He likes to move it move it

See what we mean?

Fourth and final wedding of our summer wedding tour '07

This is a bit overdue, but I wanted to post about the wedding Mike was in last Saturday, which ended kind of humorously, or sweetly, with a three-tier wedding cake all over the front of my dress. Monica and her bridesmaids made the cake herself, and we were the proud new owners of it once Steve and Monica left the reception and the bride's mother wanted to be rid of it.

Before the cake in the lap, the rest of the day was lovely- low-70's and sunny. Mike, who was one of the groomsman, helped to set up the reception at the Pittsburgh Project all morning-- apparently, he makes exquisite flower arrangements. And we discovered how astounding Jack's rhythm really is.

Congratulations, Steve and Monica!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Grandpa and Grandma Ryan visited for the past few days, though their stay was unfortunately cut short a day because of a cancelled flight. Jack was a lot more interactive and a bit more mobile since we last saw them a month ago in Wisconsin. It was too hot to go out much, but they got to see our new abode. And Jack kept us all entertained for hours, playing with a slew of toys from my childhood. I can tell he already misses his extra playmates and audience.

In case you haven't had enough

As you can see, we're now hooked up with internet, and a way to upload photos onto our it, and thus, blog. We uploaded a bazillion pictures and 18 or so new albums onto Picasa, so if you're a grandparent or great-grandparent, or just have a hankering to witness our son growing through a time-lapse of pictures, here's the site for you!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kelliemryan

(and, I got a new camera three days ago, so of course, I had to try it out just a bit on my favorite subject)

Jack's new favorite noise

5 months

This has been a busy month of traveling and trying new things for Jack. Once we came back from all of our family visits, he tried solid foods for the first time. He loves fresh bananas and peaches so far and is learning to like peas, applesauce and prunes. The night after Jack and I returned from Maryland, he slept 10 hours straight, but Mom maybe got 4 1/2 hours the whole night.

He can now turn himself in circles when lying on his stomach and likes to walk around the room with a tight grasp on our fingers. He's now been to four weddings in 2 1/2 months, and consequently loves to dance.

Happy Birthday, Gigi!

My great-grandmother, Gigi turned 102 today. If you don't know Alice Akers, she is amazing. Besides still livng by herself in excellent health, she has great faith, and she never ceases to have our knees buckled in laughter after a visit.

Here are a few memorable Gigi moments:

All of her loony songs sung with wide eyes

Telling Jack (her first great-great grandson) to sock my grandmother (her daughter) in the face

"Don't eat dee bone!"

"Let's get drunk and lie on the floor and sing 'Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!' (Which happens to be her doorbell ring- and she never drinks)

Finding her shuffling around in her basement singing, "Ol' Black Joe... I'm a bendin' low!" in a deep deep voice.

"Tiiiiiny bubbles, in the wine!"

And one of my favorites-- her retelling of her dialogue with my aunt, Holly before going to teach at the MD School for the Deaf in the mornings: "'You think Mr. Gardner (the school principal) will like you today?' 'Well, yeah, I think he might.' 'Well, he won't! You think you're pretty?' 'Well, yeah. I think I look kinda nice.' 'Well, you're not!"

You're a hoot, Gig! I love you.

~Li'l Ol' Kell

All back in one piece

All our traveling is finally over for the summer. My mom brought Jack and I back to Pittsburgh last night (along with a minivan full of more stuff and our dining room table), and Mike returned this morning from a four-day business trip to Portland, Oregon. Jack was glad to sleep in his own crib last night after a week of strange beds and a blow-up mattress. We traveled down to North Carolina from Sunday night to Tuesday night to visit my mom's family- a short but nice visit. And on our trip back gome yesterday, I thought we should have brought our oars. The flash flooding was so bad, the water looked like a waterfall coming over the concrete barriers of 376. Thankfully, Mike wasn't in his office yesterday because there was flooding in his building.
Last night, my mom and I did manage to finally paint the dining room. Now we just have to find a place for all of the stuff we dragged into our living room. And hopefully, our internet will arrive next week so we can add pictures!