SNOW DAY: Christmas Cookie and Snowballs

What a great day! My sisters had no school today because of the approaching snow storm so we took the opportunity to bake some Christmas cookies for our friends are Larry's P.X. We spent all day making cookies and listening to Christmas music. Later in the day we drove into town to see everyone at Larry's and give them their cookies. During this time it started snowing like crazy!!! We went to the girls hair appointment and then grabbed some pizza. The drive home was crazy... it's like a winter wonder land out there! It took us probably three times longer to get home then usual, but the view was awesome. As soon as we got home I asked my mom if she'd be the mom and let me be the kid again. Ryder was in desperate need of a new diaper, some cereal for dinner, and some pj's. Of course being the amazing mother she is she took care of Ryder for me and I headed out with the girls. We had so much fun in the snow!!! We made a snowman... which looked amazing until it fell over. We really need our brother up here to help us out! Now we're keeping warm by the fire until the rest of the storm passes... enjoy the pictures from our day.

Ally and I making cookies

Hailey cutting the dough... like the cat on the counter... I hope everyone enjoyed those cookies lol

Ally like usual couldn't do it without making a huge mess!

Thank God we have an automatic mop.... gotta love the flour all over his face!

Ryder pooped out like usual after the festivities

My sisters and I playing in the snow with Molly

Molly and I getting along for once...

Looks like we might have a white Christmas after all....

Come On Playoffs....

Ryder is all ready for the big game tonight! He loves his new jersey his Aunt Gina got for him. On a night like tonight with the game being so late Ryder would usually crash in his Eagles PJs, but Daddy says there bad luck (Sorry Nicole... they lost whenever he wore them so he can wear them on non-game days now). So my sweet little baby will be sound asleep for the game tonight in his Eagles jersey thanks to his superstitious daddy.

Ryder and Daddy before the game last Sunday... by the way we love the new Bumbo seat!

Ryder hanging out with the girls this afternoon
Mommy and Ryder playing around

Napping before the big game! (He's become the center piece at the dinner table lately)

Family picture at dinner last night

Picture I found on my mom's camera when we saw Santa... Love It!

Happy Man

Christmas Trees and Santa Claus

Friday night Auntie Hailey, Auntie Ally, Grammy, Ryder, and I headed into downtown Chatham for the annual tree lighting ceremony. Everyone brings a handmade ornament to hang on the tree, drinks hot chocolate, and then waits for the tree to be lit. It was a lot of fun and Ryder handled the cold great!

Auntie Hailey hanging her ornament

Auntie Ally hanging her ornament
The tree all lit up!

Ryder in his reindeer outfit staying warm

Ryder and I all snuggled up

Saturday morning we all got up early to go have breakfast with Santa. We had to actually wake up Ryder to go (go figure he sleeps in the morning I choose to get up early!). While we were eating breakfast we got to see Santa arrive on the firetruck with the sirens going. Ryder loved Santa and smiled the whole time on his lap.

Ryder with Santa

My little man and I

The Girls and Ryder

Ryder trying to suck his thumb (he doesn't get that it can't happen with his pacifier in)

Our Christmas Tree!

On Sunday, after our trip, I got our Christmas tree up! I love this time of year. For some reason it just makes home feel so much more cozy :)

Hannah loves hanging out on the Christmas tree skirt

Turbo hiding from the vaccum when I was cleaning up after putting the tree up.

Our Turkey Day Trip

Over the holiday weekend we took a trip to Pennsylvania to spend some time with Derrik's side of the family. We headed out Wednesday after breakfast with Uncle Ryan who had flown in the night before. Ryder did a great job in the car only getting out of his car seat at lunch... we found a Chili's of course... and for a quick dinner at McDonalds and to get gas. We hit quite a bit of traffic through New York of course, but the trip wasn't that bad.

We stayed at Me-Maw and Poppy's house which worked out great for us with Ryder. Since she has little boys still she had everything we could possibly need for our little man. We had a bassinet for our room, a pack 'n play up stairs, a boppy pillow, baby bath tub, and a bouncy seat with lights and music that Ryder absolutely loved! It was so nice to have all of that because it made Ryder comfortable and feel like he was at home. He slept through the night two of the three nights we were there. He woke up once the third night and ended up in bed with us around 5am with a cold. Ryder took his first cold like a champ and smiled through it all. He was awfully pitiful with that stuffy nose, but did well.

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Me-Maw's side of the family. We stuffed ourselves with an amazing meal that Me-Maw, Grammy, and Aunt Cindy prepared for us. Thanks Guys :)

After our dinner we headed over to meet up with Papi's side of the family. Our intentions were to head to Maggie's house to say hello and then head to Aunt Gina's to watch the football game, but Ryder had different plans. I think after a long day of meeting new people he had just had enough. We tried calming him down with some cereal for dinner and putting his pj's on, but he just wasn't having it. We ended up having to head out early (and miss part of the Eagle's game which Daddy wasn't too happy about). Ryder had a really good nights sleep and woke up much happier the next day.

