How I Feel About the Bar

This is how I feel about the bar exam studying

This is how I feel about my what I know of the law so far.... I get the general stuff but I keep forgetting the details :)

Busy Family

I might be a little hard to find until March. I am going to try and update when I can, but life has gotten pretty busy.
I have class from 6-9:30 every week night and then class 9-5 on Saturdays. Then I have to study during the day for the upcoming class. It doesn’t leave me a lot of blogging time.
I have hired an amazing nanny who comes in on Tuesday and Thursday (I think I might ask her to come in Wednesdays also) Ryan wasn’t sure about it the first day she came but now he has a lot of fun. She brings her 2 year old daughter and now Ryan is trying to do things how the big kid does them. I think he likes the change of routine and the fact that he is now the center of someone else’s day.
My brother comes and takes care of Ryan on Fridays and Don gets weekends. Mondays are mine and I am trying hard to hold onto them. I just have to remember that after February he is mine again and I don’t have to share as much!
Ryan seems to have grown up a lot recently. He has started feeding himself his bottle; he can also eat some finger foods now that he has his two (sharp) front teeth. He can crawl from one place to another, and even more importantly he can sit up whenever and wherever he wants. He also says “Mama” whenever he is complaining or tired, not directed at me yet but at least he has the sound down.

Growing up

Why does my 7 1/2 month old baby look like he is a toddler in this picture? He is growing up so fast.

A Year in Review

2008 has been a great year for me. I can't believe how much has changed in the course of only one year. I hope 2009 brings as much joy!
Here is a quick run down of the last year:

• I moved back from Chicago at the end of last December so I was adjusting to life back in NC at the beginning of the year
• January Don and I had our late honeymoon in the mountains which was romantic and wonderful and the last vacation we had before the baby
• February I had my baby shower in Chicago thrown by Rachel who is amazing and wonderful and I still can't believe how great it was (much like my bachelorette party which she also helped throw).
• In March my mom got married to a man who was wonderful and had acted as my father through a lot of stuff.
• April we finished Ryan's room
• May Ryan was born... biggest month of my life. Rachel and David came home from school for the birth.
• June Sarah Cate came to meet Ryan and we got settled in at home.
• July Ryan got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Mason for the first time.
• August we went to the beach and Ryan got to meet some of our college friends.
• September Ryan got to meet Ava (who is one day older then him) and I got to reconnect with my friend Nicki from middle school who I have grown super close to. I love the Internet, I can't imagine my life without having her to talk to now.
• October Sarah Cate came back to visit and Ryan had his first Halloween.
• November we traveled to the mountains for thanksgiving and Don got his new job which he loves.
• December Ryan had his first Christmas.

What a full year! It went by so fast. I can't believe how much time matters when you are watching a baby grown up. This year I have learned that I have amazingly great friends and family. I am so blessed, thank you all for reading the blog. I am printing out everything here to make into a book for Ryan so he can see what great people he has in his life.
I am excited for next year, I can't wait to see what sort of person Ryan develops into.

Adventures in Flour

Head to toe flour... Fun times, unfortunately I didn't realize until after that my dust-buster had not been charged... oh well.... I will be peeling caked flour off of Ryan until his bath but it was well worth it, so much fun. At one point he got down on his belly to "swim" in it. Ryan decided that he wasn't covered enough and needed to take just a little more out of the bag

I've Been Had

I have been played. I know it happens, but by a 7 month old? It is too early; Ryan is too smart for his own good.
So if Ryan is crying in his crib when I put him in for a nap, I usually let him cry for a while (unless he is really upset then I go in), I usually only go in if his pacifier falls out of the crib which I can hear on the monitor.
So Ryan was particularly fussy today so I put him in his crib so he could calm down and maybe nap. He didn’t realize it, but I was watching him from the doorway. So I see him staring up at the ceiling, when he gets bored he takes his pacifier out of his mouth and tries to shove it out of the crib! He totally did it on purpose! Then like 5 seconds later he starts to cry and looks at the door waiting for me to come in!
And so it begins…

Ever Changing Baby

Ryan has changed so much recently I thought I would have a blog focused just on some of his recent milestones.

