Best Christmas Present EVER!

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THIS IS A MUST WATCH!!!

I just love this face. Ryder loves to stick his tongue out all the time right now for some reason. This is the back corner of our "family room" where I keep all of Ryder's toys. It's like their hiding place so that you can't see them when you walk in and I don't have to keep hauling them upstairs when he's done playing with them. Ryder loves to crawl over his toys all the way back into the corner and camp out underneath his old rainforest jumperoo. He will sit back there for 30-45 minutes in total silence just checking out his toys. It's so cute!! I wanted to snap a picture of him sitting under the jumperoo but he saw my camera and got all excited and started crawling to it. So this is him coming out of his "cave" as I like to call it.

10 Months!!!

I feel like I JUST posted about Ryder being 9 months and now a whole month has passed. I guess that is the result of being really busy. We just love this lil' man more and more all the time!! He has developed such a cute, spunky little personality and he is constantly cracking us up. He is getting smarter too and we are proud of him. About a week ago we were driving down the road and listening to the radio. Jon and I were not really listening and having a conversation. I guess Ryder sure was enjoying it because we both looked back and he was dancing!! It was so funny. He was waving his hand up and down and then would point his finger and wave it around. HAHA! He has a really good memory. He remembers where things are around the apartment and knows what areas are OFF limits (even though he goes there anyways). He absolutely loves being in nature, which I love about him. Jon just started coaching another season of lacrosse for junior high AND high school. We go to every practice so that Ryder can have time outside. He loves to watch the boys run around and he always steals a lacrosse ball to play with. For his first birthday Jon wants him to have his very own stick. Ryder has no choice...he's playing lacrosse when he grows up. His daddy and uncles and aunt play it so he's destined. So there is still no walking but Ryder can stand for longer periods of time by himself and we bought him a walker toy so he's learning to walk with help. He's already wearing size 5 shoes and size 4 diapers!!! AHHH!! He's so big I can barely carry him. He is learning to clap thanks to me and his Baby Einstein video. He now has 6 teeth; 4 on top, 2 on the bottom!! He's learning to eat a variety of foods and will still eat anything. The only problem I'm having right now is getting him off the bottle. I've bought several different kinds of sippy cups and even bought the kind that comes with 3 different "nipples" to teach him to drink from a sippy cup but he sucks SO hard he chokes and gets frustrated and won't drink anymore. I've re-introduced the sippy cup many times and don't know what esle to do! Any suggestions? And now for his best accomplishment yet...Ryder now says, "Mama!!!" The first time he said it I was SO happy. I make him say it all the time because I love it. He can now say "Dada," "Mama," and "Baba" (bottle).

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!?!

So I was supposed to post this like a week ago but my camera battery had died and we were getting ready to go to Mexico for Thanksgiving and yada, yada, yada. So I ended up cutting my hair like Victoria Beckham's. Okay well it's not 100% the same cuz I can't style it like that but I love it. I was super nervous about it because this is the shortest my hair has been (at least on that one shorter side) and I had my friend Jessica cut it and she has never cut my hair before but she was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! I highly recommend her because she does a really good job and is affordable. It looked much better when she styled it but here are Ryder and myself on Thanksgiving. Sorry it's not the best hair shot but Jon was busy getting everything down to the car for us to go eat turkey and then leave for Mexico. I had to take the shot with one hand while holding Ryder. So here it is!! My new hairdo and Ryder giving the stink-eye. I think he did that because of the flash hahaha!!! So for Thanksgiving we went to my uncle John's and had the best most delicious dinner I've ever experienced in my life...EVER!!! It was seriously so yummy. Then we left immediately for Mexico, which was a hellish trip if I may say so. Ryder cried and yelled and screamed for the last 2 hours of the trip down there. Jon and I were beside ourselves. We didn't know what to do and couldn't believe he was being so naughty and could NOT figure out what was wrong with him so we decided he was just sick of being in the car, which I don't blame him. It took us 5.5 hours to get there and we were SO done. Jon's family owns a really nice house down there with 4 bedrooms and like...7 bathrooms. It needed fixing up so we painted and hung pictures and set up other decor. It was pretty much work the whole time we were there but the house looks so much better and they are going to rent it out or maybe sell it one day. We left Mexico at 11am yesterday and didn't get home until 8pm. That's right folks!! We thought the trip THERE was bad...the trip back was 3.5 hours longer (it takes forever to cross the border back into America)!! Ryder did better, but was still really naughty. We took a lot of stops to break up the monotony of the car. One stop was dinner at Taco Bell and Ryder was so well behaved in there just staring at people. One old guy went walking out the door and said to his wife, "Did you see this little boy? I've been watching him the whole time. He's such a good little boy!" I was thinking, "Yeah he's good now...you should've seen him an hour ago and you would NOT be saying that." Anyways this is getting really long so I'll end it here.
Things I am Thankful for (even though Thanksgiving is over)
- A loving husband and father. Jon helped take care of Ryder SO much in Mexico so that I could actually feel like I was on vacation. It was awesome.
- A healthy baby. I keep hearing about friends with babies that have serious problems and it makes me SO thankful that Ryder has been healthy as a horse.
- Parents who take care of us in every way you can think of.
- A roof over my head, food, and clothing.

