Ryan the Lion

Halloween was tons of fun. Ryan seemed very comfy in his warm fleece costume that my friend Melissa so graciously let us borrow. Can't beat hand-me-downs when it comes to something your child will only wear once! We selectively trick-or-treated at friends and families houses around town and Ry was so cute I wanted to eat him up! I think by the day's end he was pretty worn out!

Doesn't he look ferocious??

First Birthday Bash

The Birthday Boy!


The invitation and birthday cake


Smash cake!


Ryan was very dainty with his cake. He was tentative at first, then once he realized what it tasted like, got into it...kind of

With Grandpa Dhein


Birthday mayhem in the playroom!

From Baby....

...to little boy!

Today we took Ryan to get his first haircut. I think we could have waited longer, but the back was getting so long that he was growing a mullet. Besides, Grandma and Grandpa Brown were in town, so I thought it would be good to do it while they were still here. He was a very good little boy, and he got to sit in the cool car and even hold a fake cell phone! And yes, he lost his baby curls but I am hoping some more will grow back! Here are some more photos from the haircut...
"excuse me...can you take a little more off of the sides?!"


Ryan was not sure what to look at...the car he is sitting in, the woman behind him holding scissors next to his head, or the baby Einstein video playing in front of him...sensory overload!!!

I also have tons of photos from Ryan's first birthday party which was a blast. For some reason when I tried to download them yesterday, I couldn't do it. I will try again soon...stay tuned!

Happy Birthday, Lubbins!

I absolutely cannot believe that it has been almost one year since Keith and I were blessed with our beautiful boy. In fact, it is nearly impossible to believe. What a year it has been. I had no idea how much Ryan would change my life. Everyone tells you "a baby changes everything", but until that baby crosses the threshold of your home, you can't possibly fathom HOW.

I vividly remember the night Ry was born. The first time I laid eyes on him...well, they fill up with tears just thinking about it. The entire world paused for a moment. I thought he was absolutely perfect and could not believe that this day had finally come. I had this inexplicable feeling when I saw him, like I recognized him even though I had never seen him before. And he looked at me exactly the same way. When I held him he stared at me so intensely as though he knew that I was his mother. I was finally a part of this "club", this magical, wonderful, exhausting, emotional and rewarding club called Motherhood, a club I wasn't sure I would ever be granted a membership to.

What I remember the most about our first days at home with Ryan are the times when I would hold him and he would just stare at me. When he would wake up in my arms, and those little dark blue eyes would squint as he tried to focus on me, and I felt this overwhelming need to protect him for the rest of his life. Then my head would fill with thoughts such as, "he is going to grow up too fast!", "someday he is going to leave me!", and even,"God help the person that ever tries to f*#k with him, they will have hell to pay!"!!! Total Mama Bear. And then I would see a school bus driving down the street and shed a tear for the day that he would be old enough to ride that school bus.

I think I have reached a balance since then. Yes, I will struggle with the fact that Ryan is not a baby anymore, but I am excited for what is next. Soon he will be walking, and talking, and running, and learning all kinds of new, exciting things. He is a mellow kid who loves to observe, with an eagerness for new things. When we drop him off at school he immediately starts to play, and is like "Mom who?" when I leave. As hard as it was for me to adjust to going back to work, I love that he can be content without me.

On the flip side of that, I really love and cherish our alone time together. I love kissing those chubby cheeks and twirling him around while singing made up songs. One day he will be thoroughly embarrassed by my made up songs, but now they make him giggle. His giggle is permanently etched in my mind, the look of pure joy he has while unknowingly displaying the cutest gap between his two front teeth. Some of my favorite names for him are Lubbins (a Buck Wheat version of Lovins), Boopsy-Loo (i think our days are numbered with that one), Apple Dumplin', and Stinka/Stink-a-Link. I am sure once he starts to get a better command of the english language he will not approve of any of these names!!

Happy first birthday, Lubbins! No matter how old you are, you will always be my baby.

Fall Festivus

Last weekend some friends invited us to their cabin in New Buffalo, Michigan. We had a great time doing all of the fun fall activities like apple picking and pumpkin patching. The weather was a bit nippy, but we still managed to have fun. Ryan loves a new adventure and he enjoyed taking it all in.


Ryan did not like the scary black kitty!


He was much happier in the safety of his stroller...


So much for a family photo!

My Boys

Look at this darling photo of Keith and Ryan. Keith wanted a picture of Ryan with his little CU hat on during our photo shoot. Ryan kept taking it off the second Keith would put it on his head, so we assumed that Sarah wouldn't get a good shot. But I think she captured a terrific father/son moment here. It really illustrates how Keith takes everything in stride, even when they don't go the way he imagines. This is one of the million reasons why I married him.

