It's a beautiful day. Let's go play!

It was absolutely beautiful outside today for the first time in weeks. We headed to the nearby elementary school to play.
Ryland loved to swing! He was very happy and content. He grinned the whole time.

Still swinging and grinning.

Another Doctor visit

Ryland woke up not feeling well again. He was fussy, congested, and pulling at both ears. I went ahead and called the pediatrician for an appointment. I explained that we could not wait until our scheduled appointment on March 4th. They worked us right in to see Dr. McCoy.

He checked Ryland really well and said his ears looked like hell. He prescribed another antibiotic and a twice daily decongestant. I do not like the idea of medicating him around the clock every day, but after a discussion with the doctor I agreed to give it a shot. I hope this is the answer to clear up his never ending drainage. Cross your fingers.

Finally!

After just about 11 months, I finally hit my weight goal. I have been pre-Ryland weight for a couple of months, but I still had 6 pounds to shed that I gained last year in Anguilla. Today, I finally reached pre-Anguilla weight. It is about time!

Baby toys are fun again

We cleaned out Ryland's closet today to create some more toy room. He was amazed at some of his baby toys. It is funny how they did nothing for him for a while, but the minute I decide to box them and put them away .....

What do you know? Ryland wants to play with them all again. I stacked the toys in the hall outside his room, so we wouldn't get distracted. Didn't work. Not out of sight, out of mind. He just moved to the hallway to play.

Our blur

I am trying to snap a quick picture of Ryland walking by himself. So far I have been unsuccessful. He is so excited too walk. He just goes super speed to keep his momentum going. I took about 50 pictures this evening, and they were all a blur. I will adjust my shutter speed and catch some photo evidence.

11 month photos

Here are the latest pictures of Mr. Ryland. He is growing by the second. He really enjoyed this photo session, and he continued posing after the photographer had stopped. What a ham!

Officially walking

We were sitting in the living room playing with the hammer and nail set......
that he loves.....

when all of a sudden, Ryland pulled up on the coffee table and took off. He just let go and walked across the room to his toy basket. I sat there in complete shock until it hit me. My son is walking. I jumped up to get the camera in the kitchen, and by the time I was able to take a picture he had walked to his dump truck. It was absolutely crazy! I could not keep up with him. He had his hands in the air and laughing hysterically. He was so excited, and he hasn't slowed down.

Yucky medicine

We are still forcing Ryland to take his antibiotic, and it is a full fledged battle every time. We practically have to hold him down and pinch his nose, or he will spit it right back out.

Ryland is shaking Dad's medicine. It's all fun and games right now.
I think he knows what is coming. He all of a sudden had different facial expressions. Very serious.

He know is threatening to beat up John Chris if he makes him take the medicine.

Finally, it is down. Now he has to drink, drink, drink to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. We all will be very happy when this is over!

BOUNCE

It's Friday. It's time for BOUNCE!

We met Sarah, Harker, Lindsey, and Jackson at the library for our weekly dose of crazy kid fun. I grabbed a quick shot of the kiddos before they all went nuts.

Ash Wednesday

Easter is not far away, and Lent has begun. We attended Ash Wednesday service tonight at church, and I am always humbled and amazed this time of year. The service was great, and it really made me stop and think about how blessed we are. The message of the sermon - CELEBRATE!

Valentine pictures

Ryland had some valentine pictures made, and they finally came in today. They could not be delivered in time because FedEx had major weather delays due to the snow last week. Sorry we are late, but it was worth the wait. The minute he saw the heart shaped box he had to sit in it, and the heart background quickly turned into a game. Slap the hearts!

(I know I am a total picture nut, but I want to capture every little moment.)

Back to the doctor

Today was Ryland's follow up appointment with the pediatrician. We had prepared to be referred to an ENT doctor, because we had noticed Ryland pulling at his ear over the weekend. We saw the Ms. Linda, the nurse practitioner, and she said he had a double ear infection again. This makes 7 ear infections in a little under 11 months. RIDICULOUS! She wanted to try one more antibiotic before we go to the specialist. I agreed to give it a shot.

The new medicine can only be found at a compounding pharmacy. This was a new endeavour to me and I was very unsure. Luckily, our friend Sharon is a pharmacist at a local compounding pharmacy. She was happy to help and warned me that it tasted terrible. She tried it, and said it was disgusting.

Later that afternoon, I gave him the medicine and he very quickly spit it right back out. I couldn't even get anything in him to chase it. I tried this evening again, and he threw up everywhere. John Chris and I both tried a little taste of the medicine and it is terrible. We will continue to try.

Ear infections in children are very common; however, if a child has repeat infections usually a specialist will put tubes in the ears. Antibiotics can clear the infection, but sometimes the fluid stays in the ear canal. The process then starts all over if the fluid remains. A way for the fluid to drain is to have tubes put in the ear. The doctor puts a small straw like tube in the ear canal and through the ear drum. The fluid then drains out the tube. Gross and painful sounding but can sometimes be very effective.

7 steps

Ryland continues to get more and more confident with walking. Tonight he was holding on to the kitchen cabinets walking around when he let go and walked to John Chris. We were so shocked and happy for him. He walked 7 steps unassisted to his daddy's.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had the best Valentine's Day ever this year. I know it sounds lame, but we didn't do flowers, gifts, or a fancy dinner. We only exchanged cards and had grilled chicken for dinner. Very romantic!

John Chris and I picked out a card for Ryland. It was one of those sappy, tell me your feelings kind of card. We know it wasn't kid friendly. It didn't even have a bright cute picture on it; however, it did say just how we feel about him. One day it can read it and be moved.