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OPINIONS PLEASE!!!

The Victoria Beckham asymmetrical bob?? (Longer on one side than the other)

OR

The super short Sienna Miller shag?

Or should I just keep growing my hair out? I said I was gonna grow my hair out for the next 2 years but it is already driving me CRAZY! I can keep growing it if everyone thinks that would look best, but I might go slowly insane in the process. The picture on my header is the most recent so that's where my hair is now and I've had this hairstyle WAY too long and I feel like it's boring now. I'm bored! Plus, I wear it up just about every single day now because the longer my hair gets the longer it takes to blow-dry, straighten, and style. I love Victoria Beckham's hair even though I know a LOT of people have been copying her hair. And I love Sienna Miller's hair even though my sister-in-law already has her haircut (it just looks so cute on her!) and I would have to be really brave since my hair has never been that short. Just tell me what to do people!

My Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,

Normally Christmas comes around and I have no clue what I want or even need. I am a very lucky girl and get to have a lot of nice things all year round. But guess what?? This Christmas you are in luck. I know EXACTLY what I want. It just so happens I need it too. All I want for Christmas is a gift card to Forever 21. It is my very favorite store and you can get a lot for your money there. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you would remember a post I did not TOO long ago titled "Obsession." If you have NOT kept up with my blog...it basically stated that I very badly need to re-vamp my wardrobe. It is time. Santa, I am still wearing a lot of things that I wore in high school!!! Isn't that silly? I graduated 5 years ago! Therefore my wardrobe is somewhat outdated. If you would be so kind and grant me this one wish I promise to be a very good girl and bake you yummy cookies. Thank you.

Larkie

BEST SNACK EVER!!!

My mom had these at her house the other day and she let me have her last pack. They are Pringles STIX! When I took a bite of one of the stix I was NOT expecting it to have SO much flavor because they are skinny little stix. They have four different flavors but she had bought the honey butter flavor, which is AMAZING I'm not even kidding. Each pack has less than 100 calories and they are made from wheat so they aren't super bad for you. I had to run by the store to grab something today and I was kinda in the mood for goldfish but then I remembered loving this snack so I couldn't resist buying some. They had a 2 for 6 deal so OF COURSE I grabbed 2 boxes. I got the famous honey butter and the pizza. I haven't tried the pizza yet...I hope it's good. Some pizza flavored snacks are just too much. Anyways, next time you are at the store and wanna buy a yummy snack...you know what to do. I'm sure you'll make the right choice :)

OUCH!

I never wanted this day to come...luckily it took 9 months to come...but it came. Ryder got his first real boo-boo today! I was talking to my dad in his office and Ryder wanted to crawl around. My mom was playing her piano and he could hear it so he started crawling to the living room. I thought he was fine, she thought he was fine, HE thought he was fine. Nobody really saw what actually happened but we think he pulled himself to standing and then fell and hit his forehead on the table in her entryway. Somehow he got this T-shaped bruise and now he has a HUGE bump right in the middle of his forehead. He cried pretty hard and I felt soooo bad for not keeping a closer watch on him. Sometimes I just get lazy and I end up regretting it later. He did really well though. My mom gave him a lollipop to distract him while I held ice on his head. Then he took a nice long nap to re-cooperate! Poor lil' guy! I hope it goes away soon, it looks terrible.

