I No Like Sand!

Ryder I am
I am Ry Ry

That Ry, Ry, that Ry, Ry
I do so love that Ry, Ry!

Do you like sand wet or dry?

I no like sand wet or dry, I no like sand, I'm that Ry Ry.

Would you like it here or there?
I would not like it here or there. I would not like it anywhere. I no like sand wet or dry. I no like sand, I am that Ry-Ry.

Would you like sand with Mama?
Would you like sand with a llama?

I would not like sand with Mama, and I could not like sand with a llama. I would not like sand here or there. I would not like sand wet or dry. I no like sand, I am that Ry-Ry.

Would you like it with Jonie?
Would you like it while eating macaroni?

Not eating macaroni, and not with Jonie. I no like sand wet or dry. I do not like it, I am that Ry-Ry.

Would you like sand with Joe? Would you like it, yes or no?
No, no, not with Jonie, and not with Joe. I no like sand, I say no!

Does the sand make you sad?
Maybe you would like it with Dad?

Oh, the sand makes me sad. I couldn't like it even with my Dad.


Car, Car likes sand, and Oh Wow does too.
Would you like sand if Papa plays with you?

Not with Car, Car, Not with Oh wow,
Not even with Aprilia if she said bow wow wow

Papa will play with me, but not in the sand
Papa will play with me on solid land


So you don't like sand, not at all, you don't like sand wet or dry?
NO! I don't like sand wet or dry, I no like sand, I am that Ry Ry!

You don't like sand, so you say,
Try it, Try it, and you may,
Try it and you may I say...




Yeah, well, that didn't work either, Dr. Seuss. The conclusion of the matter this year was Ryder "no likes sand." He did, however, learn to tolerate it with the help of the magic shoes Gigi had gotten him from the dollar store :) Camden and Carter, however, loved it. More pictures and posts later. This post inspired by one of Ryder's favorite books "Green Eggs and Ham" and just for fun! So now, we will be waiting for ryder to like playing in the sand!

Only Sweet, Nice, Cute, Well-Mannered and Polite Pirates Allowed Here!

No pink. No lace. No flowers. All BOY stuff. I was so sure I was having a girl. that from the time we knew we were having a baby until the very day of my ultrasound, I called my baby Ella. I went looking for her furniture with Jonie at Children's Fair in Chattanooga, and I loved the set that had subtle flowers along the edges. I also found the most beautiful light pink and white and lace (and impractical and expensive) bedding called "Ella" in one of the beds. It just never really occurred to me that I could REALLY have a boy.

It didn't take long to get excited about a little boy that I was sure would look just like Cody (I'm not a very perceptive mother-to-be, since although some people say that my not Ella child looks just like his daddy, he does have my blonde hair and blue eyes). But this BOY room was hard to get excited about. Even though I love baseball, sports, trucks, and tractors can really only be so cute, right? I knew I wanted his room to be blue, and I love animals, so I decided I would decorate with Safari animals, specifically lions. Unfortunately, no one else important, and by important I mean the makers of baby bedding, thought a blue themed lion bedding was such a great idea. I could find safari bedding in green and yellow, or featuring elephants, but not what I had in mind. I am no decorator, no party planner, but I had my heart set on this non existent bedding.

Now totally focusing on boyness, Cody and I went shopping for bedroom furniture, and I had not even mentioned the beautiful convertible crib, armoire, and changing table with the flowers. We found some that we liked and we looked at different bedding. We hadn't decided on anything when we went to Children's Fair and looked. Cody (who cares little about furniture) stops in front of the most beautiful armoire with subtly engraved flowers, and says, "It looks like this could take you to Narnia. This is my favorite." It was the furniture I had LOVED for Ella, and I was so excited that I could also LOVE it for Ryder! After many attempts to convince ourselves to be practical and buy a nursery set that was on sale and that was still really, very pretty ( but one we could never love after the Narnia flowers),we gave in and bought the Narnia flowers (not the official name of the furniture, by the way :) Cody also saw the Pirate bedding that I had told him about, and he really liked it. It was not lions, but it was pieced with beautiful blues and reds, polka dots, and swirls, and sweet little child pirates with birds and a boat, and I soon fell in love with it.

Camden (and now Carter) had a beautiful nursery, with sophisticated blues and browns, and whimsical little monkeys, and Jonie made the comment one day, "How funny that we used monkeys and Camden is a little monkey that just climbs everywhere." Sweet and funny for her, but what about my son and his room full of pirates! Was I predicting Ryder-the-pirate's future to pillage and plunder and to exhibit all manners of not sweet and niceness because of my son's nursery theme? I am mostly reasonable, so I think not, but just in case, I have a disclaimer for my beautiful boy's room that says, "Only sweet, nice, well mannered and polite pirates allowed in here." I spend time waitingforryder as we play with trucks, and balls, and trakTORs in this boy pirate room, and I think it may be just as cute and whimsical as unicorns and pink flowers.
(It also turns out the lion theme was not all lost as I found this noble lion to befriend my cute, sweet, well-mannered and polite pirates! :)

Pictures: (1) Ryder's room in Columbia. Papa Bear painted a palm tree and got a parrot for the wall, and Gigi made his curtains. (2) Ryder reading "That's not my Pirate" given to him by his friends Wesley and Denise. (3) Taylor Gobble holding Ryder at the filming of American Idol tryouts for the teen spring formal. (4) Ryder and Camden searching under his bed for no telling what kind of hidden treasures. (5) Camden with "Pengy" and Ryder with Lion sitting still momentarily for a picture.

