Superbowl Sunday

Since it was the superbowl this past Sunday, we decided to take some football jersey pictures.  We know the superbowl isn't longhorn related, but being from Austin, this is all we had.  :)  Here's a pic of Steven and the jersey I got him for Christmas, Ryan's longhorn jersey and of course Button's good luck longhorn jersey.  If you're wondering, yes, that is Ryan sticking Button's paw into his mouth.  He is non-discriminatory when it comes to sticking things into his mouth!  

Butt Up?  

Okay, I've heard of sleeping on your back, side and tummy, but what about sleeping butt up?  Silly baby!  

Austin Children's Museum

After over a year of driving past and pointing out the Austin Children's Museum, we finally went between Christmas and New Year's with Miss N and Heather.  It was a lot bigger than I originally thought.  There was a ton of things to see and do (and put into your mouth as Ryan can attest to).  The first pic is of Ryan and Steven playing with some gears.  Ryan really seemed to like it, so we got him a gear toy for his birthday.  He's played with it at My Gym before, so hopefully he'll like playing with it at home too.  That's the bad thing about My Gym, it's such a source of toy ideas for Ryan!  The second pic is of Miss N playing the drums in the Austin Kiddie Limits exhibit.  She had fun jumping up and down and as a knitter, I adored her very cute knitted dress.  I actually have a pattern for a similar style knitted dress, now I just need a baby girl.  :)  The third pic is of Ryan and Miss N both playing with the guitar.  Ryan is still very ego-centric, so he just grabbed the stick from Natalie.  I can't wait to actually see him playing with other little kiddos.  

Ryan Reading the Sunday Paper

During a trip to Houston for Xin Xin and John's combined bachelorette/bachelor parties, we found out that Ryan has an interest in reading the Sunday paper.  It was neatly stacked on the couch and the next thing you know, he's read through everything and the paper's on the floor!  

Ryan is really funny when it comes to reading.  He loves flipping through his books, going through newspapers, etc, but he's not a big fan of being read to.  I try to place him on my lap and read a book to him, but he squirms around until he's standing on the floor.  He really enjoys turning the pages of a book and even chewing on the book, but not so much with the reading thing.  I guess it's just something we have to work on!  

Ryan Lion at 11 Months

Here's just a few pics of some daily Ryan Lion activities.  

The first picture was taken after Ryan learned how to open the kitchen cabinets (yeah, we *still* need to babyproof).  He got into his snack cabinet and pulled out a container of what I like to call baby cheetos.  They have the same texture of cheetos, but presumably they're better for you.  It's part of Gerber's finger food toddler line.  Anyways, he managed to open up the tin with his teeth and dug right in.  Of course, he got really excited and ended up dumping most of the baby cheetos on the ground where Carrie very graciously decided to help him clean it up.  It was a proud mom moment seeing her baby and dog both eating off of the floor together!  

The second picture is of Ryan helping out with his laundry.  We're still doing his laundry separately from our own because I like washing his clothes in baby scented laundry detergent.  :)  When it's time to do his laundry, he helps by pushing the laundry basket from his room to the laundry room.  Once the laundry is done, he pushes the basket to where we're going to fold his clothes and then pushes it back to his room to be put away.  Ever since grandpa got him a walker, he's really been into pushing things.  He likes to push all of his toys around his play room and he tries to push the furniture, etc.  It's been really cute until he started pushing his superyard xt baby gate out of shape!  

The third picture is of Ryan playing with his favorite toy of all time, the learning home from Fisher Price.  He plays with it every single day and he's finally learned how to put the balls down the chimney to make it sing!  He's clutching the lion that he got from Auntie Xin Xin's wedding.  He loves that lion.  He's got a ton of elephants, but this is his first lion and he absolutely loves it.  Whenever he sees it, he dives for it and stuffs it into his mouth.  Yes, those are baby leg warmers on Ryan and yes, I do know that he's a boy.  They're called baby legs and they make changing him a lot easier since you don't have to take off his pants.  I tried to get masculine colors, but for some reason, these look rather Richard Simmons-ish.  :)  It'll just be one of those things he probably won't forgive me for, oh well.  

