2011 in review...

{January}
-We had our first snow day of the year!
-Nothing too big & crazy happened, but my child did show us that he had some mad dancing skills when I met some OBU friends at CBC to watch my first wrestling match!
-I wrote one of my deepest {probably my deepest} posts on "the a word" & am so glad I did.

{February}
-I took a trip to the 'Delph for Bid Day 2011 & to see all my lovely EEE sisters!  =)
-It snowed AGAIN...the most snow I ever remember there being in AR!

{March}
-My sweet lil Punkin' turned A YEAR & A HALF old!
-I had the opportunity to meet my favorite author, Nicholas Sparks & I was lucky enough to get a few @ replies from a few celebs on Twitter!  ;)
-Jake & I took Ryder to Build-a-Bear to make his first bear...or monkey!  :)
-Ryder had his first t-ball lesson from his Mama & turned 19 months old!

{April}
-I signed up & started selling Scentsy!
-Celebrated Easter with family on Freckle Face Farm!
-Watched Uncle G play in his last game at The Field as a Wampus Cat.

{May}
-We all celebrated the capture & death of Osama Bin Laden.
-Celebrated Nana & Papaw's 50th Wedding Anniversary!
-We also celebrated my second Mother's Day!
-My LITTLE brother graduated from High School!
-My brother won the 7A State Baseball Championship!!!

{June}
-One year had passed since the passing of Papa John.
-One year also passed since the official end of my marriage.

{July}
-My favorite Roomie & bestie from OBU got that BLING BLING!
-We got to go to the lake for the day to visit Pooh, Pretty Ricky, Aunt Syd & Lou Lou
-Ryder got to experience his first trip to the beach with the family!
-& I turned 22!!

{August}
-Ryder finished up with his summer class of 'nastics!
-Celebrated living in my new house for one whole year!  What a blessing!

{September}
-I was asked to be my cousin Tonya's MOH in her upcoming wedding in May!  I couldn't have been happier!
-Ryder started MDO two days a week, 2 days before his 2nd birthday!
-We were sad to lose my mom's dog Trixi, the day before Ryder's 2nd birthday to kidney failure.
-Ryder turned 2 & we celebrated with a big baseball themed party outside at his dad's house with lots of friends & family!
-My parents got a new dog, a golden-doodle & named him Brett!
-I was asked by my college roomie, Allie to be her MOH in her wedding in August!
-My brother got drawn for a gator tag, & killed his first gator!

{October}
-I hosted a fun chili & pumpkin carving party with lots of friends!
-Ryder was Peter Pan for halloween & we had a blast driving all over town to trick or treat at all of our friend's houses!

{November}
-We had our first professional family pictures made & they turned out GREAT!
-Ryder got his first ear infection, & had to have his first EVER round of antibiotics, the day after I had my wisdom teeth out & the weekend before Thanksgiving!  SO thankful!

{December}
-We had a fun night out with friends going to eat at Chick & to see baby Jesus at Bethlehem.
-We went to the Shug to visit Pooh & her family!  =)
-Celebrated Christmas Eve at Nana & Papaw's!
-I officially announced my lil man was potty trained & I couldn't be more proud of him!

We have had such a wonderful year!  Lots of wonderful things happened during 2011!  I can't express how blessed I feel & how lucky I am to have such a sweet, loving, caring & healthy little boy!  He is my heart & soul & I only pray 2012 doesn't go by as fast as 2011, so I can soak him up at this age just a little bit more before he turns into a little boy, & no longer a toddler!  :(

I am looking forward to what God has in store for me & Ryder during 2012 & can't wait to find out!

We are potty trained!

I had never had the opportunity to blog about Ryder being potty trained!  It officially happened over Thanksgiving break.  After that I sent him to school without a diaper on & he has never had an accident at school since!  It still shocks me to this day & I am so proud of him!  Some people say that they should be potty trained before they turn two, but I truly believe every kid is different & they will let you know when they're ready & he definitely did!

I knew it was officially OFFICIAL when we made the trip to LR to see Santa & back without an accident! That's pretty intense & I was so proud of him!  We did have to stop at a gas station on the way there & back, but he always does such a good job about telling me when he needs to go!

I was scared about our trip to the Shug last week, but he stayed perfectly dry there & back as well!  So...now I feel like I can officially say that my lil man is potty trained!  =)  I couldn't be happier, but I am sad that it's just another sign my lil man is growing up!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was so special this year.  Ryder was actually old enough to understand that when he went to bed & went to sleep, that Santa would come!  & when it was time to wake up, Santa would have left some wonderful goodies for him!  I couldn't wait to see the happiness on my lil man's face!  I love getting to play Santa & look forward to it many years to come!  

Since both me & Garrett live out of the house now, I asked mom & dad if they wanted us to all spend the night Christmas Eve--so that's what we did!  I know that when I get re-married, we won't do this any more because I will want to have our own special time at our house Christmas morning together & then we'll make our way over to KeeKee & Pop's to see what Santa brought over there!  

