He loves the night life

This is my current very favorite pic of Rylan. For many reasons.

First of all, Ry-skee has resumed sleeping all night which Rob and I L-O-V-E. He's a good 8pm to 5:30am kinda guy. Some parents might need a later morning, but I'll take anything after 4am.

Secondly, he loves the booty in the air, arms tucked under and legs crossed position. I'll admit, I tried it. Its not so comfortable for an adult. At least this one.

Third, how cute is the flared diaper sticking out of the pants? So cute, that's how cute.

This last weekend Rob and I had a huge date. The kind where you drop the kid off, go to a movie, THEN dinner!!! We haven't been to a theater in over a year (Batman was flying around at the time). We went to see our good friend, Harry Potter. I can't seem to say his name without using Dobby's voice, I don't know what's wrong with me. Anyway, we went all out and went to the 3-D experience. I'm not sure what's going on with 3-D glass technology, but it seems, they've regressed. We've gone from cool Buddy Holly looking ones to B-B-B Benny and the Jets. I just happened to have my trusty camera to show everyone what I'm talking about. We kept looking at each other and cracking up. Not romantic, but super funny.

Mourning a little

I'll start with the fact that we are IN LOVE with our current Rylan. Our 23lb 11oz pack of cute-juice is 9 1/2 months old. He had a GGGGreat 9 month check-up (we got to sit in the well-child waiting room again-yay). He is rolling where he needs to go rather than crawling, though he does act like that move will get some action any day now. He has 8 teeth, prompting our new name for him: Shark Tooth. He still loves my hair, loves anyone's jewelry, baby mum mum crackers, bathtime and swimming. He is super-de-duper not a fan of getting his nose wiped, shirt changed, or Kroger (tough for him, they double coupons up to 55 cents AND have yummy samples at the deli AND Starbucks). Love love love love love some Rylan Alexander Qualls.

We are, however, realizing that Baby Rylan, as his cousins and babysitters call him, is not so much baby anymore. There is no more swaddling, no craddling, no more all-in-one pj's, the hooded bathtowels don't cover him anymore, and he's running over our feet in his walker. Where did the last nine months go?

Tomorrow we are cleaning up our garage, and our all time favorite baby item-the Bouncy Seat is getting put in the attic. Good-bye bouncey seat. You gave us many hot meals and showers. We will forever sing your Jamaican theme because we've heard it 4,755 times. Thank you for vibrating our son to sleep. Thank you for holding him at a 45 degree angle when he had RSV and mama needed to sleep little bit. Thank for being there at Christmas, at friend's house, outside while we watered plants. Rylan can bend you nearly to the ground and you no longer bounce under the weight, but God willing, we'll see you in a few years for the next one.

Showing off his tree

Shared with Zoe, she needed to take a quick business call

Being protected by the animals

Getting his updrafts

First smiles

Found his feet

Staring at his cousin

First time in there, couldn't keep his head up

Working the 9-5

Christmas presents

No pics please

Up to his reindeer games

It was the always handy first "toy" for Ry. I am sure I will be sad as other things get put away. But, this one is a toughy. Tear. Oh, and I won't even begin to discuss the sadness over packing away these pants.

Sara loves this, mommy loves that

Why when I became a mom did I lose the ability to know that talking in the third person is creepy. I literally just said to Rylan "mommy's tired, she had a busy day." WHY??????

Here is his very first bite of a teething biscuit. He hearts teething biscuits. Look, he's all "no pictures please" with that one hand.

"GUH"

There probably has never been a cuter sound. Its the sound Rylan makes when all is right in his world. When he wakes up on the right side of the crib. When he has a full belly. When he's playing with his fave toys or enjoying a car-ride. I don't know what it stands for and I'm okay with that. It cracks us up everytime we hear it.

"GUH!, and you can't quote me on that!"

Why can't mamas do anything right?

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,

Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird won't sing,

Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring turns brass,

Mama's going to buy you a looking glass.

If that looking glass gets broke,

Mama's going to buy you a billy goat.

If that billy goat won't pull,

Mama's going to buy you a cart and bull.

If that cart and bull turn over,

Mama's going to buy you a dog named Rover.

If that dog named Rover won't bark,

Mama's going to buy you a horse and cart.

If that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest little boy in town.

Whatever the words, that song is like Tylenol PM for Rylan. I was singing it the other night and realized that the mama that wrote it could have saved herself so much trouble by just going to WalMart and grabbing a couple of rattles and maybe a toy that plays music. No need for a cart and bull and billy goat. Really, I'm thinking too much into this, cause I'm imagining what Rylan would do with a Looking Glass and the outcome is not good. And why would a mama rock her baby till the cradle falls, baby and all??? That is one I refuse to sing, cause we shouldn't be singing songs about mama's that need to be seen by DHS.

