#1 Grandson..Ryker

I was told the other day that I haven't posted any recent photos of my #1 grandson...Ryker. So Fonda here's a few photos of him. I need to learn how to post video too. I have one of him laughing at Allen on my Iphone. I will try my best to post it soon. He's down for the count...well, just as long as you don't count too high. He takes lots of little catnaps. Looks like he is shaking his fist and yelling at the TV. He will make a great arm chair quarterback one of these days. He's only about 6 weeks old in this picture. He looks bigger than he actually is but to me he has grown quite a bite since he was born. He is now around 10 pounds and 21" long. He is moving around a lot these days. I don't remember the girls moving this much as such a young age. He won't be 3 months old until the middle of April and you already have to watch him like a hawk. He kicks so much that he will be off the sofa in a heartbeat. No more leaving him on the sofa while you throw a dirty diaper away. If he can get his hands and knees going in the same direction, there will be no catching up with him. Looks like he is picking his nose but he is reaching out to his momma. I've got to say, Allen and I are having a blast with him. He comes to our house every Sunday afternoon to seee us. The first Sunday he came to see us, he was a little fussy but now we are having a wonderful time with him. He loves to watch cartoons as long as they are very colorful, which most are, and there is a lot of action. We keep him about 6 hours then we return him to his mom and Colby at Sears.

Kristen's wedding

Recently a very good friend of Brittany's got married. It was a very lovely wedding at her Aunt's house on the bayou. Above is a picture of Brittany (maid of honor) and the best man, Evan. Brittany looks absolutely breathtaking in her maid of honor dress. In case some of you are wondering, yes Brittany has lost some weight recently. Here is a picture of the bride, Kristen, and Brittany. Kristen was very beautiful in her wedding gown. The whole event was about family. We've known Kristen and her family since she and Brittany were in elementary school together. It's almost like my own daughter getting married except I didn't have to pay or try to organize this one. Much better this way. ha ha

twenty thousand leagues under the sea!!!

Hello everyone, its been awhile since we have posted an update on the aquarium. Its been a work in progress and Rita and I think it is going very well. Here are some new pictures to look at. This one a full view of the aquarium so you can see all the things that are going on in this miniature world.
Just another shot of the aquarium full view. In this shot you can see that our tree to the right has grown to be quite large and still growing. You can also see cinnamon our clown fish.
In this shot you can see some of the many different kinds of coral that we have living in our aquarium. It is so fascinating to watch it grow and we always have starfish somewhere in it too.
This shot as you can see of our tree once again up close. Also the rocks have many colors of algae growing on them.
I hope you have enjoyed taking a cruise thru this virtual world of undersea adventure. We also are fixing to do another aquarium that is going to be twice as big as this one. Yes we will have two! Future pictures to come.

Ryker is Here

Sorry it has taken so long to post the first pictures of Ryker, but things have been pretty hectic since his arrival on January 13, 2011. This is a picture when he was first born. Those are my hands shielding his little eyes. The light was way too bright. He wasn't in any hurry to be born. Even though he was a C-section the doctor still had to use forceps on him. He kept going back in while she kept trying to scoop him out.
Here he is being weighed and measured. He weighed 6 pounds even and was 18 1/2" long. He looked like a living baby doll.
He was very alert from the moment he was born. He stayed awake for about an hour or so after he was born. I'm sure Allen and I looked stupid talking to him through the glass but we didn't care.
Ryker has hip dysplasia. The ball of his hip won't stay in the joint. This is due to his feet being up by this head through most of the pregnancy. He has to wear the harness for about 3 weeks and then the doctor should be able to take it off. He goes back to the doctor on Feb 4 to see if he can take it off.
PawPaw and Ryker.
Grammie and Ryker

Great Great Grandma and Ryker. This is Allen's grandmother. Great Great Grandpa wouldn't hold him because he thought he might drop him. We are very blessed to have them in our lives. A lot of people don't even have their grandparents anymore much less their Great Great.
Here is my little man in his boppy. He is only 2 weeks old in this picture. He went for his 2 week check up yesterday and the doctor said he was doing great. He now weighs 6# 8 oz. The doctor said that usually they only gain their birth weight back by their 2 week check up. Ryker gained that plus 8 oz. He said Paige must be producing half and half instead of just milk.