9 Months Already!!

Ryder turned 9 months old today! I took him to the Dr. and he is perfectly healthy. We are so blessed that we have never had any serious problems with him. He has only had 2 small colds that he got over within a week. Other than that he's never had a rash, fever, flu, reaction to shots, etc. He is also not that bad when he is teething. He sleeps 10 hours at night and takes 2 good naps during the day. He is the best baby! Here are his stats this month.

Weight: 24.5 lbs (92 %)
Height: 30.75 in (97 %)
Teeth: 2 bottom front with one poking through on top and 2 others that are right under the gums ready to come through.

He is crawling EVERYWHERE and standing up on everything and now he walks along the edges of furniture. I think he'll be walking before his first birthday! Sometimes he will pull himself to standing and then let go and just be standing there. Then when he realizes he is standing alone he gets kinda scared and sits down. It's pretty funny. He is such a loving and friendly baby too. He will let anyone hold him, even complete strangers, and will just wrap his arms around their neck and hug them. He LOVES kids and meeting new people. When I take him to the mall I let him crawl around the play area and he will just watch all the kids running around. He's a people watcher like his mom and dad. He likes to crawl up to any kid and just try to babble and play with them. He is gonna make a lot of friends when he's older I think. He is spoiling us for sure. Sometimes I get kinda frustrated with him and later I realize he is SO good. I have no right to be annoyed. I'm sure I'll have a baby that is more difficult than him and I will regret EVER getting frustrated. I'm trying to be better about it. I just have no patience when I don't get enough sleep but that's not a good excuse. Anyways, this is getting too long. We love our baby Ryder.

Happy Birthday Jon-O!

Tomorrow (November 4th - voting day) is Jon's birthday and he is turning 24! Whoo hoo! Just wanted to post an early Happy Birthday to my best friend, husband, lover, father to our baby, couch potato buddy, fart contest opponent, wrestling partner, sharer of love for sushi, keeper of my secrets, nap guru, Dr. Pepper drinker, incorrect lyrics musician, lacrosse coaching maniac, river floater, Halloween makeup wearer, diaper changer, all-around favorite person in the world. Jon is fun, laid-back, and up for ANYTHING! I love being his wife and celebrating his birth. Happy Birthday Jon!!! We love you!!

Love, Lara and Baby Ryder

Joy and Kassidi had babies!!!

My friend Joy who I have known since I was about 4 years old just had her first baby boy Sunday afternoon!!! His name is Dallin Hatch Albrecht and he was 9 lbs just like my little Ryder bug! I totally feel for Joy because I know what she is gonna go through with carting her little lug around. All I can say is JOY - GET A SLING! If I did it all over again I would buy a sling. I had a Snugglie backpack thing but it was kind of a hassle to put him in and take him out of it. Ryder has never been an easy baby to carry and I'm sure Joy will have the same problem but she's stronger than me. Anyways, Congratulations Joy and Aaron!!! Also, my friend Kassidi who I met at work had her baby boy on Sunday morning. His name is Mason Lewis Jeppesen and he was only 7lbs 11oz. Kassidi, have fun with your first boy!! I know he is your second baby but you've probably never had to deal with a baby shmeckle before and lemme tell ya...it can be a hassle!! Anyone who has read past posts would know. HAHA! Conratulations Kassidi and Nathan!!!

