Six Flags Over Georgia

You can't really tell by my extremely uncreative and sparse pictures where we are, but we really did spend the day at Six Flags--all 6 of us! The girls earned tickets to Six Flags as part of their school's reading program, so we decided to make a family day out of it. All of us had a blast! Brandon was kind and allowed me to go on the ride with the kids where we got drenched and he stood out with Colin. What a sweetie. Nathan was most impressed with meeting Batman and Green Lantern, and he loved the Monster Mansion. Karlie loved the roller coasters--the higher the thrill level, the more she liked it. She came home, studied the Six Flags map, and wrote out her park strategy for next summer. Abby was impressed with the bumper cars. She summed it up best as we were leaving the park by saying, "It was like having a vacation for the day."

Dryden Family Reunion at Lake Martin

Lots of family, loads of fun, ideal location, and a wonderful chance to catch up on each others' lives. John and Shannon did a great job picking a perfect setting for our big crew. My kids loved playing in the lake with cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Just Because

I'm posting this picture just because I love to watch Brandon interact with baby Colin. Colin saves some of his biggest smiles just for Daddy. Sure do love my boys.

Nathan Turns Three--Yippee!

After getting Karlie all better after spending 3 days at Scottish Rite Hospital with Pneumonia and 2 weeks recuperating at home, we were excited for a celebration! Luckily, we had Nathan's Birthday to look forward to. He turned 3 on July 13th, and as you can tell from the pictures, he is all about Transformers right now.

On the Saturday before his birthday, Daddy was going to take Nathan to see "Ice Age 3" in 3-D. When Nathan found out what movie they were going to, he burst into tears, saying "I just want to see Transformers 2!" With Mom and Dad not being so sure about sending a 3 year old to a PG-13 movie, he ended up settling on going to Burger King instead (since they had Transformers toys in their kids meals).

Nathan couldn't wait to have his birthday cake, so we ended up making it the Sunday evening before his birthday. I decorated the cake to his specifications, and then left it on the kitchen counter and went upstairs to take care of the baby--you would think I knew better! About 30 minutes later, I heard Brandon getting after Nathan, and Nathan crying. I went downstairs and discovered Nathan covered in chocolate frosting, and half of the cake demolished! I cleaned him up (without taking a picture first, dangit), and told him it was okay, that now it just looked like the transformers got in a battle on his cake.

Nathan's personality certainly showed through as he opened all of his Transformers-themed gifts. He thoughtfully inspected each one, and then he happily played with them for the rest of the day. Sure love that little boy!

Playing Catchup. . .

Grandma Hansen came to visit us the first weekend in June, so we blessed Colin that weekend. It was a beautiful blessing, and Colin was very well behaved! We were so glad that a few of his aunts (Karen and Angela), a few of his cousins (Sara, Caitlin, and Karoline), and both of his grandmas were able to attend. Nathan loves his baby brother and looks for any opportunity to pose with him in a picture.

Colin has become a very easy and mellow-tempered little guy. Where he used to scream in the car, now he is content. Where he used to despise diaper changes, he now gets a big grin on his face as soon as the diaper comes off. He even likes baths! He smiles so sweetly now, and he has both of his parents and all 3 siblings wrapped around his little finger. He also loves to "talk" to us. He is very content when his mommy wears him in the sling where he falls fast asleep. We're so glad he is a part of our family, and we are loving every bit of his babyhood!

Four Weeks Old, and Mommy is Smitten

Our little Colin Eli was born on Easter Sunday, and we have been enjoying a family love affair for the past 4 weeks. We are all in love! Here are some photos taken at 2 1/2 weeks old.

My Sweet Girl

I have 2 sweet girls and one precocious little guy, but Abby is the one who has taken to rubbing my swollen and extremely uncomfortable feet as of late. I was complaining that they were hurting one night (hoping that my hubby would take the hint and give me a foot massage), and Abby just sweetly reached over and started rubbing them. She rubbed them for a good 20 minutes and did a very nice job! Now, anytime I'm sitting down by her, she starts massaging my feet. How did I get such a thoughtful child?

