Fun In Seattle

I have been meaning to post some of these pictures since before Christian was born, but I will start with the most recent. We have been having a blast here is Seattle. Some of our most memorable moments are the simple ones, mostly spent outdoors; rain or shine as you have to do is Seattle! Luckily, the weather has been beautiful lately. Our summer arrived late, but it is here and there is no rain in site! Our 4th of July was chilly and gray but everyone here says our summers do not start until July 5th, and sure enough the is exactly what happened! I'm so thankful that I have made new friends, through my kids of course; otherwise I think I would be a hermit! But, we are also fortunate to have some old friends here too that we knew from NH, Nicholas just loves Ruby and Tessa!

We have had lots of visitors this summer and a very busy month of August. My mom just left yesterday and we have some friends and more family coming at the end of the month!

August

Nicholas gets his face painted at the aquarium with Mimi. He picked the design, "SHARK!!" (one of his favorite things at the moment!)

Mimi in the back yard with the boys!

We got Nicholas a scooter this summer and he does great!

July

Out to lunch after Nicholas' first successful haircut EVER, he sat still and didn't cry!!!! Proud moment for us, becoming such a big big boy!

Every Wednesday we go to our local farmers market to get fresh local produce and grab dinner, the bonus is that it is right on the water of Lake Washington!

The babies at Nicholas' friend Roman's house. His mom and I met at a park while we were both pregnant and have become good friends!

Nicholas and Roman, action shot!

4th of July Parade

With his friend India...I met his mom in the hospital w/ Christian, our babies share the same birthday!

Wednesday Play Group

Ring a round the rosie...

Ashes, ashes we all fall down!

Pop-pop and Mom-mom's visit

Funny fake back drop picture on our way up to the Space Needle.

Monkey Boy at the zoo

Mom-mom's birthday! We were so happy to get to spend her day with her this year. We all went out to a nice dinner and then Nicholas' favorite part, a cupcake shop for a sweet birthday treat, singing and a candle. Happy birthday again Mom-mom, you are the cherry on top; the creme de la creme of grandmom's (and mother in-laws!!)

Nicholas LOVES the Boeing Museum of Flight and luckily Mom-mom and Pop-pop take him every time they come out.

Pony ride at a friends birthday party!

Riding the Seattle Ducks, Nicholas loved the quacker he got to blow the whole time.

June

We spent my birthday this year at the zoo!

Quiet birthday dinner at home with the 4 of us...

Fun at the Strawberry Festival

Wee, down the BIG slide with Daddy!

Nicholas and Ruby at the Wednesday Farmers Market hanging out by the water eating pizza and fresh summer fruit!

So lucky we get to meet Chris for lunch once or twice a week. Me and Christian at Nicholas' favorite week day spot to meet daddy, Red Robin!

Without exageration, the happiest baby around!

Nicholas with his blankie!

Chris and Nicholas at a local carnival

Big helper!

May

Nicholas at the May Day Festival with his Friday play group at Three Cedars Waldorf School

Seattle Winter and Early Spring

Ruby and Nicholas at a nearby park...

At our neighborhood playground

Nicholas having fun painting his own face at the children's museum.

Nicholas LOVES his trains!

Our Picasso

Picasso needs a bath!

A warm sunny winter day at our local park/playground on the lake...a week or so before Christian was born.

Still loves to play outside on the cold rainy days too! Luckily, our school play group goes outside rain or shine!

Hanging out front is one of our favorite pass times!

Make a wish!!!!

Videos

Swim class video of a free/fun day practicing their jumps. Nicholas has become such a good swimmer and can swim 3-4 unassisted and retrieve a toy from the bottom of the pool!

Quacking...

Nicholas' first ever scooter ride, not bad for his first time!

At the end of the day I am so thankful for our family and our health!

Ranalli Family ~ June, 2010

Most of all, I am so glad that at the end of the day I have Chris by my side (awww, I know, ridiculously cheesy!)Chris and I heading out for a much needed and well deserved date night this past weekend!

Chris and I enjoying our back yard with some libations after the kids are in bed on a long summer day!

Now that I'm completely caught up, I should be up and running again on the blog! Check back soon!

4 Month Update

Christian is already 4 months old! He has his doctor visit and is now 12 lb. 15 oz. He is very long (75th percentile) and lean (10th percentile!) He is now reaching for objects and loves putting anything he can into his mouth. He rolls over, mostly from his belly to his back but has also rolled a few times from back to belly. He is very alert and observant and likes to quietly check out the room and his surroundings. His favorite hobby is watching his big brother's every move. Nicholas can get the most smiles out of him already!

