Luke's firsts & Happy Turkey Day

I can't believe it, but Luke turned 4 months old on Saturday! Where is the time going?!? To celebrate, he got his first taste of baby food and played in the jumperoo for the first time (thank you Avery & Halle!).
He just loves the jumperoo! He jumps and laughs at himself like a little maniac. And he thinks it is hysterical when Ryan bounces him. Somehow, nobody can make him laugh like his big brother can!

Think he likes sweet potatoes? So far, its his favorite. Bananas are just okay and he doesn't like peaches at all! Which is funny because peaches and pears were his brothers favorite first foods.

Last night, Dave and I sat down with Ryan and tried, to the best of our ability, to explain Thanksgiving to him. We told him all about family and friends and how it was a day to be grateful for the things that we have. We then asked him to tell us all of the things that he is thankful for. Here, in exact order, is what Ryan is thankful for--his birthday party, dinosaurs, panda bears, birds, Gavin, Landon, more dinosaurs, pterodactyls and (finally!) mommy, daddy & brother. I now wish I had thought to videotape it-Dave and I were laughing so hard, it was too cute!
Then Ryan and I decided to make a hand print turkey. He was very proud of himself and immediately displayed it on the fridge.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all from the "Soli" boys. They are thankful to have each and every one of you in their lives!

Creative Discovery Museum

Our original plan for this weekend was to make the long trek to Dinosaur World. Ryan's dinosaur obsession is at its peak, and we want to take him before he's over it. We came up with this brilliant plan on Thursday, not leaving ourselves very much time for planning or for arranging for a dog sitter. Of course, we made the mistake of telling Ryan all about it-so, when we bailed on the idea we had to make it up to him somehow. I did a little searching on the internet and discovered that the children's museum in Chattanooga has a dinosaur exhibit-and off we went to the Creative Discovery Museum.

To say that Ryan loved the "Excavation Station" is an understatement. We spent nearly 2 hours in this tiny exhibit room. He didn't care that there was an entire museum to explore.

He and daddy checked out the giant t-rex...

He went digging for fossils

Explored some caves

And even played with some dinosaur play sets and puzzles

After literally dragging him from the dinosaur room, it took some convincing, but he made his own turkey craft

And then checked out the electricity exhibit...(right before he ran back to the dinosaur room for round 2!)

On the way out we made a stop in the water room. Luckily, it took his mind off of the dinosaurs long enough so that we could make our exit without a scene!

Luke finally got to participate too! He loved all of the silly mirrors in the tower room!

Hopefully we'll be making our way to dinosaur world in the next couple of weeks! I'm quite sure Ryan is going to lose his mind when he sees it!

Pink Pig

Ryan got to ride the Pink Pig today with some of his buddies. I thought for sure that he would throw a fit and refuse to ride the train, but, he was actually quite excited and enjoyed it. He even went on twice! He's really enjoying playing with the boys (and Olivia) and now asks for them nearly everyday.

Photo Shoot

Here are a few (unedited) pictures of the boys from their photo shoot on Sunday. We finally got a great photographer/assistant team at Portrait Innovations and they took adorable photos.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ryan!

Three years ago today, at 12:24pm, we were blessed with the arrival of our baby boy. These past three years have flown by and we can't imagine our lives without Ryan. He (and his brother) have become the center of our world and we wouldn't have it any other way. Ryan, we've watched you grow, learn to walk & talk and develop your own little personality. You're the smartest, funniest, cutest, most amazing boy I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. You make me laugh, you make me cry and sometimes you make me crazy. Not only are you my son, you are my best friend and playmate. I love you more than you will ever know and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Happy 3rd Birthday baby boy! Daddy, Luke & I love you very very much.


Ryan's favorite things at age 3: Dinosaurs, dragons, knights, pirates, Cars, Pirates Cove, the zoo and chicken nuggets.

On Saturday, we had a dinosaur birthday party so that Ryan could celebrate with all of his friends. And as a special treat, his Grandpa & Grandma came up from Florida to be there.

The giant dinosaur moonwalk was a big hit with Ryan

After jumping and getting some energy out, the kids got to paint their own ceramic dinosaurs

After the painting (and clean up) it was time for the dinosaur egg hunt. These kids are pros at egg hunts and scooped up all of the eggs in record time

Ryan and Gavin checking out their loot

And you can't have a dinosaur party without a dino dig! They got to make a mess all in the name of science!

Ah, the dinosaur cake. When I told Dave that I had found a dinosaur cake that was motion activated, he was more excited than any three year old I know, so we got it. To say that Ryan loved his cake is an understatement. Every time the dinosaur popped up and roared at him he laughed and screamed like a maniac.

Thanks Grandpa for catching this on video!



Thank you very much to all of our friends and family that came to celebrate Ryan's big day. Having everyone there made it so special for us and we feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives!


Today, after a special birthday breakfast, we went straight to Portrait Innovations for pictures. Unfortunately, their printer was down so I won't be able to share until I get them tomorrow. Stay tuned :)

After that, we went to Toys R Us so that Ryan could pick out his birthday present. Of course, he headed straight for the giant triceratops. He just loves this thing and it doesn't even walk!

As if that wasn't a busy enough day, Ryan requested a trip to Pirates Cove-and a birthday boy gets what a birthday boy wants!

Happy Birthday Ryan, we hope you had a great day!

Thanks!

I wanted to take a second to thank everybody who went out to stand in long lines for hours to vote early! It took me all of 5 minutes to vote this afternoon. Luke and I had the place pretty much to ourselves- it doesn't get much better than that! :)
Hope everybody voted!!

Happy Birthday!

The boys would like to wish their friend Bennett a very happy 3rd birthday today!! Ryan has known Bennett nearly all of his life :) and as much as he likes to play hard to get, he absolutely adores her.
Happy Birthday Bennett, we can't wait to celebrate with you at your pirate party!

RYAN AND BENNETT: THEN & NOW

Halloween Happenings

We've had a fun filled Halloween week! On Wednesday, Ryan and Luke got to go to an amazing Halloween play date. Luke is high maintenance, so I didn't get many pictures, but Ryan had lots of fun and, of course, spooky treats! An extra special thank you to Dru, Marley and their mommy for having us over, we had a great time!

Yesterday, Ryan got to spend the morning with his friend Avery. We went to the Smyrna Community Center for "Casper's Friendly Castle" which, ironically, had nothing to do with Casper...or a castle. (??)
Ryan had a great time anyway though. He met up with Bennett, met some nice firefighters, got to sit in the fire truck, play Halloween games, get a tattoo and he even got to go on a Hayride! Busy morning for a little guy!

Then it was off to Landon's house for some trick or treating! I can't even find the words to describe how excited Ryan was to be going to Landon's house for Halloween. He asked me every 10 minutes for the entire day if it was time to go to Landon's house yet and even made up his own song about how much he loves Landon. It's actually a cute little song...I'll try to record it :)
So, the blue knight and his pumpkin pal got all dressed up to go collect their treats. They had a blast running from house to house while their parents tried to keep up!

Poor Luke had to sit back and watch the big kids have all the fun. He looked cute doing it though!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER