Our Gibbs Family

4 Months

2012-01-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Our little Kaney boy is 4 months old. He is a happy boy and such a sweet little cutie pie. We love him so much. He is smiling, laughing and cooing like crazy. There are some big things going on around here these days.

Kaenaan had his 4 month Dr visit and is weighing in at 15 lbs 14 oz and 25 1/4 in.

Kaenaan's favorite toy so far has been his little mini Sophie Giraffe. He likes holding giraffie in his hands and loves chewing on it.

We tried rice cereal for the first time on Friday, January 20. Of course most of it ended up on the bib, but we are working on it.

Kaenaan ROLLED over for the first time on Saturday, January 21. I was doing dishes and he was playing on his mat. I had my eye on him and he just rolled right over from his back to his belly. I grabbed my camera and snapped this pic of him. He just looks so proud of himself, like he knows he just did something really cool!

He's also been spending some time in his jumperoo. His little feet are just barely touching the floor!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was soooo much fun. Ryder was into everything about it the holiday....Santa, elves, reindeer, polar express, christmas lights and decorations, ornaments and decorating the tree, and most of all PRESENTS!

Christmas morning was spent with our family of 4. We woke Ryder up by jingling bells down the hallway. We told him Santa had just left. He was so excited to see all the presents Santa had left for him. A bike, some big trucks, a race car track, and lots of cool things in his stocking including some new underwear. He thought it was so silly that Santa left underwear in his stocking!

After our

3 Month / 3 Year Appointment

2012-01-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

Ryder and Kaenaan had their Dr visits and I am so thankful that both of my boys are happy and healthy! !

Ryder is weighing in at 33.4 lbs and 36 3/4 inches. His stats look great, although the Dr did says that he is a bit short for his age. Which is fine, Daddy is not super tall either.

Our BIG BOY Kaenaan is weighing in at 14 lbs 11 oz and 24 1/4 inches. He is on the top 95th percentile for weight! ! ! The Dr just says that I must have good milk.

Polar Expres

2011-12-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

GIBBS FAMILY

Excited for the train ride to start!

Cookie time

Getting our bells from Santa

My boys!

Passed out on the way home

Christmas Party with Friends

2011-12-07T21:00:00.001-08:00

These lil kiddos are all so sweet! We have all been friends since the kids were just babies and now they are all going on 3! ! ! It's so neat to see them all growing up, it's just happening way too fast.

We dressed them up in their Christmas best jammies and let them party! ! They painted ornaments, decorated cookies, ate pizza, had a gift exchange and of course played!

Trying to get a pic of all the kiddos.

All the mommies with our babies. Two of us with baby #2 and the other 3 are expecting!

My sweet boys

Ryder's Special Day

2011-11-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

For Ryder's actual birthday we had a nice family day out. We let him plan the whole afternoon. He chose to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum, that is most definetly one of his favorite places. His favorite activity at the museum is definetly the tricycles. Lucky for us it was a slow day so he pretty much had the track to himself. On the way out Daddy let him pick out a prize from the gift shop. He loves any and all types of trucks so he chose a cool firetruck. We ended the afternoon with a Happy Meal and chocolate milk.

Gassing up the motorcycle and going for a ride with Daddy!

Painting the Rocket Ship in the art room.

Ryder's Birthday Bash

2011-11-29T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ryder had his big 3 year birthday bash on November 26. He had such a good time celebrating with all of his best buddies. We had the party out at our community park, the weather was perfect and the kids all had a blast. The crowd pleaser was the bounce house that daddy got for the party. The kids were going crazy in there! Ryder was definetly spoiled he got a cool tricycle from nana and papa, a vtech laptop and cowboy boots from grandma, lots of learning toys, lots of fun toys, a skateboard and some clothes and jammies.

His BIG gift from Daddy was a QUAD. Daddy got him a Polaris Predator 50! !

He is one lucky lil guy.

Check out my boys rockin' their matching outfits for the party, even their little converse match.

Blowing out his candles like a pro.

Cake Pop! Made by Mommy!

I had to get in the bounce house and jump with my lil birthday boy! !

I love this pic of him with his skateboard.

HAND-ME-DOWNS

2011-11-19T12:36:00.000-08:00

One great perk of having 2 boys! I saved just about all of Ryder's baby clothes just in case I would need them again. The boys birth months are just 2 months apart so the seasons worked out perfectly. I snapped some pics of Kaenaan in outfits that were Ryder's. What do you think?? Do they look alike?

Kaenaan

Ryder

Kaenaan

Ryder

Ryder Visits the Dentist

2011-11-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Ryder had his 2nd dentist visit and did AWESOME. He was so good getting his xrays and opening his mouth big so they could clean his teeth. The dentist said Ryder's teeth look perfect and that he does a really good job of brushing them (that's because Mommy still helps him!)

Showing off those clean teeth!

HALLOWEEN

2011-10-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Halloween this year. We started off the festivities with going to Christine's annual Halloween party. Christine is one of Ryder's BFF's and we attended this party last year as well. I'm sure it will be one of our yearly traditions. All the kids dressed up and did a little trick or treating with toys/snacks that all the mommies brought. We had lots of fun making Halloween crafts and decorating and eating Halloween treats!

My SPooky boys.

Ryder and Christine crafting.

Trying to get a pic of all the kiddos!

Ryder had tons of fun trick or treating. My boy is not much of a candy person, in fact he won't eat any of it! He was most excited that he got to "visit" all of the neighbors. We walked down our street and visited all of our neighbors for candy. They all thought Ryder was soooo cute! He was still full of energy and excited to visit more people so we went onto the next street then made our way home to give out candy.

Ryder checking out his loot.

Me and my boys.

SCARY WEREWOLF!

One Month Old....

2011-10-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

Kaenaan is just over a month old now, 5 weeks to be exact. It has really flown by. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home for the first time. He fits into our family perfectly. I was so nervous about having number 2, but Kaenaan has made it really easy. He is such a happy and content little baby. He loves his sleep (just like daddy)! Since day one he has pretty much been on schedule for sleeping. He goes down for bed between 8:30-9:30 and will sleep for 3-5 hours before waking up to nurse. He nurses and goes right back to sleep then pretty much wakes up every 2 hours after that. So YAY for that, Mommy is getting much needed sleep to take care of these 2 boys.

Ryder has also done so well with Kaenaan, he loves him so much. He is constantly kissing him and asking to hold him. He also copies the things that he sees us doing and saying. He'll tickle Kaenaan's little cheeks and say "look at those chubby cheekies" or one that he got from Daddy is to say "Hi little buddy".

Kaenaan had his 1 month check up and is now weighing in at 12 lbs 4.5 oz (90th percentile)! ! Yep, he is gonna be a big boy! Mommy has some good milk! He outgrew his newborn clothes almost immediately and is wearing 3 month and some 3-6 month sizes.

Smiley Boy!

2011-10-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

There's nothing better than seeing your baby's first happy smiles. Kaenaan is such a happy little guy. All we have to do to get a smile out of him is talk to him or tickle his chubby little cheeks.

CHUBBY cheeks!

First Dr appointment

2011-09-26T16:19:00.001-07:00

We had Kaenaan's first baby exam on Tuesday 9-20-2011. He had a bit of jaundice so they wanted to check him the day after we came home. His weight had dropped a bit, but other than that he was looking good. The Dr did suggest that I supplement with formula until my milk came in. We got home and tried the formula and Kaenaan just spit it all up. I guess my boy only wanted mommy's milk! Lucky for us my milk came in that night so we were set.

7 lbs, 13 oz

By his next appointment on Friday 9-23-2011 his weight was up to 8 lbs, 2 oz. Yay!

Kaenaan's First (sponge) Bath

2011-09-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

Mommy's big helper, so proud! ! !

Ryder's brother Kaenaan

2011-09-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

We had been preparing Ryder for months for his new little brother. We always talked about the baby in mommy's belly. Ryder calls him "brother Kaenaan" One of the best gifts we got was a book called "I'm a big brother" We read this book often and told Ryder the characters were us. It really got him ready for his baby to come home. I was a bit worried about how Ryder would react once Kaenaan actually came home, but he LOVES his brother so much. He wants to hold him and kiss him all the time. He looks at his little fingers and toes and says "look how small they are" and if Kaenaan is crying he'll tell him "it's OK" He is so sweet and gentle with him. We couldn't be happier with our little family and feel so blessed with our 2 sweet boys.

Kaenaan Michael Gibbs 9-18-2011

2011-09-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Kaenaan Michael Gibbs joined our family on 9-18-2011 at 1:22pm. His actual due date was 915-2011, so just like his big brother he wanted to stay in mommy's comfy belly as long as he could. He weighed 8 lbs 7oz and measured 20 inches. The Dr. said that he had a big head and big shoulders!

