Birthday time!

So I have been busy planning this very important event...

Shane's 1st Birthday!!

Can you believe it's been a year already?!? I didn't have addresses for everyone, so if you did not receive an invite in the mail and need directions, just leave me a comment. Hopefully the weather will be nice because we are going to BBQ at the park by our house. Rincon Valley Park is such a great place. We will be right by the playground and there is even a dog park so feel free to bring the whole family.

Some of you don't get to see Shane very often (and a few haven't got to see him at all...tsk tsk) and I've had people asking me what Shane might like for his birthday. He is up and walking everywhere these days and loves anything that moves, makes noise, or has wheels. He also loves farm animals, doggies and books. We have finally gone through all the clothes we were given from the baby shower and could really use 12 month winter clothes. We also made a Wish List on Amazon.com so CLICK HERE for more ideas on things he might like.

PLEASE RSVP...call me, leave a comment, email me...so I can plan for food and favors for the kiddies. We sure hope you can come celebrate this special day with us!

Beach Weekend!

I can't believe it's September already! It's finally hit me that summer is coming to an end so I thought we would get out and enjoy this nice weather while it's still around. We decided to have a beach weekend!!

On Saturday we took Shane to Lake Sonoma for the first time. It was HOT and beautiful there! Shane and I floated around in the water for a long time and he had lots of fun splashing on the shore with Daddy and learning to throw rocks into the water.

On Sunday we went to the beach at Salmon Creek. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the sun at all out there, but we had a pretty good time before it started to get cold. Shane just LOVES playing in the sand. He kicks it, throws it and buries things in it. He also really likes to poke at things with sticks. He is such a BOY! We sat where someone had made this perfect sandbox with big sticks on the beach already. It was a great place for us to let Shane roam around and play, but it didn't keep him confined for long! You can't keep that boy still!

Me, Shane and our neighbor Chris

Burying his car in the sand

Watching the seagulls with Daddy



Cuddle time with Mommy



Sitting like a big boy



Being silly

Getting cold! Time to go home!

No stopping him now!

Shane has been walking more and more every day. He also waved bye-bye for the first time yesterday! I've been trying to get a good video of him walking for a week now so here is a pretty good one of him crossing the kitchen...ENJOY!

Rock Star

Shane and I spent last weekend in Ukiah visiting with family. My cousins were out here from the East Coast (Brett goes to the Berklee School of Music in Boston and Kyle goes to NYU) for their "2008 West Coast Tour." They are part of an awesome New York jazz quartet started by my cousin Kyle Hughes and beautiful vocalist Jennifer Tullock called The Punch and Judy Band. They had a gig at the Ukiah Brewing Company on Friday night and my Aunt arranged for a babysitter for Shane. It was the VERY FIRST TIME Shane has ever been left with anyone other than my best girls or Grandma and even then I usually put him to bed. It was a little nerve wracking for me, but other than a minor meltdown at bathtime he was just fine. Thanks to Molly who was super sweet and Shane took to her right away. The band was great and I wish them all the best with the rest of their West Coast appearances.

Click here to check out The Punch and Judy Band

(Brett-drums, Jennifer-vocals, Adam-bass, Kyle-guitar/vocals)

We stayed the night and my cousins made us breakfast the next morning before taking a little dip in the neighbors pool. Shane wasn't too sure about it, but he had fun with the boys.

Hanging out with Kyle

Practicing his surfing skills

This is the "Yes, I know I'm cute" look

Then we went over to my Uncle's house to visit for a while and Shane got his first music lesson! Both of my cousins are so talented and I was hoping some of their artistic skills would rub off on him. Shane took to the drums right away. We might have a rock star on our hands! Check out this happy smile!!

Here is a little video of Brett helping Shane play the drums : )

It was 100 degrees in Ukiah, but it really didn't seem too hot. Shane had a great time playing in my Uncle's garden and I wish we wouldn't have had to leave so soon. We had a great time visiting with our family!

Walking across the grass

My happy little gardener

Exciting news!!

