One year pictures

Only a month late having them done. Oops. They are unedited from the cd (meaning the prints look nicer as they've been cropped, etc.) but here are some of our favorites. We chose the first 5 to get prints of. But looking through the cd, i question some of our hasty choices. Oh well. A downfall to portrait innovations, for sure. You always wait forever, regardless of your appointment time (we waited over an hour in the fall for her 6 month pics and 55 minutes this time... jeff says its the last time we'll go there on a weekend at least) and then you have to make quick decisions. Well, here they are :-)




That last one is Jeff's favorite. My favorite is the one above it. He didnt like the pig tails. Boo.

These next ones are some that I regret not getting. For example, if i had it to do over, i wouldnt have gotten the 2nd one and instead I would have gotten this one:

This one is hilarious to me... she was laughing so much and having a blast during the shoot :-)And this one just looks sweet to me

All in all, we are pleased with how they turned out. I've been keeping a book of five 5x7's from her 3, 6, 9 and 12 month photo sessions and i'll admit, i'm glad its done. Its great to have and I dont regret it, but it costs a fortune. We started off using master portrait who does the 3,6, 9, 12 month deal where its $20 for the first session which includes your book and first set of 5x7's and then each subsequent session is $15 which again includes the 5x7's but then they went out of business (well, the location in chatanooga tennessee is still operational, they said!... um, thats a bit far, thanks) so we have a hodge-podge of photographers to finish it out. Its beautiful and i love it, but our bank account is glad to see it done :-)

Mothers Day 2010

Ahhh... my second Mothers day. I like to look back at previous years so that I can fully appreciate what I have. Last year, i had a 2 week old. I was scared to death. I had no clue as to how to be a mom. I was overwhelmed with attempting to nurse her. I was obsessed with getting us all on a schedule. Life was all brand new and it scared me! Yes, i felt crazy blessed... but also just a little crazy. Here was our little Mommy/Daughter pic from last year.
This year, mothers day for me was so very different. I am by no means a perfect mom or even a great one... but i'm a confident one. I have learned in this past year that I'm going to make mistakes and that contrary to what i had previously thought, those mistakes probably wont permanently scar Rhyan :-) I've learned that it takes time for babies to fall into a schedule, but that with consistency (not stressing over it) it will come. I've come to realize that even after babies are on a good schedule, things will go "wrong" some days and all you can do is go with the flow and get back on track when you can. I now know that my fear was a good thing as it caused me to be humbled and to depend on the Lord... and there is no other way to attempt to raise a child that will give as much peace as depending on the Lord for guidance will do.
In the last year, i have learned what pure- really really pure- joy is. I've learned what it means to fall so in love with your child that you would do anything for them. I have learned that sometimes this means that Rhyan is not happy because in doing what is best for her, she may disapprove (ie: weekly therapy for her neck). I've learned that crying is a part of life for a baby.... and a huge part of life for a mommy. Or at least this mommy! I cry when she's hurt, when she learns something new, when she wakes up with an ear infection and i'm so tired i'm delirious.Rhyan,
In having you, i have experienced life at its fullest. Before you, I was a selfish person who saw no reason to give of myself beyond what pleased me. How that has changed! I would give my life for you! Your smile, your laugh, your grunts, your funny faces... it all brings me joy like i've never known existed until you came along. I have had so much fun this past year watching you grow and learn and explore. For every new thing that you discover in this world, its as if i discover it again for the first time! In the book that we read each night, I love you through and through, it says
"i love your happy side, i love your sad side, i love your silly side, i love your mad side. i love your fingers and toes, your ears and nose, i love your hair and eyes, your giggles and cries. i love you running and walking, silent and talking. i love you through and through, yesterday today and tomorrow too!"
And i do! I love everything about you. I thank God for you every day and am forever grateful that He allowed me to be your mom!
I love you!
Mommy
And a HUGE thank you to Jason and Liz for treating all of us to hibachi for Mothers day!

Ford Wedding Rehearsal 2010

I'm wondering how in the world i forgot to post about THE Ford wedding of 2010?!?!

Jeff's brother, Jason, finally got married this year. To his girlfriend of 5 years (they're 33, so 5 years is a long time to date in my book when you're that old! haha!). We're super excited to have Liz join the Ford gals and I'll admit, it's nice to have another daughter-in-law besides myself :-) But mostly, i'm excited to have a sister-in-law! I grew up an only child and so i am quite sure i'll be a pretty crappy sister in law to her, i'll say that already, she ROCKS. Of course she has a leg up on my b/c she has a sister, Laura, who is a hoot so she knows all about this stuff already... I'm just learning!

The wedding festivities were phenomenal! I have never seen/been part of a wedding quite like this one! Liz knew from day one what kind of wedding she wanted. And she made sure that every little detail was taken care of! It was seriously beautiful!

