OCTOBER picture update

I fell behind on the blog...sorry. Here is the update:

Jeff and I decided that we are going to go to the temple the first Saturday of the month. I loved walking around the temple grounds with Ryan. He was so happy to be out of the car and to see all of the sights and hear the sounds. Jeff and I took turns in the temple so that one of us could watch Ryan. I guess he wasn't so good on Jeff's watch - sorry about that honey. I think he had a pretty good first temple trip over all.











Ryan survived the 3 hour road trip (6 hours round trip) to the temple, thanks to the monkey in the back seat, although at first we couldn't tell if he liked him or not. It was kind of a mixed look - one of amusement and terror at the same time. But after our last road trip to Houston (see below) - it is official, he loves the monkey.


Gerber has a little photo contest going on right now - so I thought I'd submit a photo just for fun. Voting is open to the public starting November 3rd. If you'd like to "vote" just go to gerber.com and search for #171512. I know, can you believe how many people have already submitted photos? But, Ryan is cuter than all of those babies, I'm sure of it. :)

This is the one I ended up submitting:


A few that were cute, but didn't quite make my cuts:












Ryan had his 2 month appt on the 13th. He is 50th percentile for weight (12lb,7oz) and head circumference, 75th percentile for height (23.5in). It almost makes me kind of sad - he is outgrowing his clothes SO quickly! Yesterday I had Jeff put some overalls on him for church. Jeff had to be there early so he took Ryan with him while I showered and got ready. When I got to church I was surprised to see that the overalls were about an inch too short and looked super uncomfortable. So he just hung out in his onesie at church. He has also been a drueling machine lately. It was ALL OVER his onesie by the time we got home from church...This morning he took a long nap while I typed this, woke up fussy...checked his mouth & sure enough - those pearly whites are popping through. I really can't even call him a newborn anymore. :(

Anyway, back to his appt - he got a few vaccines & did pretty well in the office, slept for awhile afterward while we ran errands, but when he woke up he was NOT a happy camper. He cried like I had never heard him cry before, wouldn't even let me touch his legs, and had a fever. He even screamed in the bath tub (normally the tub is like the "cure all"). The Tylenol sure did help though. I hope some day I can thank the person who invented Tylenol.

Before Tylenol and after Tylenol pictures:










Much more like himself after :)

This last week we went to Houston for a training that Jeff had for work. He slept most of the way there (4 hour car ride). And everything was ok once we put him in the bath tub - of course. He is one relaxed kid in the tub.


During the day Ryan and I did some shopping, read lots of books together, went on lots of walks, and we got to go to the NASA Space Center.

I found this amazing park built by the Armand Bayou. You could actually walk right out onto the bayou. Apparently there are American Alligators there. I didn't see any, but while taking a picture did hear a huge thud sound in the water and looked over to see lots of bubbles - no way it was a fish.












I couldn't believe how beautiful and peaceful it was. There were a few people at the park just sitting on benches looking over the bayou in quiet contemplation. I even found writing on this bench that said, "Do you know Jesus? Jesus loves you. Jesus cares."


I love how most Texans are really quite religious and aren't afraid to talk about God. While at the park, there was a woman there who seemed a little disheartened...I asked if there was anything I could do for her and we had a great conversation. She spoke openly of God and her trust in Him. There are so many God-fearing, good people in the world. I'm so happy to cross paths with so many of them.

Ryan slept through most of the adventure at the park.


We did get to go to some restaurants when Jeff was done with work for the day - although we quickly learned that Ryan's fussy time was in the evening. Sleeping in the pack n' play and in the same room as us messed up his schedule a little bit. But he is almost back to normal and is oh so happy to be home - he just seems a little bit more in his element.

One of the restaurants we went to was on the Kemah Boardwalk. We had been to the same restaurant on the boardwalk back in May.








Ryan didn't seem to thrilled about the picture, although he is thrilled to be a part of our family, I'm sure :)

We got home from Houston Friday night, Saturday was the ward Halloween activity. I found spider web pajamas for him for Halloween, which worked out perfectly since he fell asleep while we were there.


And woke up later, of course.


I hope all of you had a happy Halloween. We love you and miss you.