Ryder with Uncle Cole and Uncle Dalton on Thanksgiving Day

(Do you know how hard it is to get a 3 month old, 2 year old, and 5 year old to all look at a camera?!)

Ryder with his Papi on Thanksgiving Day

The next day we went over to NiNi and Papa's house to try to get them some time with Ryder once he had recovered from his busy day. Ryder was much happier and layed on the floor with Papi for a few hours smiling and hanging out.

Later in the day when we got back to Me-Maw's house Ryder's second cousin Kaydence was there! She is two weeks and four days younger then Ryder and so much smaller. It is amazing to me what a beefy little boy Ryder is. Also there was Aunt Sherri and Tom's parents to meet Ryder.

Ryder and Kaydence sleeping together

Later in the night we went to Candy Lane in Hershey Park to get into the Christmas spirit. We bundled all the kids up and headed in. There were Christmas lights everywhere and Christmas music playing. It was pretty cold, but a really good time. We got to go on some rides with Uncle Cole and Uncle Dalton, but unfortunately (kind of... it was pretty nice) Ryder slept through the whole thing. He would never even know he was there.

Under some of the lights at Candy Lane

Saturday we were trying to battle Ryder's cold. We got him some cold medicine which seemed to help. We went out and did some quick holiday shopping (since we have no shopping by us in the Cape) and let Me-Maw babysit Ryder for a little bit. After that we went to NiNi and Papa's for dinner and got to spend some time with some family. Ryder ate his dinner and fell asleep not too long after. We got on the road and made it home without a peep from the little man.

Ryder with his second cousin's Taylor and Noah

We had such a great trip and thank everyone for their hospitality!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't have long, but I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has lots to be thanksful for... as I know we do this year :)

Out trip went great! Long but successful. Ryder was such a great baby and hardly fussed at all. We left at 10:30 and got to Pennsylvania around 7:30. Around 11:30 we were settled down and ready for bed. Ryder went right down and slept until 8:30. Told you I was thankful today! LoL

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Love Always,
Derrik, Danielle, and Ryder

Uncle Ryan is Here!!!

The Little Man Turns 3 Months

Ryder's 3rd month has been so much fun with his cute little smile and giggles we get all the time! He has really started to show expression towards us, and it makes us smile every time. I love looking down at him and seeing him just smiling away.

Ryder's favorite part of the day is when we get home from the office and he can just stretch out at home. We turn his t.v. on above his changing table, get him stripped down to his diaper, and just let him hang out for a little while. He's a pretty big fan of getting lotion at this time too! He loves to squeal at the top of his lungs to show us how happy he is. During this time his Daddy and I will get into our p.j.'s and just hang out with Ryder in his room. We love to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with him as it plays on his mobile. Ryder absolutely loved his mobile that went with his crib bedding, but it broke. Daddy quickly jumped on the internet and found a Philly Phanatic one. It's pretty tacky and doesn't match anything in his room, but who cares because it keeps the boys happy!

Ryder has also started to do some tummy time. It doesn't last too long because he can't lift his head up yet, but the doctor said it is good for him. He is getting good at holding his head up when we are holding him though. I think he'll be there by the four month update.

We are really looking forward to Ryder's fourth month with all the holidays rapidly approaching. Ryder gets to see all four of his uncles in the next day!!! He needs that with all the woman he has in his life. They'll teach him to be tough!

The Stats: The little man doesn't go to the doctor this month, but I know he's still growing rapidly. When comparing with all the other little babies we know around his age he seems to be the biggest and the youngest... not sure if that's a good combo! The other day I weighed myself and then weighed myself with him and it was exactly 15 pounds more. So i'd venture to say he is about that weight... i'm sure it's not too accurate, but it shows how much he's growing.

What new happened: Ryder started his cerceal. He eats about twenty spoonfuls every night. It makes quite a mess, but he seems to love it. Another new thing is Ryder sleeping through the night. I think this started to happen because he has a really full belly at night, but he sleeps from around 7pm until 4ish every night. He eats then adn falls right back asleep. Sometimes he'll sleep a little later, but then doesn't want to go back down so i'd rather just get up at four.

Bottles: Ryder is still only drinking 5 ounces in his bottles. Sometimes he might need more, but other times he wants less so we just stick with that.

Diapers: Ryder is in size 2 diapers and slowly creeping up to the size 3.

