First Half of July...

July has been a fast, full, and fun month...so many life changes and life accomplishments all packed into July of 2013. I think this post is going to be about the first half of July and then I'll follow up with the recent events.

Rhyder turned 8 months:
Every month I have taken his pic in this little snuggabunny bed to track his progress so at 12 months I can go back and put all the pics together to see how much he's grown. I think he just gets cuter and cuter every month. :) At 8 months, he's starting to not appreciate so much being set down to play alone. He likes interaction and likes to be held. We've experienced a couple little temper tantrums that will have to be nipped in the bud very soon. However, most of the time, he's all grins. He all of a sudden decided he hates carrots, after he's eaten them like a champ for a couple of months. He likes all things sweet..like his momma and grandma! His favorite toys are a couple I found at a garage sale...a little walker that sings some songs he loves and a little toy that has 4 pop ups that he likes to close and have me open over and over. He definitely loves Baby Einstein DVDs...how crazy it is to watch him totally ignore a regular TV show and then zone in on Baby Einstein...I guess they knew what they were doing when they created these shows for lil ones! He is right on the verge of crawling. He can scoot and twist and roll over and get places he wants to go...and any day he's gonna hop up on all fours and be off. He had his 5th haircut....yes, 5th! But he still has no teeth at all...I guess all the energy in his head is going to his scalp rather than his gums cuz his hair grows like crazy!

The 4th of July:
This year, the 4th was on a Thursday which worked out pretty well for us. Derrick came home on Wednesday night and then we were able to enjoy most of the rest of the weekend minus me working on Friday. On Thursday, we wanted to do a patriotic activity that we could work into Rhyder's nap schedule and we found out that the George Bush Museum on Texas A&M's campus had free admission all day so off we went. It had been years since either of us had been to the museum so it was like seeing it all for the first time. We enjoy museums and learning and relearning so we had a great time. That night, all the fireworks displays were after Rhyder's bedtime so Derrick and I crawled out on our roof to the tippy top and watched 3 different displays going on at the same time. Thank you, Lord, for the country we live in and that we can proactively celebrate our freedoms once a year together!

The museum was decked out in red, white, and blue for July 4th! 

Rhyder considering the wise words of President Bush :)

We have high aspirations for this little guy :-) 

We took a walk in the gardens to President Bush's family's gravesite...only one buried there now is their little daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia when she was 4.  

I took my bridal pics under this pavilion behind the museum...crazy to now be holding my son here 6 years later.  

Happy 4th of July everyone!

We got to write thank you notes to our troops overseas!

And we topped off the trip with patriotic colored slushes from Sonic :) Yes, I ordered blue coconut on purpose to compliment Derrick's cherry :)

  I had to be in Shiner on Sunday for my 10 year high school class reunion and we decided to turn the trip that direction into a bigger trip so we left Saturday morning to join my uncle and aunt at their lake house on Lake Gonzales. It was Rhyder's first time in a boat and on the lake, and we knew he loved swimming so figured it'd be a blast. Between staying up super late and talking like we always do with them and enjoying the wind in our hair on a fast boat ride down the lake, it was a super fun overnight trip.

He was SO excited to be at the lake :)

Ready to go, Mom! 

Pretty darn fun! Just wait, buddy, til Uncle Doug can teach you to waterski and pull you all over the place on a tube! 

He wasn't quite sure about the major wind as we zipped through the water...didn't really know which way to turn his head to breathe best ha!

can't beat this...relaxing in the shade of a big river tree

This bumblebee was made for me!

So fun playing blocks with Aunt Laura!

