Ryker Turned One in November!

Get ready to see lots of November pictures! (Yes, I know, it's about time!)

On election night, Ryker finally started walking with his fun walker. This is a picture of him walking with it at Grandma & Grandpa's house. It was so cute, because Mommy taught him to say "Vroom vroom" while he pushed/walked (as spit drooled out of his mouth).

Hangin' out by Rocky

Grandpa & Daddy like to play with Ryker's toys too! Ryker just likes to knock the blocks down. haha!

November 15, 2008--Ryker's 1st birthday!!! His best buddies, Finley & Charlee Sue, get to open party gifts too!

What a treat! Little dude sittin' with both Grandpas!

Great-Grandma D. made Ryker his Christmas stocking! How beautiful!

"Look what I got, Daddy!"

Mommy's big boy!

Grandma made the cutest little clown cupcakes (with soy milk, of course), and as you can see, Ryker LOVED it! He's never had anything like it before (because most treats are made with milk), so it was his 1st yummy dessert!

3 little friends! Hey, Ryker, watch where you put your hands! Our little ladies' man.

A fun birthday activity for the little ones--1st time fingerpainting! All 3 got a typed up poem and made handprints. It was so cute! They all did a great job. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, Ryker!!!

November 22nd--Celebrating Great-Grandpa S.'s 81st birthday! Here Ryker is sitting with Great-Aunt BJ!

4 Generations--Great-Great-Uncle Rowan, Daddy, Ryker, Great-Great-Aunt Louise, & Grandma

"I love you, Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa!"

Time to take a break with Great-Uncle David

Awww...bein' sweet with Great-Aunt Jolene!

Julie's parents & most of the siblings!

Great-Aunt Cheryl!

And Great-Uncle Bill!

"Hi, Great-Aunt Carolyn!"

(As you can see, Ryker wanted a picture with the whole family!)

Cousins Caleb & Christine make good arm rests! :)

November 27th--Thanksgiving day! Spending time with Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma D.

"Roar!"

Such a handsome boy!

Oh so blessed

Oh so loved

Say cheese!

Back in October

Here we go again! Time to update this blog. Get ready for lots of pictures! I can never just put a couple on here. There are too many that are fun to share!

In the beginning of the month, Jeff and I wanted to take a day trip to Katy Trail and Les Bourgeois Vineyard where we got engaged in Rocheport, MO. It was a beautiful day with perfect walking weather with Tippy and Ryker.

Enjoying the sunshine!

Checking out the grapevines!

Ryker definitely has to check out every spot in the house!

"Feed me, feed me, Mommy."

That's Daddy's undershirt, silly!

Another favorite hobby: raiding the pantry!

Just chillin' on the deck

Ryker & Tippy love playing outside. Oh Ryker, don't try to eat the slobbery dog ball again!

Always smiling!

This picture is showing our poor boy with a fever while we were at the family gathering of making the best applebutter.

Looks like he's feeling much better! How do you like his little farmer outfit at Great-Uncle David & Great-Aunt BJ's farm?! So cute.

On Oct. 25th, we were in St. Paul for my friend Amy's baby shower. It was so much fun seeing so many of the girls from college! Right before the shower, Liz's sister, Noelle, decided she's going to start a new career in baby hair styling!

Ryker wanted to greet everyone at the door, so Noelle was greeted with a smile!

Time for photos by the pumkins!

Left to Right: Amber's son-Nolan, Tiffany's son-Kade, Ryker, and Kat's daughter, Annie

Beautiful pregnant ladies, Amy & Liz

Their baby boys will be here so soon!

A spot where Ryker loves to be--surrounded by pretty ladies!

I MISS YOU GIRLS!!! When's our next gathering? :)

Ryker missed Tippy, so he enjoyed hanging out with Angel.

After the shower, Ryker was dressed up as a MN Twins player, Joe Mauer, for a Halloween Trick-or-Treat event at the Como Zoo.

On our way to the zoo! Do you like how Liz looks like a pregnant Blossom? Remember that show? hehe.

When I got back from MN, my parents and Malena came for a visit during the last week of Oct. She hadn't seen him since his baptism, so it was fun for her to see how much he's grown!

