1st Rehab Start

Well yesterday was Derrik's first time back in a game. For those of you who don't understand, he is making what is called a rehab start on what the Red's call their extended spring training team. All teams have this and it's for the players who didn't make a team out of spring training. It is a convenient place for guys coming out of rehab to get some games in under their belt because the teams are in Arizona at the same facility.

The most important thing about yesterday was that Derrik didn't hurt while pitching and still isn't hurting the day after :) We are beyond thankful for this!!! Derrik only gave up one walk (which was the first batter.. we'll just give that one up to nerves since he hasn't been in a game in like eleven months), he got a ton of ground balls (which he's suppose to get), and overall did just what we hoped would happen. The infielders and outfielders were a mess and were literally letting balls roll through their legs getting players on base, but as one of the Reds coordinators sitting next to me put it "We'd rather see this because it's getting him some work on the mound instead of him just pitching a couple pitches and getting out of the inning". His velocity was down from what it was when he was 100% before this injury, but after talking to a couple trainers he has been reassured this is expected and will come back in the next couple months.

I feel very comfortable at this point saying Derrik is healthy and just needs to work on becoming the amazing pitchers we all know he can be! He said it felt very weird being on the mound with a team behind him, guys on base, and taking signs trying to deal with these guys on base. I think this shook him up a little since this has always come with such ease to him. I know that within a couple game this part of the game will come right back to him, and I think he gets that now too!

At this point Derrik will continue to play in these games, he will continue to develop himself as a well respected pitcher once again, and will wait on his call to go play with a team again. I won't be on here updating every game... I think it would make my husband go crazy!!! For now we need lots of prayers that this part of the rehab goes smooth, and that Derrik has patience to give it the time it needs. I think this might be the most fustrating part for him because he wants back on the mound TODAY to work on it, but need to give his arm rest.

Not to much longer and we'll be out of here!!! Woohoo!!!

Who ate all the birthday cake?!

Birthday Cake

For Derrik's birthday we had a cake, and I wasn't really sure what Ryder would think of it. He really hasn't been a huge fan in the past when we have given it to him. I gave him a huge piece thinking he wouldn't eat it, and it was less left in the pan to taunt me in the days to come. He loved it though and chowed it down!!! He then proceeded to ask for "more, more".

Here are some goof ball faces from my phone that he was making while he was eating the cake:

P.S. - Since my vent post about how out of control Ryder was... he has been a saint! I hesitated to write it because it seems to always backfire, but it's been going on for three days. AND he sat in his highchair playing with play dough, watching the phillies, and hanging out with us for THREE hours yesterday!!!

Happy Birthday

Ryder and I are wishing our Da-Da are VERY VERY Happy 25th Birthday!!!

We Love You Babe!!!

A quick picture I snapped when we stopped by today to watch Derrik's last sim game :)

What We've Been Up To

We have been trying to keep busy out here in Arizona. This final countdown to the end of rehab is grueling. It feels like it is dragging on, and we're trying our best to keep going on with day-to-day life while knowing a move is somehow,someway in our near future.

This little man manages to fill up a lot of that time :)

How cute is this baseball shirt his Mimi and Papa got him?!

On Sunday I drug Derrik out to the park because Ryder and I can't stand being in the house come the weekend. Sundays are Derrik's only day off and his day he wants to sit at home and relax. Ryder and I on the other hand look at them as his only day we have him to go do anything with. We try hard to make a compromise somewhere in the middle :) Anyhow... on our way to the park we had to walk through Main Street and noticed a cycling race was going on. We found out it was going on all day and spent quite a bit of time watching it. Ryder absolutely loved it as he does all things that involve action.

The boys watching the start of the race.

Ryder had sat in his stroller for quite a while.

When he started fussing to get out he immediately went and sat just like his Daddy... too cute!

Watching the bikers as they go by...
And of course checking out the jets!

