Four Ladies and a Baby!

This weekend was a fun, HILARIOUS weekend with a few of my girlfriends and Ryan! If you know my friends, they are seriously some of the FUNNIEST people I've ever met. I say this all the time, but I could honestly sit in a jail cell with them and just laugh the whole time.

It was nice having a male around to do the heavy lifting, pack the car, and start the grill. Ryan was such a big help on the trip.

My dear friend Elizabeth let Rod and I borrow her lakehouse for the weekend. Except, Rod didn't get to enjoy the lakehouse the first night. Four ladies and a baby occupied the home Thursday night and then Jack, Rod and Jack Walker drove up on Friday to play. The first night involved white corn chili, white russians, and white girls playing Catch Phrase until 3:30am. THEN, the boys came! And, the night turned into steaks, beers and Catch Phrase!

Ryan was such a sport on the trip. The girls were so wonderful with him which allowed me time to really relax as well. Here are some pics of the weekend.

Brooke feeding Ryan carrots at a restaurant on LBJ Lake.

The weather was incredible.
Then, the boys came... and watched the grill.

Must be a male thing.
Is Jack Walker not the cutest?!?! Ryan loves to watch JW.

100th Post - Happy Halloween!

HAPPY 100TH POST!!! Mom sure has a lot to say about her Tootletot!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This is hard, but try to guess which one is Ryan.

Ryan begged me to wear his pumpkin outfit for school. He also promised me no "lifejacket meltdown". We're (Ryan) going through a phase of "see what Mom will give in to"... Not my favorite game.
So, when we walked into Ryan's classroom, we saw Raggedy Anne getting her diaper changed, Darth Vader getting a bottle, and Ghost Ryder playing in the exercauser(Ryder is his name, and he was a ghost for Halloween).
Please don't bother Darth. He's busy with Scarecrow

Ten on Tuesday...(How Original)

I can't believe I've gone a solid week without blogging. I'm ashamed, and broken of my lack of commitment to www.blogger.com. I would like to state that this is my 99th post! So, next post...WATCH OUT!
On we go....
1. Harden-Tootle Family Weekend. The weekend was a fun one! We hung out with Brooke and her precious family. From breakfast on Saturday morning, to the pumpkin patch after church, we lived, breathed, and ate? the Harden family.
Jack's working on Ryan's "upper-cut".
Take 1:
Take 2:
Take 3:
And, CUT! I'd like to thank Jack Walker and Ryan for their time, dedication, and committment to their roles.


2. FIRST BOAT RIDE. Huge success!!!

Ryan, meet Lifejacket. Lifejacket, meet Ryan.
Pure excitement.
I got to play the hero!


3. Ryan got lots of sugar from his grandma and grandpa...who took them on the boatride. ;)

4. Ryan's working on his long face. He's been doing this a lot lately. Not sure what its about, but it's quite humerous!

5. Monday was "Wear Orange and Black Day". Tomorrow, Ryan get's to wear his pumpkin outfit. We haven't told him yet b/c we could run into a "lifejacket" episode.

6. The weather has been incredible here! In the last week, I've been outside more than I have in the last year. I LOVE IT!!!

7. I have three friends all due on January 11th.

8. I've got to get back to work.

9. Ryan begged for a mohawk for the pumpkin patch pictures. So, he got one.

10. Look for the 100th Anniversary of tootletot.blogspot.com Proud blogger moment.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Momma got a promotion at work! I'll be the Manager of Quality Services starting the end of November!
2. Ryan's been working on his smile. (This mirror is for Rod's nightly, golf swing ritual).
3. I'm a giant next to the Tooters. Watch out Ryan, I might eat you.
4. Nicknames for Ryan:
RyRy
Ryan D. (emphasis on the D)
Toots
Tooters
Stinks
5. Tribute to my favorite Ohio State fans! The Cousins!
6. I think Ryan's going to be a picky eater. Who doesn't like pizza?! hmm...I'll have to decide if I'm going to take the fall for that or not.
7. Career Day.
8. The boys were definitely "over it". Pumpkins are so yesterday.
9. I saw Martha and Joe at the grocery store yesterday. I would almost bet my life that they were playing their own game of Supermarket Sweep. I've never seen two people move through a grocery store like they did. It was fascinating!
10. Out little pumpkin!

Pumpkins, Skeletons and a Whale!

