One year dr appt

So, my handsome little (okay, big) boy had his one year doctor's appointment today. He's such a champ--he got a finger prick which didn't make him cry--it just made him mad that the lady was holding his hand tight so he couldn't move. And then he had three shots: one in the leg and one in each arm. Of course, I had to be the bad one and hold him down while he got the shots.....I swear, Joe always gets to be the fun one!! Not fair. Anyways, he cried hard for literally less than 30 seconds and once I picked him up, he stopped crying and never fussed again. I was thinking that after his afternoon nap he would wake up and be fussy, but I was wrong. He was his typical happy, hambone self :) We did finally find a pediatrition that we like. (If you remember, our original pediatrition we LOVED retired). But we liked this one. What was the one line that was the cherry on top for making me decide I really liked this doctor? When she said, "ooooh, I think someone is close to needing a bra!!" hahahaha. Like most people, she was quite fond of chubbs mcgee. How could you not love this boy though??

Stats from the appointment:

At 9 months Ryder was 28.5 inches tall (60th percentile). At one year, Ryder is 30.25 inches tall (60th percentile). At 9 months, Ryder's head was 46cm (70th percentile). At one year, Ryder's head is 48 cm (90th percentile......must be a giant brain growing in there....and the genes from the Haskins' side of the family). At 9 months, Ryder weighed 23 pounds (80th percentile) and at one year, Ryder weighs 26 pounds (90th percentile). So basically he's a big headed, chubby baby!!! I LOVE it :)

Back to reality

I have officially decided that I would LOVE to live in Arizona from January thru April (Just like a senior citizen!) The weather was beautiful: 89 to 96 degrees and sunny the whole time. If you remember, I was really nervous about going on vacation with Ryder. I was nervous about the plane rides, the nap schedules, the time changes, the heat, etc etc etc. The plane rides went better than I thought. On the way down there, he stayed awake the whole time except for the last 20 minutes during the landing (of course). He actually did fine up until that point watching baby einstein dvds and eating PBJ sandwiches; we only had to get up and walk around for the last ten minutes while he had a (very) mini meltdown before he finally fell asleep when Grandma Amy was walking him in the aisle and back by the bathrooms :) On the way home we were lucky enough to have a couple empty seats on the plane, so Grandma Amy sat in another row and Grandpa Paul and I finally got Ryder to fall asleep for about an hour or so in the middle seat between us:

We stayed in a house at a golf course resort called The Boulders. Like I said, I was really nervous about the sleeping arrangements/nap schedules. But it literally could not have worked out anymore perfectly than it did. Right outside the master bedroom (where Joe and I stayed!!) was an office. It had blackout shades and was tucked way in the back of the house where it was nice and quiet. The resort gave us a pack n play crib and I brought our monitor and so when he slept, we could sit out on the back patio and not have to be stuck inside listening for him. The room must have been close enough to his home because he had NO trouble taking nice long naps every day. It was fantastic!

The place we stayed was right off hole #5, so one night after dinner, Joe brought us out to the tee off area (if that's what it was called) and we took some pics of the beautiful view. The pictures seriously don't do justice as to how gorgeous the view was. And of course, Joe brought his clubs so he could play the hole one more time...I took a swing (and a biff) at the ball a couple times as well :)

Here was a typical day in Arizona for us: Considering we were up waaay early with the time change (think: 4-5am) we got plenty of day time fun. Usually Joe and his dad would play golf first thing in the morning. I would hang out with Ryder until his morning nap while Grandma Amy, Uncle Logan, and Amy Grace (who has her own blog too--check it out and follow her) would do their own thing: work out at the fitness center or go on long walks around the 1300 acre resort. Then I'd put Ryder down for his first nap of the day around 8am and Amy Grace, Logan, and I would head to the pool mid morning while Grandma stayed with Ryder while he slept. Once Ryder woke up, Grandma would pack him up and meet us at the pool and we'd swim around. Ryder LOOOVED the water. He did great and enjoyed it way more than I thought he would. We brought this really cool floaty device thing and it worked wonderfully!

