Tired Baby...

This morning Ryan was extra cuddly.  He was playing with Grandpa and got tired.  I had to run for my camera.  As soon as I picked up the camera Ryan sat up and smiled.  I put the camera down and he got comfy again.  Here is the tired little baby...

All by Myself

Ryan is gaining more independence every single day.  He has been teaching himself how to drink from a sippy cup and how to feed himself.  We have slowly been introducing more foods into the mix.  He loves his Gerber Puffs and Cheerios though!  

Smiling and drinking at the same time..

So proud of himself

Ryan was done eating but he was saving one for later

Here Piggy Piggy!

Last weekend we headed out to IKEA.  We didn't really find anything until we stumbled into the children's section.  We found some little hand puppets and decided that we had to have them.  We purchased an elephant, a pig and a chicken.  Ryan LOVES the pig.  Anytime he sees the pig he starts giggling.  Please forgive the bad angles in the video.  I was trying to video him and play at the same time (quite challenging).  Enjoy! 

Splish Splash

It is no secret that our little boy loves the water.  Lately we have been giving Ryan baths in our tub because it is much bigger than his and more like the pool.  The only problem....it is so deep that we have to get in with him.  Bath time is Ryan's favorite time.  Here are a few pictures from bath time earlier this week. 

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and be thankful for all of the good things in your life.  Jeff and I are incredibly blessed with many things.  This year Thanksgiving was especially wonderful because we were able to celebrate it with our son.  Ryan has been an incredible blessing and we could not be more thankful to be chosen as his parents.  We spent our day celebrating all we have to be thankful for with my Dad aka Grandpa Jerry.  We had a lovely day.  Ryan helped us cook, he enjoyed a little turkey, macaroni and green beans.  We even snuck him a little taste of the pumpkin filling from the pies!  Shhh.  :)  Then we headed to the park and spent a little time on the swing.  Ryan rooted for the Dallas Cowboys and then crashed hard.  All that celebrating tuckered him out!  

Here are a few pictures from our day of thanks.  

Ryan's Thanksgiving Feast...

Mmmmm that Turkey sure is yummy.

Sliding with Grandpa and Daddy

This is so much fun! 

Since we don't ever post enough videos, here is Ryan sliding...

Here is Ryan's "high five" trick..

Story Time

I snuck up on Ryan and Jeff the other night during their story time.  These are precious little moments that we get to have with Ryan.  He is such a cuddler during his story time.  Enjoy.

Future Policeman?

When Ryan was a couple months old Jeff and I found this police motorcycle at a yard sale for $3.  We knew that one day he would love playing with it.  This weekend we finally put the batteries in it and let him go to town.  Ryan wasn't really too sure what to think of his police bike but liked pressing the siren.  

Officer Abbott reporting for duty...

Now which one of these keys will start this thing up?

Being a police man is cool...

and just because he's cute..

Oh and for the record...last time Dallas and the Skins played Ryan wore his Romo jersey and the Cowboys lost.  This time he wore his Skins outfit and they lost.  Oh well! :) 

Finger Paint Flop...

I got a recipe for how to make your own finger paint from my friend, Annie.  She tried making it a few months back for her daughter.  I wrote down the recipe and decided that we would wait for a rainy day to try it out.  

Saturday was a chilly, rainy day and I was really excited to try out the finger painting.  The consistency was more like play dough than finger paint though.  The second I sat Ryan on the ground he grabbed the "paint" and immediately stuck a handful right into his mouth.  More of the paint ended up on him than on the paper.  Our first-ever art project turned out to be a failure.  

The finger paint recipe: 

1 c flour

1 c hot water

1 1/2 c cold water

2 tbsp salt

food coloring

Mix salt, flour & cold water in pan and stir.  Press out any clumps.  Add hot water & stir.  Bring to boil on medium-high heat.  Turn off heat when the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and beat until smooth.  Add food coloring if desired.  

8 Months Old

It is hard to believe but our little boy is 8 months old!  We have been extremely blessed!!!  Jeff and I never imagined our lives would change so much so quickly.  We tried to weigh Ryan the other day and think he is around 20.5 or 21 pounds.  He is out growing all of his 6-12 month clothes already....so if anyone was thinking of getting Ryan any clothes then 12-18 months is the size to get! LOL.  

Ryan is constantly on the move these days.  He loves pulling himself up on anything and everything.  He is learning to crawl very quickly and loves to feed himself.  Jeff and I are amazed with how much he is learning each day now.  