Kim & Allison, do you remember this...

Is this for real?!?

I left Rod at Sea World. Let me clarify...Rod wanted to wear his costume to Sea World. This is his costume for Halloween 2007.

Our sweet, little pumpkin!

A Big Chuckle and an Alligator Attack

Rod and I had the BEST time watching Ryan crack up. This was the first time that we really heard him have a good chuckle! We had so much fun!
Click on this link. Ryan's Chuckle

I can't believe this toy wasn't recalled. What a danger. Ryan could have lost his fingers.

Isn't this cool?!

FIVE MONTHS OLD!!!

I'm shocked we're already at the five-month stage! Ryan has such a fun, yet shy (in a flirty way) personality. It's really sweet. I think I'm even more shocked at how I continue to love him more and more.

Friday night was my first overnight without him. And, I have to say, I slept pretty soundly. By Saturday, I missed him so much that Rod met me at the coffee shop after my Alpha retreat so I could pick him up and head out to my friend's lake house. The lake was a BLAST! And, Ryan was such a good baby. The house we stayed at is up on a hill, and there was an incredible breeze the whole trip. Ryan LOVED the breeze and loved the attention. I put him in his bouncy chair outside, and he just "ate it up". Although, he was never in the chair long, b/c there were lots of women ready to grab and love on him. Oh, and two of the sweetest little girls. In one room, Elizabeth, Ryan, Avery, Baby Ryan and myself. About 6:30am, we were all on the king-sized bed playing with Baby Ryan. Sweet moment.

Need a Little Ryan-fix?

What about me? Need a little Jessica-fix?!?!

Weekend with the Sturms - TX v. OU

What a sweetheart! He melts your heart with his sweet smile.


Hudson invited Ryan up for the weekend. (Ryan's first sleep-over with his friend.) As always, we had such a fun time with them. It's always so nice to kick back and relax with Beau and Mel.

Two of the Best Daddies.


Clearly the Best Mommies


Now that we have kids in the picture, our weekends together have changed in the following ways:
1. Instead of leaving the house at 9:30pm to hit the bars, we hit the beds at 9:30pm.
2. Several bottles of wine and multiple cases of beer, turned into a few bottles of wine, two cases of beer, lots of water, brownies, and a baked brei.
3. Instead of rushing to Taco Cabana, before they stop serving breakfast at 1:00pm, we walked to Starbucks with two babies at 9:00am.
4. Mel and Jess would go shopping at the malls to find an outfit for that evening. We did go to the mall, but with two strollers, and not to shop. We just wanted to get out of the house and check out the new addition to North Park.
5. Morning ESPN-watching turned into Baby Einstein videos. Veteran R. Tootle showed Rookie H. Sturm how to appreciate the art of Baby Einstein.

Tootle's Ten on Tuesday

1. So far, we've found no difference in the Jumperoo and the Exercauser...except for the convenience of having one of them in the bedroom so I can get ready in the morning.

2. Ryan LOVES Baby Einstein. Just learned that babies who watch BE use less words than those who do not watch the videos.

3. Yesterday, Rod was at BSF so I made myself homeade macaroni and cheese. (no protein mind you). I was got BUSTED. Boo came over around 5:30pm, and I was already in my pj's scarfing down mac n cheese. (We eat early around here).

4. I'm tired of being broke. When does this end????

5. Daddy Paul came into town this past weekend. We had a great time...and, I took NO pictures. ARGH! Can you believe?!?! I'm so annoyed.

6. Our laundry no longer fits in the laundry basket...and, I have no intentions of starting it tonight.

7. Ryan is now rolling over. I saw it for the first time on the video monitor at night. Couldn't believe that was how I'd see him roll over for the first time. Video monitor...JUSTIFIED.

8. All our sewage troubles are over. We've officially closed that chapter of "Poo Maddness". We were reimbursed for the damages, and we had our back-flow preventer put installed today.

9. Ryan went to daycare today in his pajamas. Elisia felt the need to tell me that they were too big. I KNOW. But, I'm tired, and we were tired last night and that was the last thing on Ryan's mind. Or, mine.

10. Since having Ryan, my heartache for hurting and starving children continues to get stronger and stronger. I had no idea how much I'd hurt for all the children in the world. I wish I could blink my eyes and as soon as I open them, learn that all the abuse and starvation was gone. This goes for Britney's kids as well. ;)