A Visit From Natalie and Finley

Ryder and I got a visit this weekend from an old high school friend of mine, Natalie, and her daughter Finley. It was really nice getting to catch up, talk about old times, and most important... get the kids together! Finley and Ryder share the same birthday and are exactly two years apart. I wasn't sure how interested they would be in each other with a two year age difference, but they really loved each other! We did lots and lots of shopping and the kids were great for it! Enjoy some pictures from the weekend...

On a ride at the mall

Watching Sesame Street in the car
Ryder, Natalie, and Finley enjoying the pool

Bath Time!

The Little Man and Mommy

Nat and Fin

Finley was crying and whenever she did all weekend Ryder started crying... He's quite the emotional one when other babies cry!

Finley playing while Ryder napped and we played on the computer.... can you tell there was no supervision... poor Chloe!

Finley 1st pig tails courtesy of ME :)

Army Crawl Anyone?!

So instead of doing the baby crawl, Ryder has decided to just do the army crawl. It is just as affective to get where you need to go... just involves some nasty looking rug burn all of the tummy.

Ryder is getting SO close to crawling. He has us on edge every day just waiting for all the arm/leg coordination to come together and for him to take off, but for now we get about one leg and one arm movement before he falls to the ground and does the arm crawl...

Enjoy!

Puppy Prayers Please!

Our little pup, Chloe, needs prayers sent her way. She had a small bump on her back that started about a month ago at this point. We didn't think much of it because we live with a puppy who is very playful and loves to play bite Chloe. She gets random little marks on her and we thought this one was just was a little more serious or possibly got infected. We tried the neosporin route, kept the pups separated best as possible, and figured it would go away. After getting back from my trip to Cape Cod it had only gotten worse. We took Chloe to the vet earlier this week, and realized it had nothing to do with all the playing Chloe has been getting in. They are calling it a "mass". She had a mass removal surgery done today, and it is being sent off to be tested for cancer. They removed the whole thing, and we are hoping it comes back clean and we're good to go. Please keep our pup in your prayers. She's awful pitiful looking at the moment!

A Relaxing Mother's Day Afternooon....

Mommy realizes she's not quite what she use to be on the playset

Getting shown up!

Sisters

Grandpa enjoying time with his Chunky-Monkey

Get'em Molly
(Hailey's arm is fine... she was helping Daddy stain the patio set this afternoon)

Happy grandparents with their grand-baby

Love You Girls!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Ally with Molly

My childhood dog Jake... I miss him tons!

Ryder enjoying the fresh cut grass

Play time with Auntie Ally

Lovin' my little man on my 1st Mother's Day

All squeaky clean after a long day

Ryder realizes he can do more then just look at his mobile now! Grandpa lowered his crib before bedtime tonight.... I wish he'd stop growing!

Oh That Laugh... How It Makes Us Smile

Today Auntie Hailey was jumping on her jump rope and Ryder just thought it was the funniest thing in the world.... I hope it brightens your day a little...

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to wish my mother and mother-in-law a Happy Mother's Day from Derrk and I! We are so lucky to have such great mothers and appreciate you every day of the year for what you did and still do for us! We love you both very much :)

On a side note... After our long day yesterday, I was headed out to the baseball game and got a text from my dad asking if Ryder and I wanted to fly up for the week since Derrik would be on the road. He bought us a ticket for 5am! I got to bed around 1am after the game and packing and had to be up by 3am to get out of the house in time. I'm exhausted, but am so happy to be back at our home... and have four very anxious family members to love on Ryder while I just kick back and relax!

Our Walk for ALS

Today we did our walk for ALS in honor of Chris's father. It was a great event, and I think everyone had a great time out there. We did a two mile walk, and I believe raised just over $700 towards finding a cure! Enjoy some pictures from our day...

Team Mudcats!

The Mudcats Women... They're lucky to have us :)

The Heisey's with Homer

The Cozart's with Champ and Sport

The "Soon-To-Be" Henry's .... 9/26/09

T-Wood with Abby.... Not sure why I have no pictures of Brit :(

The Littliest Mudcat

Kroski, The Daddy, and T-Wood Headed out on our walk....

Hey Da-Da do you have the same number as me?!

Ryder takin a ride on the Cozart's horse Sport

Ryder after the walk... we were tired and he wanted to try to climb the walls!

So Close! Help us reach out goal!

Hello Everyone-

We are $9.00 away from our goal for our walk tomorrow! PLEASE help us meet our goal!!!

http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Walks/NorthCarolinaWalk?team_id=122831&pg=team&fr_id=5400

Thanks,

The Lutz Family

And we're batting a thousand!

Yes! Derrik had his first at bat this season, and he got a hit!!! He made it all the way to third base before the inning was over! I've never even seen him up to bat before and was so excited. Even more exciting to me though was the fact that it was a tie game in extra innings and he made it through two with no runs :)

Derrik getting his 1st professional hit!

(double click to see it better)

Derrik on 3rd base

While Derrik was warming up in the bull pen Lindsay noticed something on Ryder's back. Yup.. We had an explosion that was seeping through the back of his outfit. I didn't want to miss Derrik pitch so I was just going to hold him through it and deal afterward. Lindsay insisted on taking him to change him. Ryder came back a happy clean baby in his pj's!

Thanks Lindsay!

We attempted to get some family photos, but Ryder wasn't cooperating... you'll have to live with these until we can get him to work with us!

Such a happy boy!

The peace and quiet I strive to achieve every afternoon :)

My Babies

A Walk for a Good Cause

On May 9th Derrik, Ryder, and I will be heading into Raleigh to participate in the Walk to Defeat ALS. I had heard a little bit about the disease before, but in spring training learned that our roommate, Chris Heisey, had actually lost his father to this awful disease a couple years ago. He was a perfectly healthy man who got the disease out of no where. I give Chris so much credit for staying strong day in and day out, and to move forward after something like this.

When Lisa told Brittany and I the whole story on the way to the beach this Spring Training it brought tears to my eyes. Lisa soon found a walk in Raleigh and felt it was a great way to honor Chris's father. We have rounded up quite a few members from the baseball team and have a pretty great group for the walk. We will be walking two miles and hope to raise some money to donate towards a cure!

If you feel like donating to a great cause.... The link is down below!

Love,
The Lutz Family

http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Walks/NorthCarolinaWalk?team_id=122831&pg=team&fr_id=5400

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!