These days it's hard to find something new to entertain Ryder. I sometimes think moving all the time is a blessing in disguise because it gives Ryder a whole new house to find activities to do. Someting as simple as a new cabinet to empty and crawl in can entertain him for hours! The other day we filled the sink up with some water, and it was totally worth wiping up a wet floor for almost an hour to myself to get stuff done around the house.

Yesterday Daddy came home with a present for Ryder! I thought it was so sweet that Derrik thought to do this for Ryder, and of course Ryder was thrilled!!!

Ryder's new glove!

Daddy showing him his new gift

And of course the first thing he does is pretend to pitch...

Like father... Like son!

Baseball Update

April 22nd (tomorrow): Derrik throws his last simulated game - 2 innings

April 26th (Monday): 1st game - 1 innings

April 29th (Thursday): Light throwing

April 1st (Saturday): 2nd game - 1 inning

That is all we know as far as the baseball side of things is concerned. Derrik continues to feel great and after the 1st it's just a waiting game.

Moving Update

We decided in order to do this move in a way that wasn't financial through the roof we needed to make decisions now. We didn't have answers from the Reds so we just had to use our best judgement. Next week a family friend, who we are so thankful for, will be flying out here to drive our car back to Cape Cod with our three pets. The car and pets will spend the rest of the season in The Cape so we can reduce our "baggage" we have to deal with throughout the season.

We have bought a ticket for Ryder and I to fly to Cape Cod on May 4th. We feel Derrik will not leave any earlier then this, but were nervous to buy anything later because anything is possible at this point. We will camp out there and visit with family until we get word from Derrik that he knows when and where he will be playing. There was a ticket for $54.00 to North Carolina (the AA team where Derrik left for surgery) that we couldn't pass up on May 25th. We are hoping Derrik will be assigned to the AA team and hopefully be there by this date. We took the risk and bought the ticket. We will make adjustments if we need to of course.

That is it for now... I'll keep ya updated!!!

Not So Picture Perfect

Blogging is a weird place for me. It began as way for close family to be able to see pictures of Ryder while we were far from home. It later became an awesome way for me to document Ryder's life for our future since i'd be broke if I printed off all the picture we take of him! I wanted it to be a source of journaling almost for me to put down the good, the bad, and the ugly. I notice though when we are having a rough day though i'll want to blog, but then hesitate because I don't want our friends, family, and bloggers judging me on our bad days. I have come to realize maybe I try to paint things a little too "picture perfect".

I read lots of blogs by people I do not know, but have children around Ryder's age. Most of them are younger moms like myself and are sort of like a group of girlfriends I can compare stories with. However, I feel like all of these mom's have children that are always perfect, eat all their veggies, never cry, play perfectly, never get their clothes dirty, don't even know what a tantrum is, always sleep through the night, don't hit, don't get cranky, never throw their food, behave in restaurants, and are geniuses! I feel as though we are the only ones struggling through anything with our almost twenty month old toddler who has hit his terrible-two's a little early.

I then had to question myself. If reader's of our blog aren't around (which no one is since we are in the middle of no where by ourselves through this awful rehab!) do I maybe paint that same picture of our family? Do I lead people to believe we always have smiles on our faces, that we play in fountains, color pictures with chalk, kick balls, read books, and go on fun adventures? Do I lead people to believe we always have our act together? I think I might in some sense.

I think part of us does it because we like to remember the good and forget the bad. I know I sure do! I hardly remember what it's like to be up all night with Ryder when he was an infant. I think to myself how bad was it really? All I can remember is how little he was, how cute he was, how sweet he smelled. I don't remember the bad. It's an amazing thing how we can do that!

Well... just for future reference when (or if...because right now it's so far from our minds it's crazy) we decide to have other children, I want to remember that Ryder was just like he is now and that is passes (it does right?!).

