A Little Bit About Ryan

Tyler, Ryan and I have made it back home safely from Ireland. James is still at "our Dublin house" and will be for another week. At some point I really will finish blogging about our trip, but for today, I wanted to tell you all about Ryan. He had his 9-month check-up last week and he now weighs 19 lbs. 5 oz (30th percentile) is 28 3/4 inches long (50th percentile) and his head size is in the 85th percentile. Pretty typical for a Jacobs' baby.

Here are some of the fun things about Ryan that make us love him sooo much:

1. He is truly his father's son. They look so much alike. It's almost like Heavenly Father put James' head on a baby's body.
2. I always know when he is after something that really is exciting because he will start laughing "Ach, ach, ach, aaaach" in his very growly voice as he is racing to get whatever precious item is on the floor. (Watch the video below to get a little sample of his growl - but please ignore Tyler's hacking cough in the background)
3. The precious item is usually either Tyler's Crocs or a Lightening McQueen car.
4. I have started calling him "Screech" at night because when he gets really tired, he gets really loud. And shrill.
5. I just watched him learn how to clap a few days ago. He was trying so hard to get both of his hands to stay flat long enough to make a noise. He would get one hand flat, and then use that hand to pry open the other, and CLAP! Then the other hand would close into a fist and he would start the whole process over again. He was determined to get it right and he finally did after a full 10 minutes of sincere concentration. I only hope that determination sticks with him the rest of his life.
6. He thinks that Tyler is the funniest person alive. He laughs and laughs at Tyler, which eggs Tyler on, which gets them both rolling.
7. He has no interest in baby toys. He only wants to play with what Tyler is playing with. Even if Tyler isn't home and he has the choice between Tyler's toys and baby toys, he always chooses Tyler's.
8. Ryan is such an easy baby. He is so mellow, was so good at sleeping through the night from about 6 weeks on and is so so happy 99% of the time.
9. Ryan recently graduated to a real crawl, but since he was about 6 months old, he had moved around using the "pirate crawl." The "pirate crawl" is a modified version of the army crawl where Ryan would move forward (very quickly) using his arms and only one leg. His right leg always dragged behind him and was not at all useful - kind of like a pirate's wooden peg leg.

10. Ryan will take a binky, but will also suck his thumb if he can't find one. But it's not just his thumb that he sucks. He somehow manages to get part of his sleeve or shirt over his thumb and sucks it through that. Lately he has also been grabbing a fistful of my hair and wrapping it around his thumb and then sucking it.
11. He and Tyler have the same cute dimple when they smile.

12. Ryan's first finger food was a McDonald's french fry. And yes, he loved it. It did bum him out when he would mistake his thumb for the fry though. (Here is my disclaimer for my bad mom moment. We were in Ireland, I had nothing else to feed him and he was starving and whining. The french fry solved all our problems and let Tyler have enough time on the play yard to burn off some serious energy on a rainy Dublin day.)

We love you, Ryan!

Ireland: Week 1

James started working at the hospital the first Monday we were here. Work has gone fairly well and James really likes the people he works with. He spent the first few days dealing with the HR department and various government agencies arranging things so he could work here.

I spent the first week exploring this fun city that we find ourselves in. Monday and Tuesday were filled with getting to the grocery store and doing other normal things like that. I’m finding that it takes a lot more of my time doing things like that since I have to go shopping about every other day due to the lack of space in our tiny fridge. We’ve had so much fun wondering around our neighborhood. In just about every store we see people running into people they know. It seems to be a pretty close-knit community and everyone is extremely friendly and helpful.

On Wednesday I took the boys back to Phoenix Park to play at the playground. On our way home, I impulsively jumped on the train to head to the city center. Big mistake. We got there and Tyler needed to go to the bathroom, so I managed to find a Marks & Spencer department store and we made it up to the bathroom. On our way up, Tyler was grabbing every article of clothing he could from the stroller and in general just being a pain. That shouldn’t really have surprised me since it was 3 in the afternoon and he hadn’t napped. Once we were in the bathroom, he announced that he no longer needed to go, so I started to strap him back in the stroller. As I was doing this, Ryan threw up everywhere. The poor little thing was soaking wet, the stroller was soaking wet and he was pretty miserable. So we headed back to the train where he threw up again and again. By the time we got home an hour later we were all ready for a bath and a nap.

