Papa Rogene

Yesterday the world lost a real cowboy. Trent's grandpa, known to him as Papa Rogene, passed away. Even though he had been sick for some time and was suffering and deep down we all know he is in a better place, it is never easy to lose someone you love.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rogene on a couple of occasions, and even though his mind wasn't as sharp as it once was, he could still tell you the name of every horse he ever owned. Over the years I have heard many stories of the shenanigans that Trent and Papa got into while Trent was growing up. Theirs was a special relationship, the kind that every young boy wants to have with his grandfather. There were long lazy afternoons spent on horseback, tales of driving long before one of them was able to see over the steering wheel, and many evenings spent visiting underneath the oak tree. Those are the memories Trent will cherish forever, and I know he will keep the memory of Papa alive for Ryder by retelling those stories every chance he gets.

Ryder and Papa got to meet on Papa's 88th birthday, and I was able to capture some photos of 4 generations. Rest in peace Papa. We love you.

A future in the WWE

I think he could give The Rock a run for his money ...

The Blog Turns 1!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday Dear Blog
Happy Birthday to You!

It is hard for me to believe I have been at this for a year. Who says I have no follow-through? I honestly didn't know when I started if it was something I would do for a month or so and then quit, so I am pretty proud of myself for keeping it up. I did get a chuckle out of reviewing the first entry I ever made, and the same ground rules still apply. When I look at the page views at the bottom of the blog and see that there have been over 5,000 views, I take comfort in knowing that 4,950 have been my mother so I don't have much pressure to be funny but she does point out on the phone when she notices a misspelled word or improper grammar. Once the mama, always the mama.

The blog has seen me go from being 4 months pregnant and pretty stupid about that whole process to being the mother of an almost 8 month old baby and even more naive about that. Who knows where it will go, and what it will see me through in the upcoming years. I can't promise much, but I promise it will be entertaining - in a painful, humiliating, self-deprecating kind of way.

Below are a couple of my favorite entries from the past year, in case you joined us late:
Coincidence?
Laurie's Secret
A Little Ditty
Routine Maintenance
Sick Little Man
His Two Cents
Overheard
Daddy's Boy
Dear Ryder - 2 months
Dear Ryder - 3 months
Dear Ryder - 4 months
Dear Ryder - 5 months
Dear Ryder - 6 months
Dear Ryder - 7 months

For those of you who do actually read this - Thank You! For those of you who take it a step further and actually comment, I appreciate you so much. To Ana, who God help her has a three year old and new beautiful twin daughters yet somehow finds the time to give me advice on car seats - you are amazing and my hero and I want to be you when I grow up. To Ellen, who never fails to call me out when I need it - you are an honorary Grandma to Ryder. To Auntie Lyla, who tells me I am funny even when I am not - you stroke my ego as only an Auntie can.

And to my mama, who would comment if she only knew how - you have always been my biggest fan. I loved you to the moon first. I do this blog for you.

Overheard

Trent's sister let us borrow her old car seat to use in Trent's pick up so we wouldn't have to take ours in and out (as if that was ever even an option). It has been in storage for a couple of years, so I thought I would take the cover off an wash it.

Laurie: Bleepity BLEEP BLEEP Bleepity BLEEP

And another car seat defeats me.

Daycare grab bag

I love our daycare. With the exception of a 5 month long runny nose, we have had an excellent experience. I have heard stories of babies eating poopy diapers and kids being left alone and all other horrible tales, so I know how lucky we are. I am sure once he gets a little more mobile he will get himself into a fair amount of trouble - and I know that him being the only baby there certainly helps, but knock on wood we love Room to Grow.

There are days when Ryder has a blowout from either end requiring a change of clothes. He isn't drooling so much anymore, which was the case for a couple weeks where a new shirt was required a couple times a day. And I can always tell when it is time for a bigger size diapers, because he will go through a couple of pairs of pants a day. He gets a report card every day telling me what he is running low on, and every night we pack his bag of things to take the next morning.

