Walking man

So I have not been good about posting lately, but we have been pretty busy around here with little things things like LEARNING HOW TO WALK ...

I mean come on - what did YOU do this week?!?

The next Tiger Woods?

There is a reason these golf clubs say For Ages 5+

Kisses

I am not sure where or when Ryder learned to give kisses. One day we were playing with the dog and he just leaned down and planted a smooch right on his nose. Then he did it on command. Who knew? I am guessing daycare had something to do with it, and probably that little Presley girl he has his eye on there.

We call the puppy in the video Bo. My guess is he is trying to say "no" and it comes out as "Bo", but we are going to hold off on encouraging him to say no just as long as we can.

Cheap entertainment

I'm telling ya, 2 weeks after the birthday and the balloon is still going strong as the favorite toy to play with. I almost want to pop that sucker just so he spends more time with the rest of the slightly more expensive gifts, but it is just too damn cute.

Buckets of garden fun

Trent's dad has a huge garden and he got hit by some hail that missed us. He picked green beans and Trent's mom canned some, but we got some of the left overs. I love a green bean, but this is a little much even for a green bean lover ... not to mention we have some of our own still. Mom suggested I blanch them. After 30 minutes and 4 attempts at explaining to me exactly what that meant, I opted to give most of them away and just eat the rest raw. Blanching sounds like a lot of work. And it might not have even been blanching, I kinda stopped listening after the part about the boiling water.

Our garden is dwindling down. The potatoes have been dug up and the onions need to be pulled as they are getting a little squishy. The biggest of the green beans have been picked, and the few peppers we have gotten so far have been pretty beat up by the hail that did get us. The cucumbers are about all that is left to produce, and they are going crazy growing out into the yard.

Ryder enjoyed the bucket that Trent used to gather up the potatoes.

And it took him just a minute to warm up to the concept of dirt between his toes, but once he did he took right to helping "pick green beans". He is a big help, let me tell ya. I think we have a future migrant worker in our midst.

It has been fun to have the garden, we have learned a lot and will do a few things different next year but overall we have really enjoyed both messing around in the dirt and eating our crops.

Birthday Bash

We celebrated Ryder's birthday with a party at our house. Had I known the amount of work it was going to be, I would have taken the entire family to Cattleman's for steaks instead. Nothing is ever easy in our world, and this party honored that tradition. In the end I think we were able to pull it off, and people seemed to enjoy themselves. Even the birthday boy made it through pretty well ... as long as either Trent or I were holding or looking at him the entire time. Here are some highlights, because next year it is going to be a lot different!

Our theme was of course Dr. Seuss, and our colors were red, turquoise, and yellow. There were balloons everywhere (we could have saved money on the presents, Ryder much preferred the balloons!).

Trent cooked burgers and hot dogs, and we hid the homemade food people brought and put out the purchased salads. Everyone still ate and I got to enjoy Aunt Candy's potato salad for a whole week after the party. There are no photos of that.

After eating it was time for presents. For a 1 year old, he did pretty well, and he made a haul! He had lots of help opening presents, and he needed it considering people had to go to work the next day and didn't have 3 hours to devote to watching him open gifts.

Then it was onto the cake and party hats and singing.

Having done the whole "smash the cake" thing a week earlier for photos, I knew a little of the mess to expect so we stripped him down to just his diaper and let him have at it. And things were going pretty well too ...

Until things stopped going so well. My guess is he hit his sugar limit. That or he needed a glass of milk.

It was a successful birthday, we all had a good time and the birthday boy slept plum through the night. Here is to many, many more celebrations of all the milestones ahead Ryder Dean. May you laugh through more than you cry through!!

Wagon Train

Ryder got a Wagon for his birthday. Of course it was John Deere and not Radio Flyer. He and dad have been cruising around the backyard enjoying the evenings and harassing the dog all week.

Birthday Boy Ryder turns 1

Cowboy Ryder turns 1

Farmer Ryder turns 1

Ryder got his 1 year photos taken the week before his birthday. He was in a foul mood, but Miss Amanda did and excellent job in spite of his disposition. Kudos to Cross Light Photography.