Madi Enjoys Vacation

Ryan Graduates!!

Ryan's graduation was great! Lots of family came to support him and, of course, Madi was there to cheer for her Daddy as well. Her version of cheering was to cry during the beginning of the ceremony so we ended up standing at the very top of Cox Arena with Sean until she fell asleep for the rest of the ceremony. Surprisingly, the ceremony only took 2 hours and went by pretty fast considering that there were hundreds of graduates from the business school (they combine the undergrads and the graduates together in one ceremony). Ryan was the fourth from the last person to be called so by the time he made it off the stage the entire audience was cheering because it had all come to a conclusion. Cait and I decorated the house the night before the graduation and other family members joined us for a BBQ later that afternoon. Below are photos from the day. CONGRATULATIONS RYAN! Thank goodness we are done with school forever! What a great feeling.


Ryan gets ready to head to graduation

Madi and her Daddy after graduation

The Banda Family
The Scannell Family
The Cooley/Francis Family

After Graduation Photos

Baby Wes - cute as ever
Auntie Moo and Madi
Michelle and Madi with their bottles ;)

Ryan Opens his gifts

Sarah and Madi smile for the camera

Ryan proudly displays the frog that Uncle Aaron and Aunt Jaymie gave Madi

Grandma and Auntie Moo bond

The cousins share their first hug

Madison Sports Her Cherry Outfit

Took these this morning. She's all grown up!

Karen's Going Away Dinner ;(

We went to dinner with Karen, Michelle, Jamie and Kim to spend one last evening with Karen before she moves up north with Cam, the dogs, and future baby Lush. We are so sad to see Karen go! San Diego won't be the same without her.

Getting ready for dinner

Auntie Jamie feeds Madi

Michelle holds Madi (yes, Madison has developed a serious drooling problem)

Karen and Madi pose for the camera

Who's Pimp Hand?

Addison shows Madi who's boss

Sweet Photos

Madi gets a bath and dresses up as a frog. She's been really into making that fist and holding her arm in the air lately.

Mommy to be with the three babies (one in the belly)

Grandparents are the Best!

Ryan went to Seattle on business this week so my mom came to stay with me and help with Madi. She's the best! Grandma and Grandpa Banda also came to visit this weekend and we all went out to a really nice lunch for Mother's Day and Jack's birthday. Afterwards we came back to the house and hung out for a while. It was such a nice day - perfect weather and great family time!

Madi and Grandma Hug-a-bug take a little snooze

Madi plays in the swing Grandma and Grandpa Banda gave her - she absolutely loves this thing!

Grandpa Banda holds Madi

Madi and Grandma Banda kick back

Tracey, Sarah and Josh Come to Visit

Tracey and her kids flew in from New York to visit Jim and Natalie. Last time we saw each other at Jen's funeral "baby Sarah" was really a baby and Tracey was just about to become pregnant with Josh. Sarah just loved little Madison. She wanted to kiss and hug her like crazy. Madi was a little caught off guard because she hasn't had the privilege of an older sibling. I took these videos of Sarah and Josh playing and the photos below are of the day we all spent together.

Little Sarah the Cutie!

Here's lookin at you kid!

Tummy Time

Who needs a taxi?

Sarah rides Nat's tricycle. She kept running into my chair and continuing to pedal. So funny!

Older Cousin Nat shows the little ones how to play

Natalie's very first bite of Tiramasu

Tracey juggles Josh and Sarah - she is the world's best Mommy!

Beauty and the Beast

Jump Up Jump Up and Get Down

PS I nearly died laughing when Josh ran into the couch

Ryan Finishes Grad School

We thought this day would never come! In the eight years we have been together, there has only been one year when Ryan and I were both out of school. It has been so challenging for both of us to have Madison two month's before Ryan finished school. Juggling work, school, and baby was insane and we always joked that Ryan was doing a lot but none of it well. Actually, he did great and all of the hard work has paid off with an MBA and a beautiful daughter to show for it! The night Ryan finished school I surprised him by decorating the house and having a bottle of champagne ready to celebrate when he walked in the door. I really feel so lucky to have a husband to spend my time with now!

We belong in a zoo

My favorite little Natalie came to visit us while Jim had to work. I just love being around her. She is such a good older cousin to Madison and I have no doubts that Madi is going to adore her more and more as she gets older. She got here really early in the morning so Uncle Ryan watched cartoons with her until Madi and I rolled out of bed at 8 am. From there we went to breakfast which was a ton of fun and then the ladies went to the zoo. Natalie pushed the stroller pretty much the entire time and played "baby races" (when Madison was out of the stroller in her bjorn with me), letting the stroller roll downhill and then running to catch up with it. The zoo is set up so you have to go through basically every aviary if you have a stroller and can't take the stairs. So we made a game of running through them dodging the birds so we wouldn't get tagged with bird poop. It was such a fun day. When we got home we all had dinner together outside and did what we always do with Natalie - best, worst, funniest, scariest, etc part of the day - where we all go around and talk about our days together. I guess it's kind of tradition with us and Nat at this point.




Madi and her older cousin Nat

Nat smiles but Madi is a lit-tle confused

Madi wears her animal print hat in honor of the zoo

Natalie loves to take care of Madi - she's a natural

We waited FOREVER to climb up on the polar bear statue for a photo op. Too bad the guy who took the picture didn't get the polar bear in the photo. Bummer!

Nat poses with a zebra

Where oh where has my little dog gone?

OK so I got my face painted too... I couldn't resist.

The ladies
Nat and I really do belong in a zoo!