With Kaenaan we decided to get induced, not for any medical reason, only because the Dr offered and we were excited to meet the lil guy. My induction appointment was scheduled for 9-15-2011 at 5am. The hospital ended up calling the night before to let me know that they were too busy and would not be able to get me in for another 24-48 hours......So we waited........We ended up getting "the call" on Saturday night at 9:15pm just as we were climbing into bed. They asked us if could be there in 1 hour so we got everything ready and headed in to start the process.

We got to the hospital, checked in, got examined and hooked up to IV's and machines and then started my "plan." Step 1 was to have gel put in to start thinning out my uterus. This was a looooooong 6 hour process that lasted until 5am, so no sleep for mommy. They put gel in, I laid for 1 hour, walked for 1 hour then laid for another hour. I had to do this twice. Once we were done with all the gels they hooked up my pitocin. At about 11:30 the Dr came in and broke my water. She asked me how I was handling the pain from contractions so far and I told her I was fine and managing with no drugs, yet. The very first contraction after my water was broke was much, much stronger and very painful. I told Jason to get the nurse and get my epidural. It went pretty fast from there. I started pushing around 12:40 and Kaenaan was born at 1:22. Turns out he would have come out alot faster but he was looking up instead of down. This made it a little harder to pass him thru the pubic bones. He got a little bruising down is forehead, nose and lips too. Other than that he was just perfect.

They placed him in my arms as soon as they pulled him out. I looked at him and right away thought that he looked like Ryder. Jason and I were so excited to meet him, we both had tears in our eyes and were so in LOVE with our little boy.

Bonding with our new lil boy. I LOVED that I got to hold him first, they put him in my arms right away. Ryder's birth was stressed a bit so they took him away before I could even get a look at him.

Dr Johnson (fun fact: her husband delivered Ryder)

Proud Daddy :)

Ryder meeting his baby brother for the first time wearing his special "BIG BRO" shirt. To make the meeting extra exciting for Ryder we let him pick out a special present for the baby. He chose a lil musical panda bear. Kaenaan also had a special present for Ryder, some toy trucks, coloring book and markers.

Checking out brother Kaenaan

Sweet Boy

Bringing Baby HOME!

Big Big THANK YOU! to Grandma for taking care of my Ryder while we were in the hospital.

He's a BIG BOY now! ! ! ! !

2011-08-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

Ryder's potty trained! ! ! ! After about 2 weeks of hanging out around the house naked butt and toting his potty around with him everywhere!.......He's now in big boy undies. He does so well with letting us know when he has to go potty, of course he's had a couple accidents but he's still learning.

Baby is due Sept 15, so Thank God we won't have 2 in diapers.

Cousin FUN

2011-07-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Grandma even got in the water too! ! ! She didn't want to miss out on the fun with these special boys!

Camping/Bearizona/Bug Catching

2011-07-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Best Dollar Store Purchase:Bug Catching Kit! We were collection Lady Bugs

Ryder Visits the DENTIST

2011-04-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Ryder had his first dental appointment and to our surprise he did very well. He was such a good boy, which is a surprise because when we brush his teeth at home it's sometimes a struggle. He sat and did all his x rays and opened his mouth so they could tickle his teeth and count them. The dentist said that he's got all his teeth in and that they look really good! ! !

Ryder's got his goodie bag with prizes and his balloon. Don't mind the finger in the nose! ! ! !

The Gatorade Mistake

2010-12-31T15:13:00.001-08:00

We went to Cabela's this week. At the checkout Ryder said that he was thirsty and pointed at the Gatorade in the cooler. So of course, we bought him a gatorade.

We got to the truck and strapped Ryder in his car seat.

I opened the gatorade and handed it to J. I told him to take a few big drinks and then give it to Ryder. He usually does pretty well drinking out of bottles on his own.

By the time we got home....We had a gatorade MESS. Ryder was soaked....even his hair...had to take a few pics of my little booger! ! ! His skin was dyed red from the gatorade.

Christmas Memories

2010-12-31T14:54:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! ! ! Ryder had so much fun opening all his presents and getting lots of fun toys! ! ! He had 4 rounds of Christmas...our family Christmas, Christmas with Nana and Papa, Christmas with Grandma and Pappy, and then more Christmas with Great Grandma and Great Great Grandpa. He is a lucky and very loved little boy :)

Ryder's Christmas eve shirt letting Santa know he's been SUPER GOOD all year! ! !

or maybe not...... :)

The boys having their Christmas Eve feast, pizza and juice! ! !

Ryder showing Jesse all the cool ornaments! ! !

Grandma and Pappy with the boys on Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning at our house! ! ! !

Ryder and his cousin Jesse checking out their new toys!

Playing with his new shopping cart from Grandma!

more presents!

Giving Great Grandma some kissies! !

Sunday, Part 2

2010-12-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday night we met up with family to check out the train park. They have it all lit up for Christmas. When we got there the line for tickets was pretty long. As we waited in line for tickets we watched the train line grow and grow. We ended up waiting in the train line for about an hour. That was not too bad, we were thinking we would be waiting for about 2 hours. Jason was kind of picking on me saying that we were going to wait in that long line for a 2 minute train ride. It was worth the wait though, Ryder loved it! He had tons of fun hanging out with his cousins, those kids are so funny to watch! It was a great time!

Sunday night we met up with family to check out the train park. They have it all lit up for Christmas. It was opening weekend, so it was pretty crazy. When we got there the line for tickets was pretty long. As we waited in line for tickets we watched the line for the train grow and grow. We ended up waiting for about an hour to ride the train, which wasn't bad, we thought the wait would be about 2 hours. Jason was kind of making fun of me saying we wait that long for a 2 minute train ride! ! I was worth it though, Ryder loved it! ! There were all kinds of characters running around the park and Ryder got to hang out with his cousins. We had a great time!

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Ryder with Mommy and Daddy!

Tigger and Pooh!

Elmo!

Scooby Doo!

Ryder and Mommy on the carousel. It was pretty funny, Ryder does not like the horses at all. I asked him if he wanted to ride on a horse and he said "No, I ride the chair"
He is too funny! ! ! We rode 3 times and each time he wanted to 'ride the chair'

Ryder and Landon giving a High 5, and Ryder and Telsea checking out the model trains.

Gibbs Family

Sunday, Part 1

2010-12-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time on Sunday. Addi, who is one of Ryder's best buddies, had her 2nd birthday party. The party location couldn't have been any cuter. It was at a little place called "Imagination Avenue" They had it all. There are all kinds of play rooms complete with costumes and all. There was a bakery, Dr office, tool room, kitchen, grocery store, police man and fireman room (Ryder's favorite!), dress up room and more I just can't remember it all. Ryder had tons of fun dressing up and playing in the cars. He also loved the big train table that was set up. He ran around in there like a little crazy man for 2 hours!

Fire Chief Ryder! !

Train Time. Ryder was in train heaven with this set up!

Grocery Time

Police Man Ryder! ! ! Ryder put this on and said "I'm goin to work" He helps Daddy get ready for work so he knew what he was talking about.

Cake Time! Ryder was soooo cute. He looked at Addi and said "Happy Birthday Addi" That just about melted my heart! ! ! He loves Addi :)

Ryder giving the birthday girl a KISS and helping her open the present he got her! !

Saturday, Part 2

2010-12-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

Birthday boy Jacob, 3 years old!

LOVED watching Ryder practice his baseball skills! ! !

Ryder loved all of Jacob's birthday presents. Here he is checking out Jacob's little trimmer! !

Ryder and Jacob playing with the firetruck

Saturday, Part 1

2010-12-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Going to meet Santa and collect his present! ! !

Santa brought Ryder this cool Dinosaur! ! !

Checking out all the cool musical snowmen!

Sharing a candy cane with Christine.

Working on getting the little hands traced for our craft project. This was very hard, especially for Ryder, he would not sit still!

Ryder's handprint wreath!

2 Year Appointment

2010-12-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ryder had his 2 year check up today. Here are his stats:

weight - 29 lbs
height - 33.1 in
He's in the 50-75th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. Jason and I were lauging, I guess Ryder's a shorty.

I remember when my little chubber was all the way up in the 95th percentile for weight.

When we were in the waiting room I got a glimpse back and saw the regular scale. I said to Jason "I wonder if Ryder will get on the big scale today?" Sure enough they called us back and had Ryder step up on the big scale! He's growing up way too fast!

In the waiting room playing with his trains.

BIG BOY, no more getting measured by lying on the paper and making pencil marks at his head and feet.

My little guy is growing up so fast...he's on the BIG BOY scale now!

