Happy First Birthday, Ryan!!

Ok, just so you know, this post contains a LOT of photos. So, with that said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ryan Carter!! This past year has flown by, but I will treasure memories of this first year with little Ryan for the rest of my life. He has gotten so big! He now weighs over 20 pounds and is very tall. I haven't taken him for his one-year check-up yet, so I don't know specifics. But he is starting to experiment with standing on his own, and today he took his first two steps!! (It was the first time he actually took steps to reach me, instead of just lunging forward.) He's also just started giving me actual kisses; it's the sweetest thing.

Ryan's birthday party last night was a lot of fun, even though he ended up going nuclear on us before the night was over. We had friends over for pizza and cake. I'll comment on the photos later, but I will say now that our first attempt to give Ryan birthday cake was not a success. I think he was just past tired and a little overwhelmed by all the people, but he didn't want to touch the cake much less eat it. We're going to try again tonight, since this is his actual birthday, and see if he does any better.

Anyway, enough of my chatting. Here's a look back at the first year, followed by pictures from his party last night and playing with his presents this morning.


Two weeks old (picture taken the day Hurricane Ike came to town)


Three months old


Six months old


Nine months old


One year old














Opening presents time was INSANE.


An "aerial" view of the mayhem.






This tells the true story about how the cake-eating went.








These were taken this morning. The birthday boy finally got around to checking out his presents.