My 2008

I "blog-lifted" this from my sweet friend Crystal's facebook page! Totally a great idea so I thought I'd post my version here:

January 1, 2008, we woke up elated that our 3 month old baby was sleeping through the night. Blessed to have a nice sized consulting load to supplement our income. Began going to the gym religiously and feeling a lot better! My baby boy turns 6 months old. He and I drive to San Antonio to meet Matt there on business. See Miss Brenda, Shop at Outlets and Ryder meets the Valles family for the first time! Discover Blogger thanks to Misty! Went on our first camp out with baby in Spring where Matt's Mom taught Ryder to drink from a straw. Ryder learns to crawl and the next week we leave for vacation on the beach in Florida. Ryder hates the sand and we take turns going to the beach and staying in condo with baby. Decide we shouldn't go to beach again for awhile. Matt changes jobs so that I am no longer a part time single mom. I.e. New Job=No Travel. Ryder begins feeding himself table food and we did away with bottles! Sounds silly, but saves me so much time! Ryder starts Mother's Day Out and turns One with a big boo-boo on his forehead. I started a Bible Study thanks to my Neighbor Paula! I have learned so much and made new friends. Economy takes a turn for the worst and suddenly all my work goes away. Since No Work, we drive 6 hours in a car with a baby that did absolutely wonderful to camp in Arkansas. Sesame Street a Musical Celebration will always remind us of this trip, LOL! Hike with Grandma & Grandpa. Ryder meets his Great Great Aunt Irma. She loves Ryder to death! Ryder starts walking just in time to go door to door trick or treating in his spooky skeleton costume. Holidays are approaching and my workouts seem to be tapering. Spend Thanksgiving at Aunt Kara's and then Aunt Mindy's. Go shopping, shopping, shopping...Ryder rides the carousel for the first time and LOVES it! I turn 31 and then Celebrate Christmas. Ryder made Christmas so much fun this year. Make New Years Resolution to be back at Gym 5 days a week, become more organized in every aspect of my life and make it to Church every week. We have no plans for New Years Eve other than playing Wii and eating yummy food, woohoo! We love you all and wish you the Best in 2009!

Christmas

I can not believe Christmas has already come and gone! Why does time fly by so fast? We had such a good and blessed Christmas this year! We were with both of our families on Christmas Day and Ryder was a trooper the whole day. I could not ask for a better little boy. He is so carefree and absolutely just goes with the flow. He didn't really understand the concept of opening presents this year, but he LOVED all of the new toys. It was almost like he looked at us in confusion. Not sure why we were giving him all of this new stuff, but gladly playing with it since we put it right in front of him! I think sometimes we tend to get wrapped up in the commercialism of the holiday and forget the true meaning of Christmas. We have a little book called "The Christmas Story" which is a 5 page, very colorfully illustrated book detailing the birth of Jesus. I started reading it to Ryder at the first of December and now every night he pulls it from the bookshelf for us to read. I am sure it is purely coincidence and in all actuality is probably just the book that is easy for him to grab, but as long as he pulls it out, I will keep reading! Needless to say, we got some pictures of the present excitement and I could not have received a better gift than the joy that was on his face!


Playing with the Camera...



If you know Ryder, you know he loves "Gucks"!



Ryder: "Mama, this Keyboard is FANTABULOUS!"



He is telling us all about his fancy Elmo Restaurant



Christmas Eve Services

Picture Tag from Miss Heather

Per instructions, this is the fourth photo, from the fourth folder in our pictures on our computer...
Explanation: The Year was 2004...we were camping at Lake Whitney and my girls were by my side! Bet a lot of you didn't even know we have these two...poor things have had to move to the back burner a bit since Ryder was born! They are our girls, though...getting old at 8.5 years now. We got them both a month after we were married in July of 2000. So, let me introduce you all to Autumn (in my arms) and Miss Blue!

Now I tag:
Janelle
Amber
Julie
Jennifer

24 to 31

There are 24 hours left before I officially turn 31 years of age. For some reason, I am having trouble with this birthday. I didn't mind turning 30 at all, but 31 just isn't giving me the warm fuzzies. So today I am celebrating my last day of being 30! I got a manicure and pedicure, had lunch out and gorged myself with sweets! And speaking of sweets, let me just say I hate this time of year because of all the sweets! I can resist anything fried, but put sugar on it and I can not stay away! I digress...so after sampling cookies, a piece of Red Velvet Cake (Yum!), Toffee and washing it all down with Dr. Pepper it was time for Ryder to get a bath and in his pajamas. I noticed about a week ago that his Cousin Evan has the same pajamas. Evan lives in Indiana and although the two have never met, they seem to be a lot alike! I took a picture of Ryder in the matching Pajamas tonight and posted their picture together here...little boys are so cute! PS-Evan looks much happier here than Ryder...I just took the telephone away from the little man and devastated his entire evening all to keep him from calling China or even worst 911..ha!

