Memorial Day Weekend

Ryland had a very busy Memorial Day weekend and met several more family members.  :)

Unkie Bob arrived Thursday afternoon to meet Ryland.  Ryland was on his best behavior for Unkie Bob, even allowing us to eat dinner together while he napped.

Unkie Bob 5/26

Unkie Steve and Aunt LC (little Christina) flew in Friday evening for a visit.  They spent the entire weekend playing with Ryland, giving him a bath, feeding him and changing him!  Saturday we went to a friends house for a Memorial day BBQ. This was our first big get together with all of our friends kids, and I'm pleased to say it went splendidly!  We even went to Sam's boat for lunch on Sunday to introduce Steve and LC to crawfish.  Good times!

Uncle Steve

Bath time 5/28

Aunt LC (little Christina)

Crawfish time!

Mommy and Ryland at Sam's Boat 5/29

Mommy and I taking a 2 hour nap! 5/28

After Steve and LC left Monday morning, we went to Baba's house for lunch.  Baba even took the kids to the pool, giving the hubby, baby and I time to nap.  We definitely needed it after our busy weekend!

Lunch and swimming (and napping) at Baba's house

Newborn Photos have arrived!

Here are the pictures from Ryland's newborn session when he was just 12 days old.  Thank you Melissa Q!  These are a few of my favorites.  :)

1 Month

I can't believe it's already been a month!  Our little boy has grown so much since we brought him home.  We weighed Ryland this morning at home and estimate him to be ~10 lbs (my scale does not have ounces).  He's a good little eater, taking in on average 125 mL a feeding.  Ryland's still not too fond of bath time.  We've only been able to give him sponge baths so far because it took forever for his stump to fall off!  He finally lost it 3 days ago, 1 day before he turned 4 weeks old.  Ryland has been doing great during tummy time, easily turning his head from side to side and lifting and holding his head up.  This past week he's actually fallen into a decent nights sleeping schedule, making it 4+ hours in between feedings.  I've been lucky and have only needed to get up with him once a night, usually around 2am, and then he makes it to 6-7am when the hubby gets up for work.  His fussy time is in the evenings, and last night he definitely gave us a run for our money.  Thank God for my awesome hubby who needs less sleep than me, I would be a wreck without him.

I had a little too much fun taking pictures of my one month old today!  He was a good sport for most of the pictures.  It was hard to pick a favorite so I've included quite a few of them.  Enjoy!   

YES!  1 month old - 5/18/2011

Not quite as big as Mr Elephant

You must be this tall to ride this ride

Love his facial expression!

Smile for mommy!

Mommy wore me out with all those pictures

Newborn pictures (teaser shots)!

Here are the teaser shots from Ryland's newborn session.  He was just 12 days old for these pictures.  Melissa Q did a fantastic job, I can't wait to see the rest of them!  Ryland was a bit fussy during the beginning of the shoot, but half way through we finally got him to sleep and Melissa captured some great shots.  So far my favorites are the ones where he's in the antique gown (which belonged to my grandfather) and the one with his mouth open.  So precious!

Click here for pictures!

My 1st offical Mother's Day

I had an awesome 1st Mother's Day compliments of my amazing hubby and Ryland!  :)

It started early Sunday morning when Malek took the first night feeding (1am) and the morning feeding (7am) so that I could sleep in.  I woke up around 8am and headed into the living room, Ryland was sleeping in the swing and my hubby was in the kitchen.  He came into the living room with homemade cappuccinos and a card.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the card and saw that he had actually written a very nice note that made me cry.  Little did I know that his tender note had a hidden meaning!  There were key words within the message that gave hints towards my gift.


Inside of my lovely card - key words: hardest, ear, best friend, 75th year

He bought me diamond stud earrings!  I was in absolute shock!  I had been asking for earrings like this for a while but figured I would be lucky to get them for Christmas.  My man always finds a way to surprise me.  In fact he'd had these earrings for over a month, before Ryland was even born!

Please ignore my red blotchy face from crying happy tears after reading my card  :)

Right after I put on the earrings we received a phone call from the kids.  Malek answered it and surprisingly handed me the phone.  Evan and Emma wanted to wish me a happy mother's day!  Definitely feeling the love.  :)  Then we moved to the front porch to enjoy a nice relaxing breakfast during the gorgeous morning weather.

Later on in the day Malek also let me go shopping for a couple hours!  It had been a while since I bought new shoes and the hubby was nice enough to watch Ryland so that I could go out and shop.  I managed to bring home 4 pairs of shoes ~blush~, all on sale!



Hello my lovelies!



I made it home from shopping just in time to feed my munchkin and enjoy some play time while the hubby napped (a well deserved nap). 

play time

Malek ended a marvelous Mother's Day by grilling us some delicious steaks for dinner while I cuddled with my baby.  I loved the outfit he picked out for Ryland - bananas over mommy!

cuddle time



Happy Mother's Day



Of course the day would not have been complete without some spit up and several outfit changes.  :)



We love you mommy!


Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and grandmothers out there, I hope you had a wonderful day!

First outing

9 days old - first dinner out 4/27/2011

At just 9 days old we decided to take a chance and go out to dinner with Ryland and my parents.  He did really well, sleeping the entire meal until the last 5 mins when he woke up and started to cry.  Thankfully we had just finished our meal and our waitress quickly brought us our check and to go boxes.  Apparently the little guy was hungry!  We had fed him right before we left the house for dinner and he was hungry less than 2 hours later!  All in all a very good first outing.  :D

Ryland's 1st photo shoot

Easter Sunday (4/24/11) marked Ryland's first photo shoot.  We decided to try our own hand at some staged shots.  I think they turned out really well!  So well in fact that Walgreens asked for the professional photographers release to print them.  :)  We had professional newborn pictures taken this past Sat (4/30), they should be ready in about 2 weeks.  Until then, enjoy the pictures we took ourselves!

Happy Easter from Ryland!  4/24/2011

Bath time!

Ryland was not a happy camper during his 1st sponge bath.

1st sponge bath - 4/24/2011