Ryder right now is being a terror... terrible two's? Someone told me they go from about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2. Well he will hit twenty months on Sunday, and I think we can consider ourselves well into this phase. Ryder right now requires constant attention, is throwing awful tantrums, hates being at home, isn't sleeping that great, throws pretty much everything, and loves to hit. We have good spans and we have bad, but it feels like the bad last forever. If we keep him busy with constant entertainment, walks in his stroller, trips to the park, rides in the car, and anything else we can think of it's all great. If we stop this for even a second to think about taking a phone call, relax, check e-mail... forget it! All hell breaks lose. Needless to say we are e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d!!!

We have tried spankings, time-outs, ignoring him, giving him what he wants. We basically have tried everything and honestly none of them really make him happy. We are writing it off as a "stage" that we will hopefully pass with all the change that is about to come up in our lives.

So there ya have it... it's not so picture-perfect. We love our little man with all our hearts and still want to love and kiss on him even when he's being not-so-nice. After this post I will go back to making everyone think he's the happiest boy in the world, but just needed to vent for one post... promise to get back to the happy picture posts pronto!!!

Anticipation

I think that is the perfect word for what is going on around this house! With Derrik's rehab coming to a close we are trying to make arrangement for this big next step in our life. It feels like it is all we talk about. We have come up with so many scenarios for what we can and might do, but don't really know anything.


What we know:

-Derrik is feeling great! He feels slight pain every once in a while, but it's like one out of twenty pitches. Right now it's basically about getting ready to play at the level he was playing at before.

-Derrik has three simulated games on Friday, Tuesday, and Saturday. (We think we know this, BUT they also change things. This is the schedule as of right now).

-Derrik will throw in his first extended Spring Training game April 27th.

-The pitching coordinator for the Reds told us to be ready to go anywhere after May 1st.

- The BMW will go back to Cape Cod from Arizona so we have one car to worry about in case we move a lot in the few months to come.

- Our two cats will go back to Cape Cod for the duration of the season. They are a lot to travel with and my grandparents will be staying in our apartment over the summer while we aren't there.

- Plane tickets to Boston and Raleigh are SUPER cheap right now.

What we are questioning:

- After May 1st? Like May 2nd? Or like May 30th? Thanks for the info!

- Where will we being going? Will we go back to AA Carolina? Will we get sent down to High A Lynchburg to see how he does? Will they think he's ready for AAA Louisville and just send him there (wishful thinking)?

- Do we pay a little more and ship a car back home to Cape Cod so we don't put miles on it, or do we have a family friend drive it for us because it's cheaper?

- Do the cats go in the BMW with the family friend (if she's willing), or do they go with us until my family can come get them when they visit?

- Do Ryder and I fly back to Cape Cod early in the month so Derrik can leave at a moments notice if they tell him one day before he has to leave? Do we wait it out and hope tickets are still cheap when we find out where we are going?

I am sure there are SOOO many more questions we keep asking ourselves. It is literally making us crazy. We are trying to enjoy these last couple weeks. These are our last couple weeks where Derrik will be home at night and not traveling on the road every other five days. These are our last couple of weeks in a nicely furnished house and not a sparcely furnished apartment. We are trying so so hard to enjoy it, but i'll tell ya what.... anticipation really gets the best of you sometimes!!!

I will do my best to keep everyone updated. It is so hard to explain to anyone what is going on because, honestly, we don't know as you can tell. Only time will tell...

Charli Lyn Way DeHaven

Today one of my best friend, Natalie, had her second baby girl. After a quick three hour labor, Charli Lyn Way DeHaven was born at 9:29 am weighing 6lb 12oz and 19.5 inches long. Mommy and baby are doing great. Big sister, Finley, is already in love with her new little sister. Most importantly though, Matt made it down last night just in time to be here for Charli's birth. I am so happy for the whole DeHaven family that they get this time together. I am also thrilled with technology these days, and that I already have a bunch of pictures of Charli. I wish I could go visit them in the hospital so bad!

Congrats Matt, Natalie, and Finley

A Beautiful Morning for Some Art Work...

