HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We're ready and waiting!!!

Thankful for...

...the yummy Thanksgiving dinner we had at a friend's ranch. Beautiful weather, lots of kids, and yummy apple cider. What really topped off the AMAZING day was the Luby's mac n' cheese.

....friends and family that genuinely care and love each other. Mike's medal is from the Rock n' Roll Marathon he ran earlier in the day. This pic was taken at Specht's. Another fun day!

...Heather and her sweet boy Bryce. She's the one who put on the DELICOUS Thanksgiving feast at her family's ranch. She really made the day so special and lots of fun!

...Ryan's love and curiosity of the outdoors. And, for the opportunity to let him roam free outside without worrying.

...this photo opp! He wanted no help getting on this horsey.

...the Turkey dinner, compliments to the Knells.

...again, Ryan's love for the outdoors. He LOVED this sandbox, and the shovel. He thought it was hilarious to scoop up sand and throw it outside the sandbox. Heather JUST filled it up with six bags of sand. Such a little toot!

...the 30 minutes he played with the shovel while Mommy sipped on her hot cider, and RELAXED!

...this maroon sweater that is sized 6-12 months, and still (sort of) fits him. I bought this sweater the day I found out I was having a boy.

...our favorite peeps moving back to San Antonio! Welcome back Sturm Family!!!

...little boys!

...our 18-month old son!!!! Love you sweet boy!

Fancy Clothes for a Fancy Night

Rod and I were invited to an event with lots of San Antonio flare. We're still not 100% sure what it was we went to. We believe it was the the inauguration of the new el Ray Feo. And, that's about all I got on the event. What I can say is that the evening was VERY lavishly decorated, the women were all in long gowns (wammie #1), tables covered in immaculate linens, and well it was just all a hint excessive...we fit right in. :)

The center piece supposedly had sugar water in it. You're supposed to mix it with some kind a liquor that was on the table. Rod and I were so thirsty from the hour long socializing before the dinner, that we started pouring ourselves some water...wammie #2.
Wammie #3...At one point, we were talking to a very beautiful lady, having NO IDEA she was the Queen of Fiesta. I think she's the Queen of Fiesta. It just hurts me that I don't know more about the Fiesta culture in San Antonio. I celebrate with the best of them during Fiesta Week, but had NO IDEA of the deep rooted culture that goes behind it. Pretty neat.

Ryan's Words

If you're having a hard time understanding Ryan, here's a little dictionary to assist:
Baaa-bah- basketball
Elba - elephant
shiss- shoes
mohma - more
nah nah - blankie (night night)
sauce - socks
daughtie - doggie
neeeeeoowwwww - meow (as he cleans his little paw)
Boon - Boon (Grandma and Grandpa's doggie)
side - outside
apane - airplane
Nana - banana (said with lots of enthusiasm)
bat - bath
upadove- "up above"...the world so high (Twinkle Twinkle)
toot - two
pah-poo - poo poo
moema - Grandma

This dictionary is courtesy of Mommy's neglect to start a baby book.

What do You Get When...

...you mix two beautiful ladies and four flashlights???

CASEY AND JENNY!!!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Maybe Next Year???

First Halloween party, he was Half Man/Half Dragon.

Then, he committed to full-on dragon. He killed me in the game of "Freeze".

Do you think he's upset with me?

And, your answer is...

So, Walgreens to the rescue, minus the hog. (check out the tats on his arms)

This is the only shot of the three boys. Holden, Walker and Ryan.

Oh, I'm sorry. Left one of them out. Gotta love those bad boys!

So tough.

Saturday, we went to Sea World. The dolphins were soooo friendly this day.

I asked Rod to take a pic of me feeding the dolphins....of course. Yes, this is me people!

Rod trying to fake-out the dolphin with a pretend fish...all while the lady on the microphone said the dolphins know better.

Halloween Preview...More to Come

Mom, what's in my tub????

DONATE LIFE!!

Ryan, Nama & myself ran, excuse me...We walked less than a 5K, in the Vital Alliance 5K Run/Walk on Saturday. For all my fellow Texas residents, register to be a donor, go to Donate.

Always great to get outside for such an important reason. There were donor and recipient families running, walking, supporting...so moving.