The last picture is of Ryan Lion and Carrie.  The dogs' favorite place in the house is underneath Ryan's high chair when he's eating.  It's really quite amazing what they'll eat these days from broccoli to blueberries!  What's great about having dogs is that we NEVER have to clean up the floor after a meal, but it's a different story when we go out to eat.  :)  What's also nice is that you can always tell when Ryan is done eating because he'll just start throwing his food over the tray to feed the dogs.  I just don't know how people have babies without dogs!  He has recently started feeding the dogs and then laughing afterwards.  Silly baby!  

Hello Miss Aubrey Lynn

It only took two months, but we finally got a chance to hang out with little Miss Aubrey Lynn and her mama Jessica last Wednesday. Mom and baby are happy and well. I just can't believe that Ryan was ever that little and Aubrey is a big two month old! It's cliche, but they just grow up so fast. Aubrey has already started to outgrow her 0-3 month clothes! She is so cute, I can understand why Jessica is such a proud mama. :) Now, we need to plan a way to hook Ryan and Aubrey up and start planning the wedding! J/K!!!

Overloaded

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile since I've blogged (1.5 months to be exact). :) I've thought a lot about updating here and on the Picasaweb Album site, but unfortunately, we have run out of space on the Picasaweb Album site. We're exploring other options, so we'll let you know what we decide on so you can get your fill of Ryan Lion! In the posts below, you'll see that some of the pictures are sideways, but I can't figure out how to flip them. If anyone knows, please, do tell. Our desktop where I usually blog directly from Picasa is having hard disk issues, so it won't pull up Picasa for me, so I'm blogging directly from blogger. Anyways, I just thought I'd share my computer troubles.

On to other things, Ryan Lion is turning the big 1 next week. I have to say, I'm really sad that my baby is officially no longer my baby and is now considered a toddler. He has amazed me every single day for the past year and has never failed to make me smile. He's turned into quite the jokester by blowing raspberries on my belly to make me laugh! His smile and laugh are infectious and I count my blessings every day since he's come into my life. I have to admit that right before I found out I was pregnant, I was in a low place in my life. If I even started talking or thinking about work, I would find myself in tears and that's just not me. I knew that something had to change and the next thing I knew, I found out that I was pregnant. Being pregnant wasn't exactly what I hoped and wished it would be, but after 8.5 months, I finally got to meet my little lion cub. He was so perfect then and now. I just can't express how much I love my little man and how much he means to me. So, I am excited that he's reached this huge milestone, but I'll always think of him as the little swaddled baby who always wanted to be held.

Congratulations to Xin Xin and John!!!

Aren't they just a stunning couple? :) On January 26th, my best friend since freshman year in high school got married to one of the nicest guys ever. I am so happy for them! The wedding was perfect, you really couldn't ask for it to go any better. The tea ceremony took place at Xin Xin's parent's home in the morning and the wedding took place at the Petroleum Club on top of one of downtown Houston's tallest buildings. They got married by John's father, who is a Justice of the Peace, while the sun set behind them. It was such a picturesque sight to match the beautiful wedding.

The reception was a blast! The candy buffet was a complete hit and the DJ was really good. The food was excellent and the rose petal send off was really fun. I have to say that Xin Xin and John did a great job of picking their vendors. I really liked their photographer too.

Congrats again to the happy couple!

Congratulations to G Man and Judy!

On Sunday, January 27th, I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for one of my dear friends, Judy and the soon to be hot papa, G Man. The first pic is of the hostesses and the hot mama to be; from left to right: Lesley (also preggers, congratulations!), Heather (thanks for having it at your house, now I know why you live all the way out there), Heather, Holly, Judy (the gorgeous mama to be), me and Jenny. After driving in from Houston on the same day, I thought that I'd be completely wiped out, but I had a great time catching up with everyone and drinking some really good sangria! :) We're expecting little Valeria in March, we all can't wait to meet her!

Happy Birthday to Miss Natalie!!

