Crafty

I made this Christmas arrangement today and was so pleased with it I had to post. :) It's fun, festive, and smells oh so good! Really I just had to show it to my friend Heather, who is an arranging pro. I hope she'll be proud!

Fall in Nova Scotia

Oh man is Fall in Nova Scotia beautiful! I have just loved looking at all the colorful leaves this month. It's so nice to be surrounded in so many vibrant colors!! Now the leaves have mostly fallen, but I wanted to show a picture of my new favorite house in the area. It probably doesn't look as neat when it's not Fall, but I just fell in love with it this month.

Halloween 2009

Ryan was a turtle for Halloween this year. We borrowed the costume from a friend and I was so in love with it that I couldn't stop smiling all day when he was wearing it! (Thanks B) Ryan got to visit Daddy at school on Friday (along with most the other Utah Dental Dads' kids) and then have a photo shoot on the Dal campus. I loved watching the turtle go through all the green grass. The trouble was, I could hardly get him to get down and crawl on it. He just wanted to walk! It's too bad that once they make up their mind the like walking they don't want to crawl anymore.

1st Birthday!

From This...

To This....

My little boy is 1 year old!!!

For his b-day bash we opened presents--wooden blocks in a wagon and a little red potty--and then had strawberry shortcake. Ryan HATED the strawberries, liked the cake, and LOVED the whipped cream. :)

On one hand I can't believe it's already been a year that Ryan has been part of our lives, and on the other it seems like we never had a life before him. What a sweet little boy he is. I love the pitter patter of his hands and knees crawling after me down the hall while he says "Mama Mama!" and the huge grins and hugs he gives me. He fills our house with tons of light and laughter.

What does this 1-yr-old do?

Smiles. Laughs. Jabbers. Splashes. Throws balls. Bangs blocks. Pulls everything off shelves. Opens baby-proofed cupboards. Eats anything that's not food (especially shoes). Sometimes eats food--always if it's meat, pretty much never if it's fruit. Naps once-in-a-while. Sleeps at night. Signs "milk" and "more". Says "Mama" and "good". Brushes his teeth with his flexible banana toothbrush (seen above). Walks while you hold onto his hands. Climbs up any stairs he can find. Reads books (Favorite--Moo, Ba, La La La). Copies all Dad's crazy noises and runs away laughing hysterically while Dad chases him. And today? Peed in the potty. Doesn't know it, of course, but that will come.

The Donation

I finally got my first real haircut since Jr High! About time, eh? Here's what I sent to Locks of Love.

The new Do. My sister-in-law Tara cut it and she did great! Sadly, I can't style it well on my own. I struggle with mirrors... You should have seen me try hot rollers. Very bad idea.

Canada Day 2009

We had our first Canada Day last week and we loved it!

In the morning we went to the Citadel with the Billos. We liked watching the guards marching and seeing the 21 gun salute. We saw the Tattoo parade which was awesome. There were military bands from several different countries. There was even a marching bassoon in the Belgian band :) I loved that the parade was all music and not just local advertising and a bunch of kids riding their bikes. We went to the Commons and ate lunch while watching a fun dog show. After that it was time to head back home so that Adam could continue studying for the boards. Blah. :(

Later in the evening we went to a BBQ with ward friends and loved getting to see everyone. We cut out on the fireworks so that we could put Ryan to bed. It was sad to miss them!!

Ryan was a true patriot!

Though this has nothing to do with Canada Day I thought I'd let you see what Ryan's new favorite treat is. Oh man does he get bad onion breath!

Front Page Story

We have good news. At 10 months old Ryan now sleeps through the night! We've been letting him cry it out for almost 3 weeks now. I guess he was just ready now, because it finally worked. (We've tried it several times in the last 5 months.) Now he usually falls alseep within 1/2 hour of us putting him down, and mostly just fusses rather than screams for that time. He wakes up and cries in the night some, but mostly he's doing well and sleeping for 9 hours! Maybe in 3 more weeks he'll actually go down peacefully and want to go to sleep. :) Or maybe our trip to Utah will ruin him. Who knows?