Here are some new pics of Madison, Tanner, & Camden taken today at the park.

She's 6!

Last week we celebrated Madison's 6th birthday!!

Mads at her party

Where does time go?!?!

Maddy is a fun, loving, caring, motherly, helpful little girl. She is easy going, but can have an attitude! She loves to dance, anywhere and everywhere she can!

Her nicknames include: Maddy, Mads, and sissy.

Her favorite color is purple.

She likes peace signs & pink zebra stuff.

We celebrated her birthday on Oct 1st with a cookout at our house. The weather was a little chilly, but we had lots of friends and family over, so we had lots of FUN! For her birthday, she didn't ask for much, but she did tell us that she wanted a American girl doll, so Chad and I got her a doll that is similar. She loved it! She had a great time at her party!

Cake done by Grandma Rose.

On Wednesday when Chad got home from work, she had a few more gifts to open from us. Tanner bought her gum (I think he wanted the gum for himself, but her knew she would share it with him), she got a few new shirts, but her other "big" present was a radio. She loves to play in her room and listening to her CDs.

After unwrapping her gifts, we meet our family at her favorite place, Carlos O'Kelly's for dinner. Madison had a great birthday!!

Happy 6th Birthday Madison Renee!!!!!!

Camden Ryan

Camden Ryan is 4 months old! Time sure does fly by!

He went last week for his 4 month well baby check up and to get his shots. He weighs 11 lbs and after being measured at least 5 times, it was determined that he is 25 inches long. Our doctor didn't think that he could be 25 in, so both nurses remeasured him just to make sure. He is a healthy baby, but our doctor is concerned about his weight, Camden loves to eat, he drinks 4 oz during the day, and usually 5 oz before bed and when he gets up in the morning. I have to take him this week to get his weight rechecked, then we will see what the doctor is wanting us to do.

School Days

Well it's official...we have 2 kids in school.

Maddy started kindergarten at Grimes on August 19th. She wasn't so sure about going all day when they started, but she loves it! They are reviewing letters and learning what sound they make, so she has been trying to read to me. She loves taking her lunch, can't say I blame her some days! So far she has stayed on purple (they have a color system for their behavior, purple means she hasn't gotten into any trouble), we will see how long she can stay on purple though, because we all know how much she loves to talk! Madison's teacher is also very nice, so I think she is going to have a great year of kindergarten!

Camden, Maddy, & Tanner on her 1st day of school

Tanner started 3 year old preschool on Tuesday at Messiah. He was very excited to go since he has been with me for the past 2 years when we dropped Mads off there. He knew of all the teachers, and the playground very well. On his first day we dropped Maddy off and I let him play at the park before school started, he ran into the building as fast as he could. He was the first one in the door. He put his bag in his cubby, washed his hands, I walked him around the corner, then he started to cry when I told him goodbye. When I went back to get him, he told me that he had fun, so hopefully he will do great when I take him to school tomorrow!

Tanner before school

T at school

Camden has also been busy while the kids are at school. He has started rolling from his stomach over to his back:-( This makes me sad...my baby is getting to big to fast! He is a very happy baby who loves to talk, smile, giggle, and try to put both fists into his mouth. He goes back to the doctor next Friday for his 4 month well baby check-up.

I had my camera ready to try to capture him rolling over, but he wouldn't...so here he is holding his head up really high.

Catching Up....

Yippee!!!!! Chad finally got our laptop fixed after more than 5 hours on the phone with HP, so time to catch up!!!

Summer is quickly coming to an end:-( Next week Maddy starts kindergarten:-( I know she will have a blast....but I'm going to miss her. She has been with me almost every day all day long. She is nervous about starting school, but I know she will love it! Tanner also is all registered for preschool. He will be starting in the 3s class on the 30th. He is having mixed emotions about starting school. He knows the teachers since Maddy has been at Messiah for the last 2 years, but he is also a momma's boy. Camden is 3 months old & growing like a weed. He loves to smile and "talk," he is such a happy baby! He loves to watch his big sister & brother, & the daycare kids.

