Way Back Wednesday: Ryker (0-3 Months)

A friend of mine started doing this on her blog and I've loved it.  I thought since I didn't start blogging until Ryker was over 2 years old, we could do some catch up with him for a while. :-)

Getting dressed to head home from the hospital.  He hated being naked then...he loves it now!

Nap time with Daddy.  I have a LOT of these pictures!  It's hard to believe he was ever that little.

Cuddle time with Mommy...wow, I look tired! lol  He was jaundice like Camden if you can't tell.

Bright-eyed at 5 days old

Bonding with Tucker

Stud Muffin....look at that smirk!

He would always sleep with his hands on his face...so sweet. He's sleeping in Papaw's arms here.

Winking at Mommy

Cuddling with his Auntie Em here.

About 9 weeks old here.  I started babysitting for Josiah when Ryker was 7 weeks old.  The Blair's were like his older siblings for the first 18 months of his life.

This was when Daddy was working for the Marines full time.  He wanted a picture of Ryker in his Marine shirt and him in has cammies.  So cute!

Jojo and Silas with Ryker...look at how little Si was!

Ashlyn holding Ryker.  She would have been 17 months old here....so little!

10 weeks old and showing off his muscles.

He made some of the funniest faces!

Sweet, smiley boy!

He had some crazy hair stages...this being one of them!

This picture cracks me up...he looks like a little boxer!

Exactly 3 months old in this picture (and wearing 6 month clothes)

Uploading....Again

Time for more phone pics!  I know you can't wait!!

I framed one of Cam's 6 month pictures while sitting on the floor next to him.  When I was done I set it up to look at it.  He sat and played with it for quite a while.  He loves himself!

Rocking the shades while we played outside.

Ryker an Charlotte at Chick-fil-A one Wednesday after our weekly trip to the library.

Kainen came over one morning while his Mommy had her ultrasound (It's a GIRL!)  He helped Ryker feed Tucker.

Don't think I'm crazy.  I was laying down with Camden on my lap and putting his paci in my mouth (I breastfeed, he already has all my germs anyway).  He loves this game and will steal it from me and giggle so hard when I get "mad" about it.  The videography is horrible, but that precious laugh is worth it!

It was raining one day after lunch and I let Ryker run around outside and play in it.  Here he is trying to catch some raindrops on his tongue.

Cuddle time before bed.  Ryker asks if Camden can sleep with him most nights.  I hope he keeps wanting to sleep with him because if we can't get out of this house, they will be sharing a room before too long.

I know you're not supposed to let kids under the age of 2 watch TV, but how do you prevent it when you have a 3 year old who wants some Elmo??  Honestly, he doesn't pay attention to the TV if it's on most of the time, but Elmo seemed to get his attention.  Plus, I just thought it was funny to see them sitting there together like that.

He refused to take a nap one day and we were out shopping for my Easter ensemble and I was talking to him and getting no response.  I looked and he was cashed out just like this.  He slept through the remainder of our time at Marshalls.  But, he was awake for our trip to TJ Maxx.  He was a big help and had strong opinions on the blue vs. green shirt dilemma I was having.  He told me the next morning before church, "Mom, everyone gonna think you look so beautiful."  Aww!  My boy has such a sweet heart!

Ryker came home from school last week singing a new song:

"God said the sun should shine,

The rain should fall,

The flowers should grow.

God said the birds should sing,

And it was so, was so"

We went for a little treat after early baths Friday night.  We drove out to Frosty Boy and collected some yummy ice cream from the drive-thru.  It was a long wait and Ryker entertained us by singing his favorite song in a new and rather interesting way.

This is easily my favorite video right now.  This is Camden eating pears for the first time.  Hilarious!  He did like them much better the second time around, but this was the funniest reaction I've ever seen to pears.

Camden is OBSESSED with Puffs.  He pounces on them the minute they hit his tray.  If you listen carefully at the 35 second mark you will hear him say "brother".  Ryker thought it was so cool.  Camden mastered Mama and Bubba on Saturday so he now has the whole family covered (except for Tucker).

