Sand in my toes

Ryan has the most expressive feet. They move when he's sleeping. He picks things up with them. They are pretty much adorable.

So when we went to the beach, I was so excited to see him get his feet in the sand. He dug his feet right in and played with just his feet for several minutes before he got his hands in, too.

We love our little california dude.

Crying it out.

That's what I'm doing people, not Ryan!

Update: I wrote this post about two weeks ago...and I'm to the point where I can publish now.. :) There's more to say about his sleeping, but I'll save that for another post, so...here's my thoughts from two weeks ago!

I mentioned my goal for food this week was bread. My goal for babies this week was sleeping.

This isn't such a light subject for me. Bear with me while I "write it out"

Before I had babies I sure had a lot of opinions about babies and sleeping. And then Ryan was born. I couldn't sleep the first night he was born because I just wanted to hold him and make sure he was breathing. The thought of him being even a few feet from me was hard to think of, so I held him close and took it all in.

Obviously my postpartum bionic woman of no sleep wasn't going to work...so he started sleeping in his swing seat or a bassinet an arms length from me. And while I was SOOOOO tired, I wanted so much for him to be okay at night that if I couldn't handle being up with him, I'd make sure someone was...(guess who?)

Insert breastfeeding insanity. Insert a lotta postpartum hormones. Insert a few months and a relatively great schedule that worked well for us!

Seth slowly moved him farther and farther away from me every night until after christmas when we put him in his crib (in our room) and then when we moved to the new place put the crib in the other room...with both doors open it's still feet away, but even then it was a little too far and I set up the pack and play for a few nights in our room to make the adjustment. (ME...making the adjustment. Not the baby. me! who am i??)

Insert a little peer pressure from both ends of the spectrum. and then...Insert that feeling. That maternal (and paternal) feeling. And insert a probably heavensent friend who knew just how to introduce a method in just the right way with just the right touch to make me think that it'd be okay.

And then we read Sleepsense.

So...we'd tried crying it out before. And seriously, I mean SERIOUSLY, it was NOT the right time. Ryan would work himself up more and more as time went on. Like 2.5 hours time. Not for the faint of heart time. It just wasn't right yet.

But this week...it was right. And it's working for him! He's sleeping great (fingers crossed) and is doing so well! I'm so proud of my little guy. Today=a nap without even a fuss and bedtime crying under 10 minutes before singing and sighing himself to sleep with grover and his blanket.

And guess what? I'M the mess! I cried and cried and cried all day yesterday. My little man is growing up! He doesn't need me anymore, he can do it himself!

I was quite the sight yesterday as Seth got home from work to a wife trying to feed her baby his mashed potatoes while sobbing...because my baby, my little guy, my baby boy was eating mashed potatoes and smiling away and loving every minute of it, and he was going to go to sleep like a big kid and then wake up in the morning and scoot all around like a big kid and crawl in no time...like a big kid!

Seth has been amazing at helping me find perspective and balance. He helps me remember that we should focus on how fun he is now and all the things that we love about the present. And he's completely right. We are so lucky to have a little baby Ryan that will soon be a toddler ryan and then a kid ryan and then a tween ryan and then a teen and an elder and a missionary ryan and a college ryan and a grad-school ryan and a husband and a dad and a grand-dad ryan! And we've got to enjoy every stage. Treasure it, even. And then, flow to the next stage, gobbling it up. And then...repeat.

Sigh. So, that's the story. Ryan is sleeping like a champ and I kind of don't know what to do with myself. So... I blog. And I plan....I have some good plans!

I absolutely know this is the right thing for our family, it is the right method for us for now, and it's what we all need. And I also won't lie...I was a little selfish about this one...and I didn't mean to be, and I'm still trying hard not to be. I just miss my baby.

....Okay...phew!

Now...for the cuteness.

The other night one of the kiddies brought out Ryan's Dog that he had lots of his little kiddie pictures with. The friends were SHOCKED at how small it was--they were sure it must have been a bigger dog because Ryan couldn't have been that small (relatively!). So I whipped out the camera for some Six-Month shots. And this is what we got people ;) He's an active little dude!

And...I love him.

Baby Ryan is so clean

Okay, this REALLY isn't his best clean up job ever...but I just think it's so funny that he tries to use the cloth to wipe himself and his tray off!

He's such a grown up.

Baking success!

You know, since my life revolves around food and baby Ryan, I figured I needed to set some goals and the food goal for the week turned out to be something I've been afraid of for a long time....BREAD.

I tried a fancy schmancy oat flour on an oatmeal bread on monday...FAIL! Oh, such a disaster. All sorts of things went wrong...and I ended up with three little bricks in the bottom of my loaf pans. Blech. Straight to the garbage.

