"Thank You Lord, for this Glorious Day!"

That is what I murmured in the van today while we drove with the windows down (Yippee!), to only have Ryker repeat me as he rode along in the back.  What a great day!  First, we met Emily, Charlotte, and Henry at the library for a special preschool program on colors.  The highlight was the activity at the end where they got to mix different colors of icing to see what colors they could make.  Of course their favorite part was eating it when they were done. ;-)  We played at the library for a while and picked out some new books and a movie to take home.  Next, we headed to Chick-fil-A for some lunch and more playing.  The kids had fun in the play are while Emily and I had fun talking.  We stopped at the grocery store on the way home for a few things and then took naps.  After nap, we went for a walk to the playground and soaked up the gorgeous weather.

Ryker and Charlotte were doing this while they waited for their food.  They would put their hands together and then...

yell something and lift them high and laugh.  It was pretty cute!

Cam and I cuddling while Em ordered her food.

Enjoying his ice cream after playing hard (that play area was hotter than a sauna!)

Cam bundled up at the park

It always amazes me how much he improves on the playground after we haven't gone in a while.  He scaled this wall in nothing flat today and finally braved the fireman pole.  Yay!

Camden even got to swing for the first time.  He loved it!  We need to get him a baby swing for our set in the backyard soon.

Ryker did a good job pushing

My sweet boys!  I can't wait until this is a regular activity!

I pushed them both at the same time which they thought was pretty cool.

Once again, THANK YOU LORD FOR THIS GLORIOUS DAY!!!

Rykerisms

Ryker is always full of funny sayings and stories.  I thought I'd get a few saved before I forget them.

~ After getting dressed the other day, he said, "I look handsome today?"   (I think I may tell him he's handsome too much...he's going to get a big head!)

~ While playing the other day I heard him say, "Help! Ayudame! Ayudame!"  (If you don't know Spanish, ayudame is help me is Spanish)

~ Proud Mommy Moment:  First, background- After school one Tuesday Ryker told me they had a new student in class.  I asked if he played with him and he said no, that he didn't talk.  I explained that he was probably just shy and unsure about starting a new school.  I reminded him what it was like when he first started school and told him he should be nice to the new student so he wouldn't feel so out of place.  Flash forward to Thursday when I'm picking up Ryker from preschool (and I've completely forgotten Tuesday's conversation), Mrs. Steele tells me, "You should be a proud Mommy.  Ryker is a very good friend."  She then explained that the new student, Devan, is from India, and is learning English.  She said Ryker played with him in the morning and was teaching him some English and Devan really took a liking to Ryker and stayed with him the whole morning and had to sit next to him every chance he got.  I was so proud and so excited that he actually listened to me!  (Sometimes I wonder if anything gets absorbed into that head of his!)

~ Ryker loves to spend time with Papaw and his Uncle Dave, both of which are avid hunters.  The other day Ryker was playing and pretending to shoot deer and chickens.  He told me that the deer and chickens died to heaven so God could make them into fried chicken.  LOL!

~ If you didn't already know, Ryker is quite preoccupied with "dying to heaven" right now.  We recently bought a van and were preparing to sell Robert's car.  Ryker was full of questions about why we were doing this.  We explained that Daddy's car was getting old and we wanted a new vehicle.  After we bought the van it had to go to the shop for a while for a minor body repair.  During that time, I continued driving the C-RV and Robert drove the Grand Prix.  Ryker asked what Daddy was driving and I told him the Grand Prix.  He got so upset, I'm talking tears in his eyes, and said, "But, I don't want Daddy to drive his old car, 'cause it's getting old and it gonna die to heaven and I don't want Daddy to die to heaven."  Bless his heart! 

~ Today, as I was changing Camden in the nursery, Ryker comes in and says, "Hey, I think I hear someone say Babe!"  Robert wasn't home and I told him he must've been imagining things.  I asked him why he thought he heard it and he said, "Because that's your middle name."  After laughing hysterically I asked him why he thought that was my middle name and he said, "'Cause Robert (yes, he said, Robert) call you that."  HAHAHAHA!



The Pirate Queen

Now that I have my Kindle Fire, I am back to Blogging for Books...yay!  First up was The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman.

This book pulled me in in the first chapter.  Now, days after finishing it, I am still thinking about the characters.  Those are two signs of a great read in my book.  Saphora has finally decided she's had enough of her husband's cheating ways and is planning to leave him.  Her bags are packed and she's ready to leave their home on Lake Norman for the their summer place in Oriental when in walks Bender announcing he is dying of cancer.  Much to my surprise, she decides to stay with him and care for him in his last days.  The emotional journey she goes on is just one layer to this amazing story.  Between the mysterious neighbor Luke digging holes in his backyard, the sweet Tobias battling prejudice and a disease he was unfortunate enough to be born with, and the caring and amiable Pastor Mims, you will become so involved with these characters you have to keep reading to see what happens to them. 

I received this complimentary book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging for Books program.

New Phone Pictures

Tucker hasn't seem to notice Camden much yet.  Well, a couple of weeks ago, Ryker spent the night and the entire next day at Nana and Papaw's.  Tucker finally noticed Cam!  I think without his constant distraction (Ryker) he bonded with Cam.  He slept in his room and stayed near him all day.  It was sweet!

Watching TV with Scruffy Bear

He wanted to spell out I Love Nana and send a picture to Nana....so we did!

My sweet sleepy boy.

We went in to wake Ryker up fro nap one day.  I laid Cam down thinking he'd rouse Ryker, but Ryker just cuddled up to him and kept on sleeping.  It was too sweet not to snap a picture of it.