You might notice almost all of our pictures are taken out on our patio area lately. The owners of the house just purchased the house back in July and had yet to furnish their patio area. It was a huge selling point to me when we decided to rent the house because it's like a huge play pen for Ryder. Although mid-day is hot out there, our mornings and early evenings are gorgeous! Today we colored with chalk, the other day it was the pool, we play basketball out there, push cars, and sometime just walk around in circles. I work right inside in the kitchen and can leave a window cracked to hear Ryder. It is such a great esacape for him! We are trying to soak in all our "caged-in" outside time we can while we are still here. I am going to miss that patio more I can imagine I'm sure!

Please Tell Me WHY?!?!

Why is it that some day's my son only wants to do things he shouldn't?

Why does he want to climb onto the stools? Sit on the counter? Crawl onto the kitchen table? Stand on the coffee table?

Why do I feel like a bad mom because i'm constantly telling him no and putting him in timeout?

I try very hard to let him bend the rules since we are stuck in the house all the time. I let him play with kitchen utensils (nothing sharp of course), pull the tissues out of the box, play with the remotes, but REALLY? Do we have to make this place look like a jungle gym?!?!

The little man just went down for a nap. I asked him to please take a long nap. I told him I loved him very very much, but PLEASE take a long nap!!!

Sunday Funday

Now that Spring Training is over, Derrik gets Sunday's off again. It's not the whole weekend, but we'll take it since we don't want too much time off because we want the heck outta here soon!

We didn't have much planned today except wanting to spend the day together and, of course, watching golf. We started the morning off with some cinnamon rolls for breakfast which were delicious! We then played around with Ryder for a little bit. It's not too often that we both put everything aside and just completely give 100% of our attention to Ryder when at home. While in the living room he kept acting like he wanted to jump. We taught him what the word was and asked him to keep doing it over and over.

Video of Ryder jumping

I then suggested that Ryder really needed a haircut so we made a trip to Wal-Mart for some clippers. Derrik had tried the haircut thing out before, but it was with a beard trimmer that he uses on his face. We figured since he seemed to do a good job last time that we'd invest in the real thing. Once we got home we all settled in for a nap. I'm not a great napper because when I do I don't want to get up, but on Sundays I usually give in and enjoy the extra sleep time with my hubby. It's our way of "sleeping in" since Ryder doesn't care what day of the week it is and is always up early.Once we got up golf was on so the boys spent a lot of time in front of the t.v.

"Chips and golf... It doesn't get any better then this!!!" "Hey look what I realized my tongue can do now!"
Once the golf ended we decided it was time for the haircut

The trick to a successful haircut is definitely the lollipop!

Notice the tear by his eye :(

It was HOT out today! Any small dreams we had of even maybe living out in Arizona on our own will are slowly but surely diminishing. We have fallen in love with the community we live in, but it's only April and it's already HOT! I mean I grew up in Florida and dealt with some serious heat, but it is crazy out here. So a sweaty baby and a family covered in hair only meant one thing... get the hose out and fill up Ryder's little pool with water.

"What a great idea!"

Ryder went to sit next to dad and burnt his little tush on the pavers

This is the look Ryder gave Derrik after he let out the loudest fart! After this picture, Ryder proceeded to get up and go look behind Derrik to see what made the noise!!!

Trying to convince Ryder to actually get in the pool And that was enough of that for him....

The water was pretty chilly! I would know that because when I had my back turned rinsing the hair off Ryder's highchair Derrik threw a cup of water at me. I then thought i'd get him back, but ended up in the pool myself and with a cup of water poured over my head.

Tomorrow is Monday which means back to the grind of daily life. It's ok though because every Monday means another week further into Derrik's rehab. His first live BP is Tuesday and first simulated game is Saturday!!!

Thankful

Today we are thankful that Derrik's grandparents both seem to be well on their way to recovery. I opted not to put anything on here recently involving their health because it was kind of hard to follow. I was getting most of the info second hand from Derrik and really only understood the basics.