For those of you that haven't heard, my brother Cory and his girlfriend Janice are expecting a baby in January. They just had their ultrasound on Friday and found out that they are having a GIRL!! Janice was really thinking it was going to be a boy so they were a bit surprised, but they are very happy and excited. Cory is a bit worried about being surrounded by everything PINK, but I know he will do great with a daughter. Grandma is very excited and now gets to shop for all the girly things she wasn't able to get when Shane was born. It will be lots of fun having a cousin Shane's age too!

Here she is:



Shane has been learning so much lately and is doing so many funny things! He is trying to repeat words that we say (things like "outside", "doggy", "sockies", "kitty"), but of course no "Mama" still. He has been saying "Dad" and "Dada-dada" for a long time, although not directly to Ryan yet. I have been trying to teach him some of the Baby Sign Language too and on Saturday he did the sign for "eat", but I'm not sure he really understood it yet. He does crawl over to his highchair sometimes when I say "eat" and do the sign, so I think he is starting to get it.

He has also been doing this funny thing where he crawls around with things hanging out of his mouth like his sippy cup, hair brush, paper, (clean) diapers and even came out of the bedroom with my bra in his mouth one morning! The other day I asked him "where is your brush" and he crawled across the room and brought it back to me! My little puppy dog! So cute, but the best part is that he knew what I was talking about!!


My favorite new thing that he does is KISSES! I've been trying to get him to give kisses for a long time and he finally started giving them back last week, but on Saturday he actually came over to me, leaned in and kissed me all on his own! SOOOO cute!

I caught him twice on Sunday trying to put on my flip flops! I tried to sneak behind him and get a video without him noticing, but it didn't turn out very good. You can get the idea though:

We also spent the day Sunday visiting with Grandma Sandi and Grandpa Warren while Ryan was up in Reno. We went out to meet Warren's sister Lisa (who is expecting a baby any day now!), husband Andy and son Cameron. Cameron is 4 1/2 and was very cute asking where "Big Ryan" was and when I told him he was gone for the weekend he asked "who is taking care of him?" Isn't that funny? I wondered the same thing myself : ) Anyways, they live out by Bodega Bay and have a beautiful house up on a hill. Check out the view in some of these pictures.

Then we had lunch at the Tides in Bodega Bay. It was the first time Shane has seen the ocean and he just loved watching all the seagulls! What a perfect day to be out at the Bay! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Diaper Derby Champion!!!

We entered Shane in the Diaper Derby at the Sonoma County Fair this weekend and he WON! There were two rounds with a total of about 30 babies. Shane's friend baby Lulu was in the first round and came soo close to winning! After seeing the first round, we never would have guessed that Shane would win. A couple of the babies were really fast! After his round started he was just sitting there watching the other babies crawl away, but he ended up being the only baby to follow through and get to the edge of the tarp. We were so proud of our little baby Shane! They declared the first ever tie between two babies, but we know that Shane was the true winner...the other baby may have been faster, but Shane was the only one that went straight off to Daddy!

There are three videos below...the first is the Round 2 race that Shane won, the second is where he raced against the winner of the first round, and the last is where they announce the winner. We get to have our picture in next years Fair announcement and Shane gets a $25 savings bond. It was all very exciting!!

Diaper Derby

Diaper Derby Finals

The Winner is Baby Shane!

Here are some pics from the fair.
This is one of my favorite pictures...Daddy was so proud of his boy!

Busy weekend!

We had a great time this weekend! Shane and I went to the river with our new neighbors, Chris and Tony, for a BBQ at their old house. Shane was a very good boy and is becoming a little piggy! He ate lots of fresh fruit (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, white & yellow nectarines) and even BBQ chicken! Here are some cute pics of his messy face.

Kickin back in his stroller

Messy face!

Mmmmm, BBQ chicken!


On Sunday, Ryan and I took Shane to Howarth Park for the first time. There is lots to see and do there and he just LOVED it! We fed the geese, introduced him to some horses and went on the train ride. Next time we will try the carousel and the big playground.

Watching Daddy feed the geese


Nice horsie!


Chugga, chugga, CHOO CHOO!