Brooks Ryder

After two trips to the hospital in one day, first time Rebecca was sent home and second time she got to stay because her water broke (2 hours after we were sent home).  Haha!  Brooks Ryder was born on January 19, 2011 at 8:28 a.m.  He was 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long.  They both are doing awesome!!

Here are some pictures of the little guy:

    

Christmas Snow Photos

I knew my sister would pull through! Look how much fun the snow was on Christmas day!!

Awww!

Christmas in Wetumpka #4!!

Our final destination was Wetumpka, to spend Christmas with my Mom, John, Mamama and Crawford, and of course my sisters. We had some Tortilla soup that was wonderful. Luckily this year, we drew names instead of giving everyone a Christmas present. Most knew and some didn't know who their secret Santa was, so it was fun to see who was assigned to who. Elyse got me! How lucky did I get! I got this awesome plant/decorating pot...not sure what to call it, but it's sitting on my mantel and looking pretty fine! And some serving peices...for a relish tray. We had a great time...Colt got some good things...clothes, book, money, a table with four chairs, which he loves!

Once again most of the attention was on the boys...they entertained us all night. What did we do before they were here??

Here they are sitting together and we were throwing the ball to them and they were throwing it back...so easy to entertain!

OH!! And I have to mention it SNOWED ON CHRISTMAS!!! Probably won't ever happen again...we enjoyed it while it did as you can see! The snowflakes were really big!

We ended up staying the night at my mom's house...I would like to say we have a good night, but I can't. Colt ended up waking up at 2:00 a.m. (like a newborn) and I got up with him, moved to every single place in the house, tried to be quiet, went to the couch, the floor, the bed, stood up, sang....I ended up going to the living room, turning on the light, gettin the toys out and let Colt play. I took the cushions out of the chairs, got a blanket, got a snack (for me and Colt) and layed down for a while. Colt really wasn't having that! He FINALLY ended up falling asleep, while I was standing up in the kitchen at 5:30!!!! LONG night...then he woke up at 7:30...needless to say I was really tired...but we had a great Christmas:)

I think Elyse got a family picture of us in the snow, I'll have to track it down from her because I think it was really cute:) MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas in Hope Hull #3

We made it to Hope Hull around 12:30 pm to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. We ate an awesome (home grown) straight from the garden meal...well, most of it anyway and enjoyed great company. Then we opened presents and mainly watch Colt and Troy all over the place. They are always a joy to watch...

This is a picture of (from left to right), Rebecca, cousin Steven, Me, Colt, Troy and Elyse. It's amazing to me that Colt is 4 months older than Troy, but Troy appears a little larger than Colt:).



Speaking of watching the kids....next Christmas is going to be even wilder due to a couple of other BOYS' arriving in 2011. Left Rebecca with Ryder due in January and right, Elyse with Justin due in February...awww! SOMEONE needs to have a girl!



Off to Wetumpka!

Christmas #2

Christmas #2 was about a mile down the street at Josh's brother's house. It's a tradition, that we just joined a couple of years ago, to cook breakfast over there while the boys play with their new toys. Nana, Pops, Jennifer, Hunter, Fisher, Tyler, Rebecca and Jennifer's parents were there. Their house was CRAZY with toys and gadgets...I would NOT want to clean that up. We stayed for about an hour because we had a two hour drive ahead of us to Montgomery.

Here is Colt with Fisher, amazed at the video game...



Now off to Montgomery!

Christmas with SANTA!! #1

Christmas #1 was at home waking up to see  what Santa had brought us…I’m sure Colt didn’t know what to think when both me and Josh showed up to get him out of bed and my sister Rebecca following us with a video camera.

 

When we made it to the living room to see what Santa had brought, Colt took one look at this and said “Dit Down".  Haha:)  Santa was pretty practical this year, Colt got some clothes, sippy cups, books, plastic plates, todder utensils, a couple of trucks and a towel…AND he splurged just a little with the playset.

 

I thought it was pretty funny that he was showing me the sippy cups and all the clothes he got….

Nana and Pops came over early to see Colt and what Santa brought and to give him his present.  OH BOY!  This definitely was a hit!

Family pic:)

 

Off to Christmas #2  at Josh’s brother’s.

4 Christmas's

Yep...just like in the movie...I'll post one at a time so it's not so overwhelming:)

1) Christmas with Santa
2) Christmas with the Parrish's
3) Christmas with the Toulmin's
4) Christmas with the Knudsen's

Oh wait...I forgot one little detail....this happened all in ONE DAY!

Photos from Thankgsiving

I finally stole some pictures my sister, Elyse, took at Thanksgiving this year. These are priceless and it's so funny watching the cousins grow and interact with each other.

This is one of my favorites, his expression is really funny, but it makes me want to grab him up and hug all over him!



Knox, Colt and Troy "sharing" a little snack.

Picture with the grandparents, K-K and Papa (or "Tay" and "Pa")

Picture with the grandparents one year ago. Too cute! If you notice closely, everyone is sitting opposite from how they sat this year (not on purpose).

Awwww....

Some Cricut Projects...

Graciously Mrs. Sharon gave me a Cricut Expressions for my birthday and Christmas. I got a super deal on black Friday....so I couldn't resist and she insisted that I need it:) So, this Christmas I did a few things I wanted to share.

I mostly made tags for all the presents. It was so much fun and they turned out so cute!

I also made a few ornaments out of cricut vinyl.

This was Nana's present. Colt tried his hardest to play with it, but I stood my ground on keeping it in one piece. He knew this was Nana's present (would tell me just about everyday) and on Christmas, I asked him to give it to her...and he did all by himself:)

Another use for the cricut...no telling how many "p's" or "m's" or "c's" I will have in my house one day. I did the same thing with Colt's and my softsoap dispenser "C" and "M" in his bathroom and my bathroom.

Picture with Santa...

I realize I could have scanned the picture, but I thought the little Santa hat (Rebecca's idea) was cute. Colt's face is hilarious...he really wasn't into Santa...but I paid $15 at the Mall for this ONE picture...so it got framed...and blogged about:)

One of Colt's favorite activities

Is playing horsie...be careful sitting on the floor because chances are...you're about to do some work!

Horsies are soooo comfy!

Attempt to take a Christmas Card picture...

No Christmas card this year...there were attempts, lots of "OH, look at the Christmas tree, go stand by it, look at me!!, say cheese!, NO COLT....stand right there, turn around...look at me, SMILE!!, COLT, COLT, COLT...look at me...CHEESE...SMILE!!!!"

This is the best I got...hahahah! Maybe next year...



This one is hilarious to me! Hahaha...I should have sent this one:) He was about to knock over the tree...