Ryder Month 10

It's amazing how much my little man is doing these days.  It's been a VERY long while since I updated so I thought I would quickly share a few things.  Ryder is now regularly pushing chairs, toys, etc. around and walking behind them.  He loves it!  He loves to walk holding on to our fingers and can stand by himself for a couple of seconds before falling down.  I know it won't be long before he takes off!

One milestone that I haven't been too excited about is his love of opening every cabinet door or drawer he can get his hands on.  And of course pulling everything right out!  But I have learned, instead of looking at the pictures below as a mess, I look at it as having 10 minutes of time to do something!

Ryder is also talking up a storm.  Now, by far most of it is gibberish but he does know 3 words well, just not necessarily their correct meanings.  His first obvious knowledge of a word was "Bye, bye."  And when he says bye, bye, he scrunches up his little hand.  He first said it the night before his 10 month birthday.  It's by far his favorite and is what gets said the most often.  His other words are "dog" and "mama."  I'm 99% sure he thinks dog means outside, which I can easily see how he got.  I'm pretty sure mama means hold me.

I'm a little embarrassed to be sharing this, but hey, the point of the blog is so I can look back and remember, right?  Ryder loves to dance! No, that's not the embarrassing part!  He purposely plays music on his toys so he can bounce around waving his hands.  As soon as they start singing at church, he starts bouncing.  Now, for the embarrassment.  Here is a clip of me singing to him (brace yourselves) and him dancing in his high chair.  It cracks me up how he waves his hands in the air.

Finally, Ryder now has 7 teeth and a head full of hair!  Here's an updated shot.

Prayer

I'm continually amazed about how God works through my life; how he sends me messages right when I need them.  I pray at least once a day.  Often Michael and I pray a second time together at night after we finish our devotional.  Here recently we've been discussing patience, which happens to be an area I need a lot of work in.  While we have mainly been talking about patience in the context of marriage, I have been relating our talks to a lot of other areas in my life.  A lot of areas in my life are up in the air right now: We're trying to sell our house and find a new one; I still haven't decided what to do next year in the job world;  When the "right" time is to have a second child.  And while I constantly worry about these things, life continues to happen.  This is where the patience comes in.  I try and say I have faith that God has a plan and He will take care of us.  But at the same time worrying keeps me up at night, which doesn't connect to what I say.

Back to the beginning, I pray every night.  I pray for my friends and family, specifically the ones that I know who need it the most.  I always thank God for my many blessings, especially my wonderful husband and Ryder.  For some reason, I have trouble praying for the things I mentioned before- my "worries."  I look at my life and can't believe how blessed I am.  I'm truly undeserving of everything I have.  I feel guilty praying for a new home when I already have one and there are many who are homeless; worrying about another child when some desperately want one.  This morning we had our all-in-one Sunday, sorta like a modern day revival.  The sermon just happened to be about prayer.  About how we should be praying and talking to God about all the specifics.  Whatever is going on in our lives begins and ends with His grace.  Why wouldn't I be discussing it with Him?  Even if I do get a nicer house it's a gift from him. Here is one verse we discussed:

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing

It seems like such a simple concept, not sure why I didn't see it before.  From now on, petty or not, I will be taking my worries to him.  I truly hope I can have the faith to not worry so much and let God take control. 

Christmas 2011

I can't believe Ryder's first Christmas has come and gone!  It was absolutely the greatest time of my life.  More than I could have ever dreamed!  There is no way I can completely catch up with all the separate events we were fortunate enough to be a part of, BUT here are some of my favorite moments. (Okay more than some)

North Pole Breakfast

This year we have started lots of new traditions in the Greer household.  One of these new traditions is the North Pole Breakfast.  We've decided to have a brunch with all our friends to welcome our Elf on the Shelf to our home.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving our yet-to-be-named Elf showed up at our house and brought us all pajamas!

 Daddy reading Ryder's letter from his elf.

 Our Elf also brought Ryder a baby's first Christmas ornament and a Christmas plate.

 Poor little Ryder had pink eye and it really shows in this picture. :(

The following Saturday we hosted our first North Pole Breakfast.  All the kids received sippy cups with their names on them.  It was lots of fun and I can't wait till Ryder can truly enjoy it!

Halloween 2011

Wow! This is long overdue!

We had several times to dress up for Halloween so we decided to go with two costumes this year.  I figure it's not going to be long before Ryder won't let me choose his costumes anymore so I better take advantage of dressing him up while I can.

Saturday night we had two parties to go to: The Casey's annual Halloween party and my parents hosted the youth group over at their house for a costume party.  Saturday night Ryder wore his monster outfit.  Michael and I dressed as a werewolf and witch.

Group shot at Kim's- I couldn't get Ryder to look at the camera for anything

 Elise and Ryder

 This one is my favorite!

Sunday night was our big Halloween event- Trunk or Treat at church.  Ryder was the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Michael was cheese the caterpillar ate, and I was watermelon.  This was extra fun because the Reeds dressed up with us.  Wyatt was a hungry caterpillar too, Corey a cupcake, and Kyle a banana.  I'm so glad we have men who are willing to get in on the fun!

And finally there was Halloween night, where Ryder once again wore his Caterpillar outfit.

Trick or Treating at the Greers

 Ringing the door bell at Grandmother's

 Ryder with his treat- Winnie the Pooh movie

 Grandmother, Mama Jean, and Ryder

 Ryder and Hudson

 And I had to include these pictures.  Ryder's first Halloween pajamas and his Ryder Frankenstein shirt. 

He is sooo much fun! I can't believe his first Halloween has come and gone.  Here's looking forward to many, many more!