I thought this picture was cute that I took on his actual 4th month birthday, but my computer is not cooperating and I cannot rotate it at the moment. Hopefully, I can repost soon.

Nicholas is an amazing big brother, and loves his little brother to death! Every morning he wants Christian to lay in his crib with him before he starts his day. He gives him hugs and kisses all day long and if Christian gets fussy Nicholas loves to sing to him. Right now my only struggle is that Nicholas likes to tickle him in the face and I am trying to teach him that the face is off limits. Ultimately, I have nothing to complain about! I have so many new pictures and videos of Nicholas that I hope to post in the next couple of days, he is getting to be such a big boy!

Happy Father's Day!!!

For those of you who know Chris know that it is no exageration when I say Chris is the best father EVER!!! And those of you who know Nicholas know that he is a daddy's boy, I am chopped liver when Chris is around! How did I get so lucky to find a man like him with such a big heart?? Nicholas and Christian are so blessed to have a father who loves them so unconditonally and who is clearly devoted to all aspects of their lives. Do you know what Chris did today on Father's Day? He took Nicholas fishing (in the rain), something he had been waiting to do since the day Nicholas was born. They both had such a good time! I can't imagine being a parent without Chris, he is my partner and I love him!

To Pop-Pop, Pop, Grandpop and all of the other positive male figures in our life--thank you! I know it will make such a big difference in Nicholas' and Chrisitan's life, just as it did in ours!

Daddy loves to read with the boys!

Daddy will spend hours rocking, singing and cuddling!

Daddy and Nicholas at swim class on Saturday mornings.

Look at the love and trust in Nicholas' eyes.

Of course, Nicholas want to be just like Daddy. Nicholas learning about the salmon run in the Puget Sound. He is going to be a fisherman just like Daddy one day.

Nicholas loves wearing Daddy's hat, he will spend countless hours talking about Daddy's truck and will now pick out a Toyota Tacoma on the street and tell me it's like Daddy's truck. He tells me "Daddy is the strongest and the best." (He gets that from Thomas the Train; Gordon is the strongest and the best.) He tell me his favorite color is red just like Daddy (even though it is not, everything has to be "just like Daddy"). He loves wearing Chris' work badge and saying, "I'm a working man!" I can go on forever!

Daddy's boy in training!

Three Months Later...

Just a quick update with a few new pictures...Christian is now 3 months old, wow! I also wanted to let everyone know Christian had his first real chuckle, a deep down belly laughing giggle. It was so cute! Of course, we tried to get it on video after but he wouldn't give it to us again. Chris actually got it out of him by bouncing him up and down. I must say, I'm a bit jealous that it wasn't me who got him to laugh :) Happy times here!

Weeks 5 - 11

I know that I'm slacking on the blog lately... or in my own defense, maybe just SUPER busy! But now that I am feeling more rested and getting more sleep I intend on updating more often. Especially because we are now so far away from everyone again, I don't want anyone to miss out on Nicholas and the newest little cutie pie of the family!! Christian is now 11 weeks old, WOW! It's really going by so quickly, he went from being a new born to an interactive infant in no time! It's hard to believe when we look at Nicholas, that in just a little over two years Christian will be that big too; a real BOY! We don't want to rush that though and we are all really cherishing every moment and each new day!

Christian is now sleeping in his own room, YAY for mom and dad; we have our room back all to ourselves! I am the first to admit that I do not sleep good if Nicholas or Christian are in the same room. We ended up giving into technology this time around and I got a video monitor, how did I manage without it for Nicholas?!!! Chris thinks I can be obsessive looking at the monitor, but I LOVE it! I think eventually when Christian starts sleeping through the night and Nicholas gets into a big boy bed, I'll switch it to Nicholas' room so that I can keep an eye on him! The best part is that I can control the angle and zoom in, super cool! Here is a picture of our angel boy sleeping through the monitor...LOVE, love, love it!

Here are a few pictures week to week, so you can get an idea of how he changes each week! At Christian's 2 month appointment (now a few weeks passed) he weighed 11 pounds and a half ounce (50th percentile) and he was 24 1/2 inches (90th percentile.) I'm not the best at always whipping out the camera and getting shots, I often forget, but I'm trying to remember to catch as much as possible!

Week 5

My baby acne week.

Week 6

My cute rolly legs!

Week 7

I'm a lean and mean, talking, drooling machine!

Week 8

Week 9

love those crying shots, they look so cute!

brother love

As you can see, Nicholas loves testing the limits!

Week 10

Week 11