Lunch Thief

So I had just finished feeding Ryan his lunch- pasta with meat/spinach/ tomato sauce and blackberry apple sauce oh and don't forget the 5 ounces of milk. I thought, there is no way he is still hungry. I had eaten half my lunch and put the rest near where I was going to sit and eat and went to go clean up the mess Ryan had left. When I came back.... this is what I found. Sorry all you vegetarians out there :)
I swear I am not going to post any more pictures this week... I just couldn't pass this one up.

Caught Red Handed

Swimming Lessons

Ryan loves his swimming lessons. Today dad and Grandma came to play at the pool!
He likes to paddle around both on his stomach and back and play with the rings, but his favorite part is climbing out of hte side, he is very strong and actually does most of it on his own.

This is our last week of these lessons. I think after February we will sign up for more. I want to make sure Ryan is comfortable in the water. Who knows maybe he has an olympic future. Thank you grandma Suzanne for getting us these lessons, such a good gift :)

Quick Update... Sleeping Through the Night!

Ryan has been sleeping through the night! This is one of those milestones that you look forward to from the time you find out you are pregnant. When I say through the night, last night he went to bed at 7:00pm and woke up at 7:50am. WOW.

What a difference a good night sleep makes.

It has messed with his napping schedule (he had a few days of napping for 30 minutes in the entire day) but I think he will start getting into a normal schedule soon. Ryan's mood is so different when he is tired as opposed to when he is well rested.

I have been a little overzealous with the camera lately so I have lots of pictures, I am trying not to overwhelm you with all of them but Ryan is so cute I'm having trouble not sharing them. Here are a few:

Crawling

Crawling :)
He still doesn't go as fast as he wants, but he can get where he wants to go.

Okay I know this doesn't have to do with crawling but a baby in a baby size lazy boy... I couldn't help but post it

Holiday Party

Don and I went to his new company’s office party last night sans baby. My brother babysat (Ryan slept the whole time). It was great, the party was a lot of fun and it was great to get dressed up and go out with Don. The theme was casino night and I learned to play blackjack, I broke even which considering the house always wins I feel pretty good about. I won a digital camera in the raffle! I only took one picture but I think there are more floating around from the night so if I get a hold of them I will post some.
I am aware that the flow/ wording of this entry is off somehow but for the life of me I can't fix it... so I am posting it anyway. Maybe tomorrow I will be more coherent :)

2 In a Million

I have been very blessed in my life. No joke, I don't know why I lucked out so much.

Yesterday I put in my facebook status that I needed someone to help with Ryan the week I am taking the bar. Two of my friends who are very busy, successful women bought plane tickets to come here from Chicago (One is an attorney at a very good firm in Chicago and the other one is in charge of a radiology department and is getting her MBA full time at a very good school). Literally 24 hours after I posted they had tickets... they are coming Saturday and leaving Wednesday night. I don't know how they are taking so much time off. I will never been able to express how appreciative I am... literally my eyes are misting just thinking about how great they are.

This is not the first time that they have been wonderful and helped me when I couldn't do something on my own.

I love you Rachel and Nicole!

30 Weeks Old! Pictures

Stare down

My little man

My little Cheeseball

This looks like he is snuggling with a blankie... he is actually eating a napkin

Very upset about having to go to bed.

Reading his Hungry Caterpillar book

Does it get any better?

Mom and baby snuggle, does it get any better then that?

Babysitter

I feel like I am a pretty good parent (so far at least). I make my own organic baby food, I hug and kiss Ryan about a million times a day. I read to him and talk to him and sing to him and dance with him. I make sure Ryan is fed, happy, clean(ish) etc.
So I am in a bind. I need to study for the bar, it isn't a normal test, it is the mother of all tests. You are supposed to designate about 8 weeks of your life to nothing but studying. If I didn't have a child that would be doable. But I am a stay at home mom of an almost 7 month old who is starting to crawl.
I can't study while he is awake. he sleeps maybe 3 hours sporadically through the day. This is simply not enough to get quality study time in. My mom tries to come over and help but she is an attorney and has to work around her clients schedule which isn't consistent. My brother comes on Fridays, but again it just isn't enough. I don't want to study less then what is required and fail and have to start again.
So I have been forced to do something I don't want to do. Don and I are starting to interview potential babysitters. Ugh. No one is going to be good enough. No one will be up to my standards, he is my baby, okay I take that back, no one who lives in North Carolina and who is available will be good enough (yes Rachel and Jess you would be good enough). So while I have given Ryan everything I can think of up to this point, I cannot give him myself for about 8 weeks starting in January. We will see how it goes. If I can't bear to do it after meeting the potential caretakers I am going to figure something else out. What I don't know but something (I could study all night, who needs sleep?).