On Saturday, James and I took the boys out into the city all day and explored. Dublin is such a fun city and there is so much to see. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Lisa and Tyler on one of the many bridges that crosses the Liffey River right in the middle of downtown Dublin.

This is how Ryan has spent much of his time the past few weeks – asleep in the stroller. I have come to love this stroller. At first I thought the stroller was two big and heavy, but it has been perfect for this trip. The boys are comfy in their seats, it’s easy to fold up, and plus it came with a boot (a warm blanket that snaps right into the stroller so you can’t lose it) that still fits Ryan, and a rain cover that we use just about every day.

We went to Trinity College where the Book of Kells is located. The campus is absolutely gorgeous. The Book of Kells is one of the oldest books in the world and contains the text of the four New Testament gospels in Latin. The amazing part about it is the extensive illustrations the monks included with the text. The top floor of the same building is called the Long Room and is lined with shelves containing over 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. It is a beautiful building architecturally and it felt almost sacred to be in the same room as all the old, beautiful, leather-bound books.

When the boys are in the stroller, Tyler loves to lounge on Ryan, pretend he is asleep and let Ryan pull his hair. Then Tyler jumps and “wakes up” and startles Ryan. Ryan also thinks this is a pretty fun game and laughs and laughs. It’s pretty cute. They are really starting to play well with each other, and Tyler is (usually) really so great with Ryan.

So Behind...

I know I am so behind on my blogging about the last month we have spent in Ireland. Please forgive me (James, that means you!) I have found that it's much more fun to read other blogs than work on my own. I am going to work on getting caught up in the next few days, so please bear with my many posts to come.

Our Dublin House

Here are a few pictures of our “Dublin House” as Tyler refers to it. As mentioned in a previous post when I was complaining about the “lift,” a.k.a. elevator, not working, we live on the 3rd floor in the corner apartment. (By the way the lift is still not working – 2 weeks later.) It has 2 relatively small bedrooms, 1 semi-nasty bathroom that I have cleaned and cleaned, a very tiny kitchen and a small family/dining room.

When we first got here, James was freaking out because he thought there was no fridge. Little did he know that our kitchen is so luxurious that we have a built-in fridge. The only downfall to this is that the fridge is the size of one lower cabinet. The only dishwasher is me (or James) and I have finally figured out how to work the oven, however, there is nothing to bake in except the broiler pan that goes in the oven.

Our nightly entertainment is provided by the church meetings in the building next door that we get to see and hear through our apartment windows – every night. We can see everything that goes on in these meetings. That means they can also see us if our windows curtains are open. This was especially funny the night Tyler got out of the bath and started jumping on his bed stark naked. I am sure they could feel the Spirit strongly at their meeting when they looked over and saw him flashing his bum at them. The weekend karaoke next door at Murry’s Pub is also pretty entertaining, but usually starts late enough that we listen to it as we fall asleep.

In all actuality, the location is pretty great. It takes James just 8 minutes to get into the hospital, so that will be nice if he is ever on-call. Right at the hospital is a stop for the light-rail, so it’s really easy to get into the city center. There is a small grocery store that takes about ten minutes to walk to, and there are plenty of convenience stores along the way. If you walk another 10 minutes past the grocery store, there are 2 huge cathedrals, tons of great restaurants and the Temple Bar district (where all the tourists go to “socialize.”)

Here's Tyler enjoying his new bed in the room he and Ryan were supposed to share. That hasn't quite worked out too well. Now we put the Pack and Play in our room around 7 - 8 pm when we put Ryan to bed, and then around 10 pm when we go to bed, we ever so carefully move him and the bed out to the family room. Usually he wakes up and wants to play, but the alternative is pretty painful.

Here is a picture from this morning of the boys in our family room. Tyler was watching Robin Hood on his little DVD player and Ryan was practicing his new trick of standing up. He was so excited when he figured out he could watch the movie with Tyler this way. He was desperately clutching the couch trying to make his little legs last a little longer so he could watch some of the show.

