A Post from Ryder...

Did you hear that I had a Birthday? I spent yesterday celebrating with Elmo and Cookie Monster!

Daddy heated the pool so we could have a celebratory swim! I decided the steps were a good place to tell the girls how it feels to be Two! A huge thank you to my Auntie Em for letting me and my girls swim to you all afternoon!

Daddy came swimming, too!

" Umm...We don't want to wear these hats...we just want to eat Cheetos!"

Look what Mama and Daddy made for me...Yum!

I decided maybe I should grab a cupcake before I blew out the candles!

Here is a closer look...now do you see why I couldn't resist? A cupcake and cookie all in one bite!

Mmmmmm....YUM!

I got so many presents....

...but I loved the Shaker Car Grandma got me!

Granddaddy watched us Swim...

Next Daddy hung Cookie from the Tree. I was a little worried for Cookie, so I stayed way back on the slide. "Oh No! Cookie!!! Watch out! Cousin Madison is about to Whack you!"

"Oh Cookie...I tried to warn you..."

Great Grandma Smith came, too! I posed with all of my Smith cousins for a family picture!

Thank you, Aunt Mindy and Grandma for all the Pictures and Video! Thank you, Gran and Aunt Kara for helping so Mommy could stay outside with me! Thank you Grandpa for swimming in the pool with me! Thank you Granddaddy for running party errands with Daddy and Me! I had an awesome party and was so happy you were all there!
Love- Ryder

Today You are Two!

Ryder,
Today you are Two! I hope you had fun on your special day! Waffles with whip cream and strawberry syrup started your day up right! You saw Dr. Fikkert and she said you were a perfect two-year old boy! Sonic for lunch with your Cousins and Grandma, you even had your first ice cream sundae with peanut butter cups! Swimming with Daddy to top it all off...what a fun birthday for Mommy's little man! With each day you are here it becomes harder to remember life without you. Always know how much we love you...to the moon and back! Thank you for giving Daddy and Mommy the two best years of our lives!

Wordless Wednesday (Not Really...I always have something to say!)

Where I found Ryder while I was cleaning the Fridge...usually when he is quiet he is up to no good....

...this time he proved me wrong, he was simply giving his "baby" some kisses...


...and they both took some time to wave at Mommy's Camera!

PS...I have to give a huge shout out to Target's Bakery today! I know have not always sung the Target Praises, but today they won me over again! The sweet lady at the Bakery graciously replaced the Cupcakes I ordered for Ryder to take to preschool tomorrow. You might ask yourself why they needed to be replaced? Well, let me answer that for you...someone (who shall remain nameless) dumped them out of my cart two seconds after she passed them across the counter to me. I nearly cried and automatically started planning to bake some at home...thinking I could save the rings off of the destroyed cupcakes to put on my ones at home...luckily she replaced them free of charge and I won't be frantically baking cupcakes tonight!

Recipe Tuesday

I am back to trying to figure out ways to sneak vegetables into Ryder's diet without him knowing. Pre-Ryder, I firmly believed, that you made your kid a picky eater by not exposing them to a variety of foods. I feel differently now that I am a parent. Truly, one day Ryder would eat anything in the world, and the next day he decided canned fruit was the only semblance of health he'd remotely try to put in his mouth. Yesterday, I made two big loaves of zucchini bread, in an effort to sneak some veggies in. Naturally, that is today's recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used Whole Wheat)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar (I used Splenda)
  
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1 cup of applesauce)
  
• 4 eggs, beaten (I used Eggbeaters..1/4C = 1 Egg)
  
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini (I also added some grated carrot)
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

Pony Time

Ryder's best little pre-school friend had her 2nd Birthday Party over the weekend. Her Mama put this little Mama to shame. Seriously, Ryder's party is next weekend, and lets just say it will not be nearly as elaborate as the party we attended over the weekend! Reese's party was full on and a Pony was even in attendance for the kids to ride. I thought I'd share Ryder's Pony Love with you!

I made it Out!

Both kids are sleeping right now and I am finally catching up on over a week's worth of Blogs. Instead of doing a "Wordless Wednesday" post, I am going to shout to the world that I made it out of the house with 2 kids today! We went to the Activity Center so Ryder could run around and play...he had a blast like he always does. Rustin stayed all bundled and closed up in the stroller sleeping the entire time. I was kind of a freak and kept him totally covered and away from all other human activity...I am so afraid of germs when they are this tiny.