Best Holiday Season.....Ever

2010-12-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

This Holiday season is turning out to be the best ever. I'm sure the older Ryder gets, the better the Holidays will get too. All the excitement makes me feel like a kid again! This is the first year that Ryder has really been into everything. Last year he could have cared less, he was scared of santa, and didn't really notice the lights and decorations. This year he is excited about santa, LOVES the lights and decorations, and LOVES presents! ! ! !
We started our Holiday out with a bang on the Polar Express and still have a packed schedule until Christmas. I told J not to plan anything, as I had lots for us to do.

We put our tree up a couple weeks ago and surprisingly Ryder loves it and has been super good about not messing with my ornaments. I was warned several times by J that I would for sure lose at least a couple ornaments due the to little tornado known as Ryder. He has been super good. He helped decorate the tree by handing me ornaments to hang saying "Take this Mommy." I instructed him not to touch the ornaments on the tree so when he sees one that he wants a closer look at he says "show me Mommy." Such a good boy. I have a few "magic" ornaments that sing or light up, Ryder's favorite....The little train, with the push of a button the little town lights up and a tiny train drives around. He literally spent hours at the tree the first couple days just pushing that button.
I started collecting Hallmark ornaments about 5 years ago. I finally have a pretty good collection, so the tree is looking great this year. I go the day after Christmas when they are on clearance and shop, shop, shop. Well the past few years J has been giving me trouble and kinda complaining about my ornament obsession. I would always tell him that one day we will have kids and they will love all my ornaments. This year I could finally say "I told you so!" Ryder loves looking at all the cute ornaments as much as I do! ! ! I can't wait to buy more this year.

Pushing the button to make the train GO! ! ! !

Choo! Choo!

Checking out his tree!

Last night we went to the Goodyear Ballpark for Holidays at the Homeplate. The best part of this event....the bounce houses. I am sure that when Ryder steps into a bounce house he turns into his alter ego, who must be Nacho Libre! ! ! Ha! He finds a kid who is twice his size and continues to tackle him. I mean full on throws his arms around these kids and pulls them to the ground. He does it over and over again. It's all in great fun since both Ryder and his large victim will be laughing the whole time. He did this at the pumpkin patch bounce house and again tonight! ! ! I'm glad J was here this time to witness his little tough guy! ! ! We were just cracking up :)

Bounce House FUN! ! !

Climbing up the ladder, we weren't sure if he would make it on his own. He did such a good job. We were at the bottom cheering him on the whole way! !

Going down the BIG slide all by hisself! Go Big Boy!

Happy Birthday Little Man! !

2010-11-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

November 29,2008 @ 7:33 pm! ! ! 2 years ago this day! ! !

Happy Birthday Little Man! ! !

You are the sweetest, smartest, cutest, funniest, silliest and most handsome little boy! We could not have asked for a better son and are so, so blessed to be your mommy and daddy. Noone makes us laugh as hard or love as hard! ! ! We love you so much!

One year older, One year bigger! You've really grown alot! One year older, one year smarter! There's no tellin' where you'll stop!

Santa Claus

2010-11-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

All aboard, Polar Express...

2010-11-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

After Ryder's birthday party we headed up to Williams for the Polar Express. Our friends the Thompson's and the Rayburn's were also there to share in the fun, and what fun it was! ! ! What a way to kick off the holiday season. Ryder loves trains so he was in little boy heaven. We started off the evening at the Polar Express stop. We met with Mrs.Claus, Ryder didn't really care for her, so no good pics of that! ! ! There was a little model train set up and Ryder really loved looking at that. He even got to write a letter to Santa saying what a good boy he has been and what he is hoping for this Christmas.

We had a GREAT time and plan to go back every year! ! !

Writing a letter to Santa!

Cookies! ! ! !

Looking at Santa and the reindeer in the Polar Express book

Ryder and his friends looking out the window at the North Pole!

In complete shock watching Santa walk down the aisle! ! !

Here comes Santa Claus

Ryder's Polar Express bell from Santa! !

A Special Day for a Special Boy!

2010-11-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Ryder celebrated his 2nd birthday this Saturday. It was great fun! Ryder's family and all of his bff's were there to help him party! ! ! ! He got lots of fun new toys, clothes and movies. He loved opening his presents and blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.

So, so tired after a busy and fun day

14 Days

2010-11-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

14 Days until Ryder is 2 years old...

I wasn't going to make a blog tonight, but something blogworthy happened. I was sitting on the recliner with Ryder in my lap. We were getting ready for bedtime looking at one of his books when he did the sweetest thing. He turned to me, gave me a big hug, laid his head on my chest and said "Lub (love) you Mommy." That just melted my heart. So I got out my camera and took some pics of my little sweetie so I could post this blog. He has said love you before but only with coaching from J or myself, so this is the first time he's said it all on his own.

Enjoy these pics. I think they're super cute! !

15 Days, 15 Days, 15 Days! ! !

2010-11-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

ONLY 15 DAYS...Until my guy is 2 years old! ! !

We have our Sunday routine down...It's gym for mommy and childcenter for Ryder. It took Ryder approximately 3 months to get used to going into the gym childcenter and thank god that he loves it now! He used to scream, cry, and cling onto Jason and I when we dropped him off. The first month we were lucky if he lasted 30 minutes before we heard them paging us to come and get him. These days if he's having tons of fun, he cries when we come to get him.

Oh, about our Sunday routine....We go to the gym....After the gym we stop at Mcdonald's for a happy meal. Ryder now recognizes the golden arches and asks for fries when he spots them! Is that bad?! We take lunch to the park and eat outside and when Ryder is all done, we play! ! ! !

Chicken Nuggets! ! !

Fries! ! !

Chocolate Milk! ! !

Ready, Set, Go, Slide! ! !

Countdown is on....22 Days! ! ! !

2010-11-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! I can't believe that in only 22 days my little guy will be 2 years old! I guess that old saying is true: Time FLIES when your having FUN! ! ! !

Today was a fun kinda day. We went to the gym in the morning and Ryder played in the childcenter while Daddy and I worked out. After the gym we met up with our friends Mark, Michelle & Christine at the park for a little play time and some nuggets and fries for the kids. We came home and Ryder zonked out and took a nice long nap. After nap time was over we met up with Mark, Michelle & Christine at the park again to feed the duckies. I love family weekends spent with my guys! ! !

One more thing that was great about this weekend: the weather. It was a little cooler this morning so Ryder got to wear one of his long sleeved shirts from his fall/winter wardrobe. He's got tons of cute/cool stuff that I can't wait for him to wear.

Feeding the duckies with his friend Christine :)

This was Ryder last year, 22 days til his big 1 birthday! ! He was still a crawler! !

Little Trick or Treater! ! !

2010-11-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much FUN this year. We met up with friends at Radiant Church for trunk or treat. This event was so much fun, it was tailgating and trick or treating all in one. People went all out and decorated their cars, made spooky displays and there were all kinds of costumes. When we first got there Ryder didn't know where or what to look at first. He was really taking in all the sights. It didn't take him long to get into the trick or treating, though. Once he got his first piece of candy he was hooked. It was the cutest thing whenever a new person would put candy in his bucket he would look in the bucket, then at the person, then in the bucket again. He couldn't believe that these people were just giving him candy. At one point during the night I picked Ryder up thinking that he was pretty tired from all the walking. That didn't last long, he wiggled and said "mommy down!" I put him down and he held up his hand and said "bucket!" Another funny thing that happened was when a person dressed in a acary mask came by. Jason was holding Ryder and kinda moved him closer and closer to the scary mask. Once Ryder got too close for comfort he screamed "I'm SCARED! !" It was so cute and funny. Jason and I were both cracking up.

He's off and ready to go Trick or Treating! !

Walking to the next stop!

Lots of CANDY!

Ryder wasn't too sure about this spot. They had bloody heads and scary stuff.

Cutest Little Vampire!

His bucket is filling up!

Tired boy. He fell asleep on the way home. Look, he's even holding one of his treasures, a sucker!

Pumpkin patch

2010-11-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

I took Ryder to Tolmachoff Farms pumpkin patch this past Saturday. I wanted to let him enjoy the festivities and pick out a little pumpkin for Halloween. I'm glad that I let him get that pumpkin. I went to Fry's on Sunday (Halloween Day) to get bigger pumpkins for J & I and they were completely sold out. Bummer, guess that's what happens when your a last minute shopper.

We met up with my sister, her husband and Jesse (Ryder's cousin). Ryder's friends Vaughn and Christine were there too! We went in the morning to beat the heat and it was a beautiful day. Ryder's favorite part, well of course the train. I couldn't keep him away from that train. He also LOVED the bounce house. It was so funny, he was jumping, running and falling (mostly falling), and even wrestling with another little boy about twice his size. By the time I got him out of there his hair was totally soaked he was sweating so much. Now I just need to convince Daddy to get Ryder a bounce house for his birthday party! !