Ryan attended his first birthday party on Saturday for the Divine Miss N. It was at My Gym, Ryan's favorite place ever! He had a really good time taking his first bite of cake and drinking juice out of his very first juice box. :) It was a bit of a marathon play session for Ryan though since it lasted 1.5 hours, but overall, I think he did really well. There was only one episode of crying when he was pushing around a truck and he fell. He liked playing in the cylinders and practicing his walking. Maybe he'll be lucky enough to have his second birthday party at My Gym next year!

Giant Cupcake Trial Run

For Ryan's first birthday, I decided that I'd make him a giant cupcake for his birthday "cake." Here's a pic of the trial run. It's not too shabby if you ask me. :) I bought a giant cupcake pan from Wilton and decorated it myself. It was my first foray into decorating. What do you think? I don't think it looks that bad and it helps that it's for Ryan who doesn't care what it looks like! I think that I'm just going to put icing on the top and not on the sides, it looks a little too messy. The cake above is red velvet with cream cheese frosting and red sugar sprinkles. Trust me, it sounds a lot better than it tastes! I got the recipe from recipezaar. The cupcake was really dry because we had to bake it for a longer time since it's so thick. Anyways, let's hope that the one we make for Saturday turns out a little better!

Saddest Christmas Song Ever...

Every time I hear this song it nearly brings me to tears especially after having Ryan Lion.

The Christmas Shoes
by Bob Carlisle

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line
Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing 'round like little boys do
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldn't believe what I heard him say

[Chorus:]
Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"
He searched his pockets frantically
Then he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house Though most years she just did without
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out
I'll never forget the look on his face when he said
Mama's gonna look so great

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

[Bridge:]
I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boy
To remind me just what Christmas is all about.

EY Ladies (Past and Present)

We had our first annual holiday happy hour this past Wednesday at Malaga in the warehouse district.  It was so nice to be out at night (I know, gasp!), but I have to say that I don't miss being in downtown traffic!  We also did a gift exchange and I got some pretty awesome scrapbook paper, stickers, rubber stamps and a gift card to Seattle's Best.  Coffee and scrapbooking, nothing can make this girl happier.  :)  From left to right, we have: Judy, Heather, Peggy, Diana, Holly, Leigh, Heather, Lesley, me and Meg.  Thanks Heather for organizing!  

Miss Aubrey at 2.5 Days Old

We finally got a chance to meet the newest Moore on Wednesday. I just can't believe that Ryan was ever that small! She weighed in at 8 pounds and has lost a little bit of weight (all newborns do), but still, I can't believe Ryan took over a month to get to 8 pounds! It's craziness. It seems like Mom is doing well. She was all dressed up when I got there and is looking good. Aubrey already has a head full of hair and if you ask me, it looks curly already! I bet Jessica can't wait to buy lots of cute bows. :) Congrats again!!!

Ryan and Santa Claus

Ryan did great with Santa! After patiently waiting in line (and climbing all over me), Ryan crawled over to Santa and when I put Ryan in Santa's lap, he tried to pull Santa's beard! Once we got him settled down, Ryan smiled for the camera, and this was the first shot. Luckily, we went after Ryan's My Gym class, so he was a little tired and in a great mood. It's all about the timing. :)

I tried to look for a really cute classic Christmas outfit for the picture, but I couldn't find anything that I liked, so we ended up with this outfit from Babystyle that has a Santa Pirate (there's an eye patch over Santa's eye) on the front that says "Yo Ho Ho" and on the butt of the pants, it says "Pirate's Booty." It's not exactly the pristine cute outfit I was hoping for, but that isn't my baby anyways. :)

Welcome to the World Aubrey Lynn!

On Monday, November 26th at 9:21 AM, Ryan got a new friend by the name of Aubrey Lynn. She weighed in at 8 pounds even and measured 20.9 inches. We can't wait to meet the new lady in Ryan's life. Congratulations to Mama Jessica and Papa Ken!