Derrik grandpa, Papa, has been home from his stay in the hospital and it seems like his heart is going to keep hanging in there :) We are forever thankful for this!!!

Nini has made it through her three rounds of chemo and just yesterday had her surgery to remove the rest of her cancer. She responded great to the chemo, and, from what Derrik says, the doctors seem to think they got all the cancer. I am sure there is more testing and check-ups to be done, and I think Derrik said even one more round of chemo to make sure it is completely gone! Derrik said he talked to Nini today from the hospital and that she sounded good. In some pain as to be expected, but we are so glad the surgery is over with.

I am sure this road to recovery is far from over, but we are glad the biggest hurdles seem to be over with!

And now.... pictures of Ryder...

I think it's time for Ryder to start getting his own protein shake on the way home from the gym because this Momma doesn't get much of it anymore!

What a Mom lets slide...

for a few minutes of peace & quiet

And for those of you who look at the blog only to see pictures of Ryder....

Blowing some kisses your way...

It's Not Good-Bye... It's See Ya Later...

Just as I figured it would... Spring Training flew by! All the anticipation for months of our friends coming to town and it finally happened, we loved it, and it's over. They have all packed up their rental houses, shipped their cars, flown to their destination, and starting making a new home somewhere else. We of course are still here. We soaked in a few great days of it being just "us" again. We caught up on all of our shows on the DVR. We got to cook some dinners at home. We got to enjoy some amazing family time. BUT now the reality is sinking in that they are gone...

I am missing them so much already... our friends.

I am missing impromptu nights in the Denove's backyard. Us girls sitting by the fire while the boys play putt-putt in their cool putting course in their backyard. Me worrying the whole time that I don't have a sweatshirt for Ryder because it was warm before we somehow ended up in their backyard, and hoping an awful rash doesn't appear because Ryder's diaper is way over-due for a change and we don't have a spare. I miss just letting it all go to sit and talk with my girlfriend a little bit longer, watching the look of excitement on Ryder's face as the guys whip balls past him over and over again, and watching the guys set up impossible goals to get the ball in the hole and not ever getting one all night.

I miss walking up to the grocery store and seeing a familiar face in the check-out line or getting a DVD from the kiosk.

I miss getting a text "meet you at the park (or coffee shop) in ten minutes" and throwing Ryder and I together as quick as possible for a half hour or so of conversation with a friend.

I miss laying our on our back patio while Ryder naps and actually having someone to talk to. Chloe just isn't a great conversationalist.

I miss people randomly stoppping by at our house just to hang out and stopping any plans I had because I knew I had to soak up my time with them because this time would come to an end too soon.

I miss the "we're homeless" texts from friends and letting them crash here for over a week and loving every second of it!

I miss the random phone call for a spur-of-the-moment trip to California with my girlfriends. Oh the laughter and good times we had!

I miss the "game night tonight after Ryder goes to bed" texts from our friends. That they are comfortable enough to always come over in the pj's and make themselves at home at our house. Oh we had some fun night of Settlers. For anyone who has never played that game.... you should!

I miss people coming into our house and kissing and loving on Ryder. I love to see the love these people have come to have for our son. They are his family when we are away from our own and they do a damn good job of filling the void!

I miss the "where will they be this season" conversations with my girlfriends. How many groups of girlfriends sit around talking about baseball stats? Honestly sometimes we think we should be running the Reds system! AND honestly.... we should... they need a woman up there. We will never understand how they can tell you a mere 24 hours before you leave for the season where you are going. We have decided the man in charge is NOT married!

Our friends are gone though.... We are missing them. They are spread between AA North Carolina and AAA Louisville. They all have their first game of the season tonight and it's truly heart-breaking to not be there for it all. I love our home here, but wish I was making-do with a non-furnished apartment in baseball world right now. I wish I was missing Derrik because he was on the road. I wish I was making sure I had internet so I could listen to the game tonight. I wish I could be making plans with my girlfriends for our girl time while the guys are on the road. We wish them all the best of luck this season!

