The Ridgeway Family

yay brayden!

2009-09-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

we have been doing the gf/cf diet for a couple weeks now with brayden, and though we've had a few set backs with him getting in to things he's not supposed to... he is starting to show some progress!! He has some real texture issues with foods.. anything mushy is just about the last thing he would touch.. he wont even go near ice cream because of his texture issues.. and tonight he ate REFRIED BEANS! he decided on his own to eat them and he ate them with a spoon! i am so proud of him!! i know people that don't know much about autism or sensory processing issues don't understand how amazing that is.. and i probably sound really weird to be excited about something like this.. but it really is a big deal! maybe some day he'll be able to stand looking at fruits and vegetables with out gagging!! AND not only did he eat the beans he used a spoon! he used a spoon for his cereal this morning too and has been doing great! he's getting better and better at it! i'm so excited to see some progress! i really hope this diet is what he needs! i love him so so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!

2009-08-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

Wow so i'm not very good at keeping up with this blog thing but today is noah's birthday and i thought i would do a birthday blog for him like i did brayden!

Noah came in to this world on a friday, august 24th at 5:14pm weighing in at 7lbs 1oz. he was 20in long.. my tiniest (length wise).. i was so happy to have him in my arms when he was born.. i had been very anxious to meet him. Noah has been special to me even before i knew i was expecting him. About a year before i got pregnant with noah i started having dreams about this little boy.. they were so vivid and felt so real. in the very first dream he told me his name was michael but we could call him noah michael. for the next year i had dreams about him often and when we had our u/s with noah i just had an overwhelming feeling that the little boy in my dreams was the little boy i was carrying. Noah has been full of personality since he was born. everything is dramatic for my sensitive boy. but he has a heart of gold! he loves his brothers and makes sure to take extra special care of his baby.. always feeding him and patting him on the head. when noah decides to do something.. he does it. he's learning new words every day and is quite the jabber jaws! he's quite a little charmer and knows just how to steal your heart. i love him so much and i am so blessed to have him in my life!

here are some pics from the last two years!-- birthday pics coming soon...ish... =)

my beautiful boy the morning after he was born

two days old and already brightening my day with his smile =)

he wasn't too fond of his first bath....

three weeks old...... such a stinker....

his first christmas!

tea any one?!

food coloring...

my chunky monkey in the tonka truck!

about 11 months old here

cutest little teddy bear!

and he still loves that truck!

noah's first birthday shoot!

almost 13 months in beautiful talkeetna alaska!

happy halloween!!!!!

his second christmas!

he's quite the handsome little man now =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAYDEN!!!!

2009-06-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

On june 27th 2005 after 21 looooong hours of labor my beautiful Brayden was born! Weighing in at 6lbs 12oz he was just a tiny little thing! The nurses nick-named him peanut.. most likely due to the fact that the other baby born that day weighed over 9lbs! From the very first time i saw him i just couldn't get over how beautiful he was! He is a very smiley boy and i often call him my happy boy! For starting out so small he sure is BIG now! He is now 43lbs and 42in tall (we think.. it's hard to measure him!)! he's a very snuggly boy and loves to be tickled! I am so happy to be his mama and i look forward to many more birthdays with my happy boy!! Here are some pics of him throughout his 4 years!

headed home from the hospital @ 2 days old!

i still can't believe he was this tiny. we tried to do this shot with Noah and there was no way he would fit! brayden was 4days old in this pic and he was 5lbs 14oz!

7months

9 months

11 months-- his eyes look so gorgeous! thanks MaMaw for the beautiful portrait!

first birthday pics

i don't know why but i love this picture of him

he loved cars

brayden playing in the backyard durring our scorching hot 70 degree summer!

happy second birthday!!

his smile is contageous!

my gorgeous boy!

Happy third birthday!!!

my silly boy!

he loves playing with animals!

my beautiful Brayden!

HAPPY 4TH BRITHDAY!!!!!

bath time!

2009-06-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Alex is finally big enough to take baths with the big boys! they are so cute together!!!

there's no pic of the three of them together because brayden kept showing his "goods"... but they are cute any way!

Alaska

2009-06-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

this summer has been absolutely gorgeous!! beautiful weather and nice temps mostly staying in the 70's.. although we did get up to 87 the other day.. that may sound nice and cool to my family.. but.. it's not that cool when you don't have air conditioning!!!! thinking about moving back home to arizona has made me really happy and excited to be near my family.. but i really will miss it here. it's the most beautiful place in the world (to me) and i will really miss walking out of my bedroom in the morning and seeing a gorgeous view of the ocean and mountains! Brayden and i explored some of the plants in our yard the other day.. here are a few pics.

