he's back to smiling and cooing at you! He is a chubby little butterball you just can't help but squeeze and nibble on, he loves his bath and his big sister.... And I know I'm jinxing myself by saying this out loud but I can't help it - he sleeps through the night! He goes to bed around 9:30, wakes up around 1:30 to eat, then goes back to sleep until 6:30!!! I know, right?! I think he is my reward for living through the first year with Aurora...she was much more of a challenge in the sleeping department. Of course now that I've said it, he will stop, but I just had to get it out there that one of my kids actually did sleep through the night at least once :) Anyway, I think we're getting into the swing of things around here... going out alone with both of them is still pretty daunting (I don't want to talk about Wednesday's library debacle) but going out as a family is pretty easy. And Aurora just loves him sooo much... all she wants to do is kiss and hug him and talk about his "cute little nosie and toesies" She sings to him in the car and tells him everything's ok when he cries.. I think she's going to be an awesome big sister!!

Just pictures

I am too tired to form coherent sentences, so here -----

click the picture to see all of them!

Alan James

DRUM ROLL PLEASE! After a week vacation in our friendly neighborhood NICU due to aspirated fluid in his lungs, our beautiful son Alan James Ringler is healthy, happy, and HOME! He was born June 8th at 7:41am, weighed 8lbs 4oz, and has red hair and blue eyes! Now feast your eyes upon the pictures!

Gratuitous Belly Shot

I think the last time I showed off the belly around here, Aurora was *inside* it.... Now she's found the perfect place to hide - *under* it!!


Almost 35 weeks along and about as enormous as I care to be, thank you... But Aurora loves it. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch and she came over, raised my shirt, put one hand on either side of it and yelled "COME ON BROTHER! GET OUTTA MAMA'S BELLY!" Though I have a feeling that once he's here she's going to want him to go back in!

Summertime is upon us!

I just realized I forgot to put up some pictures from Easter! We went to Jacob's Grandma's house (Grandma Judy) for her annual Easter brunch and egg hunt - we ate wayyy too much delicious food and the kids had a great time! Aurora had an absolute blast chasing the boys around and finding eggs to fill her bucket - here is my favorite picture of her (click to enlarge any of them):


And here is our happy little family - note Aurora's possessive glare at the camera... No one is taking her eggs away!

And now that Easter is behind us, summer is upon us! Last week we had a couple 100+ days and decided to hit the pool. Here is Aurora's new swim outfit I got for her from UVSkinz - it provides chemical free UPF 50+ protection so I love it! I hate smearing sunscreen all over her every day, knowing what kind of toxic chemicals are in them - and at the rate we go through it, I can't afford the fancy organic ones! So this outfit is definitely a godsend for us in the blazing sun down here. And I didn't even get paid to say that :) I even got a hat for myself from them - it's not the most fashionable look, but I don't care as long as it keeps me from roasting!


She seems to like it - it dries very quickly too so she's not freezing when she gets out of the water. I think I'm going to pick up a couple more for her, and maybe some shirts for me too :)

But, we have fallen upon hard times here at the Ringler house... Mike had to leave for a week at camp for work, so we are bereft, lonely, and bored! On top of that, she has decided to completely stop napping at all... so I get a full 12+ hours of toddler time every day. So, she's bored, lonely, tired AND cranky - and with Mike gone she isn't eating very well either. I haven't sold her to the gypsies yet, but if I get a good enough offer.....

She really misses her daddy - even though we had a great time at the park, and the store, and in the backyard today, she still flopped down on the dog bed to pine for his picture on my phone while I folded the laundry. Thank GOD he will be home on Thursday - we are counting down the minutes!

Cleaning out the camera

Here are a couple of slideshows from our recent Spring Break exploits -

Sea World!!!


Yuma Fair


Aurora got the camera and then Mom caught the bedhead on film


Random flowers in our yard

Some more pictures

Just some pictures I've taken over the past week or so!


Flying a kite with dad in the backyard


Conspiring with the kids at Bri's birthday party


Climbing this huge ladder BY HERSELF!
She went up it again and again - like it was no problem at all.


Blowing bubbles with Dad


She figured out how to blow bubbles by herself, too!


Watching the turtle eat everything in the flowerbed


Watching the planes at the airshow with dad - one of many!
Actually now we can say that both of our kids have been going to airshows
since before they were born - Her 'real' first one was at Miramar AFB
while I was pregnant with her!


And Mike's birthday is tomorrow, so I made these Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes for him! They are SOOO good - hopefully there will be some left tomorrow :)