His clothes situation is well documented. The child is nothing if not well dressed. One of his teachers at daycare jokes that she has never seen him in the same outfit twice. Ha Ha. Might be true. I like to shop, his clothes are cheaper than mine, and he has a ton of hand-me-downs from what were apparently some equally spoiled cousins in North Dakota. All that to say he has a lot of clothes.

So I take in 5 outfits, the cutest little things you have ever seen - matching tops and pants and socks. As you can imagine, one day he spits up - uses one red shirt. That gets put on with the green pants he was wearing. The next day, he leaks through the diaper - uses one pair brown plaid pants. Those get put on with the black and white striped shirt he was wearing. See where I am going with this? The kicker is that the woman who is there in the morning is the one who seems most worried about this and changes his clothes, so the ones who come in the afternoon has to think I dress him like a circus clown. Occasionally we go somewhere straight from daycare. Yikes.

Over the course of 6 months, pants and shirts run out and have to be replenished at different times, and since they are daycare clothes they usually are the mismatched ones anyway. I honestly should photo the outfits he comes home in everyday and start a website. The other day he was wearing size 0-3 month baby blue pants (which were skin tight capri pants since he is currently wearing 9 month pants) with a 18 month yellow shirt that wasn't even his.

Yesterday he came home in this outfit. Granted it was almost 70 degrees, but it is January.

Little man had run plum out of pants. But I especially like the black socks pulled up to his calves. That is a fashion statement if ever I have seen one. Something about it reminds me of Grandma Rodger. Guess mommy better get shopping ...

Car Seat Take 2

I am quite certain that somewhere in the blog I documented the struggles we had with the installation of the first car seat. If I didn't, I should have. I looked back for it and realized that, among other things, I need to name these posts in a more descriptive, less cutsie manner. I couldn't find it. I have what I believe is a clever, witty comment about it. Stop me if you have heard it ...

Between Trent and I, we have 14 years of higher education and car seat installation totally kicks our ass. It doesn't get easier with experience. With the price of car seats, you wouldn't think you would have to clear out your linen closet to get the damn thing to level out. I mean really. Does the normal family have THREE extra bath towels that they can donate to the vehicle for car seat safety? "Mommy, do I have to take a bath tonight? No Johnny, not until Suzie is 2 and can use a forward facing car seat so we can have our towels back". Ridiculous. And it is documented in the manual. Page 72 of 149. 149 page manual for a car seat. Stupid crazy.

(the outfit in this photo will be discussed in a future blog)

Ryder has graduated from the car seat you lift out of the base and carry with you everywhere. I have mixed feelings about this. At first I was happy, because let's be honest, chunky monkey is getting heavy and that thing is awkward to lift, carry and heft into the middle seat of the Trailblazer. Now that the transition is made, I realize how nice it was to have him in a container. It was almost like he came with his own cup holder that could be set down anywhere and was guaranteed not to leak. Cup holder snapped in place on a shopping cart, cup holder fit inside an upside down high chair, cup holder fit on a bench seat in a restaurant booth. Take away the cup holder and your baby tends to spill everywhere. "MOD, we need clean up on aisle 2. That lady spilled her baby again".

So he can sit up, but he is still pretty wobbly. Some of the places we have asked him to sit in recent days would be like asking someone who just learned to ski to head down a triple black diamond on their first day. Dangerous. We have one of those shopping cart/high chair covers things that we can strap him into and protect him from germs, but I am uncertain the protection that offers from the large metal prongs on a shopping cart. Seriously. The next time you are in Walmart check out the things protruding from the back of where my babies head would be. Scary.

But he thinks he is big, and cool, and I am sure the view is much more exciting than the view from the old cup holder where all he saw was me. He especially liked the tool aisle at Sam's club. He is his father's child.

Houston, we have a sitter!

January 14th - Someone can sit by himself!

And with the sit, comes the bending over - thus we have the first plumber's crack photo!

Oh Sweet Sleep

After experiencing the karma from that post about how he never cries, I am gun shy to write anything about our current sleeping situation.