We celebrated being married 6 years:
Thanks to our dear friends, the Maders, we had a night out on the town to celebrate our 6 year anniversary without the little man. Rhyder got to go play with Karis, Kelsie, and Rilyn, and we headed out to one of our classic favorite restaurants in downtown Bryan, Cafe Capri. We debated going to a movie, but now its kind of a weird thing because when you have a limited amount of time to be out and about without a baby, a movie seems like a waste of that time. You can't talk to each other...you just sit and the time flies by...so we decided to head out to Lake Bryan for a country music concert and some quality time together. The evening was perfect. Food was delicious. Sunset was gorgeous. Weather was perfect. The only thing that went wrong was observing a girl tripping on the stairs of the deck and literally breaking her leg. We saw her stumble and thought she'd hop right up looking embarrassed, but instead she stayed down there. We looked over the railing as we were sitting right next to it and saw a very pokey, pointy object against the inside of her skin on her shin...yep, it was her bone. Ick!! Poor thing..I caught her eye and mouthed "are you ok?" to which she responded "no...." and ducked her head. She was in so much pain and had to wait forever for the EMS to arrive. The only awkwardly funny outcome of that is the band continued to play throughout this whole time and then when the fire department EMS arrived, the band finished their song and then without missing a beat broke into "The Fireman" by George Strait. It definitely earned some awkward chuckles...everyone wanted to laugh but didn't want to disrespect the girl who was about to throw up because she was in so much pain!
We had a wonderful evening. I am so blessed to call Derrick Wade Ratliff my husband. He and I are the best of friends. I know that for so many marriage is a difficult thing, but oftentimes we look at each other and ask "why is that?" We feel like if you treat your spouse as the best friend that he is and live life generally unselfishly while not taking yourself too seriously, its really not that hard. We love our life and we're grateful for the 5 years we had as just the two of us and now the infinity years we will have with a kid/kids! Isn't Rhyder just stinkin' adorable in this top pic?

This is why I love Lake Bryan! 

Enjoying the deck overlooking the lake listening to some good ol country music

I have more to talk about regarding July. We had one HUGE change in our lives that I will discuss next posting. (no, Rhyder is not getting a sibling). But for now, its Sunday night and its 11:30 so that only means one thing. Monday morning is tomorrow and that means back to reality...

Cherise's Heart on Abortion

So here we go...another controversial blog posting added to the masses of the world wide web. I wish it didn't even have the chance to be controversial. I wish everyone agreed with me, but I know that's not reality. But, I suppose that's what blogs are for - to post your personal thoughts and allow those who want to read it to read it...so remember, if you disagree with me, you wanted to read it and you did...

So this whole SB5 this has had my brain spinning all day. I've been antsy and disturbed and my brain just won't shut off about it. I'll be perfectly honest and say I didn't even know it was happening last night, and I didn't even know what it was about today until I had time to read about it tonight. I say this to tell you that the reason I'm stirred up isn't because of political tension or Republican/Democrats differences or filibuster stresses. I know now that the drama of last night and the calling of another special session today happened, but that's not what this blog is about...this blog is about babies.

In today's culture, there is so much differences of opinion about different political issues including welfare, insurance, taxes, immigration, gay rights, the economy, government involvement, etc. ....and sadly, abortion.

I waver on how opinionated I let myself be on all of the first items in that list. Yes I have my opinions, but I understand how others have contradictory opinions. Opinions on these things are all about perspective and I sympathize with those who are in a different place in life than I am.

However, abortion is one I just don't get. What blows my mind is that the same country who was horrifically rocked and DEVASTATED over the senseless and awful death of 20 6-7 year old angels in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, is the same country who is killing children at an alarmingly fast rate.... America kills approximately 1.2 million children a year. Divided by 20, that is 60,000 days STRAIGHT of killing 20 Sandy Hook children, which is 164.38 years of killing 20 children every. single. day. But of course that number starts over at the beginning of year one and year 27 and year 129 and year 164....

A 6 year old child is 352 weeks old (counting from day of conception.) An aborted child is younger than 40 weeks old, but is still that same child.

7 years ago, beautiful little Daniel Barden killed by the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary was the age of these murdered babies. 

7 years ago, sweet and angelic little Grace McDonnell killed by the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary was the age of these murdered babies. 

HOW DO WE AS AMERICA NOT SEE THAT!? We were sickened and our country turned upside down by the horror of that day, and yet we vote to allow these same children to be killed and dismembered...not by guns, but rather by vacuums, currettes, poisonous injections, and forceps...by our choice.

I went to Google images to look for a photo to post as to what sweet Daniel and Grace looked like at the age of an aborted baby and the photos I saw were too sickening to explore or share. I want to post in order to defend those sweet babies, but I can't post in order to respect them.

