Rylan's First Christmas

Our first Christmas with our precious baby was nothing short of perfect. Here are a few of the pictures...

Rylan getting a much needed bath in the sink.

Our family tradition has always been to eat Mexican food (made by my mom) on Christmas Eve. Here is a picture of Rylan and Papa Bud (his great-grandpa) eating together at the bar.

Rylan and mommy woke up earlier than everyone else Christmas morning so we decided to sneak into the living room to play with Rylan's Santa toys.

My mom has become famous in our family for her "rolled up pancakes" that she makes. Here is Rylan eating his first one...syrup and butter NOT included. He loved it!

Rylan actually spent most of Christmas morning in his Jumperoo watching everyone else open presents. I think he was trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

Daddy helped Rylan open a few of his presents. As expected the paper was more impressive to him than the actual presents.

Gotta love that wrapping paper!

What a precious little face!

We had to get a picture of Rylan in his Christmas PJ's in front of the tree.

My little boy has become quite the snuggle bug with me lately. I'd take a million naps like this!

This video is especially for our family that doesn't get to see Rylan much. We love and miss you all!

Picture Update

Not much is new with us. We are heading to Abilene in the morning so between packing and laundry I thought I would post some new pictures. I'm sure I will have a bunch of pictures to post after Christmas morning!

My baby is starting to look more and more like a little boy each day

Just hanging out

This is Rylan's first attempt to feed himself...and yes it was bath time immediately after this.

What a mess!

Rylan of course thought this was tons of fun.

He is pulling up on everything now

Playing ball

Mommy's Day Off with Rylan

Today I decided to take the day off and just spend the day with Rylan. I have really been missing him lately and feeling like I haven't had enough time with him. So today we had the whole day together...just the two of us!! Rylan had to go into the pediatrician to get the second dose of his flu shot this morning. After that we ran a few errands and then headed home before the rain really started coming down. I changed into some comfortable lounge clothes and put Rylan back in some PJ's for the day. We spent the whole day just playing on the floor in the living room. Of course we fit in a nap...for both of us. It was such a relaxing and fun day. Now I only have 7 days of work until I am off for over 2 weeks. I can't wait to spend more days with Rylan during my break. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun with all his new Christmas toys!!

Playing in the living room

I love those chubby little legs!

The Jumperoo is always tons of fun...even after getting a shot in the thigh!

Does this look like a man on a mission or what?!

Notice the cheese stuck to his chest

New Pictures

I could have sworn I just posted on here a few days ago, but as the last date shows it was over a week ago. I guess time flies when you're having so much fun with your baby boy!

We have had a busy, but fun week. A week ago today Rylan's best friend Doak Bailey Timmerman was born. We thought Rylan was big at 9 pounds when he was born, but Doak weighed in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces last Sunday. We are all looking forward to some heavy weight wrestling matches a year or two down the road. Anyway, we are glad that Doak is finally here!

This weekend Papa, Nonni, and RoRo all came to visit. Cody and his parents went to the Abilene High game at Texas Stadium Saturday while RoRo stayed home with the two of us. We went to Babies R Us to get the much needed baby gate for the living room/kitchen opening. Now we can "cage" Rylan in the living room.

We have two weeks before Christmas vacation and we are so excited to spend our first Christmas as a family. I realize Rylan will be more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual gifts, but it is still so much fun shopping for my baby boy. I am so thankful for my blessings this year!

Heading to the sitter

Mommy forgot to do the laundry so instead of a towel after his bath, he was wrapped in a changing table cover...whatever works!

Waiting at the screen door for daddy to come home

Look at our little caged monster!

Who knew the new baby gate would be so entertaining?!

Kitty chasing is so much fun!!

While Cody and Keri went to Texas Stadium to watch a football game, mommy and Rylan stayed home for a play day...which included lots of kitty chasing! Now that Rylan is crawling, the cat is constantly being hunted. Boston has been very good to Rylan though because he knows he gets treats if he lets the baby pet him. Therefore, we have a very happy baby who loves his kitty and we also have a cat who is rapidly gaining weight!

Rylan actually crawled a long way to get to Boston so this picture is Rylan taking a "breather" before he finally gets to the cat.
And of course there's always time to stop and pose for a picture!

"Hey everyone, check out my new teeth!"

FINALLY!! Rylan gets to Boston...and Boston runs away!

Playing Ball with Daddy

Here's a few more pictures of Rylan playing ball with Daddy tonight. Rylan got a big kick out of this and of course Daddy thinks he's the best 7 month old short stop he's ever seen!

Rylan's Update

Ok, Grandma T. I know I've been slacking on the blog lately, but here are some new pictures, and I promise there are more to come in a day or two.

We have had a busy week. We came to Abilene for Thanksgiving. For those of you who have babies you feel my pain when it comes to packing. I swear our next car needs to be a 15 passenger van just to get all of Rylan's things. Plus, we have the added luxury of fitting a 65 pound dog somewhere in our vehicle. Anyway, we got here and we are very happy to say that Rylan slept the entire 3+ hour car trip.

We had snow...actually lots of snow on Thanksgiving Day. It was so much fun and for once it finally seemed like late Fall/early Winter in Texas. We rushed out to get some family pictures in the snow because snow on the ground doesn't last long here.