Halloween Night

Here we are at August and Melissa's Halloween COSTUME Party!
Jon was the Joker from Batman - The Dark Knight. He won BEST BOY COSTUME and got $5.00 to Cold Stone. He is pretty excited about that. We went to a couple stores trying to find the right makeup for him and our last stop was Party City where they had an actual Joker face kit complete with scars that you glue to your face - GENIUS!! However, the scars did not stay on very easy and when he took them off the glue had never dried underneath. They need to come up with a new way to make them stick. Like...self-adhesive maybe??
Up until about 5 or so hours before the party I was SUPPOSED to be a nurse and I was just gonna wear my scrubs but I decided that was boring. I looked up cheap homemade costumes on the internet and saw MISS AMERICA!!! I remembered my mom still had my old prom dress and a crown is like a must-have at her house so I hit her up for the supplies. She also had JUST the right ribbon for my sash. So here I am. Miss America 2008. Sorry for the immodestness. I tried putting a t-shirt under it or a shrug over it and it just looked stupid. Let me just say I was NOT the only one missing garment pieces, but I was the most immodestly dressed. Only God can judge me.
Ryder was Dr. Q.T. Batootie. Thanks Sonia for giving me Peyton's old costume! HAHA! Everyone at the party thought he looked SO cute and he did. I was kinda sad though. In our rush to get out the door on time I forgot his Dr. bag, stethoscope, and syringe. Oh well. That's what happens when you rush me. Melissa is holding him in this picture. She was a dark fairy. If you look back at my picture there is a better view of her costume in the background.
This is Kara and Nikki (sisters - and Melissa's cousins). Kara was a pirate and won BEST GIRL COSTUME. Nikki was a witch. Kara's husband Jon was also a pirate but he wouldn't let me take a picture until he put his pirate pants on. I ended up forgetting and never got a shot.
Here are August and John Michael. August was a MAC and JM was a PC. They are cousins and also work together so they kinda had a "couples" costume goin on. HAHA jk.
This is Eldon and Stephanie. I LOVED their costumes because they had a couples theme which I am now wishing we did. They were Hercules and Meg. So cute!

Here are Nauni and Jason. They won the Krispy Kreme doughnut eating contest. That was such a hard contest. I ALMOST won but at the last second I started to gag and thought I was gonna puke. My tummy felt very sick afterward.

Here is the whole gang! It's kinda hard to see everyone. In the back there's Heidi and Jason Woody and also Tempestt Owens (Melissa's cousin) and her fiance Brandon McNiel.

We had fun! we had contests, played the murder mafia game, ate TONS of good stuff and just hung out and had a good time. Thanks Aug and Melissa!

Insomnia

Anyone know how to cure insomnia? The past couple of weeks I haven't been able to sleep at night. I'm exhausted all day and then it comes time for bed and I'm wired. My mind just spins all night long and I can't sleep the whole night through without waking up at LEAST once. Most of the time I wake up every hour or wake up and can't fall back asleep for an hour or two. I'm slowly going insane. I got in bed at 9:00pm and it is now 3:27 am and I have not fallen asleep. I even took a sleeping pill at about 12:30 and all it did was make me feel "floaty" and numb and tingly all at the same time. My eyes are starting to wig out on me too but I can't for the life of me fall asleep. I'm not stressed or anything and I didn't have a ton of caffeine so I'm not quite sure what's wrong. All I know is that there's no point in trying to sleep now because I would be waking up in 2.5 hours to get ready for work and I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the day without pumping myself full of caffeine (which I don't like doing).

Lesson learned

So I've already had this happen to me once, but it happened again tonight. You see...my whole life I have learned things the hard way and pretty much made every mistake twice before I really learned from it. Tonight...Ryder pooped in the tub...AGAIN! For any moms out there that have not experienced this yet and Joy, this is for you...here are signs of a baby about to poop in the tub

- They hold very still
- They stay VERY quiet
- They stare into space
- They start to rip "duck" toots in the water (and I always think he's JUST tooting)
- They start to grunt (this is the RED FLAG)

I even said to Ryder, "Wow. You sure are tooting a lot. You better not poopsie!" Literally 2 seconds later he poopsied. DISGUSTING! The worst part is trying to fish the log out because you KNOW it ain't goin' down that drain. Sorry if this is TMI. I just had to share.

Labor Day pictures

Keira took pictures of all the kids by a lake up in Heber when we were there for Labor Day.
Here are some of the cute ones she got of Ryder.
He was just talking and playing while she played photoshoot.
Ryder LOVES being outside. If he's cranky or bored we just take him outside and he immediately calms down. I can't wait for cooler weather so we can play outside all the time.

