For Aunt Pat

Dear Aunt Pat,
Here is our little Ryter running, walking, laughing, climbing, and dancing.  Can you believe it???

Hope all is well in California :)

Love Lindsey, Vain, and Ryter

We've got a climber

Now at 14 months, Ryter is starting to do so many things and showing his desire for independence.  He never wants to be held or sit and definitely doesn't want to hold hands.  He started climbing last week up onto furniture and has graduated to book shelves and the fireplace.  It's one more thing to add to the list of worries.  Now we've got trips, falls, stairs, rocks, plugs, and climbing.

House Hunting

Well, house hunting has officially begun. There are a bunch of open houses tomorrow that we're going to go to just to get an idea of the type of houses we can afford, and what to expect.  I'm really torn about where to focus our energy when it comes to finding a house because Vain is working in Hartford, but I'm not sure I want to live there.  It's quite a ways from our friends and the city, but Vain's commute is already 25 minutes just from my parent's house so basically anywhere but Hartford would add more time to his drive that he's not sure he wants to do.  I don't blame him for not wanting to drive more than 30 minutes to work, but I feel it's somehow less frustrating than living in Austin and spending 30 minutes going 5 miles.  At least he'd be going approximately 30 miles on that 30 minute drive and on most days it could be a relaxing country drive and NEVER a bumper to bumper road rage drive.

I'm also struggling with living in town, a subdivision out of town, or just plain country living.  I know living in Austin it was nice to have the sidewalks for walks and living in town would give us the opportunity to walk to the park, library, get ice cream, etc. which I think is necessary with small children.  On the other hand, living in the subdivision could provide us some newer houses and possibly an amenity center just like Austin with a pool and play ground and protection from busy roads.  On the third hand (I'm a mom...I have lots of hands!) country living is also appealing because it could become a permanent location instead of just a starter home.  We do have land and we can always sell that later, but at this point country living means a fixer upper with potential for remodeling drastically in the future.  There are lots of houses in our price range, but most lack character, trees, or are in less than desirable neighborhoods.  Getting out there and looking around is going to help us solve some of the dilemmas, plus we are being very picky and our list of must-haves is very long.  I know that once we start seeing some houses in person we'll be able to change our must-have list to something much shorter and manageable.

These are some of the houses I've been looking at.

3 bed, 2 bath, 1.5 car garage

4 bed, 2 bath, NO GARAGE=snowy cars, in the country

3 bed, 1 full & 2 half baths, 1.5 car garage

3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage, needs work-i think it's a foreclosure & it's not finished inside

3 bed, 1.5 bath, 2 car garage

4 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage

Wagons and Wheelbarrows

We were out  on Sunday closing up the pool and giving Ryter rides in the wagon and wheelbarrow.  It was a perfect day to be outside!

Wisconsin Weather

Yesterday was one of those wonderful Wisconsin days you wait for all year.  One where you need two outfits; one for the cool morning and another for the warm afternoon. Then top it all off a night-time rain that you can hear because your windows are all open.  This is what I've been waiting for and now it's finally here!

Jobs are the BEST!

Vain got a job!  After about 2 months of looking and a little vacationing he landed a Systems Administrator position at Signicast in Hartford.  It's definitely a step up from what he was doing before and I'm so proud of him! Signicast is a big and still growing company so who knows where this may lead in the years to come.  Right now we're just super excited about that and of course I immediately started house hunting.  I've never done this before and it's going to be really fun!  It's kind of like wedding dress shopping.  I got lucky and found my dress on the first and only day and it was the first dress I tried on.  Maybe that will happen with the house too!

Ryter is talking a lot.  Apple, ball, up, down, avocado, and daddy are his words, and milk, more, eat, banana, bunny, dog, and cat are his signs.  It's really interesting how he just repeats things now.  I've been teaching him sign language since he was 8 months, but he never really caught on completely.  He would laugh when I would sign something and so I always assumed that was his version of "yes", but now when I do a sign, he just repeats it back to me.  It's really awesome! 

He's also really into his "Ryter's Family" book that I made for him so that he could see all the faces of the people who live far away.  I need to make another one now for all of our family and friends that used to be close, but are now so very far.  It's become a ritual at nap and night time now and he's very serious about reading it!  Along with that is the magic fleece blanket that he will absolutely not go to sleep without.  It already has a hole in it so I can tell that it will be a very well loved blanket.

This past weekend we went to Three Lakes to spend some time fishing and boating with friends.  I spent most of the time trying to convince Ryter that the pack-n-play was a super comfortable place to sleep.  He caught on by the second day.  Seriously though, we had a really great time.  I drank coffee on the deck overlooking the lake in the cool air and fog, hung out by the bonfire eating Doritos, and enjoyed my most favorite drink, the creamsicle, bringing back memories of college with my good friend Kelly.

Ryter took his first boat ride and I think he really enjoyed it.  He did not like the life jacket, but once we got it on him, which was a two-man job,  he was fine.