Since I haven't posted lately here is an update on Rylan's newest things:

1. Rylan now has 2 bottom teeth. The first one came in on the 17th and the second followed close behind on the 2oth. During that time we had no idea he was teething because he was never fussy. My friend actually was the one to notice his first tooth at a football game.
2. Rylan is now crawling!! He started off crawling a little last week, but now he is basically on the go as he pleases. I guess it's time to make a trip to Babies R Us for some baby gates. Our days of leaving Rylan on a blanket on the floor while we do some chores are over.
3. Apparently our baby is half human half crocodile. We are having the hardest time changing his diaper and dressing him. He is constantly trying to roll over onto his belly when we lay him down. No matter how much you hold his legs down the entire upper half of his body can still twist all the way around! Diaper changes are now mostly a 2 person job...one to hold him down and one to wipe...guess which one I get?!

Well, we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We feel like this is absolutely the best holiday season ever for us since we have our precious baby this year.

Rylan getting to see his first snow!!

Nonni bought Rylan a Jumper Roo for their house and it was a hit!

Rylan after a Biter Biscuit. I have to say the idea of a Biter Biscuit is great, but the Swiffer Sweepers and Spray and Wash should be sold right next to them in the store.

My half naked baby crawling on our bed

As Daddy would say...Just Chillin'

Rylan's Baby Dedication

This past Sunday was a special day for us. We had Rylan dedicated in our church. This is something that Cody and I both felt we needed to do since we were blessed with this perfect baby boy. May he grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord so that one day when the Holy Spirit moves in his life he will call upon the name of Jesus.

I have 1 Samuel 1:27-28 up on the side of our blog all the time, but it was on this day that we got to live that scripture as parents.

Our precious baby being handed to Gary

Another dedication picture

4 generations of Salyers

I Have My Husband Back!!

Well, another football season has come and gone for us and I have my husband back!! Last night the Cougars played their last game and I have to admit I am relieved. Don't get me wrong, I would love for Cody to be coaching a team that goes to the playoffs in the future, but right now Rylan needs more time with his daddy. He absolutely adores Cody and now they can have a lot more "boy time" together. Cody will now be home with us early each evening until baseball starts up in late January. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the baseball team can make it to the playoffs this spring. By then we'll have a little boy who will want to run the bases after the games!

Cody with his position players

We did it!! We got to wear the bear hat...and it was a hit with the player's parents in the stands!

My Funny Little Boy

Rylan's personality is starting to show up more and more each day. He is so funny with some of the things he does. Yesterday we were constantly laughing at some of the things he was doing. For example, yesterday I put him down on his blanket with some of his toys. He loves his bucket of shapes and his ring stacker right now. Well, when I came back from the bathroom I found him in the middle of his blanket with a ring around each arm. I have no idea how he got them all the way up to his shoulders but somehow he did. Also, when we put him to bed last night we heard him on the monitor talking to himself for a while before he finally went to sleep. Cody went to check on him before getting into bed and found that Rylan had somehow played Houdini and escaped from his PJ's. Apparently he was doing more than just talking to himself before he fell asleep. Enjoy the pictures...

Apparently Rylan like the "tube top" version of PJ's

All that hard work wore him out

Look mom!!! I'm stacking my rings...on my arms!!

Rylan's First Halloween!!

Rylan's first Halloween was a hit!! I took Rylan over to Cody's school at 5:00 dressed in his dragon costume. Daddy had to show him off to a few people before we went to grab some dinner. After we ate, we went to Coach Rangel's house for a few minutes to see their family. Finally we headed back to Wylie but we stopped by Stacey's house so she could see the little dragon. He was so good tonight. He was so cute in his costume, but I think he was just happy to see his daddy for so long tonight. Anyway, here are some pictures from the night.

Rylan sitting up at the table at the restaurant. This is his new "Big Boy Chair" and he loves it! He thinks he is so big sitting at our level at the table now.

His belly is full of turkey and rice dinner and he's a happy boy

Here's our little dragon.

TCHS Homecoming Win

Last night Rylan and I got some warm clothes on and packed up the diaper bag to head to Cody's Homecoming game at TCHS. They played Lake Dallas who was unbeaten in district. This was probably the best football game I've ever watched. We were up 12-0 at halftime and that's when the entertainment really got good. During the halftime performance 4 streakers ran across the field while the Lake Dallas drill team performed. They each had shirts on with one of the school letters (T, C, H, S) when they made their infamous run. T, C, and S were caught and arrested, but Mr. H somehow made a clean getaway. Of course the administration didn't think the stunt was too funny, but the crowd loved it. During the second half of the game the Cougars made some mistakes and let Lake Dallas go ahead 20-19 with only a couple of minutes left in the game. However, we came back and won the game by kicking a field goal with time expiring on the clock. It was a great way to win a Homecoming game. After the game the coaches and families went up to the field house for a pizza party. Rylan was so good at the game and he was super excited to see daddy after it was over.

Rylan needed to rest up for the big game

The Cougar team taking part in the school song after the big win

Look at that precious baby look at his daddy. Is there any doubt that Rylan absolutely worships his daddy?

Cody wanted me to be sure and get the scoreboard in the background

This is one tired family at 11:00pm