Reading a book that Auntie Malena bought Ryker for an early birthday present

Pretty leaves on the tree in the backyard!

Our little dinosaur! He wasn't sure what to think of himself as he looked in the mirror.

Happy Halloween! We went to Daddy's office to Trick-or-Treat and saw some other fun costumes.

What's that I see in our backyard? Is it a bird or a really big insect? NO, it's Ryker having fun being dressed up as a dinosaur! :)

The Season of Fall Began in September!

(For those of you who don't know, you can click the pictures to view them in a larger screen.)

Ryker has quite the natural mohawk!

Our little boy started crawling on his hands and knees in September. He still would army-crawl when he wanted to go really fast!

Yummy! (You can see the top 2 teeth wanting to pop out!)

Ryker's all over! He definitely sweeps the floor with his belly, so he's helping Mommy clean! :)

Ryker pulled himself up to standing starting about the end of August/beginning of September. He sure likes to inspect all pieces of furniture! That's his little walker, but right now it's a stationary toy with wheels.

He LOVES to try to crawl on the dishwasher door!

New/used rocking horse that Mommy got for him at a huge garage sale!

Nona & Papa came in town on Dad's birthday, Sept. 24th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to both of Ryker's grandpas, who have the same birthday!!!

Papa said that seeing his grandson was the best birthday present he could ever have! (They hadn't seen him since July.)

While they were here, not only did Ryker's top 2 teeth start to pop out, but our little 10-month-old also transfered from the end table to the couch all by himself! When will the walking without assistance begin?

Ryker's new hobby: pulling laundry out of the basket while Mommy is trying to fold the clothes!

August Moments

Our little boy started army-crawling at 9 months old in August! (We thought he never was going to crawl!) Guess what his motivation was...Tippy's toys!

Ryker loves to walk around the house, of course with assistance.

Caught in the action of dumping out Tippy's toy basket!

My cousin, Rachel, came in town from Memphis on her way out to start living in Denver!

My 2 boys!

Ryker loves to look out the patio door with Tippy! Whenever the door opens, he sure likes to try to sneak out!

Spending some time with Great-Grandpa and his cousin, Kieran

Jeff's cousins who live in CA came in town for a few days and brought their little boy who was adopted in December. CONGRATS to Scott & Rachel!

We all took a walk at a park in downtown KC, and Ryker sure enjoyed seeing ducks swimming in a pond!

Playing "Pat a Cake" with Great-Grandma!

Ryker got his 2nd bottom tooth in August!

Gotta Catch Up!

Ok, I know I continue to be bad at updating my blog, and I really should just update you on the present month. However, there are too many cute pictures from July-Sept. that I have to go back to the summer! :) So get ready to see the growth of Ryker in the last few months!

We celebrated 4th of July (also Grandma's birthday!) at the cabin. Ryker enjoyed the boat ride with the wind almost blowing his hat off!

Enjoying the sun!"Happy Birthday, Grandma!" He sure loves shredding tissue paper!

Later in the month, Auntie Malena & Uncle Jesse came to town before we all headed up north to MN. We took some time to relax in the pool! During Ryker's 1st trip to his Mommy's hometown of Duluth, Ryker was able to take a little walk in the sand by the lake where Mommy grew up!

We had a family reunion on my mom's side of the family, so that was a fun time to see everyone. We took some time outside to enjoy the cool weather.

"Whatcha doin' trying to attack Mommy's face, little man?"

Hangin' out with one of his older girlfriends, Sierra (Bobbie's little girl)--both acting quite shy

Is he going to be a singer like his Mommy? He was having fun hearing his voice in the microphone!

Lovin' the time with Auntie Malena...

and also with Uncle Jesse!

We spent some fun time at "Auntie" Liz's house!

Ryker has so many awesome "aunties"! He really enjoyed playing with Kade and getting sweet kisses from Addi. We can't wait to see them all again very soon!

I also had my 10 year high school reunion in July but totally forgot to take pictures, so I'm pretty bummed that I don't have any to share. The reunion was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be! It was a good time seeing everyone and catching up on what's been going on in the last 10 years.