Clothes: Ryder is growing out of his 6 months stuff really quick and all of his 9 month stuff fits. We have already put away boxes of clothes that don't fit anymore. It's so sad how quickly he went through them all.

That is about all for now. Ryder is waking up from his nap. We are heading to Pennsylvania for Turkey Day to enjoy some time with Daddy's side of the family. We hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Always,

The Lutz's

It's Snowing Outside

I woke Ryder up this morning and showed him the snow falling on the ground outside his window!!! It's not much... but hey it's snow! You can see it on the ground behind us. I've seen snow in the past years, but never the first snow. It is absolutely freezing outside. I'm not so sure we are going to survive the winter!!!!

A Weekend of 1st

Yesterday I asked Derrik if he could watch Ryder for the day so I could get out for a day of shopping. I haven't really had a day to myself to do whatever I wanted since i've had Ryder so I figured we'd give it a try. After Derrik cooked me his amazing breakfast of eggs, bacon, and breakfast potatoes I meet the girls and my mom to head up to the barn to watch Ally get a lesson. On the way up we picked up Auntie. We drove the hour to the barn and after her lesson went out for some shopping. Their isn't any shopping on The Cape so we have to take advantage of it when we're in the area. We went to Kohls first which I have learned to love because they have great baby clothes for cheap. After that we stopped at a store called Justice to get Hailey some clothes, and then we hit up Target. If anyone knows me well they know I have a serious obsession with this store! With it being an hour away it's not a good thing! The bill never comes up too cheap, but I still love going anyhow :)

We got home eight hours after I had left and figured Daddy and the baby would be a mess! I walked in the door to find Ryder happy as could be in the crib and his daddy folding laundry!!! I was so proud of both of them. I'm not sure if Derrik thinks he did a good or bad thing by doing so good. I was very thankful, but now he knows I trust him and that it will happen again.

Our next big first happened last night. Ryder slept through the night!!! He fell asleep at 7pm after having his cereal and a bottle like usual. We didn't hear from him again until 6:45 this morning. I fed him a bottle and at 7:15 Derrik's alarm clock went off for him to head to hockey. Once he got out of bed Ryder and I cuddled up and took a little nap until 8:45. After a good day of shoppping and a full nights sleep I feel like a new woman!

A New Man

Anyone who knows my dad knows that he is a very superstitious man! After a bad day today he decided it was time for some change to bring on some good luck.... What do ya think?!

Not Much Going On...

There isn't too much going on right now. Just working and hanging out. It's the calm before the storm i'm sure... the holidays always get crazy with two birthdays in the family, travel, and Christmas. I still need addresses for Christmas cards. Please e-mail me!!! Danielle.Lutz@fmps.com!!!!

Ryder sleeping at work in his pack n' play

Close up... so sweet :)
Mom! I'm awake! Come talk to me :)

Ryder was all smiles in his swing last night... until I took the camera out!

Addresses Please!

It's that time of year again to update my address book since it's almost time for Christmas cards! If you could get me yours it would be greatly appreciated. I have a lot of them, but if you have moved since our wedding I probably need it again. Baseball wives.... I need all of yours! And for you lucky people getting to spend the holidays in Puerto Rico playing baseball give me your address there if you have one.

Just leave it in my comments sections or if your more comfortable not posting it for the whole world to see (because we know so many people check my page!) e-mail it to me.... Danielle.Lutz@FMPS.com

Thanks!

Tummy Time

Trick-Or-Treat

It was a little cold on Halloween for Ryder to go trick-or-treating so we decided to skip the festivities and head home. I felt guilty all day because Ryder had outgrown his Halloween clothes (he's growing so fast I can't keep up... fully in 6 month clothes now!) and I felt like I wasn't up to par with my "mommy duties". I decided i'd give him a little treat for Halloween and finally get some solids in his belly. He loved it!!! He has now had some cereal (baby cereal... his aunties thought he was having fruit loops lol)for three nights now. He gobbles it down! I thought this would be awesome and cause him to sleep longer since he has it right before bed, but he just eats it all up and still wakes up... go figure!

Ryder trying out solids for the 1st time!

So full! (you can see his hair that is quickly growing in in this picture)Ryder was not in the mood for pictures on Halloween these are the best I have.. no smiles
Daddy trying to help me get some pictures...

The Little Monster being grumpy

No Derrik isn't in a Halloween costume (we all know he wouldn't want to go out for Halloween!)... he's actually taken hockey back up as a hobby. He played all the way through high school and then had to give it up for baseball. He's always told me how much he missed being on the ice so he decided to try it out again. He played this Sunday morning for the first time and got two goals with one assist. Of course he was exhausted afterwards and complained all day about it. He says he's doing it for the work out, but I know he loves it! He wouldn't wake up at 7:30 am on Sunday morning if he didn't :)