Rylan David Nielsen

Rylan is 2 1/2 years old now! He is officially potty trained! He is talking so well and in complete sentences. It surprises me sometimes the things he says to me and how clear they come out. Rylan is a huge helper around the house! He's very curious and is always asking questions.

The other day he came up to me and told me he was ready for school! There's no one in our house that goes to school so I have no idea where he made the connection with the back pack and school from... but it made me smile.

Rylan is very smart! He remembers almost everything! I have to be careful what I say and promise him because he will remind me.

He is also creative with his toys. The places that he decides to set up and play around the house make me laugh. He did the following picture all on his own. Smart kid!

One afternoon he figured out that his power ranger could ride the dinosaur and he "flew" him all over the house.

He is definitely a boy... he loves Toy Story, Cars, and trains... and recently has a thing for power rangers (thanks to a little boy he plays with). For the most part he is always happy (except for the days he misses his naps). He loves to smile and make silly, loud laughing noises...

Let's see... a few other random things about Rylan...He loves to eat strawberries but really dislikes oranges. He has a big sweet tooth and loves hot sauce! Sadly that's how we get him to eat most of his food. :/

He loves his sister Addilyn! I don't know what they'd do without each other. They're best buds! They play and follow each other everywhere. He loves to wear pajamas! Even after I get him dressed for the day, he'll bring me a pair of pajama bottoms and ask to wear them. The other day he came downstairs shortly after lunch already dressed in them! Which is also a recent accomplishment of his, he can now get dressed in both pants and shirt all by himself!

He's starting to get really good with his colors and although I've heard him count to 5 many times he loves to count to 4 for everything! It's really weird... but if he had a favorite number I'm sure it'd be 4!

I love this kid so much. His sweet smiles, soft kisses and tight squeezes around my neck make all those exhausting days so worth it! He is growing up way too fast!

Easter

Rylan and Addilyn were a lot of fun this Easter! They were both old enough this year to do some of the fun Easter activities. Last year Addilyn wasn't old enough to even dye eggs. Instead she sat in her bouncer and watched (although she probably had no idea what were were doing). She had front row seats this year though! Her hands were pink for a day or two, but she had fun!

Rylan was very particular while he dyed his eggs. After he put the egg in the dye I told him to wait just a minute before we took it out. To a 2 in a half year old that meant nothing so we counted to five. And every egg he did by himself after that he made sure to count to five every time. It was cute hearing him count it out loud with excitement to then be able take the egg out.

Addilyn concentrating very hard to decorate her egg with stickers...

Rylan put all of our decorated eggs on the cupcake holder... he was excited about that!


I'm not brave enough to go out to the public Easter egg hunts yet so we did our own in the living room.

Rylan had gathered almost all of the eggs before Addilyn could even pick up four or five.

Guess I learned my lesson for next year to seperate the two. Addilyn didn't seem to mind though, but I felt bad.

They emptied all of the eggs into their baskets... enjoying the snacks...


Easter morning... Rylan went through his basket in all of 2 minutes. He was so excited!

Addilyn was excited about her little light up chick...

Rylan & Addilyn Easter 2012...

More fun in the month of March!

It snowed twice for us in the month of March! The only two times all winter long where there was more then a dusting of snow and it lasted long enough for us to go out and play!

Addilyn all bundled up ready to go...

I made Addilyn a snowball and handed it to her for her to throw. She decided she'd take a bite of it instead... :)

We were able to build our first snowman ever!

I was trying to get a picture of Rylan and Addilyn with the snowman they helped me build, right when I was about to take the picture, the head fell off. The following picture makes me laugh to see their reactions...

Rylan loves Buzz and Woody from Toy Story! He dressed up as Woody for Halloween last year and got a Woody and Buzz action figure for Christmas. It's been a favorite of his for a while now. So it was perfect when Grammy saw that Toy Story 3 on Ice was in town. They went on a little Grammy and Grandson date. Rylan was in heaven! He was so excited!!