Grumpy Old Woman

I am only 23 and I feel like such a grumpy old woman. Let me just start off this rant by saying I have one major complaint about our apartment and that is noise. You can hear EVERYTHING! It is 1:05am and I can't sleep because there are stupid college students having a party outside!! They did this about 3 weekends ago and the party lasted until 4am, which is when I could finally fall asleep. Lucky for them it was a Saturday night and we have late church so it was annoying but I blew it off. They lucked out once again because tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have much going on. I got out of bed to look out my window and it woke Jon up so I asked him to PLEASE go tell the people to shut up and of course he said, "No. Just put a pillow over your head." I am so annoyed but too chicken to go out there and ask them to please SHUT UP! The stupid girls keep screaming and yelling, "WHOOOO!!!!!" I wanna go sucker punch them. It also doesn't help that in my first 3 hours of attempted slumber I was rudely awaken by Jon 3 different times because he was either sleep walking or talking. He has been getting worse. He used to do it every once in a while only one time during the night. This past week he's been doing it 2-3 times per night every night!!! I'm just ready to freak out. I know he can't help it but I HATE being woken up. I'm just so grumpy and old already. I used to be a college student and go to parties and I would hate the stupid old people that would break up our parties and complain about the noise. I am now the stupid old people getting mad at the stupid young party people. Life is just one viscious cycle.

Halloween Craft Kit

Look at what I made! It's a Martha Stewart Halloween wreath making kit! Looks kinda cheap, I know. It was only 15 bucks but I was kinda in a crafty mood today so I picked this bad boy up at Michaels. It was NOT easy. I had to brush glue on some of the leaves and sprinkle glitter on them...very messy. Then I had to gather leaves together in clusters and wire them together. THEN I had to use special tape to attach all the leaf clusters to the circle frame all while keeping Ryder busy. Also, NOT VERY EASY! I even took him to Trader Joe's after Michaels and they gave him a balloon so I figured he would keep busy while I crafted away. But NOOOO!
I gave this little man snacks, toys, took several breaks to hold him and play with him, and he STILL would not play by himself. He was SO into what I was doing.
What was that??? You're spoiled? I know it!
See! The proof is on his face. I was doing everything I could to keep him from wanting me. What can I say? My little man loves me...AND my new wreath. He crawled over to it about 2 minutes after I finished it and tried to pull it apart.

Yet another

I'm bored right now so what the heck. I'm supposed to say 6 things that are weird about me. I'm a weird person so this should be easy. However, I do tend to repeat myself since I get tagged a LOT so I'm gonna try and say different things this time.

1. I love the smell of wet CLEAN towels. If they have been used a lot or smell like someone or something, then it's just gross. But I just love when a clean towel gets damp. It's smells so good.

2. I can gleek. You know when you can spray, well - saliva i guess, out from under your tongue.

3. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people can't spell or use proper grammar. I've always been real strong in the English dept. so when I catch those types of errors I HAVE to correct whoever did it. I'm sure I make errors sometimes too but if I think it's correct, then in my mind it's correct. Okay let me just put it this way people. We live in AMERICA. We speak ENGLISH. Therefore...speak proper ENGLISH!

4. I have some crazy OCD tendencies. I won't go into detail but let's just say it has a lot to do with light switches, where decorations are placed, my hair, etc.

5. I have this problem with food. As soon as I am done eating a meal, I can be completely full but all I can think about is when my next meal will be and what I will eat. It's a sickness! I'm seriously obsessed with food.

6. Ryder has to look cute. It matters to me more than how I look. If Jon dresses him and makes him look weird or dumb (which has happened - and Jon actually thought it looked good) I have to change his outfit. Same thing with his hair. Last time I let Jon do it he made it look SO gay and put so much product in it that it ended up being greasy and I had JUST bathed him.

