Buns and books

I find all kinds of photos on my 'big' camera, the Nikon that supposed to be off limits.  Somehow they find a way to sneak the camera and take some photos.  I think Ryan is the culprit because there is a photo of Reese's bun, which is how she loves having her hair styled right now, but her hair is so darn thick it will not stay put through the day.  She does looks so grown up when her hair is styled this way.

 I also found about 10 photos of Ryder outside on the porch swing reading the latest issue of Highlights magazine.  It comes every month along and they love the Hidden Pictures and the stories each month.  Ryder was obviously enthralled with this month's issue.  He's really good at finding those hidden pictures.

 Man, I love this little bushy haired kid.

 I love that he's pointing out stuff and there's no one else around except Ryan the paparazzi.

Gotta love the lazy days of summer :)

VBS

We did VBS this week at Cornerstone and I love it for 3 reasons: 1) it's only 4 days, Tuesday-Friday.  That's all we could handle since we were in vacation re-entry mode. 2) Cornerstone is a huge church and the program runs like a well-oiled machine with tons of great volunteers.  3) We got to catch up with some friends from school and Pre-K last year that we hadn't seen in awhile.

The girls loved every second of it and Ryder was typical little Ryder boy.  He went happily on Tuesday and Wednesday with just a tiny bit of resistance.  Thursday I kind of forced him to go because I had scheduled an appointment that I wasn't going to bring him to.  Friday he cried and fussed and went to Mimi's house because, again, I had made plans thinking I was kid free for 2.5 hours.  Thank goodness for Mimi.  He's such a little stinker.  What am I going to do with this crazy little kid?

Here he is with his friend, Hannah, who we had with us on Tuesday.  They are too cute together.

Hey, batter batter!

Ryder is loving baseball right now and it's pretty darn cute.  He's been hitting the ball consistently off the tee for awhile now but recently he started hitting in the air when Cory pitches and he's so proud every time.  We love cheering him on and I know Cory thinks it's so much fun playing in the front yard with him.  I think he's ready to sign up for Tball next spring and I can't wait to see his cute little fanny in those white baseball pants :)

Ryder's preschool photos

Cutest little munch in the world.  I'm laughing at the fake log and backdrop that they posed against, but I still think it's the sweetest little preschool photo in the world.

Ryder's hair

It's getting long but we're trying to grow it out a bit.  Sometimes we have to break down and give it a little trim.  That's what happened today and he was oh so excited about it.

Ryder's stats

I have to write Ryder's three year old stats here so I don't forget them.  He's growing up big but still a long and lean dude, just like his dad.  (His dad who just weighed himself today and told me the scale said 172 and he's 6'3"!).  Ryder did great at the doctor today.  He finally got his MMR shot, which they usually give at 18 mos but we have put it off and now that he's going to preschool we figured it was time to give it to him.  They measured him at 37 1/2" tall, which is 25-50% and weighs 26.6 pounds, which is 5-10%.  His BMI is 13.4, which is less than 5%.  As I said, long and lean.  I had the Dr. do a hearing test because we felt like he was saying "What?" a lot and we weren't sure he was hearing us or if he was just processing what we said.  He passed the hearing test with flying colors so he is just being a typical 3 year old and ignoring us sometimes :)

He's really into Avengers and all things super hero right now.  He loves cars and trucks, playing outside, hitting the baseball with dad, and just being a crazy boy.  We love him to pieces!!

Ryder turns three!

This little stinker turned three today and we are SO excited to celebrate his special day.  He is such an amazing little guy and we love him more than words.  Here are three things that I adore about little Ryder boy:
1) He knows exactly what he wants and he isn't afraid to tell you.  Love that little spitfire personality.

2) He is all boy but has enough confidence to rock a pink dress or fingernail polish during dress up time.  It takes a special man to be OK with all that girly stuff that's all around our house.

3)  He is such a mama's boy and I eat it all up.  The girls have always had each other and never 'needed' me the way Ryder did.  He is my little buddy and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have his sweet companionship all day long.