Ergo Baby

My favorite new piece of baby gear is the ergo baby carrier. It's kind of like a backpack that can carry Ryan. It puts the baby's weight more on your hips as opposed to your shoulders. I thought that once Ryan was old enough to go into a regular stroller as opposed to his snap 'n go, that he'd like being in there and wouldn't mind being strolled around. It turns out that his stroller happy time is only about 10 minutes with a form of distraction. He does better if the stroller is constantly moving, but he still can get pretty fussy. Wearing him is the only way that I can get any shopping done!

I tried putting Ryan in the Baby Bjorn a little over a month ago and my back was killing me within the first five minutes. I loved the Baby Bjorn, which is rated up to 22 pounds (my guess is that Ryan was about 17 pounds at the time), but it was time to move on. I did a ton of research and found www.thebabywearer.com. It's an excellent resource with reviews for a lot of baby carriers. I've only learned how to wear Ryan in the front carry position, but I hope to get comfortable enough to use the side and back carry positions. My only complaint is that you have to be a little bit of a gumby to get it on!

Da-Da-Da

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I went on a mad shopping spree and Steven stayed home to watch Ryan (and college football). When I got back, Steven said that Ryan was babbling all day long. Ryan is generally pretty mute. Ryan usually cries when he's upset, hurt, hungry, etc and he shrieks/yells when he gets excited about things. Before bed time, he's more prone to laugh and just vocalize, but never really babble. Most of the time, he's fairly quiet. Sure enough, Ryan was just babbling away. He kept on saying da-da-da. It was so cute in his high pitched baby voice! He did it again on Sunday, a little bit on Monday, but that's been pretty much it. He'll say it sometimes if you urge him too, but otherwise, he's back to being fairly quiet. We're counting da-da as his first word.

When we got back into town from Corpus on Sunday, Ryan started saying "hey Daddy" in a low voice. It was the weirdest thing ever and Steven and I couldn't stop laughing out loud! We don't know what happened to our sweet high pitched da-da-da! Now if we can only get him to realize that when he says da-da that it's Steven he's referring to!

Congratulations to Neha and Rootvik!!!

Neha and Rooty tied the knot in an extremely elaborate affair this past weekend in Corpus Christie. We went to the garba on Friday night where EVERYONE, I really mean everyone, danced the night away. All I have to say is that stick dance is pretty impressive! The ceremony was on Saturday morning where the groom arrived in a horse drawn carriage. We were hoping that he'd come in on an elephant, but there was no such luck. The pics on the left were taken during the ceremony. The reception was on Saturday night. It began with a video, dances and speeches and ended in some more serious dancing. I now know where "raise the roof" came from! We had a fabulous time. We wish the newlyweds all the love and happiness in the world and if their new life together is anything like their wedding, they'll be one happy couple.

It was the first time for both me and Steven to leave Ryan Lion and guess what? We made it through and I think Ryan had a great time making Grandma, Grandpa, Tio Loco and Tia Maria chase after him. He's been going through some serious separation anxiety lately, so we were a bit worried, but he took to the grandparents really easily, so we knew we didn't have to worry. He did take awhile to warm up to Tia Maria though, he even went to RJ first!

I almost forgot to mention that while we were in Corpus, we ate at THE two story Whataburger. Yep, it's practically legendary! We also drove to Port Aransas during the break on Saturday. The road dead ended into the ferry line, so we actually had to drive on the road, in the wrong direction to get to the other side. It kind of reminded me of the Houston flood where we drove in the wrong direction on Beltway 8. Good times. It was good to hang out the PPA'ers too. It's been 4.5 years since we graduated and it felt like no time had passed at all. I miss you guys! Another fun thing was getting to see people that Neha has introduced me to over the years. It was fun chatting with them too. Anyways, it was a great weekend. I can't wait until the next PPA wedding. Hint hint people!

