Baby Update

I'm 25 weeks today!  I feel like he has grown so much over the past 2 weeks.  His little butt is right up in my ribs especially when I'm sitting down and he's been so active!  I put the remote on my belly the other morning when he was moving around a bunch and took a video.  It's funny to see it shaking around like crazy.

Ryker kissing his baby brother today at exactly 25 weeks.  :-)

Visit with Old Friends

When I was at USI for college, I met a great girl named Paula.  We studied for accounting class together and quickly bonded over our zaniness and had a great time together.  He fiance, Kyle, is a former Marine and Robert was active duty at the time.  They were married shortly after us and even visited us in North Carolina on their honeymoon.  They live in Jasper, Indiana and we've kept in touch via Christmas letters and Facebook but haven't seen each other in almost 7 years!  Paula and Kyle are considering a move to Indy and have been eager to spend some more time here and get a feel for the city.  We met them at the IMA this morning and enjoyed the art, gardens, and catching up before heading to PF Chang's for lunch.  We had such a great time and are really hoping they decide Indy is right for them!  Hopefully it won't be 7 more years before we see each other again!

Robert and I had to get our picture taken by the LOVE statue

One of the many fountains.  The gardens at IMA are so beautiful!

Paula and I taking a break near the Lilly House.

Our photographer (Robert) decided we should both be in the light so he took another shot.

Happy Birthday Auntie Em!

My best friend's birthday was this week.  Ryker and I met Kainen and Auntie Em and went up to Monkey Joe's for a little fun.  Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at Paradise Bakery and Cafe.  It was nice to spend the day with them and Ryker had a great time climbing and bouncing around.  Kainen wasn't such a huge fan, but we hope as he gets older he'll like it a bit more.

Em and Kainen going down the big slide

Ryker hanging out for a second...he obviously found the water fountain too!

He loves bouncing!

How cute is he!?!?

I thought this pic was too funny!

Music Man

Ryker is quite the music fan.  Robert and I both love music but are severely lacking in any musical skills.  We're hoping somehow our musical genes skipped him and he may be capable of carrying a tune!  Here are  a few videos of his dancing/singing skills I've recorded recently.

He loves the Fresh Beat Band on Nickelodeon and they do this freeze dance.  We took a walk after this and had to freeze every few steps the whole way.  He loved it!

This song is on one of the Glee cds I listen to frequently.  Ryker LOVES it!  He calls it the "Bad Guy Song."  It's so funny!

Marine of the Year

Yep, that's right, my man was awarded Marine Reservist of the Year for the State of Indiana!  I am so incredibly proud of him! The ceremony was Friday night before the Indians game at Victory Field.  We were so blessed to have over 26 people (not including kids) there to support him.  We have some amazing family and friends!  It was great to see everyone; I just wish we'd had even more time to spend with everyone!  We all had a blast!

Robert is the closest Marine in this shot

Walking out to get his award

So serious (and handsome!)

Standing at attention

Receiving his medal

Meeting Mayor Ballard

The awarding officer and Mayor Greg Ballard

Several of the recipients from different branches of the military

Walking off with his new medal

Ryker clearly wasn't too into looking at the camera...

Grandpa, Robert, Grandma, and Aunt Karen

Dad wanted a picture with Robert too...

Ryker and Silas watching the game

All the kids loved watching the game

Ryker had SO much fun playing with Josiah

The fireworks display at the end of the game was awesome and Ryker LOVED it!  He kept yelling, "Boom!  Boom!"  He started crying so bad when it was over because he wanted more! 

JoJo was teaching Ryker some new dance moves...it was hilarious!

A Day of Firsts

Thursday was a day of firsts for Ryker.  We spent the morning and early afternoon running errands.  (Definitely NOT a first!)  We bought his pants and shoes for his upcoming role as a ring bearer in my cousin Abby's wedding in 2 weeks.  We also did lots of shopping for baby bpoy #2.  Ryker had fun picking out things and helped Mommy narrow them down too.  He's very opinionated and is always good for a deciding vote!  After a nap, we broke out his new tee ball set and practiced.  Mommy has realized that Ryker is ambidextrous.  He definitely eats and writes right-handed, but he prefers to bat left-handed.  I'm a touch ambidextrous and so is my dad.  My mom is a hard-core lefty though so the lefty genes are in there.  Ryker had a great time batting, but was even more excited to go fishing with Papaw.  My dad picked him up around 4 and took him to a little pond for his first real fishing trip.  Papaw had fixed one of Great-Grandpa Thacker's old poles up just for Ryker.  Ryker did really well according to Dad and even caught one small fish.  Dad said the pond wasn't very well stocked so they'll have to try a different location next time around.  He didn't last too long, but seemed to really enjoy himself.  Dad brought him over to Aunt Diane's afterwards and Ryker helped Mom and I price things and set up for our garage sale. 

Getting ready to try this thing out

So, he hit the tee a few times, but you gotta start somewhere!

Getting a good hit!

Holding up his catch...it's pretty small.

He didn't care though..he caught  fish (with Papaw's help)

Silly Safari

Our church's MOPS group held an event Monday afternoon called Silly Safari.  Amazon Jungle John brought some of his exotic animals in for a show.  We met up with several friends after lunch and enjoyed the show.  I will forewarn you that my pictures are HORRIBLE and I have decided to return my new camera.  If you have any suggestions on one I might like, please let me know!  Talk about frustrating!

This was his "elephant."  Her name is Ellie Phant and she is gray, with big ears, long nose, and big feet! ;-)

He sang the "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" song and danced with her ears.  She sat perfectly still...so sweet!

This is a kinkajou

This was his owl.  He was very smart! Every time he would say (or even spell) wings, the bird would spread its wings out and when he would say eyes, the owl would turn its head around so you couldn't see its eyes. 

A slimy bullfrog

Tucker and Ryker just hanging out

Silas, Tucker, Ryker, and Chaney taking in the show

Getting a little play time in while we (I) waited in line to pet the animals and see them up close.

She laid perfectly still like this and let all the kids pet her.

The ball python, Ryker did not pet him.

But, he LOVED the rabbit!

Happy Boy!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Sunday afternoon we went to our friend's, Emily and Jason's, house to celebrate Jason's birthday.  Four other couples and their children joined us.  We had pizza and snacks and just enjoyed some time talking, laughing, and hanging out.  Four out of the 6 women there are pregnant and I really wanted a picture of all of us, but it didn't happen before it was time to start packing up kids and get home for bedtime.  :-( Maybe next time!  I did snap a few of the kids abusing poor Brian.  He is such a good sport and the kids love him!  We had another party a couple weeks back and Robert wasn't able to go with us.  Ryker adopted Brian that day and was pretty excited to see him again.

Outside Time

Last week we had great weather.  It's starting to seem like a distant memory now, but we enjoyed it while it lasted.  We worked on riding the tricycle a lot and finally had a bit of success in the end of the week before the rain started. 

Enjoying a little snack time too

Pulling out the trike

Play Day with Ashlyn and Carter

Ashlyn and her blur of a brother, Carter

Ashlyn was all about having her picture taken.  Ryker clearly was not!

LOTS of playing hide and seek (or as Ryker has been calling it lately, hide and seek-a-boo) lol

I'm behind on downloading pictures from my camera, so I'm just getting around to posting about the fun day we got to spend with Ashlyn and Carter a couple weeks back.  They had so much fun playing and it was so nice to have Ryker entertained all day.  They played wonderfully together and wore each other out for naps.  I got lots accomplished since Ryker was too busy playing to bug me!