The card did come with an awesome red envelope, and it was a hit.

After we finished dinner, we were all sitting in the floor playing when Ryland started walking between us. He has been holding our finger for stability for a while, but tonight he actually let go and walked by himself. It was only 4 steps, but we were elated.

I was pretty sure Cooper wouldn't appreciate a card, so I picked him up a new toy. I knew he loved it because he ran under the dining table to hide.

Dinner with Branda and Mo Mo

We headed over to Uncle Brad and Aunt Chanda's house to hang out and eat dinner. Our friend Morgan also came over to visit and catch up. Ryland loves him some MoMo! I know in the picture he is staring at the bottle, so you can't see the huge smile on his face.

We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends! Thanks for having us over again Branda.

Snow

We got snow today, and it was beautiful! We had been watching the local weather, and they said to prepare for 1-2 inches of frozen precipitation. Well, we got a little more than that. It snowed all day. I tried turning on the tv to watch more news, but we could not even pick up satelitte signal.

Ryland and Cooper enjoyed looking out the windows at all the white stuff.

It is hard to believe that this is the second round of snow we have seen this year in Texas. The weather is insane. One day it is 65 degrees, and the next day it is literally freezing.

Of course we had to get out in the snow. Ever since I got a 4 wheel drive SUV, I think I can handle snow, flood, mountains, and maybe mud. I snapped a quick picture as soon as I pulled out of our neighborhood.

So pretty and peaceful!

Bath time fun

I wanted to get a few bath time shots for Ryland's baby book. He loves to take baths, and he gets so excited when I start pouring the water. He is super silly and loves to play with his toys and chew and the washcloth.

He really likes the shampoo scrubbing. I had a little fun and spiked up his soapy hair.
Unfourtunately, he is not a huge fan of the rinsing.

Valentine package from Nanna & Grandpa Jim

When we arrived home today, there was a package that had been delivered. We plopped down in the kitchen floor to see what goodies were inside. Nanna and Grandpa Jim sent an adorable card to Ryland that had crazy eyes, and he loved it! He then dug into the box with Cooper's help.


Yes, a Spongebob Squarepants DVD! Just what he wanted. Ryland is a huge fan of the opening theme song. When he hears it, he starts dancing and smiling.

He pulled everything out of the box and threw it all on the floor.

He played with the heart shaped baking cups for a while. He would stack them and then take them apart. He even tried chewing on them. I promised him that we would make cupcakes with them before Valentine's Day.

Wow, that was fun. Thanks Nanna and Grandpa Jim! Ya'll are too sweet.

Crazy scarf

I wore this blue leopard scarf today, and Ryland was immediately interested. Maybe it was the pattern, the color, or just something around my neck that he could grab. He pulled and tugged at the scarf just trying to take it off of me. I finally gave it to him. I loosely wrapped it around his neck like I had been wearing it, and he wasn't such a big fan. He snatched it off his neck and drug it around the kitchen while he was in the walker. All of a sudden it was a toy for him and Cooper. It was hilarious watching Ryland drag the scarf and Cooper chase it. Who needs toys?

Look what I found

I was cleaning out Ryland's closet today, when he found this horse. He pulled up and climbed on with no problem. He can finally reach the ground when he sits on it, so he can make the horse gallop now. I sang ride the horsey go to town like a million times, because he was having a blast. This toy actually hooks up to the TV for an educational game, but until now he couldn't stay on the horse. We will have to connect it and see what it is all about. Until then I will just continue to sing off key.

As you can see we are sitting in the closet, and Cooper was right there with us. He was going nuts. He tried growling and attacking the horse. Crazy dog.

Super Bowl Sunday

GO SAINTS!
We gathered for our annual Super Bowl party to cheer on the Saints. We were hoping they would win, but we had doubts since they were playing the Peyton Mannings. I mean the Colts.

The majority of the party bunch are from Louisiana, so we had gumbo instead of grilled food. It was delicious, and it must have been a lucky charm. Who Dat!

Football is fun!

You can tell Ryland is an only child. He doesn't really want in his walker. He just doesn't want Harker to be in his walker. I try to teach him to share and play nice, but sometimes he just melts down. I love that Harker is oblivious to his screaming! Get over it, dude.

Just a little later, we gave both of them Baylor cups with bendable straws. We thought that this would occupy them and they would have a little silly fun. Harker wanted both straws, so she took the other one from Ryland. What do you think he did? He started screaming and crying again. It is hilarious because with anyone else he would just yank the straw right back. If I take something away from him, he tries to get it back from me. If Cooper has a ball, Ryland will snatch it away over and over. I guess he doesn't know how to take it from his sweetie.

Here they both are having some fun staring and slapping the wine cooler. I think they are creating a plan to one day break in and drink it all.

Looks like Team Whiskey's captain was down for the count. Lindsey, Robert, and Harker decided to have a little fun and take goofy pictures with John Chris. We woke him up, but not for long.

Gosh John Chris, it sucks to get old!

Jackson's first birthday

Jackson with his grandparents. He is so intense about that icing. He had it all over his face and up his nose.

Dad and Ryland taking a little walk.

Jackson has the best toys! Every time we go visit, Ryland finds something he loves. On this visit Ryland was amazed with the Radio Flyer tricycle. It has blinkers, sound effects, and pedals. It is too big for Ryland to actually pedal, but he loved to be pushed around on it.

He would not get off of the tricycle. He wanted to ride around the furniture when we weren't pushing him.

He tried to give Harker a ride, but she wasn't up for riding. She probably wanted to drive herself.