Robert had on Entertainment Tonight and they mentioned Leonardo DiCaprio.  This is how Ryker said it....we died laughing!  Every time he said it, it was a slightly different version.  My favorite was probably "Decrappydoe"

I was getting ready the other day and checked on the boys to find Ryker "reading" to Camden.

Robert got me the Kindle Fire for Valentine's Day (YAY!) This was the day he gave it to me and they all were playing with it.  I think I might have had it for about 5 minutes that first day, otherwise they had it!

The next morning.  Ryker reading a sea animal book to Camden. 

Funny Story:  The morning after I got the Kindle, Ryker was in the family room watching TV and I was in the nursery feeding Camden.  I had left the Kindle charging on the end table the night before and just had my phone with me in Camden's room.  After about 10 minutes of being back there I got an email from Amazon saying "Thank you for your purchase."  After looking closer, it was for an episode of Max and Ruby....Ryker managed to unplug the Kindle, unlock it, get into the videos, find the store app, find Max and Ruby and buy an episode!  Crazy kid!  Unfortunately, he just did it again the other day!  Thankfully the episodes are $1.99 each and I've since put a password on it.

This is one of Camden's favorite things to do right now...that and fake cough (just haven't caught that on video yet).

Robert did this the other day and Cam thought it was hilarious!

Uncle Dave and Ryker had a wrestling lesson the other day.  It was pretty impressed with Ryker.  He listened very carefully and mimicked everything David did.  He was very focused!

Firefighter Camden

Ryker wanted to feed Camden too.

He's starting to sit up so well now!

He was cracking me up with that gear shift...such a big boy!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom's birthday is this week (the 22nd to be exact).  We decided to celebrate a bit early with lunch today.  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Karen, and the 4 of us met Mom and Dad at the Cheesecake Factory after church.  We got there early enough that we got right in and it wasn't super crowded.  We had a great time visiting and celebrating Mom's b'day.

Aunt Karen and Camden.  He was so tired and was fighting sleep so bad.  He does not like to miss anything!

Mom got a free Sunday for her birthday.  She was nice and let Ryker have it for his dessert.  (No worries-she had cheesecake) ;-)

Singing Happy Birthday

Nana even let Ryker help her blow out the candles.

1st Cereal

On a whim, I decided to feed Camden some rice cereal tonight.  He's been interested in what we eat for a while now and watches us intently.  He reaches for anything you have, even drinks, if you're holding him.  He was fussing all during dinner and I thought it might calm him down a bit. 

Sorry it's so long...Daddy likes to make sure he doesn't miss anything. ;-)

This was a common face...."What is this?!?!"

He was more interested in Daddy and the camera than the food for the most part.

Of course most of it came back out with every bite.

He did get the hang of it pretty well though and was opening his mouth for me and turning toward the spoon.

I guess it's time to get out the high chair!

Happy Valentine's Day!

5 Months!

Camden is 5 months old today! 

He's growing like a weed still.  He has a few 9 month clothes that still fit, but he's mostly in 12 month stuff now.  Since he doesn't have a doctor's appointment this month, I weighed and measured him at home.  According to me, these are his stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. (95th percentile)

Height: 27.5" (96th percentile)

He is still a very happy boy most of the time...if you are in the same room with him or paying attention to him.  He does not like to be left alone at all.  Most nights I have to put him in the exersaucer and drag him into the kitchen while I cook dinner.  He's still working on his bottom teeth.  They are getting SO close to coming through.  I am ready for them that's for sure!

He's still nursing 5 times a day with the morning and night time feedings being longer.  We haven't introduced cereal or anything yet...clearly he's perfectly healthy and hasn't missed any meals lately!  This past week he decided he wasn't such a fan of taking a bottle.  He refused to take one from me and then only took a couple of ounces when he was at Nana and Papaw's house Saturday night.  Hopefully we can cure that by trying to give him a bottle more often.  He's still sleeping from 9pm to 6 or 6:30 am.  He's been waking up more often during the night lately, but is able to get himself back to sleep within a few minutes. 

He had a month full of milestones.  He's rolling all over the place now and even scooting around a bit on his belly.  He's sitting up on his own for short periods of time.  He discovered his feet this month too and loves to pull his socks off and is especially happy when we let him go without socks (which doesn't happen often since it's the middle of winter).

He is starting to love all things that crinkle and it really getting to know some of his toys.  His Eric Carle elephant from Aunt Chelle and Uncle Robert is an all-time fave.  I recently started letting him nap with a security blanket.  He really likes something to hold on to while he's falling asleep.  Typically he uses my shirt, but I'm trying to get him to fall asleep on his own better so I thought I'd try the security blanket instead.

My Parents Are Going out of Town Party

A friend of ours' parents went out of town and they decided to throw a party at their house.  We all came in our best 80s/90s gear and partied like we were back in high school.  Our hostess, Jamie, cooked up some delicious treats and made an incredible 80s/90s music mix for us to jam to.  The guys played a few rounds of poker and the girls had a dance party with the Wii.  It was a super fun night!

Robert and I in our best early 90s gear.  I was called Punky Brewster all night which was pretty cool because I loved her growing up!  And, yes, I rocked the side pony!  Scary part about Robert's ensemble was that he had all this in his closet already!

Jamie doing the running man in an ensemble she found in her mom's closet.  She had 3 wardrobe changes...I think she secretly wants it to be 1985 every day!

All the girls

The Mayes'...a pregnant 80s Valley Girl and an Axl Rose wanna-be :-)

Zach and Megan

All the guys

The other Amy and Rob(ert)...Amy and Rob Marsh

The Gambrel's

Andrea's socks killed me...funniest part is she found these at Claire's recently!

The guys playing poker.

Time for a little Wii Just Dance

Some of the guys even got in on the action...it was so much fun..I so want this game now!