Christmas Time

Christmas in February!?!? Not so much, just NOW getting to sit down and write about our WONDERFUL holiday! I have had this post written since early January, I'm just getting to post my fav pics! I swear having an 18 month old makes EVERYTHING hard to put first.
I will be better at blogging. I will be better at blogging. I will be better at blogging........

I guess I will start my Christmas Adventure with the funniest! Last year we went and saw the Macy's Santa which we stumbled on by accident. Me and my mother STALKED the Macy's website this year to make sure we didn't miss him again since his pic last year was PRICELESS! The website said Sunday but listed the date as Monday. We thought surely he would come on a weekend so we made the long trek to Cordova with Ryder. I should add that he was on a 45 minute nap since we had a little Christmas Party to attend earlier in the morning. BAD IDEA! He was in such an AWFUL MOOD! It might have been one of the worst experiences of my life. I was the lady walking through the mall with the screaming baby in the stroller getting "those looks". To top off the fit my child was throwing, the Macy's Santa WASN'T THERE! He was coming the next day! FREAKIN AWESOME! Since we drove that far we decided to see the Overpriced Mall Santa and remember to double check next year.

Here is the PERFECT pic from last year......

Now I know a lot of this has to due with age and every child goes through this little Santa phase but he was very tired and the combination of the two resulted in this classic picture!

I was totally expecting this sort of picture this year but the whole situation was rather comical, at least I thought so. Not so much from everyone watching. I sat down with Ryder first so he would see that this strange man wasn't the Devil and he got a little fussy. People were watching then when I got up and handed Ryder over he REALLY lost it. Santa asked me, "you really want his pic done like this?!?!" OF COURSE. I'm gonna look back on this and LAUGH! Me, Trav and my mom were cracking up as the crowd stared in disbelief! We got one good shot and I ripped this poor baby from Santa and did the Walk of Mommy Shame through the mall! As you can see, it was an AWESOME day Raising A Russell.......

Onto a more enjoyable evening, my girlfriends had our first Christmas Gift swap with the kids! We had SO much fun getting all the babies together and swapping gifts. They had a blast playing their brains out and I just enjoy every second of being with my "Memphis Family". They are literally like my sisters.

Ryder received the CUTEST lil Christmas shirt from Owen which we wore PLENTY throughout the month.

AND Ryder's Godmommy, LayLay got him his 1st pair of Tom's! We LOVE THEM!

We did try and have another Santa Run-in thinking maybe that last visit for Ryder was just a "bad day". NO, not so much. Our good friends Roy and Danah had Santa drop by their house to see the kids so we thought it would be fun to mainly hang out with good friends and let Ryder get used to this man that will be in his life for the next few years! HE IS THE ONE THAT BRINGS THE PRESENTS ANYWAY!!!!!

He didn't even want to STAND next to him!

We even moved him down the line and he STILL flipped out! This just isn't our year for Santa!

I rarely get to go home and see my family for ANYTHING because our schedules are all so different and busy. I got to get off work a few days and head to Nashville to see my WHOLE family. It was a BLAST! I have never been able to make a Birthday Party for any of my cousins kids so this year me and my mom worked it out so that we could wish Bentley a Happy 2nd Birthday at his party! It was the PERFECT day!

We always get together at my Aunt Polly's sometime before Christmas for dinner and it brought back so many memories. It was weird to see all the kids running around when it seemed like yesterday it was me and my cousins doing the running and annoying the adults. It was kind of an out-of-body experience. Where did the time go!?!?! I mainly get sad because most of those Christmas Dinner's at Aunt Polly's always involved my step dad Ron who passed away in 1999. When I type that date and re-read it, it seems so long ago but it's still so fresh in my brain. Holiday's are always so hard without him but Ryder feels that void so situations like Christmas seem so much sweeter. He is definitely a blessing.

All the WILD CHILDREN

Our Whole Family

Ryder, of course, was spoiled by the family!

Chair from Grandpa!

One of the main reasons we went to Nashville was to go to Opryland. My mother-in-law tagged along at the tail end of out trip so she could go check out this GIGANTIC hotel. It was VERY impressive!
We stayed with my dad and it is SO nice to see him. It wasn't long enough but since Ryder has come along it seems we are making more of an effort to set aside time to travel to see each other. I always get nervous that Ryder is going to be fussy or bratty around my dad since he isn't with him weekly but he always warms up to him so quickly. I love watching my dad with him. It's seriously the cutest thing. I wish we lived closer so that he could see all the silly things Ryder does weekly. Thank God for FACEBOOK!

Dad taking pics of Ryder and his new "Cars" chair!

Ryder FREAKING out about having to put that HUGE coat on at "ICE", notice his SHOE is coming off. THIS, my friends, is a meltdown.....

My dad, me, Ryder and step mom at ICE!

My lil family

Me and my Mother-In-Law in Nashville!

