Ryan's First Bite of Real Food

We fed Ryan peas yesterday for the first time. He didn't do too bad...meaning he didn't spit them out all over the place! Brett got some great shots of the big event!

The first bite... not so sure.
Gross!
"Why are you putting this back in my mouth?" Satisfaction!

Graystone Mansion

Brett and I went into Beverly Hills on Saturday. It was really fun. We loved the mansion that is now city property. You can just go there and hang out on the beautiful grounds. For those Gilmore Girl fans out there... do you think they used this mansion as the shot for Chilton? I think they did! I was really excited about that!

Future Coug!

I swear he smiles a lot... just not in front of cameras! I think he just tries to figure out how he is going to get it and then put it in his mouth! Go Cougs!

Before I Knew

This time last year, I was 12 weeks pregnant. I dreamed about this mothers day when I would, in fact, be a mother. I was excited, but I was nervous: nervous I would be bored or not have much to do or that it wouldn't be as meaningful as teaching school. Those are horrible thoughts, I know, but they were real. Now that I am a mother, I realized that I had those thoughts before I really knew what being a mother was about.

It was before I knew:

the sparkle in Ryan's eyes when he smiles,

what it feels like to hold MY sleeping baby in my arms

the feel of his little hand in mine,

the sound of his laughter,

how happy he would be when I got him out of his crib each morning,

how cute it is when he reaches for me,

the desire I would feel to protect him and to keep him happy,

the joy that comes with each and every new milestone he reaches,

the huge responsibility it is to help him become a righteous, kind and good person,

and the deep and indescribable love that I feel for him.

Now that I know, being a mother is the only thing that I would want to be doing at this moment! I am so grateful and lucky to be Ryan's mommy and to see him grow each and every day!

New Stuff, New Blog, And Stuff

After I posted that I post, I remembered my goal to post more than just baby stuff. I actually thought of a few things! Here is goes:

1. When we moved, I wanted to throw out all of our old stuff and get new stuff ( how many times can I use that word?). I get tired of decor pretty quick. Some day I want to be able to have 2-3 sets of accents to go with my mostly neutral furnishings so I can change it up whenever I want to... some day. Anyway, because that"some day" is not yet now, I settled with keeping our original theme - brown and red, but just adding some other colors. I don't know how I like the blanket, but here is the main idea.

2. I am starting a new blog. It is called "What's For Dinner?". Check it out. If you are interested in contributing, email me and I can try to add you!

3. Here is the "and stuff" portion. I am sad that Brook White is off of AI. I liked her - I think that I could be her friend - and hand her tissues. But, I am am embarrassed at how long she tried to hug Ryan Seacrest. Poor girl. However, I do want David Cook to win, even though I love David A, too. I just really liked this season and want to go to the concert! I am nerdy!

No Longer a Portable Baby

Ryan is 5 months today! It is amazing what he learns everyday. This weekend, Ryan decided that he was no longer going to tolerate being toted around by mom and dad. We went out to dinner with my family and Brett and I had to take turns taking laps with Ryan outside. The only way that he would be quiet was if we either gave him a drink of water out of our cup(his new favorite trick) or give him water off of a spoon. He doesn't cry - he just squeals and screams. Which is cute, but mostly embarrassing. And church... forget about it! I spend pretty much the whole three hours pacing the halls. I feel like I am the only mom doing that - the WHOLE time. He is a lot of fun though and I love watching his personality emerge - even if it is a strong one!

Misfit and Milestones

As of late I have been trying to figure out new hobbies for myself. Some of my friends have amazing sewing talents (check out Jill's Seams Simple Blog and Chelsea's quilts) that I am in awe of and I want to try my hand at it. My mom has told me many times that she tried to teach me, but I was never interested. Honestly I am not really that interested in sewing, but I think that it would be fun to make something and be proud of my end result... hopefully. Anyway, today I walked into JoAnnes with the intention of getting a pattern for curtians for our apartment. I walked around aimlessy for about 5 minutes, trying to remember what I do in a fabric shop. I came across the pattern books and started looking. I came across nursery bedding and decided that that would be fun! I pick up the two patterns and began to look at fabric. Again I wandered aimlessly around - I didn't know what to do next. After I circled the store a few times I realized that I didn't belong... that was the end of my attempts at being crafty. Next time I am bringing my mommy!