So...this was a new & fun tradition I'm glad we started!

{his "skateboard" & helmet!  all the kid has ever wanted!  :P}

This Santa had done their duties & it was time for me to go to bed so Grand-Santa could come!  ;)

{I think he looks like such an angel when he's sleeping!}

{Ryder's stocking at KeeKee's that she MADE!  She made all of ours actually!}

{Time to get up!}

I have a video of him walking in seeing his stuff...which is why I don't have pictures during that process!  :P

{Loving his chair...now he has his own to sit in outside with the grown ups!}

{This was seriously the best purchase!  He loves it & is even sleeping with it!}

{Helping Pop Pop's organize his Keurig!}

Ryder actually woke up sick Christmas morning.  You could just see it in his eyes he didn't feel 100%.  I hated it for him...but he still seemed to enjoy everything, he just didn't have that extra spark in him that he always has!

We got up & got around & got ready for church & even made it to the 9 o'clock service on time! 

After church, Ryder's dad came & got him so he could go do Christmas with his side of the family.  I was so glad it worked out where Ryder was able to go & wasn't missing out on anything.

Right after Ryder left, Tonya, Luke & Aunt Kathy got here from flying in from Atlanta that morning.  Mom had prepared us a wonderful lunch that we all enjoyed so much.  It is such a blessing to sit & eat a great meal on Christmas Day surrounded by family from near & far.  TRUE blessing.

We lounged around a bit & then it was time to go see War Horse!  Mom INSISTED on seeing this movie! Luckily we thought ahead & bought tickets online because it was completely sold out by the time we got there.  Not 15 minutes into the movie, Jake text me & said Ryder just wan't himself all day & was getting worse so they were leaving Mimi's to head home & rest.  This just made me worry about my baby & want to be with him & comfort him.  So I left the movies & went to get my lil man.  He was just so worn out from everything going on, but you could tell by looking into his eyes he didn't' feel good.

We went back to KeeKee's, took a few pictures & then laid down for a nap before everyone else got home from the movies.  

Mom made a yummy potato soup for dinner that we all gobbled up & Ryder slept straight through everything!  He was one.tired.puppy!

We were all in the game room doing presents & came back in the living room to find him like this!  He WAS on the couch!  We figured he rolled off, or wanted to get off the hot couch & went down there himself...I just love him so much!

We had a wonderful & fabulous Christmas with family & are truly blessed with everything we have been given!

Christmas Eve @ Nana & Papaw's

For as long as I can remember, we have gone to Nana & Papaw's on Christmas Eve.  We all bring a handful of yummy appetizers to munch on & then eat some chili if we fill up to it!  We always hang out & visit & eat, & then we all gather together to listen to Papaw read the Christmas Story & then it's time to sort out all the presents!  There are now 12 "kids" & 8 adults...so it can be kinda crazy, yet SO fun!  =)  We wouldn't want it any other way!

Ryder had a great time with all his cousins & I seriously don't ever worry about his where a bouts because I know he's with "somebody"!  

{Sibling love...}

{Pop Pops with his kiddos}

{Happy fam!}

We have iced sugar cookies at Nana's for as long as I can remember...I have gotten old enough where I have passed the task onto the younger kids!  :P}

This is Ryder with his great-grandpa...Papaw.  This picture is so special to me because I used to be the "baby" of the family & the only grandchild...& I was the one sitting in Papaw's lap when he read the Christmas Story!

{Some of the cousins & Uncle Mitch...}

This year was the first year for us to do a Dirty Santa with Gift Cards!  It was seriously SO MUCH FUN!! Props to Linda Sue & Bunky!  There were GCs from Wal-Mart, Academy Sports, iTunes, Hancock's Fabrics, Cabela's, Brighton, Barnes & Noble etc. etc....it was so fun to see people get stuff that they probably wouldn't care for, & then just hope someone would steal it, or someone get something they LOVED & wanted to keep & just hope & pray no one stole it!  =)  I ended up with iTunes & I was happy!--Now I can buy some more books on my phone!

{Karleigh bought & wrapped this book for Ryder all by herself, it's called "I love you through & through"  I thought that was so sweet & grown up of her!  =)}

{Lil man got his first "real" pair of cowboy boots & he LOVED them!}

{He got a biggo' stack of Dr. Suess books from Bunky & Linda Sue!  Our collection is GROWING!  I can't wait till lil man can read them himself!}

{Nana made him this quilt...he already has quite the collection from her & he's only two!  I seriously LOVED it when we opened it up!  Thank you Nana!--He obviously loved it too & wanted to lay on it RIGHT then!  ;)}

{That grin is as good as it got...}

{The five of us by the Christmas tree!}

I'm so thankful for such wonderful family & being able to live close enough where this can be an every year event!  I know it's something I always look forward too & I hope to continue to the tradition for many years to come!