Trick or Treat!!

Ryder dressed up as a shark for Halloween and we drove him around the neighborhood on the golf cart!  He was most impressed with the lollipops.  Any time he would get one he’d say “LOLLIPOP! OH MA GOONESS!”  Lollipops…and the golf cart…I think its safe to say he had a good night!

 

We made special stops to see Aunt Brenda, Nana & Pap-pap, Randy & Dawn, Uncle G, and Nana & Pop-pop where he had really special treats waiting for him…

Including Vienna Sausages!!  Lucky boy!

We tried to get a picture with his newest baby cousin Bradley (the cutest little monkey in town!), but you know how that goes:

But I did manage to get a picture of one of Ryder’s most favorite people looking beautiful in her costume, Miss Madeline:

Ryder had lots of fun, and I’d say he made out pretty well!

Hope everyone had fun with all of their Halloween festivities.  :)

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Fun!

Today, we taped trashbags to the floor and got down & dirty carving our pumpkin :) 

 

 

 

The funniest part about this was that Ryder did not understand why I would take the pumpkins eyes, nose, and mouth out.  All he was concerned with was putting the pumpkin back together.

 

Even when I brought the pumpkin outside to set on the porch, Ryder came running with all of his pieces! 

Okay, so I realize that our pumpkin is a little pathetic, but all I really cared about was getting the seeds out to make a yummy snack!

Just for fun, here’s a picture of our sweet pumpkin from last year!

5 Weeks!

I’m pregnant!!! In case it hasn’t hit you yet!  Or maybe I just needed to type out the words so that it would actually sink in for me…because it hasn’t yet. 

I love the weekly updates that Nicki found on the Alpha Mom blog, so I’m going to use those for my weekly posts too!  They are funny and I enjoy reading them, so I’ll share them with you weekly as things progress!

Your baby:

• Is about the size of a sesame seed.
• Looks more like a tadpole than a human-variety baby.
• Making developmental leaps and bounds by the hour like a GENIUS CHILD.

You:

• Are totally for-real pregnant, with a positive home pregnancy test to prove it and everything.
• Are definitely popping a prenatal vitamin everyday.
• If you don’t FEEL very pregnant yet, don’t panic. It’s early. Breast tenderness and fatigue may be all you’ve got at this point.
• Oh, and yes, it is time to stop smoking, drinking, doing drugs and licking inner-city mailboxes, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Sorry to disappoint but I will not be including any belly pics until my belly actually looks like new-baby-belly, not left-over-Ryder-belly!  I’m feeling good, the only symptoms I have so far are HEARTBURN (just like with Ryder!) and feeling light-headed a lot.  I’m anxious to see the Doctor, my first appointment is November 8th, to see what is in store for the next 9 months.  I’m not sure how all of Ryder’s complications are going to play into this pregnancy, but you know that will be my first question!  I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Ryder, so I went ahead and started the diet.  I figured it’s better for the baby just to be safe, and that way if I do have it again it won’t be traumatic to have to stop pigging out! 

5 down…35 to go!

Skeleton x2

My little skeleton this year:

And last year:

I really thought I was going to look at these pictures and say “Look how much time has gone by!” but the only real differences are his hair and teeth! 

Oh how I love my sweet little skeleton.  Even though I have to chase him around just to get a picture of him these days!

He got into the cotton balls:

Threw treats to the dogs out the window:

Read his “Jesus Book”:

And ran from me every time I tried to take his picture!

Maybe one day he’ll sit still again…

Big Brother!!

I have to tell you how much I love having two big brothers!  Growing up they were always there for me, they would help me and play with me and build me things and make me laugh so hard.  They would pick me up and body slam me into the couch (against my will), pick on me, blame things on me, they definitely worked hard to toughen my skin and not let me be a girly girl.  But at the end of the day, I always knew that they loved me and that they would be there to protect me.  Now that we are all grown and have families of our own, we have become such good friends and have unbreakable bonds.  We don’t have to see each other or talk all the time (because what brothers do that?!), but we just know that we have each other and when we get together it’s like we never missed a beat!  Big Brothers are awesome!