Tuesday: Banana Bread. My friend Elizabeth (okay, labaus are getting all the shout outs this week, hollah!) has the most amazing recipe EVER that I LOVE so much, so I decided to attempt it. Turns out she is a fancy cook and it had all these complicated instructions....BUT...it TURNED out.. SUCCESS (you can see the remnants in the top right corner of the picture). Seriously, I don't usually love my own food, but i thought this bread was delicious.

Wednesday: White Bread. Simple. Sweet. and guess what??? IT turned out! YAHOO!!!!! I was a little nervous, but since Ryan was down for a long nap I got up the courage and tried it. OHhhh I'm just so happy!

And guess what this means, people??? Thursday = BREAD PUDDING!!! Stay tuned.

More from Utah!

Awwww...

Look at this hug....priceless! I love when this little dude meets and wins the hearts of all the people I love!

Green Acres

A few weeks ago I started getting Organic Produce Delivery to my house through a company called Farm Fresh to You. If you've talked to me in the past month, you've probably heard about it, because it makes me SOOOOOO happy!

Lately we've been trying to eat more veggies, so this was kind of the chance for me to make it happen. I have had so much fun putting meals together with my veggies, and finding new ways to use things. The picture doesn't even really do it justice....there was SO much this week!

So...how are we going to eat all those zucchinis, you might ask? Insert Mother's Day Present here:

This, my friends, is a spiralizer! Our good friends the Labaus introduced us to this nifty machine, and we LOVE it! It makes pasta-like swirlies out of vegetables for use as...well, pasta or salad toppings or anything, really! It makes a delicious zucchini pasta dish, and I'm excited for all the other uses (apple cobbler, anyone?)

I told Seth one night that these days my life revolves around babies and food, so I guess this blog will have to do the same. Stay tuned for my bread-making disaster from yesterday, my attempt at banana bread today, and many more to come I'm sure! :)

Mothers Day and Womens Week!

And by Mother's day I mean both Mother's Day and MY MOTHER's BIG Day (aka the day she spoke at Women's Conference at BYU!)

After hemming and hawing and trying to decide about flying up for Women's week for MONTHS...literally, on wednesday morning I was running and decided I couldn't live with the regret of not going, so less than 24 hours later I was on a plane to Utah. It was a great decision, I was so glad I got to be there for it.

I flew in Thursday and spent the evening with the family, and then got to go down to Provo and stay with my long-time friend Katharine and her adorable family! We spent Friday morning together and then she watched Ryan while I headed up to BYU campus!


Alumni Center


Mom with the two Aunt Pats (aren't they so cute!)

Nelson-Side Cousins and Aunts. I love these ladies!

Some of the sisters (miss you Carol!) Also...seriously where did my hair color come from?

Morfords + Nelson side cousins before the presentation!




Mom was so beautiful up at the pulpit speaking. She has such a good presence and spirit, I felt so at peace listening to her speak. And her message was needed and so good for me to hear (and everyone else, there were tears all around!)

I love Utah. Ahhhh, and just seeing the mountains brings tranquility to life!


On to Mother's day. What a beautiful holiday to celebrate! I was a little teary at times thinking about my friend Julies and her very different mother's day (her mom passed away a few months ago) but it was nice to look at Mother's day from the perspective of all the different types of feelings we have about our Moms on this special day.

This was the perfect card I found for Mother's day. It sums up what i feel better than I could express:

To My Mother

I don't know if you realize how much I admire you, but I do.

You've been a role model for me,

not just in the way you raised me,

but in the way you live your own life.

I've learned so much from you.

Like what it means to be truly giving and caring,

how important it is to be fair,

how to believe in myself and in my ideals.

Your example has shaped the way I think and feel and believe

more than you know,

and I'm proud to be your daughter.

Happy Mother's Day

And...as a first-time Mother for Mother's Day, I have to say I loved all the well-wishing and "Happy mother's day" from people all around. I am so grateful to be a Mom to this little guy.

Weekend Update

This weekend was busy! I can't stop looking through pictures...I just love this baby boy.

First time at the Beach:


Do you think he loves it?

He might like this girl as much as he loves the beach...
Mostly he likes eating her arm. Awww Shelby we are glad you put up with Ryan's shenanigans!

And Ryan had his first Dodger Game thanks to the TCP crew!
He loves doling out kisses the later it gets at night. Michelle had a slobbery face to prove it!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Happy Family of Dodgers

And for good measure, an eating picture....
And....Baby Ryan woke up, better go kiss his morning face with his sweet morning breath (i love baby breath!) Ahhh....

Registered

There's no going back now! I registered for my first 10K :)