Loving fall except....

We love this time of year for multiple reasons....leaves turning, beautiful weather, warm drinks, football, chilli, anniversary....you get the idea. What we do not like, is the allergens in the air. For some reason every September I get headaches, eye pressure, and sneeze a lot. Ryder and I have been under the weather fighting head colds the past week. It is not fun. He whines much more than usual. He wants to be held a lot more. Last night he even woke-up at 3 am crying and wanting to play. So we are trying to focus on all the positive aspects of fall as we get over our colds.

teething with his cold

Still the cutest little bugger.

Randomness

So we have been busy as usual. Last weekend started out with a visit with our friend Jess. We shopped, walked, and had lunch at Sonic. Ryder was pooped after trying some Sonic fries.

He took a short catnap and regained his energy to push his stroller around the backyard. Exhausted, but determined to keep pushing.

The rest of our weeekend was filled with a trip south to visit family.

Jesse and cutest nephew Logan

The boys were absolutely hilarious together. They had a great time playing and have started fighting over toys. I will have my hands full in October when I have them both for a few days. I look forward to them creating many great memories.

My sister in law took alot more pics, so maybe more to come.

This week we are trying to get back to our routine and catch-up on house work. Ryder is nursing his first cold. He is still playing with toys and enjoying himself.

A Big Thank you

Last weekend my Best Friend Carissa rescued me from all the hard and busy work of motherhood, housewifery, and my job for a Girls Getaway in Lake Geneva, WI. We had a great, peaceful, relaxing time. She surprised me with a basket full of awesome things all in lavender, like a yankee candle, scarf, card, girlie, book, martini mix, cute shirt....etc. To top it off she had already scheduled us massages for that day. We ate awesome meals and just relaxed. No dirty diapers to change, faces to feed....husbands to nag.

Our room view

coolest outdoor firepit...everyone crowded around this spot after dinner

Dinner at Chophouse our first night. Awesome filets

at the little bar before dinner

Lobby

Italian Restaurant the 2nd night

We decided this should be a yearly tradition. Maybe next year we will grab a few more friends. We also went into town and ate at Popeye's for lunch, after window shopping at all the cute little stores.

I am so blessed to have such great friends. I told Carissa that I appreciate all she has done for me. She is always blessing or giving to me in some form or fashion. I know what goes around comes around. I told her eventually I will find a way to repay her. She replied that I already give in other ways besides monetary. I told her my luck...I will probably get stuck changing her diapers when she is 80 and bossing me around.

Love ya girl!

Why God Made Friends God made the world with a heart full of love, Then He looked down from Heaven above, And saw that we all need a helping hand, Someone to share with, who'll understand. He made special people to see us through The glad times and the sad times, too; A person on whom we can always depend, Someone we can call a friend. God made friends so we'll carry a part Of His perfect love in all our hearts.

Also a big thankyou to my parents who watched our little guy for the weekend. They seemed to enjoy it as much as Ryder. Next time I want a few pics.

A Quick 10 Months!

Last week my sweet baby boy passed the 10 month mark. In just 2 short months we will be entering toddlerhood. With each stage we have found new challenges and delights. With each day we both grow deeper in love with our sweet blessing from above. He continues to teach us as we teach him. Ryder is full of passion for adventure and exploration. I hope to keep up with him as he continues to study every corner and drawer of the house. Sometimes this includes a sweep of the mouth to remove whatever he has pulled off the floor.

Grinding his teeth.

Emptying the drawers in the kitchen

Hamming it up for the camera

Ryder is trying to walk these days. He can wobble across the room without assistance sometimes, but others times he falls flat on his face. Soon he will be running through the hall. We caught him in the other room last week hugging the dog. We were unable to get a shot of this since our dog moves so quick.

Daddy is looking forward to watching the bear games with Ryder this year. I just hope Ryder does not get addicted to it like Kevin.

Mr. Personality

Ryder keeps getting cuter, and is growing a larger then life personality with each passing day. So people say he looks like dad or is a mixture of both, but acts likes mom. I will take credit for any part of him because Kevin and I could not be prouder. So here are a few recent pics of our showboat himself.

He is laughing because I am trying to be funny to get him to sit long enough for a photo or two.

9 1/2 months!

With our buddy MJ

Lots of Drool....expecting another pearly white soon.

Did I mention he loves his momma?....until I refuse to hold him.

Playing with our friend Tara

We went to visit one of my bestest friends from high school, Maggie AKA "Chino" at her fabulous new house over the weekend.

And what did Ryder do????....besides vomit 2x...too excited about her dog.

Climb into the barstool and get stuck of course.

The probem solver he is found freedom.

With Chino

He laughed so hard at her dog "Chewey." He does not get this excited about his own dog, but really loves everyone elses dogs.

We had a nice little visit and headed home for naptime.

Tidbits

We have been quite busy with family time over the past 3 weeks. I have been so busy I have hardly photographed our visits. Sometimes I just want to enjoy it without capturing the best picture. Ryder is getting harder to photographer daily. He moves before I can grab the camera and capture the moment. Like the other day he was standing at the back door looking out the window with our dog doing the same. It was so cute. He also loves to ride Payton like a horse. Payton is not too big on this.

Overall, we are enjoying our summer and all the blessings of family and friends each visit brings.

We headed to Bloomington to my brothers to visit some cousins who were in town from NC and AL. It was a short trip, but we got to see all who were in town. It was nice to have extra hands for Ryder. The ladies even got a break to go watch a movie "Ugly Truth."

My parents with Ryder and Logan (hard to get them both to look at you)

Out to dinner with the Bowman Family

The cousins

Kevin and Jesse getting ready for a mad day of golf.

*Hope to add more pics others took later on

The many faces of R.T.T.

I had my little model pose for me on his actual 9 month birthday last week. He enjoys the camera most the time.

Serious....but so darn adorable

The Drooly Sloppy face look

Spirited....I am ready to play look-love this one

OK...sick of the photos mom....time to play

Innocent sweet baby look

What next mom?

Mom your the best look

And this one just looks like his daddy