Busy Busy

Since returning from our vacation, our lives have been absolutely busy.  These past few weeks I've even found it difficult to squeeze in a little blog time. So here's a quick recap...

We've visited Dad a couple of times in his nice, NEW office. 

Now Caitlyn always asks to eat at Daddy's work.

We've geocached at Point Defiance and found 7 caches!!!

(The picture below is a spoiler...

if you haven't found this one and plan on trying...

don't check out the pic...)

Yep... we found it and it was a difficulty 4!

I should clarify that my Husband found it cause I gave up on it :)

We celebrated Valentine's Day a tad early with my family.

It was I think our 19th year in a row eating at the exact same restaurant

and we have all the poloroid pictures to prove it.

Caitlyn has truly enjoyed these few warm days we've had.

She absolutely loves playing outside..

and has mastered her tricycle.

Ashton's enjoying life... and baths!

He can stand on his own but hasn't taken any unassisted steps.

It's tough to catch him in the standing position.

The second I take out the camera is when he dives into the crawling position and tries to grab the camera.

Here's another attempt of catching it...

 a little better.

He actually stands alone a lot and then adds in a few funny looking lunges.

We've all taken time to enjoy a few good sunsets.

Just a few more updates on the kiddos...

Caitlyn is... 95% percent potty trained. She goes about 6 days without an accident. (She still wears pull ups to sleep in.) She dresses herself now and almost gets a little upset if  you try to help. She's been undressing herself for a while.  She's all of a sudden gotten an appetite. Recently she enjoys a good bell pepper, carrots, zuccini, and tons of fruit. She loves pasta, pansit, macaroni, and tuna casserole. Her favorite meat I'd say is ham then maybe turkey. Her favorite breakfast food is toast with fruit and milk, or waffles, or cereal... breakfast is probably her favorite meal. She loves cheese and skittles (she gets one for potty and two for number twos). She loves to sing and finger paint (some of you will see this because she painted, cut, and glued all of her valentine's this year).  She is an amazing little girl with a huge heart and she continues to amaze me everyday.

Ashton also is such an amazing little guy. Recently he learned to crawl up the stairs... and he's fast. He waves hi and bye... I think he signs 'milk' and 'all done'... Sometimes his hi and milk look a like so it's hard to tell :)  He verbalizes a lot more than Caitlyn ever did at this age. He talks to everyone including our cat.  His hair is coming in and it's starting to get a slight curl which is too precious and makes his dad happy. He's never been one to want to snuggle to sleep (he's enjoyed sleeping through the night and in his own crib), but our busy schedule has allowed me a few times to hold him until he fell asleep and man-oh-man did I ever enjoy the snuggle time.  It's hard to believe that this time last year we had a preterm labor scare and that in a few months he'll be a year.

I'm not sure entirely what has slowed me down or why but there has been a few times in each of the past days that I have truly taken in each moment as I know these days don't last forever.

I've said it once and I'll say it again...

I'm truly blessed to have all that I do.

A Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to our Bestie's Newborn,

Gavin Edward Johnson!

He was welcomed into the world this morning at 6:52am.

8 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long.

He is by far one of the cutest newborns ever!

The happy and healthy Johnson Family!

Check out the grin...

I know he's thinking how totally excited he is for me to babysit :)

Congratulations TIMES a thousand!!!

The Riggs Family is so excited...

Caitlyn has asked to see him atleast 50 times today and I have shown her his picture on my phone.

I'm not sure who's more excited her or me?!?

Congratulations!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Boozer... and Maui!

Ashley and I were fortunate enough to vacation in Maui, Hawaii for Nadia and Marc's Wedding.

The wedding was held at sunset on Babies Beach.  Everything for their special occasion was perfect and she absolutely made a gorgeous bride as did he a groom.

When we were there. We enjoyed many things...including the beach

The sunsets

the flowers

whale watching

a luau

scuba diving lessons

the tiki God of Happiness

huge pink hats

and most of all...

Each other!!!

Although we missed our children tremendously... Ashley and I truly enjoyed this vacation together.  There were many times I looked into his eyes and I saw a spark or a twinkle of a new kind of happiness. We are so blessed to have everything that we do. We will definitely be looking forward to another vacation there as a family!

9 Months

Sweet Ashton JD Riggs turned 9 months yesterday and this month he learned a ton.  He crawls... fast! He cruises, pulling himself up on everything!  He took two steps from the coffee table to the ottoman (maybe they were kind of a plunge from one to the other... nonetheless he traveled the distance).  He uses everything he can as a walker including Caitlyn's kitchen (he opens the oven and pushes it around the house) and a stool.  He smiles and giggles and sleeps and eats.  He likes cinnamon rolls just as much as Caitlyn does.  He wants to be into everything Caitlyn is... just tonight at Sunday dinner he chased Caitlyn back and forth for atleast a half hour.  They are really starting to play well together.  He can hold a good conversation... 'dadadadada, mamamamama, yayayayayya, wawawawawawa, and thathathathathatha'.

You weigh 18 pounds 12.5 ounces and are 27 3/4 inches tall and your head measures in the 76th percentile.

Hard to believe that in 3 months I will have a 1 year old son. 

I love you Ashton so so so much!!!

Better Late Than Never

The Rychlinski family celebrated Christmas the weekend after the new year.  Both my children were a little under the weather... but they still managed to enjoy being spoiled by Babcia, Dziadzia, all of their Cocias, Uncle Jonny, Mandy and Jason.  Caitlyn received such cute gifts including a vacuum, a grocery cart filled with groceries, a baby set for her baby, and adorable clothes. Ashton received a ton of super cute clothes and a glow worm for his bed (he actually puts his arm around it when he falls asleep...precious).  Caitlyn has grocery shopped and vacuumed atleast three times everyday since this exchange of gifts:) Thanks everyone for an awesome holiday season!  I wish Dad made that breakfast more than once a year...
cause I'm craving some dip eggs :)

Love Yuns!

