{Ryder :: 12 months}

Ryder man is now, officially a one-year-old. Still in shock and can't believe it. We love this little guy of ours and all the quirky things that make him Ryder man.

• has an infectious laugh... a really good, deep belly laugh
• is ticklish on the bottoms of his feet and loves when we play the, "you have stinky feet" game
• has a healthy appetite and loves eating
• favorite foods include graham crackers, cinnamon alphabet cookies, bananas, and clementines
• has officially eaten 1 1/2 cupcakes and loved every bit of it, he is his mother's child
• loves to play with the big kids
• kisses and gives "loves" (hugs) on command
• still as social as can be, loves to be around people
• can play independently but hates to be in a room by himself
• will walk with just holding on to one of our hands
• loves to crawl around on our bed and the couch
• he's our little blondie
• still taking 2 naps a day
• sleeps like a champ- goes to bed between 8-9 pm and wakes up at 8 am
• preferred toy- balls of any kind, balloons are also acceptable
• still absolutely LOATHES diaper changes and putting on clothes, he prefers to be in the nude
• waves goodbye, sometimes with both hands
• rocks his converse almost every day, it's mommy's shoe of choice
• likes when we sit on the floor to read books, but mostly pop-up books... it's way more fun to have a book you can try and rip apart rather than just a plain, ol' boring book

mommy thoughts

First of all, I've decided that there's really no point is trying to clean up my house. It lasts all of about five minutes and then gets totally messy again. Ryder's favorite past times include taking out all of the pots and pans from the cupboards, removing every farm animal magnet off the fridge, throwing various toys into the trash can which then need to be fished out, and taking every toy out of the toy bucket. So a lot of the day, our house kind of looks like a tornado blew threw. Oh well.

In other news, I officially reached the mommy milestone of being completed covered in throw up that did not belong to me. Don't get me wrong, I've been spit up on before... but this was full-on, legitimate throw up. Ryder was sick last week (not the flu... so I wasn't really prepared) and had been congested like crazy. He had just eaten lunch and we were sitting in the front room on the rug when he started coughing, choked on the phlegm in the back of his throat and then threw up his entire lunch all over himself, me, and the rug. We sat there in stunned silence for just a second and then he tried to keep playing as if nothing had happened. I then spent the next half hour stripping him down, taking off all my clothes, throwing him in the tub and then scrubbing the rug. So that was quite the experience and I can check that off my list of "mommy firsts".

Ryder's first birthday is just a week away and I can hardly believe it. My baby boy is growing up so fast and is becoming his own little, opinionated human being. But he's my human, and I love him. A year ago when I was preparing for Ryder man to become a part of our lives, I knew this would be a change, a huge transition in our lives.... but there's just no way to really understand it until it's actually happened. I am a different person because of him. I love having this little guy around with his cheesy grin and social personality. He keeps us laughing all day long. Despite occasional vomit and a messy house, I love being Ryder's mom and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Papa Paul's Birthday

On January 11th my dad turned 50! Yes, my dad who refuses to act a day over 25, turned the big 5-0. Even though we weren't able to be with him for the big day, Ryder and I still spent the day celebrating all things Papa Paul.  He is, after all, the best dad and grandpa anybody could ask for. He's the cool dad, the fun dad, the dad who is always there supporting you while also bringing the life to the party. We love him forever. and ever. and ever.

The day was freezing, because after all, that seems to be how the entire month of January is going, so we just hung out most of the day. I did, however, let Ryder man have a few bites of a cupcake (which he loved) and then we ate bananas and cottage cheese for lunch (my dad's 2 favorite foods).

Happy Birthday Dad! We were wishing it was still Christmas break so we could spend the whole day hanging out with you... reading books, singing songs, and playing with the ipad.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a quiet morning at my parent's house, opening presents and making our child stay awake to enjoy the morning no matter how badly he wanted to take a nap. Literally Ryder could barely keep his eyes open, but we didn't want him to miss a single thing! We enjoyed a Christmas morning breakfast of Swedish pancakes, a Myer family favorite. After opening presents, Chad and I went for a run on the beach- a part of Christmas we could not enjoy in Utah- and then headed home for the entire family clan to come over for lunch/games. Things got busy, but it was a fun day at the Myer house.