One Book, Then Night Night

No more rocking the baby to sleep, although sometimes he will now ask to rock and "sing song," and often request the song he wants to sing, and usually sing along.

No more tiptoeing up the stairs carrying a swaddled baby as carefully as a wrapped bundle of dynamite, for fear of explosion when peace is so desperately needed, although sometimes I still carry Ryder in feeted pajamas up the stairs, even though he can walk up them on his own.

No more laying the baby down to hear him crying all alone in his big room while I listen and then worry when he stops crying that something is wrong, although sometimes when I lay him down, I will sit and listen to his night time conversations via the baby monitor.

Now, my most favorite night time ritual of all, in Ryder's words, is "One book, then night night." But Ryder knows his momma, and he knows that "one book" can easily turn into several because as long as he's sitting in my lap, finishing the lines, and asking for another book to be read, his momma is going to read to him. And no matter how late it is, how many books we have already read, or how tired momma is, Ryder knows I can't refuse reading my favorite book to him, and he will ask "Read 'Llama, Llama' Momma?" And then Ryder gets two kisses from his momma before saying prayers and going to sleep.

Ryder's current favorites:
Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Green Eggs and Ham (he calls this one Sam :) By Dr. Seuss
Great Day for UP by Dr. Seuss
Cool Time Song by Carole Lexa Schaefer
I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
Good Night, Sweet Butterflies
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Doggies by Sandra Boynton

Books, to the reading child,are so much more than books--they are dreams and knowledge, they are a future and a past.
-Esther Maynell 1940

Happy is he who has laid up in his youth, and held fast in all fortune, a genuine and passionate love of reading.
-Rufus Choate

Blessed,and Blessed, and Blessed Again

Supper with Ryder:

1. We FINALLY are all seated at the table, with plates of food, drinks, eating utensils, napkins, and all necessary sauces.
2. Ryder: "Got to Praaay."
3. Daddy: "Yes, do you want to say the prayer."
4. Ryder: "Uh-huh; I put my poon right here" and he lays his spoon on the table.
5. Begins prayer: "Oh (or Heavenly? not really sure) Father, thank you (words left to be interpreted by the Holy Spirit) food (more words) Amen.
6. Mommy and Daddy praise Ryder for saying the prayer, and everyone takes a bite.
7. Ryder puts down spoon, "Got to praaay," and he folds his hands up close to his eyes and prays again.
8. Mommy and Daddy laugh at their sweet little boy.
9. Another bite.
10. Yes, you guessed it, another prayer : )

Our humble hamburger helper was the most blessed of all meals. And it's not like you can tell your almost two year old that you've prayed ENOUGH, so we bow our heads and are so thankful to be waiting for Ryder as he blesses our meal and our lives again, and again, and again.

What's in a name?

I was very pregnant: Huge feet that look like cabbage patch dolls-you know, puffy, round, with a few stitches to define toes; having to wake up and move yourself just to turn over in bed; not realizing you won't fit through the aisle because of the massive belly that precedes you everywhere...I had a great pregnancy, but even a great pregnancy is anything but comfortable :)

I was living in Columbia, away from friends and family. I was happy, but I missed Murfreesboro and Cleveland, and I was not finding a great love for living in Columbia. Misery (other than general puffy feet/can't sleep/need help getting out of a seat misery that goes along with even the best of pregnancies) was prevented by my wonderful husband, my almost perfect dog, Cody's amazing parents, Lucas and Lana, and the church at North View.

I no longer had an email address. My friends were scattered, my physical activity more laughable than usual, and I had to make up my own email address. I sat at the computer, and typed. No stress on coming up with a fun, witty name, I use Aprilia. Beautiful and uncommon, it was perfect, and apparently, someone else thought so, too. So as I tried several different versions, and none of them worked, I knew what I was doing. Making an email address, going to the grocery store, making a trip to Cleveland, no matter what I was doing, I was always, always waiting for Ryder. And although the username of Ryder was taken in various forms, no one else seemed to be waiting for him like I was.

I was so proud of my email address, and sent Denise an email, which is I'm sure, who pushed me to create a new one in the first place. Well, Denise and Cody, who I'm sure was tired of me using his. And she says "Oh no! You're not going to be pregnant forever, how did you make that your email?"

But I am. I waited for Ryder to be born. I waited for him to start sleeping through the night. I waited for him to start taking food that my body did not have to manufacture. I waited for him to speak, to walk, to hug me first, and I will forever be waiting for the next smile, his newest quirk, his first morning words because I am so blessed to be Ryder's mother and spend my days waiting for Ryder.

Climbing on Donna's Bandwagon

One of the teachers I worked with at Blackman and admire greatly for her forthrightness, wit, storytelling abilities, and efficiency started a blog this summer, which I was more than happy to read. In July, Donna encouraged everyone to start a blog. It is now August, and I am attempting to climb on the blogging bandwagon, but I am a very slow climber. I have almost backed out countless times simply because of the fear of the technology, and the mental stress that I know important decisions such as font color or type will cause me. However, with Donna as my fearless blog leader, I will press on, but I will sit on the back of the bandwagon for now, so I can jump off if this technological world of fonts and color and words and pictures overwhelm me, and return to my life of refusing to eat green eggs and ham, or trying to stop all this llama drama, as I spend my days waitingforRyder.