2009: Year in Review

January ~

We brought in the New Year at Poppy & Nana’s, Mommy celebrated her 25^th Birthday, and we patiently anxiously awaited the birth of our brand new baby boy…who we decided this month would be called Ryder Joseph. February ~

Daddy painted the baby’s room and we filled it with furniture, Mommy went to lots of Doctors appointments and by the end of the month got news that there was something causing Ryder’s kidneys to swell. Ryder constantly reassured us that he was okay by kicking, punching, and rolling all around. March ~

Very busy month!  March 1^st was Mommy’s Baby shower. We got a foot of snow, but it didn’t stop friends and family from coming to the shower, and they all brought LOADS of things to help us prepare for the arrival of our little bundle of joy. Mommy & Daddy celebrated our 1 year Wedding Anniversary on March 8^th, we got to eat the top layer of our wedding cake and it was SOOO yummy (but shhh, that was a big no-no since Mommy had diabetes and wasn’t supposed to eat sugar). Ryder definitely enjoyed the cake, he bounced around the rest of the night in my tummy. March brought more Dr. Appt’s and more not-so-good news until it was time to just get the baby out and ready for medical intervention. Ryder was born 6 weeks premature on March 19^th at 2:26 pm, weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces. He was diagnosed with Posterior Urethral Valves and had corrective surgery on March 31^st. In the meantime, Mommy was recovering from a C-Section, and we spent most of our time in the NICU at the hospital visiting the new love of our life.April ~

On April 1^st Ryder finally got to come home!! This was the best feeling ever for Mommy & Daddy. The rest of the month we mostly just stared at him, talked about all his little pieces and movements, and bonded with him. He celebrated his first Holiday which was Easter! He turned one month old and later that month we laughed when his actual Due Date came. May ~

Mommy’s 1^st Mother’s Day and Ryder’s Dedication – both great reasons to celebrate! Ryder turned 2 months old, smiled for the 1^st time, and went to his very 1^st Birthday Party when Carter turned 1.                                                          June ~

Mommy & Daddy left Ryder for the first time ever this month, we went out to dinner! Later in the month, Mommy had to return to work, so leaving him was something that became very routine, it was such a hard transition though! Daddy celebrated his 1^st Father’s Day ever! Ryder turned 3 months old, his hair started falling out, and he started becoming interested in playing with toys.                                                              July ~

This month Ryder moved to his own room and finally started sleeping through the night! He rolled from tummy to back and started holding his head up. He turned 4 months old and ate rice out of a bowl for the first time. We got to hear him laugh for the first time, which was music to our ears! We took lots of trips to the pool, which Ryder found to be very relaxing. August ~

Yummm, this month Ryder got to try baby foods! He ate peas and sweet potatoes first and loved them. He turned 5 months old and started to enjoy time in his walkers and jumperoo. Uncle Gregg moved in this month, and Mommy & Ryder made some new friends from “blog world”. September ~

This month Ryder turned 6 months old and figured out how to roll over from his back to his stomach.  He also started drinking from a sippy cup, and spoke his first word: DADA!  Ryder spent most of his time chewing on his fingers, toes, or anything he could grab ahold of.                                October ~

Daddy had a birthday October 2nd!  Ryder’s personality was really showing through by this month.  He became so smiley, giggly, and very alert.  He got sick for the first time ever, so that was not fun for any of us, but luckily it was just a cold that came and went pretty fast.  He became an avid bouncer, that being his single most favorite thing to do!  He turned 7 months old and at the end of the month Ryder dressed up in Halloween gear for an entire week! November ~

This month, Ryder moved up to 3 meals a day with bottles in between, plus started to enjoy snacks like puffs and frozen fruit.  We participated in the Kidney Walk as Team Ryder and raised almost $2,000 to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.  He turned 8 months old, and we celebrated Thanksgiving, reminding us of how VERY much we have to be thankful for! December ~

Another busy month!  December 1st Ryder went in for another corrective surgery for his kidneys, only to find out that his body has grown and corrected itself and he is all better (with help from God of course!)  He said the best word in the dictionary: MAMA (okay maybe I’m a little bias).  He figured out how to sit unsupported, turned 9 months old, started army crawling to get around, and got his two front teeth just in time for Christmas!  He celebrated his first Christmas and really enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper off of his presents.  He has a newfound obsession with cars, and learned how to make car noises as he plays.

And now, it’s New Year’s Eve.  The day we say good-bye to 2009 and welcome 2010 with open arms.  2009 brought us a mixture of happiness, tears, pleasure, and pain…but overall it is the year that we will remember experiencing the deepest love imaginable for the very first time, a feeling that our hearts had never known and will never forget.

Good-Bye 2009, you were the most memorable one yet!

One Word Wednesday

**Celebrate**

Genes…

Does this baby look familiar??

Could it be because he grew up, had a son, and passed all of his genes onto him?!  I found this picture of Alan as a baby and couldn’t get over how many similarities him & Ryder have! 

Same EXACT hair, same chin, cheeks, nose, ears, forehead, eyebrows, lines under their eyes…they even look like they’re about the same size at this age!  I wish Darla were here to see this, she would be in awe of her son’s son!