Which is why, it’s pretty awesome that…Ryder is going to be a Big Brother!!!  I think our newest addition is going to be one lucky little guy or girl to have him as their big brother.  As you can see he’s pretty excited!

And we are too!!  I was going to wait to announce this BIG NEWS to you all, but I am SO swamped at work that I can’t even take time off to get to the doctor for another 2 weeks, and there was no way I could keep it in that long.  So, SURPRISE, I’m a whopping 4 1/2 weeks pregnant!  :-)  I’m thinking I’ll be due around July 1st.  Please pray for a healthy baby and a smooth pregnancy!

Pumpkin Patch!

Yesterday we met my family at the Pumpkin Patch to hang out and celebrate Aunt Megan’s Birthday!

   

 

  

We had such a good time!  We got to feed and pet the goats, go on a hay ride, pick pumpkins out of the patch, and have lunch and ice cream together.  Definitely a fun day, Ryder loved hanging out with his cousins “Sydnaaa & Kacaaa” as he calls them!, his “Aunt Megaa” and “Aunt Dess”, and “Lala” and “Paw-Paw”.

Ryder’s Favorite Things!

It’s about time for another Favorite Things post since Ryder is much older and more mature likes way cooler things than he did HERE at 11 months old!  He is now 19 months old and here are some of his favorite things:

 

The Broom

Ryder loves to sweep, no matter where he is, he will find a broom and it will keep him entertained for hours.  Of course he wants everyone around to sweep too, and sometimes he’ll even ask you to sing a song while you sweep.  For whatever reason, he loves the broom, but you better not have the dustpan attached to it, because that just makes him mad!

Vienna Sausages

You don’t have to tell me how gross and strange this is…but this boy LOVES Vienna Sausages!!  He can even say the whole name and asks for them!  He likes to carry the jar around for a while until he’s ready for someone to open it.  Then after every bite he says “mmmm…goood!”

His Fort

Although he does like to go in the original fort under his bed still, he has a new favorite fort that was a hand-me-down from his cousin Max.  He sits in his Thomas the Train fort, then comes out, grabs as many animals/toys/books as he can and crams everything in there with him, then starts yelling “Mama IN!  Dada IN!  Sit down!”  I think he wishes we could all just live in the fort (Obviously he wasn’t around for The Box days or he would feel differently!).

 

 

Riding

Ryder absolutely loves to ride on anything that he can.  The golf cart, his wagon, bikes, cars, whatever…as long as it has wheels and moves!  The other day I went to a baby shower and got back to find the boys doing this:

 

The Garage

Pop-Pop’s Garage is one of Ryder’s all time favorite places to go.  There is so much to do, so much to look at, so much stuff that he can get his hands dirty playing with.  I think he thinks he owns the place, and Pop-pop doesn’t argue with him!  You can ask Ryder where pretty much anything in the garage is and he’ll show you: Daddy’s bike, Pop-Pop’s bike, the deer, the bear, the snake skins (he tells you which one is the copperhead and which one is the rattlesnake), the broom, where the golf cart and bike keys are kept, his bikes…he has a serious inventory on that place!

His Animals

At the end of the day, when all of his fun has been had, his favorite thing to come home to are his animals.  He insists on having every single one of them in bed with him too, and somehow he knows if one is missing and he will be adamant that we find it and bring it to him before he can fall asleep.  As of right now, he has Blaize, Butch, Chick, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Lamb, Baby Lamb, Monkey, Big Blank, and Little Blank.  The boy loves his animals!

That’s all for now…but one day you’re IN and the next day you’re OUT around here, so check back in a few months to see what has changed!  As always, Ryder will forever be Mommy & Daddy’s #1 favorite thing!