Day 138 / 365 - Park Days

I can get this child to do just about anything if I promise a stop at the park on the way home. Tonight I had to go to the grocery and this little dude didn't want any part of it. I told him if he went and was happy then we could go to the park. By golly it worked! He was the sweetest most content child at the store. Now granted he looked at me about 27 times and said, "mom I gonna slide". #nothingwrongwithalittlebribery

Day 137 / 365 - Treat Yourself Well

I think the words on the bowl are fitting. We have a frozen yogurt feign in this house. He is obsessed and I am not going to lie, it sometimes ends up being his dinner. He now wants to grab the handle on his own, and put his toppings on by himself. He loads on blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries and sprinkles.  He ate the whole bowl tonight and was drinking it like cereal he said when it was almost gone. I think he got every last sprinkle out of that bowl!

Day 136 / 365 - Not Always Happy

Just a little proof that he is not always the easiest child to photograph. Even when mad he is still pretty darn cute!

Day 135 / 365 - Boys will be boys

Hearing words like "power bomb" "razor's edge" and this so called "torture rack" is becoming a common thing in this house. I am so far lost at the idea of boys and why they love this stuff. However, hearing the giggles from the other room  or hearing Ryder call out, "hey dad, let's power bomb" always makes me smile. #boysaresoweird

Day 134 / 365 - All Tuckered Out

Day 133 / 365 - Dr. Office

Today we had a doctor's apt that was really no big deal. However we were informed earlier in the year that it could be more than we thought it was. As a parent I was positive, but it's hard not to let yourself worry. However, we got a clean bill of health and it was no big deal. **sigh** Thankful for my blessings and praying for those families that do not always get the positive news that they want.

Day 132 / 365 - Mommy Love

You my son make me a better person. Yesterday may have been Mother's Day, but honestly I feel blessed everyday by my family. Our life is so much fun with you and it is filled with content. Sitting at our favorite spot and watching you throw rocks for hours is just about the best thing ever. You are perfect and I thank god everyday for making me your mom.

Day 131 / 365 - Mother's Day

Today I woke up to a my favorite tiny person carrying an Orchid plant that was about as big as he is. The beautiful first words I heard this morning were, "mom, its tooooooooo heavy". haha! Then I got a Happy Mother's Day, and then I heard, "mom, I starving". The necklace hanging on the Orchid is also a necklace I have been wanting. I am very loved and blessed. I truly could not ask for a better life.

Day 130 / 365 - Skinned Knees

Smooth knees are a thing of the past. We can't seem to go outside without it ending in a few tears at some point. He loves to run down the sidewalk and protect us from "monsters". He runs down the sidewalk, does a little kick jump with a few noises and what seems to be karate chops (I have no idea where he gets this from). He then runs back and tells me, "all gone mom". I might as well start enjoying the look of band aids, I think they will be around for awhile.

Day 129 / 365 - Visitors

Grandma and Grandpa showed up tonight and it was so great to see them. Ryder has been talking about seeing them all week and he was very excited. We had a great dinner and enjoyed some margaritas and got home and there was a rainbow! It was faint and I am not sure that Ryder ever actually saw it, but he sure played it off like he was excited about it. :)) Thanks for visiting grandma and papa!

Day 128 / 365 - Baby Chicks

I have been promising him all week that we could go and see the baby chicks at mom's school. I am very happy to announce we left my classroom and all the baby chicks still had their heads, beaks, and legs were in tact. My child is anything but brave, he is very timid about the weirdest things. However he loved these little guys and held them and was super gentle with them. I love that his heart is so big and loving. He kept holding them and saying, "awwww hi baby chickens".

Day 127 / 365 - Giggles

Day 126 / 365 - Pweeese

We have a giant hill near our house. On the way home tonight from a buddies performance I hear this come from the back seat, "mom, I climb that hill pweeesee". He points to the hill. Well who am I to say no? He got out of the car and took off towards the top. It was really windy so he kept looking back at me and going, "whoa that wind". When he got to the top this happened.... I needed that laugh. Then I am pretty sure the words, "big muscles" came out of his mouth a few minutes later. #boyswillbeboys

Day 125 / 365 - Mickey

One of my best friends gave us this Mickey greenhouse for Ryder to plant a mini "garden". Ryder loved it, he thought it was so fun to scoop the dirt into the cups and put the seeds in. However when we went to put the ears on the greenhouse, he could not quite understand why we would not put them on our head instead. <3 I told him they go on top of the plants, and he looked at me dead serious and said, "no mom, on head".

Day 124 / 365 - Willow Tree

Whenever I see a willow tree I think of my grandpa and playing in his yard. He taught me a lot about enjoying the simple things and noticing the beauty that surrounds me. He was an amazing man and I give credit to him for my love of trees. <3

Day 123 / 365 - Ice Cream Date Fun Night

Overbooked myself on photo sessions this weekend, so I did not get to see this little guy that much. So to make it up to him, we went on a family ice cream date. He insisted on walking around downtown and "no back to mommy's car".

