KIDD FAMILY BLOG

Welcome Jenna Madison Kidd!

2009-03-01T17:51:00.006-05:00

On February 19th, 2009 at 3:26 p.m. we welcomed Jenna Madison Kidd into the world. She weighed 7lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches.She is now 10 days old and doing great. Her 1 week checkup went well and she is up to 7 lbs 15 oz.
Her big brother seems to be adjusting well. He has decided that his helper job is to put the wet or dirty diapers into the diaper champ. He tries to feed her but gets bored with that. He is very sweet to her, he likes to give her kisses and pat her on the back. I think once she gets a little more life to her (aka interesting) he will really enjoy her.
The last picture there was taken 3/27. Jenna has a look on her face like she already knows big brother Ryan is up to no good. Actually she gets that surprised look on her face a lot right now.

Ryan Loves to Bowl

2009-02-07T08:42:00.003-05:00

We have taken Ryan bowling one other time, and that was a few months ago. Well with all the nasty weather lately we went to the bowling alley again last weekend just to get out of the house. Ryan was so excited. At first we weren't sure if he was really going to remember how to bowl, but he sure did!
He played 3 games with Michael and after the first few frames would not let Michael help him anymore. The ball would roll pretty slow at times, but he did really well. His average game was about 68. To be honest that is about my average score too :) although it has been awhile since I bowled.
This video doesn't show it but he would do these little dances whenever he bowled really good. Sometimes he would turn around and just start jumping up and down while holding up his hand saying he was #1.

Our Little Tool Man

2009-01-09T14:35:00.002-05:00

This is a great picture of Ryan's favorite thing to do...work with tools. We redesigned the downstairs closet for more toy storage and Ryan was a big helper. He loves to work with his tools...and he always wears his safety glasses!

Christmas Eve Pictures

2009-01-03T13:32:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures I snapped of Ryan on Christmas Eve. He wasn't feeling the best (chest congestion and a fever) but he still managed to let me take a couple of pictures. We had a great Christmas (well 3 great Christmas' if you count each celebration with the families). I will post more pictures as I get them done.

While I am posting, I want to share a few pictures of the birthday cake Ryan made for his Daddy. Ryan loves to decorate cakes, so much so that I have to stick to the little sugar decorations you can buy, if you give the boy sprinkles, well your cake will be completely covered!

Our Trip to the Christmas Tree Farm

2008-12-01T23:17:00.005-05:00

Over the weekend we went to a Christmas Tree Farm in Hillsville, VA to pick out our Christmas tree. We had a great time. It was funny to watch Ryan get excited over the Christmas trees and the man in the Santa hat driving the hayride. We picked out a huge tree, about 10 feet tall, and lets just say, plenty wide. I am not sure if this picture really shows how big the tree is, but its a picture I took just before Michael started to cut it down (the website for the farm said they cut it for you, but when we got there they handed Michael a saw and said have fun :) ) We had a blast and will be visiting the farm again next year, just as a family of 4!

Ryan watching in awe as Michael cuts the tree down. Ryan stood there the whole time with this look on his face like "are we allowed to cut the tree down daddy?"

Below is a picture of Ryan on the hayride, which was driven by Santa according to Ryan. I was glad they didn't really have hay on the hayride, especially since it started to rain on our way back to the front of the farm.My guys posing for a great picture at the Christmas Tree farm.

Ryan the Rockstar

2008-11-26T00:23:00.006-05:00

Ryan had his friends Raegan and Drew over today to play. The kids decided to start a rock band, and I must tell you I am glad I had front row seats to the performance. They were adorable. Raegan started singing Christmas songs and Ryan jumped while playing the guitar. Drew even got in on the action and played the bells.
After the kids left Ryan continued to play the guitar the rest of the evening. He says "I'm a Rockstar" any time he plays the guitar. And yes, in true rocker form, he did not want to be fully clothed (I don't know what he had against his sweatpants today but he never did put them back on).

Cute PJ Pictures

2008-11-26T00:20:00.001-05:00

I just had to share these pictures of Ryan in his snowman pj's. He is such a handsome little man!

Our First Big Snow

2008-11-26T00:14:00.004-05:00

Last week we had a pretty good snow and after telling me he didn't want to go outside all day, Ryan decided he wanted to go play in the snow. After about an hour and 15 minutes, and it getting pitch black outside we finally begged him to come inside. I didn't think he would like being bundled up so much to play in the cold, but he loved it.

Having a slight hill in the backyard is good for one thing....sledding with Daddy! Ryan was not to happy to see the snow melt away but I have a feeling this won't be the last snow this winter.

Ryan's Visit with Santa

2008-11-19T21:09:00.004-05:00

I know it is a little early, but while at the mall Ryan had to see Santa. He was soooo excited, which is a big change from last year when he wouldn't go near Santa. He spent a good 5 minutes talking to Santa about trains. Here are 2 of the pictures we got from the visit. In the first picture I think he is thinking "what should I ask Santa for."

Ryan and Rachel at the Kenley NC Race

2008-10-21T08:26:00.003-04:00

Ryan may have a serious look on his face but boy he had serious fun this past weekend. Even though it was a bit chilly outside, we all enjoyed cheering Michael on to his 14th place finish over the weekend.