So far 2010 has brought our fam a whole lot of BUSY! 

I'm seriously hoping that after mine and Ash's vaca things will s.l.o.w down a little...or a lot.

New Years 2010

This collage needs no words...
We brought in the new decade with a bang!

Thanks again Jon and Mandy for a great party!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Ashley and I cannot stop talking about how absolutely perfect our Christmas was. Having two children to share this special day with has really made it fun!

Christmas Eve day... I worked a half day and rushed home just in time to braid Caitlyn's hair, spruce myself up from work, pack the car, and we then rushed to the Christmas Eve church service. Afterwards, we rushed to Aunt Cindy's... stayed long enough to say hello, feed Ashton, change two diapers, and say good bye. We then rushed to Ash's parent's house and said hello, had a drink, opened a few presents, and said good bye. Christmas Eve has gotten to be a lot of rushing around to squeeze in family time on both sides... but Ash and I talked about it and we really wouldn't have it anyother way.

Christmas Day was amazingly relaxful and fun... and full of memories that will never be forgotten.  Caitlyn and Ashton both slept in til 9:45!!!  When we all woke up and made it downstairs, there was a special gift from my Mom to Caitlyn under the tree...Cinnabon 'roll rolls' (Cinnamon Rolls). Caitlyn opened that present first and I have NEVER seen her so excited!!! We took a break after one gift and heated up some roll rolls and fed Ashton. Afterwards, we tried hard to pry Caitlyn away from her brandnew Kitchen... then we realized we had no where to rush to so we opened up one present and let her play and then made a huge brunch, opened another present and played... then we all napped (while Dad watched basketball), woke up and opened another present and then I made the best dinner ever, we ate and then opened our stockings and then watched a movie together as a family and then hit the sack.  You're probably thinking...that doesn't sound very eventful. 

Well, you're right... and that is exactly what we enjoyed!

The whole weekend was spent doing almost the same thing... except instead of opening more presents, we simply hung out

we went for walks...

...geocached, did a lot of playing with our children,

and took a lot of naps together. 

The best part of this holiday weekend was that Ash had 5 days off to spend with us... It was so so so much fun to be able to relax and play together as a family!

I hope that everyone's Christmas was spent with the people they love, just like ours was!

A special Merry Christmas to my Dad... cause even though he says he loves being up in Alaska working... we missed him so much and can't wait to spend the Rychlinski Christmas with him home!

Merry Christmas!!!

From our Family to Yours!!!

May Your Day be Merry and Bright!

Our children are fast asleep and I am almost headed that way, but I had to share two totally precious pictures of my totally precious children! When Santa asked Caitlyn what she wanted for Christmas... she said in her softest, sweetest voice, 'peace'... and Santa said, 'don't we all!' Ashee slept through the entire visit!

The entire night she loved on her brother...

I am so blessed!

I hope that everyone reading this truly takes time to enjoy the

Reason for the Season!

'Tis the Season

We finally made time to enjoy a Pacific Northwest Favorite...

Zoolights!

Caitlyn ABSOLUTELY loved all of the lights especially the ones shaped as animals.

We didn't take many pictures because we were so busy running 'fast' then 'slow'.

Ashton's eyes may be sleepy but he actually stayed awake the entire time as he took in all of the lights and excitement!

Caitlyn loves loves loves the carousel.

So, of course, we enjoyed a ride before we headed home.

Both of our children were fast asleep before we arrived home and stayed that way until right now... I can hear Ashton babbling quietly in his crib.

8 Months

This month has been a big one for learning. He can crawl and pull himself up to his knees. He'd rather eat, eat, and eat than nurse... I supplement with formula during the day and still nurse in the morning and night.  He absolutely loves our cat, Roger... we are lucky to have such a patient cat.  He loves to be with his sister.  When he wakes from his naps, Caitlyn is the first person in his room and usually in his crib where they play for a little.  He truly is an amazing boy and his giggle is so darn contagious!  This holiday season has been so much fun with my two darling children. Happy 8 months, A.J.!

Cookies!!!

It's that time of year again... annual cookie decorating time!  What made it especially fun is that Caitlyn and Avery actually helped this year!  Their cookies were definitely the most beautiful... and by beautiful... I mean... they had the most sprinkles!

Santa made an appearance again this year and Caitlyn was scared outta her mind... but of course all she can talk about now is how Santa came and said 'ho ho ho' and how he wants cookies for his reindeer.  All the other kiddos did surprisingly well with him.

Ashton and Jackson were also in attendance this year.

They played together and watched football with the boys. 

Last year, Tiffany and I made a comment to each other about how this year our children will have doubled... at that time I couldn't even imagine how much fun having our children all so close in age would be.  It sure has made our get togethers so memorable.

2009 Christmas Sweater Party

The 4th annual Sweater Party was an absolute blast... we are so blessed to have so many friends to celebrate this time of year with. We had two categories this year for the sweater contest...

'most creative' and 'ugliest'.

Most creative went to newcomers Joni and her husband Rand!

The ugliest sweater also went to a newcomer, our newest neighbor, Gary!

Thanks to everyone for making this party so memorable each year!

(click to enlarge)

O Christmas Tree

We went hunting for our perfect tree.

Found it fairly fast and Caitlyn assisted Dad as he cut it down.

I walked behind him and wondered which was heavier...

one perfect tree

or

two children, the saw, the camera, the shoes Caitlyn didn't want to wear, and a tape measure?!?

We had a wonderful time.

Our first tree as a family of four.