Ryder boy, you are one special kid.  We love you to the moon and back, you sweet little boy!

xoxox,
Mom

Ready for snow

We're planning on going to Pinetop after Christmas and spending New Year's in the snow.  We borrowed a jacket and bib set from the Dobsons for Ryder.  He was so excited when Jenny dropped them off and couldn't wait to try them on.  He was walking all over the house in them and tripping in his big snow boots.  It was the funniest thing I'd seen in awhile.  He started to lose his steam and decided the kitchen floor would be a good place to take a nap.  I felt so bad that he crashed right there but he really seemed comfy.  He must have been because he slept there for two hours!  I'm totally mom of the year for letting him sleep there the entire time, but I didn't want to move him and disrupt that amazing kitchen floor nap.

Captain Underpants

The many faces of Ryder

He's such a ham.  This is his silly face,

 his scared face,

 his Home Alone face,

 pensive face,

 little cheese face,

and sweet little boy face.

What a little character!

Ryder's haircut

This kid is a laugh a minute.  He says and does the funniest things and I find myself wishing there were other people around all the time to hear and see his crazy antics.

He was super shaggy so we went in for a cut.

He wasn't so sure about the lady putting on the cape and then he made the face below.  

I was dying with laughter!

This is the after shot below.  Curls are still in tact but my car handle won't be for much longer if he keeps hanging on it like that.

 And then he decides he's going to practice gymnastics and do a flip.

 And then he fell.

Our crazy super hero

Typical Ryder.  First he ran away from me down the street while we were playing outside.  I was in work clothes/shoes trying to chase him.  He was barefoot and ran all the way to the greenbelt.  That's a stick lighter in his hand.  He is my little crazy kid that loves adventure.  What can I say?

Swim lessons

Sometimes it takes some coaxing to get this little into the pool for swim lessons.  But once he's in he turns into a little fishy.  We did swim lessons again with Ms. Mary (aka the swim whisperer) and it was amazing.  Ryder, Will, & Colin took group classes together that were so much fun.  On this particular day, Ryder had the privilege of getting a private lesson with Ms. Mary.  He did so awesome jumping off the board and swimming in the deep end.  It's so fun to see his skills improving each time he goes.

Training wheels

Someone is learning how to ride a bike!  He hopped right on this bad boy and skipped the entire tricycle phase.  He loves it and wants to chase his sisters everywhere on his new wheels.  This little Radio Flyer bike is the perfect size for our Ryder boy.

 We are anxious for the weather to cool down so we can spend lots of time riding outside :)

My view of Ryder

Yup, this is what I usually see when the girls are working on their homework.  He'll say, "Mom, can I see your phone, PWEASE!!" and then he'll sign the word please as he's begging.  How can I say no?  Plus, it gives me some time to help the girls without tons of distractions.  He's usually watching the PBS kids app but once in awhile I hear crazy voices or some cartoon in Spanish and that's when my Iphone takes a break.

Then he'll move on to the marker bucket and make finger swords.  

But sometimes he'll actually sit still and pose for me, kind of.

 Worlds. Biggest. Stinker. 

 Sometimes he'll even sit in my lap and pose for a picture.

 Look at that hair and that face.  He's crazy, but I love that kid more than you know.  

Dress up for boys

We have a boy that loves dress up.  It's like Halloween every day at our house.  He dresses up as a firefighter, construction work, a combo of the two, and any superhero he can think of.  

This is serious business.  Haley is giving him some pointers.

One day I might look back at these photos and say, "What were we thinking with that long hair?!", but right now we absolutely love it and it seems to get crazier and curlier as he gets older.

Reesie strikes a pose!

Pretending his drill is a gun.  Not sure where they learn this stuff because we don't go around pretend shooting stuff at our house.  It's like boys are hard wired for some of this stuff.

Oh my goodness.  What a little hot mess!  Love him to pieces.