Some pictures from other Dublin adventures that I'll explain later...

We're Here!

On Friday, October 3, James, Tyler, Ryan and I packed up for a month in Dublin, Ireland. James is doing a 2-month oral surgery rotation at St. James’s (not a typo – it’s how the Irish really spell it) Hospital here in Dublin, so we decided to come with him for the first month. We took the red-eye from Newark and landed the next morning. The boys were amazing on the flight as evidenced in the picture below. Tyler closed his eyes right after take-off (in his seat) and slept there for a few hours. All of a sudden I felt him twist around, fall out of his chair and land kneeling up on the ground. I think he would have fallen all the way to the floor, except his seat belt got stuck around his neck. We unbuckled him and made a little bed on the floor for him.

We took a cab to our new apartment, which is about a 5-minute walk from the hospital, but not in the greatest part of town. It’s not exactly scary at night, but I probably won’t be doing a lot of walking around after dark. It’s fine during the day. But I wanted something close to the hospital so that if James ever got called in, he wouldn’t have far to go. When we got here, the rental agent was “scrubbing” the apartment, even though I had been told that it would be professionally cleaned before we got there. I’m not going to fill you in on all the disgusting details, but we spent the next 2 days cleaning, and it’s not that big of an apartment (in fact the whole apartment is smaller than our kitchen and family room). But we got it all clean and then spent the rest of Sunday afternoon walking around Dublin.

Dublin is a beautiful city – everywhere you walk, there is an important historical site. I think I could spend the next 3 weeks exploring, and I would still not see everything there is to see. We first went to Christ Church Cathedral, which Tyler was not that excited about. It is so huge and impressive. We are planning on going to Evensong there tomorrow night.


We then walked around Temple Bar, the party section of town. We ate a good late lunch at a bagel shop and then made our way to Dublin Castle. Tyler was so excited about seeing the knights and swords so we bought tickets for the next tour and then headed back out to walk around for a while. Of course Tyler fell asleep in the stroller and so we opted to forget the tour (they were nice enough to give me a refund when I explained how grumpy Tyler would be if I woke him up and how he would probably ruin the tour for the rest of the group) and headed across the Liffy River to explore that part of town. Luckily Tyler had seen a knight in the gift shop so he was ok with that decision when he woke up.
The highlight of the day was finding ourselves in beautiful Phoenix Park. This park is twice as big as Central Park and bigger than all the major parks in London put together. We’ve only explored a small part of it so far, but will go back soon to go to the zoo and keep exploring. It was a gorgeous day and we saw so many people playing soccer, lounging with their families, hanging out with friends and playing at the playground. Tyler loved playing at the playground after being in the stroller all afternoon.

There is lots more to post about, and I will. But right now I am going to go to bed because in the morning I have to get up early to go to the airport to pick up Jill!!! Yes, my little sister, Jill, e-mailed us Monday asking if she could come visit! We are so excited! I am especially excited to have her come play with me and keep me company during the day – you can only have so many meaningful conversations with Tyler and Ryan. Plus the “lift” broke in our building on Wednesday and getting out the door by myself, both boys and the double stroller is a little difficult. But not as difficult as getting back up to the 3rd floor when we get home. So I am excited to have another pair of hands around here.

Tyler's First Day of Preschool

This afternoon, Tyler had his first day of preschool. I cannot believe he is this old! A few days ago, we went to pick out backpacks for school. He had such a hard time choosing between the Cars backpack and the Superman backpack. Of course, his everlasting love of Lightening McQueen won. Ever since then he has asked me every day when he gets to go to "Tyler's preschool" and has been practicing being a big boy and putting his backpack (along with other items of clothing) on by himself.
So today was finally the big day. He was so excited all day for it. He is going to the Hilliard United Methodist preschool 2 afternoons a week. He did great. The only hesitation was when I told him to give me a kiss, hug and tickle (our goodbye routine that he came up with). That's when he said, "You you you please please please please stay with me?" I told him that preschool was just for big boys and that I had to go. He got distracted playing the Ben (his buddy from our ward who is also in his class) and I snuck out the door. When I came to pick him up, he was happy to see me (yeah!) and ready to come home. I was a little worried about whether or not he had fun, but then he ran back and slammed into the back of his teacher's leg to give her a hug and said, "Thanks. See you next week!" So I guess it went just fine.