We MUST discuss the "car situation" on the way home! I had my heart set on getting Ryder a table and chair set for Christmas and I conveniently browsed through my Aunt Peggy's Pottery Barn Kids catalog and found the PERFECT set I wanted to get him. The convenient part was they had a PBK store in Green Hills AND they were running a sale on the sets THAT Sunday I called! What a coincidence. hehe. I drug my child and dad to Green Hill's and bought Ryder his perfect lil table and chairs. NOW the problem was how we were going to fit Travis, my mother-in-law, Ryder, me, TWO car-seats (don't ask, I get pissed about the miscommunication of that mishap just TYPING it), TONS of new TOYS and GIFTS in a SCION. The fun part about that ride home was we decided it was time I get a BIGGER car and we did just that the next week. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!

That little space was how I rode for 3 hours.....

Christmas Eve was perfect! An evening at my in-laws watching all 12 grandchildren open their presents was so fun! Ryder was into it which made it even better! He LOVED ripping the paper open to see his new trucks. For some reason, his fav thing to do is lay on his tummy and push his cars around making a VROOOOOM noise. It's the cutest thing to watch!

Christmas Eve night at my house has become a tradition for mom to spend the night. I love having here there because I know she loves to be a part of Ryder's every move. We wrapped his presents and put most of them together. I can't imagine how much fun this is going to be the older he gets. I remember waking up Christmas morning as a girl and running into our living room to find the most ridiculous amount of toys, all placed in the most perfect places. I have definitely become my mother. I wanted everything to be seen in a certain order when he walked in! The biggest, of course, hidden so he would be really surprised. He could have cared less which I expected.

We woke him up and let him run into our living room! He noticed a big blowup tent with bouncy balls in them, which he has YET to play in! There were a lot of pointing and "WHOAS" going on! He was so fixed on the Rock-N-Roll Elmo and Elmo drum set that we pretty much just moved onto our gift opening and let him play with that all morning!

His big gift was kind of a bust. My mom bought him a John Deere tractor that he can control and drive. We thought he would LOVE it since his Red "Cars" car was his obsession last summer. NOT SO MUCH! He has just gotten comfortable sitting on it. He does like to ride in the trailer while mommy drives it around the backyard. It's a wonder I haven't broken it yet! Whatever makes him happy, RIGHT!?!?!

So there was our Christmas Holiday 2010! It was so much fun this year with a 1 year old. Everyone says every year gets better! I can't imagine seeing him as a 2 year old next Christmas! It's flying by and I'm trying to hold onto every move and breath he takes so hopefully this little BLOG will help me to look back on the little things!

I always like to end most posts with what Ryder is saying or doing and one of my INSANELY FAVORITE words he started saying this Christmas Holiday was SANTA, it was more like TANTA but it MELTED my heart when I heard him say it. He has a little Night Before Christmas Book that he LOVED and I would always point to Santa and tell Ryder who he was and that he was coming to see him. I always think he is ignoring me but NO, the boy is listening. When we were at ICE in Opryland he was walking up to all the Santa figurines in the gift shop and yelling TANTA! I think I was literally about to cry. It was the best word he could have learned this Christmas!



                                                           

Thanksgiving in a NUTSHELL!

I hate my title of this post. If I was dedicated to this I wouldn't have to put ANYTHING in a nutshell! I do have a good excuse: I work retail, it's the holidays and I have a toddler SO don't judge!

There really isn't much to tell about our Thanksgiving besides it was VERY relaxing. We slept in as much as Ryder allowed us, my mom came over with YUMMY food in hand and we cooked what was supposed to be a SMALL lunch. My in-laws and niece Jordan came over so I finally got to use my dining room table which has been collecting dust for about 4 years now. I even insisted on using my mom and stepdad's old china. Great memories were in my mind while sitting at that table eating off those plates! They are materialistic things but my childhood with my stepdad were created with those "things".

This isn't even all the food for our SMALL meal! I think Ryder is READY!

It's impossible to get this kid to look at the camera anymore!

 The highlight of lunch- watching Ryder take each dog a piece of ham OVER and OVER and OVER!

If you're wondering why we wanted a SMALL lunch, it's because we had BIG plans later that evening- PAULA DEEN'S! We have NEVER, as a family, went out to eat for Thanksgiving but Trav's whole side of the fam went to see other family members which I think left my MIL in shambles. She is used to cooking HUGE FEASTS for our BIG family but we insisted she not go through the trouble of feeding 6 of us since she tends to always want to overdue it......

My mom, Ryder and Paula! LET'S EAT!

 My child ate more than ALL OF US combined! It was a little ridiculous!

 After about 3 plates of fruit, veggies and MEAT it was time for his ICE CREAM!

He LOVED running around the casino!

We won't EVEN discuss the struggle it was to get those DANG Willett's on his feet. If your wondering what a WILLETT is, like me a few months back, it's those HUGE white walking shoes that my mother bought him! Trav HATES them, my mother LOVES them! This is a losing battle we go through every holiday! Ryder is getting too big, in my opinion, SO we will be done with the smocked, john-johns and jumpers after Christmas......