Brotherly Love

2009-06-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

i just had to share these pics of noah and alex... it's so them!

it starts with alex attempting to show noah he is in control....

then my sweet little noah decides to make nice with alex and show him they are friends.

still going along with the nice loving brother act.. noah gives alex a "hug"

and then....

bam! every one is on the floor and noah is laughing his butt off!

ah to be young again....

az trip!

2009-06-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

WELL we finally got our plane tickets and we will be in az from july 3rd to the 14th! i'm so excited!!!!!

7 months

2009-06-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well my little Alex is 7 months old now.. it seems like he's been around so much longer than that.. but at the same time.. i can't believe how fast the time has gone! He is a sweet little mama's boy and now that his first 4 toofers have broken through he's so much more fun to be around!!! He loves food but if you try to stick baby food any where near him you will pay for it.. he HATES it! he prefers the stuff he has to chew up. He is quiet an oppinionated little man.. he knows what he likes and he wont settle for less! today he pulled himself up completely on his own.. several times! but he absolutely will not crawl. still no progress in trying to get him to take a bottle or binky.. but maybe some day! any way.. i have no clue how big he is but here are some pics!

Alex's 6 month update!

2009-05-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Alex was six months on the third.. so i'm a little late..... BUT better late than never!! Alex is doing amazing! his first tooth broke through at 6mo exactly! yay!!!!!! he's like a whole new baby now! on teh 4th he said "ma-ma" for the first time and the crazy child tries to pull himself up on everything! i guess no one told him he's supposed to crawl first! he aboslutely loves his brothers and tries very VERY hard to play with them. he is very demanding and hates being alone (just like his mama =) ) but his smile can light up a room! i feel so lucky to have him!

"da-da"

2009-04-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

New stuff!!

Alex- Alex started saying "da-da" a couple days ago and says it very clearly! and although he has been very challenging lately... we had a pretty good day today =) he is getting so big! we don't know how long he is but we weighed him tonight and he weighed just under 18lbs... noah only weighs about 23lbs so it looks like this little chunker is catching up quick!!!!!

Noah- Noah is just getting over a head cold but has been in pretty good spirits about it! he's also doing great verbally.. he has some words that don't sound anything like what he is asking for.. but the words he has been using for a while are getting more and more clear. lately he has been really excited about trains! or "choo-choo's" as he calls them. today after his nap he climed in my bed where alex was laying and he snuggled him and gave him kissies..... i figured it would be safe to move some laundry over.. so i went and did that and i hear alex start to fuss so i went back in to my room and all i can see is noah holding his finger up to his mouth saying "shhhh" "shhhh"... so i head over to the bed and i notice noah had put zach's hat on alex's head..... he's so silly.

Brayden- brayden has been doing pretty good! he missed some school last week because of his head cold.. but he has been doing pretty good developmentally lately. he went pee in the potty twice tonight (unfortunately he didn't head there on his own.. he started to pee and i took him to the potty to finish both times..) and the other day i was asking him to do something and he flat out told me "no".. most parents would probably be furious at that point but i was so excited that he responded verbally to me! that was the first time EVER!!!!!

Zach and i have been playing WoW together.. i feel really geeky admitting it but we have so much fun playing together it's kind of out little date every night. we've also been playing the wii a lot but zach isn't as in to it as i am!! i love that thing!!! i cant wait till we move back down to arizona and i can play with family!! (which reminds me-- cassy if you read this.. zach paid for xbox live back in february and we determined to play some sort of game with Brian but he doesn't know which games he plays or when he can play them.. so if you could help him out with that.. it would be great!!)

Easter!!

2009-04-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty laid back easter this year. Noah and Alex were up a lot the night before so we were all a little tired!! Zach spread out the easter eggs the night before in the living room and family room. and we had their baskets with just a couple little things in them waiting for them down stairs. Brayden wasn't interested in the easter eggs at all! he wanted his chocolate bunny and his squishy lizard and that was about it! noah wasn't too interested in the little eggs but he liked the big eggs! they had little matchbox cars in them and when we opened the first one he said "woah!!!!" then he quickly found the rest of them! those kept him entertained pretty much all day and he even had to take a shower with one last night! we got to skype with Zach's family and that was really neat! it was so fun to see the little ones and have the cousins see each other! the only downside to easter this year was the jehova's whitness lady that stayed for THREE hours.. nothing like some one telling you your beliefs are wrong on EASTER! ugh.. but it was alright! just wished i had brian around =)

bad at this blogging thing

2009-04-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Alex

Noah

Brayden

All three boys!

