Sleepy

Someone fell asleep while eating lunch today.  :)

Around :15 is when it gets priceless!  He grabs the grilled cheese, attempts to take a bite, and falls asleep again.  I love him!

Little Bill

I'm not a big fan of buying fancy Halloween costumes.  I think it's more fun to make your own or assemble it from what you have around the house.  So when it came to Ryan's first costume, it didn't take me long to figure out what he should be.  He kinda has an "old man" look to him with his cute little head and high-waisted jeans.  I only had one purchase to make ($7 glasses from Wal-Mart with the lenses popped out), which was even better! 

The result:

Bill Snyder! 

New House

I'm so excited to move onto post next month!  We will be in the Historic Main Post neighborhood, which means our house is over 150 years old and our garage used to be a stable for horses.  We'll even get a "CPT Gilbert" on the door!

Our half of the duplex.  The yard isn't fenced yet, but can be if we want it.

The view out the back door and down the street.



Living room, 'study', and dining room on the main floor.  I love the French Doors.

There is a GIANT half bath attached to the study.

The kitchen.  I'm so excited to have cainet space again!

 The stairs up to the 2nd floor          Master bedroom



Ryan's room has 2 closets

Ryan's Pumpkin(s)

The Pumpkin Patch

As I was uploading pics, I realized I didn't have one with Ryan and his pumpkin.  I'll fix this when he wakes up from his nap - the pumpkin patch is exhausting you know!



All of the kids:  Hunter, Jo Jo, Lyra, Kennedy, Ryan, Anderson, and Madilyn.



Ryan was hauled in a pumpkin wagon.

In front of some corn.

Lyra would make a great big sister, Heather!



Wearing his tractor hoodie next to a tractor.



Colorado Trip - September

The Past 2 Months

Last time I blogged, Ryan looked like this: 

Now he looks like this:

Don't let this cute, sitting version of him fool you.  This picture was a happy accident.  He was digging in the toy box and had fallen backwards, which is when I had clicked the button to take the picture.  Turned out pretty well I think. 

If I had to pick one word to describe Ryan right now it would be "busy".  Any object that he can get his little hands on are tested for two things: sturdiness and taste.  Even quasi-sturdy items are then used for leverage as he pulls himself up to stand.  The celebration of standing for the first time lasted all of 10.2 seconds before he decided he must either stand on his own or walk.  Within the last couple of days he has been getting braver at 'cruising.'  He holds onto things and has been taking tentative steps.  I have spent many an hour watching him explore his world, and it is awesome. 

What is not awesome are the things Ryan has managed to get in his mouth before I could stop him.  The kid is fast and determined.  His favorite targets include Lucy, my shoes, bugs, and carpet fibers.  I truly am not a germ-a-phobe, I believe he needs to build an immune system.  I do have limits to this though.  Lucy's paws and tail whack into things I don't want in his mouth.  I'd probably even let him chew on shoe laces, but he has no interest in that part of the shoe.  He MUST lick the bottom.  (His eyebrows always go up in delight!  You'll have to take my word for this or see it in person, I'm not going to let him lick shoes long enough to get a pic.)  I pulled a grasshopper leg out of his mouth once.  And his favorite game right now is raking the carpet to get a fiber loose, only to pop it in to chew on it.  SO, SO, SO GROSS!

Even while sitting in a high chair or car seat his little limbs are a-moving.  Things are getting thrown, hit, kicked, etc.  Oh, and the screeching!  He is LOUD when he wants to be. 

Here are some other pics from the last couple of months:

It's so hard not to squeeze those little buns when he sleeps like this!

Swinging for the first time...a little skeptical.

My favorite pic of him sleeping. 



This just makes me laugh.



"Look what I just did, Lucy!"

Flat Daddy Love

A while ago I learned about Flat Daddies and thought they were pretty neat.  I went to the site to purchase one and was incredibly shocked to find out that just the picture alone was $50 plus shipping!  Yikes!  I figured with my crafty researching skills that I could make my own and at a much better price.  Mission accomplished.

Flat Keith has not gone on as many adventures as I had originally planned.  He's bigger than I anticipated, like bigger than Real Keith, and that kind of makes it a bit of a challenge to take him places.  Ryan and I love on him a lot at home though!  He supervises Ryan in the exersaucer and sits at the table during dinner.

On the day Ryan turned 6 months, I squished him into the bumbo (the boy has some thighs, AKA 'ham hocks') and propped Flat Keith behind him.  No matter what I did, I couldn't get Ryan to look at me and smile.  He was so fascinated by this new angle of looking at his Flat Dad.  I snapped the pic anyway.  Let me tell you, it is now one of my favorites! 

It's been a couple of weeks now and it still makes me smile to see it.  Since Keith will be in uniform the next time they see each other, I imagine we'll get a similar picture for the big welcome home!  I so, so hope so!

Teeth, Fits of Giggles, and a Cone

Ryan has teeth - 2 of them now!  It was a little rough there for a while, a few nights of waking up every 1.5 hours, but they have poked through.  I kinda miss those gummy grins, but Ryan is still pretty cute.

Ryan has also been treating those around him to fits of giggles instead of the occasional one.  Uncle Scott and I must be pretty funny looking as we only need to look in his direction before he starts.  Grandma Cullison at least has to do something in order for him to cut up. 

While in Iowa, Lucy split a nail down to the quick.  It helps that it's that extra one that doesn't touch the ground, which means she's not limping or anything.  When she would lay down though, she would go to town licking it.  Lucy wouldn't let the groomer get to it so we went to the vet on Saturday.  The vet snipped it right off and told me not to let her lick it.  Ha!  Lucy not lick something?  We ended up with a "Cone of Shame." 

This poor, pathetic dog.  The vet said it takes about three days for a dog to get used to it, I'm thinking it may take Lucy a bit longer.  The first sign of trouble was leaving the vet office.  Lucy kept bumping into the door frame and seemed to panic that she wasn't able to leave.  I guided her, by the cone, to the car where I had to lift her inside.

It did not get better once we were home.  Lucy's first obstacle was the couch.  She couldn't maneuver her to way a favorite resting place by the window since the stupid couch was in the way.  After bumping into it a few times, she just stood there with her tail between her legs.  I helped her a few times, but it seemed like any time she would encounter something, she would just stand there in a very sad way.

On a brighter note, I think her paw feels much better!  Ryan also thinks Lucy is *hysterical* in this new contraption.  He intently watches a coneless Lucy wander around the house; but with the cone, he smiles, laughs, and makes excited noises.