Daredevil

Hi y'all,

This is Ryan. What? You didn't think I could type? I know, I'm pretty advanced for a 19-month old.

Well, Mommy is busy cleaning up one of my many messes so I decided to play around on this computer thing. I am not really sure how it works but I do love climbing into the chair, and typing on the keyboard.

Mommy tells me that I have turned into a real daredevil in the last 24 hours, just like my Daddy. I am not really sure what "daredevil" means {do you know?}. I also have no idea how that makes me like Daddy {and I don't care because he is the coolest person I know}, but I'm sure I will understand one day.

What I can tell you is that I had a blast last night, climbing onto Mommy and Daddy's bed and then jumping off face first. It was SO much fun and worth the pain! I was glad that Mommy decided to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies downstairs because she wouldn't have let me have all this fun {plus, the cookies are yummy!}. And, after such good practice last night, I decided to climb out of my crib for the first time this morning too {I have heard Mommy talking about me not doing this in the last few weeks and had to show her I could}! You see, I have a stuffed dog that I LOVE and I like to throw it on the floor in the morning and whine until Mommy comes in and picks it up {normally}. This morning, however, I decided I would just get it myself, so I did {I am very independent you know}! For some reason, getting to the floor this time hurt a lot more than I thought it would though. I cried a little and Mommy came running into my room, but I am tough and showed her that I was just fine.

I then overheard Mommy and Daddy {he was still home too, which made me pretty happy} talking about it while I was watching Elmo, and it sounds like I will be getting a new bed soon now. I cannot wait! I am over this crib thing anyway!

Love,
Ryan

P.S. I am sure that Mommy will post some pictures of my new bed soon. She loves taking pictures! So, stay tuned.

Hot, HOt, HOT!

We had dinner tonight at the local pizza joint (aka, Brooklyn Joe's) and then took a trip over to the park for a little playtime before it got dark. This is the first time that we have been to the park in weeks (besides a short visit on the 4th of July since we watched fireworks at a park). It is just too dang HOT! Even tonight at 8:00PM it was still 88 degrees outside, which actually didn't feel too bad considering it was 100 to 105 today with the heat index.

After chasing balls, dogs, rocks, and sticks in the grassy field at the park, little man was sweating and his face was flushed. He didn't seem to mind though and moved right on to the playground. Boy has he gotten more independent since our last visit ... he went down the slides all by himself {smile, tear}! Anyway, once we got home, Ryan decided some water out of David's COLD water bottle sounded better than out of his sippy cup so he helped himself ...

and, he did very well until the end :) I will say that he has gotten quite good at drinking out of straws lately as he prefers to have whatever you happen to be drinking (tea, coffee, milk, juice, water, doesn't matter). I believe this was his very first attempt with a water bottle all by himself though. Pretty good for a first try! Who knows, maybe the soaking of his shirt was on purpose as I am sure that cooled him off nicely :) But, just in case it didn't, he also enjoyed a strawberry snowstorm fruit chiller after his water.

So, I can assure you that he is nice and cooled off for now {and even clean and ready for bed, thanks to the shower he just had}. And, yes, (1) he is still awake at 1o:00PM, and (2) I am aware that this is not normal. All I can tell you is that it works for us and we will thoroughly enjoy sleeping in tomorrow morning!

We hope you have a great weekend and manage to stay cool :)

On the road again ...

Well, I can tell you that Ryan and I are tired of riding in the car, that is for sure after driving approximately 1,750 miles in 10 days, and we are glad to be back at home with David and sleeping in our own beds. You see, after we got back from our fun trip to Ohio, we spent one day at home getting some laundry done and repacking, and then headed to Augusta, Georgia for three nights/four days to visit the Hall's and Young's.

Note: I know some of you may be thinking that we are crazy for planning all this traveling back to back so just to explain our reasoning, David was completing an ALC {Advanced Leadership Course} class and then out of town at an Army team building event while we were in Augusta, which is why we went when we did. Makes perfect sense now, right?

We had lots of fun in Augusta visiting with Aunt Cathy, Uncle Jack, Joseph, Alice, Uncle Curt, Aunt Carol, Candler, and Catie, and are so glad that we made the trip! Ryan loved watching the birds in the Hall's backyard {Uncle Jack has LOTS of bird feeders}, coloring with markers, going on a walk, playing with the hose and all the balls in the Hall's garage, swimming in the Young's pool, being pulled around on a boogy board, playing in the Young's tree house, playing with Buddy, Gracie, and Annie {the dogs}, eating homemade peach ice cream {especially with a straw}, and going to the fresh produce stand and Dutch bakery {actually, I am the one who really enjoyed these last two things ... I came home bearing peaches, tomatoes, corn, homemade bread, and cookies for David}. We enjoyed several great meals while we were there too {cannot forget those!} ... yummy hamburgers cooked by Joseph, dinner at Poblano's Mexican Grill, lunch at Roly Poly, BLT sandwiches, delicious barbecue a la Uncle Curt, and last but not least, Aunt Cathy's famous rice krispie treats {which I enjoyed for breakfast every morning ... YUM!}. Thanks to everyone in Augusta for having us!!!

And, we are looking forward to spending time at home now for the rest of this month, but we will see what next month brings :)

How Big is Ryan???