This post coincides perfectly with Keith's birthday, which is tomorrow. Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Ryan's Gift To Me

On Saturday morning Ryan gave me the best gift. He woke up early, around 6am, and was struggling to get back to sleep. Tossing and turning and occasionally fussing. I decided to leave him be, but by 6:30 he was outright crying. Ready to get up, I thought. So I went in to get him. On weekends I always volunteer to get Ry in the morning even though Keith often offers to get him so that I can sleep in. I take every opportunity I can to see that smiling face in his crib on weekends because on many weekdays I am out the door before he even wakes up. Anyway, it is about 6:30 on Saturday and I pick him up, and he is clearly still so tired. I thought to myself, this will never fly, but I am going to try to rock him a bit so that he can slowly wake up before I change his diaper and dress him. Low and behold, he was a little dish rag in my arms. No squirming and trying to break free, no reaching for his books on the bookshelf, just resting his head on my shoulder, cuddling Robbie and trying to catch some more zzzzzzz's. It was heaven on earth. Completely unexpected. He actually slept until 8:15 cuddling with me on the rocking chair. I can't even remember the last time he slept in my arms. It was priceless, and not something that I take for granted. Love to feel like my baby still needs me like that!

Moving On

Today I started packing up some of the toys that Ry has outgrown. In going through his toy chest, I realized that so many of them are way too baby-ish now. Mostly rattles and little stuffed animals that vibrate or make noise in some way; these things used to keep him endlessly entertained and now he just passes over them. Now that he is on the go he really likes balls and plastic or wooden toys that he can chuck and chase (that will make lots of noise when hitting the wood floor). We also have a little wooden step stool with his name carved into puzzle pieces on the top of it, and he loves to take the letters out and try to get them back in (or chuck them across the room). He has reached the next phase of baby toys and I have very mixed emotions about it. Yes, it is good that he is growing and developing and moving on, but is it not a mother's right to feel sad that her baby is growing up? More on that later. For now those toys will be in storage for the next little one in the family...
Which will be Ryan's cousin, the little Baby Dhein!!! Yes, my sister-in-law Teri is pregnant!!! We are so incredibly excited for she and my brother Jeremy. S/he will be their first, due at the end of March. YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My Buddy

Ry has been very into Charlie lately. He has been grabbing at his mouth and paws and giggling like crazy. Charlie doesn't mind, he always takes it in stride, unless there is a ball involved. Yesterday Ry was playing on the kitchen floor with a rubber ball and Charlie took it as a cue to play. He would grab the ball out of Ry's hands which Ry actually thought was quite funny. The only problem is that Charlie really does think it is a game and gets a little rough. He wouldn't ever intentionally hurt Ry, but when he is playing he does not understand limits! The final straw was when Ry was sitting on the kitchen floor with the ball and Charlie knocked him over to get it. It really didn't seem to phase Ry, but until he gets a little bigger, this is not okay! Ry doesn't seem to mind being separated as long as he can look at Charlie through the window.

Fave Pics

I came across a few photos from earlier in the summer that are too cute not to post:

Ryan could not have been any more pleased sitting inside this box. A look of pure joy!


Favorite pasttime: looking down the stairs, wondering what he should throw down next, and then
throwing it down!


Too busy crawling to notice or care about the loss of his pants

The Dickens

Ry is developing quite a little personality! It is usually cute...but sometimes not so much, hence his nickname "the dickens". He loves his bath when he can splash around and throw his bath toys. But post-bath is another story. He does not like to dry off and get dressed! The second I put him down he rolls over and starts grabbing at anything he can get his hands on, like this: I know that this is completely normal at this age; he is curious and does not want to sit still. But when I try to get him still enough to fasten his diaper and get him dressed, he fusses as though I am torturing him!

Something naughty that he really likes to do is throw his food on the floor. He is getting very selective about what he will eat (read: picky!). Right now his favorite foods are: yogurt, any fruit, cheese, pasta with marinara, mac and cheese, almost any cracker, and almost any baby food. There is not much else he will eat these days. We try new things almost daily and he will have none of it. I know that you can't force it. But when he won't even try something, then proceeds to throw it on the floor...it can be maddening. I get especially frustrated when I have spent time making something for him and it all ends up on the floor. I try to act cool with him since I feel like at this age, once he knows he will get a negative response it will only encourage him. So I try to approach it lightly while saying no and explaining how many children all over the world are starving (such a typical mom thing to say! But so true nonetheless...). He does still really like his baby food, which is many times what I resort to feeding him when he won't eat anything else...but I would like to get away from this since he is almost 1! Otherwise I resort to our staples of fruit, crackers or cheese slices which aren't the worst things in the world but he cannot live on them! I have heard from some people not to serve him anything special if he doesn't like what he is given...but I am sorry, I cannot let him go to bed without eating anything! Am I encouraging picky behavior??

