Ryder Ramblings

Celebrations

The last few weeks have been full of celebrations. We celebrated Halloween, Luke's 1 month birthday, Dash's birthday, the big 3-0 for me and Thanksgiving. Ok, so we didn't really do much for most of these occasions but we did at least acknowledge them.

For Halloween we and others from our Sunday School class gathered at the Yowell's to hand out candy to the trick or treaters. Pretty much this was an excuse to dress up all the new babies and socialize. Luke went as a football and I put on my Brees jersey. Unfortunately, Steve had to work late so he didn't make it. I didn't get any good shots but here is our little football and his new friend Emma Kate.

Halloween Morning

We celebrated birthdays during the month of November. The 4th was Luke's 1 month. I'm not sure if that calls for a celebration but we're pretty happy we survived a whole month with no tragedies. It's amazing how much he has grown too!

Dash's 4 year birthday is sometime in October since we adopted him the day before my birthday when he was 6weeks old. Poor Dash has gotten the shaft lately with Luke around. We're not so crazy that we throw birthday parties for our dog but we do try to get him a special treat every year. This year we forgot so we had to snag two turkey legs from Thanksgiving to give to him as a belated present. I don't think he minded.

I celebrated my 30th this year. How in the world did I get so old? It's crazy to say I'm 30! I think what makes me feel old though is my lack of sleep. I must say I'm pretty pleased with my life so far. As my mother in law pointed out - I've accomplished a lot by 30 I finished college and have a masters degree, I have a great job, own a home and have a baby. I've experienced a lot in my 30 years. I've had my ups and downs but they've taught me a lot and made me the person I am. I don't think I would want anything to be different. I did have big plans to go out for my birthday for celebratory drinks but I got lame (I prefer to say tame) at the last minute and ended up going out to eat dinner at 6pm with some friends and went to see a movie with Steve. It was just what I needed.

Morning birthday snuggles with my favorite little guy

Flowers from Luke and Steve


Trying to see if we really do look alike

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days. It's a lazy day of hanging out with family and eating. We traveled to Picayune to have Thanksgiving at my cousin's house this year. It was Luke's first time to meet several people. We also got some family shots of us while at my mom's house.

All dressed up to meet the family

Somebody had too much turkey!

Luke eating his Thanksgiving meal

I love this face.


Getting post meal cuddles with his Nana

One of the best parts of these past few weeks was a visit from MomMom and Pappa Picks. It was Luke's first time to meet them. They loved seeing him and Steve and I loved the extra help. It's hard having family so far away but it makes the time with them great.

getting know his Pappa Picks

Besides meeting his other grandparents there have been more firsts lately:

1st bath

Our 1st fire in our home

Our first night out without Luke

Play date

1st trip to the Polls

Looking at all these pictures makes me realize how much Luke has already grown! This has been a long post but just because I think he's so cute and I have million and three pictures of him, here are a few more.

Out of the Baby Coma

October 28, 2012

And he is awake, well at least for more than 10 minutes at a time. I have to admit those first few weeks I was beginning to think Luke was a bit boring because all he did was sleep. I had to wake him up and pretty much force him to eat before he fell back asleep. He still sleeps most of the day but now has about 2 or 3 times a day where he is alert for an hour or two. I love seeing those big blue (for now at least) eyes observing the world.
He had his two week check up on the 18th. Our little man is healthy and thriving as put by Dr. Stanford. He was also impressed for how alert he was during the visit. He weighed 6lbs 10oz which means he surpassed just gaining back his birth weight by 4oz. He also grew a half an inch. I think he's gotten even bigger since then. The little wrinkles in his legs are slowly filling out into tiny little rolls.
Not only is he doing well but he showed me he can projectile poop and spit up these past few weeks. I've spent many a days covered in spit up, poop and pee. My seemingly boring baby is slowly turning into a handful. He also has his nights and days mixed up sometimes too. He thinks the hours of 1-3am are the hours to be awake and want to be held. Hopefully we can remedy this soon. Other than doing the baby stuff, Luke has been catching up football during the weekends (this is great quality dad time) and visiting with all of the guests who come to see him. During the day we've enjoyed this beautiful weather and go on walks around the neighborhood. We're both looking forward to when he can sit up and go on runs in his jogging stroller. Until then I'm cherishing our walks and long cuddle sessions.

Some pictures of these past 2 weeks:

Pure sweetness

Look how long I can stretch out

football watching with dad

I'm ready for the USM game and he's ready for Rutgers

Southern Miss homecoming. He gave up on them and went to sleep.

Fist bumping Mom.

My 3 favorite boys

This is his not happy face

The cutest little pumpkin around

This week we're looking forward to Mom Mom coming to visit. She can't wait to meet Luke and I know he feels the same way. We're also getting to go out for Halloween with some of the other babies in our Sunday school class. This will be his first meeting with his future daycare classmates. I'm sure he'll remember it forever.

A whole week at home.

October 12, 2012

Steve and I have been at this parenting thing for a whole week. We came home last Saturday and three loads of baby laundry (do you know how many baby clothes it takes to fill 1 load - 3 loads is a lot!), a box of wipes and who knows how many diapers later we are all three still alive. And as a bonus all three pets have survived too. It's been a crazy week of trying to figure out this little man and attending to his every need. And when I'm not attending to his every need I'm busy watching every little facial expression and move he makes, trying to capture them all on camera.
This week has been made much easier by the help of my mom who has stayed with us this week to help out. I've gotten to shower, eat, post a million pictures on fb, and even go for walks with Dash - things I've heard are quite difficult when there is only a 1 to 1 ratio of adult and infant. Visits from great friends baring food, treats and good advice has also been vital. Have I ever mentioned how fortunate I am to have the friends and family that I do? If I don't say it enough - I love you guys and hope you know how great you are.
We went for his biliruben test and weigh in on Monday. Luke is down to 6lbs which is a normal amount of weight loss and his biliruben was in a normal range so no more tanning for this little man. He also got to meet James Harris Martin at this appointment; he was born just 2 days before Luke. All of his tests are normal and he is pooing and peeing like a champ - nothing more comforting than having a healthy baby. I thank God for this every night and pray that he will calm my anxieties of something happening. I'm also recovering really well. Other than still having high blood pressure which I got put on some meds for, I'm almost feeling like my normal pre-pregnancy self. My swelling is almost all gone, my feet and hands quit hurting and I'm thinking I may even be up for an easy gym trip next week, that is if I can handle leaving Luke for 30+ minutes. I'm thinking a home exercise video may be the way to go.
Not only is Luke a beautiful, healthy baby, we think he may be the Saints good luck charm. He wore his little Brees jersey this week and they won their 1st game of the season. This was also the week Drew Brees set the record for most consecutive games for making a touchdown pass. Maybe this will work for USM too; we have a little eagle jersey too.

Touch down Saints!

Also noteworthy this week, half of Luke's daycare class was born. That makes 3 babies for one Sunday School class in one week. I'm sure it's been a busy week for Dawn (our teacher) and Eddie (pastor) making the rounds.
And the best part of this post and probably most future posts - a fraction of the many many pictures we've taken.