Ryder and Jesse. The best pic I could get of 2 toddler boys!

Ryder laughing at those silly chickens :)

Riding the train all by himself. Such a BIG BOY!

Gave this little piggie a HI 5! !

Playing in the corn box with Christine. Notice the signs say "no throwing" and "keep corn in box" Well my little guy only wanted to throw the corn out of the box. Bad Boy!

Playing with cousin Jesse in the corn box

Ryder trying to be sneaky, setting the corn on the edge only so he could knock it to the ground.

Taking a wagon ride with his buddy Vaughn. Vaughn just turned 1!

Gave this little piggie a HUG! !

Fall FUN

2010-11-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Michelle had the brilliant idea to throw a toddler halloween party. It was alot of fun and alot of chaos at the same time. I think there were something like 15 toddlers and 2 babies. Ryder was the oldest baby there, that was funny to me. He's my little baby, but was the oldest one there. He's growing up way too fast.

Ok, so about this awesome party:

*Michelle did such a good job. She set up a coloring station and a cookie decorating station. Lunch was served as pumpkin shaped pb&j, pumpkin shaped jello and pumpkin shaped mac n cheese!
*All of Ryder's friends were there, plus new friends that he had never met before.
*Ryder dressed up as the cutest little vampire that I have ever seen :) He was complete with a pale face, dark eyebrows and a vampire cape (which he would not keep on, of course)
*The kids got to trick or treat! Each mommy brought a treat or a toy. Ryder got all kinds of goodies including a halloween rubber duckie, fruit snacks, pretzels, mickey mouse playing cards and eyeball glasses.

Our wonderful hostess Michelle & Christine the little lady bug

Ryder the VAMPIRE

Grandma with Ryder and cousin Jesse the lion!

3 friends! Vaughn, Christine & Ryder

Vaughn, the sock monkey

Michael the spooky spider

Jayce the tiny indian

Pretty Addi as Dorothy

Bella the little lady buggy!

The Beach

2010-09-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

During our Disney trip we planned for a day at the beach. Unfortunately Ryder did not love the beach. The water was very cold. I mean freezing. I think the waves scared him a bit and he didn't like the sand sticking to his hands and feet. He was saying "beach" and "ocean" which was very cute. And he did enjoy chasing the seagulls around.

J and I both love the beach, so I know one day that Ryder will love it too.

his first look at the ocean

the first feel of that cold ocean water

DISNEYLAND! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

2010-09-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Disney was having a special promotion called "give a day, get a disney day" All you had to do was sign up for a volunteer activity, there were 100's to choose from. We signed up, did our activity, and about a week later got our FREE Disney tickets. Disney was giving out 1 million tickets and about a week after we got ours they ran out!

We redeemed our tickets and took Ryder to DISNEYLAND! ! ! He loved it! On our way in we mentioned that it was Ryder's 1st time and they gave him a special 1st visit button to pin on his shirt. We wanted to make the most of our visit and see everything so we were go, go, go. September must be the slow month at Disney, the average time that we waited in line was about 15 minutes, it was perfect. We managed to go on every ride and meet lots of fun characters. Ryder's favorite rides were dumbo, the teacups and the Buzz Lightyear ride (he liked that little gun). He met Pluto, Goofy, Mickey, Pooh and Tigger, Mad Hatter and the princesses (he cried when he met them, some day he'll love those pretty girls :) While on It's a Small World and Pirates of the Carribean Ryder was in awe he just looked around at all the sights. He took a good nap which gave J and I time to go on some fun rides together.

To end our Disney day we watched the parade, which Ryder loved! He learned some new dance moves and was gettin' down. By the end of the night he was pooped, he fell asleep hugging his little Mickey that Grandma got him.

We are already planning our next trip! !

Phoenix Children's Museum

2010-09-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

I took Ryder to the Phx Children's Museum a couple weeks ago and the only complaint I have is that I didn't take him sooner. This place is awsome! It's 3 stories of FUN, FUN, FUN! The first floor is a huge jungle gym climber, the second and third floors consist of a ball room, baby room, art room, noodle forest, car room, grocery store room and kitchen room. Everything is special for baby so you can let them run free and make a mess and get into anything they want.

playing with the flower garden ^
< noodle forest

^cute little ice cream stand

August Camping

2010-09-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

We finished out camping season with a bang! We took our last camping trip for the year (at least until dunes season begins) at the end of August. It was a nice long trip and even though I thought that I would get sick of being out there for so long, I loved it! Fresh air, camp fires, family time, smores, rhino rides, picnics, what more could a girl ask for!?

Some FUN facts about our trip:

*We celebrated J's birthday and grandma's birthday in the woods. My mom brought a homemade apple cake, so good! With all of the birthday exictement going on Ryder said "Happy Birthday!" for the 1st time. So cute, my mom loved it!

*Ryder discovered his pockets for the 1st time. He walked around with his hands in his pockets like a big boy and was putting all kinds of boy treasures in them like rocks and sticks and dirt!

*Our daily schedule pretty much consisted of wake up, have breakfast, play, have lunch, take nap, wake up, go for a looooong rhino ride, have dinner, bathtime, bedtime....no wonder I love camping so much!

*J was actually hunting this trip. He's developed an interest in bow hunting, so he would go out super early in the morning and just before dark at night. I was a little scared about being at camp alone, but I did OK, afterall I had my guard dog with me. He didn't have any luck, but I'm sure he will get better with time and the hundreds of hours of hunting shows he's been watching since we got home. Ryder called daddy's hunting bow "the boat"

*We had visitors come and go. J's friend Brad came up a couple days to hunt. Our friends the Rayburn's came up a couple days to camp and my parents came for a couple days.

*The weather was beautiful....most of the time. It rained really hard 2 days that we were there. Our friends were staying in a tent that flooded, so we had a big slumber party in our trailer that night. To keep the kids occupied while stuck in the trailer we played Winnie the Pooh DVD's and fed them nutter butters:) !

*We found our camping spot on our trip in July. It was the best spot we have ever stayed in, our trailer was in the shade trees all day and there was a huge grassy area that Ryder could run and play in. This camping spot is now "our spot" and we plan to return every year!

LOVE his faces! !

The Rayburns

Having some birthday cake with grandma :)

Camping=FUN

2010-07-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Another camping trip has come and gone. We went camping last week for a few days and it was wonderful. The weather was great, it rained alot, but didn't ruin our time. We got to hang out with some great friends and did lots of relaxing.

camp Gibbs

cool dude

the petting zoo at Mormon Lake Lodge, Ryder did not like Arnold (the pig)

Big boy hangin' on

cutie

Future hunter?

Splash 101

2010-07-20T22:11:00.001-07:00

Ryder started Swim lessons!

We signed Ryder up for splash 101 swim lessons. He has gone to 2 classes so far and is doing as well as a 19 month old could be expected to do. His attention can only be held for so long before he decides that he needs to do his own thing. Good thing the lessons are only 30 minutes! My little man is so brave around water it's scary. The pool we go to at our gym has a beach entrance and he will just walk out until he can't reach anymore. Poor guy will be on his tippy toes with his little head bobbing up and down.

Class starts out in the shallow end with sinking swim toys. We set them on the bottom and let the kids grab them up. This is to get them used to the water. We spend almost all of our free afternoons out at the pool, so he's very used to being in the water. The next thing is to get them to blow bubbles in the water, wash their face, and get their hair wet. Then we practice seal walks (laying on your belly and moving in the water) and monkey crawls (holding onto the side of the pool and moving along the wall), crawling out of the pool, floating on his back, kicking his feet, jumping in the pool and even going under water. Ryder does so well with closing his eyes and holding breath when going under!

Ryder with his swim teacher Skyler

Ryder and Daddy practicing monkey crawls

Camping FUN! !

2010-06-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

We are home from another great camping trip. We left late Tuesday night, and I mean late. We didn't get up there until 3am. We figured we better leave at a time we knew that Ryder would be sleeping. That and the fact that I worked all day and nothing was packed until I got home. He doesn't last too long in his car seat. We stayed until Sunday morning, and the days flew by, it felt like we were only there for 2 days.

This trip we went up north to Mormon Lake and camped with some friends. It is such a treat to get out of the heat for a few days and let Ryder play outside. We get to kinda sit and relax and let him explore around camp. When I say relax, I have to say that camping is alot more fun, but definetly not as relaxing as it used to be pre Ryder. He only had 2 incidents this trip, a bloody nose and a little knot on his head. Little boys, what can you do!? He got soooo dirty, I mean dirt on his face, all over his clothes, on his diaper and down his diaper and in his diaper!