• Today he went from laying on his belly to sitting up all on his own for the first time. This makes it way easier to play with toys (imagine laying on your tummy and trying to play games with both hands... not easy).
• He has also started eating everything... lasagna, yogurt, salmon, pickles etc.. His two teeth on the bottom just popped through but I think he needs a few more to get the chewing thing down pat until then he gets the pudding version of everything. I hope the teeth come in soon, I am not a huge fan of this teething business.
• Ryan is making lots of new noises, he sings to songs on the radio or rather talks over them. He says Dada and Mama, but not to Don and I... just babble.. but the real thing should come soon.
• His favorite thing is when people smile at him, even his reflection in the mirror.
• He gives hugs and reaches for people when he wants to be held. When he hugs he gets really aggressive.
• He has just discovered that when you hit two hard things together it makes a loud noise which he loves and does it with everything.
• I don't know how much he weighs, but it sure seems like a lot when I am carrying him around, he is in 9month clothes and seems to be getting bigger daily. He is 7 1/2 months old.
• He can go from one side of the room to the other in a sort of crawl slide, he doesn't like his knees on the floor so he either has straight legs with bottom straight up or is slithering.
• His favorite books are 5 little monkeys and the Hungry Caterpillar, I read them numerous times a day.

Life is good, Ryan is more amazing then I ever thought he could be. I'm sure after I post this I will think of a lot other things that he does but this is enough for now.

Quick Christmas Recap

I love Christmas. We had such a good one this year. My brother and mom came over Christmas Eve and we had lasagna and chocolate ice cream cake… not traditional but VERY good. We opened our gifts of Christmas PJ’s and watched Christmas movies until it was time for bed. We woke up to open gifts and eat breakfast together. Ryan was in heaven with so much attention.
Thank you everyone who sent gifts and cards it was great to hear from all of you. I Hope everyone had a great Holiday!
We don’t have any big plans for New Years Eve, just hanging out at home which sounds wonderful to me.

2nd Tooth

Ryan had another tooth pop through! My goodness, he is much happier now that they are out. Bottom front two down, a mouthful left :)

Pictures of Ryan's First Christmas!

Tree All Lit up
Ryan deciding which present to open first
This looked like a particularly tasty present

Grandma reading the Christmas book

Uncle David headbutt

Ryan convinced me to read the Christmas book again

The boys and their jammies

Ryan's new cheeseball smile

TOOTH!

Have you ever had the experience where a doctor looks at you like you are crazy when you say something is wrong? Well I went to the pediatricians for Ryan on Friday, Ryan was really cranky and was playing with his ears. I thought it was possible that he had an ear infection and I wanted to make sure before the weekend started that he didn’t. I mean he was just finishing up swimming lessons where his ears has been under water 2 times a week for 3 weeks… it was possible.

So we go into the doctor’s office and Ryan is in a great mood (thus disproving me before we even start the appointment). The doctor looks in his ears and tells me point blank he is fine. So I say “maybe his teeth are bothering him, he has really been teething” the doctor runs his fingers over his gums and says “IF he is teething it is JUST starting, you have a while before teeth, he is just cranky.” DISMISSED. Whatever… I this was the first time in over 7 months I had gone to the pediatrician for anything other then a scheduled checkup, I deserve one right?

Well less then a week later on Wednesday a tooth popped through! Yay first tooth! So to that particular doctor… who is the crazy one now?

Yay for teeth, teeth start opening up a whole new world of foods which Ryan is going to enjoy! Ryan just wanted his two front teeth for Christmas and he got one!

Flying Babyfood

Some feedings are cleaner then others.....

In this particular one, Ryan tried to help me put his tray on his chair by grabbing it off the table... which knocked the bowl of food on the floor... which hit just right so that all the food flew up and hit me in the face. Nice look huh? I actually got baby food in my eye. Ryan got one chunk right in the middle of his forehead in his hair, this was right after his bath.

Thankful for the Moment

I had a dream last night that I died in a school gym, the stands fell and I died. In the dream I went to what I suppose was heaven. It was this waiting area where there were probably 25 other people around me. We talked about our lives and had to figure out what was going on through this woman who was in charge (Not God, more of an administrative assistant type). The deal was, you could look down on the people you left one time and one time only.


When your time in this room was up you had to jump out this little door that looked like a baggage shoot opening and you would be reborn. All I could think of the whole time was how much I had loved my life, that Ryan and Don were the best things in the world. I was sad in heaven because I couldn’t imagine anything as great in the next life as the life I had left.


When I woke up I wasn't entirely sure if I was dead and using my one look down on the world or if I was alive. It made me realize how lucky I am. Nothing else mattered at that moment, all those things that seem so important (Money, weight, possessions etc) were irrelevant. Looking at them knowing this might be the last time I see the both of them I couldn't think of anything except how lucky I was to have that moment. If only I could remember to see with such clarity all the time.

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