The Lutz Family

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The Phoenix Zoo

Tricia and Page got season passses to the Phoenix Zoo, and we've been trying to work out a time to go for a while now with them. Our original plans fell through a while back when Ryder got sick so we tried again today. It was a perfect day weather wise, and both kids seem to be on their best behavior which made it easier :)

Ryder on the carousel..

for some reason no other rides make him nervous except this

The awesome giraffe we got to feed!!!

Tricia and Page feeding him

Ryder and I feeding him

They give the parents really small pellets instead of lettuce so the tongue will touch you

And apparently I acted like a complete girl over the situation

The nice rushed picture the guy in charge took for us

Ryder and I looking at the rhinos

(dinosaurs as Ryder thought they were)

This picture doesn't do much justice, but it was Ryder's favorite part of the day

The Choo-Choo

At the petting zoo

This one started charging towards Ryder and he was OUT OF THERE!

The kids on the tractor

On the way out we were talking about how great the kids were and how there was only one really small melt down....

Once in the car this happened!

Videos of the Monster Trucks

The Monster Trucks...

Ryder watching the monster trucks...

The Arizona State Fair 2010 (Monster Truck Show)

Last night was one of the best nights with my boys. I felt that way about Trick-or-Treating last weekend too, so I'm not sure if we are to a stage where we are seeing things through our child's eyes and the world just seems like a better place, or if we just got really lucky two weekends in a row to have lots of fun!

Anyhow... I realized about a month ago that the state fair was back in town. I looked online to see when it was going on and saw the last weekend they were having a monster truck show!!! Of course we marked our calendar for that weekend since our boy is just slightly obsessed with monster trucks. It is all he plays with, and Monster Jam is on the t.v. seriously all day if I let it be (anyone who we are staying with in the coming month be sure to get an episode DVRed for his viewing pleasure!). When we first got to the fair they hadn't quite yet started any of the monster truck stuff yet so we did a couple rides.

Ryder and I on the huge slide... quite the walk up!

Dune Buggy Ride

After two rides we could hear them annoucing over the loud speakers that the Pre-Show Pit Party was starting. We headed over immediately so we could take advantage of any opportunity available. We heard we might be able to get a ride in a monster truck, and it was true!

Hog Wild

Our Ride!

My boys best attempt at a picture with Hog Wild...

Not sure it quite captured their excitement at the moment

This one capture it slightly better :)

Watching Hog Wild take off on a ride

The back of the truck we were going to get on

The next photo is of Ryder on the actual monster truck ride. I had tried to plan the moment out in my head. I purposely set it up so Derrik could sit next to Ryder to make sure he was ok during the ride, and put myself across from him for full photo opportunity. I wasn't going to ride, but paid the $5 just so I could snap photos of my boy enjoying his own little piece of heaven for a whole minute. After looking at the photos today though, I realized it just looks like a bunch of photos of Ryder sitting in a seat. Sooo bummed because it was anything but that! We got to go super fast, over all the jumps, and our boy was beyond thrilled! We were bouncing all around, and I have to say it was even a pretty huge thrill ride for us adults too!!! So Mommy fail on opting for the photos instead of the video. If I could have done both I would have, but I had to make the decision.... so try your best to gather all the excitement going on through this one picture... it does slightly say it all....

"OMG THIS IS SOOO COOL!"

Giving the driver of Hog Wild a high five after the ride

After our ride we got to go see all the other monster trucks that were going to be in the show, meet the drivers, and get autographs. Ryder had zero interest in the autographs or meeting the drivers, but was SO excited to "touch" the monster trucks.

Trying to take it all in...

Daddy and Ryder with El Perro Loco

Finally getting to touch a "mighty mega monster truck" as Ryder likes to call them

Checking out the tires with the driver of Obsession

Wow... this picture surely does not show how thrilled he was...

sometimes the camera just doesn't say it all

Umm... just kind of thought this was a cute candid of the little guy...

Such goofy boys enjoying the fair special... a corn dog

After the corn dog disappeared the monster truck show started. Ryder seriously FREAKED out!!! He was out of his seat, screaming, throwing his hands in the air, clapping, shaking... he could not have possibly been more excited about anything else in the entire world.

What all the freaking out was about...

and this...

One of his excited faces...

And another....

I have videos of the monster trucks and Ryder watching them that i'll post after I get this up

Once the show was over we headed back to the rides. Ryder was also really thrilled about the rides, and i'm sure that would have been a pretty fun night too BUT the monster trucks definitely stole the show in our little guys eyes.

Waiting his turn in line for his first roller coaster ride

Roller Coaster with Daddy

It was kind of hard to get pictures... this was the best one

Another ride....

Daddy making sure he doesn't slide down...

Such a good Daddy :)

Then we went back to the slides for one last ride to waste our tickets...

It was late and we were tired!!!

I wish these picture did more justice for the thrill Ryder had last night. It was so exciting to be able to take him to see something he loves so so much!

For Everyone Excited To See Ryder Soon...

