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?

DDS1 We're Done!!

Adam just got his letter yesterday saying he's officially passed his first year of dental school. (We already knew that, but it was nice to read the words anyway.) Way to go Adam! Just 3 more years Dr. T.

Hey Lyla, wanna go on a date?

Adam had already styled Ryan's hair in the bathtub and we'd taken this photo before we saw your blog, Julia, but I couldn't resist.

Anniversary

We celebrated our 4th Anniversary on the 20th. Adam had the idea that we should cook a lobster for our "date" (with Ryan). We headed to Sobeys and bought one live. We'd read that you should pick a fiesty one out of the tank, so we chose one that was moving all around. Ryan loved the little lady. He chased it all over the kitchen and we had to keep pulling him away.

Adam wanted me to do the honors of putting it in the pot of boiling water, but once we cut the elastics off its claws I chickened out. It was squirming in my hands and I felt like a murderer and made him do it. Cold-hearted. I think Ryan was mad that we killed his friend because he complained for our entire dinner.

I've had lobster before, but had forgotten how scrumptious it was! We LOVED it. Definitely messy! And by the way, don't try to buy lobster scissors at the dollar store. They bent on the first attempt at cutting....

The next night we got a babysitter so that we could go to the temple. Ryan was a good boy and played the whole time with Meghan, one of the dental students in Adam's class. Thanks Meghan!

Adam Has Big Mussels

Since we live near the ocean it's high time we had some seafood! We made some mussels tonight and had potato leek soup and a baguette with them. They were oh so yummy. Wonder how long our house will smell for...

Bassooning

So today marks the year anniversary of my concerto performance at Utah State. Since I didn't have a blog back then, I thought I'd post some photos from it now. Yes, I'm still that proud of it. Sadly, the only photos I had were online on Snapfish. When I downloaded them to my computer they were only an inch tall and I can't make them bigger for the blog. So, the photos are a no go. I also don't have a recording to post. Still waiting on that one.... But here's my nice bassooning mug shot. To celebrate this anniversary I'm playing tonight in a community orchestra concert in Halifax while mourning the loss of my good sound and technique of a year ago.... My regular bassoon playing is definitely what I miss most from my pre-baby days. Hopefully I'll get it back way down the road when my kid days are over.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Daddy! I love you and I miss you!

-Ryan

Photo Update

I've realized that I haven't been taking many pictures in the last month. This is about all I have... They sure are cute, though!

Here's Ryan's first time trying solid food--bananas. He wasn't totally sure about it, but did okay. He ate pretty well for a week and then the next 3 have been terrible. We pretty much can't get him to allow food into his mouth without pulling crazy shocked faces, sticking his tongue out and gagging, and making growling noises.

One of Ryan's favorite spots--Daddy's shoulders

St. Patty's Day--Gotta wear green!

Gangsta Ryan.

This is Ryan's Sunday outfit. I'm in love with his hat, even though it's stained from a few previous owners. Adam and I fight all through sacrament about whether the hat should be sideways or forwards. He has some guys in the ward helping him along in the argument, saying it should be on the side. I claim it's more reverent in the front. :)

Adam decided yesterday he'd try to teach Ryan how to crawl, so this is part of the attempt. So far no movement... just some shakiness on the knees and eventually a plop onto the belly to reach out for the toys Adam places in front of him to entice him forwards. Since I'm the one home with Ryan all day, I'm not anxious at all for him to learn to crawl. I've finally figured out how to work a little bassooning into my day, and once he starts moving I fear those days will be over. How stressful to start babyproofing our apartment!

Photos of Ryan

Since there's nothing exciting in our lives except Ryan these days, I thought I'd post some cute photos of him. :)

Lately he's getting used to snuggilng in his bear suit and riding in my kangaroo coat.

Ahhh...hibernating during the Halifax winter. Don't we wish we could all do the same?

This week Ryan decided that he loves talking with his tongue out. He gets spit all over and it cracks us up.

Our friends let us borrow their exersaucer, which keeps Ryan entertained for small amounts of time.

P.S. Can I say how much I hate loading pictures onto this blog? The placement of the photos and words keeps showing up differently on the preview than how I put them on the screen in the first place. I can't figure it out and I've spent 1/2 hour arranging them over and over to no avail...Grr!

Battleship

A belated post, but... a few weeks ago we had a tour of a Canadian Navy Battleship from our friends Graeme (who's in the Navy) & Mandy. It was very interesting. Adam liked all the weapons & I liked the view from the Captain's chair.

Here's Captain Ryan giving his orders--"Sit down, you're rockin' the boat!"

Dad and Ryan

Here's what happens when Adam is left alone with Ryan....

1. Ryan becomes a gamer

2. Ryan becomes a super hero, dressed with his onesies outside his pants...

3. Ryan becomes an alien

4. Like Father Like Son