BFFs

A couple weeks ago we travelled to Tracy, MN to visit our dear friends Drew and Tori Hesse and to meet their new baby, Linkin, who was born on July 19th. We had a great day and night with them and it was so nice to meet their little boy. I coudn't believe how little Linkin looked compared to Ryder! Both Jason and I were amazed at how small Linkin was and couldn't believe that less than 3 months ago our little boy was even smaller. These little ones grow up WAY TOO quickly! Here are a couple pictures of Ryder and Linkin together. Tori and I keep saying "just wait until they are running around together!". I have a feeling we are going to be in for a wild ride!

 They don't even know how much trouble they will get into someday...

Can you believe the size difference? They are almost exactly 2 months apart and their birth weights were only off by 2 ounces!

Sunday, Lazy Sunday...

Hi Everyone!

Sundays at our household are usually low-key, relaxing days for all of us...Today that trend is holding true for everyone besides mommy. As I write this entry today I sit on my couch wit Ryder asleep on my chest, my husband asleep on the other side of the couch, and our dog asleep in between my husband and I. Now why would I choose to write about this? It doesn't seem that strange, right? Well it's not strange, per say, it's ironic. And the reason it is ironic is because of all the people in this house that wanted to take a nap, I am the only one awake right now...And did I mention that I got the LEAST amount of sleep last night and all day long I kept dropping very unsubtle hints that I wanted to take a nap...

Now believe me, this is NOT the first (or second) time this has happened but for some reason today it is really irritating me. Why not just nap along with them, you ask? Well as I mentioned before, Ryder is sleeping on my chest and I'm sitting up. Some people, like my wonderful husband, are able to sleep while sitting up, but I am not one of those people! Try lying down, you say? Well that doesn't work either because everytime I try to do this Ryder wakes up and since he just went through the dreaded 3 month growth spurt he NEEDS his sleep!

So, here I sit listening to the gentle sounds of snoring from my two boys and my fur-baby...

On to more pleasant things...We have had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday we had a visit from my husband's parents and youngest sister, Dana. They came over in the afternoon and we spent some wonderful quality time together. While waiting for our delicious food to be done Jason spent time catching up with his dad out in our garage; I swear those two could talk for hours! While the boys were busy chatting my mother-in-law and I did a little rearranging in our house. This rearranging was the start of "de-cluttering" and moving things out of Ryder's reach. It won't be long before my little man is running around and knocking stuff over! After our hard work rearrangning it was time to eat, and boy was the food good! Following dinner we watched some pre-season football (the Vikings lost, boo!) and ended our night watching "The Break Up". Our Sunday started out with a 9:30 church service for Ryder and I. We went to church with my sister, and after church the three of us went to lunch at Applebee's and then to the scrapbooking store to get supplies for baptism invitations. Ryder and I went home for a little while (gotta find time to pump!) and then we headed over to my sister's house to work on the invitations - they turned out so cute! And now we're back at home which brings us back to the beginning of this post and my sleeping family...

Only two days left at home before returning to work on Wednesday. I'm going to cherish EVERY SINGLE SECOND with Ryder over the next 48 hours. Thank God I work 12 hour shifts which means I only have to be away from my little man for two or three days a week. I don't know what I'd do if I had to work Monday through Friday like normal people. Wednesday will truly be a rough day for me so I'm trying to not think about it to much. For now I'm just going to focus on my little man. I'll leave you all with a few new pictures of my bugaboo...

 Trying out my exercise saucer...

 I love bathtime! First smile caught on camera!!!

 At Whiskey Creek with mommy, daddy, Libbie, and Dusty...

Much Love - Danielle

Photoshoot with Auntie Heidi

On July 12, 2011 my good friend Heidi Eisenman came over to our house with her fancy camera and we had a little photoshoot with Mr. Ryder. Here are a few of the pictures we took that day. They turned out so good. Thanks again Heidi!

Daddy loves this one because of the John Deere tractor...

 

Much Love - Danielle

Some pictures of our little man...

With my mommy, Truman Days 2011 - And can I add that mommy is down 35 pounds from the day Ryder was born!!! And I only gained 28 pounds with my pregnancy... God I love breastfeeding!

My daddy thinks these jammies are silly...





 Our first family trip to the cabin, 4th of July  2011

Getting cuter every day!

Much Love - Danielle

Tummy Time...

My little guy HATES, and I do mean hates, tummy time with a passion! The poor little guy cries and screams and looks around for me or Jason with a look in his eye that says, "Why are you doing this to me?" Tummy time is slightly more manageable if he is placed on his boppy pillow like in the above photo, but he is still not a fan. At our 2 month checkup our doctor said we need to do more tummy time so we've been busy since that day working on this task and it paid off...

On Monday, August 1, 2011 Ryder ROLLED OVER from his tummy to his back. We weren't able to capture the moment on our video camera because it happened so quickly and without warning. Now we keep the camera right next to his playmat so that we can capture the moment when the next roll over occurs. I hope it's soon! Dr. Jacobson will be very happy to hear about this!

Much Love - Danielle

Growing up right before our very eyes...

Ryder is already 10 weeks old! How did that happen?!?! Here are some pictures of our little guy over the past couple of months. It's amazing to see how much he has grown and changed. At our 2 month checkup he was 14 pounds and 24 inches! Mommy has a very healthy baby!!!

One month old on June 22, 2011

2 months old on July 22, 2011

Much Love - Danielle

Total Blog Slacker...

So I kept saying that I was going to be better about this whole blogging thing and work hard to keep it updated...oops...turns out I'm still a total slacker when it comes to getting this thing updated!

Can you believe it's already August?!?! Where did the summer go? I only have 2 weeks left of my maternity leave and will go back to work full-time on August 17th. That will also be Ryder's first day of daycare. I am feeling both anxious and excited about this day. I think it will feel nice to get back to work but I know that I will really miss my little man. It's a good thing I work 12 hour shifts so only have to be away from him for 2 or 3 days a week. I don't know what I would do if I had to work a normal Monday-Friday 8-5 job; that would totally kill me. My plan for the next 2 weeks is to cherish every single moment with Ryder and to also try my hardest to get him into a good daytime schedule.

About that schedule...My little guy is SO unpredictable. We get up at about the same time every day but that's the only conistent part of our day. We typically start our day with a bottle, getting dressed, and some playtime. About 2 hours after that (usually around 10am), Ryder takes a nap that can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Then it's back awake and time for another bottle. At this time we usually have more playtime or snuggle time for a couple of hours and then my little man eats and usally takes an afternoon nap. This nap is usually longer than the morning nap and can sometimes last as long as 2 or 3 hours (mommy usually tries to nap with him which seems to help him sleep). After this nap we eat and wait for daddy to get home to play with us. The rest of our day is filled with lots of playtime and a couple of bottles. Then we take a bath and get ready for bed. Ryder typically goes down for the night between 9:30 and 10:30. He's been sleeping through the night (minus one wake up between 2:00 and 3:00) which has been WONDERFUL! And then it's back up for the day and we repeat the whole thing...

Now if only we could get those naps to be a little more consistent. I'm sure Lori, our daycare lady, would really appreciate that. Especially since some days Ryder doesn't nap at all!

Nothing better than a sleeping baby...

Much Love - Danielle