Monday, August 31, 2015

Weekend Highlights and August's Favorite Finds




Our weekend was bu-sy! Saturday morning we got together with our "family breakfast" group and Steph and Dustin let all of our kiddos run a muck around their house while the adults multi-tasked between catching up on life and preventing injury from seven kiddos under 3 all playing together in one space. And the newest little angel, Nora Jane, got to join us at just 4 days old! Sweet baby. Brave mama. ;)


Saturday night, we celebrated my brother-in-law's 40th birthday with a big party at my sister's house, and then took her boys home for a sleepover at our house. They wanted to sleep in Ryan's room and have a slumber party- sweet loves- so we blew up an air mattress and that's just what they did. Ryan woke up at 5:45 ready to party when he saw them in his room, but they didn't care one bit. Love those boys!



Then we all headed to church and the met up with Matt's parents there. Ryan was wanting to work on his walking. Time to get this boy some shoes! :)



Back home we had lunch and watched a little movie to wind down from our early start to the day.



Now on to this month's:



Loft's 50% off Tops Sale
I love a good Loft sale. I stocked up a few weeks ago on some new tops and now they're running the same sale again online with a $25 cash card for every $50. These four tops are $15 each. You can check out the rest of the flash sale here.

dots top here, peach top here

black top here, cream top here


Southern Living Magazine


My mom surprised me with a subscription to Southern Living last year and I have loved getting it in the mail every month. It's full of yummy recipes, vacation ideas, and pictures of houses I one day want to live in. I also feel like getting this magazine somehow makes me a real southerner and officially an adult. And please look at that cake. Yum. Fall cannot get here soon enough.


Trader Joe's Salad and Crackers



These are my two new Trader Joe's obsessions. This all-in-one salad solves my problem of feeling like prepping a salad along with dinner is just too much work for a little side or appetizer. And it is great for lunch too! The toppings and dressing are delish... although I'm not a bleu cheese lover, so I switch that part out for feta. And those crackers. MmmMmm. Just try them. They are SO good!

Blake Shelton Radio


This is my go-to cooking in the kitchen station on Pandora. I haven't heard a single song of his I don't love. Anytime a new song comes on and I look at the screen to see who it is, it almost always ends up being one of his from years ago. Love his music and the other songs that play on his station.


Melissa & Doug Stackable ABC Blocks
Ryan got these stackable blocks for his birthday and they are one of his favorite toys! Mine too because the all fit back in that tiny box. :) Such a great gift for a toddler! You can find them here.

Mary Kay Volu-firm Cleanser & Clarisonic Mia


I love this relatively new MK cleanser. The littlest bit goes a long way. This picture is after I used my Mia and there's still so much soap left on my face. It lathers well and makes my skin feel clean and soft. And y'all know I love my Mia. It's like an elecronic toothbrush for your face- it cleans it so well in just one minute. You can find the cleanser here and the Mia here. Or, you can email me {notesftn@gmail.com} and I can order the cleanser for you.

That's it for this month's favorite finds! I'll be back tomorrow to share my goals for September. Hope you guys have a great week!

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Friday, August 28, 2015

Ryan- 13 Months!


I know I've mentioned this a few times on here, but these monthly posts are my baby book for Ryan. Yes, I could type them in an email or just keep an actual baby book, but I feel like I have this organized system with all of his pictures and memories in one place- which happens to be this space- so that's how I'm gonna keep it going. I say that to say this is not my way of sharing, "Look at what my kid is doing!" or in other cases my way of making you feel better about what yours is doing that mine isn't yet. ;) So while most of the posts I share on here are for other people to read, these are mainly intended for us and our families who delight in all these silly details. :)

That being said, read on if you like, or come back next week for my Favorite Finds post of Monday, Goals post on Tuesday, and some updates on what we've been up to lately. 


Ryan is 13 months today! This month has been full of steps, babbles, and tons of fun. He "talks" constantly at home and points at things as he babbles as if he's communicating a completely clear conversation with me. It is the cutest!