We are making do back here in Arizona. We are happy to be together. We are happy Derrik is getting closer each day to being game ready. We are fine :) We are just missing some things a little.

Derrik throws his final bull-pen on Saturday. He then has one live BP and one simulated game... then somewhere between April 23-24th, we believe, he should throw in his first extended spring training game. We are unsure of exactly what he has to do in these games to get back on a team, but it's coming sooner rather then later. We are praying for no set backs, but will deal with what we have to when the time comes. I am beyond excited to sit at that extended spring training game with Ryder and be Derrik's little cheering section. I am so excited to see my man do what he does best (besides love us that is!).

So it's not good-bye.... It's see ya later... because before we know it well crying saying good-bye to our Daddy when he leaves on his first road trip with the boys, and Ryder and I will be back with the girls... doing girl things.

Enjoying the Small Things

Blog reading has become quite a hobby of mine. I know it drives my husband insane that I read blogs about people I don't even know, but I just can't stop... I love it! I will constantly tell him stories that I have read from certain blogs throughout the day and refer to them like they are my friends. Most of the blogs I read are mothers (and one father) who have children around the same age as Ryder. Being so far away from any friends or family with kids it is honestly like my way of catching up with friends and comparing stories of our kids throughout the day to realize we aren't the only one with a crazy toddler on our hands.


My mom's friend recently e-mailed me with a link to a blog (KelleHampton.com) that she said I "had to read". I hesitate to read new blogs now-a-days because i've found a pretty amazing group of blogs to read and really don't need any more taking up my time during the course of a day. I went ahead and read it anyhow and fell in love! This blog has the most amazing writing and photography. It is simply about a mother who is "enjoying the small things" in her life. She is constantly reminding you that life isn't about the big things and if we learn to enjoy the smaller things in life you will be much happier. I have tried very hard to take on this attitude in our day to day life because if I keep waiting for the big things (rehab to be over, for my husband to make it to AAA or the big leagues, for a vacation, or finally being close to our family) I would be missing out on so much happiness.


So here are some of the small things i've been enjoying in my life:

1. That my husband finally had two whole days off! The spring training schedule is awful when it comes to family time. It has long days and no days off. We we're so happy to have our daddy home for two whole days to play with, nap with, cook with, and to make us smile.

2. That Ryder is loving daycare at the gym! His two daycare teachers know him by name and get big smiles on their faces when they see him waving to them through the glass window while we check in. He even runs away from me when I go to pick him up. I am so thankful for this time for him with other kids and for me to get some time to myself.

3. That I am constantly beating my best distance during my twenty minutes on the elliptical at the gym. My best distance before yesterday was 3.48 miles and yesterday, after a day of feeling kinda lousy, I upped my personal best to 3.98 miles!

4. Our new car! I never thought i'd love this car, but I do! It is so nice to drive and Ryder has so much more space.

5. Soccer games at sunset with my little man - Last night it was gorgeous out when Ryder and I got home from the gym. We had about an hour until Derrik got home so Ryder and I had an intense soccer game on our patio. I honestly broke a sweat! The look on his face when he would kick the ball was priceless.

6. That Slim Fast are back on the market - when they were recalled around December I was lost. I drank them every morning for breakfast since high school and was going crazy. Cereal makes me feel yucky and i'm too lazy to make anything else so it's the perfect breakfast for me.

7. That we have a DVR - nothing makes me happier then kisses from Ryder good-night, my hubby scooping ice cream, and cuddling up to watch our favorite shows. We finally had one of those nights last night for the first time in a while and it was amazing!


8. That Ryder found the letter "D". We have had the magnetic fridge alphabet letters since Christmas. We just leave them on the fridge, and Ryder plays with them on occasion. For some reason we have always play the letter "D". We always would say "D" say "Da" trying to get Ryder to say Daddy. Today the "D" was with the mess of letters on the fridge, and I asked him where it was. He picked it out instantly. I put it in another random spot and asked him later with my phone in my hand ready to video... and he got it!!!

