We made history

Pumpkin Patch at school.  I could think of so many things going through his head just by this expression.

 

Thursday night John Michael and I had a little date.  Dinner and then to see ole' Robert Earl Keen since he was in Jackson.  We've seen him in San Francisco and Austin, how could we not get away to see him 10 minutes from home?

Ran into JM's cousins, Kathryn and Will

Robert himself.

 

We got back our CD from cotton field pics.  Connie got some sweet ones for how cranky they were acting.

This one is so handsome!

The best shot at a family photo.

Ryder and Rhodes both crying in this one, gotta love it.

 

Saturday we had to get out and about so I was looking through some hats trying to find one to fit Rhodes.

 

Braving the cold tailgating at a local park watching the games.

 

 

 

We made in home in time to watch the State vs. Ala game.  These two made quite the mess in Ryder's closet.  Of course Ryder kept blaming it on Gaines.

 

 T, Rhodes and Jeffrey

 

  My sisters :)

 

 We plopped Rhodes and Emerson in the crib while we watched the game, they didn't peep.

 

 And the big brothers watched TV in our bed.  Ryder stayed up until 12:00 Saturday night!!! And didn't nap on Sunday...

 

Sunday afternoon we had lunch with the Wilson/Ledbetter's in Benton and Ryder had fun playing in the "toy room" with all his cousins.

 

Brooke, Rhodes and Anna Terrell

 

Welp, Ryder had his first haircut Sunday night. At 3 years and 2 months old. I had a little shower for Lindsey's 2nd baby, Noah, at our house Sunday night with just a few close friends. We got on the subject of Ryder's crazy hair. Maghen, our friend and haircutter (I know that's not the right term) happened to be in attendance and offered to do it right then and there. John Michael was not real happy about it, he did not want it cut. But it happened. And it looks so good and thick!

 

I think it's safe to say we made history in the Guiness Book of World Records for oldest boy haircut.

See Ryder's reaction below.

 

It didn't make a huge difference in the front because he still doesn't have bangs, so she didn't cut that.  But the Albert Einstein fro is now trimmed off the sides.

You can see the difference in the back where it's a little more tame and thick.

When he woke up the next morning I reminded him about his new hair.  He started pouting and said, "But I want my hair to be big!  And I want it to be long too!  Is it still curly?"

Of course I had to get a picture at Lindsey's shower and we all agreed we all looked ridiculous, pregnant (meaning those of us that aren't actually pregnant) and gross in this picture, but I'll leave it small so it won't be real close up.  Sorry friends.

After the haircut I got to thinking about how nice it was to have a friend who does hair because you can just be honest with them, it's not awkward during the 2 hour hair session, etc.  And I was uploading these pictures and I got to looking at this group of friends of mine from the shower and realized Maghen wasn't the only friend where it's one of those "I'm sure glad I have a good friend that is a _____."  From the left, we've got Meg who is a family nurse practitioner, Kristen who is a pediatric nurse (ummm, so much better than having to call the clinic and wait 3 hours for a nurse to call you back) and she's also a newly party planner, Lindsey who is a physical therapist, Ashlea who is a lawyer, Maghen who does hair, and Courtney who is a pharmacist.  Seriously?  I never realized I've got such a dang smart group of friends!  I am set!!!!

Really good and easy recipes that I made at some point this weekend:

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (12 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

 

Place chicken in a crockpot. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on low.   Shred Chicken and place on buns or rolls.  We had baked beans and salad to go with it, really yummy and easy.

Hot Spinach Salsa and Queso Dip10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 lb Velveeta cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1 16 oz jar salsa

Throw it all in the crockpot on low until it's warm, usually about an hour or so.  Serve with tortilla chips.

When you get big...

Rhodes could stare at Ryder all day, he adores him!  And Ryder is already such a teacher.  He talks to Rhodes while he does things and tells him what he's doing.  And then he always ends by saying, "When you get big, you can do it too!"

Ryder has started TOTs at his school.  Since I can watch him while he's at school from my computer I tuned in to catch some of his TOT class, I was grinning the whole time watching him.  I never thought I would get such a thrill out of watching him bounce a basketball.  But I just know his mannerisms so well and it was just precious watching how serious he was and I could tell he was listening so hard to his teacher and following her directions to a T.  

Sweetest 3 month old I know

Practice, practice, practice

My mom came over the other night and Ryder was digging through her purse looking for something he could play with.  She pulled out this newspaper.  You'd have thought she pulled out a $100 bill.  He couldn't put it down and he kept "reading" the newspaper to us.

Every night before bed Ryder picks a book.  I guess you can imagine what he picked to read that night.  Yes... his newspaper.  He requested to sleep with it as well.

Rhodes turned 3 months old on October 19, 2012

Rhodes' Facts:

• Sleeps through the night 8pm-7am on average.
• Still on breast milk (except the rare occasion) and takes 4.5-5oz when he takes a bottle.
• Eats about every 3 hours during the day, usually 7:30 am, 10:30 am, 1:30 pm, 4:30 pm, and then 7:30 pm for the last time.
• Still doesn't have a firm nap schedule during the day, still cat naps a lot.
• Tummy time is improving, but he's still not a fan of laying on the stomach.
• Has not rolled over yet.
• When I went in to get him this morning he had completely turned a 180, as in his head was where his feet were when I laid him down last night.
• He's so intrigued by Ryder and laughs and smiles at everything Ryder does.
• Wearing 3-6 and 6 month pj's and clothes.
• Takes a paci sometimes, but not as much as he was.
• Sucks on his hands a lot.
• I think he was beginning to get excema but I nipped that in the bud with a mixture of aquaphor and hydrocortisone cream.
• Such a cinch at bedtime.  I usually just bathe him, put on his lotion and creams, hold him for a few minutes and then lay him in his crib.  He rarely cries out, just usually falls right to sleep.

