All about Rhyder....6 Months Old!

Rhyder, you turned a half year old this month. 6 months!! Its crazy to think that half a year ago, you weren’t on this earth (well you kind of were, but you know what I mean) and now you are. And can I tell ya, YOU ARE CUTE!!!

Seriously, you may be the cutest little boy on the planet…at least that’s what everyone tells us and Mommy & Daddy happen to agree.

Your name, Rhyder, means “Warrior or Knight” and your middle name, Josiah, means “God will save.” We loved that combination. Our little humble knight…a member of God’s army.

You have your Daddy’s blue eyes which I absolutely love. Never thought your brown eyed Mommy would have a blue eyed boy!

You have the most perfect baby features that make you adorable.

You have A LOT of hair...so much so that a college student at church turned around and said “WHOA! Baby toupe!” hahaha! You do look older because of all the hair. A lady at Kyle’s wedding this weekend guessed that you were 2. 

Mommy cut it a couple days ago...my first little boys haircut ever and I'd have to say it looks awesome!

You have a sweet, sweet spirit. You are full of smiles.

Between about 2 and 5.5 months, you were an awful, awful sleeper. You would wake up 10-15 times a night and then you wouldn’t nap well during the day either. It was tough. But as of about May 2^nd, you started sleeping….now you usually go 12 hours straight! Whoop!

Your favorite toy is “Mr. Moose.” You spend a lot of time in the exer-saucer the Maders let us borrow…you like to jump, jump, jump!

You LOVE to be outside. If you’re crying, I can walk you outside and you look around in wonder.

You cuddle with your Buggie (the red ladybug that Daddy won’t call “ladybug” :) 

You smile with your eyes.

When we were in the hospital, your nursery pediatrician told us you had a “congenital defect” which scared us when he said it because congenital defect usually goes with heart…but he said we had nothing to worry about. Its just that you are missing a tiny little lip muscle that makes you cry and smile out of one side of your mouth. I LOVE it…its your little “Rhyder quirk” and its adorable.

You hated bananas the first time you tried them. So much so that watching you try to eat them made me nauseous. Your favorite food is sweet potatoes and you like pretty much everything else too.

You like to chill in your Bumbo on my bathroom counter while I get ready for the day. You like my jewelry (shhh don’t tell Daddy).

You break into a big smile when I sing “ABCs” “Jesus Loves Me” "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or “My God is so Great.”

You love Baby Einstein Beethoven except the part where the lady opens the toy doors…you cry at that part.

At your 6 month appointment, you were 18lbs, 12 oz. 73% weight, 85% height, 83% head circumference…you’re our big boy.

I pray for you often to develop in character and integrity, to have a strong but kind heart, to love the Lord at a young age, and to be adventurous but to stay safe. Your are precious to us and we love you. 

Mother's Day Weekend

My first Mother's Day has come and gone and I am so blessed to have the sweetest little boy to call my son. I spent the weekend in Shiner because my cousin was getting married in New Braunfels on Friday night and Derrick was in Colorado on business. The wedding was at Castle Avalon and was beautiful. Congratulations Josh and Gabbie! 

Saturday night, we had my Grandpa and Grandma over for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day so we had 4 generations together which was pretty neat. My brother's girlfriend was also in town visiting another friend and she came over for dinner as well even though my brother is in Paraguay. We ended up staying up til 1 am talking which was super great. 

On Sunday, my dad cooked a Mother's Day brunch breakfast and we hung out for a while and then I went and visited my Uncle Doug and Aunt Laura before heading back to College Station. Derrick was working at the US Mint in Denver and was supposed to go to another project but that got cancelled so he ended up flying home a couple days early which ended up being a big blessing because just FYI, celebrating Mother's Day without Daddy around isn't half as cool. He drove from Austin to College Station just to see us for a couple hours before having to leave at 5am on Monday morning, but at least we got to see him and we got a little bit of family time on Mother's Day. He didn't think he was going to get to see us at all so had given me my Mother's Day gift the weekend before. He had made a Shutterfly digital photo book for me "from Rhyder." It documented the first 5 months of his life...so precious. I'll treasure it forever. 

Rhyder proudly showing off his Mother's Day gift ;-)

Castle Avalon in New Braunfels 

Sweet Dandee & Dovey with their grandson

Congrats Josh & Gabbie! 

For Mother's Day, mom got me and her a shared Jeep jogging stroller! She loves taking Rhyder on walks so it'll stay in Shiner unless we need it for a special occasion. Perfect gift for my mom!

Rhyder was a big fan of his new all terrain stroller

I got to witness a neat Mother/Baby moment in my parents' pasture. Beautiful animals

On Monday, Rhyder turned 6 months. Besides still not sleeping very well, he's a perfect little guy! 

He has his 6 month shots today. I only took one photo the whole time and this was it. Ha! Perfect capture.
"I heard you say shots....should I be worried?" Poor baby. 

At least he got cool camo band aids! He did so good.