Yesterday morning, we actually had our first "conversation" and Matt and I about died laughing after it happened. He and Ryan were sitting at the table eating breakfast while I was getting a few more things for Ryan's tray. So I figured I would ask him what he was wanting:
Me: "Ryan" (pause)
Ryan: "Yes!" 
Me: "Would you rather have more strawberries or a waffle?"
Ryan: "Waff!"

Hahahah. He has never responded to me calling his name. I almost always start a question to him with his name without really thinking about it, but this was the first time he quickly responded as if he was answering me calling  his name. And it was also the first time he ever said "waffle" so the whole thing was quite hilarious to us. I said to Matt, "I'm pretty sure that was just our first conversation." Such a sweet little memory!

He's also picked up on Matt's routine of leaving in the morning to go to work, so now whenever Matt walks out of the bedroom in his work clothes (Ryan is usually in his seat eating breakfast... side note- the boy eats for a full 30-45 minutes most mornings- he loves meal time), Ryan right away says, "Bye BYE, Bye BYE" always with the emphasis on the second "bye." Matt and I laugh that it sounds like Ryan's rushing him out the door, but it is neat to us that he's picking up on the routine.

We've also noticed him becoming quite the little parrot this month. He will try to repeat just about anything we say. And if it's too complicated for him, he'll stare at us for a minute and then respond with a string of gibberish and usually some pointing. Oh the pointing. It's pretty great.

Here are a few other highlights and things we are loving these days:

  • The way he says "YES!" in a high-pitched squeaky voice when we ask if he wants to do something (particularly EAT... he loves to eat). :) And as we're lowering him in the high chair, he will often times repeat the word "yes" over and over again which is just hilarious. I'm pretty sure food is his love language.
  • I've noticed recently that he whispers his gibberish when we move into a room where the lights are off. I guess he has picked up on me using a softer voice when we're heading to bed or early in the morning when it's usually darker?! Who knows, but it is pretty stinking cute. :)
  • The way he recently started saying "WOP" for "walk"
  • How he discovered that he can open Tally's treat cabinet and feed him a treat all by himself- and while Matt and I usually break his bones into at least 5 different pieces, Ryan just gives him an entire bone.
  • The way he says, "Dat!" (that) or "Dis!" (this) and points to what he wants to eat or play with- I guess I've been saying that to him without even realizing it- "You want this? Are you pointing to that?"
  • The way he gets so excited about nursing still. I had planned to ween him around a year, but that will not be happening as of yet since it seems to be such a highlight in his day. I'm talking he starts clapping when it's time to nurse. Little love.
  • The way he focuses so hard when he's stacking one "bock" (block) on top of another or trying to fit the smaller ones inside the larger ones. He usually gets two blocks on top of each other and almost always knocks them over accidentally when he's trying to stack the third. So much concentration to make that goal happen. The other day he managed to get four on top of each other when Matt and I were playing with him in the living room and he sat back and look at us with this face that said, "You see that? I did that." Sweet love!
  • How he seemingly out of nowhere starting walking on August 19th. He had taken a maximum of two steps at various times as he moved toward something, but on this day, he stood himself up and just started walking toward me. The best part was that we were at Barnes and Noble for storytime with a friend of ours who was in the middle of asking me if Ryan had started walking yet. And as I was telling her, "No, not really... he seems to be pretty content with crawling for now..." he started walking toward me. Ha! It was like he heard me and wanted to say, "Mom, I can do this actually, I just don't feel like it all the time." Since then he's really hit or miss on whether he'll walk instead crawl. He is a MUCH faster crawler, which is certainly his preference, so I don't think I'd really say he is walking yet, but he'll show you he can when he's in the mood. ;)
  • When he does feel like walking, sometimes he'll grab my hand or finger and start pulling me in the direction he wants to go. Or if I'm sitting on the floor with him he'll come take my finger and lift it up in the air like, "Come on mom, hope up- I want to go this way." :)
  • He started playing peek-a-boo by covering his ears instead of his eyes. hahah, I'm not sure why exactly, but it's pretty hilarious.
  • The way he says "hi" to random people when we're in the grocery store and occasionally will say "bye bye" when I feel like he's trying to communicate he's done with us talking to someone. HA!
  • He loves, loves, loves to dance and will bounce backwards on his bottom if a song comes on and he's sitting on the floor, or will start waving his hands in the air and turning his head side to side if we're in the car. Melts my heart every time.
  • Earlier this month, Matt and I were giving him a bath and letting him play when he suddenly started "backing it up" in the tub. So Matt and I proceeded to start rapping a song we made up on the spot "back, back, back it up, back it up" over and over as Ryan scooted all around the tub. At one point, he took the toothbrush he had in his hand and threw it down in the tub so that he could "snap" his fingers to the beat. And we died. I'm not sure what was funnier- Ryan's awkward dance moves, or me and Matt rapping to keep the moves coming. And now I'm thinking this should go on next month's confessions post.
  • He's quite aware of things that are "yut" (yuck) on the floor or on the ground outside when we're playing. That doesn't keep him from then putting them in his mouth, but at least we're making progress on identifying the "yut" things?!
  • He started saying "Nah-na" (Nonna) and "Gigi" this month for my mom and sister and just the other night said, "Mimi" too! Our parents and my sister were excited about that! Now we just need to work on Aunt KK (Matt's sister)- that's a tricky one!
  • He started calling himself "RyRy" and will point to himself (sometimes) when he says it. We've never even called him RyRy so it's so cute that that's what he calls himself!
  • I put a few of his foam letters in the bath tub with him recently (A, B, C and 1, 2, 3 and R) and when we're playing I'll stick the "R" on the tub and say "R is for Ryan!" ...so now he'll pick up any of the letters or numbers and say, "RyRy, RyRy, RyRy." Hahah, sweet love!
  • He has started this shy but happy reaction when he gets excited to see someone and turns both of his hands in, knocks his wrists together, and tilts his head down with a big cheesy grin.
  • When Matt gets home from work, Ryan crawls over to him, gets up in his arms, and immediately points back to our bedroom and says, "Ba Ba Ba" for "bed." They have started this little routine of flipping over on the bed and rolling around in the "storm" of the sheets and Ryan just cackles away as the sheets and comforter knock him over. Tally usually lays on the end of the bed while they do it with a big grin on his face. It's a small moment that I'm loving in this stage and want to freeze in my memory.

