October 31- Halloween

Ryan got to see the neighborhood kids and hand out candy to the trick or treaters.  It's Barta tradition to count the number of trick or treaters, we had around 30!  It made me happy that Ryan found the lettuce on his costume to chew on!  He got bored after a while and decided to go to bed so we put on his halloween pjs that get only one use so I had to take a picture!  I sure wish I was as lucky as him and only wore 1/2 of my outfits once.

Happy Halloween from our lil Hamburger!

October 28- Pumpkinpaloza part 2!

Lorin got inspired by a pin on pinterest and after seeing an extra large pumpkin at Sam's Club she made it happen!  When Ryan went to bed she started cleaning out the pumpkin while Jeremy supervised and ate his ice cream!  We learned that Jeremy is skeeved by pumpkin guts and Lorin loves mashing her fingers through it!
The next morning we knew we had to catch Ryan's morning smiles so we threw a blanket in the pumpkin and let him ham it up!
We love our lil pumpkin!
(btw- we also roasted up the pumpkin seeds which Jeremy says he'll let me have them all since I enjoy them much more than he does!)

October 27- Pumpkinpalooza

Ryan was disappointed that he couldn't go to Jake and Jill's party yesterday, so to make it up to him we went to the Innsbrook Pumpkinpalooza this afternoon.  We were able to meet Jake and Jill there as well.  He was excited to wear his outfit that said "1st Halloween" and show it off to everyone.  Once we got there, Jeremy was excited to see the Little Caesar's Man and had to get a picture with him.  We walked around, listened to the bands, stopped at some booths to look at crafts, and maybe ate a hot dog or two.  It was a great afternoon before we hunker down for the FRANKENSTORM!!!

October 26- Halloween Party

Since Lorin and Jeremy had missed the last two years at Jake and Jill's Halloween party they were excited to catch up this year.  We had plans on having Grandma and Grandpa Kain come up to watch Ryan while we were at the party, but Grandma had a cold and didn't want to risk giving it to Ryan.  We had a skype session to say hi and let Grandma know we'd miss her later that night.  Ryan was excited to see Grandma on the magic box.  When Grandpa got to the house, Ryan could barely stay awake, but he was excited to see Grandpa.  Once we put him to bed, we got our Price is Right costumes ready and snapped a few pictures before heading out.

October 25- Teething

At Ryan's 5 month check up Dr. Wilson said that she could tell one of his bottom teeth was coming in which may explain why the ladies at daycare keep saying he's been grumpy lately!  He's been pulling our hands to his mouth and enjoying his gums being rubbed!  We broke out the teething rings and he went to town! 

October 24- 5 Month Check Up

Jeremy got to take Ryan to his 5 month check up with Dr. Wilson and once again he got an A+!  He is 17 lbs 13 oz, 27" and head circumference of 45cm.
He got his 2nd Hep B and Prevnar and 3rd Rotavirus

October 21- OBX Weekend

Sunday was a relaxing morning with breakfast ordered in. Ryan enjoyed a nap on Lorin, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more!
On the way back to Richmond we may a pit stop to say Hi to the Barta's in VA Beach.  Ryan enjoyed seeing all of his family in one weekend and slept most of the way to Richmond.

October 20 - OBX Weekend

Another early morning at the OBX started with the kids playing with anyone that would be up and playing with them.  Luckily Lorin and Jeremy did get to sleep in until about 7:30.  Ryan and Mackenzie were up early entertaining the Grandparents and Scott and Regan.  We started off with an early lunch at Capt'n Franks before heading to the Seafood festival.  At the festival, we met up with Jeremy's cousin Jason and his family.  It was exciting to have the younger cousins meet for the first time.  Then Jeremy saw someone that looked just like our friend Dirk back in Richmond.  Surprisingly enough Dirk, Amanda and Mila were down for the festival as well.  We visited for a bit before heading through the festival to sample local seafood, beer, and arts/crafts.  We finished up with some family photo's on the pier before heading back to the house to order dinner in again.  What a wonderful Kain family weekend getaway.

