Vacation Pictures

Ryan and his daddy

The Boys watching some football

Ryan helping prepare the potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.

Cold Weather!

Hanging out with Uncle David

Trucks !

Happy Thanksgiving

I admit I haven’t been very good on this vacation with updating the blog. Worry not I have taken pictures!

I wanted to take a few seconds to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few things (there are many) that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving (in no particular order except for the top one… that one is there for a reason):
(1) Ryan (duh) he is so healthy, smart and overall amazing
(2) My wonderfully supportive family
(3) The fact that I can stay at home with Ryan
(4) My friends who understand when I sometimes fall out of the loop and love me anyway
(5) The fact that I live in a warm & safe home, that I don’t have to worry about my next meal
(6) That I am DONE with law school
(7) My wonderful husband
(8) Pumpkin pie!

In the Mountains

We are out of town for thanksgiving (the NC mountains). We get home next weekend. I will try and update my blog when I can. I am taking fun pictures and trying to relax. Don doesn't get here until Wednesday so I actually have more work (24/7) then I do at home. Right now Ryan is "talking" from his crib instead of sleeping... BOO.
I will probably post before Thanksgiving, but if not: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Backing Off

As a parent I try really hard to be the best parent I can be. I really do, I always have the best intentions. I have learned something really important in the last 24 hours, which is that sometimes it is better to take a step back then trying to fix the problem. So last night Ryan had his first stuffy nose, it doesn’t sound that bad but with infants EVERYTHING is magnified. So a simple stuffy nose turns into a nightmare when Ryan can’t breathe when his all important pacifier is in his mouth. He freaked, no joke it was an all out hysterical freak out. I tried rocking him, hugging him and singing to him… he was screaming. You know the crying that comes when you can’t catch your breath? Yeah it was that type.
Don in his infinite wisdom took the baby from me and set him down on the bed and asked if he wanted to play. Ryan cheered right up; he caught his breath and was actually smiling. Apparently all he needed was a distraction, and playing for 2 minutes was enough to calm him down enough that he could go to sleep.
This morning Ryan would NOT take a nap. I mean he was tired but every time I went into his room with him to wrap him up and rock him to sleep he would scream or cry. I finally got so frustrated that I needed to take a moment. So I put him in his crib with him wide awake and walked out, I was just doing it to calm myself down. Ryan never even cried, he laid his head down and fell right asleep.
So I am learning that sometimes backing off is the way to go. Lesson learned.

Goofy Baby Pictures

Laughing

Blanket on the head :)

"Mom, where did you go?"

Picture the Future

Do you ever look at a picture of a child and see exactly what he/she will look like as a teenager?

6 Month Stats

Here are Ryan's six month stats:

He weighs 17 pounds 15 3/4 ounces, which is the 51st percentile. He is 24th percentile in height at 26 inches. and his head is 94th percentile (BIG brains).

To put that in perspective, at his 2 week appointment he was 8 pounds 5 1/4 ounces and 20 inches long.

Apparently all the eating is helping him grow! The doctor says he is perfect (which of course I already know). His next appointment isn't until he is 9 months old.

Happy 6 Month Birthday!

Happy 6 month Birthday to Ryan!
Can you believe he is already six months old? How did that happen?
He is growing up so fast. He is so close to crawling, he gets on all fours and rocks back and forth he can push himself backwards and around in a circle, all we need now is forward. I will post how big (measurement wise) he is after his doctors appointment on Tuesday!

A few new pictures

Ryan likes to kiss the mirror. He obviously has a healthy ego.

"Mommy this is where my teeth are going to come in" Hopefully sooner then later.

This is the teething drool.

Don made Ryan laugh so hard today that he snorted. Too funny.

Destructo Baby

Sorry I haven't been updating my blog very much. Ryan ripped off my 'A' and 'S' buttons on my keyboard. Now I don't know if you have ever tried to type without those two buttons but it is impossible. Last night Don installed my new keyboard so I'm back!
Ryan is funny, we call him destructo baby. He loves taking things apart (such as my computer) and ripping things up. His FAVORITE activity is ripping magazines. If you give him a magazine he will be entertained for like half an hour (for a baby this is amazing). I don't mind, maybe it is a sign he thinks like his dad who has the ability to build computers from scratch. I have learned my lesson and the next computer Ryan will touch will be one of those leapster ones that hopefully can withstand the brunt of Ryan.

A Change for the Next Generation

I knew Ryan would grow up in a very different world then I grew up in. I cannot believe that last night Barack Obama won the presidential election. I am excited about the future. I wish Obama luck because he is stepping into a position that will be anything but easy. We are in two wars, an economic crisis and there is an international community that doesn't like us much right now.

I hope that Obama can use his amazing skill of inspiring people to help us emerge from this dark place we have been in. Ryan will grow up with Obama as his president, he won't know of a world with Bush as our commander in chief.

Here is to the next 4 years, and to a country that I hope will be a better place then it is today. I want Ryan to grow up in a great country and I hope that this will be the begining of that change!

Daylight Savings Time

I never really thought that much about daylight savings time before. With a baby on a schedule it really throws things off. This morning he was up EARLY and wanted to go to bed at 5:30pm. NOT COOL. Hopefully we will get him back on track.

Video: Duck

Ryan was playing, I left the room to get the camera and when I came back he was watching TV. I thought he looked pretty cute.

(I obviously finally got around to getting videos off my video camera)

Video: Paci recovery

Ryan has finally discovered how to put the Paci in his own mouth which makes my life a little easier :) This is also a good video to show how good he has gotten at sitting.

Pictures, 24 weeks old!

Ryan is finally getting used to the camera and will ham it up every now and then.

Karate Kid

Chomp! Sitting up allows him to find more things to put in his mouth