One year ago today, at 2:40 PM, we welcomed Pierson Ryan into the world, and into our family. It's funny for me to think about now, how I had absolutely no idea what this new baby had in store for me, or how he would change me.
When I was pregnant, I worried about how I could possibly love another child nearly as much as I love Brooke. I actually even worried about my capabilities as a mother to a boy. After all, I've been married to one for nearly 5 years, and I still don't understand him. ;-) What did I really know about boys?
We had decided to name our son Landon, which we had finally agreed on, and were set on for several weeks. Until one day when I heard the name Pierson, and, in spite of opposition to it on a popular message board, (since we weren't announcing our name choice to anyone we knew) I just couldn't shake it. I even had dreams about it. Thankfully Ryan was open to it, and, even though we had already become accustomed to calling him Landon, I'm forever thankful that we changed our minds. He is SUCH a Pierson.
His middle name was going to be Owen, after Ryan's middle name. That is, until it occurred to me that his initials would be... yep, that's right. P.O.S. Even though initials aren't that big of a deal, we just couldn't do that to our child! Plan B, Pierson Ryan it was.
Pierson Ryan is a complete joy. He has got me so wrapped around his finger, it's ridiculous. He is pure fun, pure play, pure adventure, pure happiness, pure fearlessness, pure energy, pure sweetness, pure love, pure adorableness, pure go-go-go. He's so handsome. He's so easy going. His laugh.. oh my gosh, there are hardly words for that deep belly laugh that is so easy to provoke. And the boy's EYES! Needless to say, I'm pretty smitten with this boy. He has been an amazing baby, and I'm so excited to see him grow into his new title of toddler.
Ahhh, I've been away for so long. I'm not going to get into details, so let me get straight to my newest happenings, ok?
Our 2 year old is now a THREE year old. Brooke had a really sweet ladybug party, (at her request) which I spent HOURS on. Seeing her little face when she saw all of the decorations and her CAKE (which I made myself) made it all worth it. She is looking so grown up these days--she is SO tall, her hair is getting long, and I love hearing her conversations, and what her vivid imagination has conjured up. She's big into pretend play, and dressing up. (I wondered when that would start! :) She's really funny without trying to be. She says "oh dear," when she drops something or things don't go her way, which I have to laugh about. Clearly she hears that one from me, and suddenly I'm even more thankful I don't ever use bad language. :) I asked her last month what she'd like to dress up as for Halloween, and, after thinking about it, told me, "Cinderella!" That one caught be by surprise, because 1) even though we have the Cinderella movie, she has only watched it maybe 3 times. and 2) that's absolutely something I personally would've picked for her. Win! :)
She still loves her brother, but she is more territorial about her belongings now that he's getting into everything. But, she's very sweet to him--giving him kissies or hugs without prompting--and still really enjoys playing with him. Since he can get around really quickly, her favorite thing is when he "chases" her around the kitchen. :) They also play peekaboo, and she LIGHTS UP when he laughs at something funny that she did. It's pretty wonderful to see them playing together.
Our son is turning ONE this week, (Friday) and I've been busy busy busy planning his Fox themed birthday party for 10/16. I originally had wanted a pumpkin theme. Just ask my husband. I've been envisioning a pumpkin party pretty much since he was BORN. (since he was born in October, he was always been my pumpkin baby) But, Ryan wasn't thrilled with the pumpkin idea, so I got a little creative, and decided on more of a fox theme. Of course, there is NOTHING fox-themed out there, so a lot of it has been DIY. I made his invitation, I'll be making his cake, and I'll be taking basic plates and adding a custom label in the center. AND, I will still get to use pumpkins as decoration! :) It will be very autumn inspired, and I'm really, really excited about it. Here's his (edited for privacy) invitation:
I thought Pierson would be walking by now, considering he started crawling SO early in the game. (much earlier than Brooke) But, here we are, 3 days away from his first birthday, and the most I can get out of him is two independent steps. :) Ah well, all in his own time! He has been cruising forever, though, and even cruises around the room just "holding" on the the walls. So, he really doesn't need to hold on to anything, but he thinks he does. :)
He says Dada and Mama, (even though "mama" was first, he says "dada" ALL day long!) and also says "Na na" and "Eee!" (!" added for emphasis--that's how HE says it. :) I'm not sure what either of those mean, but he sure sounds cute. :)
Ryan is about to leave for an incentive trip he won through his company. (Woohoo!) He'll be in Hilton Head, SC from Thursday through Sunday. I'm really, really excited for him, because he so deserves this, but I really wish they would pay for spouses to go, so I could enjoy it with him. :) It also means that he won't be here for Pierson's actual birthday, but I plan on making his birthday special anyway. :) Pierson won't know, and I think the main thing is that he will definitely be here for Pierson's PARTY, which is the big to-do anyway. :)
We were planning on going to the Pumpkin Patch today, but it is REALLY WINDY, and I doubt either of my kids would be very happy there for very long. So, we'll be going on Thursday instead. It's so expensive to go there anymore ($45 for our family of four) so we're going THIS week instead, because they're having a really good weekday deal this week only. Since Ryan won't be able to go, my Mom is planning on going so I'll have an extra pair of hands. :)