Around noon we'd head back to the house and make lunch and eat it outside on the shaded patio. After that we'd either head back to the pool, a couple days some of us would head over to the Golden Door Spa and have a massage or an aloe body wrap (it was heavenly!!) in the afternoon. Ryder would take his second nap of the day and sometimes I'd take a nap too--awesome for me!! Then we'd shower/get ready and head out to dinner somewhere around 5-6pm and when we'd get back we'd put Ryder to bed and then sit outside by the fireplace outside. The first picture is of the patio at night with a flash and then I turned off my flash so that you could see what it really looked like at night. It was pretty sweet:

You can't really see with the dark one, but you get the idea. Anyways, the trip exceeded my expectations (especially with how well Ryder did) and we had a great time....and then we came home to 30-40 degree weather and rain. At least we missed the horrible snow that happened earlier though. UHHH, when is spring going to really show it's face?? Hopefully sooner rather than later!! I'll post a few of Ryder's one year photos later either tonight or sometime this weekend hopefully.

Ryder+airplane=probably not a good idea

In less than 48 hours we will be in sunny, hot Arizona (sorry for all of you who will be back here in the possible sleet/snow that will be happening this weekend!). I looked at the weather for the week and every single day is a nice big ball of sunshine and 80 to 90 degree weather! Two things about this vacation I'm not looking forward to: the first one is that I'll be missing Brandon's funeral (a highschool friend who passed away this past weekend of a brain aneurysm). Regardless if I'm there or not, I'll still be thinking and praying for his family and friends. On a less sad note, the other thing about this vacation I'm NOT looking forward to is the three hour plane ride with the sassiest, squirmiest baby around (that would be Ryder). I'm going to bring lots of treats, new toys, and hopefully some patience with us on the plane. I'm going back and forth on if I should 'sedate' him with some allergy meds for his 'plane allergy' I think he'll develop... I go back and forth. Maybe I'll just see how he does and if needed, maybe we'll do it on the way home if it's three hours of screaming on the way down there. Has anyone else brought their crazy child on a plane? What did you do and how did it go? Anyways, here is a little pic of Ryder giving Daddy some 'kisses'. He likes open-mouth kissing already, that little pervert. Just kidding!!!! It's adorable and I love it. Have a wonderful weekend!

Birthday Party!!!

Today we had a little first birthday party for Ryder with our immediate family on both sides. It was a hit! We had good food, good company and the birthday boy got some good gifts too!!! Oh, and if you can't tell, he LOOOOOVED the cake!! Actually it was really funny because you could totally tell he was eating up every ounce of attention he was getting. He was in his throne at the head of the table and everyone was gathered around watching him, laughing, and snapping pictures. He was seriously hamming it up. And, in TRUE ryder fashion, when he was almost done with the cake...he took a huge dump in his diaper....and then finished eating :) Man, I love him!

Poopy in the tub

We had our first poo in the tub incident the other day. Now, whenever Ryder is about to fill his drawers, he gets quiet and stares intensely at something. Then, if you keep watching him, his face turns a lovely shade of red and he lets out a grunt. Then he repeats the cycle until he is all pooped out (haha, pun intended....) So we're enjoying a little bath time fun and I was chatting with Joe a little when I noticed it was quiet: no splashing, babbling or anything. I look down and yep...poopy time. Which was good, because he hadn't pooped yet that day, but bad because we were in the tub. I wasn't sure if he was successful or not because he stopped after only two grunts. I picked him up...and tada: success! Another little piece of information for you....since he's teething and drooling up a storm, he does NOT have a nice, formed 'baby ruth' bathtub poop....let's just say it was more like brown water. And a mess to clean up. Also, we had our one year photos today. I thought it was going to be great. Ryder had a great morning nap, ate a good lunch, and had a good poop before we left. He was looking so cute, it was sunny out, and he was laughing in the car. ........aaaaand then we got to the studio. Basically we were there for about an hour and he had a temper tantrum almost the whole entire time. Joe and I were jumping around, dancing, pulling out all the stops to try to get him to smile. Needless to say we were sweaty and flustered by the end. Hopefully our photographer can photoshop a few enough to make them look decent. Happy Friday!!

Happy first birthday to my baby!!

One year ago today, Chubbs McGee graced us with his presence at 4:45pm. He weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 20.5 inches long: And now he's this little, adorable sass-pants who makes me laugh every single day:

It's amazing how fast time goes. I seriously feel like I was just pregnant! I can't wait to see what the next year brings us. Happy First Birthday Ryder!!