Randomness

I usually like to have some kind of common theme in my posts…but don’t expect that today.  Just a bunch of random pictures to show and things to say.  Thumbs up if you’re ready…

Maisy is so funny…she loves to give thumbs up, she actually points with her thumb.  I love that her little quirks are coming out.

What kid doesn’t like spaghettio’s?!  Had to get a picture of her first experience with them.   Even after she eats, she always sneaks over to see what Daddy has, they love sharing food together.

 

Ryder has been really surprising me lately with his independence and ability to over come some of his long time fears.  He is actually sliding down a slide by himself now!  He used to not have the trunk strength to do this so he stayed away.  But now not only is he sliding alone, he is climbing ladders and stairs to get up to the slide!  As you can see by his facial expressions, this is more like work to him, I don’t think he realizes he’s supposed to be enjoying it.  But he’s SO proud of himself and we are too!

 

Ryder’s botox procedure has been rescheduled for May 8th and his cast is supposed to be put on May 11th.  Praying that God will either allow it to happen this time or not allow it.  We can’t make the decision ourselves. 

Anyone want a cracker?

 

Or a nap??  I love bringing her bottle to her in the morning and looking at her sleepy little eyes.

I have to tell you, I am loving this new haircut!!  I love seeing his sweet face, looking all boyish all the time now, I can’t get enough of him.  And MAN does he look like his Daddy now! 

 

Maisy stayed with Yaya the night we got Ryder’s hair cut so she didn’t see him until the next day.  Her reaction was hilarious, she just stared at him, then she would half smile, then she’d get serious, little smile, serious, big smile, I could just see the wheels turning in her head “There’s my big brother…wait…is that him??  Yeah that’s him!  Isn’t it???”  I’m sure she’s bummed that now her biggest weapon has been destroyed, no more hair to pull!  But strangely enough, he seems to be enjoying her company these days as she takes it upon herself to climb in his chair, while he’s sitting in it.  I caught them watching tv together like this the other day:

 

It’s all fun and games…until someone decides they need attention.

I felt like saying to Maisy “You climbed in the chair HE was sitting in and now you’re mad that He’s touching You?!”  But you can’t exactly reason with a 10 month old. 

Don’t let them fool you, they really do love each other!

Back to the randomness.  There is nothing more random than turning the corner to see this!

  

Want to know what I’ve been enjoying lately?  The new Instagram app on my phone!  It helps that I have 2 cute little subjects who make snapping pictures then editing them so fun.

 

 

These next 2 pictures crack me up, taken only a few weeks apart and it doesn’t even look like the same child!

Daddy bought Ryder his very own fishing pole and tackle box.  We hid it in the front yard and sent him out to go find his surprise.  As soon as he saw it he yelled “A fishing pole??!!  I’ve been wanting one of those for THREE YEARS!!!”

Okay a few more Ryder funnies and I’ll stop rambling.

When he got his hair cut, he looked in the mirror and the first thing he said was “It looks like I have a crown on my head!  I’m the King of the Castle!!!”  sounds about right.

I had the heat on in the car the other day and Ryder says “Momma, turn that heat off, it’s HOTTIN me up in here!”

He wrote a song about me on our walk today.  It went like this “She pushes my stroller, she’s a rockin a roller”.  That’s pretty clever, right??!!  (maybe it’ll be available on iTunes someday!)

So we’ve been having the conversation about being saved, and how when you’re old enough to make that decision and you feel ready you can ask Jesus to come live in your heart.  A few days ago Ryder comes running out of his room as if he had just seen a ghost “YOU GUYSSSS…what was that funny noise in my heart????”  Me & Alan were a little puzzled, we asked him if he had burped or hiccupped or something…but no it was not that.  So we just said we didn’t know but let us know if it happened again.  A few nights later we were in the middle of praying at bedtime and Ryder interrupts with “And Momma can you PLEASE ask Jesus if that was him that made that funny noise in my heart the last other day??”

That’s all I’ve got…for now :)

It’s A Boy!!

Contrary to what the world may believe…I really did give birth to a baby BOY 3 years ago!  Yes I know everyone reading this already knows that. 

But the lady at the gas station who sees Ryder in a shirt that says “Big Brother” and snidely comments to the person she’s with “BROTHER?!?!  Pah!” did not know.

The kids at the playground the other day saying “Let the little girl go down the slide first”, they did not know.

The worker at the Great Wolf Lodge souvenir store who checked us out when we bought Ryder’s dump truck saying “Can she carry it or does she need a bag” as she handed his DUMP TRUCK to him…she did not know.

His Doctor who he sees on a fairly regular basis that walked into the room and said “Hey Ryder, how’s our girl doing??” He SHOULD have known, but nope.

And to every other person we come in contact with every.single.time we go out in public…even though he is dressed in all boy clothes, and talks about all boy things, they just didn’t know…that HE IS A BOY!!!!!

I guess it’s fair to say we’ve heard the “girl” comment one too many times and realized that it’s not fair to him, how confusing must that be for people to be constantly calling him a girl when he knows he’s a boy?!  And how annoying for us to always have to correct people.  His hair has always been his “thing” so this decision did not come easy for us (and all of our attachment issues).  But the time has come…

   

We saved his first pony tail we ever cut…so this time we’re donating to locks of love! 