Alright so it's been 4 months since my last entry.. time for an update right?!

Zach got home at the begining of January and we are SOOOOO glad to have him home! i hope he never has to be away from our family again. Since then he has been very busy with work and getting back in to the groove of family life!

Brayden is doing very well in school. he started an extended day at preschool so now he gets to have lunch with a kindegarten class and has recess with them. Then he gets about 30-45min of one on one therapy/work time with his teacher and then he has his old preschool schedule and comes home. they are working on matching right now.. we are matching pictures with other pictures and our goal is to match them with words some day so if he needs something and can't explain to us what it is he can grab a picture from his book and show us what he needs/wants. He is responding to verbal commands (like "go pick that up", or "get off the counter" lol) a lot better and we are very proud of the progress he is making! He loves school so much he brings us his back pack and jacket over the weekend like he is ready to go to school!

Noah is doing fabulous!! He is talking very well and has new words almost every day! he seems to really understand everything we are saying and that's very exciting! he is in love with his baby brother! He gives him hugs and kisses and tries to play with him! He is just starting that phase where they try to test their limits.... not so much fun. but he know's how to schmooze his way out of trouble!

Alex is 5 months old now and sitting up on his own! he has a beautiful smile and big blue eyes that just make me melt! he is quite the drama king though (much like noah).. he lets you know when he's not happy!!!! he wants to be playing with the big boys so much!! he is always reaching for them and cooing/squeeling at them! he loves his daddy to pieces and lives to see him smile at him and make goofy faces!! he hates bath time so its a good thing he's not a spitter upper!!

i have been increadably busy lately! not stressed.. just busy! i have been wanting to work more on photography lately.. i just lack time!! any way here are some recent pics of the boys!! maybe someday i'll actually get one with me and zach in it as well!!!

meet alex

2008-12-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

Well since it's been over a month i figure i better introduce Alex!!

Alexander Scott Ridgeway was born on November 3rd at 12:42pm! He weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 21in long. He was born at home in my tub with both hands on top of his head.. the little stinker!!! But Zach was able to be on skype with us and got to see Alex come in to the world =)! Alex has been a wonderful baby. He is very easy going and content! Noah loves him soooo much! he gives him kisses and tells me where his nose is daily! Over all i think Noah is adjusting to being a big brother very well!! Brayden is a lot more cautious this time around!! he doesn't try to hit Alex or climb on him and thankfully has not smeared peanut butter all over his face... poor noah..... any way we are all doing really well here and getting excited for zach to come home! just 4 more weeks!!! here are some pictures of Alex and Noah i took today (Brayden was NOT interested.. we'll try him again tomorrow!!)

2008-10-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well my sister Cassy tagged me and i have been putting it off but i finally have some time so here i go!!!
the rules: 1. link the person who tagged you and copy down the rules
2. share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
3. tag 7 random people at the end of your post
4. leave a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged

Alrighty well as i said before Cassy tagged me and her blog is http://www.taylordayz.blogspot.com/

1. i can't stand running the dishwasher when it's only half full.. i don't know why... i just don't like it!

2. i'm really weird about sandwhiches.. the only people i will let make me a sandwhich (other than a pb and j) is my mom and zach.. for some reason.. the thought of some one touching my lunch meat just skeeves me out.. i can't.. do it.. so forget subway.. NO thank you!

3. i don't mind changing poopy diapers.. it has never bothered me.. at all.. but vomit on the other hand.. if i never had to see it again.. that would be greeat!

4. i hate dora the explorer.. she gets on my nerves.. she shouts the WHOLE show and is pretty obnoxious..

5. i am more scared of spiders than i am of a bear... yeah.. pretty sad.. but pretty true.

6. i used to think buffulos were extinct... yup.. another sad but true fact.

7. toilet paper.. yeah.. the part you pull goes on top!!!!!

ok i tag Lindsay, Lindsey, Ashly, Debe, Amy, Joseph, and melanie =)

a little update!