Day 122 / 365- This is my son... he takes my breath away.

Day 121 / 365 - My Rear View

This is the view from my rear view in the morning and it always makes me smile. He is one cool dude in his "sunny's". It is an absolute must that we start our morning in the car with "peanut budda bread" (one slice of bread with a heaping amount of peanut butter folded in half). His day would be completely thrown off if he did not have his bread within about 10 minutes of waking up. We usually sing a few songs, and talk about what our day is going to look like. He keeps his eyes out for buses, trucks, cows, and dirt mounds. The 25 minute drive to work/daycare is not always welcomed, but these mornings with him are lovely.

Day 120 / 365 - Sidewalk Chalk

Holy cow, who would have thought sidewalk chalk was so much fun! This little dude acted like it was Christmas. He loved it. He loved stomping on Daddy's truck that he made and he liked to draw rainbows and monsters. He traced daddy's body and laughed when he stood up. Love those simple nights full of new joys.

Day 119 / 365 - A boy after his mama's heart.

"Mom I take a pikcha"
"ch ch ch" (the clicking noise he makes with his mouth).
"got one"

Day 118 / 365 - Sweet Quiet Moments

They happen less and less, but every once in awhile I will walk in to him enjoying a quiet moment. I love this child, and love to sit and watch him. He is literally growing right before my very eyes.

Day 117 / 365 - My First Movie

We have ourselves a movie buff in this house. He loves to quote movies and he is actually kind of witty about it. For example, the other day daddy was changing light bulbs in the house and I hear Ryder saying in his best Gru from Despicable Me - "Liigghhtttbuulllbbbb".
Tonight we saw Rio 2 and with his Rio animal in hand he did great! He was a little bummed in the beginning when it was a "new Rio" his exact words as his jaw dropped open was "Nooo mom, not new Rio". It didn't take long though until he was into it and laughing. He yelled out the character's names as they flew onto the screen for the first time. He laughed at funny moments. We laughed when he moved in his chair and it would fold up on him because he is so small. He ate an unbelievable amount of popcorn and by the end of the movie, he may or may not have been wearing the popcorn bucket as a hat...

Day 116 / 365 - Zoo Day

A fun day spent at the zoo today. You may be thinking why are there are no dolphins in this picture? That would be because, he could have cared less about the dolphins in the tank. All he wanted to do was sing Rio and walk/balance around the edge. Oh and should I add get mad at other kids when they wanted to walk his balance beam too...  sigh. The highlights of the zoo trip were walking the balance beam in this tank, getting a dino plastic water bottle, and riding the choo choo train around the zoo. :)) Fun day had by all!

Day 115 / 365 - This Kid

I mean why wouldn't you want to climb up into the kitchen drawer to watch Caillou on mom's phone?

... it makes perfect sense.  

Day 114 / 365 - Loving Daddy

It was a long week away from daddy and someone is still soaking it in that he is home.

Day 113 / 365 - A new level of dirty

He has always loved being outside and doesn't mind being dirty, but I am pretty sure that 2 1/2 is going to bring a whole new level of dirty to this house. When I pick him up from daycare he has dirt pretty much up to his elbows and on his face from ear to ear. I swear I will give this child a bath and we have about 30 minutes until he will be covered in dirt. Do not even get me started on the fingernails! Oh my word.

Day 112 / 365 - Daddy Is Home!

Daddy is home after a long week away and a certain tiny person could not be any happier. They have been inseparable for the last 24 hours. Love that they will be doing something completely random and Ry will stop what he is doing run up and lay his head on daddy and say, "hi Daddy" and then sigh. Love it.

Day 111 / 365 - It's not always easy to move on.

Tonight he had on his bunny ears and was looking out the window talking about bunny rabbits. I am sensing that we will now have to add to our daily Santa discussion why the Easter Bunny is not coming back tomorrow. ... sigh.

Day 110 / 365 - Happy Easter

Setting aside a little illness, we had a great day celebrating Easter. So thankful for a family that loves us enough to be apart of this day and watch him celebrate. He loved dying eggs, finding eggs, popping them open to find money and treats inside. He loved his fun filled truck from Grandma & Grandpa. I think his favorite thing about Easter was Blue (or what he calls "Rio"). Such a fun day, thank you Christy, Josh, and Grandpa for being a part of this with us. 

Day 109 / 365 - The Easter Bunny is Coming

Today we died eggs. He loved it and acted like a seasoned pro. We may or may not have died 12 eggs and ended with 12 colorful cracked eggs, minus that fact he did great! He liked to toss the eggs into the cup and watch the splash... He loved to take the dipper and grab the eggs and take them out and say, "nope, not ready yet". We took all of our eggs out and then he decided he would put them all back into the water for a little more "soaking". It was so much fun, and we loved sharing the memory with Aunt Christy.