Rylan with his Buzz spinning toy...

Grammy & Addilyn on St. Patrick's Day...

Kyle sprained his ankle during the month of March while playing basketball. It was a grade 3 sprain which is basically as bad as it gets. So it was difficult for him to get around for a while. He got to enjoy the special treatment as well as a change in the usual routine...

We went to Lowe's where I thought he'd be a little embarrassed to ride the electric wheelchair, but he was excited and proud of it...

Trying out a different way to read books so Daddy could still prop his foot up away from where the kids could accidentally step on it...

Addilyn had stubbed her toe and got a band-aid. She noticed that she now had an "owey" like her Daddy! So we took a picture of the two...

That's her finger pointing to her "owey" :)

Nana Came to Visit...

At the beginning of March, Nana (Kyle's Mom) came from Colorado to visit for the weekend to attend the baby blessing of her youngest brother. She stayed with us for two days where Addilyn and Rylan were able to have some "Nana Fun"...

Nana painting Addilyn's nails...

Blowing bubbles...

It snowed for the first time this winter while she was here. So Nana got to participate in a first for the kids!

Rylan being pulled on the sled...

Addilyn's turn on the sled... her face says it all.. :)

Making snowballs...


It was a quick visit but we were so glad she came out and stayed with us! Rylan and Addilyn loved their special time with her and having Nana all to themselves!

January & February

The cold months have come and gone. Although it was a very dry winter, we still stayed indoors mostly.

We kept busy building blocks...

Taking warm bubble baths...

Reading books...


Playing at the mall... Riding the train...

And in February we celebrated Kyle's birthday!

December 2011

Yikes! November... has it really been that long? Well... let's catch up to date!

I love the month of December, it's always such a fun month! Between putting up the Christmas tree and adding the ornaments the kids had a little fun. I walked into the room to see this...

Addilyn & Rylan discovered they could crawl under the tree... I made sure to clarify that this was the only time it was okay after I put up all of the ornaments. :)

Christmas was amazing this year! We were able to spend time with almost every person in our immediate family on both sides. We spent Christmas in Colorado with Kyle's family and the weekend before we were able to spend it with my side of the family.

All of the siblings (except for one, Melinda who is in Virginia) were able to get together here in Utah for a weekend of fun... under the same roof too! We had such a great time with everyone and kept very busy!

We went to Temple Square to see the lights...

We shopped around at the mall while all of the cousins rode the train around with Grammy. This is the train car that Rylan and Addilyn were in...

Grammy and Aunt Kimberly put on a play about Rudolph for everyone to enjoy...

And even Santa stopped by to visit!

Rylan was really into Santa this year! He was so excited to sit on his lap and he kept trying to give him hugs.

Addilyn was the complete opposite however. I couldn't even get her on his lap before she started crying...


This is a picture of Grammy and all of the grandchildren that were there that weekend...

(There are three missing from the photo- Sean, Carmen, & Jenna.)

The weekend went by way too fast and a few days later we drove out to Colorado to Kyle's home. All of the siblings were able to make it there to spend Christmas together. It was a lot of fun... another house full of lots of family to enjoy!

The weather was perfect there for that time of year... lots of snow!!

We did a reenactment of the Nativity story. Rylan and Addilyn were Shepards...

Santa came to visit there too.... I know I look a little evil with my smile in the following picture, but I promise I'm not trying to be. I'm simply holding Addilyn in my lap. Santa was distracted and Addilyn was still freaking out. She's in my lap... not Santa's... so I'm still a good Mom right? Even a week later after Addilyn's first incident with Santa this year, she still wants nothing to do with him...

Rylan telling Santa what he would like for Christmas... :)

Christmas Eve... Nana & Papa with all of the grandkids!

(Rylan looks a little scary... he's just really excited though!)

Christmas Morning before church!

We visited a friend of the Nielsen family who has an amazing model train set in his basement. Rylan loves trains (along with his Daddy) so we went to check it out...

We had such a great time! It was a happy Christmas! :)