Something Lost...Something Gained

I have been spending more of my time with my little man, instead of blogging, and reading other people's blogs, and I honestly couldn't be any happier! He looks different every day. I know that sounds crazy, but he does! I cry to Jake every once and a while, b/c I just don't want him to grow up! I want him to be little and sweet & innocent forever. I know that won't be the case, but it's just hard to believe almost THREE weeks have already passed with little Ryder being apart of our lives! We love him more and more every day!

Saturday we went over to some friends house who have a 4 month old little boy name Tripp. Ryder was SO good the whole day! This is where he spent most of it! HA! Under the coffee table! We were there from about 1-7, and I fed him twice, and other than that...this is how he was! SUCH a good baby!

Little man under the coffee table, so no one would step on him!

One leg stretched out, one curled up!

SO...for the EXCITING NEWS!

Friday we finally lost our umbilical cord--so now we have a...

BELLY BUTTON! (& a cute one I might add!)

Which means, we finally get to have our FIRST BATH!! We didn't give him one till Saturday night b/c there was still a bit of stuff to come off, but he was not loving it as much as I hoped he would. We ended up just having to do it all real real fast, and it almost put me in tears the terrible sound of his cry. I told Jake I was not ever going to attempt to do that by myself! They don't have to be washed every day anyways, so good thing!

Bath Time!

Trying to calm him down...

Precious thing wrapped up in a towel in Daddy's arms after our first bath!

Kinda busy week for us! Should be good though, I'm excited!

LOTS of Firsts!

Sunday night I took Ryder for his first walk! Even though it was just up & down the street while Daddy flew his airplane! He was such a good baby & it made me look forward to emany more walks with him!

Daddy actually took a picture of us without complaining! WOW!

Monday we had a BIG day planned! Seven of Ryder's second cousins were coming to see him for the firs time, as long as another Great Aunt! He slept till 11, and I finally woke him to feed him, and then we went & met everybody @ McAlister's. Nana & Papaw happened to be in town as well getting their teeth cleaned, so they ended up coming to eat with us. My dad called as he was leaving the bank for lunch, and happened to not have lunched plans, so he joined us as well! It was a great visit with everybody!

Stuart holding Ryder @ McAlister's

Sweet Ben holding lil man!

Sterling telling Uncle Mike what happened when he had to get 4 staples in his head. Precious!

Sterling!

Karleigh girl!

A holding lil man with Naynee's help!

Stu, A & Ben w/ Ryder!

Sweet Sterling peeking in through the back door!

And then Mimi came to get some lovin!

Suckin' on those knuckles!

With Ryder's feet being so big, I was kinda afraid some of his newborn shoes wouldn't fit! I tried some on JUST to make sure! They still fit, but probably not for long! Daddy even liked um!

Trying on my first pair of shoes!

Sweet pic from a lil nap today!

Granny Jean & Aunt Kay came to see us this morning. I didn't get any pictures...(SHAME!) We have kinda had a fussy, whiny baby all day so I haven't gotten much done. It made me realize how lucky we have been to have such a good baby that pretty much only cries when he is hungry. It was hard to try & do stuff without being able to set him down for a half second! I'm afraid that the Taco Pie I ate last night was not good for his belly! No more Mexican for Mommy! We are sleeping now...so hopefully we'll be good from here on out!

Friday night Second Cousin Tonya flew in with her mom Great Aunt Kathy. This was their first time to meet the little man. They both hung out a while Friday night before Aunt Kathy left, and Tonya spent the night with us!

Tonya meeting the lil man for the first time!

With Aunt Kathy for the firs time!

Saturday we took Ryder to meet his Great Grandpa--Papa John. Papa John is my dad's dad. He actually lives here in Greenbrier @ a lady's house with two other older people that takes SUCH great care of him!

Papa John meeting Ryder for the first time! (We're missing my dad in this pic!)

Our favorite position!!

Our new favorite past time with Daddy...(Daddy trying not to smile! HA!)

With cousin Tonya!

Papa John & Ryder! =)

Ryder's first restaurant! Smokehouse--of course mom had to have Tonya take a pic!

We went to my parent's house afterwards to watch the Hogs play the Dawgs! We all had hamburgers & yummy cheese dip! We went through about five outfits but didn't cry a bit the whole time we were there! We could not ask for a better behaved baby!