Okay there's my 6 weird things. This time I'm going to tag...Ashley Madsen (so you can post something NEW :))

Boys will be boys

Sonia had to take Peyton to the Dr. last Friday and when I found out she was going to be taking 3 other boys with her I HAD to intervene. Taking one child to the Dr. alone is hard enough. I have Fridays off so I offered to take the 3 boys for her. I kept asking them what they wanted to do and offered a few suggestions to which they would reply in a way that was less than enthusiastic. Then I said the magic word...nintendo! We have the old school nintendo, ya know the one where you can play Duck Hunt (only we don't have that game - the coolest one). I was on the computer and then looked over to see this! All of the boys (including Ryder) totally absorbed. Thankfully Jon gets off early every other Friday so he was there to help me do "boy stuff".

Here is Ryder practicing his scary Halloween face for all the trick or treaters. I don't know about you but I'M pretty scared. This morning he crawled over to my entertainment center, opened the doors, then pulled the glass against his face. I grabbed my camera as fast as I could and then just cracked up laughing. This is the goofiest face he's made in his short life. I'm so glad I caught it on camera.

Oh Geez

Okay so in my tagged post I didn't mean I want ALL new friends!!! I guess I gave everyone the impression that they are old friends and I don't like them anymore. Not true! I just want to make new friends. I like having lots of friends. I would like to the keep the old and get some new! That is all my people!

Tagged by Ashlee

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED!!!

8 OBSESSIONS
1. reading blogs
2. Kissing, snuggling, hugging Ryder
3. money - i'm constantly thinking about it
4. SCENTSY!
5. Diet green tea (it tastes better than regular)
6. trying to control portions and not eat too much or too fast
7. Online shopping for clothes I can't buy
8. Keeping Ryder on a somewhat strict schedule. I'm ridiculous. If he misses a nap or goes to bed kind of late, I get all upset. It's not even that serious!!!

* 8 WORDS OR PHRASES I USE OFTEN
1. I love you
2. When are you gonna be home?
3. Is that my pookie baby?
4. Are we gonna be able to pay rent, bills, etc???
5. no, no
6. What's wrong?
7. Have a good day
8. Skin and Cancer Center, this is Lara how can I help you? lol.


8 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE
1. See my kids grow up and get married
2. see all my grandkids
3. Go to New York!
4. Pay off all debt
5. travel, travel, travel
6. Conquer any one of my many fears
7. Find a way to live comfortably and never have to worry and stress about stupid money.
8. I want to die before Jon. If he dies first I don't know what I will do.

* 8 THINGS I'VE LEARNED
1. Being a mom is just as hard as I always imagined.
2. Money does not buy happiness, but neither does the lack of it.
3. I am going to be picking up after Jon for the rest of my life.
4. Pick your battles
5. No matter how many good changes I've made in my life I will always be a bit of a rebel in one way or another. It's just who I am.
6. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.
7. You can't have complete control over everything ALL the time.
8. I do not want a lot of children.

8 PLACES I WOULD LOVE TO GO
1. New York
2. Paris
3. Hawaii
4. Canada
5. China
6. Disneyland when Ryder is old enough to appreciate it
7. on a romantic vacay alone with Jon.
8. My parents' new cabin!!

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY WANT OR NEED
1. Money
2. A new pair of jeans. Jon thinks I'm retarded for wanting jeans so badly but I have been wearing the same jeans (they are my favorite) almost every day for 2 years now. I haven't bought a new pair since. They are very worn out. I need a new pair! Is that so much to ask?
3. A house (or to just have our apartment be on the bottom floor)
4. A Vacation!
5 to lose weight and work out
6. new clothes, shoes, purse, make-up, etc. I hardly shop for myself since I got married.
7. A new group of friends. Jon and I are kinda losers but at least we have each other and Ryder! We just never go out with friends...ever, only with family.
8. To not have to clean my house ALL the time. Sometimes 3 times in one day.

THAT WAS NOT EASY! I tag MY MOM!

Photo Tagged

Susan photo tagged me. This is from March 31st of this year. Ryder was about one week shy of being 2 months old. Jon was carrying him around the house like this and he actually fell asleep. We thought it was pretty funny so we snapped a shot. So for the photo tag you have to go to your pictures folder, open the 6th folder, and choose the 6th picture. Post it on your blog ladies! I tag Sonia Cobb, Lindsey Michaelree, Melissa Goebel, and Tatum Hendrickson.