Cam and Henry were playing at the library last week. Cam yanked Henry's sock off and was chewing on it.  We took it away and then Henry got a hold of it and was feeding it to Camden...pretty funny!

Cam and Tuck are captivated by Ryker in this picture.  Camden is really liking Tucker these days (and all his hair to pull!)

Ryker was singing and cleaning the other day....gotta love a man that cleans up after himself!

Daddy got them dressed for church yesterday and found almost matching shirts for them...so cute!

They love each other!

Camden finally cut his first tooth yesterday!  Yay!  It's obviously not visible in this picture though.

The lions were on the prowl at our house last night.



Proud Mommy Moments

We started doing a devotional with Ryker before bed every night a couple months ago.  Much to my surprise, he LOVES it.  He even makes me do it before nap most days.  He listens intently to the story and answers all the questions afterward.  He often has questions of his own too.  I am loving that he is curious about God and interested in learning more about Him.  He has the sweet innocent love for God that I know Jesus treasures so much. 

The other night we talked about death in our devotional.  We talked about how after we die we get to go to heaven if we believe in Jesus and that makes death a happy thing.  There is always an activity with each devotional and that night's was a picture to color.  It had a castle and clouds and a rainbow.  He asked why there was a castle and I explained that we all get our own mansion in heaven.  I told him that when I can't sleep I like to imagine what my mansion will look like.  Later, as I was nursing Camden in the next room over I could hear him saying, "God, I want a clubhouse in heaven.  And I want Josie and Annie and Tucker puppies with their own doghouses too.  I want Papaw to have a pond to go fishing and be in my neighborhood.  Nana needs lots of flowers at her house."  He went on and on.  It was so sweet and made this sappy Mom cry...heck, I'm tearing up now writing this!  I love that he was just talking to God, but it sent me over the edge that he was so concerned with everybody else's houses too!  

His favorite song is still God's Not Dead and we sing it multiple times every time we are in the van.  The other day he said, "Mom, you 'lieve in Jesus?"  I told him that I did.  He said, "I 'lieve in Jesus and I gonna go to heaven when I die."  He's very concerned about whether people believe in Jesus right now and asks different family members often. 

Shorty after Easter I was talking to Robert and saying how I was glad we didn't try to throw the Easter Bunny into the mix and hoping that Ryker understood what Easter was all about.  So, Robert asked him why we celebrate Easter.  He said, "God!!"  I asked him, "What about God?" He quickly shouted back, "HE'S ALIVE!!!" 

Out of all the hopes and dreams and desires I have for my boys, my number one priority is that they grow to love God and put Him first in their lives.  These little moments are showing me that we are at least doing something right and Ryker is on the right track.  Makes me a happy Mom!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ruby!

Today was Ruby Claire's 3rd birthday party!  The party was at our church which is perfect for a party.  The kids could play in Playland while the adults could hear each other talk out in the Cafe area.  It was so nice and roomy.  I'm pretty sure we will have Camden's 1st Birthday party there too.

We have had the privilege of watching Ruby grow and change from the time she was a baby.  She's a special little girl and is oh so sweet.  We love her dearly!

We were there right after she was born.

Here she is at the pumpkin patch with us.

I used to babysit for Ruby and her big sis Audrey.  Ruby and Ryker are just 10 months apart.  Here they are cuddling right before Ruby turned a year old.

Here she is devouring her first birthday cake.

Look at that sweet smile!

Good times at the Children's Museum

Ha!  I love it!

Here she is today opening presents.

Ryker had to tell her all about the present he picked out for her.

Robert and Cam taking in the action.

Em and I with our boys.  Hank was sleeping, but Cam was quite happy as you can see.

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY RUBY!!!!