We spent our days playing around camp. Ryder had some buddies (Grace, Chase, and Kellan) up there to keep him busy and follow around. We went on some Rhino rides, which is Ryder's favorite thing to do. He loves the Rhino.

Love this silly face he's making.

Rhino boy

Ryder loved gathering and playing with rocks. It made me nervous that he was lifting them over his head that way. Look at that big rock, such a little muscle man.

Dirty boy

Tree stump fun!

Looking at the little flowers

Ryder and his friends.

Faces

2010-06-17T09:14:00.001-07:00

18 Month Appointment

2010-06-10T19:53:00.001-07:00

Ryder had his 18 month Dr appointment this afternoon. He measured in at 32 1/4 in, and weighed in at 25 bls 8.5 oz. He is in the 50th percentile for both. What a change, he used to be such a lil chunker and was way up in the 90th percentile.

The Dr came in and Ryder impressed her and had her laughing right away. He was really showing off his jibber jabber skills, he just talks and talks. His Dr said that by his next appointment, at 24 months, he will probably be using full sentences.

Ryder is getting in some of his molers and had a fever all day yesterday. We thought it was just do to the teeth coming in. It turns out that he also has an ear infection. This is the first one he has had, and the day has not been fun. We got some antiobiotics for the infection so hopefully it will clear up quickly. His eczema is also flaring up, so we got some perscription cream for that as well. Other than that he was perfectly healthy and right on track with all of his milestones.

At 18 months Ryder knows his hair, eyes, nose, ears, teeth, mouth, belly, toes, feet, knees, and fingers. He can also name several of his flashcards like firetruck, doggie, shoes, fish, bus, truck, baby and ball.

He is also following basic instructions and understands if we tell him to throw something away, or put something in a basket. We will also give him something and tell him to bring it to mommy or bring it to daddy and he know what we are telling him to do.

We think he must be the smartest little boy in the whole world! :)

HOT Weekend ! !

2010-06-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

It was a very hot weekend here in AZ and we had lots of fun activities planned and they were all outdoors.

On Friday night we went to a barbeque for J's squad. This was the first time that I was meeting all of J's new coworkers and their families. Jason and Ryder spend alot of time playing in the pool. Ryder is definelty a little water baby and a dare devil. Everyone was shocked at how brave he is around the water. I'm a little scared about how brave he is! Good thing we are starting swim lessons soon. Ryder was also the baby of the group, all the other kids were a bit older, so he was getting alot of attention. Of course everyone thought he was just so cute! :)

There he goes jumping in the pool to Daddy!

Saturday morning we headed out to Tolmachoff Farm for a family day event. We met up with our friends Adriane and little Vaughn and Liz & her husband and little Bella. We got there early about 8:30 hoping to beat the heat, but we didn't. It was so HOT. It was still a good time though. We played with some chicks, Ryder took a train ride and checked out some of the animals in the petting zoo.

Here he is on the train, riding by himself like a BIG BOY. I was a little nervous about letting him ride alone. My friend Adriane was behind him so it made me feel a little better. Just when I was thinking how cool it was that Ryder was big enough to handle this ride on his own, disaster struck! Well really not disaster, just a little accident. I was following behind the train and I noticed Ryder's head disappear. He fell in the barrel! I took off running after them and the driver must have seen the "crazy mom" chasing down the train because he stopped and let me readjust Ryder! The rest of the ride went smoothly, thank goodness.

News channel 3 was there covering the event so we asked to get a picture with the weather girl, Brittany Shipp. We only watch channel 3 news, so it was pretty neat seeing her there in person.

After the farm, we went home so Ryder could get a nap. My plan was to go the farm early and wear him out so he would take an early nap.

Then we got ready for Jesse's 1st birthday party.

Here's the birthday boy. Hard to believe he's 1 already!

Of course Ryder had to get him a quad for his special day! ! ! We even added a cute little AZ license plate with his name "Jesse J"

Driving in the Rain

2010-05-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

On the way up to Williams it started raining pretty hard. Ryder was so thrilled and excited about driving in the rain. This was too cute not to share.

Camping Season

2010-05-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

With the warm weather approaching J and I have started planning our summer camping trips. We are hoping to be able to go at least once, maybe twice a month this summer. It will be so nice to escape the heat and relax. We took our first trip up to Williams this past weekend. We left on Wednesday afternoon and headed home on Sunday. It was a little cooler than expected, I think J checked the weather report about 100 times before we left. One day it even started hailing so much that it looked like the ground was covered in snow. Oh well, I tried not to complain thinking that in a couple weeks it will be over 100 degrees in the valley of the sun.

Our trip included sitting around the camp fire, taking naps,going on rides, grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, eating cookies and browines, making smores, and watching movies after Ryder went to bed.

We had a great time. Ryder loved the freedom of walking around our camp and exploring. He would explore the grounds and come back with all kinds of treasures like rocks, sticks, and pinecones! ! What else could a little boy ask for?!

His favorite thing was definelty the Rhino. He would ask all day "Nano." He would even wake up in the morning and the first thing he would say was "Nano" He loves that thing and J is thrilled about that! !

We found this cute little Tot Park in Williams. It's the cutest park that I have seen. It's made especially for the little ones so all the slides and climbers are just their size. Ryder loved playing there and we will definetly visit this park again.

Here he is on his quad, getting an early start at being a little dare devil. At first he just pushed the quad around like one of his little push toys. Once he got on and realized that it was much more fun to actually ride he was off. It was so cute watching him ride around camp.

17 Months

2010-04-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Little man is 17 months old today! Can't hardly beleive it.

It seems like he is learning, or saying or doing something new everyday! We play flashcards and he can name a few pictures on his own like firetruck, baby, fish, shoes, doggie, and ball. He is the funnies little boy I know. He has started kicking at the walls or just about anything for that matter and says "AAAEEYYYYYAA". He really doesn't kick so much as just touch it with his foot. He's like a little ninja. We were messing around one day and doing this in front of him and it made him laugh, so we kept doing it. He picked it up since then and it is so funny. He will also knock on doors when he wants in and says "knock knock." One of his favorite things to do these days is chase the dogs all around the house on his toy rocket. He just cracks up! His favorite foods are pizza, pb&j, french fries, and chicken nuggets. He is starting to get into watching TV, his favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba.

One of the BIG things that happened this month is that DADDY CAME HOME. Jason was living in Gila Bend 5 days a week since August 2008. I was still pregnant when he fist went out there. It was hard on all of us having him away. Ryder missed his daddy so much and always cried when daddy had to leave. Well, J is working in Phx now and is home everyday! It is so nice to finally have a normal family life and I am so happy that J and Ryder get to see each other every single day now:)

My #1 HUNK

Splash Pad

2010-04-29T13:25:00.001-07:00

Ryder had his very first visit to the splash pad yesterday! We took him to one last summer but he was just too small and was barely crawling, so he didn't get to play. I knew he would love it. He is a water baby, for sure and loves playing in the "Wa-Wa", as he calls it.

Makin' a run for the Wa-Wa

A little too much in the face!

We plan on spending LOTS of time here this summer :)

Party Time

2010-04-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ryder got to celebrate his friend Landin's 1st Birthday today. We know Landin from our Stroller Strides class. It has been so much fun meeting all the mommies and especially watching the babies grow. When I first started they were all just barely crawling and now they are walking, talking and getting so big.

Landin blowing out his candle.

Look at this cool wagon he got for his birthday and he is such a good boy he kept his hat and sunglasses on the whole time. I can get a good 20-30 minutes out of Ryder before he takes his hat off and throws it on the ground.

CUTE little man!

Ryder's 1st Haircut

2010-04-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ryder got his 1st haircut today!

He was such a good boy! We took him to a place just for kids and he got to sit in a cute little car, and even pick a movie to watch during his cut. He sat in a little yellow coupe and watched Shrek:)

They cut these long peices in the back for us to keep. Ryder even got a 1st haircut certificate.

He's ready.

They started with the clippers.

Jason wanted Ryder to get a haircut like his (high and tight) I wanted him to have something a little more spunky (like his personality) a little FAUX HAWK! :)

Jason said that Ryder would look like a punk with this haircut. He's so silly, afterall how can a 1 year old look like a punk!?

We ended up agreeing on the FAUX HAWK, and boy does Ryder look CUTE! ! !

Looking like such a BIG BOY!

Ryder's Easter Festivities!

2010-04-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

We had a very FUN easter at our house. Ryder is getting older and starting to understand how FUN presents and candy are! ! :) We woke up early to find that the EASTER BUNNY had visited and left Ryder all kinds of fun and yummy stuff!

One HAPPY Boy :)

Even little buggies in his Easter basket! What more could a little boy ask for?!

A BALL! ! He's so HAPPY!

Ryder's Easter loot!

