Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Ryder turned 1 on the 25th! We can't believe it's already been a year since he came into our lives. We had his party on Saturday in the barn, and he had a BLAST!

The Setup: We spiced up the barn using standard baby blue decor but we also personalized it with a lot of pictures of Ryder. I also hung a curtain rod displaying layouts of some of his accomplishments.

We had all the food setup in this alcove. To personalize it, I put snapshots of Ryder the day he was born with everyone holding him who came to the hospital. Everyone loved seeing themselves holding him as a little guy!

His seat was the center of the show! Disregard the gross barn door! Eek!

Mr. Man in his birthday outfit!

This was when he first entered the barn. He just stood there taking it all in. All the people, the balloons, the decorations...he didn't know what to think!

The cake table! Since he loves duckies, we decided to do a ducky theme for his cake. You can see they made a baby cake to match so he could have his very own!

He LOVED it! We got him strawberry because on his birthday we gave him a chocolate cupcake and he tasted it and threw it on the ground! The strawberry was an absolute hit!

Roo and his PawPaw. Awwwww!

It was such a fun day...not to mention all the prezzies he received! Thanks everyone for coming! And we missed those of you who couldn't make it. :)

My Boys

Louie was feeling left out, so here are my boys...two drool often and one drools occasionally. What can I say? I'm blessed.

My girls

My speckled Payton and my tan little lovebug Maddy. They would be lost without each other.

Maddy turned FOUR this month. I can't believe it. Maddy is a puggle (her mother is a beagle and her father is a pug) and the absolute BEST pet you could ever imagine. She is medium sized, although MOST of her breed are smaller than her. She loves to snuggle and would do anything for a warm lap to take a nap. If you are in the market for a pet, I suggest checking the shelter for one of these designer mutts. They are absolutely the best!

He's a walker!

HE WALKS!

My little baby boy is WALKING! As of February 6th, he is cruising ALL over the place. I tried to photograph him in action so you could see it with your own eyes!

Some of my latest creations...

Journaling says - "You have always loved when I sing Itsy Bitsy for you, but one day you started doing the motions! It took me a minute to realize you were requesting it! Now, we say "Ryder, Itsy Bitsy!" and you start!"


Journaling: "Anytime I try to take your picture, you stop what you are doing as soon as you see the camera, and crawl toward me...full speed."



Journaling Says: "I have always been very loyal, a one man kinda woman, but this year I'm begging...May I have 2 Valentines?"

Progress!

So, this pic was taken May 31, 2008. 148.5. I still weighed this at the beginning of January. I had made no progress whatsoever in 6 months and was so frustrated.


I decided to cut out all fried foods, since that was my weakness. No potato chips, breaded chicken sandwiches, no chinese, no fried rice, no onion rings, NO GREASE!

The result....

139.0!!!!! WOOT!

I am so excited!! So...to celebrate, I decided to do something drastic!

Before:



After:


So 9.5 pounds lighter and a box of hairdye later, I'd say overall it was a fun weekend!