7 Months!

Another month has come and gone, and my sweet baby is 7 months old today. He's slowed down majorly in the growth department. According to my method of weighing (you know, the hold-the-baby-on-the-scale-and-then-without-and-the-difference-equals-the-baby's-weight-thing) he weighs 20.4 lbs. which puts him in the 75th percentile. He measured around 28" which is the 80th percentile. Both of the boys have gotten really big really fast and slowed down at 6 months. Ryker weighed 19 lbs. 1 oz. and was 28" at 6 months and was 20 lbs. and 30.5" at a year old. To be fair, he made up for it and was up to 26 lbs. 6 oz. and 32.75" by 15 months.

He is going to sleep around 8:30-9 still.  Sometimes he is fully asleep from a milk coma, other times he is still awake.  However, he is getting himself to sleep with little crying in less than 10 minutes with the help of his Gentle Giraffe (Good birthday present, Ryker!)  He is still taking two good naps (1-3 hours each) a day.  Big accomplishment this month was getting you to fall asleep on your own at nap time.  It has made Mommy's days much easier and you seem better rested too. :-)

Camden had a month of gross motor skill development.  He figured out how to transition from sitting up to his belly smoothly and is getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth a bit.  No crawling yet.  Honestly, he can get to just about anything he wants to by rolling over, spinning, and scooting that I don't think there is much desire to crawl right now.  He also started saying "Dada" this month and is working really hard on "Mama".  He will watch my mouth so intently and then try to do the same but the M always comes out as a B sound.

He's still slobbering constantly, but still no teeth.  I can feel them right under his gums, but they don't seem to be making much effort to come through.  He's still nursing 5 times a day and is eating table food twice a day.  He usually has rice cereal at lunch.  We tried oatmeal and he HATED it!  He's enjoyed everything else we've introduced though.  So far, he's had green beans, peas, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and Puffs...He is addicted to Puffs which is funny because Ryker couldn't stand them.  He would spit them out every time they hit his tongue.  This kid can't get enough.  If he sees the container he starts wiggling around and hitting his tray in anticipation.  So far he's only had the sweet potato-flavored ones.  I bought the banana kind today so we'll try those soon.

He is beginning to get into stuff without even crawling yet (uh-oh!)  He discovered how to open the drawers to his dresser tonight and had great fun doing so.  Let's hope he doesn't get any fingers pinched in there!  He loves being near his big brother and will happily chew on farm animals while Ryker plays around him.  He doesn't have any particular toy(s) that entertain him really well right now.  We may need to get out a few we haven't tried in a while and see if they can catch his interest.  I'm hoping we can cultivate the ability to entertain oneself.  Ryker was great at this as a baby and still is.  Here's hoping #2 doesn't get too spoiled by having others around to entertain him!



First Night of Soccer

Ryker has been begging to play soccer for over a year now.  Every time we pass the soccer fields on the corner of German Church and Prospect (which is at least a couple of times a week) he asks if he can play soccer.  After searching high and low for a league that allows not-quite-4-year-olds and coming up empty handed, we decided to go with Lil Kickers instead.  Our good friends, the Nye's, have children who attend Southport Presbyterian Christian School and participate in their sports programs.  We found out that they were having a spring Lil Kickers session and decided to join.  Their 3-year-old, Charlotte, joined too and is in the same group as Ryker.  They are great friends and are excited to play together.  At least one parent participates in the class with the children, so the dads (who are both former soccer players) were more than happy to volunteer.  The moms are happy to get to see each other every week and hang out and let the babies (Hank and Camden) play. :-)

Ryker has been so excited to get started.  I found him some gently used cleats a couple of weeks ago and he's been putting them on and practicing with his soccer ball in the backyard. 

All suited up and ready to go!  The coach asked who was ready to play some soccer and his hand shot up in the air and didn't come down until Robert told him he could lower it...too funny!

Daddy was pretty excited too. :-)

Charlotte was cracking me up.  The coach was explaining the program to everyone and Charlotte was trying to get Ryker's attention and kept spinning around and would stop and give him this huge smile and do it all over again. 

We're working on not picking up the ball...oops!

There we go, kicking it!

Practicing his kicks some with Charlotte...notice their matching pants...adorable! (Not on purpose, mind you...)

Ryker and Charlotte after class was over.  Notice it was a little chilly!  I'm hoping it warms up soon!