It was ALWAYS a tradition growing up that my mom would put the Christmas Tree up Thanksgiving night! I tried to do this the day before Thanksgiving but Trav threw a fit! He never celebrated holiday's growing up so it's funny that NOW he has an opinion! :-) I think the fact that his family didn't get together for Thanksgiving sent him into a funk so the thought of me celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving REALLY sent him over the edge! HAHA!
SO we put Ryder to bed and I went to work. Ryder was VERY surprised when he woke up the next morning. I think we heard a lot of WHOA'S over and over!

I just LOVE our tree!

 Ryder checking things out!

WHOA!

It's Fall Ya'll

WOW! Already slacking on my blogging (only 1 month and 5 days since my last post, no biggie) but I have been SOOOOOOO busy! I know people roll their eyes like they aren't but I am. Being a working mother, finding the strength and motivation to help run a business and still throw in being a somewhat mediocre wife takes a toll on ya. OH YEAH, this blog is about Raising a Russell not Feeling Sorry For Jess......

OK, a lot has gone on in the past month! I totally slacked on my yard decor this year and ended up throwing together a simple but lovely little setup in my entryway. It really should be on the cover of some Fab Horn Lake Living Mag- OH YEAH, HAHAHAHA that doesn't exist. Well, if it did mine would be on there. I am my mother's daughter!

Me and Travis woke up on October 30 hungry for Waffle House, threw on some clothes then headed to buy some pumpkins, mums and cornstalks. Better Late Then Never, right!?!?! Please excuse my homeless looking child. I did say we threw on clothes and went to Waffle House..... I'm sounding more and more like a true Horn Lake Resident throughout this blog! This was seriously the best pic I got!

 I guess I can't jump into Halloween talk without discussing how the month went costume wise!

Well, there ya go. I guess you can tell we HATED being a lion AND a hamburger! I'm so glad I tested these options out before deciding we needed something a little more subtle. Maybe next year we can be a little more daring!



We started a tradition last year of going to ZooBoo which I want to stick to every year. This year I think we decided, along with the whole city of Memphis, to go the Sunday before Halloween. I'll never make that mistake again. We had a blast but WAY too many people there. The older I get the more I can not deal with crowds especially ones filled with rude Memphians AND THERE SLUGGISH FEET. Ryder's favorite part of the night was Dracula's Disco. A DJ was set up inside the Panda Exhibit and the room looked like an actual club but for kids.

Ryder was gettin down the whole night!

Our family pic from ZooBoo!

How freakin cute is he!?!?!?!

Found this from last year's ZooBoo trip. Lacey, Ryder's Godmother, goes with us every year. I don't even remember him being this little!

We were so exhausted on Halloween we did nothing but hand out candy. I had to dress up Ryder but I did it to surprise Daddy, a true Alabama fan.

Another little tradition we have started is going to Cedar Hill Farms. It was much more fun than last year now that Ryder can do a little more. He loves animals and being outside so I knew he would have a blast.

Here is a pic from last year and this year. I'm crying now......

Running through the Hay Maze and riding his 1st Pony!

He loved the Hay Ride and picking his own pumpkin!

 

I almost forgot our 1st trip to Hope Presbyterians Fall Fest! What a production our church put on to kick off Fall! I went with all my girls and the kids had a blast. Ryder was on a whole other level that night. He was cracking me and my mom up. Something about getting in a busy environment with other kids and having room to run makes this boy WILD! I love his independence but it can give me mild heart attacks!

So much fun my shirt is CRAZY!

 I love these ladies AND their babes!

OK, long post but it was a busy month! I do have to mention some of my favorite things Ryder is doing now!
- Says Hi: I know that doesn't sound too impressive but it's the way he says it when I open his door in the morning, walk in to pick him up from work or when he walks into a room full of people. His voice is SO angelic and innocent. It literally melts my heart.

-Bye: Bye is another story. He says it with such an "I don't care" tone it will BREAK YOUR HEART! HAHA, I leave him every morning to go to work and when I say bye, he literally turns the other way and throws his hands in the air and says BYE! I love his independence but a couple meltdowns while I'm walking out the door wouldn't hurt my feelings!

-Bath time: He has always loved his bath time but lately it seems to be his FAV thing! He will play in there for an hour if I let him. His fav is mommy and daddy's BIG tub! He goes WILD in there! He know dunks his head underwater and comes up laughing hysterically, IS THAT NORMAL!?!?!? I look forward to that sweet time every night. It's kind of relaxing after a long day at work. It's the one time I can just sit there in silence (smiling, of course) and watch him have a blast! I love it!

-Dog Park: After my fear of Samson running away we have finally decided to get this poor beast out of our house and backyard and let him RUN FREE. He did great and we are now setting aside a day to take him to Shelby Farms Dog Park. I think it's good for the whole family but especially Samson. He needs that space to run and exercise. Ryder, of course, loves dogs but he has LOVED being outside and seeing other pups besides Phoebe and Samson.