Well anyway, it is hard to stay mad at him for any length of time, because then he looks at you like thisand all is forgotten!

Photo Shoot

We had Ry's photos taken on Sunday and I absolutely love them! We were supposed to meet the photographer (Sarah) at a beautiful park near our house, and it started raining moments before our appointment! Major bummer. We had timed Ry's naps just right so that he would be perky for his pics, and I had him in his cute outfit which was spit up free, so when Sarah asked if we wanted to reschedule, I said NO! Let's just go for it somewhere indoors. We went to my parents house since ours still has, shall we say, several unfinished areas due to our drywall damage, and it worked out fine. Sarah suggested taking photos on the screened-in porch which enabled us to have tons of natural light. We did get a few outside when the rain stopped, but that coincided with Ry getting a bit squirmy...well, a lot squirmy!
But all in all I am thrilled with the photos...they are exactly what I wanted. See what you think! Click on the link below and click on the collection of "Ryan" photos.
http://sjbphotos.zenfolio.com

HAIR

I am obsessed with Ryan's hair. I don't want him to ever lose these curls. I know someday he probably will, but I am going to hold off on any haircuts for quite a while. We are having photos taken next weekend and I want it to be a humid day so that his hair gets extra curly! It is the only time in my life that I have ever wished for humidity!

Ry and His Gals

Ry had a lot of quality of time with the ladies on our trip also! Here he is being doted on and loved by some of my gal pals....

with Amy,


Kathleen,


Laura,


Sheila,


and Sharon!

These ladies are all good friends of mine...Out of the 5, I met 4 at the good ol' C&B, and each of them has given me so much more than they know! The fact that they love my boy makes them that much more special to me!

More Colorado

Finally, miscellaneous pics of the trip. Ry really seemed to enjoy the travel and being in a new place. He just loves to look around and observe...people, places and things. We went for a walk one evening in the foothills near Red Rocks and there was a cool breeze blowing. Ry was in his stroller and as we walked he was smiling the entire time at the wonderful breeze caressing his hair. He was also reaching his hand out of the side of the stroller to touch the tall grasses on the side of the trail. It was incredibly sweet!




A nature lover already!

Play Time

We had many play dates during our trip. It was pure joy to see Ryan meeting some other little people who belong to people that we love. Some of the travel started getting to Ryan after a few days...it seemed like he spent way more time in his car seat or stroller than he would have liked. However, when we arrived at our destination and started playing, he was a new boy. He is always on the move and is all about discovering new things. Here are photos of Ry and some of his new buddies:

With Emma and Nick. I grew up with their Mom, Terese


With Raina Bleu. Her Mom, Cathy Jo is a friend and long time co-worker at the C&B


With "little Jack Caldwell". I could not stop calling him by his cute full name when we met him! Keith grew up with Jack's Dad, Brian, and our little boys are only 2 months apart. They are sure to be partners in crime someday.


With Emme and Ava. Keith and their Dad, Jon are long time golfing buddies


With Jamison. Keith and his Dad, Pat, went to college together. Cutie pies!!!

We loved visiting with everyone and had a great time showing off our boy. We felt so welcomed and embraced by everyone and I know Ryan felt it too.
More Colorado pics coming soon!

Family Time

Keith's parents, Bob and Berna, hosted a family party while we were in town to introduce Ryan to the Brown side of the family for the first time. Berna spent a lot of time preparing for it and it turned out to be such fun. Ryan got spoiled and was lavished with attention. He was such a good boy, especially considering that he missed his afternoon nap (which the nap nazi does not customarily let him do!!). Both of Berna's sisters were there with a couple of Keith's cousins and their kids. We had a great time catching up, since we hadn't seen most of them since our wedding 6 years ago!

The yummy cake...chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Grandpa really wanted Ryan to have some, but Mommy was a wet blanket and said that he had to wait until his first birthday!


Cousin Lauren and Ryan. Lauren is 11 and was so helpful with watching, feeding and putting Ry to bed!


Cousin Mark and Ryan...instant buddies


Keith and Uncle Bob


The family...and much chaos!

So Much to Say

Okay! I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. We had some house issues and were staying with my parents. Then we were on vacation in Colorado, and it was fantastic. Our first big "family" vacation! I loved all the time I got to spend with my little guy (well, both of my guys!), and it was much needed! I have a lot to say about our trip which I will work on this week, but until then, a few pics....


Family portrait! It was so nice to be in Colorado again, and this time...with our little Sunshine!


Grandma Berna with HER Sunshine!


Lap time with Grandpa Bob