October 19- OBX

Jeremy and Ryan started the morning out early, getting up at 5:30 AM.  The sun wasn't supposed to come up until just after 7:00 AM, so we setup the camera and took a few pictures as it rose.  As it was rising we spent some quality time trying to be quiet while everyone else in the house slept.  Once we were all up, we headed to the Nags Head Fishing Pier to catch some breakfast.  We enjoyed a great breakfast and then headed South towards Hatteras.  our cousin Nathan has a restaurant, the Saltwater Cafe, where we had lunch and visited.  On the ride back we stopped at the Read Surf/Kite boarding shop which was a pretty cool place.  It was also a good time for Mackenzie and Ryan to get out and stretch some.  When we got home we headed to the Sound to take some pictures and walk as we watched the sunset.  Then back to the house to order some dinner for a fun night in with Grandma and Grandpa!

October 18- OBX

Today we started our vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Ryan was so excited to go that he had to wear his North Carolina Tar Heels outfit and his "Duke Hater" bib.  We packed the car up and headed off.  The weather started off great, but by time we got to the bridge, it was cloudy.  Everything held up nicely though as we arrived at our house and unpacked, looking forward to a great weekend!

October 14- Caroline's Bridal Shower

Mason Jars and Burlap!  Danielle and I planned a wonderful afternoon to celebrate Caroline as she prepares to tie the knot!  We had an intimate afternoon full of food, orange crushes and reminiscing!  We created a photo album of her engagement shots for everyone to share kind words with her.  To remind Caroline what a wonderful friend she is we asked everyone to share a picture of a memory with her.
I'm glad to still be friends 10 years later and glad we were matched as freshman year roommates at Longwood!

October 13-14

After a night out where Grandma and Grandpa came to watch Ryan, we spent some quality time around the house.  We took a walk on Sunday and Ryan had to keep his shades on to keep the sun out of his eyes (I think he just wants to try to look cool)!  Rob and Judy came by for a visit since they were in town.  They brought their favorite breakfast, New York Bagels, over for us to eat while we hang out.  Ryan also got to spend quite a bit of time in his new favorite toy, his blue exersauser.  He loves to stand up and spin around!  We finished the weekend off with some storytime to relax before bed on Sunday evening.

October 13- 1st Ear Infection

Ryan has had a stuffy nose and little cough for about 5 weeks now, I know if I was sick that long I would go to the doctor, so we did!  Luckily our pediatrician has walk in hours on Saturday morning so Ryan and I headed in for a quick visit.  The doctor said on a scale of 0-5 his right ear was a 1 so he prescribed amoxicillin to help him.  The smell reminds us of childhood but he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as we did! 
Unfortunently we only took a video of him taking the medicine which we can't share on this site.  It was pretty comical though to see the wonder in his eyes!

October 12- VCU Black and Gold Ball

October 6/7 Weekend

This weekend was full of activities as Jeremy finished his staycation to work on the bathroom tile and help his parents with projects at their house.  Ryan got to enjoy the big boy stroller at the Forest Hill Market where he was able to people watch and enjoy the scenery.  After running errands we picked Grandma B up to go to the Hogtober Festival.  (see below post!)  Grandma B came to town for her sorority state conference and enjoyed some time with us.
Richmond festivities with us. 
Ryan got to go play with his friend Mila while Lorin and Jeremy got to play with Amanda, Dirk and Rob while enjoying pizza!
Sunday we enjoyed a leisurely morning in our PJs playing on this mat.  It's fun to see him grab onto the toys and try to grab them into his mouth!
Rob and Angela were in town so where else would be go then to Buffalo Wild Wings for some football fun!  Ryan was a little overwhelmed by all the TVs and screaming but he did manage to get a nap in!  Rascal even got to enjoy some time inside, I think we're going to start feeling bad that she's an outdoor cat now that it's getting cold out!

October 6 - Hogtober

Before the cold temperatures set in and we hibernate for winter we were able to get in another festival.  Lorin and her ever expanding knowledge of festivals came across a festival held on Libby Hill near Shockoe Bottom celebrating the hog and all of its deliciousness.  We knew the Keenan's would be excited to attend and Grandma B was also in town for the weekend at a sorority event.  We all headed to Libby Hill Saturday afternoon.  Ryan was a cool cat sporting his ice blue shades to keep the sun from his eyes.  Amy was excited to be there as well and kept Jonathan and Carla busy as she showed off how good at walking (and a bit of running) she has gotten.  We tried BBQ from two places we had not been before: Alamo and Extra Billie's.  Alamo was our favorite of the day.  We'll look forward to returning next year and hopefully there will be even more restaurants to choose from!

