Climb every mountain

Even with an impending forecast of rain, we decided to head out with the Reynolds and Nana & Papa to spend an afternoon climbing the Mormon Rocks on the way to Wrightwood (according to my dad they are named after an old Mormon campsite near where the rocks appeared.) After a several miles in the opposite direction so Kev could save $3 on gas, a round-about way to pick up some Weinerscnitzel, heavy traffic, 1 road construction closure, and 1 stop on the off ramp for a nursing session we final arrived... and Nate fell asleep 5 minutes earlier. After a brief nap, we joined everyone out in the FRIDGED temperature. Nate and the kids really liked climbing around on the big rocks and exploring.

Here's

Nate's

grumpy

hot

chocolate

face.

A merry Christmas to all...

Christmas was busy of course but that's the way I like it. Here's a bunch of photos from our family celebrations.
Nate was very excited about his tambourine and electric guitar/violin combo.







Here's a PJ-ed Nate showing off his Toy Story guys and cars.

A Smootchie for Dad and now-empty stockings at Nana's.

Nate loved his tricyle and gave this basketball a snuggle.

It's tradition at Grandma's house for the kids to take a picture in their giant stockings!

2004 (three weeks old) - 2005 (one year old) - 2006 (two years old)

O Christmas Tree

Awww... the perfect tree - well the best one they had out of what was left at Target. Little apartment = little tree and all the little ones seem "short and dumpy" so that's what we usually get. Here it is with all our disney, superhero, star wars and miscellaneous "Nate" ornaments. Lovely.

Birthday Bash

Our little guy turned 2 this month! It was a fun party - lots of food, no crying. We showed a special compelation of "Nate" video and broke the news on the baby brother! Nate got lots of great toys which he loved and lots of great clothes which I loved! It seemed like everyone knew just what he liked and got him stuff that he is totally obsessed with like animals, trains, cars, and music.

Say hello to Zachary Ryan Lane

Well here is our 18 week sonogram and YES! He's a BOY!
Our intention was to have a surprise again but I accidentally saw a little something last week when I really didn't want to. So we confirmed it on Thursday. Hopefully he wont be a major thumb-sucker, I've only seen him twice and both times that thumb found it's way in! (see top photo)

Feelin hot, hot hot!

This Sunday was the 5th Annual Chili Cook-off at Flipside. I can't believe it's been 5 years since the first one! I didn't decide until the morning before the competition that I was actually going to make a chili. I'd been feeling a little overwhelmed so I thought I'd skip it this year but I kept thinkin about it and thinkin about it and finally decided Saturday morning to use a recipe I had heard of on the Food Network that contained no fresh ingredients; all frozen, dried or canned. So here is the masterpiece:
Mmm looks good eh? It was OK, I really missed having that "weird" element I usually had (like last year's pumpkin chili) but it's fun just to be a part of the action at the cook-off. I even sang a little karaoke after most people had left and I could finally stop "workin." Only a select few got to hear my lovely rendition of "Little Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham (my dad used to sing that song alot and it always reminds me of him.) Here's me and the girls from Bible Study that made chili. Carrie, Allison and me were "hot mommas."

Our baby has a head!

I got to see our baby on sonogram today! It's just so reassuring when you actually see that little baby in there sqirmin' around. Everything looks perfect and baby is measuring right where it's supposed to be. :)
For those of you who need sonogram assistance, the top photo is a straight forward shot of baby's face and belly, the second is the top view of the head where the doctor measured it.

Attack of the giant stockings!!!

Since last year Nate used the stocking we use to use for our cat and we knew there would be a need for a 4th stocking, I was determined to get new stockings this year.
But have you seen the ones in the store? They are tiny - like 5 inches wide! I needed more room than that, espcially since me and Ryan usually just fill each others stockings instead of a big gift. So I thought I'd make my own stockings - I did it before, I'll just make them bigger... well I couldn't find any fabric I liked (let alone time to make em.) Then my mom called from Big Lots - 'they have big stockings' she said, 'get em' I said. So here they are:
I know they're HUGE! I'm thinking I'll probably cut a foot off the top of each of them and add a matching foldover with each of our names (next year when I know what the 4th name is.)

Being thankful

Thanksgiving this year was very packed as usual but very nice. After Ryan got bruised up a bit at the Turkey Bowl, we headed over to my Auntie Lydia's house for some yummy traditional Thanksgiving feast.



All the kids were dressed special including Nate and Seth who had matching sweaters. (I'll add a photo of the whole extended family when I get it from my mom)
We then went over to Ryan's mom's house to spend time with his extended family including Uncle Larry, Aunt Terry and Trevor (Ryan's cousin Jodi's son) It was such a nice time to spend with our families that we are so thankful for.

Chugga chugga woo woo

This Thursday Nate and I went to the La Habra Children's Museum in the old train depot with Nana, Auntie Jen, Seth and Chase.
They had cute little exhibits there like a kaleidoscope, shadow wall, carousel, half a bus, dinosaurs, dead things and lots of trains. Nate really liked looking at and petting the dead animals. We had a lot of fun!

Park Day

With everyone having Friday off we met up with Ryan's folks and Nate's cousins for breakfast and hung out at Red Hill Park. We brought Fruit Loops and Cheereros to feed the ducks and there were a ton of ducks there. They all acted like they were starving but tons of people kept showing up with food for them.

With the giant population of turtles at the lake, Blake was determined to catch one and eventually caught two!

May the force be with you

Ok I know I'm a little behind but every free minute I had this week was spent making cards to sell at a holiday boutique.
So here's my little stud dressed as Yoda for Halloween! I was suprised that he actually kept his ears on most of the day - I thought I was going to be lucky to get him to keep them on for a few photos.
After the Halloween Express Train (me and N8 in the car) made several stops to visit family, (here we are with Grams & Gramps and the RC cousins)
we picked up Ryan and headed up to the carnival at LBF.
We choose that carnival for one reason alone: a petting zoo! N8 loves animals and was super stoked to pet them. There were sheep, goats, ducks and a pig and he pet each and every one of them - sometimes 2 at a time as in this photo. N8 was so excited he did his happy dance right in the middle of the animal pen.
They also had a reptile exhibit. Nate was eager to pet all the animals including the giant yellow snake but it was crowded in there so we didnt stay long. After a few games we headed home.