Setting the Record Straight

Matt apparently read the Blog last night and this morning said, "Well, I now know you only love Ryder...but....". So, I thought I should set the record straight... I Love my Husband to the depths of the earth and back. He is the single best thing that has ever happened to me. He is an amazing husband, father and person. He is the glue that holds this little house together. It melts my heart to watch him play with Ryder at night and his new found patience never ceases to amaze me. His faith in God leaves me awe-struck and although he can appear gruff on the surface, he is absolutely the most kind hearted soul I know. I don't say how thankful I am nearly enough for the little things you bring to us every day. We are definitely not perfect, but we do strive to make our relationship and this family we are building the best it can be. So, if you are reading this, you are my World and I thank God for you every day!

Matt, Ryder and his Parents

Loving it up on Daddy's Shoulders


This is not the one I really wanted to Post..doesn't show his true personality, but he'd kill me if I put the one I had in mind!

I am in Love....

I am so in love with my sweet baby Ryder. He gets to me like nobody else! Today he only did two really big "No No's" in my book. One: Unrolling the Toilet Paper. Two: Pulling dirt out of my plant. Now to be honest, both of these times he was out of my sight and so in part his actions were my fault. Never the less, I still walked him to the destruction, pointed at the mess and gave him a very stern "No". Both times, he then looks at me, walks over to me wrapping his arms around my legs in a huge hug and then breaks into tears. How could I not hug him back and tell him it is O.K.? He is such a sweet boy and I could not ask for more than the beautiful blessings he brings me every day!!!

No Words Describe

No words can describe the heartache I am feeling for the McClenahan family in Kansas. They lost their 11 month old baby Cora Paige yesterday. A friend I went to high-school with who is an amazing person and has an amazing blog Wind Beneath My Wings brought this family to my attention. This family reminds me so much of Matt and I. They were married in 2002 and had their first baby, Cora, in March of 2008. Cora's Mom created a blogspot similar to this one that we keep for Ryder to update family and friends on Cora. As of Christmas, they thought they had a healthy baby girl, who unfortunately was having reoccuring ear infections. In January, Doctors drew blood to see if there were any underlying factors since she had started to have some bruising and a tight abdomen. Much to everyone's surprise Cora had stage 4 cancer. This poor baby fought hard to overcome this horrible disease, but her little body finally couldn't hold up any longer. I know that God had a more powerful purpose for this sweet Angel, but it is so hard for me to wrap my head around how something like this could happen. Her parent's have the most amazing faith and have never questioned anything during the past few weeks, but continued to praise God for the good things in life. I can not get these people, who I have never met, out of my thoughts and prayers. I just pray for their healing and their peace. I pray that baby Cora is now comfortable and feeling so much love in heaven. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as I can only imagine the grief they are feeling at this devastating time.

Four Wheeling is Fun!

Last weekend, Ryder's cousins toted him around in a wagon on the back of their little 4-Wheeler at Matt's parents house. They all had so much fun taking turns "Driving Ryder"! Ryder had fun, too! Thank goodness Grandma was there to help when steering problems arose...I am so thankful to live in a state where we get some warmth in the winter months!

Making Sure he is Ready to Go!

"Mom, this is so much Fun!"

We are Growing....

Looks like I am going to have to rename our Blog! It is still very early, but we are excited to announce the anticipated September arrival of the newest member of our family!

Oh, Leap...how he does Love You!

Way back, gosh almost 2 years ago now, I was in Target looking at baby stuff the summer before Ryder was born. There was this little green frog on clearance and when you pushed his tummy he sang the ABC's. I decided to pick it up for our new arrival in the fall. When Ryder was only a few days old, we had him home and he was having an extremely fussy moment. That little green frog was laying nearby and I decided to push his tummy. To our complete surprise the fussing stopped and our baby was silent. This green frog that sings the ABC's would hush our fussy baby! I am pretty sure this is the moment the love affair began. "Leap" goes in the car, in the stroller, pretty much everywhere. Ryder still loves "Leap"! This was evident yesterday at the park and I couldn't resist posting this picture and a few others from our outing yesterday afternoon!

Under Construction

All of you have such cute blog layouts! I have been piddling around on mine and all I managed to do was make it more boring! LOL! I promise this isn't the end result...but I hear an awful lot of banging in the kitchen that I need to go tend to...actually I am kind of afraid to survey the damage! Just an update to say that my Blog is officially under construction!