Family pic-in our Razorback Red!

me & Tonya...pretty much the sister I never had!

Ryder with KeeKee in his well known position!

Tomorrow is going to be a big day! Seven of Ryder's second cousin's & another great aunt are all coming to see the lil man! He told me earlier he is really looking forward to all those sweet lil kids getting to hold him. He is pretty sure he is going to behave again tomorrow too! Then mommy wants to take him on another walk so she can fit back into some of her favorite jeans for Fall! HA! We'll see!

It's late...Ryder man & dad are already in bed...Mommy better get there too!

Ryder's Room...and a few of him of course!

Today has been a good day! Ryder slept from 430 am to 10 am! WHAT? Yeah...we are VERY blessed! I woke up thinking it was 8 or so...but was shocked when I looked at the time. It was weird starting our day that late, but also very nice! These are a few from last night. We both ended up staying up pretty late with him in bed with us just laughing & cuddling with our sweet boy!

We love our tummy time....and mommy & daddy's chest. If we place his head on our upper stomach, he ALWAYS makes his way up to our necks! Precious!

Inchin' my way up there!

He NEVER stretches his legs out all the way, so when we saw this, Daddy was like "Where's the camera!?"

Sleeping today while mommy did things around the house.

Now for the tour of Ryder's room. I planned on doing this WAY before he was born, but I'm glad I waited! Now it is broken in & pretty much how it's gonna stay!

The wreath we hung on the door @ the hospital. I didn't want a generic one of course. I bought everything, and then my mom put it all together. The little chalkboard has his name weight, and length written on it.

Our lil outfit we wore coming home from the hospital.

The view when you walk in the room. My Nana made the curtains that match the bed skirt.

Glider rocker, and lil night stand for everything Mommy might need while feeding.

Shelving & decoration on the wall.

His crib, that he has been in once so far!

The letters above his crib. I wanted something modern, and different of course!

The bumpers & matching blanket that Nana made.

This armoire was made for me when I was born for my nursery. Mimi stripped & stained it for Ryder room. Where the fabric bulletin boards are used to be mirrors, and I just recovered them with some left over fabric from the curtains & added some matching ribbon, and I LOVE how it turned out!

Our antique dresser/changing table. It is the perfect size, and I'm glad I waited around for EXACTLY what I was looking for! I wasn't planning on having a mirror, but I'm glad we do!

The bottom of the dresser which is pretty much what sold me...JUST enough room for BASKETS! Definitely into baskets ALL over the house right now!

His RIDICULOUS closet! Of course organized by month, and then by shirts, pants, onezies, outfits & footed-pajamas.

& last but not least....sweet lil prince sleeping again! GOOD NIGHT friends! =)

1st outing alone with MOMMY!

Today Daddy went back to work...not the Firehouse just yet, but doing stuff with Pressure Clean. It was super hard for DAddy to leave lil Ryder-Man, but he did alot better than Mommy would have done!

Ryder slept from 2 am till 830 this morning, with a whimper here & there, but nothing more. We have such a GREAT, happy & healthy baby, with absolutely NOTHING to complain about!

Mommy was able to get up & get around without being bothered or interrupted. We really like our bouncy seat which is SUCH a blessing! We were even ready to go before it was "time to go!"

One of our very few pictures together-

Sweet lil thing before getting ready for the Dr!

He was GREAT the whole way to Conway, GREAT in the waiting room and even GREATER in the room with the Dr. Luckily I had a bottle of breast milk that he SUCKED down while we were there! I don't know what I would have done without it!

We have gained 5 oz. since Monday which is SUPER good! He never lost anything after birth! His weight is in the 25th percentile & length is in the 80th!

We have started to have a problem with lil man peeing OUTSIDE of his diaper--meaning when the diaper is on, all of a sudden his back being wet, or whoever is holding him...lap's being drenched! Hopefully we have figured out a solution, but only time will tell! First he peed on Mommy right before the Dr. got a look at him, and then THIS is what happened RIGHT when we got home!

How this happens we have yet to find out!

Mommy's shirt...

We have started to have "Tummy Time" after each feeding to help with our digestive system, we seem to like it which is a good thing!

Sweet naked boy!

Me compared to Daddy's shoe! CRAZY!

No big plans for tomorrow, but there will for sure be some pics!