Embarrassing Parent Conversation

Embarrassing Parent Conversation of the day.
background information needed: I call Ryan Bud Sometimes.

Me: Hey Bud
Don: He is a baby, so he is bud light, hahaha
Kathleen: Wow, you are embarrassing
Kathleen: Well you are older and wiser so you are Budweiser.

Christmas Time Is Here Again!

It is that time of year again, CHRISTMAS! I love Christmas, the tree, presents, music, smells, food etc. We went out and got our Christmas tree today. We were going to go to a farm and cut one down but David has exams and it was chilly outside so we decided to just go pick one up. Ryan helped us pick out a lovely tree and we made it home no problem.

We proceeded to break the stand (oops) and the tree is currently laying on the floor. But we have started the process and when Ryan wakes up from his nap we are going to go get another stand. I took a few pictures as we were opening the Christmas decorations box. I'm sure there will be a lot more Christmas pictures... a baby who is starting to crawl and a wobbly Christmas tree... the possibilities are endless!

The whole process wore him out

Protective Baby

I went to the dentist yesterday. I have to admit I am not as good as I used to be about going, I had put it off for 3 years! Health insurance doesn’t always work out the way it should…. But anyway, I went. My mom met me there so she could watch Ryan in the waiting room.

Let me begin by saying Ryan doesn’t like me leaving the room, he is fine if he can see me. So he was kind of upset that I left the waiting room. My mom brought him back (our family knows the dentist well so she can just walk back there). He could see me, but he didn’t like the woman sitting over me putting things in my mouth, he did not like her at all. Whenever she put the sucker thing in my mouth he would scream and yell like he was angry. It seemed like he thought she was hurting me, he was trying to protect me! He would only calm down when I would look him in the eye and tell him I was okay. He is already protective. The dental hygienist said that it probably looked to him like she was hurting the love of his life and he didn’t like it one bit.
I understand his pain; I feel the same way when we go to the pediatrician.

The good news is that I don’t have any cavities so I won’t be back for awhile.

Baby Munchies

This week Ryan has decided that all food is good food. The baby will eat anything. I was at lunch and I got a pickle with my sandwich, he kept grabbing for it. I thought to myself if he tries it, he will realize he doesn’t like it and back off… he loved it and was sucking on it for the next 10 minutes. He has in the last week also tried Kiwi, cheese, blackberries, tomato sauce, and salmon. He loved all of them; he was even willing to give peas a second chance!
Apparently this growing boy needs lotsa food and he isn’t very particular about what it is. I don’t mind though, I hope he continues to be adventurous! I read somewhere that babies develop most of their taste for foods in the second 6 months of their life, at this rate he is going to like everything!

Thanksgiving Highlights

So here is a quick rundown of our thanksgiving in the mountains:

- My mom, brother, Ryan and I headed to the mountains on Sunday, it was a super easy car ride we didn’t have to stop at all.
- Ryan was teething, so he didn’t sleep the first few nights... not good when Don isn’t there and Ryan was freaked of my mom.
- It took until Tuesday for Ryan to warm up to my mom, but when he did he became a big fan.
- Thanksgiving dinner was super good, my mom made the turkey and stuffing, Don made potatoes, I made sweet potatoes and veggies, my brother made dessert. It was so, so good.
- We sat by the fire, read books, watched movies, cooked, hung out etc. The house was beautiful, oh and did I mention the hot tub!

Overall it was great, who doesn’t love a vacation! Lots to be thankful for this year!