Happy Birthday, Ryder!

Yup, today was Ryder's 1st birthday! We actually celebrated twice-- last Friday in South Carolina with all Craig's family (other pictures of that trip to follow, I promise!), and then we had a very small party today at home, which was even shorter than planned because I lost my voice and Craig needed to try and fix our oven. It's been a crazy day!

Here are a bunch of pictures of my little 1-year-old!

Love this picture.
Love those blue eyes.
Love that blonde hair.
Love my little Ryder-Pyder.

He wasn't too sure about the pumpkin pie we tried to feed him

Contemplating his presents

He was a little overwhelmed by everything at first. I think the camera flash wasn't helping, either. He did calm down once I turned that off...

Playing with one of his new toys

And enjoying a ride on his new car

Bentley was all too eager to "help" Ryder unwrap his presents...

Finally! A picture where he's smiling!

An unconventional way to unwrap your presents

This was what happened BOTH TIMES when we put pie/cake in front of him and sang. Craig thinks maybe he's shy. Or just not used to this much attention! Poor baby...

Happy with his stacking toy from cousin Eliot (and Aunt Leah & Uncle Brian)

Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet boy! It never ceases to astound me just how much I love my little Ryder!

And Another (Glee) Thing

And while I'm obsessing about Glee in the middle of other blog posts, I may as well mention that I am officially in love with this week's mash-up of Adele's "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You." I've played it so much my kids all know it now (even Ryder likes watching it). (Bentley thought it was "Roomba Has It," though, which I thought was hysterical!)

Anyway. This song. Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. The dancing, the singing (I don't always care for Santana's voice, but she rocked this one), even the dresses... It is all things fabulous.

The end.

Are You Sure You Aren't Just a Loser?

I'm perfectly happy to admit that I really like the song "Firework" by Katy Perry. (Even better is Lea Michele's version of it on Glee. But now that I'm saying that, I have to go off on a major tangent as I point out that every version of everything is better on Glee. Of the hundreds of songs they have performed so far, only two were not improvements on the original-- U2's "One" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." And they still did a great job, I just prefer the original artists' versions. But for everything else, it's Glee all the way. Anyway, back to my actual post...)

But I sort of don't buy the message in "Firework." I mean, the whole point of the song seems to be, "Maybe things suck right now, but when the moment is right, you'll show everyone how awesome you are and it will be okay." And I like that message-- it's inspiring enough for me, considering it came from a pop song. But then I imagine any of the I'm-going-to-live-in-my-parent's-basement-indefinitely-because-I-think-I'm-too-good-for-any-of-the-jobs-I'm-actually-qualified-for (most of whom just finished Occupying some city or other) generation Y type listening to this song and feeling awesome about themselves and I want to turn it off, sit them down, and explain to them that, No, you aren't a firework. Grow up already and do something with your life. Katy Perry was talking about someone else.*

Maybe you should have to prove that you're a productive member of society before being allowed to listen to this song or something.

Anyway, the more I thought about this, the more it hit me that I really know how to take the fun out of a song, don't I?

On a more humorous note, have you seen the Divine Comedy version, "Firebolt?" It's really only for you Harry Potter fans out there. But if you're not a Harry Potter fan, you probably have no business reading my blog, anyway. Check it out! Now!




*Just for the record, if you're reading this, you don't count as one of those people. I promise.

And you thought I posted a lot of pictures before!

Did I mention that my brother-in-law, Brian, is a photographer? In fact, one of my favorite photos that he took is hanging in my dining room! And did I also mention that he was here this week? So would you care to guess just how many pictures he took? Not nearly enough, actually. But it was still a lot. And even with all the shots he got, I'm afraid kids in the 5-and-under crowd are a tough bunch. But still. He took a lot of pictures. Tons. And I'm going to only share my favorites here. But it's still a lot.

You have my permission to scroll through these quickly, if you would prefer. But there really are some gems in here. And some pretty funny shots, too, actually.

Enjoy!

Aunt Tracy with Eliot (who was enjoying a pants-free day. Um, Eliot was, not Aunt Tracy!)

Sister Shot

Do NOT mess with Buzz Lightyear.

Samuel demonstrates his wand skills

It's not often I get a decent picture of myself!

Bentley the goofball. I love that you can barely tell how wide open his mouth is. And Ryder just puts up with it.

Despite the random pillow, I'm pretty sure this picture captures Bentley's personality exactly.

Love this.

Cute Caleb. I used to suck those same fingers!

I love that Eliot is in focus here as he desperately tries to get back to his mommy!

And I love Bentley's look of utter annoyance here.

Now, Bentley looks like he's making up his mind to never have children. Ever.
And can you blame him?

Samuel is always excited to play with Bentley's Buzz Lightyear toy...

Trying to do something with Kendra's hair.

Natalie is already making sure her kids love dinosaurs

Ryder isn't sure how he feels about getting hugs from Kendra

Caleb and Eliot plot to shake down the baby gate together

Who doesn't love a trip to Kidwell Farm?