2008-10-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

Well we have all been sick over here it started with Noah throwing up on sunday night and then the next night brayden had it and tuesday night i had the pleasure of getting it.. luckily it was just a 24 hour bug so by wednesday night i was feeling pretty much back to normal! the kids are acting normal now too so that's a plus!! =) on tuesday before i got feeling crappy i had my 37 week appointment and it went really well!!!! Baby Alex is head down and in the perfect position again!! we even got to see him on the u/s where they confirmed he is in fact a boy and they kept saying he has tons of hair! she said he was already measuring about 7lbs even... but she also said he was measuring pretty much right on for his due date... so i'm not sure how big they expect babies to be at their due date.. and i know at this stage weight can be WAY off so i'm trying not to worry about having a huge baby! i still think he'll be between 7 1/2 and 8lbs if he's born around his due date! but we'll see! We have halloween tomorrow and we are going to braydens school for their halloween activity! there will be indoor trick or treating and lots of games for the little ones! so that should be fun! other than that nothing new to report here!! Just busy as always!!!! here are some pictures and a video from the u/s!

14 months

2008-10-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Noah is 14 months old today! he's weighing in at 21.2lbs and i have no idea how tall he is.. but i can tell you one thing he;s a little shortie! but he's adorable! he is starting to say a few words.. but mostly stick with jibber jabber. he loves Elmo and Grover.. i don't know why exactly.. but he just loves them! he has decided he loves giving kisses and he is quite the little flirt! he is pretty easy going and always happy! he brings joy to our home every day! here's a picture of him from tonight!! =)

breech

2008-10-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

well i had my 36 week appointment today and it looks like baby decided to turn butt down.. so i have another appointment on tuesday and if he is still breech (or even if he's not really..) they will give me an u/s to confirm his position.. and if he is confirmed to be breech they will set up an appointment to do an external version (manually turn him) and if that works then all is well and if it doesn't.. we'll have to talk about our options from there. Noah was breech until 37 weeks though and the doctor said only 4% of babies actually stay breech until delivery.. she said it's not uncommon to have babies flip back to head down right before mom goes in to labor. so she is staying pretty positive about it and she gave me some tips to encourage him to turn head down. sooo.. keep us in your thoughts/prayers and think lots of baby turning back around thoughts!

34 week appointment

2008-10-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i had my 34 week prenatal appointment. everything is going well! i'm measuring perfect and i've finally reached my pre pregnancy weight lol. Baby is head down and facing back so he's ready to go! here is a belly picture from yesterday i took with my webcam- it's horrible quality.. but you get the point!

Young Love

2008-10-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

Noah has a little girl friend! tonight they were being SO cute together i had to post some pictures!! =)

i'm going to get you!

MUAH!!!!

we're so cute!!!

school picture!

2008-10-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

We got brayden's school pictures back a few days ago and i thought i would share with every one! (we just mailed some out yesterday!)

fun filled Saturday

2008-09-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well i'll start off by saying my friend anna and her two little girls are staying with us right now! they just moved up here for her hubby to go to school and she is waiting to start her job in october! they have been a TON of fun!!!! her little girls and my boys just love each other and they have a blast playing together all the time! yesterday we went to Talkeetna and went to a river and to a park while we bug bombed the house (which didn't kill everything but it did an ok job.. those pesky fruit flies are practically invinsible!)! we had so much fun and took a bunch of pictures!

Noah and Scarlett

Brayden LOVED all the rocks!

Noah and Brayden on the log

Mama and Noah

me and the boys!

Noah

scarlett

Mali

If you want to see the rest of the pictures please visit my flickr! http://flickr.com/photos/forumyonly1/

"I See Fall Leaves"

2008-09-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Brayden brought home a book he made in preschool! He is SO proud of it! and wants to look at it over and over so i thought i would share it with everyone! (sorry they are kind of bad pictures! i used my webcam)

physical therapy

2008-09-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

september 2008 006, originally uploaded by forumyonly1.

Brayden had physical therapy for the second time today! he did great! they are working on his trunk muscles and evening out his muscletone in his legs! he gets to do all kinds of fun things! there is a small room that he gets to play with puzzles and musical toys while learning to use different positions to stretch out his muscles! There is also a gym full of all kinds of play equiptment they are using to practice balance and evening out muscle skills! Brayden loved it so much today he cried when we left =(! i'm glad he's enjoying it!!!

first entry!

2008-09-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

For my first entry i thought i'd give a little background! My name is Amanda Ridgeway and i am married to Zach! We celebrated our 4th anniversary on August 21st! We have two wonderful little boys and a third on the way! Zach is in Iraq on his first deployment right now and will be home in the begining of January! we can't wait! Brayden started preschool this year and is doing really well! he is becoming more social and showing more interest in communicating!! Noah has been walking for about 4 weeks now and he is a little walking machine! he is very social and loves to be around people his size the most! Our little Alex is due in less than two months now and we are very excited! We live in Wasilla, Alaska-- it's absolutely gorgeous here and we are enjoying our first fall in our new house!