I Spoke Too Soon!

Just after I said that Ryder wasn't making any attempts to crawl he decides to spend the next 24 hours rocking back and forth on his knees. I have a feeling we are days... maybe a week... away from crawling!!! Ahh!!! It's time to baby proof... this little man is getting into everything already!

The video isn't great... i'll get a better one soon :)

8 Months.. Is he even still a baby?!

Some months I feel like there are only a few subtle changes in how Ryder is progressing, but this month I feel like we aren't even dealing with the same baby!!! Everything about him has changed. Where do I start...

• We somehow managed to grow a TON of hair! We must brush it after a bath or else it is absolutely out of control!!!

Ryder showing Daddy his hair can flip up better!

• Speaking of the bath... bath time... Love It!...Ryder is like a fish. I swear he's going to be swimming by the end of the summer! We bought him a new bath seat and he will spend a good half hour just playing away in there (which mommy thoroughly appreciates!)

• Ryder absolutely LOVES his big boy car seat. It is so nice to be able to see him and watch his face light up in my rear view mirror to Bob the Builder or the Backyardigans. We have put him back in the infant carrier if it's bed time and we're going out to dinner and he looks like a giant in it
• Food.. what an experiment! We have been trying everything and anything we can thing of. Ryder just seems so bored with his baby jar food so we've been trying all sorts of fruits and veggies. I'm still working on the meat. We've been sick so we are just trying to get down whatever we can at the moment. He absolutely loves to eat Cheerios, Graduates yogurt melts, grapes, and bananas. Here is Ryder down below with his banana. These nets are great! The banana pushes through and eliminates any chances of choking.
• Sickness- This month we dealt (are still dealing with) Ryder first ear ache and by far his worse cold yet. I came down with it a little over a week ago and then Ryder got it right after. I don't know if it's worse to be sick with a baby or have a sick baby... both are just downright awful! After a week of just being an extremely sick and unhappy baby we took Ryder to the doctor. He had an ear infection and is on his third day of antibiotics. He's down for a nap at the moment, but seemed so much better this morning! Hopefully it stays that way... if his nose doesn't stop running soon it might fall off! Here is a picture of Ryder on his way to the doctors office... so sick :(
• Crawling?! - Ryder is not yet crawling by any means. He's not really suppose to be yet, but somehow we keep getting from point A to point B. I put him in one spot and within a few minutes he is somewhere else. Between sitting, pulling, falling, and squirming Ryder has become a very active baby. I am not ready for crawling and am thoroughly enjoying this sitting stage! Ryder can entertain himself for what feels like forever in front of his basket of toys. Just yesterday I left Ryder in his boppy pillow with his blanket over him and a pacifier in watching the Backyardigans while I took a shower. Five minutes later when I got out I found him like this.... with his Graduates treats he got out of the diaper bag. I'm in for it I just know it!

Ryder playing with his basket of toys

Ryder has been great at the baseball games so far. He has been taking a nap from about the 3rd-7th inning and then always seems to wake up when it's time for his Daddy to pitch. There is a really nice family room for us to sit in while we wait for the guys after the game. It has a t.v., recliners, and even a changing table! I've been putting Ryder p.j.'s on in there after the game and he goes right to sleep when we get home. I'm so glad he's such a flexible baby so I can still enjoy my time at the baseball field and kind of get some sleep. We are still working on the whole sleeping in thing!

Ahh... Baseball

Well I promised myself I wouldn't let this become an "baseball update" blog because I know it would drive Derrik crazy for me to update his every move on the field for everyone to read about, but we brought out my new camera I got for Christmas the other night and got some pretty good pictures of Derrik so I figured i'd give a quick update. First off... for anyone looking to keep up with Derrik's baseball his team website is GoMudcats.com. I have a link for it on the right hand side of the website. Derrik's start to the season had been going pretty well. They have no roles in the bull pen as of yet, and have really been pushing to get Derrik out there for over one inning. Derrik struggles with this because his second inning never seems to go as simple as the first, but he's had a great attitude towards it and did awesome the other night in his second inning! I was SO proud of him :)

Ryder saying hi to Daddy before the game

Derrik up on the score board

True Love

Homer and Chloe sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G... It's official folks... Homer and Chloe are in love! It is so adorable... they are just like any other couple... The play all morning, get into a few fights throughout the day, but in the end wind up cuddling for naps on the couch. In the morning Chloe is usually up before Homer (thanks to her little brother Ryder), and she sits at Homer's door waiting for him to come out and play. All I have to say is good thing Chloe is fixed or else we'd have even more little ones running around here in no time!

