Getaway

Have you watched the news at all? Have you heard of a little thing called the Wallow Fire? Well, if you have than you know its not so little. It is the biggest fire that Arizona has ever had. As the smoke from the fire crept IN to our little hometown me and the kiddos decided it was time we crept OUT of town.

My highschool friend, Bailey, has invited us many times to come stay with her and since Trevor was working overtime due to the fire Me, Brody, and Ryder thought it would be fun to take her up on it.

Bailey has two cute little boys just like me. Her oldest is named Brody but is a little bit older than mine, and then her little Rigden is the same age as Brody. Bailey's boys were tons of fun, full of energy, and nice enough to share their toys. I was most impressed with Brody's interest in Ryder and how sweet he was to him. And Rigden--well, he has by far, the CUTEST voice I have ever heard on a little boy. He was cute already, but you tack on that scratchy I-got-a-cold sounding voice, and you just want to take him home with you.

Because I didn't have a lot of money to spend, and Bailey is pregnant and not feeling all that awesome, we just spent our time hanging out at her house and playing in her pool. This was our first time this year venturing in the pool. I was pretty embarrased because 4 month pregnant Bailey looked better than regular me (that's possibly why I have ventured out to our public pool yet). Maybe not the most exciting time, but we still had SO MUCH FUN!

It got pretty confusing with 2 Brody's running around so we called mine Brody Jay and Bailey's little boy, Brody Michael. You would think that Brody Jay would have more fun with Rigden, but he really liked Brody Michael. For the past few weeks all he talks about is, "Browie Michael swim in pool. Browie Michael jump in pool and kick his toes in water really fasser (faster)."

Thanks so much fun for letting us stay at the Michael Hotel, Bailey! We LOVED it!

Ry's 9 Month Stats

Technically speaking Ryder is really more like 9 and 1/2 months, but he barely had his wellness check-up today. Its so hard to believe that he is as big and old as he is. I swear it has gone by even faster than it did with Brody.

Stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 54% for his age

Length: 29 and 1/4 inches which makes him in the 77%

Head: large....but still not as large as his brothers was at this age

What to say about this little dude? Hmm....Besides being called Ryder he is Baby Ryder, Bubba, Ry, bug-a-boo, and Ry-Ry. I don't know why I started calling him bubba. Its not a name I ever called Brody, but it just seems so fitting for a kid with thighs like Ryder's.

He has become a pretty quick army crawler. If you look at the bottom of his feet his big toes and right below the big toes are bright red from how much he pushes off the floor while he crawls. He has also gotten really good at getting himself into a sitting position! Walking? What's that? Not something even being attempted because he isn't even trying to pull himself up! Lazy? Maybe...But it does mean that I haven't had to lower his crib at all yet.

When we get in the car if Ryder cries or is making too much noise Brody makes silly noises or talks to Ryder and instantly Ry will laugh or make sweet little sounds back. Its quite the cute/friendly brotherly banter I used to dream about them having. By no means is this nice banter happening at all times. Brody is the TYPICAL older sibling. He takes it upon himself to take away anything from Ry that he deems harmful. Sometimes this is helpful, but usually annoying because its not always harmful things Ry has managed to get his hands on, it just things Brody wants. Brody also tends to shut his bedroom door in Ryder's face after he has gone to all the trouble of scooting down the hallway to play. Who said sharing would be fun anyway?

Ry is only sporting one tooth. I'm okay with this because I love a nice big gummy grin. And I have to admit, that one tooth grin is pretty dang cute. Speaking of grinning, he does it a lot. When he is really tickled by something he scrunches up his nose and makes almost like a snorting noise. Hi-lar-i-ous!

As far as eating goes, he still loves everything. He is anxious to not only scarf down his food now, but get in on all the table food action. Typically in the morning after having a bottle, AND rice cereal, AND baby food, he cries and cries until he gets to eat some of Brody's oatmeal AND some of his yogurt. With all the eating you would think he would weigh so much more, but maybe its just because he is on the move so much?

This little guy is a ton of fun. He is so much a momma's boy but he doesn't discriminate his love with dad, big brother, or the extended families that live near us. Here is to our sweet Ryder Joel Waite....we can only hope you will continue to grow in size and personality. We love you!

Ouch

Thunk!

followed by....

Ooouuuccchhh!

These were the sounds I heard coming from our spare bathroom a couple of days ago.

I know that bumps and bruises are a part of the territory of being a kid, especially a boy. The manner of HOW they get these bumps and bruises are sometimes crazy. Brody came out of the bathroom rubbing his forhead and sure enough there was a bruise quickly forming with a knot underneath.

From what I can gather, Brody went to pee--standing up of course like all "cool" boys do--and when he finished his business he bent over to pull up his underwear and shorts like always, but had a little incident happen. His head just happened to whack the edge of the porcelain throne on the way down. Owie!

It sounds unbelievable, right? It sounds almost as lame as an abuse victim saying they ran into the door. But seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Only a parent can truly comprehend all the odd messes and accidents kids can get themselves into.

Like Mom?

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. No one ever thinks that my kids look like me. Once in a great while I might hear that they look like me, but its pretty rare. I personally think it depends on the day, on the facial expression, or even on the mood. Somedays Ry looks like me, other days more like Trev. Somedays Brody looks like me, other days more like his daddy.

Trevor and I are both pepsi drinkers. Probably not, scratch that, definitely not the healthiest choice of beverages, but its sooo good. Brody calls it pep-ee juice. He doesn't get pepsi himself, except when he decides to steal it. When a sip (or two or three) is stolen, its more like gulps. Not just sips. One day I even caught him with my camera taking mommy's pep-ee juice. He is never ashamed of stealing it. Nor is he afraid of being caught. He just smiles a big sweet smile and tells us, "that good pep-ee juice." Not so long ago....okay like 20 something years ago.....I was caught stealing soda from my Grampa Mesa (my brother and I distinguished between our grandparents by the cities they lived in Grampa & Granma Mesa, Grampa & Granma St. Johns). When I see the pictures of me doing that I think okay, you are like your mom right there. Maybe they are more like me in personality? Anytime they are behaving naughty or some OCD-like tendencies, Trevor says they are definitely my kids. I don't know, it really changes daily.