Father's Day

Caiden and I decided daddy needed to be spoiled this year. I asked him what we should do and a huge smile slowly crossed his face and he said "cookie cake." I put him in charge of the cookie cake. I made it the night before and set him to work decorating it the morning of. He did that part entirely on his own. He also made daddy a very special "All About Daddy" book filled with pictures and paintings and some of the funniest and sweetest answers to questions about his dad. Ryder picked out some pretty sweet shades for daddy as well. The day started with breakfast, presents, and a cookie cake with candles because Cade firmly believes every holiday should be celebrated with candles. After we slowly got ready for church. I had 2 boys to make bow ties for this year which as pretty exciting and a matching tie for daddy. After church we barbecued steaks and asparagus and enjoyed a nice dinner. After Ryder went to bed the day ended the way any daddy day should end, playing legos together. 

Spaceships, Reading & Outfits.

Photos 1-4: Caiden got an idea in his head that he wanted to build a spaceship. He had been asking since before Ryder was born so when we bought some new patio furniture and it came in a few big boxes I decided to go for it and build him one. Ryder was not napping well that day. He was taking his sporadic 20 minutes naps and I was getting frustrated because I just wanted to finish the spaceship for an incredibly excited Caiden. Finally I gave up on getting Ryder to sleep and laid him on a blanket in the shade and finished putting it together. Caiden was thrilled when it was done. It was a huge mommy win for me.

Photo 5: Caiden loves to climb in bed with me in the morning and Ryder has started to join us recently. When I get up and start to get ready for the day Caiden likes to "babysit" his brother on my bed. Often he sings him songs or snuggles him under a blanket, but sometimes he likes to read him stories. We've been reading the same books for the last 3 years so Caiden has some of them memorized. He reads them to Ryder and I just think it's the sweetest thing.

Photos 6, 7 & 8: The weekend before the 4th of July we went up to the outlets to indulge in their big holiday sales. We got Ryder a few little RL onesie outfits and one just so happened to match a polo Caiden already had. After washing the onesie it looked like it might actually fit our tiny man so I tried it on him and Caiden ran to his closet and grabbed his matching shirt. Sometimes brother's just have to match, and sometimes their mommy just has to take pictures of it.

Photo 9: I love those sweet little feet. I love how they turn in like monkey feet, how they're so tiny that newborn socks won't even stay on them at 2 months old. I love his little toes and how he curls them around my fingers.

Photo 10: this marks a momentous occasion, our tiny peanut officially grew out of his first article of clothing. While it fits pretty nicely when it's on him, I feel like I'm breaking his arms to get it on. It's just too tight up there. I had to get a picture because it's just the cutest little outfit and I'm sad he only got to wear it a few times. No worries though, he's still exclusively in newborn clothes :)

Sue & the Neel's visit.

The day my mom left Miles' mom arrived. It was so nice because I was not ready to be on my own with two kids yet! We loved having Sue in our home. And as a special treat Miles' sister and her family drove from Raleigh to visit for the long weekend too. It was awesome. Caiden was so consumed with his cousins that I never had to worry what he was up to. (He has a huge map in his bedroom and every night he asks me where certain people live on it. He has added Sunny to his list of people, he loves her so much!) We had a fun filled time. We spent a day on a boat at Lake Lanier, played on the slip n' slide, stayed up late chatting, went for walks, had a barbecue, and soaked in the family time. Thanks Sue and Neel's for coming! You're welcome back any time!

Ryder's Newborn Video

Two weeks after Ryder was born we had Kevin Hursh come to our home and capture a family video to announce his birth. I'm obsessed with it. I watch it constantly. He did such an amazing job. My mom took a few behind the scenes shots for me as well and I treasure those photos. We had a lot of fun dancing and singing together. I love this little family of mine.

Granin.

My mom arrived to Atlanta the day that Ryder was born and spent a little over 2 weeks helping our little family transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4. I bawled when she left me after Caiden was born and Caiden bawled when she left him after Ryder was born. We sure love our Granin at the Heidorn house. Before she left we went on a nice long walk on the Greenway and stopped to snap a few pictures of Granin with the boys.

First Bath.

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At some point in the first 2 weeks of Ryder's life he took his first bath. His belly button fell off around day 4 so it was probably soon after that, but all those first days seem to blend together so I'm not really sure. He was not a fan the first minute or so until we found Mr. Turtle to keep his belly warm. Now at 2 months he love his baths! He kicks and squeals with delight. Caiden almost always wants to climb in and "baf wif brova."

Ryder is one month.

I can't believe the time has come for these portraits to start again. Ryder is wearing the exact onesie Caiden wore for his 1 year portraits. He's still so tiny, smaller than Caiden was at birth. At his last appointment on May 30 he weighed 6lbs 11oz and was 19.75" long. He dropped to 5lbs 7oz after he was born and we've been diligently working on his weight gain ever since. He's a great eater. We had a rough go at first with latching because his mouth was so tiny, but he's really got the hang of it now. He sleeps pretty great at night, only waking up twice, but his days are sporadic and I never know what to expect. Some days he naps for 2 hours at a time with an hour awake in between. Some days he won't nap all morning and then takes a 5 hour nap in the afternoon. Sometimes he's asleep and awake in hour intervals all day. It's tough without a set schedule, but I'm working on being patient, and so is big brother Caiden. He does not like it when I got upstairs to nurse and put the baby down. He's had a very gassy tummy and a bit of reflux. We're combatting it with doTerra oils and it seems to really be helping. He's much more content now. He smiles a lot and I'm convinced he knows exactly who I am. Other people will hold him and when he gets back in my arms he stares into my eyes and smiles at me like he knows I'm his mommy. I love that. His brother loves to smother him with lots of love. He doesn't like the carseat but loves to be moving.
We were so blessed to have family come help for the first three weeks of his life. My mom was here from the day he was born and for 16 days after. The day she left Miles' mom flew in to help for a week. Miles' sister and her family drove up from North Carolina while his mom was here and we loved seeing them. It was so nice having all our visitors here. Caiden was in heaven having so much attention and people to play Lego's with. I honestly didn't even realize just how helpful they were until everyone left and Caiden was constantly begging me to play with him. I think that's been the hardest part for me. I hate not being able to give him all the attention he wants and play every time he asks. He doesn't quite understand that if he's quiet for a few minutes and lets me get Ryder down I can give him my undivided attention. He often whines and cries very loudly, waking the baby and makes the whole process longer than it needs to be. I've been trying to make the most of our one on one time doing the things that he wants to do, but if I never see another Lego again I will be very happy. Sometimes it feels like I'm holding an infant and a toddler and just treading water, but we're starting to get into a rhythm. Hopefully Ryder develops some sort of daytime routine soon, I think we'll all be a lot happier when that happens. But I really don't feel like I can complain. He's such a happy, sweet baby and he lets me sleep a lot at night. We sure love our Ryder William.