Tyler in front of his school.

Ben and Tyler in front of their lockers.

About 10 minutes after we got home.

Bad to the Bone

This morning was a little on the cool side, so I dressed the boys in the only matching outfit I've ever bought for them. I thought they looked pretty cute. After I took this picture, Tyler was looking at the picture on the camera and said, "Mom, we look cool!" I said, "Yeah, you guys look pretty bad." Then Tyler replied, "Yeah, we look bad to the bone!" Where does he come up with this stuff???

T-Ball Part 1

A few of Tyler's little buddies were playing T-ball this summer through the YMCA, so I decided that it would be a fun way to spend our Tuesday evenings - laughing at our kids with some of a best friends. The "season" started in June with a few weeks of practices and then a few games. I was amazed at how much Tyler improved the first week alone! This first practice started out like this:

By the end of the practice, Tyler would participate, but only if James was holding his hand.

During the first practice, Tyler would not go get the ball. So all week long, James "coached" him on how to get the ball, telling him over and over that he had to be the one to catch the ball. So of course, the following week, as all the kids were making a mad rush for the ball, Tyler was trying so hard to do just what his dad had told him to do. This caused a few little fights over the ball, and we had to adjust the brain-washing James had done earlier. By the following practice, he was pretty good at staying in his spot and only going after the balls that came his way.

Tyler has loved playing T-ball and we have had fun watching him. It is rather obvious that he is the youngest on the team and the only one (I think) that hasn't played team sports before. But he is learning that sports are fun and that's the experience I wanted him to have.

T-Ball Part 2

This was the game this past Tuesday. Tyler acted decently when they were playing in field. However, our boy provided a lot of entertainment for all the parents when his team was outfield. These pictures say it all. About halfway through the game, James started telling me that we should just take him home. The worst (and most comical) part was when he decided to lie down between 1st and 2nd base and, of course, a kid on the other team tripped over him as he was trying his best to get to 2nd.

As amused (and annoyed) as we both were getting with him, I decided it was all worth it when both of his coaches (independently) told us after the game that Tyler kept saying, "I love this game. Do you love this game? I love this game." over and over as they were man-handling him back into position. Luckily, score is not kept and so Tyler wasn't really hurting anyone and none of the kids were upset with him (except after being tackled) for not playing the game right. Next week is Tyler's last game and all in all, I'd say that this has been a fun experience for both him and us.

Who's Baby Is This???

As I get to know this little guy more and more, it's amazing to me how the gene pool works. We are having a hard time deciding whether this baby is a Jacobs baby or an Evans baby. He definitely looks a lot like Jacobs, but every once in a while he makes these faces that scream Evans. For example, Ryan has been a thumb-sucker for a while, but has lately developed a preference for his first two fingers instead. When I looked at this picture, I couldn't believe how much he looked like my little sister, Amy! I think it's because he is sucking his fingers just like she did as a little girl, but he is also a tiny little thing, just like she has been her whole life. I started feeding him cereal this morning - he wasn't quite sure about it, but smiled through it until the last few bites when he started gagging in a very drama-queen like fashion. When I looked at this picture, I was amazed at how much he looked like James as a baby.
Now, James and my sister, Amy, look NOTHING alike. So, how can the same baby look so much like two very different people???

What We've Been Up To

*Ryan Is 4 Months Old Already!
I can't believe it's already been four months since sweet Ryan arrived. He is the happiest, most smiley baby I know (granted, I'm a bit biased). He is such a good and easy baby. We went to his 4 month check-up today and he weighs a whopping 12 lbs 14 oz, which puts him in the 15%. He is also 24 1/4 inches, which means he is also pretty short - in the 25%. I'm afraid he is not destined to be the next star in the NBA. I checked Tyler's records when I got home today and Tyler weighed 12 lbs 11 oz at his 2 month appointment and 14 lbs 11 oz at his 4 month appointment and was a full inch taller at both appointments. I think I am going to have one little guy on my hands!