Here are a few pics from Ryan's 8 month birthday! 

Ryan's Favorite Toy (for now)...

A few weeks ago Jeff bought Ryan the Fisher Price Go Baby Go! Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle.  At first Ryan was only interested in the balls that came with the toy.  After a week or so he discovered that the toy was great fun to pull up on and walk around.  Ryan loves playing with this toy.  He has even figured out how to put the balls onto the slide and watch them go down.  

This toy is one of the few things that can keep Ryan occupied for more than two minutes.  :)  

Laundry Time...

Since going back to work, one of my biggest challenges has been trying to figure out a way to get the little things done such as laundry, cooking and basic cleaning around the house.  It just seems like there are never enough hours in my day.  This past Friday morning Ryan decided he would help me with the laundry.  He was such a great helper.  He pulled a few items out of the dryer for me.  

This laundry thing is so boring Mommy.....I don't think I want to do it again...ever. 

Shutterfly Updates

I loaded some of my favorite October pictures to our shutterfly site.  If you would like to view them, please click here.

Fall Leaves!

Today Mommy took me to play with my friend Emily.  Right outside Emily's house was a big pile of leaves.  Emily's Mommy took lots of pictures of us.  I tried to eat the leaves and some dirt but Mommy kept taking it out of my mouth.  Mommy told me that the leaves change color and then fall off of the trees in the Fall and come back in the Spring.  Here are a few pictures of me and my friend Emily. 

Future Rock Star?

This morning we decided to have a little fun playing with the pots and pans.  Ryan seemed more interested in grabbing the handles and flipping the pans over than actually beating them.  I suppose that was ok....at least my ears were saved for today! 

Back to Work...

About a month and a half ago I started throwing around the idea of heading back to work.  I found an opening with the company I left after I had Ryan and decided I would try it out.  It seemed as though everything was falling perfectly into place when I contacted our first choice daycare and they had exactly one spot available.  Monday was my first day back.  

The entire weekend I spent getting teary every single time I thought about dropping Ryan off at daycare.  I wanted all of his smiles and giggles to myself.  I wanted to be the one comforting him during the day, and yes...I wanted to be the one changing those poopy diapers.  I started asking myself what I was thinking when I decided it was a good idea to return to work.  

Monday morning I took Ryan to daycare by myself.  I set him down on the floor so that I could talk to the teacher and put his things away.  He immediately started playing with the other babies and toys.  His face lit up and he was as happy as he could possibly be.  Leaving Monday was actually much easier than I had anticipated.  If he had been crying then I quite possibly would not have been able to leave.  

Now we are one week down.  Yesterday I didn't want to take Ryan to school.  I wanted to stay at home and play!  The role of working mom is going to take some time to get used to.  I had a hard time getting things done when I was a full-time mom.  There is just not enough time in the day to get everything done!  Seriously.  

There were a couple of very sweet Welcome Back things that my work did for me.  I was very surprised and thankful.  I can tell that they are all very happy that I am back.  I am not really sure how to answer the question that I am asked every day though..."Are you happy to be back?"  My answer this week...ummm not really.  LOL.  Maybe it will change as I get used to this new role.  

What a HOOT!.

Ryan's other costume was an Owl.  We originally wanted him to be a scarecrow but to our disappointment the costume was sold out.  We did not go trick or treating this year but instead went with the Powell Family to a local Halloween Parade.  The babies were very interested in the parade and enjoyed watching all of the little kids catch candy.  They also got to meet a few local politicians and even saw some people that looked like Obama and McCain.  

Our trial run with the costume (I think he likes it)....

On to the Halloween Parade.  Ryan was fascinated by the Fire Trucks and floats with lights.  It was almost impossible to get him to look at us to take a picture because there were so many people and things more interesting than Mom & Dad.  

Watching the fire trucks..

Ryan's first piece of candy, interestingly enough, a Baby Ruth.  Don't worry...Jeff ate it.  

Our wise little owl..

Mommy's Little Monster

On Thursday we had a Halloween Party at Mom's group.  Ryan had two costumes this year and got to wear his comfortable costume to group.  In true monster style he tried eating a little pig.  We had a lot of fun and it was great to see all of the little babies in their costumes.  Some of them were hard to recognize as they really did not look like themselves! 

 

My little monster...

Monster on the prowl...

I'll get you little pig...

ok she got him back....

check out the bear...

Ryan's friends, the cow...the turtle...and Stewie (Family Guy)

Ryan found a chef...

Tired little monster...