September 11th, 2011

This was a day to remember in history for a couple of reasons.

First ... This was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.

Second ... This was the day that Ryland fell out of his crib!

He has been attempting to climb out of his crib for a few weeks now. He learned that he could put his leg up on the railing and pull himself up. We have caught him in the act a few times right before he went over the edge. We have been closely watching him on the monitor and running in there right before he goes all the way.

On the morning of 9/11 we went out to Douglasville to pick up Ryland. He spent the night with CC and Pops since we went to the UGA/South Carolina football game the day before. Ryland ended up falling asleep on the ride back home. Tab and Ryland dropped me off at the car rental place to pick up a rental car for a work trip. Tab took Ryland back home and transferred him to his crib. When I walked in the door from picking up the rental car Tab met me there and said ... "It happened!". At first I had no idea what "happened". And then I saw Ryland in the living room (when he was suppose to be taking his nap). And Tab told me that he was awake because he fell out of his crib! Tab was downstairs with the monitor and had no idea that Ryland was awake because he was being so quiet. And then he heard a big "bump" and a huge cry. Falling out definitely scared Ryland.

He has not tried to climb out since that day. Lets hope it stays that way because he is not ready to move to a big boy bed! He loves his crib and propping his legs up on the slats way too much!!

Big Bear

We have a new family member ... and he is 1 week old.

His name is Big Bear and he is B-I-G!

And Ryland is in L-O-V-E!

We have been checking out Big Bear at Costco for a while now. Slowly strolling by him every time that we are there shopping. Until last Friday night ... that was the night that we made the decision (well Tab made the decision) that it was time for Big Bear to join our family. Ryland was in love with him from the moment that we put Big Bear in the back of the shopping cart with him. There was hardly enough room for both of them in the back of the shopping cart but it did not bother Ryland at all. And you should have seen me in the Costco parking lot shoving Big Bear in the backseat of the car ... again ... barely fitting!

I will have to post some portraits of Big Bear soon. And some pictures of our new nightly routine ... because we all know that Big Bear has to sleep in his own bed ... with covers ... and gets his very own night-night prayer! Nothing less.

P.S. ... If I propped Big Bear up in our front yard at night I guarantee that there would be someone out there with a gun trying to shoot what they think is the bear that is roaming the neighborhood!

Finger Painting!

The other week we decided to finger paint. We got out all of the stuff and Ryland had so much fun. And the end result was beautiful ... on the paper and on Ryland!

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Trying to sneak away with paint all over him!
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We then went straight into the bathtub ... red crocs and all!
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Parked Cars!

Part of our current bedtime routine is to all pick one of these cars and race them down the upstairs hallway. I usually get the little tow truck and Tab and Ryland drive the big silver cars. Ryland usually wins the race :) After our racing we all drive them back down the hallway and park them under the table that is right outside of Ryland's bedroom. We all tell them good night and that is where they sleep for the entire night. They are always there waiting each morning when Ryland wakes up .... and he never forgets about them!

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Home Sick ...

Thursday night I got back to the hotel in time to talk to Tab and Ryland on facetime (video) before Ryland went to bed. I was able to hang out with them on the phone as they finished up playing for the night and as they got ready for bed. Tab even propped up the phone on the night stand so that I could read the bedtime story with them. Ryland started acting a little funny while reading with Tab in the chair ... different than his typical "I am tired and ready for bed". We did not think much of it and we both said the night-night prayer (me on the phone) and put Ryland to bed. I ended up staying on the phone with Tab for a little while after Ryland went to bed. Not 10 minutes after Ryland went down he started crying and was standing up in his bed. We knew something was wrong. Tab ran up there and saw that Ryland and thrown up.

Tab went straight into "dad-mode" and took care of the mess and Ryland. I felt so helpless being so far away and not being able to hold and kiss on Ryland. Knowing that Ryland would probably have another "episode" he decided to make a big pallet on our bedroom floor and laid down with Ryland. And as expected he was up most of the night with Ryland getting sick :(

Ryland stayed home with Tab on Friday and seemed to be feeling better most of the day. I got home from Charlotte just before he went to bed so I was able to love and kiss on him before bedtime.

Everything seemed to be good ... he was happy when he went to bed and he slept through the night. At 8:45am this morning Ryland was still in bed. He had rolled around a few times but never got up. He typically wakes up around 7-7:30am so I decided to go in his room to check on him. He saw me come in but was still mostly asleep. So I decided to pick him up and was going to take him back to our bed. I did not even get back to our bedroom with him before it started .... he got sick again :(

All morning he laid on his special pallet on the sofa and watched Seseme Street. You could definitely tell that he did not feel good. All I wanted to do was lay with him and hold him ... so that is what I did!

Here are some pictures from the last 24 hours.

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Friday night right after I got home from Charlotte. Ryland had just gotten out of the bath and was helping us change our bed sheets. Thinking that his "stomach bug" was gone we were trying to wash everything in the house to make sure that no one else caught it.
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Jumping on the bed!
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Saturday morning ... as you can tell we had everything covered with blankets and sheets just in case he got sick! And he wanted his new best friend ... Big Bear ... on the sofa with him.
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Sound asleep after watching Seseme Street. And Bailey joined him on the sofa to make sure that he was ok.
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After his morning nap he moved to the floor for his afternoon nap ... with Big Bear!
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A long trip away from home ...

I have been in Charlotte all week for work and still have one more night and day to go! In all it will be 5 nights and 6 days that I will be gone. And I am ready to be back home to kiss my boys!

Let the count down begin!

Here are some pictures of dinner time that Tab sent me. It looks like they are eating well!

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4 Nights and 5 Days ...

is a long time to be away from our little mister!! And boy were Tab and I happy to see him yesterday afternoon when he got home!!

Tab and I had a lot going on this past weekend so my parents offered to take Ryland with them to Highlands for a long weekend. They picked him up on Thursday morning from school and headed to Highlands during his nap time. My mom said that he slept all the way until they started going up the mountain and was perfect during the entire car ride. It sounded like they had a lot of fun in Highlands and Ryland loved every bit of his little vacation!

They came back yesterday morning during his nap time and we got the biggest smile when he saw us come outside to get him out of the car. And he even did a little dance in the driveway for us!