Ryker turned 8 months old in July and still wasn't able to crawl. However, he did start rolling around to get where he wanted to go. He also got his 1st tooth that month!

Month of June

Let's see, what all happened in June? Well, I taught 7th grade Communication Arts in Summer School throughout the month. I figured, "Heck, I took the whole year off of teaching to spend time with Ryker, so I might as well teach 1 month." :) It went pretty well, especially since I was the one who created the curriculum 2 summers ago for the program. We had an AWESOME friend of the family who watched Ryker while I was at school. We know Ryker was having lots of fun at her house. THANKS, PAM! YOU'RE THE BEST!!

As far as our growing boy, Ryker turned 7 months old on Father's Day. He got his daddy a really cute picture frame for his desk at work with the two of them sitting in the backyard. The week before Father's Day he started saying "Da da da da". I remember playing with him in the living room and hearing it for the 1st time. Just to make sure it was what I heard, I had to wait to hear it again before I got Jeff to come inside from mowing the lawn to hear it too! Of course, when we both sat there and waited to hear it, he didn't say it. Later that evening, we definitely heard "da da"! Of course, he didn't know what he was saying, but we were super excited to hear it!!! What a fun present for his daddy! He wasn't crawling in June, but he could roll over.

Ryker misses spending time with Papa & Nona!

Giggling with Nona

Wearing Daddy's Memphis hat like a big boy!

4 Generations: Daddy, Great-Grandpa, Grandpa, & Ryker

We had a visitor in June! Liz's sister, Noelle, had a wedding to go to in KC, so we were able to meet for lunch. THANKS FOR COMING, NOELLE!! YOU LOOK FABULOUS!

"Mommy, I'm really tired..."

"Zzzzzzz..." 1st time falling asleep in the highchair!

1st time in the pool--"Mommy, I don't know about this. It's kinda cold!"

After Papa brought bowl after bowl with hot water to help the cold become warm, Ryker didn't mind hanging out in the pool. Tippy didn't want to join him.

All done! Nice and cozy in the towel.

Ryker always gets excited when Daddy comes home from work!

Mother's Day--May 11

Still catching you up on May...

This year was my 1st Mother's Day...let me tell you, I'm so proud to be a mother! For those of you who know me and my emotions, I tend to get a bit teary-eyed when I think about how much I'm so in love with my little boy. Now I can understand how mothers feel about their children. He brings so much joy into my life. Words cannot express how much my love for him grows stronger and stronger as the days go on. I thank God for the blessing He brought us--a beautiful and healthy baby boy. I look forward to all the special moments that Jeff and I get to share with Ryker in our future.

A few cards came my way, and one particular card stays in my mind. When I read it, I couldn't hold back the tears. Here is what it said.

Happy first Mother's Day to my sister--

When we were kids,

it was easy to imagine you

as a mother someday.

But I had no idea.

Now when I see you with Ryker

I see the same great sister,

but I also see this amazing mom--

who's more loving and caring

than I ever could have imagined.

~Malena

The Wonderful Bond between Mother & Son

This was taken on July 12th at a family reunion for my mom's side in Ely, MN.

Photoshoot of Ryker

My sweet cousin, Emily, who went to school for photojournalism, did an awesome photoshoot of our little 6 month old while we were in Memphis. Here are only a few of what she took. Thanks, lil' cuz! They turned out great!

May continued...

During our Memphis trip, we took Ryker on his 1st trip to a zoo with our friends Bryan, Shannon, and Kas. Even though he slept for a big chunk of the time (some in Bryan's arms), he was still able to see a bunch of animals! It was a very hot day, but what should we expect...it's Memphis! Snow cones helped cool us down a bit.

"Whoa! What are those, Mommy? Nevermind, I'd rather chew on my shirt."

Shaded from the hot sun

"I'm just too cute in my new hat!"

"Those fishies are as big as me!"

Family photo by the panda bear exhibit

Month of May

During the middle of May, Jeff, Ryker, and I traveled down south to Memphis, TN, for Ryker's 1st trip. We weren't quite sure how he would do for an 8 hr. drive, and thankfully he did very well! Ryker was able to meet several family members and friends for the 1st time, but it was the 2nd time for his Uncle Kyle.

