Just When I Thought I had it Down...

Ryan decided it was time to start pulling himself up on things! This makes bedtime a whole lot harder. We had it down so well, too. Now it takes an hour of me laying him down, him standing up and then me laying him down again and again! It is so hard not to just laugh and grin with him when I see him do this. He gets so excited and always has the biggest smile on his face, unless I leave him there for a while and he can't get down! It is amazing how babies seem to learn things overnight! He has also given up on the pureed baby food. He just wants to feed himself! These babies, they sure keep you on your toes!

Visitors

Brett's niece, Emily came to stay with us for a while and his dad came for a couple of days, too. We had a great time. We gave them a true CA experience by going up to the mountians one day and then the beach the next day. We only took pictures in Lake Arrowhead - I was bummed because we took Ry on his first bike ride at the beach and it was so cute! I will just have to get pics of his second bike ride. Anyway, we love having visitors, so anyone is welcome at anytime!
Brett's dad and Ryan ( If anyone knows any eligible single,older women he is looking! Brett's dad, not Ryan...)
I was excited to get a frozen banana... I ended up really only eating frozen chocolate! Ryan took care of the banana part.
Brett found this huge pinecone... I don't know why we had to get a picture of Ryan next to it. I guess when you have a baby, you just find any excuse to get another photo op!

The Boob Tube

Brett and I decided to get rid of our cable and DVR (sad)! It is so funny how attached you get to the TV. When we were first married, we didn't have TV and it didn't even phase us. But ironically, when we moved to NYC, we started watching it more. It was just nice to come in an veg after being out in the crazy city. We also got hooked on DVR there as well. That is a great invention! However, the visiting authority at our stake conference talked about how media is one of the ways in which we allow negative influences into our homes without really realizing it. I will be the first to admit that I did justify a few of the shows that I enjoyed watching... So, combined with that and the opportunity to save a little money, we made the big cut. When I called to cancel the lady asked why I wanted to cancel and I said, " because we don't want to watch tv anymore." She seemed taken back by this and responded, " is there any other reason?" uh... what more can I say? Anyway, it has been hard not to get my daily fix of Gilmore Girls and all the other silly shows I watched, but I have been enjoying the fact the it seem like we have a lot more time on our hands. We are looking forward to finding new ways to fill our time so if anyone has any recommendations, let us know!

AMeriCAn IdOl COnCERt!!

After 7 months, Brett and I had our first big outing without Ryan. I was sad to leave him, but he was with my mom and dad, so I knew he was in good hands! I loved this season of AI so much that I convinced Brett to take me to the concert! We went with my brother and two of his friends. The concert was really fun. It was definately obvious who was really, truely good when you saw them live. I enjoyed Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, and the Davids the most. Brooke White was fun to watch too, but wasn't as dynamic of a performer as the others. Thanks mom and dad for making it possible to have fun night on the town! At the Staples Center... it was weird feeling like we didn't have a kid again. It is crazy that we used to do stuff like this all of the time. Now we can really appreciate the times when we can hit the town!
Big Ty, Big Pimpin'
Our sweet seats... at the VERY top of the Staples Center. You could not get any higher. I was afraid to stand up!
Wow. You have really got to love him to wear this shirt!
This has nothing to do with AI, I just thought it was a funny picture! I sure missed him when we were out!

Fourth of July Pictures

Representin'
Ryan loves his awesome "my first fourth" glasses
Cooling off in the pool with mom
Ryan getting to know Uncle Rick

Happy Fourth of July!

I love this holiday! I am so grateful to live in this country where we are able to enjoy so many rights and liberites. I am always in awe as I read about our history at the sacrifice that so many people before us have made to make this country what it is today. It is so apparent to me that these was a Divine hand leading this country to freedom. As I was thinking about this last night, it made me realize the huge respoinsibility we have to be involved in the government. After all, isn't that what our forefathers fought for - a government for the people and by the people? There are so many things today that I want to stand up for to keep America the way it began and to uphold those values that I believe that America should stand for. I am just an old fashioned, patriotic girl and proud of it!

Besides the big celebration going on today, we have had some fun, family events.

My little brother, "Big Ty" graduated from High School! He is one of the greatest kids that I know. He is a wonderful example to me, even though I am the older sister. It is crazy that he is going to college! In my mind he will forever my my 8 year old little buddy! We couldn't get agood pic of all of us. This is the one that had most of us looking at the camera!

This is Ryan's new face! I took him to the beach to get some good pictures and he just pulled this out of nowhere. He realizes now that he can make us laugh and so he does this all of the time!

Brett went to Charlotte for a week, so Ry and I hung out with my family and took two trips to the beach. He really loves to eat sand. I should have stopped him, but instead, I took a picture! Brett has to take a little break from swimming because he had nose surgery yesterday! It was a fairly easy out-patient procedure, but they had to put him out, so he was quite out of it all day. Hopefully it helps and he can breathe better!

This is Ryan just being cute with food all over his face!

Somethings about me

I haven't been able to upload some of the pictures I wanted to post, so luckily Britney Paul tagged me so I have something else to post! So, here is a little more about me:

5 things on my "to do" list:
1. Pay my stinking parking ticket
2. Call my insurance about a lovely hospital bill.
3. Work on Ryan’s scrapbook.
4. Go running.
5. Figure out what to make for dinner tomorrow


5 Snacks I LOVE:
1. Cherry Nutrigrain bars
2. Blueberry-lemon Smoothies
3. Cookie Dough...is that a snack?
4. Popcorn, chesse and apples all mixed together
5. Oreo Gen-Soy Bars

5 Things I’d do if I suddenly became a millionaire:
1. Buy a house
2. Pay off student loans
3. Invest in something
4. Buy stuff for people. You know when you are walking through a store and you think “Oh, Jill would love this or Christie needs this”... I would not just think those things; I would buy them and give it!
5. Give myself a shoe makeover


5 Places I've lived:
1. La Verne, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. London, England
4. New York, New York
5, Charlotte, NC

5 Jobs I've had:
1. 21 Choices Yogurt Server
2. AAA Receptionist
3. Testing Center at BYU
4. EFY Counselor
5. Teacher

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I HATE touching wooden spoons, especially wet ones and wet, wrinkly hands.
2. Every night before I go to sleep, I have to put lotion and Chap Stick on.
3. One of my legs is slightly longer than the other. Not noticeably, I hope.
4. Every time I pluck this one spot on my left eyebrow, I sneeze.
5. I get really grumpy if I don’t get to go running enough during the week.