And, just to prove that I did have something to do with creating this baby, look at this baby picture of my Father next to Ryder:

So basically, he gets his pouty face from his Daddy’s genes, and his happy face from his Mommy’s genes!  Sounds about right :-)

Christmas Toys

This is what our days after Christmas have looked like:

We have been laying around in our pajama’s, playing with all of our new toys (Mommy & Daddy got new toys too!)  We’ve had so much fun being lazy, that we decided to start a tradition…every year we’re going to spend the day after Christmas in our pajamas, playing with all of our new toys.  I’m already looking forward to next year!

Some of the things Ryder got on his very First Christmas: Drums, dump truck, basketball, baseball, stuffed animals, elmo hands, blocks, clothes, snow suit, some adorable “My First Christmas” gear, Praise Baby DVD’s & CD’s (love them!), bath toys, books, and Mommy’s favorite – LOTS of supplies (diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, food, etc).  I took advantage of the fact that I got to write his Christmas list this year :)

And the winner of what got the biggest reaction out of him and has kept his attention for all the days following….drum roll please…CARS (good choice Uncle Dwayne & Aunt Jess)!!

And so this is what our days after Christmas have sounded like:

He is totally hooked on his cars, and it amazes me to watch him play and actually make the car noises!  “Vroom” is now the 3rd word in his vocabulary!!  What…Vroom is a word…right?!?!

Ryder’s 1st Christmas Ever!

Mommy & Daddy woke up at 5am and forgot that we are the parents now, not the children anymore…but we were so excited that we couldn’t go back to sleep!  So, what better to do then wake everyone in our house up:

   

And then head over to Poppy & Nana’s and wake everyone in their house up!  Ryder got his presents first and he dug right in!   He actually surprised us at how well he did unwrapping presents, he really enjoyed it. 

As you can see, he had a basket full of goodies, plus LOTS more under the tree, so by the time this was over we decided to go home and let him take a nap to rebuild some energy!

While Ryder napped, we opened our presents to/from eachother.  Alan and I spoil eachother every year and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  We enjoy splurging once a year and it makes Christmas so much fun for us.  When Ryder woke up from his nap, him & Daddy opened up Monster Trucks and Ryder’s new dump truck!

Then we headed back to Poppy & Nana’s to exchange gifts with them.  Here are the boys with their Ninja Turtle stockings:

Ryder helping Nana open one of her presents:

Mommy & Ryder on his 1st Christmas, please make note of our exact same facial expressions!           

So adorable in his jammies!                

Ryder went and hung out with Poppy in the kitchen for a while:

Then we went back home and Yaya came over to exchange gifts:

Tired yet??  So were we and it was only noon!  Our day didn’t end there but our pictures do!  We finally got out of our pj’s and got dressed to go over to Me-Mew’s.  We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening there and then stopped back by Poppy & Nana’s on the way home.  I left my camera there…so…no pictures of those parts of our day.  But as I’m sure you can guess, they were filled with family, food, and fun! 

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year, we always do!  It’s my favorite day, I love everything about it. 

Everyone seemed to love the gifts we got them, and we all received SO many great gifts, we’re really lucky to have such amazing people in our lives that care so much and do so much for us.  Tomorrow is going to be like Christmas all over again when we get to go through everything, I’m way too exhausted to do it tonight. 

Goodbye Christmas ~ Until Next Year!

The Reason for the Season

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

Merry Christmas EVE!

I love Christmas Eve!  It’s always such a rush, trying to get last minute things ready for the big day, the anticipation builds up and our Christmas cheer is at an all time high!  Then in the evening my family gets together for food, fun, fellowship, and our gift exchange…which of course is always fun!  We were reflecting tonight on how much and how quickly things change.  Remembering what it was like when Sydney was the only baby in the family, and how blessed we were to be able to spend the past few years with Tim, Ashley, and Trinity  (who we’re all missing like crazy this year!  My oldest brother is deployed, and his wife and my niece are in Hawaii), and now having Ryder as a part of our family…it’s just amazing how things change and life just goes on, constantly moving forward.  One thing that always remains the same is the love of our family.  You can feel it from the second you walk in the door, it’s comfortable and it’s heartwarming…it’s home!  There’s no other feeling like it :)  Here are pictures from our Christmas Eve with my family:

Of course Yaya finds Ryder a mailbox!  Perfect gift from the mail lady…he loves this thing!

Uncle Dwayne & Aunt Jess bought Ryder some Hot Wheel cars, which he absolutely loved.  He literally played with them on the floor for hours.  Daddy was showing him how to drive them all around and was making car noises.  By the end of the night, Ryder had learned how to make the “vrroooommm” noise, so that was our entertainment.  We were all amazed that he picked up on that and he was getting into making the noise for his cars.  He’s definitely all boy!!  At the very end of this video you can hear him do it:

And now it’s time for bed.  Everyone is fast asleep, and I’m about to join them.  We’ve got a busy day tomorrow, I’m sure it will be filled with lots more fun and excitement. 

**Merry Christmas Eve**