People stand in the hallways of the capital chanting for pro-choice rights and trying to defend "freedom".....who are these people?? Were they not alive on December 14, 2012? Did they not watch the news about how one individual killed 20 babies? Were they not emotionally upset by that? How is the Sandy Hook killer any different than an abortion doctor...really...think about that.
How are we ok with this? Is it because we haven't gotten to see these "fetuses" smile yet? We haven't seen them play with a puppy or build a pillow fort or roast a marshmallow or say "I love you"?? How can we dehumanize these infants?

The politically correct reason....it's because of "women's rights," right? Women must have the choice to choose what happens to their bodies. Having had a baby, I'll admit that pregnancy and childbirth aren't easy or necessarily pleasant, but Wow... to only think what ends up happening to those babies' bodies who never had their right to choose. 

Like I said before, I waiver on the whole human rights thing as to what I believe and how that should be balanced in society as I understand decisions and opinions are based on perspective, but I feel like abortion is in a whole different realm than any other debatable topic out there. This is discussing human LIFE...not how we want to enjoy our own personal lives or how we want money to be distributed or who we're allowed to love....this is Life or its Death. This is KILLING or letting live. Whole different ballgame. I feel that once a life has been conceived, someone else's preference shouldn't dictate life or death to that new human. If a man doesn't like someone or thinks someone is inconvenient to his life, he doesn't have the right to kill that person just because its his human right. I don't see how a woman's right to choose can have precedence over human life. To me, that's a cop out. 

Then there is the sad reality of baby creation through tragic circumstances such as rape and incest. This one is harder to handle because my heart MELTS for these girls/women. The dilemma they are faced with and the pain associated with the situation is something I'll never know; therefore, I will not judge, and I'd be the first to love them and hug them. I can't even imagine so I'm not going to say I wouldn't consider the options I had if it happened to me. But when it comes down to it, the brutal murder of the child which was a result of the brutal act of sin upon that woman is not the answer to get rid of the situation. Sadly but realistically, the woman will have to deal with the repercussions of the man's evil for the rest of her life, but then to have to stack the guilt of killing a child on top of that...I'd assume that's overwhelmingly irrecoverable. However, in the big picture, approximately .33% of abortions are performed due to rape or incest*....so if that is the major rationale for keeping abortions around - go ahead. Keep this as the only reason and you'll save 1,197,240 lives. (I would still grieve over the 2,760 and wouldn't agree with their loss of life, but I'm just making a general point here). 

I also understand that some abortions are due to save a mother's life or to end the life of a baby who would me medically handicapped or worse. Again, my heart hurts for these situations. They must be inconceivably AWFUL. The pain and questions of "Why?" associated with these scenarios live on forever; however, again, the % is so low that it cannot be used as the major rationale to keep abortion legal. Plus, I don't know this for a fact, but I assume that terminating pregnancies because of these types of situations don't occur at Planned Parenthood or any other abortion clinic setting. They are most likely in hospitals under a doctor's direct care (I could be wrong, but I'm thinking I'm not).

Lastly, I understand economic issues is a big force behind abortions. 98% of abortions are elective and a large percentage of that is because the mother doesn't feel like she can afford the child. I understand there are many children waiting for adoption. I understand that I am personally blessed to be in a financial situation that I can raise my own child whereas many people are not. I understand that if given the chance to live, many of these children would have a poor quality of life...but I'm sorry - abortion can't be our method of population control. That's called genocide. That's what Hitler did. I can think of all kinds of reforms that would help the issue of children waiting to be adopted. Take a bunch of the money that is poured into government funded abortions and put them towards programs that help parents who can't conceive and want to adopt. Do you know how expensive adoption is? It's insane! So many worthy families out there .... I know that wouldn't solve all the problems, but it would help, and it would relieve our country from the disgusting guilt of deciding who is worth living and who is worth dying.

I have never had the opportunity to speak openly with a woman who has had an abortion. I have never been in the shoes of someone who is faced with that decision. I am not trying to be judgmental. I know that because my heart is bleeding as I type this. I feel love for those unborn babies and love for those moms who are so desperate and so mislead that they don't see any other alternative. My heart hurts for those women who will regret their decision 10 years down the road when they are married and have 2 children and wonder daily what their 3rd child would have been like - what he would have looked like. whether she would have liked sports or ballet. if he would have had the same cute upturned nose her other 2 children have...seriously, I don't write this out of hate or judgment...I write it out of love and a desperate desire to understand how we have gotten to this point and if there is any way of reversing it.

