Day 334 / 365 - My Family

As someone who is always behind the camera it is a real rarity to get a picture of your entire family and like it. So thankful when it happens. I am so very thankful for my little crew. Love my family and am seriously beyond blessed for what I have.

Day 333 / 365 - Sunsets and Squirrels

He was running around with his lacrosse stick at grandma's house and stopped to watch the squirrels and the "pwetty sky".

Day 332 / 365 - Aunts

My four sisters... they are amazing. I love them and I love who they are. Each and everyone of them.They all have crazy quirks and we tease them constantly but they are absolutely perfect. I would do anything for anyone of these girls and I know they would do the same for me. I love how much they love my child, and I love how much Ryder loves them. He thinks they are perfect and lights up when he sees them. He tried to talk Kate into going home with us and didn't quite understand why she wouldn't come. Love you girls. You amaze me with the women you are.

                     ... my brothers are pretty great too, but man do they hate to be photographed. :))

Day 331 / 365 - Happy Thanksgiving

I am so very thankful for family. They are amazing and they are my reason for striving to be my best person. We had an amazing day a table full of food, glass trouts, love, and never ending blessings. The conversation was chaotically perfect and at one point I just stopped and looked around at the love that surrounded that table and smiled to myself. I am so very blessed. Before dinner I walked into this scene... Amy and Ryder were hungry and complaining that it was taking too long so they went into the dining room and had their own imaginary thanksgiving together. Ryder fed her turkey and they were giggling. That pretty much sums up how blessed I am. My child is so very loved and that makes me very overwhelmed with love. So on this thanksgiving I am thankful for my family. They are everything to me and perfect.

Day 330 / 365 - Headed Home For Turkey

When you are on a car ride home with a toddler you try to find simple things to pass the time. Duck face from Pringles chips was a sure win! He thought it was hilarious and I thought it was pretty humorous to look back and see this. :)  *Knock On Wood* This little guy is so amazing in the car, we brought Hunter with us this time and he was crying for awhile. Ryder could be heard in the back seat saying, "Huntee it is ok, Grandma's house is a long long long long car ride".

Day 329 / 365 - Mommmmmmmm

Muffled yells coming from the other room are not out of the norm in this house. Tonight I heard it coming from the bedroom and he wanted me to come and find him. "mommmmmmmmmmmmmm come look" as I enter the room and see what him trying to hide I usually respond with a "hmmmm where's Ryder at" with that I usually get a very load not very hidden giggle that ends with me tickling him and him saying, "let's do it again". A game that could go all night long!

Day 328 / 365 - Sister Love

I am so excited to announce one very big announcement for our family. My sister and her husband are having their first child in May of next year. I am so excited! What a wonderful journey it is being a mother and I look forward to watching her go through this journey with her family. She will be a wonderful mother. I can't wait to meet this sweet little nugget and for Ryder to meet his new little cousin.

Day 326 / 365 - Bedtime Stories

Bedtime stories are a favorite of mine, flashlights are an obsession of his. Put them together and you have a little nighttime magic. <3 I love him, and love reading to him. It is hard not to think about a time when he thinks he is too old for bedtime stories. For now, I will enjoy these moments with him and not take them for granted. 

Day 325 / 365 - Donuts As Big As Your Head

Well Grandpa swooped in and saved the day this week. With a sick little guy, my very sore back, and a washing machine that stopped working he showed up at my door to help me out while dad is out of town. The apple does not fall far from the tree with my father's stubbornness, I hate asking for help. I will not do it.  I know it's a fault of mine and I have a lot of people who would love to help. So when Grandpa showed up I was a little taken back but welcomed the help {since I didn't have to ask for it}. Thanks Dad. <3 This little guy loved seeing grandpa and also loved the fact that grandpa got him donuts as big as his head. 

Day 324 / 365 - Don't Want to Forget

  ...  simply because I never want to forget walking into his room to find him sleeping like this.

Day 323 / 365 - Sweetness

You can't tell it in this, but he is still sick and not sleeping much. This mama is tired. Last night he slept with me and I was enjoying having him next to me while dad was gone on business. In my head I thought this was a special treat because we are very strict about sleeping in our bed and him getting out of his. In my imaginary mom "fantasy" world I thought, this would be so fun if we could do this every time dad travels. However he had another idea. When I asked him if he slept with me his response was, "Yeah mom I slept with you, but tonight I sleep in Ryder's bed". I asked him if he didn't like sleeping with me and he said, "sorry mom, I like my bed". I laugh, and I don't know how many times I have said this over my 323 days on this blog. Reality is always different than the dream! When will I ever learn?

Day 322 / 365 - Hello Winter, Hello Sickness

Man this kid is always sick! I hate the annual cough. The one that sticks around for weeks, and has you waking up 4 times a night. The one that eventually turns into something bigger... yep. We get it every year and it is now bronchitis. Thankful that my child is overall healthy and just seems to get little things often. <3 #justneedsomesleep

Day 321 / 365 - Catching the Light

It's harder and harder to find these days, so when it peeks through a window we seem to gravitate towards it. Too cold to go outside but we will enjoy the short glimpses of light.

Day 320 / 365 - Yep, It Happened

As you know from previous posts he is Christmas obsessed. I refuse to get any decorations out just yet. However he talked me into this tiny little light up tree and I gave in. We put it up tonight and his smile was just about ear to ear. He was thrilled. 

Day 319 / 365 - SNOW!!

