17 Months Old!

This was you 1 year ago!

Boy have you changed! You are SO handsome :)

I always look forward to what you are going to say or do!

Even though we are hitting those terrible twos a little early...

You are still pretty easy to please.. just give you your paci, juice, and a snack and your ONE happy camper!

I still can't believe this was you 1 year ago... my how you've changed!

I can not believe that in 1 month YOU are going to be a YEAR AND A HALF!! This time has gone by SOO fast and I just can't believe that your not a baby anymore, but a BIG BOY! You have changed so much in 1 year when I look back at pictures it just makes me smile at how you've really come into your personality! This is what you have been up to:

*You weigh 25 pounds
*You are 32 inches tall
*You are still in a size 3 diaper
*You had a growth spurt literally overnight about 2 weeks ago and when you woke up NONE of your clothes fit you!! Mommy had to take you to the store in your PJ's so I could buy 18 month shirts to put you in! Talk about embarassing!!
*You have been in time out MANY times lately, and are learning that the "bad spoon" is NOT a friend of yours! HA!
*You have learned to throw things away for mommy and I have to admit I am LOVING this!! Although today, you threw away the wipes, your plate, and a toy... but its so cute how you come out of the kitchen clapping because you know Mommy will be proud of how smart you are for learning new things.
*You say SOO many words like; Pops, Nanny (Handy Manny), Misey (Mickey) Meme, Momma, Daddy, Trash, Up, Bad, Shh, Bed, Juice, Eat, Chicken, Pizza, Truck, Car, Light Uh-oh is still one of your favs, Pumpkin Pie (thanks to aunt Amanda), the zoo, sit down, get down, night night, and SOO many words, you started a couple weeks ago putting 2 words together and its soo cute! I can't wait until we just have conversations with each other!
*You really love reading books still which is fun!
*You have recently started cuddling with mommy a little bit which I thought would NEVER happen and I have to admit I am just squeezing you soo tight because I know this won't last long!
*You have REALLY become a momma's boy since I started staying home with you and I wouldn't have it any other way
*You have been telling me when you are going to the bathroom for the last few weeks now and as soon as I can teach you how to pull down your pants and pull them back up I am going to start potty training you!
*You have started giving me kisses and its the most precious thing and makes my heart melt
*You LOVE LOVE LOVE your pops, and anytime I say look whose hear, you go "Pop?Pop?Pop?...when we pull into their driveway you say Pop? Pop?Pop?
*You have been such a handful but I know you are just one intersted little boy, and things are only going to get more and more interesting to you as you get older

I have had the time of my life in this last month that I have stayed home with you! We have had SO much fun going places and learning new things and I LOVE seeing you explore and change in front of my eyes. I am soo LUCKY to have this time with you and I don't take it for granted one single day! You are soo fun to be with and I am soo lucky to be your mom!

Cabin Fever!

  Ryder and I have been in every room of the house playing, playing with every toy, dancing, laughing, crying and we are READY to get out of this HOUSE!! Today I went to a "Fun Zone" that is literally 3 miles from my house. I wasn't sure if it was going to be too hard for Ryder and it sure wasn't!! It had tons and tons of big blow up bouncey houses, and basketball courts, and Ryder was in heaven, they even had a room for smaller children with a ton of toys.. I might have to get a membership so we can go back often!! It was alot of fun!!

Snow Fun!

I think Ryder and I are both a little stir-crazy and are READY for this snow to GO!!.. Although, we did have alot of fun Monday because Eric got to leave work around 11 and we played in the snow for a while! Here are some pictures!!

Busy Busy Day!

This morning Ryder and I and our friends Emily and Caleb went to a Music class. I had no idea what to expect and I can say that we WON'T be back! They had toys in the room and expected children to want to sit in a circle with their mom and sing songs and play instruments. Ryder loved to play THROW the instruments and the songs were all weird songs that I had no idea what they were. I went to go get Ryder away from the toys and the lady informed me that "we do not go get the children, we let them come to us" ..hmmm what child in their right mind would want to stop playing with toys and sit in the circle?! NOT MINE! so here I am in the circle singing hum-did-aw-do-did-aw-day by MYSELF! I felt so stupid running in circles with the other moms while my child was off in la-la land with a barbie! SERIOUSLY! what a waste of an hour!

 Later in the afternoon we headed to chick-fil-a for dinner and to play on the jungle gym they have there.. and Ryder has CONQUERED it! I can't believe he can climb up that big thing and slide down the slide all by himself!! I have to say I think he can do it because I always take him to the playgrounds behind our house at the school to play. Here are some pictures!

Before bedtime I went in Ryder's playroom to see what he was playing with because he was being really loud and saying VROOM VROOM VROOM.... little did I know he was on top of his table with some play cars driving them up the walls!

Duck Duck GOOSE!!

 Ryder and I have had a VERY interesting day today.. it started out by locking us out of the house and car and having to run to my neighbors who graciously let us stay with her for about an hour before my dad was able to run over and let us back in.... THEN we went over to a park and fed the ducks.. umm BAD IDEA!

At first it was cute with 2 little ducks... then we were ATTACKED! they were flying at me and I was trying SO hard not to pee in my pants.. thankfully Ryder thought it was HILARIOUS and just giggled and giggled while his mom was running around in circles throwing bread hoping they would stop chasing me... We had a fun time though, and Ryder enjoyed playing on the playground too... I guess that big ole' sign that says NO FEEDING DUCKS is there for a purpose.. I can happily say next time we will NOT be feeding them!

Ryder liked playing in the woods more than the playground!

The ducks followed us around the ENTIRE time we were there! It was hilarious.. and I'll be honest.. a LITTLE scary!!

Explorer Pass

Eric and I decided to upgrade our zoo pass this year especially because I am now a stay-at-home mom.. with this pass you get to feed the giraffes for free, feed the birds, ride the carousel, ride the train, etc. So we have been having SO much fun and we went to the zoo today with my friend Emily who has a son Caleb who is only 2 months older than Ryder... This was also the first day I let Ryder run free and we didn't bring a stroller... it was quite interesting but Ryder loved it!! Here are some pictures!!

We told them to "love" each other and they bumped heads!

Christmas one last time :(

This was our final celebration of Christmas this year and it was a GOOD one!! Johnbo and Neesy came down and brought Matthew, Re-Re and Rachel too!! We had a fun time visiting with them and Ryder LOVED his presents!! THANK YOU!!