9. That Wal-Mart finally put out the spring scented candles!

10. Blowing bubble with Ryder! He loves when they pop on his face

11. Watching my boys watch the new Cars movie they got for Easter

12. The reaction Ryder has when he and Daddy watch Mater's Tall Tales on the Disney website

Make sure to "enjoy the small things" in life :)

Easter 2010

What a Happy Easter....it didn't start out quite that way though. Go back a couple months to us signing our lease on our home. The owners said they already had tickets to visit April 3rd-4th, and we could leave our stuff in the house during that time but had to be out of the house. Thank God for our great friends! The Wood's and Heisey's let our cats camp out in their laundry room, and The Denove's let us and Chloe stay in their two extra bedrooms at their house. So that is what we had been up to since Friday, and this morning the minor league teams had a chartered flight at 8 a.m. to Cincinnati. That meant they all needed to be leaving their houses around 6 a.m. which left us with a 5 a.m. wake-up call to get out and pick up the cats. By 6:10 a.m. our car was loaded with our stuff from the weekend, I have two cats and the dog in the car, Derrik had basketball games to ref at 7:30 (he did eight games yesterday and six today... he's exhausted!), and I have no clue what to do with ourselves until the owners left the house. They said it would be around noon! That was almost six hours and NOTHING was open because it was Sunday and Easter. I thought we could blow some serious time with McDonald's breakfast and some time in the playground area, but the playground area was closed. Go figure! We are done eating in all of ten minutes and ended up rushing out when Ryder let out an deafening scream because the doors were locked to the play area. With pretty much no other options left we went to the park from about 7:10 until 9:30 when my phone rang... the owner! They decided to head out early! Thank the Lord!

We went home and I let Ryder open his Easter baskets that the Wood's had got him. He absolutley loved them, and they kept him perfectly entertained while I got to put everything away.

Loves the card that played music!

He played and danced to it all day :)

Thank you so so much Brit and Travis

As soon as Ryder went down for his nap this Momma got a shower and crashed as well. After chasing him around and trying to keep him entertained out of our house for forty-eight hours I was exhausted!

The Easter Bunny must have known we weren't home last night and came during nap time. Ryder was so excited to see even more toys!

Thank You Easter Bunny!

The Baskets
Thank you to our family for the cards!

Easter Egg Hunt... The Easter Bunny must have known Ryder needed a small area

Once we woke up from our nap we waited outside for Daddy to get home. We were so excited to see him since we pretty much missed him all day yesterday between his baseball and basketball schedule.

Once Daddy was home we got to check out our baskets the Easter Bunny left!!!

Ryder showing off his bubbles...

He also got some sidewalk chalk, a Bearenstein Bears DVD, a Lightning McQueen car, a new sippy cup, M&M's, and some peeps

He took one bite of every peep and then handed it to me.... I just hated that!

My Two Loves :)

After our baskets it was time for our Eater Egg Hunt. I really wasn't sure how this would go over since he didn't really have anyone to follow after. I made Derrik bring his basket in too to kind of show him the way.

He didn't get the basket part and just started eating the jelly beans

Daddy showing him what to do

(I love the things Derrik will do for Ryder... it's so sweet)

Getting the hang of this basket thing

My boys finding the last one....

Admiring their basket full of eggs!

They did a good job!

Our Little Easter Bunny

A picture with my little man :)

Look who came around.... He decided to be in the Easter spirit today and wear the ears :)

And look who loved it.... Derrik would do anything for him!

My boys new cars... Yes Derrik got one. They love playing together!

He played with these cars over this chalk forever after we were done... I think I might do an Eater basket every day to keep him entertained :)

We had a great Easter dinner, Ryder is now bathed and in bed, Derrik is snoring on the couch next to me, and I'm relaxing. It is very nice to be settled back in at home. I hope everyone had a great Easter today!