More Videos

I never thought that I'd be one of those parents posting videos of their kids just laying there, but I am. I figure that grandparents will enjoy it though.

The first one is of Ryan exercising his legs (don't worry, I'm sure that he can't work off his fat rolls), and the second one is of him smiling (sorry that the video is so dark). I am so thankful that he wakes up in a good mood, that's generally the time when he smiles the most.

We took Ryan outside after Andrew got home from work for his daily dose of vitamin D (if you click on the pictures you can see them bigger...and you'll see that Ryan is blowing bubbles, which is his new past time. That and drooling). I am enjoying that I can dress him up in cuter outfits now that he is a little bit bigger.

First trip to the park

Yesterday we took Ryan to the park for the first time. We went to feed the ducks and to take him for a walk. Of course in typical Clovis weather, a big rain storm snuck up on us. We found some shelter and tried to keep dry. I am still learning at packing for a baby, and of course forgot a blanket. Here Andrew was trying to keep his head/ears warm.

He found his finger!!

Sorry that I've taken a few days off from blogging, it's been a very busy weekend. I figure though that as long as I put up pictures of Ryan that all will be forgiven.

We've been trying to make sure that Ryan doesn't suck his thumb, or any other body part for that matter, but he is very persistent. (if you turn up the volume you can hear him sucking away...it's kind-of cute)

He is getting so big!!

I thought this was such a cute picture!!

Day 4: Memories of my Mom

A couple of years ago my Mom and I went to Vegas while Andrew was deployed. I decided that I was going to try my luck at the penny slots and my Mom asked if she could come watch me. Now if you have ever played the penny slots you know how BORING it is. You just hit a button and watch the reels move, and you could literally lose a whole dollar without ever winning (remember that is 100 of those boring spins!).

Now that you have a sense of how boring it is to play those slots, can you imagine just watching somebody play those slots?!? What I've come to realize is that she wasn't overly interested in how the games worked, but she just wanted to spend time with me, even if it meant watching me hit a button 100 times.

Tribute to my Mom day 3

My mom does not like sugar. In fact she eats so little sugar that she has ZERO cavities. Granted she does love dark chocolate, but growing up she was pretty strict on our sugar intake. We didn't eat ketchup because all of the sugar, and we never had normal cereal, she would make us granola.

We always laugh about the decorating job that she did on our birthday cakes...I guess that I should just be glad that we got cakes.

Here you can plainly see that only the top is iced.

Here there is no icing except for the decorations...maybe she thought if she made it pretty enough I wouldn't notice (I think you can tell by my face that I did).

I think that when the icing is so thin that you can see right through it, you should put more on.

Once again, the sides devoid of icing.

Now that I have a kid of my own I realize why she would not want us to have so much sugar, but I think with Ryan I'll ice the sides of his cake!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

If you've ever heard my family reminisce about the past, you might think that it would be hard for me to come up with 7 fond memories that I have of my Mom and I, but actually it has been hard for me to narrow it down to 7.

We had a great time when she came out to visit me in Korea when I was stationed over there. I am so glad that she came out to spend time with me and be my tour guide. I am really looking forward to going back with her, hopefully sometime next year.

Disclaimer: Even though I am wearing the same outfit in all of the pictures they were actually taken over a course of a few days. Don't worry, I've retired the Indiana shirt. And since I'm talking about wardrobes, I can't believe how much more fashionable my Mom has gotten since these pictures. Maybe it's because since these were taken she's become a Yoga master and gotten in great shape...might as well show it off!!

While she was there we went to Je-Ju Island. Even though it is only a short plane ride away she never was able to go while she was growing up due to the fact that it was too expensive for her family. I am glad that we were able to go together and see the beautiful sights.

This picture was taken in the alley outside of Osan AB, I'm not exactly sure who that guy is, or why he is in our picture...maybe to document how tall Koreans are getting.

It was great to have her be my tour guide. We ate some amazing food and had some really fun experiences. I got to meet some family that still lives in Korea, including her sister. Part of the reason of the trip was for her to bring some money to her sister who was in a bad situation. Even though my Mom did not have the greatest family life growing up (her family made ours look like the Cleaver's) I was impressed that she would be so willing to help out. She showed a great sense of forgiveness and love which showed me a lot about her.

For my mom

Since tomorrow is my Mom's birthday I figure that in tribute to her I would post a picture or talk of a memory that I really enjoy about her each day this week.

I really appreciate how she would cut my hair. I would beg and plead for her to cut my hair (she didn't really want to) and when she finally gave in and cut my hair, I would complain about the job that she did. She would say that she wasn't going to cut it again...but she would always end up doing it again the next time that I asked her to. I appreciate that even though I would complain about her barber skills, that she wanted to make me happy and would do what I asked.

Maternity Pictures

Looking thru our old pictures I realized that I didn't ever post our maternity pictures. These were taken by a friend of ours in England, so I was probably about 6 months along...I thought that I was pretty huge then, little did I know how I would feel in 3 more months.

Baby Blessing/4th of July

We had a great visit to Evergreen to visit Jim and Aki and to bless Ryan. Thank-you both so much for letting everyone gather at your house, we all had a great time.

Here is Ryan and Roo on our first stop of the day. Ryan did so well sleeping, what a great baby!!

You can just tell that Ryan and Grandma are going to be best friends!

Our family

We had a great time enjoying the views and the wonderful weather on the deck.

We blessed Ryan at Roo's old ward, it was neat for him to get to see everyone and I'm glad that we were able to do it there. I am so glad that Andy and Nikki were able to come out for the weekend. They were only there for a few days, but it meant a lot to us that they made it.

The proud Grandparents

The ladies (Ryan wasn't too happy)

The handsome men

After the blessing we went to the lake to enjoy some music and sun. The weather cooperated until it started hailing, but we just grabbed some shelter until it passed and continued enjoying the day.

Ryan with Uncle Andy (a.k.a. Uncle Boo)