September 30 - Carter Mountain Apple Orchard

Since Fall has officially arrived we decided it was the perfect time for a trip to Charlottesville to visit Carter Mountain Apple Orchard.  Grandma and Grandpa Kain along with Scott, Regan and MacKenzie all met at our house and we headed for Charlottesville.  We decided to head back to the best thing in Charlottesville, Riverside Lunch, which Lorin and Jeremy had recently discovered on our anniversary trip.  After a nice greasy lunch, we headed to the Apple Orchard.  Once we got there, it was time to get Ryan dressed in his getup for the day, a new jumper with his initials that the Ayscue's had given us.  Fortunately there aren't too many pictures of that because there would have been at least one "How many Kain's does it take to dress a baby" joke.  Once Ryan was presentable we headed to the observation deck to check out the views.  On one side you have the valley where Charlottesville sits and on the other side you have plains, farmland and woods.  Next we went looking for apples.  One would think this would be an easy task at an apple orchard and if you don't mind eating smashed apples off the ground it is extremely easy.  However, we all know how picky of an eater Jeremy is and given the fact that I'm not 7 feet tall we were challenged to find any apples.  Scott and Regan did get a few and so did the Grandparents.  We also took some time to snap some pictures, Ryan was in such a great mood today, smiling and laughing almost the whole day long.  Ryan and MacKenzie then headed for the pumpkins for some additional pictures.  After that we headed to the cutout for some family photos with the worm in the apple cutout.  We finished the day sitting on the hillside and relaxing (also letting everyone else leave so we didn't have to battle traffic on the narrow road out).  It was a great family trip and a beatiful day to be together.

September 29- Italian Festival

We wanted to see if Richmond Italian was anything like the real Italian we experienced last year so we headed down to the 17th Street Market for the Italian Festival.  In all of our festival experience we've never been asked to pay a $5 donation...but at least we got 2 cups and a grocery bag....
We checked things out and enjoyed an obligatory slice of pizza, as you see, Ryan wasn't too thrilled either! 
So after a quick cultural experience we headed down to see G'rents Kain for the afternoon where Ryan smiled and played a lot!

September 24- 4 Month Shoot

We had a lot of firsts this month:

• Figuring out to hold onto toys
• Sitting in a bumbo and exersaucer
• Single parent experience (while dad was in Las Vegas)
• Xray

September 24 - 4 Month Check Up

We were supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow morning, but Jeremy received a call late today that the Dr. Wilson would be out of the office tomorrow.  Ryan was surprised to see his daddy show up to pick him up early, but was excited to get out of school before the other kids and have a fun Jeep ride.  We got to the doctor and Ryan got another excellent checkup (16 lbs 14 oz, 26").  Then the nurse came in to give Ryan his shots.  He took the first one without being phased at all, but then erupted with the second one.  Jeremy did his best to comfort Ryan, but we all know there is nothing like Momma.  Lorin took over and was able to get him smiling an laughing in no time.  Another great checkup!

September

We had a few other favorites from the end of September that didn't fit into an event but we wanted to share!!

September 23, 2012- Stroller Ride

We decided that since Ryan is getting to be such a big boy it was time for his first ride in the stoller without his car seat.  He didn't really know what to think about this at first, but soon was excited to be able to see where he was headed instead of laying on his back looking up at the sky.  He was excited to see the neighborhood from a new point of view!

September 22 - Grandma B and Me

While Mommy and Daddy were away at work, Grandma B  came to play with me. She was here Thur. night until Sunday.  We explored  my neighborhood in my stroller, my Kangaroo carrier and even went in the  car.  I got to see the local library, and some yard sales.  Plus  Grandma B took me to meet another kid my age at a cool place, Ozzie and his  grandma June Kates were at a Gymboree for a party on Saturday!  One  day I will go show my gymnastic tricks.  Evenings I got to have water play and early bedtimes so I'd be ready for the next adventure.  I hear Grandma was sewing  a Halloween costume for me, a Cheeseburger and fries outfit. On Sunday, while Dad was returning from his week in  Vegas, we explored Maymont Park (at least they say we did, I slept through it  all!)  Glad we  had some floor time to practice  my skills  and entertain mommy and grandma, its pretty easy to get them to  laugh.

September 22, 2012- Monograms and Mimosas

Since Jeremy was in Vegas for a work conference, Grandma B came to visit and spend time with Ryan so that Lorin could head to Williamsburg to celebrate Caroline, her freshman year of college roommate.  Her godmother and friends put on an adorable monogram and mimosa shower to honor her before her December wedding.