Puppy Love

And some of our other furry friends....

Hannah Banana

Turbo making herself comfortable on Ryder's blankets

Derrik's Birthday

Derrik had a day game for his birthday so we got to do dinner, presents, and cake for the first time in years since we weren't at the baseball field. We had a great dinner at P.F. Chang's and then came home to eat cake!

Happy 24th Birthday Babe!

Not our best photo ever, but it's the only one we have that day :)

Derrik got his new Lob Wedge golf club that he's been asking for

Grammy, Auntie Ally, and Auntie Hailey Came for a Visit

We were so lucky to have them visit for about a week! The girls were on spring break so they decided to make the drive down. We had a great time doing what we do best... Shopping! We went to Chuck E Cheese one day and also got to go to the opening games for the season. I love when the girls in my famiy visit :)

Auntie Ally finally got her hands on her little man!

Ryder showing his Aunties how high he can swing!!!
Ryder and Auntie Hailey

Enjoying a cold day at the ball field

Loving on my little sister

The girls with Muddy the Mudcat

Ryder with his Grammy

Ryder on the Bob the Builder ride at Chuck E Cheese

Happy Birthday Hunny (Da-Da)!!!

I want to wish Derrik a very Happy 24th Birthday! We have a day game today which means we can actually celebrate his birthday tonight!!!

We Love You Babe!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Ryder LOVES Homer!

Ryder absolutely LOVES our roommates dogs Homer. I'm not sure how we'll separate them when moving day ever comes... they are best buds :)

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...

So they say, but my heart is fond enough already and I want my husband home already!!! It feels like it has been an eternity since he's been home. They have three more games to go and then they are on their way back home to us!! This was their longest trip away (one more in early August, but we're not thinking about that right now!) and i'm so thankful it is almost over with!

Hurry Home Hunny! Please... Ryder misses his Daddy!

Derrik's New Mudcats Picture

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter! Ours was unfortunately spent away from family, and i've been sick since yesterday. We made the best of it. The Easter Bunny brought Ryder a basket, and Grammy sent him one. The girls and I colored some eggs today while listening to the boys game.

Ryder checking out what the Easter Bunny brought him

The basket was his favorite toy
Opening his present from Grammy, Grandpa, Auntie Ally, and Auntie Hailey

Thanks Guys :)

My eggs I decorated

Trip to see the Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny came over to say hello when we got there
Ryder LOVED him!

These lasted about two second before they became a snack

Swing Time

Ryder and I decided to go check out the little playground across the street from our apartment building... it will definetely be a new place to go to when we need some frest air and it's been a long day at home! Enjoy the pictures :)

Opening Night!

Tonight is opening night for the Carolina Mudcats! Us wives are all in the living room listening to the game and keeping up on the computers. Anyone interested in listening or watching the play-by-play just go to milb.com and click AA and look for Carolina.

Go Mudcats!

The "Big Boy" Seat

We did it! We made the move to the "Big Boy" seat! Ryder is in heaven. Due to my crashing of the SUV before our big trip down to Florida we have had our car for the last month and a half. Thanks to a family friend who offered to drive our car down to N.C. we now have our SUV back. This means Ryder has a t.v. to watch his new movies on and air conditioning above his head. It was so awful being in Florida and having only a.c. in the front of the car. It felt like it took forever for it to cool the little man off. He is loving sitting in his new car seat, all cooled off, watching his movies :)

Home Sweet Home.. Sort Of...

What a long few days we have had! Lots of pictures of our craziness so i'll start from the beginning.