Day 108 / 365 - Small Steps

My mama heart is breaking a little that this little dude has been so sick that a small walk down the street is about all we can do on these nice days. Enjoying the beautiful weather and light as long as we can and praying for good health to find us soon.

Day 107 / 365 - Taking it easy.

... still trying to kick this sickness.

Day 106 / 365 - Feeling under the weather.

Papaw is here and he is sick. :( Hate when that happens. Love that Papaw is here to relax and spend time with him but wish he was his "normal" happy self.

Day 105 / 365 - When I see you.

Sometimes when I see you, I know every single freckle, the exact curve of your lips, the placement of the dimples on your hands, and I know the exact way your face has to be to get your eyebrow to lift slightly. But then other times I look at you, like I have never noticed the perfectness of you. Tonight on the way home from work I was staring at you through the rear view mirror and it literally took my breath away, you are beautiful. Your face is perfect and the way you smile makes my heart flutter. I was looking at you and thinking about all the ways you are changing, you look more and more like your daddy and less like my little baby. Sometimes I look at you and think "how did I miss that". You are ever changing and I love that you are mine to stare at.

Day 104 / 365 - Waiting for Papaw

Papaw is coming tomorrow and we are very excited. Someone doesn't seem to understand the concept of patience and has now resorted to telling us we just need to go to "Papaw's house". Tonight he told me, "Mom, I go sleep at Papaw's house". I reminded him that Papaw wants to come to Ryder's house to play and hang out. Anyone that knows him knows he responded with, "awwwwwww".

Day 103 / 365 - Ducks

"Hey Ryder, what are you looking for down there?" 

"Ducks Mom" 

"What do the ducks say?"

"quack quack quack" 

Day 102 / 365 - Meet Ribbit

Meet our weird little amazonian frog. We have grandma & grandpa to thank for this little weird pet. He has been a part of our family for about a year now. Ryder has named him "ribbit" even though he makes no noise whatsoever, and pretty much just stares at us. Regardless he loves his job of feeding him and likes to watch him attack his pellets.

Day 101 / 365 - My Boys

Not much else to say, other than I love my life. 

Day 100 / 365 - DAY 100!!! Wooohoooooo

Thought this shot was apropriate for my small celebration of 100 one a days! Only 265 days left.

Day 99 / 365 - "Shosh"

My little cheeser. This post is to talk about his Go Hawks sweatshirt. If you ask him what this sweatshirt is he says it is his "Shosh" (Josh) shirt. Uncle Josh has this sweatshirt and they wore it on the same day when he was home last time. Needless to say, it made an impact. He loves his Uncle Josh and obviously wants to be like him. In fact, whenever we give him the option of what he wants to wear he says "shosh shirt". Love that we do not see family often, but memories still hold strong.

Day 98 / 365 - Just "crushin"

Sometimes when I can't find him he is just working on his back swing. :))

Day 97 / 365 - Time Crunch

One of those days where bedtime is rolling in quickly and I have yet to take a picture. Needless to say he was on to me following him around and I think he secretly knew I was hoping for a miracle. So.he.pouts.and.hides Guess what little dude? You are even cute when you do that. :))

Day 96 / 365 - A boy & his dog.

Day 95 / 365 - Outdoor Love

Holy cow it feels good to be back outdoors. Walking around, leaves crunching, creeks flowing again, birds chirping everything seems to be breathing life again. Getting so excited for trees to have leaves again. There is really no better feeling than when we are in the woods. It is such a simple time and an endless amount of things to do.

Day 94 / 365 - Buds

Tonight we were watching Ry's best bud. Thankful that they have each other especially with no cousins or family around. As I am sure you have figured out if you follow this blog, my child loves to eat on the counter. Tonight the two of them wanted to eat on the counter, before I knew it dinosaurs were involved and we were calling it a "dining with dinos". At one point I am pretty sure one dino had a chicken nugget sticking out of his mouth...

Day 93 / 365 - Sweet Guy

We were eating spaghetti tonight, just the two of us. As we were eating of our plates he looked at my plate and says, "mom, where your oranges?" I simply replied, "Ry I do not have any oranges". He looked at me with the most serious face and says, "I sorry mom, here you go". As he place four oranges on my plate I looked at him in disbelief. Don't get me wrong, he can be an ornery little thing but most of the time he is so so sweet. Proud he is my own.

Day 92 / 365 - Growing Up

This week we visited a preschool and I am in a bit of shock. How are you old enough to start registering for preschool? You loved it, and loved the teacher. You hugged her about five times and even invited her to eat ice cream with us. We may be visiting schools for you but you are my baby, and always will be.

Day 91 / 365 - Bath Time Baby

Just a cute bath time shot. Man this kid is so adorable!