8 Months!!

Ryder is 8 months old today! He weighs 23.5 lbs and is just getting heavier by the day. He still has only 2 teeth and he likes to bite EVERYTHING! When he bites my hand it hurts so bad. They are like little daggers. He loves to eat everything and anything. The other day I was blogging and he got real quiet (which all mothers know means trouble) so I went to check on him and he had pulled the rubber tip off a doorstop and had it in his mouth!!! Luckily I got it out without struggle or he might have choked. I have also caught him twice crawling over to the kitchen and finding a little felt circle (the kind you stick under chair legs so they don't drag across the floor) and trying to eat it. So gross! I also HAVE to add that our bottom floor is ALL tile so Jon got extra carpet from his parents and cut a big "area rug" for us. It is not bound on the edges so I am always sweeping up loose carpet fibers because Ryder loves to sit at the edge of the rug, pull the fibers out, and try to eat them. I have to watch him like a hawk these days! I gave him his first real spanking today. You can call me a bad mom if you want but I think he's old enough to start getting SOME discipline. I was trying to change his (poopie) diaper and he kept kicking me and trying to crawl away so once I got his butt clean I gave him a nice firm swat on the bum cheek. He cried, but got over it pretty quick. Then he proceeded to kick me more, all while I'm trying to keep poop OFF my furniture. So I swatted his butt again. It took about 3 spanks for him to finally stop. His favorite thing to do since he started becoming mobile is crawling to my entertainment center and pulling every single DVD we own out on to the floor to play with. I clean up DVD's daily. See him in action in the picture above.

2 years!

I should probably have posted a picture from our wedding or something but I couldn't find them. I think they are all on Jon's computer. This one was taken when I was 8 months pregnant and I just like it. It shows the love. So in case you were wondering why I'm totally leaning into him, it's because my belly was huge. Our 2 year anniversary is today, October 5th! Last night we went to Saketini and ate 5 sushi rolls until we felt sick. It was awesome. Then we went and saw Eagle Eye. That movie is LONG, but pretty good. After that we went and got a Jamba Juice. Anyways, we didn't do anything out of the ordinary and we actually came home pretty early so we could get our bumpkin to bed. He was being babysat at Grandma and Grandpa Stowell's. It was really nice to get out and be alone for a few hours. Neither of us can believe it's been 2 years. Sometimes it feels like we've been together our whole lives, other times it feels like we haven't had enough time together. The best thing that happened to us these past 2 years is RYDER! We love him. He makes us so happy. Having him has definitely brought us closer and challenged us in ways that we never imagined. We have had so many fun times and so many hard times, but somehow we have made it through 2 years and we are still in love! We are best friends. There is nobody I'd rather hang out with than my own little family. I know that I've made my complaints about Jon, but at the end of the day...I just love him. So here's to 2 adventurous years!

Streaker Baby!

Just had to post this one. Sorry he's naked and you might see his schmeckle but hey he's an innocent babe and it's cute! This was taken the same time I took the nakie pictures below when I was trying to change his diaper and he was fighting me so I gave up. Kinda funny that he just wanted to play naked but then he crawls to his diaper and picks it up. Maybe he doesn't like being nakie after all??

For Rent

Just wanted to post pics of our first family home so I don't ever forget it (though I don't see how I could). I finally drove by it the other day. There is a FOR RENT sign out front and the grass is really long. Sad day. There is still nobody living there. It's all alone. I will always miss this house until we get another one someday. However, this is not my dream house people! I hated being on a corner and having people zoom by in their rice burners 24/7 waking Ryder up from naps and the house was pretty small. But hey...it was a HOUSE!
Now THIS is my dream house! How cute is this house? This actually belonged to our cousins on Jon's side, Chip and Stephanie. They just moved out of it and I WISH I could move in. However, I'm not sure how I feel about moving to the east coast (Charlotte) just to live there. But I just think this home is beautiful and if I could get into a house like this I would be the happiest girl in the world.