Boys.

I am linking up with Clan Donaldson today for Theme Thursday to talk about boys. 

I have been living with two to four boys ever since I have been married save for a few months scattered in between. "Umm, huh?" you think. Of course, I live with Chris, the boy man of the house. Chris' brother, David, has lived with us for the majority of the time and then for the past two summers Brad, Chris' next brother, has lived with us, too. Then you throw in their biggest fan, Ryan, and you arrive at four boys. That is a whole lot of boy, but it honestly is quite the good time. I had enough hormone surges while pregnant with Ryan...okay scratch that, I always have enough hormone surges to cover the female part of the family. The stories will come out on the blog eventually, I'm sure. 

In addition to being outnumbered by boy roommates, I have been floored with how giddy I get at watching "my two boys." I always laugh with my girlfriends at how differently Chris and I react to Ryan's "athleticism" (come on, he is only fifteen months old). Here are a few scenarios:

Ryan just about pulled a five foot floor lamp over when I caught him.

K: Ryan, let go of the lamp, it's going to fall!

Ryan was startled by me, stumbles back, then catches his balance and put the then diagonal lamp upright. 

K: blah, blah, blah we don't play with lamps blah blah blah, it could break, etc.

After the little discipline session is over and most likely forgotten about right away, I look over to a smiling Chris.

C: Did you see that coordination? (said with awe in his voice)

K:

I walk in with a squirming and upset Ryan under my arm.

C: What did he do?

K: He was throwing rocks!

A little bit later...

C: So do you really have a problem with him throwing rocks?

K: 

Ryan is balancing on a scrapbook in the book rack next to our recliner. 

K: Well, he is going to fall and learn his lesson.

C (said with awe again and with a lot of pride): Just look at him. 

K:

(I feel like I have to add that Chris is, in fact, a very responsible and caring father).

And with those stories, I give you: my boys. 

First family portrait.

Darth Vader and son.

Onward to victory!

Favorite photo ever.

Or is this one my favorite? Ryan with his dad and uncle.

Playing rugby; running to dad post-victory

Yesterday, we had my sweet friend's littles over to play and the concept of racing was completely lost on Ryan. So last night Chris tried to teach Ryan how to race and in the process, slipped and tore a tiny hole in the the knee of his suit pants! What is with Chris and his suit? This photo was taken once Chris put on more race appropriate attire. 

Will the little one in my belly be increasing the male majority of our household? We will have to wait six more months to find out! 

Saturday at the Playground

We made a trip to the park on Saturday afternoon since Ryan and I don't get to go with Chris nearly enough, and Ryan has recently discovered his love for climbing boxes (too many photos of that to shove into this blog post so that is for another day) so we figured he might want to try out the fancy-pants playground on campus. We normally just go there for the swings and also to play the game of how many wood chips can Ryan shove into his mouth before Mama notices. I prefer the swings. 

When we first got there Ryan did! not! want to be anywhere but his daddy's arms. Even though they are muscular T-Rex arms, they sure are cuddly (and there go the groans of Chris' brothers and our guy friends). Plus, Ryan has been teething pretty much non-stop for the past few weeks which makes every day a cuddling day. Oh wait, isn't every day with a baby a cuddling day? I think it is. So the teething argument is null in that aspect, but it does make for a clingy baby.

So how do you get a baby to follow you up the stairs? Tease him with a crinkly leaf that is bigger than the size of his head, that's how. 

Made it to the top to meet the albatross of leaves

Of course, we had to spend a lot of time of the swings, Ryan's favorite. 

These two.

Thanks for taking me to the playground, boys. 

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Please send in your advent wreaths! For Advent, I will be featuring Advent wreaths from my readers on the blog. If you would like to submit yours, please send a photo (or photos!) and a little bit about your family's Advent traditions to cedarsandtinyflowers {at} gmail.com. I hope to post one every day through Advent in addition to my regular posts. Can't wait to read about your wreaths!