Chad is still busy working & I am trying to enjoy the last week of summer vacation, before the crazy schedule begins with 2 kids in school & dance classes resuming. Hope you all have had a great summer, I'm trying to upload pictures of what else we have been up to, but it doesn't seem to be working right now....I will try to upload them tomorrow.

Going to the doctor

I wanted to post this while I had a second....
Last Tuesday the kids went to the dentist, & then last Friday in the middle of Chad replacing the gravel in our driveway...all 3 kids had doctor appointments....what were we thinking?!?!

Actually it wasn't that bad, we survived, & I'm glad it's done!

Madison had a small cavity, I took her back & they filled it, we were in & back out within 5 minutes. Dr. Moore also told us that she has 4 loose teeth. They aren't super loose, but she has been trying to eat different things to help them fall out soon.

Madison had her kindergarten physical, & shots. She is doing well and survived her shots, which she was dreading (& so were mom & dad!). She had to have 3 booster shots in her legs, she has a big red spot from 1 of the shots, I have been having her hold ice on them to help with the swelling, other than that she is ready for school to start.

Tanner also had his preschool physical. He got his teeth cleaned at the dentist for the 1st time. He is a healthy boy & is very excited to start school.

Camden had his 2 month check-up also last Friday. He weighs 11 lbs and is 22 inches long. He is right on track and doing everything he should be doing. He also started shots this time:-( He cried for just a few minutes, then he calmed down when I picked him up. He goes back in another 2 mos for his 4 mo check-up.

Camden also has been smiling more lately. He will smile back at you and has been starting to "talk" a little. Maddy & Tanner love to talk to him and try to get him to smile back at them.

I'm glad that all 3 kids are healthy! Until next time....

Our 4th

Our Fourth of July weekend was a busy one! We had lots of fun, but we were all worn out after the weekend.

Friday night we enjoyed an evening on the Mississippi. We played on the beach and enjoyed a boat ride. Camden got to spend some quality time with Grandma Rose.

On Saturday, Chad & Tanner went fishing. It was T's 1st time and he caught 4 fish! He was so proud and still tells everyone who will listen about going fishing with daddy and Uncle Matt. Maddy went to a birthday party for her friend from preschool, she enjoyed getting to see all the girls from preschool.

On Sunday we went to my Grandparent's for their annual 4th of July fish fry. It was nice to be able to spend time with all our family, & the fish was also good! The kids had fun running around playing football & looking at my Grandparent's fish pond.

Monday was a very busy, but fun 4th! We started the day at 9 am at the West Burlington Fire Station for the pancake breakfast. From there we went to a ceremony honoring past & present firemen and women. Chad's Uncle Bill was honored, he passed away while fighting a fire at Ryan's Fitness Center. It was a very nice ceremony. From there we let the kids do a few of the activities before we headed home to relax and cool off for a little bit.

After we rested, we headed back to WB for the parade. The Klein family was the Grand Marshall of the parade. It was a great honoring to be honoring Chad's grandma, Pat Klein. We all had a blast tossing out candy to all the kids along the parade route, but it was HOT!!! When the parade was over the semi took us to Longmeadow Park. The mayor of West Burlington renamed the park to Chad's grandma, the park is now called the Pat Klein Memorial Park. She helped get the park started, so this is a great honor! After the dedication, we headed to Rick's for a PICNIC....Pat's favorite thing! At least it didn't rain. After eating we headed uptown to watch the fireworks. Poor Tanner was so wore out, he ended up falling asleep in a lawn chair, we tried to wake him up so that he could watch the fireworks, Chad put him on his shoulders, & that's where he stayed till we got back to the car. He used Chad's head as a pillow! I'm not sure how he slept through the fireworks, when thunder usually wakes him up....

We had a great 4th, but I think we all could of used an extra day to recover from the busy weekend!!!

Our family: Chad, Kystal, Tanner, Camden, & Madison

Maddy

Madison, Katelyn, Tanner, & Ethan riding on the "train"

Tanner & Ethan

Maddy & Katelyn

Maddy trying to hit the target

Tanner's turn

4th of July parade

Tanner waiting for the parade to start

Camden's 1st 4th!