The rehearsal dinner was at the beautiful Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth, GA, where the wedding would be held the next day. It was just a nice evening. The weather was great, the food was yummy and seeing friends and family made it all the better. Here are some pics!

Mother and Father of the Groom

Jason, Andy and Jeff

Jeff and I with the rents

Me and Liz :-)

Laughing it up as they are toasted to!

Aunt Cathy, Uncle Wayne, Jeff, Aunt Elizabeth and Frank
Ford Family Friends... Aunt Kay, Uncle Bob and Howdy (missed you, Judy!)
More Ford family friends... the Stutts!
We had such a nice time! Wedding pics to come!

Importance of Marriage

For any married readers out there (particularly with young children), I encourage you to read this post from the babywise blog that I follow. One of the main reasons that jeff and i chose to do babywise (there are many, of course) is because it puts the focus on your marriage and not on the baby/child. We feel very strongly that this is how it should be. Lets face it... the kids wont be there to unite you forever. What will happen when they go to school and make friends? When they have lives of their own as teenagers? When they go off to college? Get married? Have kids of their own? What if the only thing you have in common through those years of bearing children are your children? It can be very easy for us to focus on Rhyan (she is pretty cute, after all...) and let our marriage simply exist. But then, i fear that at some point it would exist no longer. God instituted the marriage first followed by the blessing of children. Our priorities should be no different from His. I hope you enjoy the article!

And there's a new post below on our blog! Check it out!

Lets go Swimming!

A month or so ago, i picked up a cute blow up pool for Rhyan. One friday morning, i decided to put some water in it and give it time to warm up before letting Rhyan try it out that afternoon. Later that day, after Daddy had gotten home, we donned her bathing suit (super cute and on sale end of the season last year for less than $5!) and headed out.


Then we headed down to the patio under our back porch. We had concrete poured in this area last year and I am SO glad... we have really enjoyed the hot tub back there and just the ability to use this area now. I put Rhyan in the pool and this was her response. YIKES!




I thought it might be too cool still so i got a gallon of hot water from the kitchen to add to the pool water. She still wasnt a fan! I could tell this was going to be a process... In the meanwhile, Jeff had the camera and was taking pics as he was instructed to do (thanks babe!). His words while taking pics, "how magical... i'm so glad we're getting pictures of this great moment". He wasnt thrilled, to say the least. But i assured him we would just have to hang out with her for a while to get her used to it. I put toys in there and slowly (like, over the span of 15 minutes) she was interested enough to get in. She was still hesitant, but she didnt hate it. In fact, we even got this last pic to show that she enjoyed it! (before my camera batteries died... ugg.. i'm so glad to have a new camera now!)
Anyways, we had fun. I'll be glad to try out a bigger pool with floats and such this summer. We've got to get her used to it by June b/c come fathers day weekend, we're BEACH BOUND baby! Ready or not! :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Rhyans First Birthday!

Better late than never, right?! Rhyan's birthday was on a Wednesday this year and I had wanted to do her party on the previous Saturday, the 24th... but she ended up having surgery on the 23rd so we postponed it to the following week. Jeff's brother was in a wedding on saturday, may 1st and my little cousins have ball games on saturdays, so her birthday got celebrated on a sunday. All of the family and a few very close friends were invited (our family total's almost 30 people so it doesnt leave much room to invite friends... haha!). Jeff grilled out hotodgs and hamburgers and I'll just tell you... they were good. Or in the words of Rachel Ray, "yum-o".

Banner O' Rhyan (her first year in pics)

With all of her great gifts!!!
Getting around in her new ride

Getting loved on by Parker (it made her cry! HAHA!)

Heres the little hostRhyan got tons of great gifts. She wasnt feeling great (come to find out later that week, she had roseola!) but she did pretty well all things considered. She's not a huge fan of crowds, so she was definitely the most happy when she went to get her bath and had some down time :-) All in all, it was a fun day. People ate good food (and no one got sick from it), Rhyan had some great friends and family there to celebrate (without too many major meltdowns) and we all enjoyed cake. What more is there in a bday party?! (or in life for that matter?!) Thank you so much to our family and friends for loving on our little girl... it means more than any of you will ever know!

Farmer Jeff

In the words of Jeff "every great man in history has worn overalls". And he just had to ensure that he, too, would go down as a great man in history. Jeff is growing this year some tomato's, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins. Our goal in regards to the pumpkins? Have our very own "great pumpkin patch, charlie brown". We'll see how it goes. So many of them took that jeff has been forced to open a second section of the garden in order to save pumpkin lives. Even with the addition, you'd be shocked at how many pumpkin abortions he has had to perform. Its a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Here you see Farmer Jeff and his lovely assistant, Rhyan.

And Mommy and Rhyan checking out the beautiful azaleas.