Next we had to make a quick trip to Target for some absolute necessities. Ryder had to ride in the cart part and Rustin stayed in the carrier at the front of the basket. Besides an open box of Wheathins and a crushed box of cereal, courtesy of Ryder, there were no real incidents. It felt invigorating to do something on my own!

Alright, now that I've opened up my brag bag for you all, I am going to finish catching up on your lives! ☺

Recipe Tuesday

So I missed last Tuesday...but I have a good excuse! He is sleeping upstairs right now. Today's recipe is for the kiddo's! Ryder and I made it together this afternoon. He loved mixing and eating the ingredients!

Peanut Butter Playdough

1/2 Cup of Peanut butter
1 Cup of Instant Dry Milk (You may need to add a little more to get to the texture you like)
1/2 Cup of Honey

We practiced rolling shapes out of the dough and mashed it in between our hands. In the end, he ate a good bit of it!

Why?

Why am I the only one in this house who is not sleeping at this very minute? I just went to check on everybody and this is what I found:
Ryder...who refused to take a nap earlier and was then told he had to have quiet time in his room. Ummm...his room is a DISASTER!! We'll have to pick that up once he is awake.
One very tired Daddy...he has been so amazing this week! I love you so much, Babe!
Rustin....a very sleepy 5 day old baby. On another note, do they really learn to put their arms up behind their head as they snooze this soon?

Sleeping Beauty

Matt and Ryder ran some errands this morning and left me here with Rustin. It was really peaceful...right now our newest family member primarily sleeps, waking up only slightly to eat. He is already melting our hearts. It is amazing that you can fall in love with a person who has been in your life for less than a week. He is such a Blessing!

Who's Who?

We are home and settling into life with two little boys! I've been pretty proud of us...the past two mornings we have all been fully dressed and out the door before 9 a.m.! Yesterday it was to get Ryder to school...I went ahead and took him to his class so that we could get him back into his usual routine. Today, Rustin had to go to the Doctor for his weight check. I know for a fact this all went so smoothly because Matt is still home with me. Next week will be the real test and lets just say I am afraid....very afraid!

Ryder has been really good for us...I think Rustin still scares him a little bit...but he is getting used to him being around all of the time. It is scary to me how much Rustin looks like Ryder looked at this age. Seriously, if they were both Newborns...you'd swear they were twins. We'll have to see how Rustin changes as he gets older!

I'll try to keep as many posts coming as I can during this adjustment phase!

Here is a picture of Rustin and Ryder in the same outfit at about the same age..can you tell who is who?

Rustin Walker

We decided Matt needed a really special Birthday Present today!

Rustin surprised us today! He arrived at 3:17 P.M. weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. at measuring 18 and 3/4 inches. We are blessed beyond measure and are already in love!

Happy Birthday, Babe!

I am so glad that I have been able to spend the last 12 Birthday's with you! Well...really 11, but I do remember telling you "Happy Birthday!" 12 years ago, even if we were only technically acquaintances.

You are such an amazing person!

You continue to make me laugh on a daily basis. Sometimes, you make me laugh so hard, my stomach hurts. Most of the time, people would probably look at us like we are crazy, and we probably are a little! The first time I remember uncontrollably laughing at/with you is when you picked me up from the front of the Langford Building, in the Jimmy, wearing your late Aunt Mary's wig and some bad sunglasses. I thought the wig was pretty bad, but when you told me it was your dead Aunt's, I should have been scared. Very scared of you...but I wasn't...instead I couldn't stop laughing.

I love how excited the little things in life make you....like Halloween Gadgets and Christmas Music. You were so cute walking out of Party City Saturday Night...so proud of the Tombstones you found on clearance! It makes me love you so much when I see how the little things make you happy!

Your faith makes me stand back in awe. You never doubt God or the people he has placed in your life. I say a little prayer that your strength and undying faith will make my faith stronger.

Your unconditional love and understanding of me is truly appreciated. There are so many times, you could have treated me like the crazy mama, I can sometimes be....but you never do. Even when I ran out of gas last week for the first time in my 15 years of driving. I was on the side of the road crying. I felt like it was the last straw on a day where nothing was going right...I felt so, so stupid...my only remedy was to call you on the phone. What did you do? You fixed my problems, you told me to breath, you told me to pray...to ask God to be with me since you couldn't be. I could never ask for a better husband.