We usually only like to show his cute side on the blog,

but he likes to do this sometimes too!

Trick-or-Treat

I forgot to get this video up last week, but better late then never

Ryder saying Trick-or-Treat

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Baby Lutz #2 Update: Week 14

How Far Along: 14 Weeks
Size of Baby: Three and a half inches long
Fruit Size (According to my e-mail from BabyCenter.com): Lemon
Total Weight Gain: 1 pound
Maternity Clothes: Nope. My shorts are all too small now (most were before becoming pregnant unfortunately), regular jeans are snug, and maternity jeans are too big so I've been living in leggings. I hope these leggings are warm enough in the cold weather we'll be in during the coming weeks!
Gender: 2 Weeks 1 Day until we find out!!!
Movement: Nope
Food Cravings: Nothing in particular... just not really a fan of cooked meat right now. It's making dinner hard to do and driving Derrik crazy!
Labor Signs: (no comment until third trimester or so)
Sleep: Amazing! I've been going to sleep early, and could just sleep all day!
How’s Ryder Handling It: Still great! Two funny stories again this week. On Skype this week my mom asked Ryder where the baby was. Of course he pulled his shirt up like usual, but then they asked where Mommy's baby was. He lifted my shirt. Then he went and got his baby doll, came back, lifted my shirt, and tried to shove it in my belly button. I just wonder how this whole concept is playing out in his head. The other funny story was this morning. We were laying on the couch together watching Backyardigans and my belly growled really loud. He pulled his head up and looked at me with the craziest look. I asked him if the baby was talking to him. He got the biggest smile on his face and put his head back on my belly trying to listen for the baby. Probably a mean trick to tell him that, but he got a kick out of it :)
What is the same/different as the last time: This week all the different symptoms seem to be under control... What's the same...I'm miserable and awful at being pregnant. I was watching A Baby Story on TLC yesterday and this lady was talking about how amazing pregnancy is... how she was never naucious, slept great the whole time, had great skin, was never uncomfortable... Where is that pregnancy for me?!?! Oh well... the final product is all worth it in the end :)
Symptoms: Pretty much the same as always, but nothing is out of control this week.
Best Moment This Week: Trick-or-Treating with Ryder :)
What I Am Looking Forward To: Really... I think it's quite obvious... Finding out the sex in two weeks!!! AND leaving for Pennsylvania that night :)

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween 2010

What a great Halloween! It was the perfect start to the holiday season, and we truly got to see how awesome it is going to be this year. Ryder did so awesome with Halloween! Ryder was Nemo from the moving Finding Nemo this year. We tried to find some kind of Cars costume, but they were all just car boxes with straps to hang on his shoulders. We went for Ryder's second favorite movie and got the Nemo costume. Halloween somehow became a week long celebration for us. We started it out on Wednesday at Tricia's house. She had a little Halloween party with the kids in the daycare and invited Ryder. Saturday night we went to the "Field of Screams" celebration at the baseball stadium, and we topped it off with Trick-or-Treating last night. Derrik's basketball partner (and sometimes football partner) invited us up to his neighborhood to go out with his kids.

Page and Tricia's Halloween Party

Our Little Nemo

Ryder (Nemo), Page (strawberry), and Gabe (Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba)

(Ryder's head piece had a squeaker on the top that he loved to squeak)

And he thought it was WAYYY cooler to squeak it when it was on Page's head
and easier to get to!

Page and Tricia (Bun in the Oven)

"Field of Scream" Festival

This was kind of a let down, but was good practice for Ryder to put his costume on and see lots of other people all dressed up. It would have been great except they had four little kid rids, and like ten booths set up for well over a thousand people. I don't think they were expecting the turnout they got. Ryder was very interested in the rides, but the wait was well over an hour for any of them. We somehow coaxed him away from them, and headed home.

Spring Training Stadium for Halloween....

Isn't that like an oxy-moron?

Trick-or-Treating in Estrella

I had told Derrik I had no expectations for the trick-or-treating aspect of Halloween for Ryder. Obviously I wanted him to have a blast, but wouldn't have been shocked if we only made it to one house before he was over it. We met up with Derrik's basketball partner Roger who had an awesome Halloween tent set up with lots of food and a big group of kids getting ready to head out for some candy. On the way there we worked on Ryder saying "trick-or-treat", and he nailed it! We must have heard it a hundred times before we got there. When it was time to get started we followed the crowd, Daddy walked Ryder up for the first house, I walked him up for the second house, and after that he kind of just followed the crowd of kids! We did one road, and another, and another, which lead to a block, after another block, after another block. Before we knew it Ryder's bucket was full, we were back at Roger's cul-de-sac, and Ryder was NOT done! He was sooo disappointed it was over!

Ryder's costume was such a hit. I can't tell you how many times we heard "look at how cute Nemo is", "Look it's Finding Nemo", "OMG look at the tail wag"... everyone just thought he was the cutest... along with his Mommy and Daddy :)

Heading out with Daddy