The best part was his slide climber. The Easter Bunny left that in the backyard for Ryder! He LOVES it!

Ryder sure is a LUCKY little boy!

Easter loot from grandma and pappy :)

Easter loot from Nana and Papa :)

Our Family! :)

Ryder and his cousin Jesse, enjoying the day

Time for the egg hunt!

LadyBUGS

2010-04-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

Ryder and I had Stroller Strides this morning and after class he got to play with ladybugs! Theres a store out in Goodyear that sells ladybugs every year for earth day. So one of the moms in our group bought some ladybugs for her daughter to play with. She brought some to class today and after class dumped them out on a blanket for all the kids to play with. I was sure that this would be a disaster. I could picture Ryder eating one or picking them up and squishing them in his hand. But surprise, surprise, Ryder was actually super gentle with the little buggies and really enjoyed playing with them :) It was pretty funny because it seemed like the little girls were the ones squishing them and the boys were being so gentle :) Ryder would stick his little finger out and watch as they crawled on his hand and up his sleeve. They were even flying and landing in his hair. I forgot my camera, but luckily I was able to snap some pics with my phone.

Party Time

2010-03-21T20:11:00.001-07:00

Ryder got to go to his friend Michael's !st birthday party this weekend. Michael's actual birthday is on St Pattys Day, so the theme was GREEN. Everyone wore green and Sara (Michaels Mommy) had lots of cool theme stuff.

Ryder and Landin hangin' out

pretty little Addi

trying on his shamrock hat

This was his party favor, a shamrock beach ball :)

Here's the birthday boy digging into his cake

Ryder digging into his little green cupcake

trying out a sucker :) LOVE that smile :)

All the girls with our babies

Sara and Michael, Megin and Landin, Regina and Addi, Adriane and Vaughn, Lisa and Ryder

FUN with Daddy

2010-03-16T06:01:00.001-07:00

Ryder had a fun day out with Daddy on Saturday. Jason had his squad family day picnic, too bad I had to work. I missed out on all the fun. Jason and Ryder got up bright and early to drive to Yuma! Yep, that far away, he works in Gila Bend so Yuma is part of his squad!

When I told my mom about the picnic plans she said "will Jason be OK alone with Ryder all day?" I had to remind her that J watches Ryder 2 whole days a week while I am at work! He is a pro! The only thing I did was set out some essentials (hat, jacket, sun screen, and camera)the night before to make sure that J packed them in his diaper backpack.

After I got off work I headed to Gila Bend to meet up with the boys for dinner. When I got there J was cleaning out his patrol car and Ryder found his new favorite thing!

Ryder would not let me take him out of the car, he just sat there playing with the steering wheel and pushing all the buttons! Maybe we have a little officer in training! :)

15 Month Appointment

2010-03-11T21:25:00.001-08:00

Ryder went to his 15 month Dr appointment this afternoon. Everything was perfect, of course I have a happy, healthy baby boy!

Ryder weighed in at 24 lbs 10 oz / 31 inches. Besides getting the normal 15 month shots the Dr talked to us about a few important things:

He informed me that since little man has teeth that we should be brushing them twice daily. We have been doing this for a long time now. Ryder will really only let me brush his teeth with the little finger tooth brush. He has a tiny baby tooth brush that I put in the tub for baths and he will play with that a little. I will take it and pretend that I'm brushing my teeth and say "EEEEEEEE" and Ryder copies me and does the same thing. He's too funny!
The Dr also said that by 15 months, babies should know at least 1 body part. Ryder knows 2, Go Ryder! He knows nose and eyes! If I ask him where is his nose or eyes, he usually just points to my nose or eyes! We are working everyday on teaching him more body parts, the Dr said that by 18 months he should know 5!
Another thing that he asked me about is books. We read books to Ryder every night before bed. Sometimes during the day when he's playing with his toys he'll pick out a book and bring it to me to read to him. He loves books!
I asked that Dr about giving Ryder vitamins. Ryder eats alot of the foods that he likes but unfortunately those foods don't include many fruits or veggies:( The Dr said not to worry about vitamins and that as long as he's taking at least a couple bites of fruits/veggies that would be enough. He loved eating the homemade babyfood fruits/veggies, but solids not so much! We trick him and hide it in his food. He loves pb&J, so we slice up banana and sneak it to him that way!

15 Months

2010-02-28T19:52:00.001-08:00

Ryder is 15 Months, well really on the 29th, but that won't be happening this month!

Monkey Butt!

Yep, that's right. Walking with a binky! :)

What's Ryder up to at 15 months?

*He still crawls a little bit, mostly if he needs to get somewhere FAST! He's pretty much a full time walker now. He's still pretty wobbly and falls down alot, but he always gets right back up and keeps going. Now that he's walking it seems like he really is a big boy now! Jason and I always say "He's not a little baby anymore"

*He LOVES airplanes! We started pointing out airplanes to him a few weeks ago and ever since he has been obsessed. If he sees an airplane or even hears one he will look up in the sky, point, and say "Ah" that's Ryder talk for airplane :)

*He also really likes birds! We spend alot of time out at the park and I always point out the birds to him. Now he points and says "Ba" Ryder talk for bird :)

*Another thing that he has become obsessed with is FIRETRUCKS! I'm sure it all started with his flashcards. He has 2 sets and each set has a firetruck. There's a firestation right next to the park and when the firetruck is parked out in front or if they are pulling out I will always point it out to him. Sometimes the firemen will wave to Ryder! He LOVES looking for the firetrucks now and will pull out his flashcards and hand me the ones with the firetruck. He says "Sha Shuck" Ryder talk for firetruck :)

*Another obsession of his is motorcycles! Well, mostly just my dad's motorcycle. Whenever we go to visit my parents Ryder knows exactly where his motorcycle is. He points out to the back door, I take him out, and he justs sits on the motorcycle. He likes playing with the handle bars and pushing all the buttons. I think that if we let him he'd sit on there for hours :)

*Ryder is a Dancing Fool! He loves gettin' his groove on! He will dance to pretty much anything. He keeps all the girls pretty entertained at stroller strides. He'll usually dance to the workout music. His signature move is definetly the FIST PUMP!

*He is definetly ALL BOY and is a bit of a daredevil. He LOVES climbing on things. He is a master at climbing stairs, even the steep ones on the playground. Jason was up on a ladder changing the batteries in the smoke detector and next thing you know Ryder is up on the ladder. On the second step! ! What am I goint to do with him?

A WONDERFUL afternoon at the ZOO

2010-02-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

Jason was off on Friday, the weather was gorgeous, and we had FREE Zoo tickets! ! We spent a couple hours at the Phoenix Zoo and had such a good time. We got there a little after 2 and left at 5 when the Zoo closed. We were thinking that we weren't going to have enough time, but on Ryder schedule, it was just right.

Our Family

Ryder tried cotton candy for the first time...

he wasn't too impressed, that was the only bite he took!

playing with daddy:)

What's Ryder laughing and pointing at?

This silly Babboon! He just sat there relaxing, watching all the people go by. His face is so pretty with the pink and blue nose. The monkey exhibits are always my favorite.

The GIANT Clam! ! Of course we couln't miss out on this photo op!

Ryder's Aunt Michelle and Cousin Jesse

Grandma and the boys :)

All the girls and two little boys. For some reason the big guys didn't want to get in the clam for a picture :) !

We stopped by the petting zoo for a couple minutes. Ryder wasn't too interested in the animals, besided they were acting crazy. They kept chasing each other, jumping in the air and hitting their heads together really hard. Crazy goats! We got our babies out of there.

My favorite part was the little tikes, little people playground. We could only stay for a few minutes since the zoo was closing. The boys loved it!

Look at Jesse on his horse :)

We made it just in time and caught the last carousel ride of the day!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:34:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! !

We had a GREAT day!

Our day started with exchanging gifts. Jason and Ryder did so good, I got a teddy bear charm from Ryder and a necklace and earrings from J. My boys always do such a good job!

Ryder got this cute little baby for Valentine's Day. Jason won't allow him to have a real baby doll (he said that's for girls), so I guess this is the next closest thing.

This afternoon we went to a fun BBQ with some of our friends. Of course, Jason had to work so it was me and my little man for the rest of the day. The weather was so nice and in the sun it was even a little hot, that's crazy to say when it's only February. Poor Ryder had little red cheeks.

Ryder loved playing in this little ball pit.

and helping to push around this car

and riding this little toy

and climbing on the slide

All the babies loved this sand table.

Here's little Vaughn, he's the youngest of all the babies, and so tiny and cute!

Ryder's Valentine's Exchange

2010-02-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Our Saturday play group after stroller class was a Valentine's exchange! Of course Ryder had to have little dino valentines :)

Here are some of the cute cards he got.