Saturday morning, Ryder went to a fall festival with my dad and Becky.  John Michael went to work for a bit, so it was just me and Rhodes, and he was napping most of the time.  I think it was the first time I've had "me" time since before Rhodes was born.  I just sat there on the couch in my pj's with my cup of coffee and reading God's Word without having to rush.  It was so relaxing!

My dad sent me pictures while they were at the festival

He's never scared to make a friend.

Pumpkin picking

Rhodes didn't know what to do with all this 1-on-1 time while Ryder was gone.

Saturday night Nanni and Granddaddy came over to hang out and go to dinner for grandaddy's birthday, I hate we didn't get any pictures :(

When JM gets home from work, he walks in the door and always asks Ryder if he wants to walk with him to check the mail.  Ryder is hit and miss with that.  But tonight he wanted to go.  He came running back in with his "note" from Nanni and Grandaddy (a halloween card) and it had a dollar in it.  He was so proud and ran straight to his piggy bank.  Made the banker proud.

Church Sunday.

Love an outdoor dinner so Majestic Burger was a good choice Sunday night.

Then the best thing happened after dinner.  I've never been so excited to change a poopy diaper in a parking lot in the back seat of our car.  Rhodes was going on 6 days without a poopy, and as soon as we walked out of the restaurant - it hit.  And it hit big.  Through the diaper, up the back, around the front, covering the clothes and all into the carseat big.  Thank gosh, because we were on our way to Walgreens to get a glycerin suppository.  I was not looking forward to giving that to him, so I was quite glad he took care of that for me.

Isn't it funny the things that make parents so happy?  Bouncing a basketball and pooping in a diaper.  Life of a parent - wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Tiny Prints 2012 Holiday Collection

The Tiny Prints 2012 Holiday Collection has arrived and I wanted to share all the designs and fun features with you.

They've got a wonderful collection this year from traditional colors and embellishments to merry and bright colors that take on a modern feel.  They also feature religious/scripture based cards.  Whatever your style may be, Tiny Prints is sure to have something you’ll love.

Please click HERE to view the collection.

I encourage you to check out their Special Offers page -http://www.tinyprints.com/promo/tiny-prints-coupon-codes-promotions.htm

Tiny Prints Social Channels

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tinyprints

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• Blog: http://blog.tinyprints.com/

This post is sponsored by Tiny Prints.

A Busy Week in Review

I have these round placemats and Ryder has made up more games to go along with these things.  He's explaining the game to Kayla. 

 

I asked Ryder what he wanted to be for halloween and he said spiderman.  So I said ok.  I have never heard him say the word spiderman before, he's never watched spiderman, so I'm not sure why this was his choice.  We tried it on and it was a little snug, and he only wore the mask for a few seconds before that got old.  So that went back to the store.

Visit from CC.

Saturday, Connie took our pictures at some cotton fields.  Good thing I snapped one before we left the house because these two children were awful!!!  Rhodes cried the whole time (he was hungry and the sun was too bright, he didn't much like that).  And Ryder was fussing and whining the whole time.

I took this right when we got out of the car before they got cranked up.  Connie managed to get a couple of us, but I'm tellin ya, these boys weren't having it.

Afterwards, once everybody was fed and calmed down, we went to the olde towne fall market.

Then John Michael loaded up and headed for Starkville with a couple of his friends.  We stayed and held down the fort.  Not twenty minutes after he left, Ryder woke up from his nap super early and when I gave him a hug he was burning up.  I took his temp:

Child hasn't had fever in probably a year.  Look how red his face is.  I gave him two rounds of tylenol and motrin and he never had fever again.

Here was my view of the game...

Here was John Michael's view...

The game didn't start until 8:00, and he came home after the game and got home close to 3 a.m.  So this was how most of Sunday was spent

I did manage to get him out of the house Sunday night and we took the boys to the park and I did a little jogging.  Ryder wanted to race me.

This sweet boy was watching Ryder play on the playground.  Ryder kept saying, "Rhodes, watch big brother slide, watch big brother swing", etc."

When I picked Ryder up from school Monday he was on the playground.  He told me that he had something special for me waiting in his cubby.  When we got to his room I saw my surprise, he had picked me some "flowers" and asked his teacher if she would save them for me :)

Rhodes is getting chunkier by the day.

The rolls on his thighs are serious.

And I'm loving those rubberband wrists.

 

Tuesday night we ventured to the Yazoo County Fair, so much better than the state fair for many reasons.  Cleaner, smaller, safter, nicer people and you pay $9 and ride all you want.

Yeah.. we brought the baby.  Once #2 comes along, the family just becomes a package deal.  If we're taking Ryder somewhere, Rhodes is coming right along, no matter the event.

World's longest merry-go-round.  It went on for over 5 minutes.  Finally one lady yelled out, "This thing ever gonna stop???"

Ryder and Madison got on the ferris wheel.  Ryder was quite scared once it got to the top and started rocking.  We were all waving below and he was just shaking his head back at us like you're crazy if you think I'm taking my hands off the rails to wave back at you.

Rhodes stayed awake throughout the fair, but was just a smiling and a happy baby.

Couldn't leave without winning something.