I am a Christian. I'm not ashamed of that. But if you noticed, I didn't quote the Bible or use God as a reasoning behind any of my arguments. There are ALL kinds of reasons as a Christian I hate abortion and believe that Jesus' heart is torn in two by the evil that perpetrates this world, but to be honest, I purposely stayed away from all of that because I don't feel like any human with a pulse should need that to understand what I'm saying, and I definitely didn't want anyone rejecting my arguments because I was just being "religious." Christianity isn't needed to defend this argument. Humanity is all that is needed.

I'm not going to have the intellectual answer to all the finely crafted objections that some of you may have.  You're welcome to comment and I'll try my best to respond...all I do know is that this is a heart issue, and my heart knows what's right and wrong in this case. To me its so obvious it makes me sick...apparently 41% of America** disagrees with me though. I typically respect the other point of view and try really hard to empathize and keep an open mind when its an issue I don't understand, but I'm not gonna lie, this one blows my mind and makes me hurt for our society and for America and for those sweet babies who are dismembered and thrown in the garbage and burned without anyone knowing their name or hearing their laugh or cuddling their cry or even recognizing their humanity.

* http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html
** http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/figuring-faith/post/pro-choice-and-pro-life-on-abortion-americans-say-its-complicated/2012/05/29/gJQAjj0qyU_blog.html

This post is dedicated to my precious boy, Rhyder, who was given the chance to live unlike so many beautiful babies out there who might have blue eyes or blonde hair or like books or love to be outside or enjoy peek-a-boo...just like him. 

Fun Stuff in June

Its been about a month and a half since I last blogged. Finding the energy to do so after long days on the computer is sometimes hard; however, I created Rhyder his own email account and I want to copy/paste my blog postings into emails to him so he'll have them someday if he wants them to learn about his early years. That keeps me motivated. 

Rhyder got to swim for the first time! Our friend's parents have a super nice pool and they are generous enough to share it with us all...oh my goodness...Rhyder LOVED it. He looked at it like it was a giant bathtub (he loves baths!) He was so cute...he moved like a mermaid. Kicked and wormed his entire body like he knew what to do in order to swim. It was awesome.

He didn't know the goodness that was coming...I LOVE this pic :) 

When I put him on his back, he'd put his arms up by his head like "aaahhh...this is the life." 

Tired and happy boy

Rhyder got to go to his first car show with Daddy. We found out about it on Facebook and we took Derrick's 1950 Chevy over to Central Park to check out all the old cars. Daddy has a special place in his heart for old cars and I'm sure he'll share that love with Rhyder.

Random cute picture of Derrick and Rhyder after church:

Derrick traded in his truck a while back for this 2010 Ford F150. He has absolutely loved this truck and it was finally time to get a Ranch Hand on it. Of course Ranch Hand is a big part of our lives as I work for the company every single day :) so D had to have his Ranch Hand! I feel better about him driving so much now. A whole lot safer!

Looks great! He can safely take out a deer now! 

For Father's Day, Derrick's family was in town to keep Rhyder while we went to my cousin's wedding. On Sunday, Robert wanted Texas Roadhouse....yummm! 3 generations of really great men!

Rhyder is getting harder to photograph. He's blinking at the flash and not wanting to sit still and smile. Boys!

So for months now, I have told Derrick that I wanted patio furniture for my birthday in July. We were on the verge of buying a traditional set that we found on sale, but Derrick hesitated and said he wanted something more "unique." So in the true Ratliff way, he decided to build something! We had some extra wood left over from a project so didn't have to buy any new wood. I spent some time on Pinterest and came up with a top design that I kind of liked. We made it happen!

The whole time we spent in the garage building the table, Rhyder spent in his new baby pool compliments of Pappy and Grandma. This kid loves water! He spent 2.5 hours in that thing and was happy as a lark!

My table! We used some leftover cedar posts that we used in the house (as seen in background). These cedar posts were taken from Pine Cove Christian Camps by Derrick and my Uncle Doug. The drought killed a whole whole bunch of them and Uncle Doug was able to get on the property to harvest some for the house. So much more meaningful!
I still need to stain it and find chairs...looking on Pinterest for finishing ideas. 

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.