For real?

I can hardly believe it... Isaac is officially eating solid food... kind of. We started him on rice cereal this weekend, and he LOVES it. The first several feedings of the cereal are supposed to be really runny - more like soup than anything, but he doesn't seem to mind! The funny part is that his favorite part of eating like a big boy seems to be sitting in his booster seat. It's so cute... he smiles and giggles the whole time!

Loving my big boy chair!

And, on another note, Isaac (ok, Mommy) has been thoroughly enjoying his new hooded towels that Aunt Melissa made for him for Christmas. These things are GREAT! The store bought hooded towels are really small, so these fluffy, oversized ones are amazing. Thanks, Mel!

Isaac post-bath, all dry and cozy.

That's all for now, folks! :)

Christmas with the fams

This Christmas was spent with my side of the family, but we always have a Ritter Christmas celebration regardless of where we spend Christmas day. It seems rare that all of us Ritters are able to get together these days. Between all of us having kids of our own now and managing our hectic schedules, and my sister in law and niece living in China, it's difficult to find a time when everyone can make a get together! Here are some pictures of our oh-so-fun gift exchange.

Alicia and Bella

Dylan can't get enough of Cars!

Mark delivering gifts to everyone

Audrey looks happy!

The whole Ritter clan

Our time at my parents house was great... although we sorely missed seeing my brother and his family. Brandon, Isaac and I made the trek to B'ville the Wednesday before Christmas, which wound up being just on the nick of time seeing as a "blizzard" came through the next day! It dumped 5 inches of snow on us and the surrounding areas, which made getting around town for the next several days a little hairy. We've not had a white Christmas since we visited Minnesota two years ago, so it was really fun! Brandon and my brother in law, Mike, made the best of the snow by getting out and making a snow man and an igloo.

Brandon, Isaac, the Snowman & me

Opening presents on Christmas morning was fun! Sam really enjoyed ripping the paper off of packages and playing with the boxes. He'll understand next year that the exciting part is supposed to be what's INSIDE of the box. We all came away with quite a loot... Brandon was barely able to squeeze us back into the Accord for our drive home! Many thanks to Mom and Dad for putting up with us all, and a special shout out to my Mom for her endless hours in the kitchen. She kept all of us full and happy with her many wonderful meals and treats.

Sam tears into his gift...
...and it's a vacuum cleaner!!

Dad's new remote for the visually impaired. :)


Isaac's hand-held keyboard... so cute!

The after-math of the gift exchange.

Hope your Christmas was full of fun with family as well!!

Isaac says HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas shopping... and the wedding story

Wow... I've only been on an official Christmas shopping outing once this year. I went with Isaac and, because of his schedule, we were only out for about an hour. I got one thing... which is still the only thing I've gotten so far for my husband. The other Christmas gifts I've managed to pick up have been for nieces and nephews, and for my brother and his wife. The nieces and nephews are lucky that there now exist Super Wal-Mart and Super Target and that my grocery shopping time can double as Christmas shopping time. How did my parents do it before Super Wal-mart or Super Target? It's a mystery to me!

Having a baby changes everything. I wouldn't say that having a baby makes things more difficult, it simply makes simple, every day tasks far more time consuming that you could ever have imagined. For instance, this past Saturday one of Brandon's long time close friends got married. Brandon was a groomsmen in the wedding, as was his cousin Jeremiah. Jeremiah's wife, Jennifer, and I decided that we should hang out while our guys were doing wedding stuff, so she came over to our house with Brenner, their 5 month old son. We had plans to go shopping for a wedding outfit for Brenner, then come back to our house to change before the wedding. Once she arrived, however, she quickly discovered that she had left her change of clothes for the wedding in another town where she and her husband had spent the night. So, we began to get ready to make the trek to Mesquite for her clothes, and then back to Garland to shop. By the time we had moved car seats, changed diapers, fed our boys, and unpacked her car to make room to pack the strollers, we had been preparing for our trip for an hour! The trip to Mesquite and back cost us another hour, which left us with 30 minutes to shop. So, our shopping trip together turned in to Jennifer running into two stores alone while I stayed in the car with the babies. By the time we got back to my house, fed the babies, changed the babies, and threw on our dresses, we arrived at the wedding 15 minutes late! We were running so far behind that, as I was putting Isaac in the car, my purse fell and dumped stuff all over the driveway and I left it... yes, me... I left the mess of stuff sitting in the driveway! The good news is that our baby boys were perfectly content with their full little bellies during the wedding ceremony, and made nothing but precious cooing noises for the entertainment of those around us. As they said about Apollo 13 - it was a successful failure. But I tend to lean more toward the successful part myself. Oh, and in case you're wondering... my mess of stuff was still in the driveway when we got home. :)