He has slept through the night previously only to revert back to total 4 am MUST HAVE A BOTTLE RIGHT NOW meltdowns, but this is the first time we have ever gone 5 consecutive nights with no bottle in the middle of the night. Knock on wood, I think we are over the hump.

Ryder is sleeping in his crib in his room, and I am sleeping in the guest room both to be closer to him and to avoid to snorer in my king size bed. I am happy to report everyone seems to be getting a better nights rest.

I do find it ironic the places the child will fall asleep - and then protest when being placed in his perfectly comfy baby bed. Yesterday he was rocking in the recliner next to me and fell asleep, when I snuck out he tipped over and slept there for like an hour. At least he isn't screaming.

Caught mid-wave

Ryder has learned to wave. He very rarely does it at the right time - as either a hello or goodbye greeting, and usually he faces it toward himself and smiles in awe that his fingers actually move in such a way. On this mornings photo to mom I captured him mid-wave. It doesn't seem as impressive as it was when he was asked to wave to Gramma Jill.

On another big-boy note, he went to the doctor for his flu booster today and he didn't even cry when they stuck him, which made mommy very happy since normally I leave the room at shot time. Yay Ryder!

I'm so very weak

Resolution #2 is out the window just 12 days into the New Year. In my defense, we are experiencing a cold snap and the poor kid needs some hoodies ...

And let's be honest, I haven't washed by hair in days. Don't judge.

Rub a dub dub

He screamed before the bath.

He screamed after the bath.

But he really seemed to enjoy the time in the bath.

A circus, a circus clown

I am posting this against my better judgement. Since I am always quick to embarrass everyone else on this blog, I decided I deserved to do one huge embarrassing post on myself.

Turn down the volume or any dogs within a 3 block radius will wig out from my singing. How this gets him to eat and not scream is beyond me.

Dear Ryder - 7 months

Dear Ryder,

Today you are 7 months old. And what a crazy last month it has been.

You weigh about 20 pounds. I know that isn't exact, and it isn't that I have lost interest in your weight but I forgot to ask when we were there last Thursday. I don't know why they don't just give up this information freely. And why their scale displays in kilograms is something else I will never understand. I know you are getting too heavy for me to carry you in your car seat. Mommy just isn't buff enough. You are growing taller so fast. You got a jumper for Christmas and daddy had to raise it up to the next level because you were flat-footed instead of on your tippy-toes after just one week.

You are wearing size 2 diapers, but you did take a week to test drive size 3 Santa ones and they weren't much too big. They were pretty cute too with your bowl full of jelly belly hanging over the top. Most of your clothes and all your jammies are 9 months and you fill them right to the end. Gramma Jill was worried we were going to cause you to have ingrown toenails by putting your big feet in those 6 month sleepers.

You have really taken an interest in the dogs this last month, and I worry that maybe that has had some impact on you causing you to age at the speed of a dog and now at just 7 months old we are really finding you somewhere in the twos that are so often referred to as terrible. Over the last couple of weeks you have morphed into such a different little person with such a strong personality, and one so different than the little man we knew for the first 6 months.

You don't want to go to sleep. You certainly don't want to stay asleep. You want to cry. You want to scream. You want to cry and scream in your sleep. You don't want to be in your pack and play. You don't want to be in your crib. You don't want to be on your back. You don't want to be on your side. You don't want to be on your stomach. You don't want to be held. You don't want to be put down. You want to arch your back, throw your arms over your head, and scream. The only way you go to and stay asleep is if you are in bed with mommy, with you head on mommy's pillow, with one arm touching mommy, and your pacifier in your mouth. If mommy rolls over, coughs, or breaths loudly during the night ... you scream.

You don't want to eat anything that doesn't come in a bottle. You are no longer interested in rice or oatmeal. Those peas and green beans that were once so delicious now leave you cold. Fruit is the enemy. You beat on the tray of your high chair. You wipe whatever I try to put in your mouth in your nose, eyes, and hair. You pucker your lips together so tightly nothing could enter your mouth. You are on an antibiotic for an ear infection and getting that medicine (which is cold, which you hate) into your body is like wrestling an anaconda - twice a day for 10 days.