*Tyler is such a great Big Brother!
Tyler is usually so sweet and thoughtful towards Ryan. He is great at alerting me when Ryan has woken up and is a great binky finder. Today, when Ryan got his shots and was crying in the car afterwards, Tyler kept telling him, "That's ok Baby Bry. (he's still a little confused on Ryan's name) Now you won't get sick." Then, as we drove past McDonald's, Tyler told me that Baby Ryan needed a happy meal. I'm not sure if his motive was pure. :)



*Playing Outside
Tyler has been loving the nicer weather, and I love having a gate on my deck so he can go out and play while I get stuff done. He also loves to ride his tricycle down to the park and I'm getting much better at balancing Ryan in the bjorn and pushing Tyler on his trike once he gets too tired/lazy to do it himself. Also, now that it's a bit warmer at night, James has been taking Tyler in the jog stroller when he goes running, which is a great break for all of us.

*Lounging Around

We have also just been spending a lot of time at home lately. Usually in the mornings, I pack the boys up and we all go to the gym. They have a fabulous child care facility there and it's really affordable. The girls that watch the kids are so cute and nice; I really couldn't ask for anything better. Tyler loves it there and often asks me if we can go back in the afternoon. We usually spend the rest of the day at home. A lot of my life revolves around who is asleep and who is awake, but that's just fine with me. At least they are both napping!

Tyler has also discovered that there are movies at the library that you can borrow (if you know Tyler, you know how much he loves his shows!). This has been a good and bad thing - he wants to go to the library just about every day, and while we do borrow quite a few books and we are reading a lot more lately, he also has a lot more shows to pick from now. He also knows that we can only have them for a few days and has perfected the excuse that we have to take them back soon so can he watch it just one more time. I hate to admit it, but I usually give in. LOL!

Feeling Grateful

Today I am feeling very grateful for good friends and a fabulous husband. I have a cold that has completely wiped me out, and on top of that, I've been trying to potty train Tyler, who has not been appreciating my efforts AT ALL. Yesterday I had about had it, when one of my good friends dropped off her little boy to play with Tyler (this was a good thing - he needed something to do!), brought me back a pizza for dinner when she picked him up and then took Tyler to her house to play for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon in bed with Ryan and then managed to get up just in time to go pick up Tyler. When I got home, James was working in the yard after being at the hospital since 6 am. He kept Tyler outside with him while I made dinner (if you can call throwing a pizza in the oven making dinner) and fed Ryan. After dinner, James did all the dishes - including all the dishes that had piled up since the night before - made brownies (and cleaned up everything after), swept and mopped the kitchen floor, vacuumed the family room and did a couple of loads of laundry. So thank you to both of you. I am so grateful for all the help and support - not only when I'm not feeling the best, but all the time.

This time out in Ohio has really taught me what it means to be a true friend. We are so lucky to be blessed with so many friends who have really become our family out here in Ohio. I am always so impressed with these women who I am blessed to call my friends. We are all, for the most part, very far from any family, have husbands that are very busy with school and/or work, and are raising at least a couple of small kids. It would be so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives, but instead, each of these amazing women look out for one another and find ways - sometimes small and sometimes big, but always appreciated - to help each other out. It's been amazing to me to watch and to learn from. I am truly going to miss these girls and the support system that we have when we move next year. I only hope that I can take what I have learned from each of them, and use it to bless the lives of the other women I come in contact with wherever we live next.

Come Again Grandma and Grandpa Evans

It was so fabulous having my parents in town for the weekend. We loved every second of it. We were all so grateful they were able to squeeze in some time to come visit and check out our lives in Ohio. James picked them up from the airport on Friday night and brought them home. Tyler looked out in the garage when they pulled up (like he does just about every night when he hears the garage door open to say hi to Dad) and he literally fell over with complete glee when he saw his Grandpa who he just adores and always has. If I was 3 and was able to express my feelings like Tyler does, I think I would have done the same thing. We loved having you here and can't wait to come see you in July in Salt Lake.

