Homemade Baby Food!!!

I have been getting a lot of questions about whether or not I am still making all of Ryder's baby food or if I have "caved" and crack a jar of processed baby food. I am very proud to say that I have NEVER given him a jar, pouch or packet of baby food. I have made EVERYTHING for him-- (except for yogurt but more on that later!) 

I stated in a past post that it was my goal to make all of his food and not given him jarred baby food. There were many reasons for us wanting to do this for our little man and we are so happy that we made that choice. I honestly don't think that if I tired to give him a jar of baby food that he would even eat it! His new favorite lunch/ dinner is orozo pasta, mozzarella cheese, sweet potato & a little bit of mango-- all mixed together (NOT pureed, he is over that ha) 

I am SOOOO excited about what Austin and I found today, YOGURT that Ryder loves! We have tried a few different kinds of yogurt and he hasn't liked any and today we found Earth's Best Organic apple yogurt and he ate it up!

We decided that we were going to go all organic for our little man, we researched a lot and decided that it was something we wanted to do. It really isn't that much more expensive and well worth it in our eyes! 

Some of Ryder's favorite foods:

*Chunks of sweet potatoes 

*Orozo pasta

* yogurt ;)

*mango, especially FROZEN!

* puffs

There are many many many more foods he enjoys eating, those are just a few! We love our little man so much and it has truly been an honor watching him grow!!

It's a BOY!!!

NO, if you are thinking that we are pregnant again you are wrong. Our friends Dan & Carlee Bolthouse are though and we couldn't be more happy for them. On Wednesday night they had a gender reveal party to reveal the sex of their baby to everyone. We were honored to be there and share if their special moment. I must say, Carlee has some mad self control. She went to her ultrasound appointment in the afternoon, then took the box you see in the pictures to the store and had them secretly fill it with the correct color of balloons. Carlee had NO idea what they were having... Then they WAITED until after 6pm to open the box and reveal the gender. I got some great pictures of the expressions! We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet Baby Bolthouse in November :) Congratulations you two!

The anticipation is building, cutting open the box...

This was their initial reaction, before the high fives! Obviously they are pretty thrilled to be having a little boy. Now if only they would reveal the name ;)

10 months old

OH MY GOSH! My baby is 10 months old. Seriously? Where has the time gone? I am shocked how fast time goes by, especially once you have children. Ryder truly is the biggest blessing in our lives :) He is such a great baby. Here are some fun facts about our BIG 10 month old!

*He LOVE tofu 

*He loves his daddy & everyday he gets home from work crawls over to him and wants up!

* He can sign a few words like "all done" "milk" "dog" and "more" but he understand plenty more!

* He took his first steps :) bittersweet, means he is growing up

* loves to go on walks and swing at the park

* LOVES his brother Bruce, the dog!! They are best friends!

* Loves when daddy and mommy ready stories to him, but he would much rather eat the book than read it.

*He starts swim lessons on Thursday @ Children of the Sea

* Has tons of little friends at our moms group and bible study

* Is a total MAMAS boy... he loves his mama

*He says "mama" "dada" "Papa" "babababa" and random other sounds. He is a chatterbox

He is a typical 10 month old who is exploring the world on all fours. He is into EVERYTHING and is a climber. He climbs up the chairs, onto his toys. He is al boy. It will be so exciting to see how much he changes just before his first birthday!

Of course, if you know me you know I need to plan WAY in advance if I want to everything I want done, done.. So if you guessed it, Ryder's first birthday party is already in the works. I am SO EXCITED for his first birthday. We are also so happy he is an August baby like me. Great month, typically its ALWAYS sunny. 

Well we are off to MOMS group. :)

Past Events: Ryder's Dedication

We had our sweet baby boy dedicated to the Lord on April 22nd, 2012! We were SO excited to have this done at our Church, Solid Rock. Austin and I knew from that beginning that this baby was a child of God. We knew He had a plan for our little man, and it didn't matter what we thought about it we had to TRUST and have FAITH in God that he would take care of all our worries. We want to raise Ryder according to God's will, we want Ryder to grow up loving, and trust God and its our job to teach him how to do that and what that looks like!  In the short (almost) 10 months Ryder has been apart of our lives we has grown closer as a couple and our relationships with God have grown as well. We were faced with many, many challenges before and after Ryder was born. and many more challenges are for seen for our future. God got us through them and is continuing to guide us through this journey of being parents. Having Ryder dedicated was something we felt was important for our family to do and we were SO blessed to have so many of our family members able to attend. It was a great day that will be remembered forever :) 

 Can't you tell he is LOVING his Aunt Cin!