Here are some pictures from the past month!

First Atlanta Aquarium Trip

His new favorite place to hang :)

My cleaning helper... of sorts

Play hard, sleep hard

Swinging at Mimi's!

Ryan's first batch of banana bread!

First haircut

Playing outside and climbing the steps

Meal time!!!

Drinking his milk and watching a little show before nap- when did he get so big?!

Cooking in the kitchen with his buddy Reynolds :)

and going for a ride in the red car- he somehow got the best end of this little caravan!

First birthday party!

Two buddies at the park

Snuggles with Mimi at the pool

He loves to look at his books before he falls asleep, and this day he didn't leave much space for himself! 

Partners in crime ;)

Yeah, so this happened. He was seconds ahead of me crawling into the kitchen, yet somehow got all the way up before I got there. So I took a picture (of course) and decided he won't be getting anymore head starts into the kitchen. :)

impromptu yogurt date with my boy one hot afternoon- he was much more thrilled about the trip than this picture shows, hah

Watching the rain with daddy... and Tal. Oh Tal.
We took advantage of a diaper sale at Target and Ryan was super pumped about the savings. ;)

Diaper boxes make the best toys.

Zoo!

Visiting Aunt GG at school on her birthday

Bang bang bang on the bathtub walls. And that baby hiney. I love a nakey baby hiney!

Getting a treat for Tal- his new favorite activity. I think Tal likes it too. :)

Burger 21 for lunch!

Exploring a new hiking trail

Oh the way he snuggles in tight with his blanky... love

Playing with the "wa wa" table after a "wop"

Brothers in the back seat :)

First train ride at the zoo- before, during, and after. Sweet boo didn't want to get off!

First carousel ride at the zoo. Even though the pictures don't look like it, he loved it!



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