It Was Bound To Happen...

Yesterday, Rylin finally discovered the doggy door. I have dreaded this day!

10 Months Old

Today Rylin is ten months old and walking everywhere! He really hit his stride the last couple of days and does pretty good until he gets so excited that he falls down. He is so proud of himself! He now pretty much eats what we do except for the few baby "no-no's". He loves to be out of the house and and running errands or going anywhere, still chases Duke, is a cuddler when he is sleepy, and jabbers all the time. So far his only real word is "Bye Bye", of which he never does on command (usually at odd moments like in the tub or the car). He has a sweet little personality and loves to hand out dimpled grins to just about anyone (except our favorite grocery store checker who he makes work for them). He has started climbing on everything, dancing to music, and kisses his reflection whenever he sees it. He is DEFINITELY a Daddy's boy and cries for him if Jordan isn't giving his full attention. This morning he balled when Jordan left for work (I know it secretly made Jordan feel good). I can't believe we are so close to one year old! We are trying to savor every moment!

All I Know is No

I suppose it's my own fault. How many times do I tell Rylin "yes"? Pretty much never. However, the word and jester "no" gets used frequently. I've tried to reserve it for serious offences, but it almost just pops out on it's own because Rylin is in to EVERYTHING. Well, recently our little booger has started to copy this command by shaking his head whenever you ask him ANY question. "Do you want to take a nap?" "Are you hungry?" "Do you like the green beans?" "Did Daddy change your diaper?" All I get is a incessant head shake. If you shake back "yes", he is even more fervent with his disagreement. Although I know it could get old fast, it's still pretty funny now. Sometimes Jordan and I make up silly things to ask and then laugh at our own immature humor!

Growing Like a Weed

I am continually impressed by what Rylin learns every day. It seems like he does something new all the time. Several weeks ago at his Gramps and Grammie's, he took his first couple steps alone and since then has gotten braver. He will now venture out into the open room (not just between furniture) for four or five steps before loosing his balance. I have thus far been unable to capture the moment on video, but here are a few blurry pictures of his increasing independence!

This week, while at the mall with friends, I casually handed him a juice box assuming he wouldn't be able to drink from the straw. Was I ever wrong! He had the whole thing sucked down before we left...

I had to include one more picture from this week of what, thanks to inspiration from the recent Discovery Channel Shark Week, I have titled "Feeding Frenzy". We are keeping Jake again and he and Duke are especially excited when it's Rylin's time to eat.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my 29th birthday (sniff, sniff), but my family and friends made it a good one. My parents came to visit Friday and spent the night, so we had a nice breakfast and visit Saturday morning. Early morning. Rylin decided that he would wish me happy birthday at 5:30AM. Booo! It did get the day started, though. After lunch my parents left to visit my brother and his family and Jordan and I dropped Rylin off at my friend Deliahna's. We visited the "Bodies" exhibit downtown that I had been bugging Jordan about seeing. It was quite interesting, but also a little unsettling. I made Jordan take me shopping before we went to dinner so that we could recover! When we picked up Rylin, he was worn out from playing with Adelay but he had made me a card (with his toes).

Too cute!

I hate getting another year older, but then there's the alternative...so I guess I'll suck it up and enjoy my last year of the 20's!

Plate Project

I have thought seriously about starting a blog solely for my little creative projects, but considering I'm doing well to update this blog once a week, I figure I'll just post them on here. My latest endeavor began over a year ago. I've had this wall in my dining room that had really been bugging me. I had put a couple ambiguous flower pictures up when we moved in and pretty much started to loathe them a few months later. My life became a little busy so I hadn't really figured out a solution until a trip last summer. Jordan and I stayed in the cutest little loft called The Roadrunner Inn in Fredericksburg on our way back from a friends wedding. I opened the door and immediately saw this.

After googling "plate wall collage", I found all kinds of other variations and knew this was my answer.

I had the perfect starting point...a plate that I got from my Aunt Vivian's estate that my MaMaw had made. My Aunt Ruthie used to have a ceramics studio and I can't tell you how many little ceramic figurines that I painted growing up. I'm pretty sure that's how she kept me entertained when I visited! Well, I wasn't the only one to sit in her shop and get dusty. Pretty much any one of my six aunts and many cousins could show you some creation either made by Aunt Ruthie or themselves somewhere in their home. I thought it a treasure when I spotted the cup and saucer in the hutch at my Aunt's house, and even more so when I turned it over and saw my MaMaw and Papaw's names scratched on the underside. (anyone else have a Grandmother named Willie?!)

I had been looking for a place to display them and this was definitely my perfect opportunity. Then came the search for my saucer's companions. I made a goal for myself (and kept it) to spend $2 or less per plate except one or two splurges. So I started out going to thrift stores in the area scouring for my frugal art creation. Goodwill became my best friend, as they had the best prices and most selection of single plates. (I think I've been to every one in a 50 mile radius) On our finalization day, my whole family decided to head to Canton (one, if not the biggest flea market in TX for you out-of-staters) and my Mom, cousin, and I had a blast searching for plates! I tended toward plates that looked hand made or from the 60's-70's (the rest of my house is a mesh of mid-century and modern) and finally was happy with my accumulated collection. I ended up ordering plate hangers off the Internet because I could never find enough in any one hobby store. So when they finally came in a couple weeks ago I was really excited. I started out by making templates on tracing paper of each plate and giving them their own names. I laid the plates out on the floor to find a pattern I liked and then taped the templates to the wall and moved them around to get them just right.

Then I nailed in the appropriate hooks and one at a time, tore off the template and hung the plate. I was quite happy with my results!

Recent Happenings

So there are a few things I've left out of the blog that have been sitting in my camera waiting to be seen. Here's what we've been up to lately...

About a week ago, we dog sat for my brother's dog Jake. He and Duke are good buddies.

Now he and Rylin are too!

Jake is a great dog around kids and he let Rylin climb all over him and never even winced. I think he just likes attention...even if it's negative! I made sure Rylin wasn't too rough on him, though. Jordan did have fun trying to walk both dogs. Duke goes slow and Jake goes fast, but somehow he managed without falling on the pavement like I probably would have!



This last weekend was Jordan's 10 year high school reunion. Usually these things are a snore for the spouse who didn't go to the same school, but I actually had a good time. Since Jordan went to a small private school, there were less than thirty in his class and I knew a few of them from college. Friday night was a fun "adult" night, and Saturday was a family picnic. I think Jordan really enjoyed catching up with some of his old friends and showing off Rylin.

Rylin was HOT, and not so up for taking pictures!