The Griswold's Moved to Mansfield

This absolutely must be the home of Clark Griswold! I found it while out with Ryder about dusk..hilarious!

Just Ryder

Ryder goes to Mother's Day Out on Thursdays.....I should be cleaning his bathroom, but instead I am looking at a picture I took of him this morning walking around the house....thought I'd share!

A Homemade Christmas

On GMA this morning they did a piece on making Christmas Gifts that are from the heart for your loved ones this year, especially during the economic times we are experiencing. They had some really good ideas. In summary:
1. Baking Mixes in a Jar. I actually received a Brownie Mix in a jar last year from my nephew for Valentines and they were so yummy and very simple to mix up. Another cute idea is Pancake Mix with a Bottle of Maple Syrup.

2. Cookie Dough. Basically the idea of the Pilsbury Slice and Bake, but you make the dough from scratch. How fun, I am making cookies this weekend anyway, so I may utilize that idea.

3. Ornaments in a hurricane. You can use the ornaments next year and then you have a hurricane all year round to decorate with. (Reminded me of Jenn's Jar-O-Lights in 1997...Janelle & Julie- You guys remember that??? Such a cute idea, but that jar got really hot, LOL!)

4. Salt Scrubs and Soaps. My sister always makes me sugar and salt scrubs and I love them! You can get all of the ingredients for relatively good price at Michael's (I think...don't hold me to it, I've never made myself).

5. My younger sister asked me for one thing for Christmas. She had seen this at a huge Craft Fair in Arkansas this Fall. Normally I would have sought out trying to find this for her, but this year I told myself I could do it myself. Thanks to my friends at 2peas I was successful! I don't think she is a regular blog reader, so hopefully I am not giving it away totally! I loved it so much, I did one for us!

So, if you decide to get creative this year, hopefully these ideas will help you out!

Daily Recipe

My friend Brooke sent this Daily Recipe out via email yesterday. It is such a good Recipe that I decided to Post! Hope you all have a Wonderful Day because of it!

A GREAT RECIPE...

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today. I am thankful for______________'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is

manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan

salmon,broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will

this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are in need. Your friends

will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll

be smiling before you know it.

Updates

I really need to read a blog on blogging. I do not keep up with my blog like most. I feel like my life is chaotic and I am here and there, but nothing really interesting happens that I should post on my blog. Then it turns into over a week since I've made a post. Matt said to me yesterday, "Your not really doing your blog much anymore are you?". I thought well yeah, just nothing interesting to blog about...but isn't that what blogging is all about. A place where you can post the monotony of your life sort of like a public diary in actuality. Well life has been busy here since pretty much the day before Thanksgiving. I spent that day with my sister and then the evening with my husband getting haircuts, oil changes, making pies, catching freebirds with my in-laws.

Thanksgiving was at my sister's and then Matt's sisters. We hit the mall at 5:30 a.m. on Friday with Ryder, I know we are crazy horrible parents, but he really does like the mall and watching all the people. Got some good deals, but still not through shopping.

Saturday we helped move Matt's Grandma to a new Senior Living place. It is really nice, kind of like a dorm for seniors. Everyone there was so nice and I think she is going to love it and maybe make some friends to boot!

Sunday Matt helped his parents with some more little move items and then we hit Costco in the afternoon. I got the absolutely cutest little table and shelf with bins for Ryder's playroom! It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but I was afraid I would never find anything I liked that well again. The brand is "Cafe Kids" and it is "Pottery Barnish" with a slightly less than "Pottery Barnish" Price. The Best Part was that the assembly was very minimal, which is always a plus for me! We once bought an entertainment center early in our marriage which I was totally excited about because I thought I got a super good deal! Then we opened the box to find a zillion and one pieces. Ever since then I make a point to buy furniture that requires no assembly.

This week I've spent getting back in the swing of things. Also it is the first of the month which is when most of my consulting work comes in. Until my current projects come to an end at which time I will become unemployed because nobody is lending money!! RRRR!!!! Such is life and the construction industry, I pray that it is cyclical like all other things.

I've started playing around with my camera a lot and I love making cards and other little scrapbooking things! As if I don't have my days full enough, I'll sit and play with that stuff at night and then wonder why it is so hard for me to get out of bed in the morning!

And Finally, I am officially 10 lbs. heavier than I was on Monday because Matt made Peanut Brittle Monday night. His Grandpa always made it at Christmas time and he is carrying on the tradition. We just need to ship it on outta here because my mouth can not resist the temptation! LOL! Anyway love you all and now time for me to read and catch up on your Blogs!