To make him laugh, I bypass all nursery rhymes and go for the old classic, Womanizer by Britney Spears. I sang it repeatedly when he was a newborn because it was new and catchy. Apparently its as close to his heart as Rob and I, cause he loves him some Britney, even in my janky voice.

Here's a video of a not-so-awesome thing that this mama did. I introduced Rylan to watermelon. You decide if he's a fan.

Muffin tops, baby shelfs and dunlaps

Mom jeans-when I was in my younger years (the years of birth to 28 1/2) I always thought that mom jeans were worn by uncool moms. That it was simply a Fashion NO that certain moms didn't adhere to. I thought they enjoyed having jeans, pants, and capris up to their bosoms.

Muffin top-That layer of soft belly that hangs over the top of your waistline.

Dunlap-"my stomach has done lapped over my pants."

Baby shelf-the unfortunate drawback of getting a c-section. They take your already stretched out stomach, take out a kid out, and then sew the area they messed with as tight as possible leaving a random skinny area at the bottom of your stomach for your jiggly belly to hang over.

For the last 7 weeks of my pregnancy my stomach had stretchy contractions every 3-7 minutes around the clock. I'm saving up for the tummy tuck penny by penny. Until that day comes, I'll be tucking my dunlap, muffin top, and baby shelf into some awesome mom jeans. Yep, I rock the mom jean. With pride. What they don't tell you (and really, its best they don't, cause I'm sure it would stop some from procreating) is that the mom jean is not a choice, but a must. And all the moms wearing them are actually doing all of us a huge favor. They aren't just tucking what is best tucked in. They are saving us from booty crack sightings and granny panties hanging out. I was unaware of the lunging, squating, and crawling that is invloved in changing, playing with, and nurturing a child.

Case scenario #1-I was at my neice's dance recital when we smelled a viscous odor coming from Rylan's diaper region. I took him to the bathroom, where I learned they had no changing table. So, in true mommy fashion I plopped my bambino down on the floor (with changing pad and layers of extra clothes, no worries) and started changing the offensive diaper. During this time intermission was called and little tu-tu with stage mom after little tu-tu with stage mom came rolling in and the first thing they saw when they opened the door was my booty up in the air as I bent over changing a diaper. I know that some stage moms are cool, like my sister-in-law (who probably rocks the mom jean and had some on that day), but you know the stage mom I'm speaking of. The ones that look like The Real Housewives of Orange County. They would not have taken kindly to a show. Mom jeans to the rescue, they stayed in place during my awkward squat/diaper change position when the trendy low-riders would have given the big show.

Case scenario #2-Took Rylan to the doctor and wore some pre-pregnancy low ridin' capris. He was trying to pull himself up on a toy and fell over. I rushed over and squatted to help him up when I hear "mommy, her panties are leapord skin." Yep, could have used some mom capris.

I went shopping with my mom a few weekends ago and found myself doing the "diaper change on the floor" test with some capris I tried on. They passed. I have them on right now.

I hit a new high and low today.

My high: I saved $47.50 with coupons at Walmart. I got a gigantic amount of groceries for under $130. I was very proud of my coupon clipping self. (I need to add that I had 7 Similac coupons, so that was a major amount of the savings, but $47 bucks is 47 bucks.)

My low: I realized, with a secret smile, that I enjoy holding up the line at Walmart while the annoyed cashier scans my 150 coupons. It used to give me the shakes and GI upset to try not to look at the nasty stares I was getting from the people behind me. They were paying full price and they don't care. They probably also get name brand everything. They used to make me so nervous, I wouldn't use too many coupons just to appease them. Now I find myself clipping coupons that I would normally have left in the garbage can. I find myself buying 2 packages of cheese instead of one so I can get the full $1 off! That is what the freezer is for.

I do keep my inner happiness to myself. I say "Self, you just saved money so that you can work less and play more with little bambino. Now you can stick that saved money in saving so you can take said bambino to the zoo in Memphis like you are planning."

Someday, very far away, I will find the strength to shout to the cashier and angry soccer moms and geriatric clientele that frequent the supermarket at the same time as me to SUCK IT! Take a picture of me with your snazzy phone and put that picture on your wall, car, screen saver, and wallpaper as the woman that you need to steer clear of at the supermarket. I'm taking my $47.50 and laughing all the way to the bank. After I purchase prozac and Immodium for what that kind of confrontation would do to me.