At the park early to play a little before class starts.

He was trying to climb this tree. This boy is a dare devil!

This picture is too cute not to post. Ryder and his friend Addi taking a drink break:)

He's a BIG BOY now ! ! !

2010-02-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

Yep, our little man is starting to use his legs! !

It all started yesterday while we were at my mom's house visiting. She was in the middle of cleaning up a mess (that Ryder had made, he loves getting into dog dishes!) I was looking on the computer. My mom said "Lisa look" I looked into the kitchen and Ryder was just standing there all by himself. I looked at Ryder and smiled, and he looked at me with his little mischevious grin :) and all of the sudden took 4 STEPS! ! My mom and I both freaked out, I was screaming! I called Jason right away to tell him the big news! Ryder didn't really do much more walking that same day, just a couple of steps here and there.

This morning we went to stroller class and I was pretty excited to show all of our friends Ryder's new skills. He wasn't too interested, but he took a couple of steps after I bugged him enough....

But tonight, he is in full practice mode. He is trying to walk all around. He can only take about 4-5 steps before he loses his balance and falls. The cutest part is that when he falls, he gets right back up and keeps going :) I am so happy to see this little guy walking but I keep thinking "Oh No, what am I in for" I wonder how long I have until he's running! !

A FUN Day

2010-01-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

Jason has some extra training this week so he was off today, and as soon as I found out he would be home, I planned a whole day of FUN! I have been meaning to take my wedding ring out to Shane Company (in Scottsdale) to have it cleaned. I feel so bad, I have had it for nearly 2 years and this is the first time I have had it cleaned, I am a bad girl! Since we were headed out to Scottsdale, I planned the day with things that I have been wanting to try.

First we dropped my ring off for cleaning. Our next stop was to Sprinkles, I have been wanting to try the cupcakes for some time now. They must have known we were coming, they had a dinosaur cupcake just for Ryder! How perfect:) I told Jason that we would choose one cupcake for each of us, we couldn't make up our mind and ended up getting 6 cupcakes. They all looked so good!

We had lunch at Paradise bakery and saved our cupcakes for dessert. They were YUMMY! Ryder really enjoyed his!

Our next stop was to the Train park. This park was so cute! and cheap! I told Jason that if we had only went to the park for the day it would have been a $10.00 outing!
Here we are waiting for the carousel to start. Ryder was pretty excited! He kept pointing at all the horses and talking!

as soon as it started moving he was not too thrilled. His face got red and he was even shaking.

I ended up holding him for the rest of the ride. My poor little guy!

waiting in line for his first train ride.

Ryder and Daddy

Waiting for the train to start. He thinks it's pretty cool.

Me and Ryder on the little train

We tried the carousel one more time. This time I rode on the horse with Ryder and he liked that alot more. He even cried when we stopped and got off.

Our second ride on the train. Ryder and Daddy are checking things out.

Ryder liked waving back at all the kids. His little hand is so cute!

By the end of our day, Ryder was pooped out!

We had alot of fun!

14 months

2010-01-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

Yep, little boogie boy is 14 months old today! !

Still no walking, but he sure is talking up a storm. Our pediatrician says that he is probably focused more on talking right now and that's why he is not showing must interest in walking.

It's funny because he will use his little push toys and walk around the house all day, but on his own he doesn't want anything to do with it!

He will just jibber jabber all day. I'm not sure what he's saying but it looks and sounds pretty serious. He uses little hand movements and all. His vocabulary so far includes : mama, dada, go, go to bed, gus, golf ball, no, mine, nose, baby, bubba, and grandma. He's so funny:)

at the park

out to lunch with his cousin Jesse

and here's a really cute picture of Jesse that I took today. Look at those chubby little cheekies!

Our first night away

2010-01-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

It was my big 29 birthday (yikes, only one more year til 30). Jason and I met up with some friends at Westgate for dinner, drinks, dancing, and lots of crazy fun! ! :) We got a hotel room in the area and stayed gone for the whole night.

This was my first night away from Ryder. My mom came out and spent the night with him and said he did great. He did cry a little when Jason and I were heading out the door. Our whole group of friends are new parents and we all have babies around the same age, so by the end of the night we had our phones out showing off our cute babies! !

Sara & Ernest

Regina & Mike

Megin & Ryan

Zeb (my brother and his girlfriend met up with us) & Linette

Me and My Man :)

Here we are getting ready to leave.

Lovin' Ryder's cute face in this picture!

Ryder and Grandma getting ready for a FUN night.

the girls...

the whole group!

Our Loooonnngg Weekend

2010-01-19T05:42:00.000-08:00

We are definetly thankful for the long weekend, but not because we did anything fun. We needed the time to recover. Ryder and I both got a really bad stomach flu. It was horrible and we are still trying to get better. Our symptoms are all gone, but Ryder is still not wanting to eat very much. We got sick Saturday night and it was one of the longest and hardest nights we have had. My whole body was aching and Ryder just wanted to be held. He kept getting sick on both of us and I had to clean up each time and change both of our clothes while trying not to get sick myself. Jason came home after work at about 2am and took over so I could get some rest. My mom came over Sunday to help and now Jason is sick. Ugghh, does it ever end?!

The weekend started out good, we did a little shopping and took Ryder into the little play area at the mall. He had so much fun in there, he is always trying to keep up with the big kids. Those kids were really wild! Some of them were playing with Ryder and making him laugh.

I
I had to post this pic, my mom put this clearance christmas headband on Ryder for fun. He didn't like it one bit, you can tell by his face that he knew it was just not right :)

We also went to our stroller class and played at the park afterwards.

He can't walk yet but he sure can climb. He will crawl to these steps and climb all the way up. Don't worry, I stay right there next to him!

By the time our weekend was winding down, Ryder was still pretty sleepy from being sick. He wanted to be held and cuddled pretty much the whole day. We stayed home and realxed. He got to wear his cute dino slippers to keep his little tootsies warm!

Well I am off to work :(

Ryder's Date.....

2010-01-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

play date that is.....We went and had a fun little play date with Ryder's friend Addi. We do alot of playroups, but this was his first one on one play date with another baby. I figured that he needs some practice with learning how to share and play nice. At playgroup he doesn't like to share and if he is playing with a toy and another kid takes it, he throws a fit. This play time went really well, Ryder and Addi played so nice and they didn't have any meltdowns. They played with toys, went outside and played on Addis swing and slide, and went for a wagon ride (this was really cute, it was like they were playing footies in the wagon!)

Notice that orange ball in Ryder's hand, he found that in Addi's toys and he LOVES to carry any type of ball around. He has a golf ball in my car that I give him to hold onto in his car seat. He held onto that orange ball almost the whole time, they ended up letting him take it home.

I have not blogged in awhile, I have to admit that I have finally gotten into the Twilight hype. I had not read any of the books or seen any movies. One of the girls at work brought me the first 2 books and I was addicted. I read both in one week so that was taking all my free time, when Ryder is napping or in bed. Now I need to get the last 2 books!

Laundry Day

2010-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sunday is laundry day around our house.

Look what Ryder got into while I was folding the clothes! He climbed his little butt right into the dryer.

Christmas and 2010 so far...

2010-01-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great holiday in the Gibbs home. It was busy as usual and Ryder got TONS of new toys. My home looks like a toy store! Besides all the toys Ryder got lots of clothes, warm PJ's, books, flash cards, a camping chair, and too much stuff to list it all. I was a little bummed that he wasn't very excited about Christmas, he could have cared less about gifts and kept crawling away (he is still not walking). Maybe next year he will be more into it.

Ryder got me the cutest gift, of course Daddy helped to pick it out. They got me a swarovski charm bracelet and a charm called "growing boy" it's a little boy holding a heart. I LOVED it.

Ryder got Daddy a new hunting game for his Wii. I'm sure once Ryder gets a little bigger they will be video game buddies and Jason will be in heaven!

We spent Christmas morning at home opening our gifts. We headed over to my moms house and opened gifts there and had breakfast. Then off to Jason's parents for more gifts and lunch. Jason had to work Christmas afternoon so when he left Ryder and I went back to my moms to hang out with everyone.

My boys on Christmas morning

Ryder got this silly flashlight, it makes funny noises when you turn it on. I can imagine us camping and Ryder running around with this cute flashlight.

Here's cousin Jesse sitting in all the wrapping paper.

Ryder got this cute BIG dino for his room

a radio flyer rocket

Handy Manny ride on

radio flyer turtle

I am not sure how my house will ever look normal, there are toys in every corner. I guess that's life with a toddler!

The day after Christmas we got up early and headed to Hallmark. I have been collecting the ornaments for 4 years now, I always go the day after Christmas when they go on SALE!