Ryan's Baby Blessing

The Sunday that my parents were in town also happened to be Fast Sunday, so we decided to have Ryan blessed that week at church. James gave Ryan a very nice blessing and it was extra special because my Dad was able to participate in it. We only wish that the rest of our families were able to be there, but it's hard to get everyone together when we live so far away. Thanks to Kathy (James' mom) for the darling outfit. Ryan looked so cute for his special day.

Tyler's Birthday

Tyler turned 3 on March 27th. We can hardly believe he is that old! My mom and dad flew in from Tokyo the next day, so we waited to celebrate with them. I don't know how he knew it was his birthday (I hadn't really said anything) but on Thursday morning, he woke up singing Happy Birthday and asking for cake. I told him we were going to do all that the next day with Grandma and Grandpa, and he seemed fine with that. However, after his nap, he was so sad when I told him that we weren't having birthday cake until the next day. Luckily, Dad came to the rescue and brought him home a cake after work.

On Friday, my parents plane was late, but Tyler was so patient. We spent the afternoon cleaning up the house and then blew up a bunch of balloons (according to Tyler, we had to have balloons to have a birthday party). During his nap, I made his birthday cake. I bought a bunch of the Toy Story characters from the Disney store and put them on top of his cake. He loved it! In fact he loved it so much, that he ended up being the only one who dared to eat his cake. He would pick up each little guy to play with, and then push it back into the cake to make them stand up again. By the time he was ready to eat it, the cake was pretty much mutilated.

He had a great birthday and we were so happy that Grandma and Grandpa were able to be there for it.

Tyler's Birthday

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Our Trip to Florida

Last month (I know, I'm a terrible blogger) James had a continuing ed. course in Tampa Bay, so we decided to make a little trip of it. We flew down early Wednesday morning and headed straight to SeaWorld. There we learned a very valuable lesson -- never ever take a very tired, somewhat hungry 3-year old, who is also a little timid and who, you think, may have an ear infection, to the Shamu show the second you walk into Seaworld. I promise it will be a disaster! Tyler cried through the entire 45 minute show and made me hold my hands over his ears. Thus, we have none of the typical pictures from SeaWorld. However, he loved seeing all the fish, turtles, baby dolphins, etc. up close. He was even brave enough to pet the huge Clydesdale horses. But we were not able to talk him into going to see any of the other shows that make SeaWorld so much fun. This has nothing to do with our trip, except for the fact that I took this picture in the hotel. We took a three-month hiatus from getting haircuts, as evidenced by this picture. Tyler loves getting his "crazy hair" in the tub.While James was at his seminar for the next few days, we went to the Tampa Bay zoo and the children's museum. Both places were a blast, and Tyler even got his very first ice cream cone. I know - how do you get to be almost 3 before having an ice cream cone? It's really quite ridiculous! Needless to say, the top scoop dropped off in about 3 seconds, but Tyler survived. Ryan spent most of the trip fast asleep in the stroller. He was so great during the whole trip - he really is such an easy and happy baby.
On Saturday we went to St. Petersburg to go to the beach. When we finally got there, the wind was blowing so hard that there was a small sandstorm going on. Tyler wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but made a valiant effort to play in the ocean with James. That is until a combination of a wave and the huge gust of wind nearly toppled him over. After that, he was pretty much done. If I ever figure out how to download the video from my camera, I'll post that video because it was really pretty funny.
Between SeaWorld and the not-so-ideal day at the beach, it may sound like a disastrous trip, but we really did have a great time. It was so nice to get out of the cold weather, and so great to be together for a few days.

Our funny little Ryan

Ryan spit up all over James' sweater right before he left for the airport this morning. I think he's pretty proud of himself!

Record Breaking Snow

This last weekend it snowed like crazy! Apparently it was the most snow we have received in a single storm in almost 100 years! The old record was 15 inches set back in 1910 and we had 20.4 inches this weekend. I was so glad James was home to shovel! Thanks honey! Tyler and James had a great time playing in the snow, while Ryan and I enjoyed the great indoors.

Tyler's all dressed to play outside!

Wresting Dad down into the snow.

In the snow fort James and Tyler built.