You don't want to be left alone. Someone needs to be looking at you at all times. You love all your new toys (the lantern and squishy blocks are your favorites) but someone has to be laying with you on the floor playing with them or you get very upset. You can almost sit up by yourself without tipping over and you love reading books and looking at the pictures. You like to pull yourself up so you are standing and then chew on mommy's fingers. You learned how to waved bye-bye and you practice it all the time, but you don't do it when someone leaves. You never do it when we ask you to.

In your defense, I believe a couple things are working against you. First, you have the crud again, or still, or whatever. Your nose has been runny for 4 months straight and you won't let me anywhere near it anymore with the sucker. You have a cough and are congested and make terrible raspy sounds when you breathe. Second, I am pretty sure I can feel 4 more teeth just waiting to break through. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom - your little cheeks have been rosy for days and you want to check Sophie's head off. Third, genetically you are predisposed to have the temper of your father (short and red-hot) and the patience of your mother (zero, zilch, nada) so nothing you have exhibited thus far should even come as a surprise to either of us. We are probably lucky we made it to 7 months.

Just about the only thing that has improved lately has been bath time. I am happy to report that we have bath time down to a science, and there is no crying or screaming by you or mommy during this time. We have moved your bathtub into the big bathtub and that has made all the difference. You have been splashing away and enjoying your new bath toys so much that sometimes you don't even notice I wash your face.

You are a very handsome baby. Your eyes are getting darker but they are still a steely gray. Your eye lashes are so long. You are shy at first with strangers, but you are such a flirt that you always have a smile for the pretty girls.

I never could have imagined I could love something so much that could make me so crazy at times, but you Ryder Dean do just that. You are my sunshine every single day, and I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

2012 Resolutions

I'm not big on resolutions. In years past I have made them and then by about January 6th when I have already broken them I just end up feeling bad about myself and quite frankly I don't need that kind of disappointment so early into a new year.

This year I have decided to be less grand in my resolutions - let's be honest about it, if I went back to smoking after having stopped for 9 months the chances of a flip of the page on the calendar is probably not enough to coax me back to stopping. Knowing your limits is important.

So this year, I resolve to do the following:

1. I will tend to the dogs outside water bowls in a timely fashion. I will not allow them to go empty for days. I will not let leaves fill them and turn to mush. I will not let the frogs use them as swimming pools in the summer. I will break the ice in the winter. I will not allow the mold to build up inside to the point where I have to take a green scratchy scrubby to remove it. The inside water bowl does not apply.

2. I will buy no more than 3 items of clothing for Ryder in one purchase. Minimum purchase requirements to avoid shipping charges nullify this resolution.

3. I will promptly throw away the very nice boxes that whatever Amazon sends me arrives in. I will not hoard cardboard boxes. I will not. I will not. I will not. I will not. I will not.

4. I will wash AND dry my hair once a week. This constitutes shampoo and conditioner and the use of a hair dryer rather than allowing hair to air dry. Adding product and fixing hair is outside the scope of this resolution.

5. I will try and cut down on the swearing. And in doing so, I will also try to cut down on saying "oh my word" like a total hick like I hear myself doing in every video I post on this blog where I am tying not to say "holy shit!!".

6. I will turn off the function that forwards work emails to my phone. Those people get me from 7:30 to 5:00 Monday through Friday, they don't need me nights and weekends too. We don't need Ryder's first words to be "Doctors are such jerks".

7. I will read Ryder a story every night before bedtime. 

8. I will plant a vegetable garden. I moved to Oklahoma with a green bean dream and it is high time that I get some planted.

So that is what we are going to start with. My doable list of 8 resolutions for 2012. I am a little worried about #2, 3, and 4, but I'm going to try.

Wish me luck! Happy New Year!