Engagement Pictures

My sister asked me to take some engagement/Save the Date pictures of her and her fiance Chuche.  I am not a professional photographer by any means but we had fun!  It was a fairly easy job with such a photogenic couple.  Here are a few pictures from our session.  I'd like to give a special shout out to my assistant Kaylee - thanks for all your help!!

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays everyone!! We had fun spending time with our families and want to thank everyone for the gifts.  Ryan has enjoyed playing with everything today!!

Who has time to open gifts when there is a basketball hoop in the room?

Kate enjoying a ring for breakfast

Loving the penguin wrapping paper

Merry Christmas!!

Captain Serious

Although Ryan is a pretty happy kid, he chooses to not smile when the camera is out.  Any picture of him smiling is either the result of a lucky shot or endless hours of begging.

I don't need anyone to read to me

Smirking just like Daddy

Peek-a-Boo!!

Busy Bee

I was worried that once winter came and we were stuck indoors we would run out of things to do.  It turns out Ryan has found several ways to entertain himself.  He is having fun throwing clothes around his room, shooting hoops and looking at Christmas cards.  

Soccer Star

Ryan recently started showing off his soccer skills at Lil' Kickers. Soccer class consists of running around, chasing bubbles and kicking over cone towers.

Doctor Visit - 18 months

I've decided that this blog will serve as Ryan's electronic baby book since the Golden family is notorious for losing baby books (or as Kaylee says, never making one).   Ryan went for his 18 month check up today and weighed in at 28 pounds and was 33 inches tall (75th percentile for both).  Coming as a shock to no one, his head is quite large (98th percentile).

I recently decorated around Ryan's crib with alphabet decals including D for dog.  Since I've done this, Ryan has been over stimulated at nap and bed time.  We often hear him in his room barking and when we go to check on him, he points at the dog and barks.  I'm thinking about taking the D out of the alphabet and just accepting that he will learn the alphabet as A, B, C, E.

Who doesn't play football wearing tight pjs?

No dogs in the car...sleep comes easily

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Where's Ryan??

 Weekend fun!

Thanks for the help Aunt Kaylee!!

Busy November...

November is flying by... Christmas will be here before we know it.  Here is what Ryan has been up to the last few weeks...

hanging out at the park

impressing the ladies at daycare

Friday fun with Mom

Ryan and the Jets

We had another nice weekend.  We read, meet up with some college friends and their kids, and ended the weekend with one of the more comical bath we've had in a while.

Although we don't have any pictures, a special shout-out to Ryan's uncle, Coach (Michael) Sand, who led the Shabbona 7th grade basketball team to three wins on Saturday afternoon.  We went to the Saturday morning game and were able to cheer him on.

When he's not busy bashing into walls (nose is healing nicely), Ryan likes to relax and catch up on some light reading.

Too early for cooties?  You'd think with all the nice-looking young ladies around, he'd be more eager to sit on the couch.

Funniest bathtub jets ever....?

Happy Halloween!!

Ryan decided to celebrate Halloween by running around like a crazy guy at daycare and falling on his face.

Ryan finished the day by dressing up as a puppy (well technically half a puppy as he did not like the head at all!!!)

Can you...?

Ryan loves the video camera.  The minute I take it out, he quits whatever he is doing and runs over to look at himself.  Here is a sample of what I have managed to capture this month...

Why are weekends so short?

Matt decided today that weekends are too short and he is not happy about it.  I'm not sure who he is mad at exactly...maybe the calendar??  He is right though that the weekends seem to fly by.  We had a great time this weekend hanging out with Kate and playing at the Children's Museum.

KC

Almost time for another haircut

Slides are so much fun!!

Go Bears!!

Background

Since I haven't updated my background in some time, I went looking for a new one.  One of the first choices was to promote brain cancer awareness.  My Grandma Glo passed away from a brain tumor when I was a senior in high school.  She was a great lady.  I wish she could have met Matt and Ryan.  I know she would love them both!!  Here is a picture of the family participating at the American Brain Tumor Association 5k a few years ago.  

Last days of Summer

We have been slacking a bit on blog updates lately.  I blame the nice weather, busy season, football, etc.  In case anyone is worried that Ryan looks different, here are a few pictures from this week.

Exploring the zoo - favorite animals were penguins and zebras.

Who needs pants to play?

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose (Friday Night Lights anyone??)

Future Cub

Erik and my dad were able to take batting practice at Wrigley Field recently.  We were able to go with them and hangout in the dugout.

Ryan and I also went to Hollowayville to see Kaylee off to Homecoming.  She looked beautiful!! 

Ponytail??

Ponytails are great...easy to put up if you are having a bad hair day or are in a hurry.  Turns out 16 month old boys like ponytails as well.  When we picked up Ryan at day care last week, he was rocking an awesome ponytail (plus pacifier) along with all the other boys in his class.  The teacher said the boys want the ponytails because the girls have them.  One mom even said her son is asking for ponytails all the time now.  I'm not sure this will be a permanent look for Ryan but he sure looks cute!

Where's Ryan?

Ryan has decided to hide every time we want him to for something.  Of course, his hiding consists of crouching behind the coffee table but he still thinks it is so much fun.

To Matt's dismay, I may have found a shopping buddy at Target.  He enjoys the ads at least.

Playtime

Friday Night Lights

Ryan spent Friday night taking in the Hall High School football game.  He spent most of his time sweating and flirting with the cheerleaders.

Who doesn't love playing on a slide in the living room?

Friday Fun!!

Week at Daycare

Every week Ryan's teachers post pictures of what they did throughout the week.  This week's pictures were too good not to share...