Vacation Pictures: Fishing with Dude

2008-10-09T22:10:00.003-04:00

We have been home from our vacation for a week now and I am just now getting to work on my pictures. It will take awhile, but I am going to post a little from each fun thing we did. The first pictures are of our last day in Florida, when my dad (known as Dude) took Ryan fishing in the backyard. Ryan seemed to enjoy it as long as he didn't have to touch the fish and you put the fish right back in the water.

He caught 2 fish, the first catch was on the first cast.

An Afternoon at the Race Shop

2008-09-05T00:02:00.008-04:00

I finally remembered to take my camera to the race shop and I am so glad I did! I love these pictures of Ryan working on the race car with Daddy.

This afternoon we decided to give Daddy a hand working on the race car, we needed to get out of the house and do something fun and since the heat gets to me so quickly (being pregnant and in the heat is a sure fire way for me to get sick) I thought "race shop here we come." Ryan had a ball and by the time we left he said the race car was "all fixed." Check out this great pictures...

Okay he is not exactly working in this shot, but he is autographing the car for Daddy. See before Mansfield he drew on the car and Michael ran great up until an incident, so we (Ryan and I that is) figured it must be good luck to have his art work on the car!

You can tell he really gets into his work, leg up in the air and everything. And if you look at Michael, you can tell he enjoys having Ryan work on the race car too. A great father and son picture.
Here they are working side by side on the front end and then under the car. Ryan loves the creeper and getting under the car. You can only imagine how dirty he gets. I didn't get a picture of it, but he gets covered in grease and dirt.

I am not sure if we should really be exposing him to all this racing stuff, but we are and he loves it. At least mechanics, race engineers and crew chiefs make a decent (if not good) living :)

Our Weekend at Va Beach

2008-08-31T20:50:00.006-04:00

Michael had a race in Ohio this past weekend so Ryan and I decided to head over to Va Beach to visit Aunt Jen and the girls. We missed Daddy, but we had a great time just hanging out. Ryan loves his cousins and just lets loose when he is with them.

Here are a couple of pictures of him jumping on the trampoline, riding a skateboard (no one showed him how to do this, scarry enough he just knew what to do), and riding a bike (I didn't know a 2 1/2 year old could handle a bike with training wheels but he can).

Rachel's old bike was having some mechanical issues, not to mention my boy was sporting a pink and pale blue bike, so we headed out to get him a bike for Aunt Jen's house...

He rode his bike all weekend long, if we were outside he was on his bike. Thank goodness Aunt Jen lives at the end of a dead end street and there is no traffic, he had plenty of room to ride.

Pool Pictures from the Cookout

2008-08-31T20:40:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Michael and Ryan playing in the pool during the annual Kidd Family Cookout. Ryan loved having Daddy in the pool, that is a treat since it is usually me and him at the pool.

The water was really cold, here are my boys trying to get warmed up. As you can tell, Ryan was getting pretty sleepy, but that must have been an act because 10 minutes later he was back in the pool playing hard.

Father and Son Pictures from SoBo Race

2008-08-13T12:46:00.003-04:00

These pictures are so cute! You can tell that both Michael and Ryan are in heaven just being at the race track together. Even though the race didn't go exactly as we (especially Michael) had hoped, we all enjoyed the weekend at the race track together.

Ryan says that these race cars are his and he loves to work on them. I will have to take my camera to the race shop and get a picture of how into it he gets. The other day he was covered in grease, from his nose to his toes, literally.

Father's Day & Race Weekend!

2008-06-18T15:17:00.003-04:00

This past weekend Ryan and I joined Michael for his Hooters Pro Cup race in Mansfield Ohio. I know how much Michael and Ryan love to talk racing so taking Ryan to the race really was the best fathers day gift for Michael.
We had a great time. Ryan loved being at the race track and seeing the race. He was so good for me. We got to be the grand marshal for the race, which means we were part of the driver introductions and then we got to say "drivers start your engines." Of course Ryan was all talkative until they put the tv camera in front of us, then he got really quiet. The race will be on the versus network next monday at 4p.m. Maybe you will see Ryan and I doing our grand marshall duties!

Here are a few pictures from the event. Ryan kept me on my toes so I really didn't get to take that many pictures.

In this next picture Ryan is pointing at Michael's race car and telling me that he put his helmet on and the window (net) up.

Rachel's 5th Bday Party

2008-05-27T15:49:00.005-04:00

Two weeks ago we went to VA Beach for Rachel's birthday party. Let's just say Ryan LOVED the party. He had so much fun bouncing on all the bouncers, his favorite was this huge slide. As you can see in the picture it was a pretty fast slide down and he loved it.

Here is a picture of him giving his cousin Rachel a hug, it's like he is saying "thank you for having the best birthday party ever."

Here are a few other pictures from the party. It was a great time, and I can't believe Rachel is five! Before I know it Ryan will be five!

New Room Done! New Shoes! & Just A Cute Little Man!