Christmas time is here!

Christmas is, without doubt, my favorite holiday. I love the lights, the music, the smells, the decorations, the colors... it's all so beautiful. I enjoy every minute of it. I especially love decking the Ritter halls in preparation for the day we celebrate our Lord's birth. As I decorate the fireplace and dining room, Brandon hangs lights on the house. We top off the day by decorating our Christmas tree together and tidying the house of all the boxes and newspaper that house our decorations in the off-season. Here are a few pictures of the end result:

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

The Fireplace awaits the stockings...

The dining room adornment

This Christmas is going to be particularly special for us now that we have Isaac. I know he's too young to ever remember his first Christmas, but I'll ALWAYS remember it. I can hardly wait for Christmas morning... helping him open his gifts and playing with him and all his new toys. I have a whole new understanding of the miracle of Jesus' birth and the magnitude of the sacrifice God made for the human race. It's a sacrifice I cannot comprehend... which makes His love for us even more amazing and has made me realize how truly undeserving I am of His mercy.

And, last but not least, here are some recent pictures of our bundle of joy.

Chillin' with Dad

Relaxin' in my relaxin' chair

Dressed for the cold weather (finally!)
Playing with Mommy

I can't help but look good in orange... I'm part Cowboy!!

Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Season!

Short & Sweet

When I went to wake my bundle of joy this morning to feed him his breakfast, I found him in the most peculiar of sleeping positions. Brandon and I got quite a kick out of it!



It was completely dark in his room, although it looks like he was trying to block out the sunlight. His plan was working well... the flash from the camera didn't even phase his slumber! :)

That's all he needs. He needs this....

Brandon and I went to the mall tonight to get some much needed clothes for our boy. He's had a MAJOR growth spurt this week, and has gone from wearing 0-3 month to 3-6 month clothes in a matter of days. Cu-razy. We had so much fun shopping for him, but I must say it was a challenge. We kept finding adorable things all over the place, but knew we couldn't go crazy buying a million things that he'd only wear for a little while. So, we did our best to go the sensible route, buying several pairs of pants, lots of onzies and one splurge. He'll probably be able to wear the splurge for like, a day, but Brandon and I both agreed we couldn't possibly leave it in the store. You better believe I'm going to put him in that outfit as many times as I possibly can before he has another growth spurt!

Here's a picture of Isaac and Mommy just before our trip to the mall. That adorable outfit he has on was bought by Daddy. Does my husband have good taste or what?

How fast they grow...

I've always heard parents talk about how quickly children grow and change and, now as a parent myself, I'm getting to experience this first hand. Isaac is growing so quickly! Brandon and I are running out of season appropriate things to put him in, despite the truckload of adorable hand-me-down clothes we got from my wonderful sister-in-law, Karen. While getting hand-me-downs is awesome, I have to say that I'm REALLY looking forward to shopping for Isaac!

On another note, Isaac is starting to enjoy his bath, which is so much fun! Here are some cute pictures of him after his bath last night.

I love bath time!

In my jammies and ready for bed.

Not only is Isaac getting bigger by the minute these days (at least it seems that way!), he's also becoming more alert, more responsive and... a totally new thing... he's cooing! This has got to be the single most delightful sound I've ever heard. Brandon and I do whatever we can to get a coo out of our little man.