SO BIG!!!

O-H-I-O

This past weekend, Ryan and I tagged along on Laura's trip to Canton. Most of the day last Thursday and yesterday {Monday} were spent driving in the car - it is an 11 hour drive. I was not looking forward to either of these days as the farthest Ryan had previously driven in the car was about 8 hours {to Florida several times}, and I feared the worst {i.e., he would be screaming the last 3 to 4 hours of the drive}. To my wonderful surprise, the go-with-the-flow little guy was a complete angel - both days - and we had a most enjoyable time in the car talking, reading books, eating, sleeping, playing with Denali {Laura's dog}, eating more, and enjoying the beautiful scenery {it really is a pretty drive even when it is raining, which it did the entire way home}. Ryan especially enjoyed going through the two tunnels on the West Virginia turnpike. However, despite the fact that the ride was enjoyable {for an 11 hour car ride with an 18 month old and two dogs}, we were all thrilled to reach our destination on the way up and back.

We had a wonderful three days {Friday, Saturday, and Sunday} in Canton and enjoyed spending time with Dave and some of his family and friends. I also enjoyed getting my fix of some of my favorite food in Canton - Ro's Custard Creations, Angello's, Samantha's, and Milk and Honey. We also enjoyed the cooler Ohio weather, which provided a much needed break from the blazing heat we have been experiencing lately in Hot-lanta. So, here are a few highlights from our trip - in pictures, as I know everyone ignores what I write and skips straight to the pictures anyway :)

1. The little guy slept in a big boy bed all by himself for the very first time and did really well with it! However, just in case you are wondering, we are not ready to switch to this full time by any means as Ryan still likes his crib and has never, yet, attempted to climb out of it.


2. He also learned to play the piano! Just kidding, but Ryan did really enjoy banging on the keys of the piano I used to play many years ago. Maybe he will learn to play one day, if he wants to and David will let him.

3. Ryan loved playing in Dave's backyard with his balls and chalk, the gravel around the fire pit, and especially the garden hose. He was soaken wet by the time he was done with the hose and watching him try to squirt Dave was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. He was also quite enthralled with the barn.

4. We went to Price Park on Saturday afternoon and had fun feeding hundreds {and I am not exaggerating} of ducks and geese, and then playing on the swings.

5. We had lunch and delicious ice cream sundaes/milkshakes at Milk and Honey after we played at the park. Ryan was very fascinated with the milkshake on the sign out front as we were leaving ... guess he didn't get enough inside :)

6. We enjoyed having a bonfire in Dave's backyard on Saturday night {thanks to the cooler weather I already mentioned}. I love bonfires - I guess because they remind me of the fall, my favorite time of the year!

7. We went to Lake Mohawk on Sunday afternoon and had fun riding around on the boat. Ryan even got to go tubing - we went VERY slow, promise!

Laura, thanks for letting us tag along on your little trip, and thanks for having us, Dave!!!!!!

God Bless the USA!

As one of my favorite patirotic songs goes, I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me, and I am grateful to those that continue to defend our freedom everyday! God bless the USA!

The BEAUTIFUL flag cake I made :)

We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend and hope you did too!! I was sad to see it come to an end. We enjoyed spending time together {yay for 4 day weekends!}, going to an Atlanta Braves game {Ryan's first} with friends, running/watching {depending on which one of us you are talking to} the Peachtree Road Race, which I recently learned is the World's largest 10-K, having a picnic at the park with Pop and Aunt Laura and then watching fireworks, going to a cookout at Grammy's house, and getting to visit with Ama, Grandaddy, and the Halls. Here is a quick glimpse of our weekend in pictures :)

Braves Game

Peachtree Road Race - Way to go Daddy!

Ryan LOVES watermelon!

Enjoying the fireworks display

Cookout at Grammy's house

Ryan had LOTS of fun with Joseph and Alice!

We hope you have a great week!

Pray not to miss this!

I heard some of the best advice regarding motherhood this week ... to pray not to miss "this" - whatever stage "this" is. In the early days, pray at night when you are up feeding them to not miss the sweetness of a hungry newborn that can only be nurtured by his mother. And, pray in the wee hours of the morning when the little one decides to start the day early, not to miss the play time in your pajamas as the sun comes up. Well, today I found myself praying not to miss the moments where Ryan reaches up for my hand without looking (to lead me to where he wants to go) ... knowing that I am there to help him and to keep him safe.

You see, Mom and I took Ryan to the Yellow River Game Ranch this afternoon for a few hours. For those of you that have never experienced this cool place, it is a mile-long trail through 24 wooded acres where you will encounter birds and animals indigenous to the state of Georgia, including white-tailed deer, bunnies, buffalo, sheep, kid goats, and black bears, all waiting to be fed, admired and petted on a "nose-to-nose" basis.

Ryan LOVED feeding the animals, especially the sheep and deer. He held onto our hands (or more like a finger) and led us from one animal to the next all the while motioning for some more carrots or graham crackers to give out. It is so much fun to watch him explore the world around him and experience new things such as all these exciting creatures!

I love being able to be in the moment (not distracted by the computer or the phone) and soak up this time with my sweet little guy! I pray not to miss this!!