Reunion at the Farm

Saturday we headed out to Grandma & Grandpa Williams' farm in Mt. Calm for the Williams Family Reunion. Ryder had a very exciting day - he got to sit on the big tractor!



Paisley & the Aunties.

showing off his new kicks! so cool.

and the sunglasses he got on the treasure hunt (he wore them today in the backyard as well!)


Grandpa pulling Ryder on the wagon, in the car!

Glad we were able to be there and Ryder sure did have a fun day!

7 months!

Paisley was 7 months yesterday.



She had a bit of a rough week last week with her first ear infection. But after the first day of antibiotics she was back to her happy self. (Still wanted to sleep with Mommy all week to let me know she wasn't feeling well, but otherwise happy!) She's barely 15 pounds and still in a size one shoe and STILL isn't interested in baby foods at all, but growing and changing daily. We love this sweet little one!

Texas Bluebonnets!

It's bluebonnet season in Texas, and for those who don't know (only my non-texan readers that is) it's the time of year our state flower blooms and where ever they are you will find children running and parents chasing begging for them to sit for 5 seconds to get their yearly photo. It only last a couple weeks depending on the weather, so off we went last Saturday to take our turn. I had high hopes. They had both just woken up from long naps, the weather was perfect, the sun was setting, we had a perfect spot picked out and they were dressed and clean. If you've seem our constant attempts at a family portrait in recent post you'll understand that this was no different. All I wanted was one picture of my 2 beautiful children sitting in the bluebonnets looking in the genral direction of the camera. One day I will appreciate these very candid photos that we captured. ;)
THIS is pretty much how it all went - Ryder wouldn't sit down & Paisley was very interested in the ground...

yes, I picked one for him to hold, I know it's against the law.




Well, the flowers were beautiful anyway. maybe next year...haha.

Easter!

So this is the last of my blogs about our big Easter weekend. {It's taken me all week to get this done -that's how we've been playing catch up.} We were lucky to be able to fit this all into one weekend and so happy to spend Easter with our family this year. I can't remember the last time we did. We went to church with my parents and afterward there was an Easter egg hunt. Ryder knew exactly what to do. I don't think he really even knew or cared that anything was in the eggs but he did go after them, pick them up, then drop them or the whole basket, and repeat. Here he is waiting to GO!

my sweet Paisley girl, just taking it all in.

His "surprised" face.


not sure what he's doing, "quacking," maybe?!?

with my little easter bunnies!

proof that I still wear HIGH heels... even while egg hunting ;)

We went to have lunch with Mimi & Poppy & the grandmothers. Ryder's helping:

Paisley & Grandma

And with Grandmommie

lunch together.

Then we headed to the egg hunt with Daniel's family. Their egg hunt is serious business. It's what I like to call "all-terrain!" It was starting to drizzle by this point, but Ryder & Tyler didn't seem to care!

Where are the Eggs?

Paisley & Grammy!

And with Auntie Sarah


Pause from the hunt to hug Grandpa - so sweet.


With the Aunties Rachel & Sarah! Ryder did NOT want to sit.

Paisley & Nana

And a we try for a family pic again... 3rd day in a row.


It was a good Easter. Glad to spend it with our loved-ones. The weekend was busy & hectic, but great and worth it all.
Headed back... this was just after we'd gotten on the highway!

Ryder's 2nd Birthday!

Ryder's 2nd Birthday party... Elmo Extravaganza!
Yes, due to the recent obsession, we gave in to the little furry guy and had an all out Elmo party. We got to have Ryder's party with family on his actual birthday. I don't think we can say it enough, but we are SO grateful to our family & friends for loving our little ones and celebrating their life with us like they do!! We had at one point over 40 people there. This year, Ryder was not afraid (like he was last year), he was in his element- bouncing, playing with cousins, hugging & blowing kisses to the grandmothers! I didn't get pics of all the decorations, but here are a few.

his cute little invite below

our greeter :)

The cake. Yes, I did an Elmo cake. Was a little stressful when after adding much coloring elmo was 'salmon' colored! It turned out cute though:


As soon as the cousins arrived they headed out to BOUNCE!


Ryder & Trapper doing a little jigg I guess.



sweet baby Cash!

friends. katey, melissa, michelle

Paisley was passed around all afternoon, here she was relaxing with Grandma Williams.

Cooper with his "joker" face... fruit punch anyone?!?


CAKE time! Again, we attempted a family shot. Everyone was wondering why Ryder was screaming during the cake... I'd placed the Elmo hat on his head and he was pulling at the tight rubberband like string that holds it on. I said, "Don't pull that it's gonna pop you..." And what does he do? Pulls it as hard as possible and popped himself in the cheek, and thus the picture below:

A little better, a candle is lit...


What's funny is about half way through cutting the cake Ryder realized that half of Elmo's face was now missing and looked down, pointing to half eaten Elmo and said, "Uh Oh, Mommy, Uh Oh!"

Giving High Fives!

And they're off! We were attempting to sit them down to take a picture! Ryder's 3 cousins all within 5 months of each other (Tyler, Ryder, Cooper, Trapper) all played together and are at such a CUTE age together!

Pinata! We gave them all a few swings, then helped it along. I don't think Ryder had any idea why we were hitting the poor thing!! Tyler attempting...

Ryder - hitting it like a drum!


Presents! The kid made a haul again. Checkin out his lawnmower.

A wagon!

cooking stuff from Mimi of course.

Super cool new bedding for his bog boy bed from Grammy & Grandpa!

And he's cooking in the wagon. why not?

He got lots of Elmo stuff, new summer clothes and swim stuff, a pool, a tryke, new books - all kinds of fun toys! Couldn't be a happier little 2 YEAR OLD!