My two boys who mean the world to me!

Ryder loves his Grandma :)

Auntie Stacey!

The best friend anyone could ask for :) Auntie Ashley and Uncle Jesse!

Johnson boys... Austin, Travis, Jake, Ryder, & Byron

Tripple Chocolate Pound Cake

I found an awesome recipe off of my FAVORITE site, Pinterest! It's for a Tripple Chocolate Pound cake. I saw it, wanted it, had to try it, so I did! My grandpa loved it, but its not that hard to please him !

RECIPE: 

1/2 cup  (1 stick) butter, softened (the more softened, the better–leave the stick of butter out overnight to soften if you can)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 Tablespoon half and half

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder)

3/4 cup mini-chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips work fine too.

 1st. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X5" loaf pan and set aside.

2nd. you need to get out that mixer!! a stand mixer or hand mixer will work JUST fine. 

( I am beyond in love with my christmas present from Austin, my mixer... who doesn't love kitchen appliances!?) 

3rd. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sour cream, sugar, and half and half, blending ingredients well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4th. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add half the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and blend well; then add the remaining flour mixture and blend everything well. Fold in the mini-chocolate chips, stirring to distribute the chips evenly in the batter.

5th. Pour or spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 70 to 75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean (your toothpick may not come out totally clean because of the melty chocolate chips in the loaf; be careful not to overbake or loaf may be a little dry). I think mine baked a little longer than 75 minutes.. it all depends on the oven!

6th. Cool in loaf pan 10-15 minutes; then remove from pan and cool completely (that is, if you’re planning on frosting it…it’s great unfrosted, too, right out of the oven when the chocolate chips are warm and melty!)

Enjoy 

SLACKER... ya thats me.

wow. Has it really been a month since I have blogged? oops. I really do have a lot of blog about. So what is my deal!? oh wait, I know what it might be.. The whole stay at home mom to a 9 month old and a wife to a man who works long hours! Keeps me busy but I love it... well, not that my husband works long hours but all that other stuff ;)

We have been busy, but thats nothing new. I celebrated my first mother's day with Ryder being born! Last year I was 6 month pregnant, I felt like a month when I was pregnant but its so much more amazing now that he is here. and that he is 9 months old. CRAZY. Okay, my crazy unorganized brain is rambling. Back to Mother's Day. Earlier in the week we had Austin's parents over for an early Mother's Day dinner and that when we gave her a card and a gift. Then on saturday my mom, brother, Mark, and grandparents came down to visit us. We went to the Rooftop Bar for lunch, walked around 3rd street, got ice cream and did some shopping. It was such a beautiful day and ended up being a great day. On Sunday, which was Mother's Day we spent it as a family-- just our little family-- the three of us! It was so nice. We went to Washington Square and went shopping, for me :) I have the best husband! and then we got lunch and headed to the park. Sat on a blanket, ate, took pictures, let Ryder play and swing. It was another BEAUTIFUL day and we had a blast. Sometimes its hard to set time aside to spend it with just your family, but it is so important and you make such great memories!

 Playing in the grass at the park on Mothers Day!

 My boys swinging together :)

 Ryder LOVES his daddy SO much. and his daddy LOVES him so much too!

 "hey mom!" 

 "okay dad, you told me to hold on tight.. I'm holding on super tight!"

!!!!

Overall, Mothers Day was amazing and I can't wait for many more to come. I am looking forward to Father's Day! I'm not 100% sure what we are gonna do for Father's day but I have some ideas in the back of my mind :)

Great Grandma & Great Papa Come to Visit...

Yesterday my grandma and papa came to spend the day with Ryder and I. We were so excited that they were going to be coming over! They hadn't been down since before my papa's heart attack/surgery.

 I was so grateful for how much help my g-ma was.

My grandma was so helpful today. I got so much stuff cleaned, organized, put away, and finished. Felt soooooooo good! So Grandma, Thank you!

 Bath time for the BABY!

"I'm gonna get you ggma!"