Our New Years was pretty uneventful. Of course, Jason had to work. Ryder and I just stayed home and went to bed on our usual schedule. I didn't want to be out driving on the roads and didn't want to keep him up all night. We had to get up early the next day for Stroller Strides class anyways. Jason called and left a countdown to midnight voicemail so that was nice. He said that he was about to pull someone over at 11:53 but decided not to so he could call us at midnight.

Here is a quick pic taken today. This was at playgroup, the theme for the day was bubbles. Ryders shirt is so cute, it says BIG FLIRT in training.

My mom came over today and Ryder got a chocolate covered marshmallow snowman. He doesn't get too much candy so the really enjoyed it. Santa didn't even leave him candy in his stocking, he left him some YUMMY gerber cereal bars :)

Twas the Night Before CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-24T18:28:00.001-08:00

What a long day we had....We didn't really do too much but with all the traffic and crowds it made everything take forever. Jason had off of work for Christmas Eve and I admit that we are last minute shoppers, we spent the afternoon at the mall finishing up our shopping. It was kinda fun being out in the crowds, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We took Ryder to see Santa, again. This was his 3rd Santa visit. He does not enjoy seeing the Big Guy, it must be all the red and the big beard. He screams everytime which is shocking to me because he is always so friendly and good with strangers. I was thinking that maybe the third time would be the charm and that I would get a nice picture with Ryder smiling. I was not so lucky, but I am happy with these pics anyways, doesn't everyone have a picture crying with Santa :)

Right after we rescued him from Santa he was back to his normal happy, smiley self.

Jasons friend Barney lives near the mall so we went for a quick visit, Ryder liked playing with Barney :)

Now Ryder is all ready for bed and for Santa to come and visit.

He has is Santas Helper PJ's, with little reindeer footies.

and his stocking ready to be filled with goodies :)

Nighty-Night

2009-12-19T19:36:00.001-08:00

I just had to post these pictures before I go to bed. Ryder picked up his little hotwheels police car at bedtime tonight. He held it thru story time and while I rocked him to sleep. I layed him down and even as he tossed and turned a few times he still kept it in his little hand. Such a little sweetie.

Party Animal

2009-12-16T20:41:00.001-08:00

Ryder got to go to his friend Addi's 1st Birthday party tonight.

Here he is in his party outfit, checkin' out the toy bag.

Ryder and Addi played well together, they were playing with toys, crawling, and even dancing. They had little moments of kinda picking on each other but they are so little we all just laughed at them. It was cute.

Addi digging into her cake.

Ryder even got a little kiss from the birthday girl. I love this picture, Ryder looks proud of himself for getting this sweet kiss :)

2009-12-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Jesse wasn't too amused by all the lights, he fell asleep.

Jason and Ryder. We sure had to bundle up, it was so cold.

The spider web lights

Peacock

I put on this silly headband to make Ryder laugh

he was zonked out after this trip

2009-12-08T19:24:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ryder's new word

2009-12-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Ryder started saying Gus (our dog's name) a couple of weeks ago. He will just say it over and over again. It's so cute, sometimes his little lips pucker when he says it. I'm sure he picked it up since we are always yelling at that dog, he's always into something. I'm surprised he's not saying "NO GUS"!

Family Night

2009-12-06T19:34:00.001-08:00

We had a family night Saturday, after Ryder's party we headed straight to the Wigwam resort. They have a bunch of decorations and light displays. There were little displays set up on the lawn that look like little elf houses and huge decorated trees.

It was cold, Ryder was bundled up.....until he saw Addy, then he wanted down to play with her.
Ryder and Addy checking out the lights

Gibbs Family under the HUGE tree.

trying to get a nice picture of Ryder with Santa, he does not like Santa. We took him to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop was not happy. I thought maybe this time it would be better, but no. It is pretty strange Ryder never cries with strangers, maybe it's all the red and the gib white beard.

After we saw all the fun stuff in the front we headed back to the patio where we sat around a fire pit and made smores and drank hot chocolate. It was a fun time, Jason had the day off for the party so I took full advantage of that and planned a whole day of family fun. We were definetly wiped out by the time we got home.

Ryder's Birthday Bash

2009-12-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ryder had his BIG 1 Birthday bash on Saturday. It was a crazy, hectic day. We were of course on baby time and arrived at the park about an hour later than we had planned. We didn't have time to pick up the cake on the way, so we went straight the the park. We had just enough time to decorate very quickly then Jason left to pick up the cake. I also found out from a couple of confused phone calls that I had the invitations printed with the wrong address, and to top it all off we forgot all of our utensils. We had to go beg another party to borrow some of theirs. Other than these little things and the cold weather, we had a good time celebrating with friends and family.

Ryder's BIG 1 cake and a matching smash cake.

cake time.....

some of Ryder's guests...

cousin Jesse

Addy and her Mommy and Daddy

me and Ryder with cousin Camdyn and her mommy Corie

Maryjane with her Mommy and Daddy, she is only a couple weeks older than Ryder. I first met her Mommy when we were only a couple months pregnant.

The Brannings

Michael and his Mommy

Ryder with Great Grandma
We had Ryder all bundled up with a beenie and mittens!

One updates

2009-12-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ryder rode in his carseat facing forward for the first time on Wednesday. I would say that he really enjoyed it. One good thing is that he doesn't have the back seat to kick against and fight me when I try putting him his seat. He would lock his little legs up and it would be quite the fight.

Ryder had his 12 month doctor visit on Thursday. He is 30 1/4 in. & 22 lbs 11 oz. He is lookin' good and healthy. The Dr was asking if he was saying words, pointing at things, understanding when we told him certain things, and YES to all. Right before we were leaving Dr came in and said "one more thing" time to start weaning from the bottle and we said "already done! he hasn't had a bottle in a couple months :) He also got his normal 12 month vaccinations, and was such a little champ. I always hate seeing him get his shots :(

After his appointment he got a special treat, we stopped at McDonalds and got him some french fries.......He sure gobbled them down.

Cake Time

2009-12-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Ryder loved, loved, loved his birthday cake! I made that special little cake just for him. It came out perfectly cute and Ryder sized. He dug right in and once he got a taste of that frosting he was in heaven. It was so cute watching him. He kept looking up at everyone and laughing, he was even clapping his hands.

He was trying to fill up his mouth with as much as he could

The big clean up, he was so messy we just stripped him down and put him right in the tub.

Look at him go

2009-11-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

I am sure that he is the cutest lil' rider I have ever seen. He got the hang of it after just a few minutes. There's a little button to push to make it go, go, go. Now he just needs to work on his steering.

The presents

2009-11-29T17:37:00.001-08:00

Ryder got some nice stuff today.

He got his Radio Flyer wagon that he asked for from Nana and Papa.

Grandma and Pappy got him some little people toys, a neat little tikes truck to ride, push or pull, and some clothes.

Mommy and Daddy got him a QUAD, some little people toys, and a cute little golf set :)

tryin' out his new quad, he's ready for the dunes :) It's a fisher price power wheels and goes 2 mph.

takin' a little break

Ryder's Birthday Breakfast

2009-11-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

After nearly a year of nursing and eating homemade babyfood, Ryder got a special birthday breakfast. I made him a belgian waffle, he even got a little butter and syrup too!

I think he likes it !

Happy BIRTHDAY Ryder !

2009-11-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

1 year ago today....We met our baby for the first time.

taking him home

Ryder's first Christmas

one of his first smiles

look at those chubby little legs :)

first time in the pool

Only 1 Day ! ! ! !

2009-11-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

til Ryder's BIG 1...

today was "yellow day" at play group. Everyone wore something yellow and brought yellow toys to share.

Ryder's friends.

notice the measuring cup one of the moms brought, it was one of the most popular "toys" with all the babies! Go figure, we all lauged about that.

little man, so cute.

Only 2 Days

2009-11-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

til Ryder's BIG 1

We have started getting out all the Christmas stuff.....I think this one is Ryder's fave. It sings and dances and jingles :)

Only 3 Days

2009-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

til Ryder's BIG 1

Happy Thanksgiving ! ! !

Ryder with Nana & Papa at Thanksgiving breakfast.

After breakfast we headed out to Bass Pro Shops. Ryder checked out the huge fish tank.

This is what Daddy says Santa rides on!

trying on some silly hats :)

leaving the store with Daddy's goodies.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and ate dinner at my sisters place. Jason has his hands full with these two BIG BOYS.

Grandma and Pappy with the cuties :)

Ryder and Jesse

This was Ryder's 1st Thanksgiving and he LOVED it. He pigged out and ate a little of everything.

The Family

Later on at home Ryder decided that he wanted to try and feed himself at dinner time, he kept grabbing the spoon from me.

He took a couple bites himself, but mostly just played!