It didn't amount to too much on the ground, but is there anything more exciting than the first snowfall of the year? I love it and he loved it. We of course couldn't stay out for very long because it was freezing, but it was long enough to catch a few flakes on his tongue. :))

Day 318 / 365 - Date Day

It's cold out and we decided to head to Indy to have a little mother son date day. It was really the perfect day. I promised this little guy a Build A Bear experience and he loved it. For those that see us frequently you know he is already obsessed with Christmas, he has been since his birthday ended in September.... So Rudolph was the animal of choice. Oh my gosh... he is so taken with this guy. He didn't quite understand why I was making him get the floppy no stuffing animal at first and was not thrilled. However we watched a couple people fill theirs up and he changed his tune quickly. :) The best part was watching him walk through the mall with this guy. If I were a movie star I would assume it was a similar feeling. He thought he was hot stuff and everyone was looking at him and quite possibly wanted to be him. He stopped to take a break and talk to Rudolph about seeing Santa. It was quite the conversation. "Rudolph ho ho is here" "I seeing him". 

Day 317 / 365 - Mom Pweeessseeee

It is cold out... in fact it its freezing out. We were on our way home and he asked me to throw some leaves. I told him it was way to cold out to throw leaves. He looked at me with his sweet eyes and said, "pweeese mom, just one time". Needless to say we pulled over. It may have been a couple times but it was quick and he laughed and loved it. :))

Day 316 / 365 - Well Said

Not stepping too far from the couch again tonight, but this is my view. The yawn... the fire... the comfy bed... perfection. It's a dog's world for sure.

Day 315 / 365 - Cheat

I threw my back out this morning again, and to be honest I just cant. The idea of lifting the camera up to my face sounds miserable and terribly painful. So I am posting this cute picture of my little man from the other night's session. I apologize for taking the easy way out.. but hey this is my project right? I will allow myself one day of rest away from this whole project.  Goodnight friends.

Day 314 / 365 - Wheeling and Dealing

He has a money obsession, he wants all of it. He likes to take it out of his dinosaur bank and just hold it {and every now and then throw it}. When he finds a coin he screams and runs to put it in his bank. Every once in awhile he will ask us to exchange a few coins out for a "paper one".  We just look at him, however grandparents do seem to be suckers for this trick.

Day 313 / 365 - Survival Skills

It's our last warmer day out I am sure. I am going to miss these nights but looking forward to the snow and the snow days that come along with it. :)) Tonight he wanted to "make a fire". He gathered all the twigs and made his pretend fire.

Day 312 / 365 - Outdoors With Papaw

Love getting to do a few new experiences with papaw. No we were not picking our Christmas tree out in the beginning of November. Not that I am against picking that Charlie Brown looking thing, but it is a tad early. We were out looking at a photo location for a picture I had in mind. Grandpa was a great sport, even if he thought my location was less than par. Sometimes you just need a little sunset and a small little tree or broken down fence to make everything look perfect. :)) 

Day 311 / 365 - Thankful For Those I Have

I have a lot of wonderful people around me who continually show me how much they love me. I am thankful for the very few people I have around me that always have my best interest at hart and give me encouragement to be who I am. Sometimes in life I feel that I need to give myself a personality revamp and let those that bother me not be so much of an influence on my life and focus on those that make me a better person. I am always amazed at the power of prayer and hope that as I move into the season of being grateful for all I have I can focus on the positive.

Day 310 / 365 - Surprise Visit!

Tonight we came home to a very special (very unexpected) visitor! We pulled into the garage and Papaw was here and Ryder was a bit confused at first but very excited after it settled in. Surprise visitors definitely don't happen too often when you live far away, so I will take it when they do and not take this weekend for granted!

Day 309 / 365 - It's Raining!

Not the best picture in the world, but trying to dump water with one hand and snap a photo with another hand is a tad bit challenging. :)) Love this little guy and his serious love for bath time. He loves water everywhere when we are in the tub, this was taken after I heard...  "Mom you rain on me".

Day 308 / 365 - Early Nightfall, Beautiful Sunsets

Tonight I had a dentist apt. and by the time I picked up my little man the sun was falling fast. On our way home we passed the lake and we stopped for a bit and I said, "Ryder look how beautiful god's world is". His response, "why mom". I know he will get it one day, we sat there for a few minutes and watched the sun go down. We talked about all the colors in the sky and where the sun goes. I am not loving these early dark nights, but I am thankful I get to experience them with my family.

Day 307 / 365 - Sticker Love

One of the perks of being a teacher's child I guess is the random packs of stickers in your bag. Leave the room for a few minutes and come back to a child who is decorated in what seems to be an entire pack of my stickers. Haha! He is too cute. Pulling them off was a little iffy, but he eventually giggled as a yanked them off.

Day 306 / 365 - Catching Leaves

A quick stop outside on this nice night ended with him trying to catch the leaves that were falling to the ground. I am going to be honest, as excited as I am about snow and the holidays I get a little depressed as our nights fade away. I am trying to focus on the positives and keep my mind positive this year as well. It worked last year and I am hoping this mind game of "living in the darkness" will go easy on me this year. #bringonthesnowdays #icantwait

Day 305 / 365 - Cookies

All weekend he kept telling me he wanted to make cookies. So we got all of our stuff out this morning and got to work. I have to say I was very proud of him, he did it all! I put all the stuff on the counter and he dumped it all out. He stirred it like a pro and even helped me roll all the balls. Although I had to explain to him why "baby cookies" would not really cook right. He thought it was amazing that the oven made them bigger and then we went to eat them and he thought they were gross. :)) Haha, they were actually really good! He warmed up to them later that day and wanted to just keep running a train on them.

... also see our new paint job in our kitchen. I AM IN LOOOVVEEE! Loving all the updates to our home.

Day 304 / 365 - My Batman

So much fun to watch him get into holiday's now. Loved watching him go up to houses and say, "trick-or-treat" and then "thank you". As he walked away he would wave and say, "Happy Halloween".
... yes he may have walked away from one house and told them to smell his feet! But overall it was a very successful night.