Santa Clause came to town

I had an especially busy day at work one day this week. My sweet mom agreed to babysit Ryker all day. I was feeling bummed that I had to be away and busy all day, and feeling bad to impose on my  mom. I sent Ryker to Grandma's in an ugly sweatshirt and sweat pants from Khols, as I figured he wasn't going anywhere special. My super fun mom took him shopping, but him a new outfit, and took him to meet Santa and get his pictures taken. And managed to get this all done between morning nad afternoon nap- way to go! When I picked him up that night I had such a good surprise- darling pictures, new outfit, happy baby! I just love this boy! And I have to brag, because the photo people said he was one easy, happy baby to photograph. 

 Going for a ride...

 Giving him a present gets this face...

 taking a present away gets this face....

 Love that you can see his two bottom teeth!

Seriously... have you ever seen a baby so happy to go to a stranger in a white beard?! I love that they crop them all to avoid Santa's face. That way you don't have a creepy man in  your picture, and it's more about the child. 

"Thanks again Grandma Jen for being a fun grammy and taking me to get my pictures. We had a fun day, and mom loved the surprise!"

Merry Christmas everyone! 

From, Ryker

Winter is coming... though Santa may not ;(

It started like this: a beautiful snow storm that dumped over a foot at our house. It snowed all weekend. It was great fun. Ryker loved it. I was loving it...

 Then in one of my many trips from South Jordan to Farmington that fateful Sunday... ended like this:

Arg!! It was sunny and beautiful in South Jordan, so I set out for church in Farmington. Only to hit a crazy blizzard in North Salt Lake. I promise I slowed down... there were people going faster than me Rick! But nonetheless, I lost control, skidded all over the freeway, and finally slammed into the cement barrier. Ryker screamed. I cried. I felt like a horrible mom. Thank you to the Highway Patrol Officer that got me turned around and out of oncoming traffic.

Now I just await the bad news of the total $. Bumper gone, wheel well bent, suspension off, light gone, cords dangling. It's all adding up to Santa telling me I get no presents! Ahhh... Happy Winter.

A month of Firsts

October was a month of many firsts for Ryker:

 First Bath in the sink... Rick's idea, and quite a good one! It's the perfect size for him to sit up and  have enough water to keep him warm.  And despite this sinister looking face, he is quite a sweet boy!

 First time playing in the snow... don't mind the miss-match outfit.. this is about the experience!!

 First crush...... Ah... which girlfriend shall I choose?

 First piano concert....

where most of the melody was carried by Jared (who has quite the ear for any song, self taught mozart here!)

 First spoon fed lunch at the babysitter's...

 In which he did NOT 

appreciate the flavor I chose!!  Sorry Jen, the presentation was great. Bad choosing on my part. Great picture taking on your part!

 First Halloween...... A costume party at Grandma's. We won the most original!

First time playing in the leaves... who wouldn't have fun with a chubby puppy boy like this!

Fall Favorites

I honestly wish I had the life of a seven month old! 

Three meals a day, spoon fed in the high chair. Mess on your clothes, sure. Spill on the floor, no problem. Feel like banging your hands on the tray with wild screeching, in pure happiness- Go for it buddy!! You make me smile!

 Some play time in the Johnny jump up, which includes happy chatters with Mr. Oreck. 

A leisurely walk in the stroller to the mailbox,

 followed by eating the mail key while we sit on the porch swing and watch for Daddy to come home (poor buddy did get his first official Farmington Mosquito bite the size of a marble right between the eyes.. welcome to the swamp my boy).

A bath with toys, two people smiling and watching me, and not a care in the world. 

Ryker's 6 month pictures

I knew Ryker had his 6 month pictures coming up, so we had been practicing sitting up on his own. Every time he would tip over within seconds. Through some magic, that day he sat up all by himself for an hour!! I had never seen him do that. Since then, he is a champ at sitting up. I also packed the cutest orange shirt to go with this owl I bought, and he spit up all over it before we even got one shot. Ugh! Oh well, white will do. This first one is my favorite:

Thanks mom for the great tip and portrait package at Photogenix. I think they captured the personality of our cute little Ryker.

Ryker's first haircut

 Before: the unruly mop on top was just getting to long!

After: he really did like it and was happy, this face is deceiving. 

And thanks to our master hair cutter Ali! 

The big 3-0- Happy Birthday Rick!!

 Rick's mom made him a delicious Dutch Oven Dinner of chicken and biscuits, followed by a nice chocolate cake.

 Rick's parents had a fun surprise for him- a ride around the block in the cash cab, in which we aced the trivia questions and won some serious cash money. It's a good birthday when everyone wins $! Next time we need to get Ryker to relax and enjoy the ride. All the cheering and yelling scared him so bad he screamed and cried. Sadest face ever :(

I surprised him with a chalk drawing done by a cute girl in the Ranches on our driveway. She did such a good job! Rick was pleasantly surprised to come home from work and find it- a fisherman catching the big three-o. If you are old and turning thirty, mind as well announce it to everyone in style :)

Happy birthday to our dearest daddy and the best husband ever! You are a handsome thirty!!