I challenge anyone who has ever given me the "you are so cheap" look to write me a check for a million dollars. You can make the Pay to the Order of say COUPON CLIPPING CRAZY LADY for all I care. If I had a million dollars, not only would I (probably) not use coupons, but I would (most likely) even buy name brand items, though there is nothing wrong with consuming something called Diet Dr. Thunder. I could even pay someone to go grocery shopping for me. I know Rylan would totally dig not having to sit in the cart while Mom puts stuff in the basket without letting him knaw on the corners at all.

To close, I'll add a picture of my cuter than most little Gerber baby. He is a delight to have and I'm lovin' me some Rylan Alexander. I'm very proud of my little bumkin. We went to get shots today and got to go the Well Child Waiting Room. This was only the second time in his 9 month life (and 20 or so doctors visits) that we got to go there. Its the little things.

Not a lot to say, just some cute pics

Tough day

Looks like he's playing the bottle like a recorder

Rylan with super-fun cousin Nate. Nate and his wife are working on a friend for Rylan. Can't wait to meet her!

Busy day at the office

The challenges of crawling

Its tough to be Rylan. At least he thinks it is. In a world full of bountiful fruits, veggies and brownies, his mom tries to limit his bottle intake to 4-5 a day and his teething biscuit quota to 3! In a house of two doggies he's not allowed to pull ears or eat fur! And with 2 hands and 2 feet he is still unable to motor function the crawling. Its annoying really. Those TV remotes and clothes hangers are just RIGHT over there, how to get to them????

We start out happy.

Then there is the roll around.

Then the look under the blanket, just in case nothing is being stored in there.

Then the bellow "who's going to come get me and take me to _____(insert fun grown up toy or food here such as scissors, hangers, remotes, or beers)". He rams his head into the floor and booty in the air.

Eventually he gathers all his willpower and rolls where he needs to go. Rob and I are very slowly catching on that our once papoosed little infant is now getting mobile. Rob caught him eating our plant today.

Five reasons you know you gave birth to the coolest kid, ever

1. He watched 4th of July fireworks, without crying for a good hour. He was a champ of the boomers.

2. He talks in a high pitched alien voice that only he can decipher and I'm pretty sure dogs everywhere are on high alert.

3. He is super happy 99% of the time.

4. He is the biggest cuddler.

5. When you go to get him in the morning his smile makes your whole day better.

Five reasons we know our kid is pretty normal

1. He is eight months old and I am nowhere close to sleeping through the night.

2. He spilled a glass of water on the floor of a nice restaurant and then leaned over the side of his high chair, hysterical with laughter at the sight of me cleaning it up.

3. He hates WalMart, Kroger, and Sam's

4. You could wheel him around Babies R Us for hours without a peep.

5. He has Rob and I wrapped around each of his 10 sticky fingers.

Webfest

Rob, Rylee-Roo, and I went our our first true road trip. One that was more than 2-3 hours, one that landed us at a real hotel, and one that made us learn how very little your car becomes when you have a baby. My mama's side of the family (the Webers) planned an awesome family reunion at Lake of the Ozarks, MO.

Not wanting to be this to be the typical reunion where you don name tags and eat at a hotel buffet and have a good time doing the chicken dance (not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that, just not what they had in mind) my Aunt Jan sought a different name for our "gathering of family". Rob to the rescue. The same guy that created "Scrapalooza" for my all day scrapbooking get-togethers or Clangie for my sister Angie and her husband Clay came up with the very catchy Webfest.

And festive it was. Members of my family embarked on Lake of the Ozarks from 3 states (Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado). We met at an awesome resort with amazing cabins and beautiful views of said Lake. We spent the weekend boating, shopping, swimming, climbing the massive hillside that our resort was built on and eating, eating, and eating. There was a bingo game with cool prizes, a card tounament (I never heard who the winner was), a fishing pond that produced awesome kid-friendly gifts (Rylan even won and he slept through the whole thing), and tug-of-war.

During this weekend, I looked around at my mom's family. At how far they had all come and how they had produced so many kids that loved each other and those kids had produced even more kids that were getting to know their far off cousins. I'm proud to be a member of that family and I'm very thankful that we were all able to be together. Already excited about Webfest 2012!

The kids lovin' some bubble blowin'

Rylan and his Auntie Tam

Beach (or boat) Babe

An accidently color coordinated cutie.

My mama-mia enjoying some vino on our awesome deck

My mostest favoritest Weber, Nathan. We were born 12 days apart.

This pic is blurry, but I felt I needed to include it. This was one team of the Weber Trivia contest. The kids(that is, our parents) had to answer questions about their family dating back to the 1800s. They were just plain mean to each other about the validity of some answers. All in good fun. Love the little visors my cousin made them.