Book Worm

One of my favorite things to do with Ryan is reading with him! He loves books (even though he usually likes to eat them, ha). We always read a story to him before bed each night. He seems to understand the books more and more each day. These are some of his favorite books. I love this book. It's cute and fun and reminds of that God loves us all the way down to the little hairs on our head.

This book was given to Ryan by his Aunt Teresa and it's one of his favorites. I think Ryan is going to love Elmo. He always has a big smile when we read this book and on the last page when the BIG Elmo pops up he just smiles from ear to ear!

We read this book every single night. It was given to Ryan by one of Matt's co-workers who said it was his kids favorite book when they were little. It's really cute and Ryan loves it! I just recently got a couple more books by this same author since I like this book so much.

My hope and prayer is that Ryan will grow up to love books. We have been so blessed that my Aunt Teresa, who is a teacher, has given Ryan SOOOOO many books already. I am so thankful for that! I look forward to the day Ryan will pull a book on his shelf and come crawl into bed and ask me to read him a story. Such sweet and precious moments!

MOPS and a sneak peak

Can I just tell you how much I love this picture of Ryan!!! So sweet, I just love it!

This morning we headed out to our last MOPS meeting before the summer break. We had a nice catered breakfast from Mimi's, my favorite. We enjoyed hearing from our pastor's wife and her personal journey of motherhood. She is such an example of a godly wife and mom. And she and our pastor are actually from Memphis. Small world! I have so loved MOPS this year. It's been such an encouragement in my walk with Christ and I've loved developing friendships with other moms. I am looking forward to some outings and playdates this summer with my MOPS moms!

This kids had been practicing and learning some new songs while we were in MOPS. They came in today to "perform" for us. It was so adorable and just the cutest thing. I kept thinking, wow, Ryan will be up there next year.

This is a sneak peak of what I'm working on for Ryan's birthday party. It it just one month away!!!!! YIKES!! I'm doing a color theme of blue, green and brown. I am planning to order the invitations before the weekend and pretty much have everything planned out in my head. We aren't planning anything big, just a small party with family and friends at our house. I'm really excited about it and can't wait to see it all come together.

Girls night out

I am amazed at the new things Ryan discovers and learns every day. I am positive he tried to say Gracie today but it can out like "a-ce". He not only loves to open the kitchen drawers now but he wants to play with the stuff inside. We don't have any baby safety things on the drawers yet and I really hate them but we've got to do something. Any suggestions?

We hung out mostly at home today since it was rainy and yuck out. Tonight I had a girls night out with two of my girlfriends Peggy and Laura. We know each other from the gym. We had dinner at deSha's and it was so yummy! It was so nice to enjoy good conversation and not worry about feeding and entertaining a little boy. Matt was so nice to stay home and have some daddy son time. Thanks hun!

Tuesday

This morning I woke up hearing rain and thunder outside. I love sleeping during rain and thunderstorms! We were going to run some errands today but I decided to stay in and just hang out at home. We have stuff planned the rest of the week so I thought today sounded like a good pajama day. These are the days I am so thankful to be a stay at home mom!

We played and even went for a walk this afternoon when Daddy got home.

We are still working on table foods. Some days are better than others. He loves pears, peaches, and chicken. I try to offer him a fruit and veggie at lunch and dinner. We are also working on the sippy cup. Hard to believe that in just a little over a month we will be done with bottles and formula. Ryan will drink from his sippy cup if I'm holding it but he doesn't really like to hold it. He would rather chew on it. We are still working on the which sippy cup works best for him.

I haven't updated my weight lose in a while but I am still losing weight, slowly but surely. I am down 8 lbs from my prepregnancy weight and my goal is to lose 2 more by Ryan's b-day. Once I reach that goal my next goal is to lose 20 more lbs. I'm now doing cardio resistance class twice a week and running three days a week. The hard work is paying off and I feel great!

Dear Ryan

Ryan - Not that many months ago I remember thinking I couldn't wait to meet you and I dreamed about the little person growing inside me. I prayed for you daily and thanked God for your tiny life. You entered our world almost 11 months ago and our lives have never been the same.
You have filled my life with so much love and joy. You have such a sweet spirit and glowing personality. I love the way you always smile when I walk in your room. You are always so excited to see me.
I love the way you giggle when I tickle your neck. You have the sweetest laugh. There is no sound sweeter. I love that everyone calls you 'smiley' and says you are such a happy baby. You smile and laugh all the time. You love attention and are never shy.
I love watching you grow and learn new things every day. God has given me the biggest blessing by being your mother. I never imagined I would love someone as much as I love you!

Love, Momma

Mother's Day Weekend

We have had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend here at our house. I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother. She loves me unconditionally and loves Ryan that much more. She loves Matt and totally accepts him like her own son. She is the best mom and nana anyone can have. Love you momma!!!

Last night Matt and I had a date night while Ryan hung out with his grandparents. We went to J.Alexanders then Borders to look around. I bought a couple books for Ryan and the new Laura Bush memoir. Have you seen it or seen her doing interviews? She was on Oprah last week and it was a great interview. I just love her! She seems so down to earth and so sweet! I can't wait to dive into her book!

I had the best mother's day today! This morning Ryan snuggled in the bed with me and Matt. He is quit the wiggle worm but this morning he just wanted to snuggle with momma. My heart almost burst with joy. We went to church this morning and afterwards Ryan and Matt took me to Mimi's for lunch.

Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way to Mimi's but thankfully there was a 45 min wait once we arrived so we just sat in the car and let him sleep. I thought he would be real good after his nap but not so much. He was good until he finished eating. After that he just wanted to be held. I think he was still tired.

Tonight we went to dinner with Matt's dad and step mom, Matt's sister Erin and her husband Brad. Ryan was really good the whole time. We got to the place early to try to get some pics in the square for Ryan's birthday party invitations. I need to order them soon.

These are some of the pics we got but none that I was crazy about. They are too dark. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. I need to take a photography class so bad. I'm taking a little one in a couple weeks. It's just a 2 hour thing but maybe it will help. I think we might go back to the same spot tomorrow to try to get a good picture. Tomorrow is the only nice day this week. Tuesday on they are calling for rain, yuck!

I had such a wonderful first mother's day! I love my sweet boys (and my sweet girls Annabelle and Gracie). I am so blessed beyond measure and thank God every day for all He has done. Thank you Matt and Ryan for the best mother's day!!!

What's in a Name?

Today on Kelly's Show Us Your Life we are showcasing Kids' Names.

I remember early in our relationship Matt and I talked about the names we liked for our children. We talked about names we really liked and family names. When we got pregnant with Ryan we didn't know what we were having so we picked out a boy name and a girl name to be prepared.

Our boy name:

Ryan Samuel

It was very hard to find a boy name that we both agreed on. We looked and talked about alot of names and Ryan was the one we kept coming back to. I love the name Ryan Deepe and loved how strong and all-american it sounded. Matt's maternal grandfather's name was Samuel and it's also his Dad's name so we knew we wanted Samuel for his middle name.

Our girl name:

Sydney Deborah

Our girl name was much easier and we decided it even before we were pregnant. We were watching TV one night and we heard the name Sydney. I told Matt I really liked the name and he agreed. He really liked it too. He loves Australia and dreams about going one day. We love the name Sydney and like how it's beautiful and unique. Matt's mother sadly passed away when he was 13 years old from breast cancer. Her name was Deborah and we will name our first daughter (if we are blessed to have one) after her.

So there are our baby names. We don't have another boy name we like so if we have another boy we are in trouble. We do have a second girl name but I will save that for later. :-)