Just 3 more weeks of the swollen feet syndrome. . .and then we'll have another little guy in our house! The count-down has begun. . .

Our Pint-sized Attorney

Brandon and I jokingly refer to our 2 1/2 year old Nathan as "our little lawyer". He likes to argue, and he doesn't back down. One good example of this is when my sister and I took him to the zoo, and we went to see the tigers. Angela said, "Look at the tiger, Nathan". "That's not a tiger, it's a lion," was Nathan's reply. "No, it's a tiger". "It's a lion". This went back a forth for a few minutes until Nathan finally relented and said, "Okay, it's a tiger". Then, as we were walking away from the tiger exhibit, Nathan said under his breath, "It's a lion".

Lately, Nathan has not been a good eater. All he wants to eat are fruit snacks, and he doesn't understand why he cannot eat these exclusively. Today, after church, I asked him if he wanted a peanut butter sandwich or a ham sandwich, to which he replied, "I want fruit snacks." "Nathan," I said, "Man cannot live by fruit snacks alone." Without skipping a beat, he looked me straight in the eye, and said, "I'm not a man." Point taken, but he still didn't get the fruit snacks!

My Own Little Cindy Lou Who

Abby came home from school on Thursday and informed me that she wanted to dress up as Cindy Lou Who for Dr. Seuss Day on Friday. She was very specific in what she wanted to wear and how her hair had to be. Needless to say, I was nervous that I might not be able to get it right according to Abby's specifications. Abby is my daughter who wants everything to be perfect. When she practices the violin, if she messes up on a song she starts all over. If she gets less than a perfect score on a test at school, she is sad. If a teacher reprimands her, she is heartbroken. If one piece of her hair is out of place in the morning when we are straightening it before school, she is not happy and tears may fall. So, we researched Cindy Lou Who online, and Abby picked out the picture she wanted to resemble. Abby has extremely thick, naturally curly hair, so I was quite pleased when my idea of sticking a straw in the middle of the ponytail on top to keep it standing up straight was successful. I was even more pleased when I saw the smile on Abby's face when her hair was done. Not one single tear was shed that morning!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Snow in Georgia is a very rare event. When we got out of church today, the snow was falling heavily. Within a couple of hours, at least 2 inches had accumulated on the ground. I don't know what the kids enjoyed more--making the snowman or promptly destroying it (I looked outside and saw the carrot that had been the snowman's nose being eaten by Karlie). Nathan was so excited to go out and play in the snow, but his enthusiasm lasted about 10 minutes before he decided it was no fun to be cold and wet.

Here's hoping that the power will stay on tonight, and maybe we'll get a snow day tomorrow and the kids will get to stay home for the day!

Our Month in Review

It has been a busy, busy, busy month. From a broken arm for Karlie when she ran into the wall to an emergency room visit to remove a popcorn seed that Nathan stuck up his nose, we had an interesting Christmas break. Karlie now has her cast off, and we learned from the triage nurse at the ER how to get even "lodged-in-so-far-that-you-can't-even-see-them" objects out of children's noses--blow hard on their faces until they sneeze, and out the popcorn kernel popped! Who would of thunk it! Nathan got off easy with that ER visit. . . and the girls were so thrilled that he stuck the popcorn seed up his nose because it meant that they were able to have their first ever slumber party at our friends, the Lambsons, house. We may have to watch them closely for a while to make sure they don't encourage Nathan to put small objects in his body cavities. . .


Christmas Day itself was nice and peaceful, but two days later we once again hosted the Annual Dryden Family Christmas Party in our home for Julie's small family (only 33 people here this year) followed by a short stay by Julie's sister, Jill, and her family, and an overnight stay by Julie's brother, Paul, his wife Kate, and little "L-A" (pronounced LaDasha, because the dash ain't silent)--sorry Paul and Kate, but Paul suggested this name for your unborn daughter, and so that is who she will always be to me! Julie has finally recuperated, the kids are back in school, and we are now excitedly entering the 3rd trimester of pregnancy--Colin should be here in just 3 short months!