It touches my heart every time I hear Ryder scream, "Daddy!!!" with sheer delight! That is living proof of what an awesome Father you are! He loves you so much! I wish you could see my view every weekday night when he hears the garage door go up! The Happy Dance begins, and then he runs back and forth from the Kitchen to the Laundry Room, squealing with delight and shouting your name. It is the sweetest picture.

I am so blessed to have you in my life...Happy Birthday, Babe! I know in your eyes, it is just another day....but in my eyes it marks another year that I have been blessed to have you with me!

He Survived!

Yesterday was Ryder's first day of Pre-school for the year. You guys remember that I was more worried than he was. In fact, I was so worried and am so pregnant, that I didn't even take a picture of him! He wasn't dressed fancy anyway...on Meet the Teacher Night we learned that they will be getting messy this year. In lieu of ruining anything nice, he just wore a Target T-shirt and some Khaki Shorts.

I packed more than I knew he would eat for lunch, in an effort to make sure he would eat SOMETHING. When I picked him up, his teacher casually asked me, if I was confused about who I needed to feed...Ryder or the whole class? I wasn't sure whether to be offended or just take it as a funny gesture...hmmm....

Anyway, he did cry when I dropped him off, but he was able to tell me "Bye-Bye" and give me a kiss through the tears. It made me choke up a little bit. I initially wanted to jerk him up and take him with me. His teacher told me that they were going outside in the next few minutes. You all know my little man loves, loves, loves the outside. I knew he'd be happier there, then he would be stuck up in his playroom, while I was working on the computer. He now cries when he sees me go towards the computer. I kept telling myself that as I drove away.

I decided to make a quick Starbucks run. Pumpkin Spice is out as of yesterday!! I wait for this time of year just for that drink. I crave that drink during all of the other seasons. I get secretly excited that cool weather is on our horizon when I see the Pumpkin Spice sign on their Order Board! O.K., so if it isn't obvious, Pumpkin Spice is my favorite drink of the whole year...I made it "Decaf" for Plus One's sake. Drink in hand and out of the Starbucks Parking Lot, I looked at my clock.

Here is where "Psycho Mom" enters the scenario.

According to Ryder's schedule, he would still be outside playing. I decided to drive back by the Church and make sure that he was having a good time. I didn't want him to be the kid in the corner of the playground picking at grass all by himself. Rest assured, I found a crazy-happy almost 2-year old, running around with the biggest smile on his face. That sinking feeling I had went away and I was so glad he was having fun!

I found out that he did sleep on his Nap mat for a little over an hour! Yaaa, Ryder! They got to sing and dance in Music and give the Hermit Crabs a Bath. Thank goodness he gets his dose of Hermit Crabs in at pre-school, because I don't want any creature that belongs in a cage to ever live in our house. Tomorrow they will practice giving Babies a Bath with Baby Dolls! How perfect is that...I'll have a little helper next week! LOL!

So, all in all, I think his day went good! We finished it up with a trip to Sonic for a Happy Hour Slush and a trip to the Backyard for Swinging, the Water Ball and the Pool! Well, the pool had to wait until Daddy got home. With the cooler nights, the water temperature is down to 80 Degrees. This Mama doesn't do 80 Degree water and I found out that Daddy doesn't do 80 Degree Water either. I think his exact words were, "I Love You, Ryder...but that water is even too cold for Daddy!". Thank goodness for a Hot Tub that is Ryder sized!

I promise to pull my camera back out and start putting pictures with these post again real soon! Next week we'll have Ryder and "Plus One" to debut here!

Recipe Tuesday

This is a super easy one that is so yummy even Ryder will devour a Bowl!

White Chicken Chili:

2 Heads of Garlic or 2 Heaping T of Minced Garlic
3/4 t. salt
1 can Diced Green Chili's
1 medium onion
1.5 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
2 Cans of Navy Beans
1 Jar of Salsa
Sour Cream

Directions:
1. Empty the two cans of Navy Beans into a small pot on the stove. Simmer on Medium-Low Heat.
2. Add Diced Green Chili's to Beans.
3. Add Minced Garlic. (If you choose to use fresh Garlic, Cook and Mince as you normally would. I buy a big Tub of Minced Garlic at Costco and use it in any recipe that calls for garlic...saves a ton of time!)
4. Dice Onion and Saute in skillet until cooked. Add Chicken and cook thoroughly.
5. Dice Cooked Chicken and add Onion and Chicken to Beans.
6. Stir in Salsa.

Serve Warm with Sour Cream and Tortilla Chips!
Note: I have used canned diced chicken instead of fresh chicken when in a hurry and it turns out great this way, too!