I know, I know...I'm the WORST blogger ever

So much has been going on with Ryan Lion that I just haven't had any time to blog about it! Ever since the time change, he wakes up at 6:30 and goes to bed around 7:30 and only takes two naps during the day for about an hour each and the rest of the time, we like to call him our little path of destruction. Ryan is all over the place these days. About a month ago, he started crawling on all fours and climbing like crazy. He learned how to climb the stairs on the third try and every chance he gets, he bolts over to the stairs to start climbing. He can pull up on almost anything now, including his swing, the piano bench and my legs. As of a couple of weeks ago, he's really gotten good at getting himself into the sitting position from whatever position he's in.

Ryan's favorite toy is still his Laugh 'n Learn home that he got from Tia Maria and Tio Loco for his baptism. He's figured out how to spin the sun/moon wheel so that it sings either way he turns it. He uses the stool at the base to stand on and turn the dials of the clock and pick out shapes from the shape sorter. Ryan also loves knocking down his stacking cups. He's gotten so good at it that he doesn't even have to look at them anymore! Sometimes he's so eager to knock them down that he won't even wait until you've finished building the tower. Ryan loves playing with his lift-the-flap books. He pulls on the flaps so hard that a lot of them are practically torn off of the book! He loves the books that makes noises too. His favorite is the Baby Einstein book that plays the classical music.

It is now impossible to place Ryan in either his jumper or his exersaucer. He's learned how to pull up on both and he'll play with the toys from the outside. If he's in a fairly good mood, you can put him in his play pen. If he's not in a good mood, you'll certainly hear from him that he wants out! At the kid's gym, he's learned how to hang from a bar, so he's been doing that on the bar on the side of the play pen. It won't be long before he climbs over the top!

We've finally put up baby gates to block off the living room as a safe place for him to play. He plays a game we like to call "baby jail" where he sits or stands right next to the gate and pulls on it while crying. Let me tell you, it's a really sad sight.

Ever since he turned 9 months. we've started giving him table food. He loves being able to feed himself, but I do have to admit that it gets pretty messy quick! He loves bananas, just like his daddy. He's also a fan of cheerios and as of lately, blueberries. He's really not a waffle fan, but he'll still eat some if it's in front of him. We still try to give him jars of baby food from time to time, but he still tries to feed himself by grabbing the spoon and sticking it into his mouth, that is, if he's aimed correctly!

Ryan's 9 month doctor's appointment went well. Ryan weighed in at 18 pounds and 12 ounces (30th percentile) and was 28.5 inches tall (75th percentile). He's back to being a string bean. Luckily for us, there was no shots this time around. Yay! But, he did have a blood draw; all of his test results came back normal.

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving where Ryan got to meet a ton of his Great Unlces and Aunts, and his first cousins once removed. Yes, we looked up all of these terms online. :) We are HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE parents and did not get any pictures of him on his first Thanksgiving. Hopefully Auntie Al (who is really his first cousin once removed) will post the pics that she took of him. I'm so bummed that I don't have a scrapbook page for Thanksgiving! He was dressed in one of the first outfits that Steven and I ever bought him. It's an argyle sweater vest with plaid pants. It's the dorkiest/cutest outfit ever. We'll have to do a photo shoot with him wearing it, it's so cute! We also did the traditional hot pot for dinner. Ryan even had turkey and some mashed sweet potatoes. Yummy!

I've been feeling really crafty lately. Whenever the weather starts to get cooler, I always want to knit. This season of knitting all started with the pumpkin hat that I made for Ryan for Halloween. Since then, I've made him a Snowman hat (isn't it the cutest thing ever?) and a red and white stripped hat. The striped hat was my first time making a pompom. They're so much fun to make, I'm definitely going to make more soon. I also knitted Gryffindor colored leg warmers for K Ry's birthday and a newborn hat. As far as paper goes, I've been trying to scrapbook more, but I'm really not getting much done since I haven't gone to a Scrapmania in forever. I made personalized stationary for Mel and Al for their birthdays. Right now I'm working on making baby shower invitations, bachelor/bachelorette party invitations and Christmas cards. Making invites/cards is a lot of fun, but it kind of makes me sad to give it all away! There are so many more things that I want to knit/make, but Ryan keeps me really occupied during the day!

Okay, that's all that I can think of for now. I will really try to update more and definitely take more pictures of my growing boy!