Ryker's Half Birthday

Today, Ryker is officially 3 1/2!  If you don't remember from last year, I like to do something special on his half birthday.  A friend of mine growing up always did something special with her parents on her half birthday without her siblings.  Basically, it was a day to get special one-on-one attention and I always thought it was cool.  Robert says I just made it up, but whatever, I like it!  Anyway, Ryker chose Chuck E. Cheese for his special day with lunch at "The Nacho Place" (McAlister's) afterwards.  He also requested that Camden go with us, so we obliged.  I'm sure next year he'll be ready for a day without his little brother, but for now, he's still gaga over him.

This bike ride was fun.  You had to pedal pretty quickly and the bike would lift off the ground.  He couldn't make it go fast enough to stay up toward the ceiling, so I hand-cranked it for him. 

Me and Cam...I have a hard time getting both of us in a picture, but this one was pretty good!

The Kentucky Derby game was fun.  Ryker was very serious.  Robert was steering for him.  (Daddy can't stand to lose)

Ok, so this is random, but crazy.  This dad was there with his family.  He was very well dressed in a nice suit, dress shoes, the whole bit....then he sits down, and he has on black ankle socks!  Huh??!!  Is this a new trend I'm unaware of?  I thought it was so weird, I had to sneak a picture to see if I'm just clueless or if anyone else has seen such a thing!

Driving Chuck E. Cheese around

I swear he's teething already.  Everything goes in his mouth, he drools constantly, he goes through multiple bibs in a day, and I've even had to put Orajel on a few times.  :-(  Teething is no fun!

Jingle Rails

We've been wanting to see the Jingle Rails exhibit at The Eiteljorg and since Robert is off all week we decided to go today.  I really enjoyed it and Ryker liked it too, but had even more fun downstairs where all the kids stuff was and he could really play.  We had a nice lunch at the Sky City Cafe and even stopped by my cousin's new house since Robert hadn't seen it yet. 

Checking out the teepees.

They had fires going on inside...very cool.

The trains were Ryker's favorite part by far.

I thought the buildings and landmarks they created were amazing.

The work was so intricate!

The scene recreated from Indianapolis' downtown area was really cool.

This is the inside of Lucas Oil Stadium

Monument Circle

Camden LOVED it...there was so much to look at, he was quite happy.  They didn't allow strollers.  I wish I would've known because I would've brought my Moby Wrap.  Instead, we had to haul him around.

It was snowing and so pretty out.  Ryker found a squirrel that was running around.  It was very entertaining.

The drum was a big hit.

He made Robert some peanut butter soup...yum!?!?

The horse ride was super fun.

1st Hair Cut

Today was Camden's first hair cut.  I know what you're thinking, he's 3 months old...how can he need a hair cut?!?!  I just trimmed up the hair around his ears though.  It was getting so long and scraggly.  It looked crazy!  It was still sad though, but it does look much better.

'

Aunt Karen and Jo stopped by to say hi and she held Cam still for me while I trimmed him up.

He was still a moving target, but we got it done.

Post Christmas Recovery

Today was a recovery day for us.  After a weekend full of festivities, we needed a day at home.  All of our gifts were scattered all over the house.  It was a MESS!  We went through all the toys in the house and cleaned them out.  Some things went to Goodwill and other things were packed up to be put in the attic for a while.  We'll get them back out again in a few months and rotate some other ones up.  I was impressed with Ryker.  He actually helped sort through his toys and was very good about letting go of things.  (I'm sure it helped that he had so many new toys to replace the old ones with!)  We were able to get everything back into working order.  In fact, we even moved things around a bit and hopefully it will work even better for Ryker and his toys.  He fought nap time so we let him lay in our room and watch a movie.  Clearly, he needed a nap though. 

So sweet in his new sleeping bag! :-)

Christmas at Grandma Thacker's

Christmas night was our night to spend at Grandma Thacker's house.  She spent all day preparing dinner for us.  We all had dinner and then opened gifts.  Dave and Kate left right after we finished at Mom and Dad's but everyone else was able to be there.  My cousin Tara lives in Atlanta now and wasn't able to come home last year so it was nice to have her there.  She got engaged in October, so we all finally got to the ring in person and hear about the wedding plans.  The boys were spoiled beyond belief too!

Cam with one of his adorable gifts.

Ryker working on his new laptop.

Christmas at Nana and Papaw's

As soon as we finished opening presents at home we rushed to get ready and head over to Nana and Papaw's.  We had an amazing spread for breakfast and then opened gifts.  First up was "Baby T" (obviously, Kate opened them).  She was so touched that we'd bought things for the baby, she had all of us girls crying first thing!

Mom and Dad got "Baby T" a blanket.  We got him a scripture lullaby CD.  A friend got it for me when we had Camden and I LOVE it.  I listen to it every night and Cam falls asleep to it.  They just released Vol. 2 and I can't wait to get it.  You can order your copy at http://www.scripture-lullabies.com/.

Cam got a firefighter onesie and a police officer onesie from Uncle Dave and Aunt Kate.  They are way too cute!

Uncle Dave picked out a remote control truck for Ryker.  Ryker was pretty excited, but I think Uncle Dave may have been even more so!  haha!

Showing off his new snow boots.

This picture cracks me up.  Every time he spends the night at Nana's he wears her robe after he gets out of the tub.  He has been asking for his own robe for quite some time and was SO excited to get one!

He loved his new animals too!

Robert and I's gift from Dave and Kate...so funny!

Nana and Papaw admiring the calendar that I made them.

After presents, it was nap time for this little guy.

Meanwhile, Mom, Ryker, and I made homemade cinnamon rolls.  Ryker did an excellent job of kneading the dough.

He was a pro at rolling it out too.

Robert had a nice long nap on the couch.

Papaw got some quality time in with Cam. 

Christmas Morning

Cam woke up at 6:30. After I finished nursing him, we waited patiently for everyone else to wake up. After fixing myself some coffee, etc. I finally just went in to wake Ryker up at 7:30. Usually he is very hard to rouse and get going, but he perked up pretty quickly. The funniest part was he pretended like he'd been awake and said, "Tucker! It's time to get up...it's Christmas!"

Checking out the goods!

He had to open Tucker's gift first...so sweet!

He was so excited about his new farm animals and figurines.

The trailer!!!  Yay!!!!

Sweet little boy "opening" his presents.

Look at those hands on his hips!  He was like, "What happened in here?"

Santa left Ryker a note telling him that he'd hidden a baby moose somewhere in the family room for him to find.  It was in the manger.  He loved this little game.

Loving his new frog blanket.

He got a frog sleeping bag too.  He had to get in and try it out right away.  So funny!

He is always so thankful for his gifts.  He is such a pleasure and joy to give to. 

Enjoying opening his gifts. 

Modeling the socks Ryker bought him.

Cam liked his presents too.