After the run/walk, awards were handed out. We were disqualified for being late, drinking Starbucks during, and not completing the the full 5K. So, we played on the playground!

Poor kid busted his lip the night before. Fell out of a shopping cart, straight to the floor...head first. :(

Jackson and Ali joined us!

Pumpkins!!!!

Big Boy Plate!

17 Ryanisms for 17 Months

1. Ryan says "more" in the sweetest way "morahhh" (in an Oliver Twist kind of way).
2. Favorite aisle in the grocery store is the cereal aisle…lots of boxes with lots of color. Anything in a box is nutritious to him (and me).
3. He's still on a strict "NO milk-protein foods/drinks" diet. Little toot can't get rid of this allergy. There are two big signs up at daycare that say "Ryan Tootle cannot have anything with milk or cheese in it. Soy products only".
4. He's back on the growth chart. 6% for weight. Unfortunately, Mommy's off the chart…the other way.
5. His art work at school makes the parents proud.
6. He loves to walk out the garage, and straight out to the street…I do not condone this Ryanism. (We now carry him out to the car).
7. He's majorly obsessed with Rod. When he hears the garage door open, he RUNS to the door shouting "DAAA DA". And, if I get him out of the crib in the morning, he immediately starts looking for dada. So sweet.
8. Megan….he still LOVES his slide. He's all over that thing. Head first, feet first, down the slide, up the slide.
9. He does NOT like his Halloween costume I picked out for him.
10. He loves his car, and will wait patiently for someone to push him in it.
11. Ryan thinks it's hilarious when mommy blow dries her hair.
12. And, also finds it funny that mommy's going to walk 5 miles, pushing Ryan in the Organ/Tissue RunWalk.
13. When I pull out his syringe for his medicine, he'll sit himself down on "the step" in the kitchen, tilt his head back, and open his mouth. I'll get it on video. It's pretty cute, and sad that he's well versed in taking meds.
14. Every animal is "ruff ruff".
15. Stacy, he's just started singing "Godddddd is so gooooooood". (from Veggie Tales)
16. STILL MY SNUGGLER! I'll pray for this quality in my next child.
17. He's going to start a gymnastics class at 18 months!!!
    

Friends for Over 25 Years!

Since the SYTYCD (posted below) concert was in Austin, we took the opportunity to stay with Rachel and Jeremy. They finally moved back to Texas!!! Anyways, Casey and I drove up on Saturday and went to a Mediterranean Festival Saturday night! Brooke met up with us on Sunday before the concert!

I've said this before, but any chance you get my friends together, all you do is LAUGH! And, I mean LAUGH! They're each soooooo funny! They didn't fail me this weekend either.

We've all known each other since 2nd grade, I believe.

Rachel, Brian Rose, Casey and I.

This was at the Mediterranean Festival. Gyros and wine!

I couldn't put two posts in a row without my sweet little Toot! Happy 17-months to you!!! And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!!!!!
(He's curious about everything...or, is he telling me to put food on that tray NOW????)

So You Think You Can Dance

This post is dedicated to all my So You Think You Can Dance fans! Yeah, girls...and Boo & Erik (and secretly Rod).... I went to the show! Don't be a hater. I thought of each and every one of you during the show.

Now, we didn't have front row, or the middle...but, we didn't have the last either. We were a tad disappointed in the show. I KNOW! Debbie Downer. And, how could we be disappointed?!?! Perhaps it could have used a production team?! Or, they should have had Casey, Brooke and I pick out which dance numbers should've been performed. Not our favorites, that's for sure! A few, but not all.

This pic was taken just for Siena! Here you go, sweet girl.....Season Four, baby! FOR REAL!

The bed rolled out, and the crowd went wild. Karrington was beautiful in this!
Joshua, in the blue was the 2008 winner of the show (not that I need to tell my co-fans). We sat pretty high up, so it was hard to tell how high the dancers' leaps, toe touches, etc. were, but when he did his three toe touches in a row (during the Nutcracker song) we could totally tell! Just shows how high he really jumps. They did perform the door routine, and the "Bleeding Love" routine (briefcase). Those were fun to watch in person.