Today was so fun with Ryan. He has rolled over a few times in the past few weeks, but today he rolled over 4 times! He also started really GiGglinG! It is the cutest sound in the whole world. This video is after 3 rounds of getting him to laugh, so he was kind of over it. You can catch a little bit, though. I was so proud of him and it made me tear up thinking that he is growing up.

Coincidence... I hope not!

A couple days ago I went and got this for Ryan to help his congestion and cough. It was the first night in a week hat he slept 6 consecutive hours. When we came to my parents house, we forgot to bring it. After Thursday night, I told Brett that we needed to go buy some more to see if it would help again. IT DID! I feel much more rested. So, i would recommend this product to anyone! It is not just for colds, I think that it is supposed to help with just fussy babies too! (I should get some advertising pay for this,right?)

Sleep Update

THANK YOU to all those who gave me sleeping advice. I do love hearing what has worked for others. Oh how I wish Ryan was sleeping like he was when I made that post. He went from being a pretty good sleeper to not so much. It all started when we went on vacation. I just decided that when we got home I wouldn't go anywhere for a few days to get him back on track. Well, then we got home and as you all saw, Ryan got sick! So, he was waking up because he didn't feel good. He still has some wheezing and a stuffy nose so he wakes up a lot because he can't breathe! Here is how last night went:


7:30 bed
10:00 feeding
12:30 awake and crying
1:00 asleep
2:20 awake and screaming - moved into another room as to not wake Brett and my sister who was sleeping in the next door room( we are babysitting her while my parents are gone)
2:30 listened to Ryan babble himself to sleep until 3:00am
3:15 awake and crying - held his hand
4:15 awake and screaming, fed him
5:45 awake and crying
6:10 asleep
7:00 awake for good and mom is TIRED!

This is when I really wish that babies could just talk. It would be so much easier if Ryan could just say " Mom, my nose is stuffy and I can't breathe. Can you please get your snot sucker and help me out!" It is hard for me to know what do when I am not sure if he crying just to cry or because he doesn't feel good. I am hoping that he gets all better soon so we can start getting his sleep back to normal!

I need to work on coming up with some new posts! I think that my mind is just consumed with mommyhood and sleep deprivation that I don't think about much else. As soon as things get back to normal, I will do my best to spice things up with some humorous anecdotes or deep thoughts(on the occasion that I have some)! As for now, you will continue to get cute pictures of my beautiful boy! Here is one in his new hat!


Let me tell you, you certainly get a lot more attention when you have a baby! I went to my brother and sister's swim meet and so many people were ohhing and ahhing about Ryan. One lady from the other team asked if I was going to be at league finals because she wanted to sit next to me! As we left a whole stand full of people were waving goodbye! I don't mean to brag... it really is just such a funny thing how much people love babies! Not one of those people would have even talked to me had I not had him with me! I love my boy!

My Poor Baby

All my life I have hated going to the doctor - now I know why! They tramatize you from the start. I just took Ryan to the doctor for his second set of shots and it was so sad! I was glad that Brett could be with me to help, though. Last time, I just sat on a chair and covered my eyes and ears this time I toughened up and stood next to him. I was the passie girl. We brought some sugar water and would dip the passie in and stick it in before each shot ( 3!) That seemed to help. The next day, Ryan woke up with a fever and a runny nose. All he wanted to do was lay on my shoulder. Today it involved into a stuffy nose and a cough. The poor kid! It makes me so sad to see him go thought the pain of shots and the the discomfort of side effects. My dad made a good point, though; it would be more sad to see him actually get those sicknesses they are immunizing against. I just hope he starts to feel better soon!