backyard adventures

Last year, John Ryman loved relaxing on a blanket in the yard making sweet baby noises...
Now he walks all around the yard unassisted, picking up treasures and bringing them to me.  (Finally, he has stopped the taste-testing and just holds on to the rocks & mulch.)
Today he sat down by the fire pit (no fire at the moment!) and played with the pebbles making truck and train noises.  My heart is so full watching my precious baby grow up into a little boy, but man is it happening fast!

this is about to get a little dangerous...

 

{tea}

 

 {gap}

 

{old navy}

{little me}

JR's First Trip to the Zoo (Fort Worth)

Memorial Day was GORGEOUS and the perfect day to head to the Fort Worth Zoo.  We figured it would be pretty busy, but other than parking the crowds were just fine.  The weather could not have been more amazing and all the animals sure were enjoying it!

This crocodile was HUGE and came right up to the glass acting mighty hungry:

The lion would not stop yawning and we thought he would never stand up, but after roaring at him for a few minutes, he walked over to the edge and let out a huge ROAR!  (well it kinda turned into a weird smoker's cough, but JR liked it!)

The lady lions next door weren't too impressed with his roar.  3 were asleep and this one let out a big yawn too!

We loved watching the elephants, but right when we walked up a little closer, 3 of them went in for lunch (or a break or something).  Thankfully this old fella stayed out for a few pictures and even looked like he was smiling. (or "she" not really sure)

(okay photographers, the two pictures above are a great example of wrong aperture.  Well wrong for this photo since I would have preferred to have both in focus.  The aperture was set to 1.8- opens wide for a shallow depth of field- which gives a nice blurred background effect for portrait or busy shots where you don't want to see every detail in background or foreground, but definitely too shallow to get my boys & the elephant both in focus.  Confused?  Try playing around on your camera with the aperture and you will start to notice the difference.  The photo below was at 1.8 as well and turned out great.  You just have to decide what you want in your picture.)
Anyways, back to the elephant...

John Ryman loved all the animals and trying to say their names or the noises they make.  He would point at every animal and then wave, saying "hi" really loud.  Such a fun family day at the zoo!  I'm sure we will be back a lot more, especially since JR was so intrigued and even came home repeating a lot of new words. 

Happy Birthday Sam!

My baby brother turns 18 today!!!  Not quite so little anymore.  I am so proud of the man that Sam has grown up to be.  He has strong faith in Christ and is an example to everyone he meets.  On top of being a great friend & brother, Sam is an awesome Uncle.  John Ryman loves his Uncle Sam!

 

Happy Birthday Sam!  Love you & look forward to seeing you in a few weeks :)

Valentine's at Granbury

 Patrick and I celebrated a little on Valentine's day and on his day off on Friday.  We had a delicious breakfast at home (you have to try Pioneer Woman's Cornmeal Pancakes & blackberry sauce!!) and then he surprised me with a day trip to Granbury!  Cute little lake town about an hour southwest of us outside of Fort Worth.  It was chilly and overcast, but we had a great time exploring the antique shops, warming up with some coffee and tasty BBQ dinner.  I would love to go back in the summer and enjoy the beach at the lake, but it was a perfect day at the town square of Granbury.

 

 

(Isn't this home/lakehouse beautiful?!)

(So the plan was to have an early dinner at Babe's in Granbury, but unfortunately we didn't realize they are closed until 5pm, so we ended up trying Brazo's... not Babe's but still delicious & great BBQ!)

 



Happy Valentine's Day!

Spent today with this little valentine!  We even met daddy at the central market playground for some playtime before picking up some dinner treats.

My heart is full this Valentines Day...and my belly is too :) We filled up on a tasty homemade dinner and now some Mochi, raspberries & decaf coffee with my man!  All while watching the CARDS and James Bond... nothing better!
and remember this tiny love machine last year?!

19 weeks and IT'S A...

We were able to see our precious baby yesterday!  Our youngest baby, that is.  Whenever I say "Where is my baby?" John Ryman pats his chest and says "baby".  Yes, sweet boy, you are my baby and will always be no matter how many more babies we add to our family.  Patrick usually joins me when I know I will have a sonogram.  John Ryman sits with him and loves to point out all the screens, lights and pictures of babies. 

Our baby's sensory development is exploding and might even be able to hear our voices now! 
Baby G weighs 1/2 a pound, about the size of a large heirloom tomato :) and the arms and legs are now in proportion to the rest of the body.   Absolutely amazing!  My heart hurts for any person who can see the detailed curve of a spine or four chambers of the heart beating strong and still believe that the baby is not a life.  Even John Ryman could look at the screen, seeing its arms moving and head turning, and say "baby".  Our sweet baby had both arms cuddled around its face and crossed those precious feet towards the end of the sonogram, showing off every tiny toe.  Thankfully, those legs weren't crossed the entire time so we could find out the gender!! 

While we both thought it was a girl from the beginning, we truly would have been delighted either way.  We were just ready to find out and get to know our baby a little more.  Our first prayer has always been that this baby would grow to know God, love Him and serve Him.  Our second prayer is that it would be healthy and grow into the little man or lady that God created it to be.  Some days I pictured John Ryman with a little sister- protecting and loving her- while other days I thought there could be nothing sweeter than two brothers close in age exploring life together.  I think I naturally leaned towards wanting a girl simply because we already have a son and I would love to experience being a mother to a daughter as well. 
All that to say, we were pretty anxious and ready for this Dr. appointment to arrive!

As much as we wanted to be surprised for our gender reveal party later that night, we felt like we needed to have a special family moment that morning and then have time to share with out of town family before the party.  My dear friends, Heidi and Christine, put together an adorable party "Beau or Bow" to celebrate our little baby and share the gender!  What a special day full of memories!

(all our friends marked their prediction on the board.  In the end... Girl won by 1!)

We opened a big box full of balloons to share the news- It's a GIRL!!!!

  We are ready to add lots of Pink and Bows to our house! John Ryman has been practicing saying "sister" and we are dreaming of names and designing the nursery.  Almost halfway there- can't wait to meet our precious daughter and see John Ryman as her big brother!