2008-04-29T08:47:00.005-04:00

Here are pictures of Ryan's big boy bedroom, all done, even decorated! He loves his race car bed, his hokie poster & the sports balls on the wall.

Michael bought Ryan a pair of Nike Shocks the other day, here is Ryan showing them off.

These last 2 pictures are just too cute to not share! Ryan has such a great personality (as long as he isn't tired) and is so much fun. Here he is doing his normal thing, riding his bike inside the house with his shades on! He loves these shades from a goody bag from his cousin Rachel's birthday party last year, he has to wear them if he is riding his bike, shooting ball, or working with his tools. Funny thing is he likes them upside down. I really am lucky to spend my days with this funny little man!

Ryan's Race Car Bed!!!!

2008-04-17T21:39:00.004-04:00

Ryan's "big boy room" is done (with the exception of wall hangings) and we made a last minute decision to get him a Race Car Bed! Talk about one excited little man! He loves the bed. When he wakes up in the morning I here him talking about the race car bed, and he tells people about his bed. He loves to show it off to any one who comes over. Our thought in getting the bed was that he would be so excited about it he would sleep all night in it. And yes, we were successful. In the regular twin bed he had he was getting up once or twice a night (we had about a week of terrible nights in the beginning). So far so good with the race car bed he has not gotten up once during the night. Once he is in the bed he stays in it until the morning. He is getting used to the new room and is waking up a little earlier than normal but I think that will pass with time.

I need to get a picture of him drawing on the chalkboard wall in his room. He loves it!
To end this post, here is a picture Ryan made me take of him yesterday. I was making sure my camera was charged and he said "cheese mommy."
Ryan is taking a slight break from "shooting ball" to gulp down a capri sun water.
This weekend we are off to South Boston for Michael's first race of '08. Wish Michael luck in the race and me luck with 1. having Ryan solo Friday night (how am I going to deal with him asking for Daddy all evening?) 2. the 4 hour car ride that will be just me and Ryan! Hopefully I can post some pictures next week....if we all survive :)

Sorry It Has Been A Month...

2008-04-14T16:51:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I started this blog then quickly forgot to update it. It has been a month since I posted any pictures, but I will try to make up for that now.

We have been battling little cold bugs and stomach bugs recently, and finally I think Ryan is on the mend! He is also sleeping in his big boy bed every night...it isn't a perfect transition yet but we are getting close.

Here is a picture of him in his big boy bed and one from the other day when I could tell he was starting to feel under the weather.

He never lays on the couch for long, but that day he even fell asleep on the couch. Poor guy.

On a better note we went to Va Beach for a long weekend, which of course required a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Here are a couple of good pictures (he loves Chuck E but this time I think the mouse was invading Ryan's personal space):

Our main reason for the trip to VA Beach was Marisa's 13th birthday party, here are a few pictures from the party. Ryan loves his cousin "Messa," we say he calls her that because sometimes her room is such a mess-a!

I think that is it for this post. I would post a picture of the snow falling outside but that would just be sad to look at. Hopefully I will get some good pictures this weekend as we are off to Michael's first race! Ryan is going to love it (I hope!)!

Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-15T13:58:00.007-04:00

We just got home from a little Easter Egg Hunt in Tazewell and I thought I would post these pictures while Ryan is taking his nap. The Easter egg hunt was more about the experience for Ryan than the actual eggs. He was so into watching the other kids scramble for eggs that he walked at a snails pace. He got 2 Easter eggs and then spotted some people playing basketball, and that ended his movements...he stood there and watched them play ball until I finally got him to agree to go home.

The Easter Bunny was at the egg hunt. I wasn't able to convince Ryan to let me take his picture with the bunny, but he was more than will to go up to the bunny to get a little treat. I think we are going to try to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall, but no promises on how that will turn out.

A Nice Spring Day

2008-03-13T20:47:00.007-04:00

Today was a beautiful spring like day and Ryan and I made the most of it. We played outside almost all afternoon. Even though Ryan wasn't in the best of moods (he is cutting his bottom 2nd molars and I think that was really bothering him today) he still enjoyed the fresh air.

Our friends Amy, Raegan and Drew came over for awhile and played outside with us. The kids had fun, even though Ryan really didn't want to share anything today.

After swinging, sliding, running and catching bubbles we made our way inside for lunch and to chill out before nap time. Ryan and Raegan were so cute sitting on his Thomas the Train couch. We even put Drew in on the action for a cute group shot. We are currently working on Ryan's Big Boy Bedroom! I can't wait to post pictures of that. Right now we have the walls painted and thats it, so I will wait on the pictures until more gets done.

Our First Post, On Our First Blog!

2008-03-03T08:26:00.007-05:00

All I can say is lets see if this will work. I know I have gotten lazy about emailing out pictures so Michael and I said we would give the whole blogging thing a chance. The only problem is I still have to sit down at the computer and do it.

Hopefully I can remember (and find time where Ryan won't be inclined to help) to post a few new pictures and maybe a funny story or tidbit from life at our house once a week or so. That would be idea.

Here are a couple of pictures from our recent trip to Virginia Beach. We took Ryan and his cousins to the Ringling Brothers Circus.