Gram and Papaw Come to Town

Gram and Papaw have moved to Tulsa! We're so excited to have them closer to us!

You and Stone were big helpers when they were packing things up. I can tell you two are going to get in a lot of mischief together. I love it!

First Easter

You had your first Easter. Last year Easter was a couple weeks before you were born, but this year you got to celebrate it.

A lady at church volunteered her time and talent to take free pictures of the kids at church Easter Sunday. You were so stinkin' cute. I got your very cute outfit at JBF for under $5 and we borrowed Sam Millers shoes (thank you Sallie).

Gram and Papaw got you an Easter basket that was actually a Tonka dump truck. It's as big as your are! It was filled with toys and candy. You love pushing the truck around.

We look forward to many more Easters with you!

Happy Birthday Party to You!

Ryan you get to have two birthday parties!! You must be one special little boy. We went to Edmond to celebrate with Great-Granddad and Great-Grandmother, Uncle Rory (who shares your birthday week with you) and Aunt Ryn, Logan and Jennifer, and Lacey and Quaid.

We all had lunch together and Great-Grandmother made your birthday cake for you. She used a heart-shaped tin that has been around a long long time. Great-Granddad used it for his first birthday cake, Pops used it for his, and Daddy used it for his. What a great tradition!!!

Great-Grandmother decorated it with candy corn and you liked the way those looked. Unfortunately those were a little too hard, so we had to take them off. You mostly ate the frosting. But you thought it was oh so yummy!

We went back to Grandma and Pops' house and they gave you your birthday presents. You got two great books, and a ball popper to push around when you learn to walk better. Thank you Grandma and Pops!

We had your birthday party at home about a week and a half after you birthday so that we could invite our friends Ryan and Katie Rowten to come. Katie made you birthday cake and did a FANTASTIC job. I told her a long time ago that I wanted her to do your cake and that I wanted it to be giraffe. We added the idea of you having a individual shoe to eat later.

We invited friends and family to come, because to us they're all family. Here's who came to your First Birthday Party; Both sets of grandparents, Uncle Doug and Stone, Uncle Nic and his girlfriend, the Loneys, the Moellers, and Heather and Madelyn Smith. We all had lots of fun playing with balloons on the floor.

You loved opening all of your presents. You got lots of great books to read and a couple great videos to watch!!

We stripped you down to your diaper to eat you cake. I didn't think it would be very fun to get blue icing out of your white shirt.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to you, and I sat the cake in front of you. When I said the word "eat" you took a pinch of icing and tasted it. You decided it was really good and dove right in using both of your hands to shovel in the sweetness. We let you go for a while and you didn't take any breaks. You made such a MESS!!! It was so fun, though, watching you.

We had to take you to the tub to rinse you off. You were covered in blue icing!!

To the bath you must go!

We were all so thankful for our family and friends that came to celebrate with us. Without them and the power of our almighty God you wouldn't be here. We love you, my dear, sweet boy!

First Zoo Trip

We took advantage of a nice warm day in Oklahoma (as you know it can be 20 one day and 80 the next) and went with some friends to the Tulsa Zoo. We had so much fun. Of course, we managed to lose your hat before we even made it through the gate. I had to go searching for it, and somebody had turned it into the front office. Thank you.

We got to watch baby monkeys playing on their "jungle gym." There were two babies and about six adult monkeys. The babies were so fun. They would swing on ropes and hit the window we were watching through and swing back. One of the baby monkeys swung up to a vent grate and held on for a while and then fell down and scared all of the kids watching through the window.

We also got to watch a baby elephant get a bath. The zookeeps would give it vegetables to have it move to where they wanted it to. Baby elephants aren't that small!

Then we went to the petting zoo. I took you out of your stroller and took you inside. We peeked in at the rabbits and you really wanted to pet them. You tried to stick your fingers in the cage. When I leaned down to try to get you to pet a goat you tensed up and drew your arms in close to your body. That told me you did NOT want anything to do with that goat.

We had lunch with our friends and then decided to go home. You were so tired by then. You fell asleep in the stroller on the way out of the zoo, and didn't like it that I was moving you around so much to get you in the car. Poor guy.

Milk

Goodbye formula, hello cow's milk!!! About a week before your birthday we switched you over to cow's milk. I knew that some babies don't like cow's milk at first because it's not as sweet. I gave you a cup of milk and you sucked it down faster than it took to pour it. YAY! You love it! Now instead of paying $22/week for milk we pay $3 or less/week for milk. Now that's a good thing.

No More Bottles

Ryan you quit using bottles a couple weeks ago. I thought, for some reason, it would be really hard to get you to stop using bottles, but it was really easy. We started out by just giving you a bottle first thing in the morning and your last bottle before bed. All other times you practiced using a sippy cup. After a couple days we went to just one time using a bottle, and soon after that bye bye bottles. We bought soft tipped sippy cups which I think helped with the transition. It took you until just a day or two ago to understand gravity. You would just hold the cup straight in front of you and get mad when you thought all the milk was gone. Now you will jolt your head backwards so that you can get all of the milk from your cup. You're a smart boy, you know.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!!!

Today is your birthday. I can't believe it was one year ago that you came into our lives. God has blessed us in so many ways this past year. You have made us so very happy. As I reflect on the year I think of the many things I have learned from being your mommy. The most important thing that I've learned is that even though you may wake me up in the middle of the night or early in the morning; even though you may scream when I walk out of the room; even though you may make a mess...I will love you forever and always. Daddy and I thank God so much for putting you in our lives. We can't wait to see what He has in store for us.

Trying to get a picture of you at 2:06 pm, the exact time you were born.


It was nap time, so you didn't last long.

Birthday dinner. Turkey dog and sweet potato fries. Yum!

You've had one birthday party already. We celebrate with Grandma and Pops, Great-Grandmother and Great-Granddad, Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil, Aunt Ren and Uncle Rory, and Cousin Logan and Lacey. Those pictures will come soon.