"I love you, Uncle Kyle!"

Having breakfast together--pictured from left to right are Hugh's friend, Stefan (good friend visiting from Austria), Kyle, Hugh, Ryker, me, and Jeff

By the way, our CONGRATS go out to Stefan and Sonya on the birth of their son, Simon, earlier this week in Austria. We look forward to seeing pictures and to come there for another visit!

Spending time with Ryker's Great-Aunt Perrylyn (my dad's sister)

"Hi there, Great-Uncle Mickey!" (my dad's brother)

About to eat good ol' Memphis bbq (which of course is the best!) at Memphis in May BBQ Festival with Great-Aunt LeighAnn (my dad's younger sister)

The trip was a lot of fun, but it always goes by way too fast. There are always so many people to see in such a short amount of time. So if we didn't get to see all of you, hopefully we can during our next visit! We definitely miss the city of Memphis and all the fun attractions, but at least we're only a day trip away.

My Apologies!

(Pictures from the beginning of May)

"Did you remember to wash my nose, Mommy?"

Hangin' out with Daddy outside

Yes, I know, 3 months is way too long for not updating my blog, and many of you have kept reminding me. My apologies to you! I have a lot to update you on and lots of pictures to share! I'll have to go month by month on what has been going on with our family, so more details will soon arrive on here. Get ready to read and see how Ryker is growing into a little boy instead of a little baby!

Ryker is absolutely wonderful and keeps getting cuter as the days go on! All of his facial expressions are just priceless, and we have quite the squealer! It seems that he loves to hear his own voice...go figure! :) He'll already be 9 months old on on Aug. 15th!!! He's growing so fast! Before we know it, he'll be turning 1 and will be all over our house! He's not quite crawling on his hands and knees yet, but he's definitely getting better at the army crawl and pushing off with his feet. Once again, I'll give more details on what he's been doing as I update about each month.

I hope all is well with everyone and that you are enjoying your summer!

Spending time with Ryker's best buds

Derek & Andrea's little girl, Charlee Sue, came over to our house one afternoon for about 1 1/2 hrs. when her parents were in a bind. She was so tired after her dr.'s visit that she just slept the whole time! We were happy to have her!

Kacie & Dan's little boy, Finley, came over last Friday for an entire work day since his parents were also in a bind. The 3 of us had lots of fun! Finley is crawling all over and playing with everything. He already loves saying "da da" and "ma ma" (of course, "da da" came first). In the above moment, Ryker was trying to steal Finley's water cup. It was so funny!

See Ryker's plan: "Hold down Finley's right hand so I can grab the cup before him!" haha!

Side note: Check out Ryker's head of hair (or lack of hair) in the above pictures. He's been totally balding, except for the little clumps of hair in the back! It looks pretty funny. No more mohawks for a while now! ;) As of today, we can tell he has some new hairs coming in on the top...looks a bit lighter too.

Priceless smile!

Our boy is sure growing!

Talkin' to Daddy!

Sitting up all on his own! Yes, this month Ryker has learned how to sit up by himself for several seconds. He still topples over eventually but is impressing Mama & Dada!

Sitting in his highchair for the 1st time! That face cracks me up! haha. :)

More April Moments!

Showin' some style in our Memphis outfits! Even though our Tigers lost to KU (boo!), they're still #1 to us! What a stressful game that was, and living in KC is the worst place to be when our team lost to KU. Yeah, it was rubbed in our faces a bit. Oh well. MEMPHIS TIGERS still are the best!

1st time eating rice cereal! Ryker's still learning how to eat it without it all ending up outside of his mouth instead of staying in and swallowing it.

1st time wearing shorts! He absolutely LOVES being outside.

Tippy! Ryker always gets such a kick out of her fetching the ball and giving him kisses. They're a good pair.

Always too cute for words!

Ryker misses his Auntie Malena!

Malena was able to make it from Denver to KC for Ryker's Baptism and visit with her nephew/godson for the 2nd time. (She hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving, 1 week after he was born, so she was definitely ready to come see him.) Ryker sure loves his Auntie, and she sure loves him...the pictures sure show the love! Thankfully she'll be seeing him again soon this summer. :)