We are enjoying Ryker very much. Will try to post more pictures soon.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Well we got our first mini ice storm yesterday. The roads are fine and the mini storm didn't knock out any electricity so I chalk it up to a good storm. Allen started a fire for me and we sat and watch the fire and little TV. It even snowed just a little bit.

We also helped Paige and Colby put down new floors in their living room. She wanted to rip up the carpet before the baby arrived. Colby had most of the flooring down Allen just help with the tedious outside pieces. A LOT of cutting. I guess tonight we will go back over there and Colby put the funiture back in the living room.

Baby Ryker will be here Thursday!! Please continue to pray for Paige and the baby. So far everything is good. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I know some ladies out there do not even want to acknowledge they have birthday's anymore much less celebrate them. Thank goodness I'm not one of them or else I would have missed an amazing birthday dinner. My birthday was November 18 so I'm a little late in posting this but at my age, better late than never.

Allen, Brittany, Paige and Colby decided to take me somewhere special for my 45th birthday. It was a surprise so I didn't know what to expect. I was told to dress casual and be ready by 3 p.m. We all loaded up in the car and headed east on I-20. At first I thought Allen was going to take me to a little Mexican restuarant that we found in Winnsboro, LA. Nothing fancy but GREAT food. Well, Winnsboro came and went and we were still driving. Then I thought maybe he was taking me to St. Francisville to the Ox Bow but then dismissed that idea because he said to dress casual. They like business casual not blue jean casual so I knew that was out.

As we kept driving I was racking by brain trying to figure out where he was taking me. Finally, a sign...Welcome to Mississippi. Then I knew....King's Tavern. I couldn't wait for the bread pudding. Paige even tried and liked it. She said she doesn't like bread pudding but really liked theirs.

I found this little place back in the summer when we took Brittany to look at old Antebellum/Colonial houses in Natchez, MS for her birthday. It is a little hole in the wall but the food is wonderful. You can go to your web browser and type in King's Tavern Natchez, MS and read about the history of this wonderful little restaurant. It was built in the 1700's and his been several things over the centuries. They found 3 skeletons in the fireplace back in the 1930's. One is believed to be the original owner's mistress. Suppossedly, his wife found out about the affair and stabbed her with a jeweled dagger. They think the other 2 people may have helped her hide the body and then she killed them.

After dinner Allen and the kids gave me my present. A kindle. I have really enjoyed it. My only problem is watching how much I spend in buying the books. I could go broke as I'm an avid reader.

Thanks Allen, girls, and Colby for a wonderful birthday!!!

It's Official....

Allen and I are alone in the house for the first time in 25 years. We have been alone a total of 10 months and 3 days in out entire marriage. Paige was born 10 months and 1 day after we were married.

Brittany and Scooter moved out Saturday. It was so nice to clean the house once and it stay clean all day long. I had heard of people doing this but didn't believe it until I saw it for myself Sunday. I half expect to come home this afternoon to find a shoe or a piece of dirty laundry in the living room. Scooter was notorious for bringing stuff in the living room while we were away at work.

After Brittany cleaned out her room and moved everything to her new house that she will be sharing with a friend in the GAP band, she helped me move Paige's bed and the baby bed into her old room. Now Paige and Ryker will have tons of room when they come to stay with us for the first 2 weeks of his life. As of this Thursday it will be 5 weeks and counting down. I'm a little excited if you couldn't tell.

By Sunday I was still so excited about having the house to ourselves that I went out to the shed to get the Christmas decortions. Allen helped me put out a few things and with a wave of my magic wand and help from my little elf, the house is ready for Chrismas this year. I have a few more things to get but basically I'm ready for Christmas.

Who knew moving your last child out would give someone this much energy!?!?! If I had known I would have this much energy I would have kicked her out years ago. Just kidding Britt.

Rita and Allen