Yup, he’s definitely all BOY now.  In fact, from this point on, I don’t think he’ll ever be referred to as a girl again!  I thought me & Daddy would both cry seeing it all get cut off…but look at him!  He looks SO handsome, we were both so happy with how it came out.  I can’t stop looking at all his features that were hiding under all that hair.  His ears, his eyes, his eyelashes, the shape of his head…it’s all so new! 

His cousins Angel & Alyssa came into Aunt Dee’s shop while we were there, so he had a blast pretending to be the worker after his haircut was done.  He washed Alyssa’s and Angel’s hair plus swept up for Aunt Dee!

 

Oh he looks so handsome, we’re going to miss his long hair…Now our motto can’t be “Long Hair Don’t Care” anymore, ha. 

If this post is traumatizing and you’re in tears right now because Ryder doesn’t have long hair anymore, you might not want to watch this clip. 

So Maisy was wearing a brown shirt the other day, we were in the grocery store and she was in the cart chewing on my keys.  The checkout lady says “Oh no, he’s driving already?  I better stay off the road if he’s going to be driving”.  REALLY??????  FOR REAL?????? 

10 Months!

I know, it’s crazy, Maisy is 10 months old already!  Better get started on planning her FIRST Birthday bash!  Here is what she’s up to these days:

• Her sleep schedule is still the same, sleeping from about 7:30pm to about 6:30am with 2 naps throughout the day.
• She has 6 ounces of formula 4 times a day now.  She doesn’t take a bottle at Vicki’s anymore so she gets her formula from her sippy cup twice there and then a morning and evening bottle with me.  This month we’re going to start mixing milk in with her formula…oh I can’t WAIT to get her off of the formula.
• Still no teeth! But it doesn’t hold her back from eating one bit.  She doesn’t care much for the jar baby food anymore, she’d rather just have pieces of whatever we’re eating.  She loves to feed herself any finger foods or snacks she can.  Her favorite food right now is club crackers and graham crackers!
• She is still wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  I’m not sure what size shoe…you know I love my barefoot babies!
• She got her first bloody nose this month AND her first black mark under her eye.  The nose was her own fault (climbing OVER big brother’s chair and landing flat on her nose) and the black eye courtesy of her big brother swinging his robot around and slamming into her face.  This girl is going to be tough, I’m telling you! 
• Vicki says all the time that she has never seen a baby pick on their sibling the way she does.   She is definitely an instigator and knows how to get her brother fired up…and that works both ways!  When she is minding her own business Ryder heads straight over there to pick on her.  Through all the picking, you can really see the bond between them…sometimes they will stop wrestling around and just lay on eachother, or they will both start cracking up together.  I’m glad they have each other.
• She’s still all over the place.  She loves to be picked up, but as soon as you put her down she is off, and she is FAST!  She has been standing for longer periods of time without falling but still doesn’t quite have the balance to take her first steps.  I don’t think they’re far off though! 
• She gets told NO a lot now and she can even mimic our “ah ah ah” sound when she’s about to do something she shouldn’t.  She definitely keeps us laughing.
• My last point will speak for itself in the pictures to follow, she is 100% Daddy’s Girl these days!

 

 

We love this beautiful baby so much.  She’s growing up so fast but each phase is just another chance to thank God for what she brings to our lives. 

Great Wolf Lodge

This weekend Me & Ryder along with some friends took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge.  We got there about 10:00 Saturday morning and headed straight to the water park!

 

I wish I could have taken pictures of the kids playing and having so much fun in the water…but expensive cameras and splashing water aren’t the best combination so you’ll just have to take my word for it!  I wasn’t sure how Ryder would feel about the water park, but he really surprised me.  He was still his super-cautious self, always holding my hand or having me carry him through, but he really tolerated it well.  He was just skeptical of all the buckets of water falling from above, or the fountains squirting everywhere, but as long as I had his hand he was fine.  Which was FINE with me!  It made me scared to think of Maisy in a place like this, she’d probably be trying to run loose! 

After a few hours at the water park we took a lunch break and let the kids play on the outdoor playground.  Once we checked in our room the kids ran wild like kids do in a new place!

Mikayla took a break to lounge under the lounge chair on the balcony.

 

And Ryder took a break to love on Nicki, he’s always trying to charm her.

I think we were wishing all the kids would lay down for a nap, but there was no way that was happening, so back to the waterpark we went!  Ryder had no desire to get back in, so me & him headed to the arcade.  The best thing about going to an arcade with a 3 year old…you don’t have to spend any money and they don’t even realize it!  He gets on and off of everything so fast, it doesn’t even dawn on him that we never put a token in! 

After that it was dinner time.  Instead of spending a fortune at the restaurants at the resort, we found the nearest Chic-Fil-A!  After that…back to the water park!  Ryder again wasn’t interested in going back, neither was Jelena, so we took the boys back to the arcade and did a little shopping.

Then we met the rest of the crew back at the rooms to get in our pajamas and head down for story time.  This was really the cutest thing, everyone comes down in their pajamas to watch a show and then have story time by the fire place. 

Staci, Raegan, Lindsay, Madalynn, Nicki, Mikayla, Jelena, Owen, Catherine, & Ally.

 

 

We didn’t take a group picture until we were about to leave…so this was the best we could get!  Six tired Momma’s trying to snap a picture of 6 tired kids!

We had a really great trip, it was a fun-filled time away with friends! 

Maisy was hanging out at her Nana retreat with her new friend Lexi while we were away! 

Vacations are fun for everyone but it’s always nice to get back home together and relax with the family!