What else have we been up to?

1)  For starters, planning our nine-year anniversary celebration.  We're spending a weekend (sans kids!) in lovely Detroit, MI.  Seriously!  We've never spent time there it all and we figured it was time for somewhere other than Chicago to get all of the glory and travel business.

2)  The Kurths were here!  Those wonderful friends of ours drove all the way from Texas to Grand Rapids--via upstate New York.  With three kids!  It was a fantastic visit.  But when is that ever not the case?  Pictures to come.

3)  We're not sure what is cutest about Carrigan at the moment--her six teeth or her new word, "apple".

4) The big girls are continuing to do well in school.  Mali enjoys it more than she did last year and has no separation anxiety to speak of.  Brinnly has surprised us all about that.  She treasures her "individual" time at school independent of her sisters.  Poor Carrigan wants a turn there too.  Two more years, we tell her.

5)  We've been thinking about this blog and how best to continue it without becoming burned out or boring our "audience".  Is Facebook really killing the family blog?  More pictures?  Less pictures?  A running theme?  Time off?  Hmmm....suggestions welcome.

October 27, 2010

Nine years ago today, this particular Ward family was established.  We lived in a small apartment with a Milwaukee address.  Two degrees between us with hopes of more. Two beginning careers. No kids or babies but dreams of a full house someday. Quite a bit of mismatched furniture.  And lots of plan  for the future.

Fast-forward to 2010.  We now live in a four bedroom house with a Grand Rapids address. We love how filled it becomes for holiday celebrations and visiting friends.  The bedroom across the hall from us is painted bright yellow and has a crib, a toddler bed, and an orange 4-year-old's bed. Lots of princess clothes are draped over our now slightly matched furniture.  We've added two master's degrees which we like to think have helped us in the recent years navigate the difficult economy and run our household.  We still have lots of plans for the future--probably more now than ever.

Thank you to all of you who joined us in windy, rainy Berrien Springs nine years ago today.  We love remembering what a speical day that was.  We pray God's blesssings on your families as well.

The Ryans!

Blogger is giving me some issues when it comes to formatting (or maybe it's because I'm a social worker by trade, NOT a web designer) but here's a glimpse into our fantastic 24 hours with the Ryans.

This was the first time we were all together with six kids, all of whom were out of the womb.  Wow!  It was refreshing to be around the family we learned to parent alongside with.  We like the same foods, bibs, toys, midwives, doctors, blogs, hobbies that we don't have time for, and potential future cities.  The kids picked up right where they left up and chased each other around like old times. 

There were so many combinations of kids. Nine, actually, Mike informed us. Including  Jack/Amalia, the first borns.  Brinnly/Jack, the chatty, 3-year-olds armed with stuffed animals.  Brinnly/Abigail, the higher-maintenance middles with a strong dislike for baby-sitters and bottles when younger.  Abigail/Carrigan, the blondies.  Carrigan/Iris, the sweetheart babes.  Maybe someday we will actually take pictures that include the CMU-alum dads and the running, blogging, knitting moms.

The June-Girls

The firstborns



The book-ends



We went down to ArtPrize but the huge lines led us to the children's activities at the art museum and that was pretty much it.  Oh, and ice cream of course, but that's a given when the Ryans are town,

<>

Jack loved this pom-pom.  Or should I say, the wind-fan/street-sweeper

Happy Birthday Grandma Sandy

We celebrated with a trip to the beautiful Meijer Gardens to check out the Chihuly exhibit again.



Carrigan loved the excuse to show off her walking

Add caption

Mali likes any excuse for a tea party

Yes, Carrigan really is in there--can you find her?

A picture-perfect afternoon

Quotes from this weekend

Brinnly, whispering during the sermon in church:  "Mommy, can we move over?"
Kaethe:  "Why?"
Brinnly: "So Pastor can see my dress better."

Amalia to Kaethe:
"Mommy, can you watch our unicorn?  Brinnly and I have to go out for coffee".

The Dora Party

Johnny Dean Wilson

He's much too far away from Michigan for our liking, but we are excited to announce that Johnny Dean Wilson entered the world on September 12, 2010. Isn't he adorable? We are rejoicing with Matt and Erica at the birth of their healthy son. Don't they look like naturals? It must be all the practice they had loving our girls so much. We don't know much about baby boys, but we do know that this one landed in an extra-special family.

Three!

<

Three years ago today we really learned the definiton of multi-tasking. Baby Brinnly Ruth entered the world and our already full hands (Big Sister Amalia was only 14 months old!) but we gladly made room for one more. And now she's staked out her place in our family as the middle girl--usually the favorite of both of her sisters. Not too little to play with Mali and not too big to play with Carrigan. She chatters away. Nonstop. Especially when she's tired or trying to distract us from her full plate of food that she is not eating. Her cuddles are as irrestible as her eyelashes. She sings and dances and creates with a talent unlike anyone else in our immediate family. Her good (imaginary) friends, Hata and Hoshish, are not around as often anymore but do still make occasional appearances. When we watch her baby her dolls we picture her all grown up as a mommy. She claims she is going to have 11 kids. (Mali doesn't know how many kids she is going to have but she is certain they will be allowed to watch MUCH more TV than our kids are) We think Brinn is going to drive away with a guy on a motorcycle someday, but until then we'll keep holding her close and calling her "Bugs" as long as she'll let us. We love you so dearly, Brinnly Ruth Ward!

Amalia Goes to School (Year 2)

Amalia started back to school the day after Brinnly. We were interested to see how this year would go since she had tentative days last year. She woke up three times the night before (very unlike her) and seemed to be a little anxious, but did great. She loved having her famililar teacher, classroom, and friends back. The biggest rewards? The big hugs between Mali and Brinnly when the greet each other after their 2 1/2 hours of being apart.Brinnly wanted to go to school that day too.



Thankfully Mrs. Meyers teaches both classes!

Brinnly Goes to School

After much discussion, we decided for Brinnly to start 3-year old preschool, two days a week this year and Mali to begin the 4-year-old class on the alternate days. That gives each one time at school and time at home with Mommy and Carrigan. Brinnly was oh-so-excited to start.The front porch and backpack shot.
We saw her friend Eliana in the parking lot and they scampered into school, hand-in-hand.
Brinnly and the fantastic Mrs. Meyers
Brinn with her friend Caleb

Two very excited little girls at the end of their first day.

Carrigan Walks! (And Boats! And Floats!)

It was a perfect boating day this past Sunday so we headed out to Gun Lake with the Stevens family. (When we moved to Michigan we were determined to find friends with a boat. Mission accomplished! But there are lots of other reasons why they are Carrigan's godparents and dear friends to all of us) It was Carrigan's first boat trip outside of the view of my belly. She cried at first when we put the life jacket on her but loved the sensation when the boat actually started moving. She managed a quick dip in the water and then a quick nap on the seats. Just when we thought her "firsts" were done for the day, we headed back to the campsite and Carrigan stood up in the middle of all of us and took 20 good steps! She's been moving ever since.

***In other firsts, Brinnly managed to thouroughly enjoy both the boat and the tube without screaming and clinging on to us. She and Mali are currently tied for "Best Boat Hair" award.

Our weekend with Grandma Dena

A weekend filled with gardens, sculpture, red rover, stories, and giggles--all shared with our girls' Great-Grandma.