First ISU game

I love holiday outfits :) 

He looks super bald in these photos but he is getting a little bit of hair. Addison likes to tell people "He's growing eyebrows" because Ryan commented on it a lot when he was first born. Ryan was excited when he could first see eyebrows coming in. Ha! 

Ryan got a picture of me going down the big slide at the orchard with Addison. Usually it's Ryan and Addison that go and I stay back with Mason. It was pretty fun! 

And we did the corn maze again. Addison enjoys this more than I expected! 

And my mini me :) I always had cheerleading outfits when I was her age and I love that she likes to wear them too! We got all decked out to watch the game at home. Ha! 

Normally she wants Cy on her hand, but this day she wanted her cheek. Her facial expression makes me laugh. 

My little cyclones! Addy looks angry, I promise she wasn't. This was the first ISU Football game of the year, Sept. 12. It was announced a week or two prior that there would not be any fans in the stands for this home game due to the positivity rates of COVID. It was mind-blowing for many people. It was announced by Jamie Pollard (the athletic director) that fans would be allowed in, though a limited number, then the next day he announced that Wendy Wintersteen (ISU's president) called and changed her mind. We later heard that faculty complained that they didn't want fans in the stands and people traveling from all over to come to Ames. There was a lot of drama over this decision :) But anyways, we had to watch the game at home. It was so weird! 

 ISU lost that game to Lousiana. It was a very disappointing way to start the season. (spoiler alert, the season gets better).

My coworker

He looks so little in this picture! He sleeps great in his car seat, if he falls asleep. He has FOMO (fear of missing out), just like his mom, so he fights falling asleep sometimes. And he always has to see what's going on! 

"Mom, take our picture" This picture must have been at a weird angle, they both look funny. ha! 

Then she wanted to take me and Mason's photo. She loves to take pictures :) She's so funny, she tries to make us laugh/smile just the same way we do to her. 

 

Another one Addy took. She got him to smile in this one. 

Me and my coworker. There were a number of days this fall that Shannon has been closed and my little buddy stays home with me. It's hard. Really hard to work with an infant! But thankfully my work is flexible and I put in more hours late at night and early morning. And I love the extra time with my little dude! 

I just love Mason sleeping

Addison was sitting on my lap while I was picking out pictures for the blog, Addison saw this picture and said "I just love Mason sleeping" in a sweet loving voice. 

I'm two months behind, these photos are mid-September and it's Thanksgiving. Addison has told us that she is thankful for mom, dad, and Mason. I have tried to talk to her about what we are thankful for and how lucky we are. She is also thankful we don't have the coronavirus :) 

Trying to teach her how to rope cattle. She got it one of the times we went, but not this time. 

She liked riding the tractor with Ryan. I made her take a picture with me, lol. She insisted on wearing a hat this day because both Ryan and I were. 

This kite has gotten quite a bit of use! I'm thankful Ryan goes along with my suggestion on windy days :)  

She loves to try to hold him but tells us "he's a squirmy wormy" She's not wrong..... 

Little Nolan

We have a Nolan on my side and one on Ryan's, so this is "Little Nolan". He is SO ACTIVE and into everything. He just runs runs runs. Landon and Nicole claim he's naughty. I think they are telling stories. Look how sweet he looks! 

Nolan was trying to show Mason how to use the jumper..... by moving the jumper for him. Ha! Mason was not real sure what to do but Nolan tried hard to show him. It was fun to watch Nolan interact with Mason. 

And then it was fun to watch Addison interact with Nolan! He gives hi-fives and Addison was obsessed. She kept asking him for hi-fives and then was upset if he didn't hear or see her.  

He wasn't quite ready to give away the jumper I guess - ha! Not that he remembered it, just wanted to do what Mason was doing. He also found the doll with the shopping cart and carried her around for a minute. 

Naked boys! I think these two will have a lot of fun as they get older. So glad Landon and Nicole moved to KC (although I did like visiting Denver, it's just harder with kids). 

They don't look alike in this photo but there have been times I have thought Mason looked like Nolan. And we all call Mason Nolan on accident! I can't tell you how many times in the first couple months that mistake was made. Oops! Addison gets called Makena a lot, that's okay :) 

 Hard to see in this photo but Tracey held Mason as he fell asleep and he was sucking his thumb. Conner was a thumb-sucker for a very long time, so we think Tracey must be the issue :) Mason loves his pacifier, hopefully he doesn't become a thumb-sucker! 

Pictures with the grandkids

Addison gets home from school and tells Mason all about her day. Tonight in the car, he was crying and she was talking to him in a high pitched voice saying "It's okay buddy, we are almost home, mom is driving as fast as she can" - ha! 

This little dude is almost always happy..... except in the car. We have yet to venture to KC or Minneapolis and Ryan and I are both dreading when we do. He hates the car! The 8 mile trip home from Ankeny is torture for me sometimes. Heck, the 2 blocks home from Shannon's wears me out sometimes! 

Nolan seeing Mason for the first time in a couple months. 

 I was trying to scope out sites around the Ames house for the photo of my parents with all the grandkids. Had to get an updated photo this year because Nolan was older and Mason joined the family! 

Kelly had to fix Addison's dress and we were teasing Makena about her short shirt. So Kelly was trying to pull that down too. These teenagers.... haha! 

Happy guy! 

And a not happy little guy - look at Nolan. Ha! 

I thought we would like these setup the best but the sun was so very bright that day. My kid didn't do well with the bright sun. 

The front porch was the best set-up.... in the shade. Pretty good looking family! Makena is 14, Conner is 13, Parker is 12, Brayden is 8, Addison is 4, Nolan is 1.5, and Mason 4 months. 

The school bus

This is the bus she gets to ride from the little school (daycare) to the big school (the elementary school) for preschool. She loves it and was so excited! 

Ryan filled up some water balloons and we showed Addison how they work. She was pretty scared of them at first and wouldn't let us thrown them at her or at us. So we had to throw them up and land on the driveway and pop. Maybe next year we can have a water balloon fight! 

Addison was checking out the bright moon that Grandpa Ron texted us about. We text back and for with Grandpa Ron about when there is a cool moon. Addison has always gotten excited when she sees the moon, it's refreshing. 

Addison was making her dolls walk to Mason. Then Mason has to 'walk' to her. 

Little guy was 4 months old! He was rolling from his belly to back, eating 5 ounces every 3 hours, sleeping through the night and a happy little guy! (I'm 2 months behind but I've got a goal to catch up in the next month!)
 

Mason 17 weeks

Addison wanted her doll, Reagan, to be in the picture with Mason. Ha! Mason adores his big sister and she adores him. She is eager for him to play with toys and wants his attention. I'm still about 3 months behind on posting. 

Riding the train - can't decide if pictures with or without masks is better..... if we leave them on, you can't tell that Addison doesn't know how to smile! 

Mason and I were just enjoying some fresh air while Addison was jumping. 

 She saw us taking a picture and had to get in :)