We had to return a t.v. to Walmart the day before we left that we had been "borrowing" throughout spring training. While we were there we decided to check out some big boy carseats for Ryder. We for some reason thought we would have extra room because friends had thankfully offered to take quite a bit of our stuff. Luckily I talked Derrik out of buying it until we got up here to North Carolina because our car was absolutely packed, and we once again had to bum more space in another friends car right before we left for the trip!

Ryder checking out the carseats... this is the one we have purchased since we've been up here.

Ryder trying the cart out for the 1st time... did great!
Ryder making silly faces in the mirror the night before we left

We were scheduled to depart from Sarasota around 1pm on Saturday after the boys scrimmage game was over. We were all packed up and ready to meet Derrik at the field until I realized we were missing a cat. The house we were staying in was old. It had lots of "flaws" I guess we can call them. Well there was a hole in one of the cabinets that lead back underneath them. After Derrik drove back to the house and we searched everywhere he managed to see a single one of Hannah's whiskers hiding in this hole in the cabinet. After lots of serious attempts... meat on a string, pulling the dishwasher out as far as we thought it would go without pulling any hoses off... we had to call a handyman. $120 dollars later for a guy to put two minutes worth of work in we had our cat and were on the road... not very happy, but at least we had our kitty! We got on the road about three hours behind schedule and after Ryder had just woken up from a long nap. Go figure... The trip went relatively smooth. Derrik and I bought Ryder some new toys which kept him occupied until about 6:30 which is his usually time for dinner and then bed. We stopped at a McDonalds to feed him and let him get out of his carseat for a little bit. We got back on the road pretty quickly and Ryder slept the rest of the way. Our animals were SUCH a pain the whole way. They were all over the place and only wanted to be under the petals to the car or sleeping on Ryder... so fustrating! We made it safe and sound anyhow... Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Turbo and Hannah enjoying the ride

Hannah driving on the dashboard
Chloe with her Daddy

Luckily when we got in around 3a.m. we got the car unloaded fed Ryder a bottle and he slept until 8a.m. so we got a few hours of sleep under our belt before a longgggg day! Derrik had Sunday off completely which was nice. We woke to a gorgeous day and went out to find out what our new town had to offer and realized it was everything within about five minutes!!!! Ahh how i'm loving having a Target within a couple miles. We also have a Walmart we can walk to and a Super Walmart down the road. Lots of shopping and lots of food. We also heard the mall isn't too far. I think we'll be venturing there this weekend! Another important thing to do the first day was getting Homer aquainted with his new girlfriends... It's going great... Homer loves to chase them around, and I think it's good for our animals to get some exercise. They are SO lazy! Now we are just waiting for Abby (Brittany's dog) to get here. Brittany who was our third roommate in Sarasota is living in the apartment right above us which is great... I love having them aroudn to hang out with :)

Chloe and Homer checking each other out

I finally decided to try out the cheerios! Ryder didn't know what ot think at first and still doesn't. Were getting the hang out of it though

The 1st Cheerio

Last night I finally got to see the baseball field!!! The guys had a little meet 'n greet type thing with the sponsors and the booster club. It was a great event and nice to finally see the place.

The water tower right by the field... MudCats

On our way out Derrik had to use the restroom so we stopped by the locker room. The boys wanted to show us the family room they have for immediate family to wait for them after the game. It had quite a few couches in it and a changing table. It will be great for us for the "too hot" or "too cold" days when Ryder is just over baseball. We also snuck into the locker room :)

Ryder and Daddy in his locker

Family pic by the water tower

Derrik left this morning at 9am for two back to back 5-series games. Along with the travel days they will be gone for a total of 11 1/2 days! I'm glad were getting one of the big ones out of the way right away, but still am so sad to see him go. Us girls will find lots of ways to keep ourselves busy. With the animals, Ryder, household chores, and work it's not hard to do but I still miss him like crazy. I'll update with some picture of the place soon.

Also... A lot of people have asked for our address. We always use the one for the field in case we got moved for baseball they could still get it to us. Here you go folks:

Carolina Mudcats

Attn: Derrik Lutz

1501 Highway 39

Zebulon, North Carolina 27597