Happy 1st Birthday!

Castle blocks made by Grandpa Scott.

Lots of fun presents from Grandma and Grandpa!

New fun toy!

I love to tear the paper!

Opening his Busy Ball Popper.

My very own birthday cake, just my size!! And gone in a flash!

Birthday balloons.

1st Birthday All-Star Ryder!

Decorations.

Playing on his b-day at the library.

What fun!

Hey, it's my birthday!

At the Science Center.

Robot magnets, how neat!

WOW!

Yummy dessert!

Ryder's first big boy meal at a restaurant...and he wasn't too interested.

At the cave in the Science Center.

Jan. 11th was Ryder's 1st birthday ever!! We were so excited, and at the same time can't believe we now have a 1 year old. He's been walking for a few weeks now, and is getting better all the time. He is still more of a full-time crawler with a part-time job on the side of walking. He does enjoy doing it though and is proud of himself, as we are!

These are pics from the day, and also from this past Saturday when we went to the Science Center of Iowa and Mimi's Cafe for part of his birthday too.

Words can't express what Ryder has brought to mine and Paul's lives! He is such a blessing. We are grateful every day that we have him, he means the world to us!

Next month we will be going to DisneyWorld and visiting our friends Sean and Spring and their 2 boys. We're so excited to go! Neither of us have been to DisneyWorld or Florida, so it will be SO fun! It's supposed to be for Ryder's birthday, just a little late. But I don't think he'll mind. When I was young I used to say that when I was grown up I was going to live in Florida, this was like when I was 12. Very weird, I know. I just wanted to let my parents know that I would be living as far away in the US as I thought was possible to be, and that's where I thought it would be. Anyway, so it just brings back memories thinking of that, and we can't wait to go!

Ryder's birthday was great! And we just wish our family could have shared it with us too, sorry guys! But whoever wants to visit for his next one is more than welcome! :)

New Year, New Ryder...

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's here in Iowa! Definitely as good as can be when we're so far away from loved ones. The only bad part was when my back went out the week of Christmas, but I am glad to say it's been getting lots better since then. Since it's been so cold, we weren't able to go out and play in the snow or anything like that, but we enjoyed being inside by the tree, hanging out together. We watched movies, played games, did puzzles (mostly Paul) and ate good food. Also, we got Lost, seasons 1-5 for Christmas and are now all caught up, and ready for season 6--CAN NOT WAIT! So, since then I've been watching Grey's Anatomy on DVD and getting into it to kill time before Lost starts again...

Now that it's a new year, we are looking ahead to some BIG changes! This past week Ryder started walking!! He is such a speed crawler and all that, that we weren't sure when he'd start going for it. But lo and behold, he started taking his first steps. First just 2 at a time from Paul to me, or the ottoman to the couch, and now it's 4+ steps at a time. He is so awesome! He still prefers to crawl at this time, and who can blame him? It's 10 times faster that way, but he's slowly building up the confidence and motivation to walk more and more. Here is a video of him walking. I tried loading another one with him playing with Jewel, but it didn't work. He LOVES to get down and be like the doggy! I will try again later on that...

And I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!!!

This time one year ago...

Would you believe I looked like this?... Yeah, I don't either. I was SO huge! Last night I was taking myself back to last year in my mind, and I can remember the pain in the last month of pregnancy. He was getting so big so fast and my body just couldn't handle it. He was due Jan. 1st, and I had been praying that he would come before Christmas, and that time came and went. Then I was hoping before the new year...and then nothing. Then I went in Jan. 2nd to the hospital thinking that was it, and it wasn't. As I was leaving I saw one of the ladies who I did Moms in Motion with (a water aerobics class) and she had just had her baby Dec. 31st and wasn't due until after me. I was very discouraged. I felt like my body wasn't doing what it needed to.

Finally Jan. 9th I was having really strange contractions. They weren't painful, but they wouldn't stop either. I would have one and my stomach would harden for 5, then 10 minutes and more at a time. Paul and I knew this wasn't normal. So we went and told my mom (who was staying with us) and we decided it was time to go to the hospital. As we got there we found out the contractions were definitely not normal, and that they wanted to keep me and induced me. I was so nervous. I didn't want to be there. I was freaking out at this point because I was terrfied to deliver, but yet I had waited so long that I didn't expect to be that scared. But I was induced the next night (because the hospital had 6 women in active labor the night before so i had to wait), started pushing early on the 11th and had Ryder at 11:53 a.m. My whole life my biggest fear EVER was of having a baby. I was terrified of it ever since I can remember. I never thought I could do it. I remember hearing cousins when I was younger having babies, and then thinking, "Wow, they made it out alive. It can happen." That's how scared I was. So, I couldn't believe that I, of all people, did it!

And honestly I had the Lord's help the entire time. I look back and wonder how I did it, and I know I couldn't have done it without Him. Paul was so wonderful! My mom was great, too. And I know I couldn't have done without my amazing Paul, and my mom was such a bonus to have her there. It was such an amazing day! And now Ryder is almost 1 and I wonder where the time went. I try to enjoy each day, each moment, because I don't want to look back and think that I wish I had. Ryder was my miracle baby, and I thank Heavenly Father every day that I have him. I can't imagine my life without him, and now I know that I would go through it all over again in a heartbeat.

As I think about the Savior's birth and life at this time of the year, I feel even more grateful to Him that I have Ryder. The Savior was born a perfect baby, and now I feel so much more grateful for Mary that she had the strength to deliver him into this earth, and raise Him to Redeem us all. What a wonderful example of a mother I have to look to. I'm so thankful for my family and mine and Paul's family, and we are truly so abundantly blessed in so many ways!