15 months....my baby is becoming a little boy!

Gosh....15 months...I cannot believe it! Each day as I watch my little Ryan, I am amazed at how quickly he is becoming a little boy. Of course, he is and will always be my baby, but wow....he sure is growing! He sure is soooo much fun! He is so busy, I feel like most of my time with him is either reading or chasing after him. He loves just to go....anywhere :). One of his favorite fascinations right now is steps....whenever he sees steps, he goes straight to them, and is so good about waiting for my hand to help him up and down. He can and does just go up and down over and over and over. :) Just tonight I had a dinner with a friend and her 1 year old. After dinner, while we were waiting for the bill, I let Ryan out of the high chair and he went up and down three steps for about 15 minutes. :) He gets excited over a lot of things....and the things that he gets way excited over is the broom and rakes! :) We have been doing some yard work and Ryan LOVES it...if we are sweeping or raking, he will just watch, laugh and follow us as we work. He even wants us to work when we aren't working...he will literally take me to the broom and want me to sweep. He's so funny!

Some fun facts about this month:

This boy LOVES to be outside! We are lucky to have great walking trails, a little park area and a backyard that scratches his itch to be outside. He has learned to bring me Layla's leash and he even brought me my walking shoes the other day to let me know that he wanted to go outside. Which has been great...lots of exercise for mom! :) Here are some snapshots of him enjoying outdoors:

He loves to throw these balls at Layla and watch her run after them :) 

having a picnic lunch at Seaport Village...one of our favorite places :) 

This month Ryan also got the stomach flu...it was awful and made for lots of laundry. :( I get so sad when he isn't feeling well. He is already a cuddly boy, but he gets extra cuddly when he's sick. We also haven't really had him watch any TV, but when he wasn't feeling well, we brought out the Elmo DVD, and he actually watched it for about half an hour. The flu lasted for not quite a week, and I was so glad to have my happy, busy little guy back.

One thing that we have instituted since we have been in San Diego is family date nights on Friday nights. Once Jason is done with classes and I am done with working, computers get put away and we just spend time together and if the weather is permitting, we get out and do something together. This past Friday night we went to Pacific Beach. Ryan LOVES the beach! As soon as we got to the sand, he sat down and started digging. He also had a lot of fun running away from the waves. I got some good shots of my little beach babe...Enjoy! 

trying to figure out what this is

using his sand shovel...he got three beach sets for his birthday...putting them to use! :) 

digging in the sand

and a stop to sit with mom :) 

And lastly, here are some pictures with one of Ryan's friends down here in San Diego. This is Shyla. She is 2 months younger than Ryan and just loves him. Her mom and I have become good friends and like to get together as often as we can. They have been such a blessing to us. Isn't she a cutie?! 

I love watching them laugh at each other. :) 

Praise God for these days! 

Easter pictures!

 We had a pretty simple Easter this year. I was a bit homesick as we stayed in San Diego for Easter, and it was just us. It's so hard for me to not be around our friends and family and have Ryan play with his cousins and hunt easter eggs. But, Jason's schedule just didn't allow us the time to go this year. Next year Grandma and Grandpa Ekk will be here, and we will be in Fresno for sure, so that's something to look forward to! It was super fun watching Ryan get his Easter basket, and I loved dressing him up in his cute Easter clothes. :) We went to church at Mosaic San Diego, and enjoyed great fellowship, yummy waffles, and had a great time singing songs with the kids and doing an easter egg hunt. We then came home, Ryan napped and I made a ham, potato casserole, green bean casserole and a strawberry pizza for dessert. Here are some pics from our day:

The Easter basket :) 

exploring the contents....this was soooo fun to watch! I love giving gifts :) 

He loved his little easter lamb 

hello new friend 

and his new Easter books :)

All dressed up for church

Our sweet friends

getting ready to sing! 

FIRST EASTER EGG HUNT :) 

he found one egg and was so proud of himself, it was so cute! 

watching the older kids hunt for eggs

Family picture

Goofy 

My sweet boy! 

Happy Easter: update on the Ekk's :)

Happy Easter! What a joyous day to celebrate....Jesus conquered death, did the impossible and showed His power as the only Living God. What Glory! I have been thinking about what an amazing Lord we serve...one who died for our sins and made a way to have a personal relationship with us...something that we are not worthy of. Yet, God loves us that much. He is the God of the impossible, who defies all odds, and is capable of so much more than we can ever imagine.

I feel that throughout my life, God has always provided in incredible ways for me. Looking back at my life, it is amazing at the people God placed in my life and the experiences that He gave me to shape me and mold me into the woman that he is designing me to be. It usually works out that what happens is not what I have planned....but somehow I am so thankful that His plan is WAY better than mine.

This year when we moved to San Diego, we had no idea what to expect. We knew that we were supposed to be here, and that Jason was to pursue his law degree to open doors for what he wants to do (mediation, conflict-resolution stuff). Ryan was 7 months old when we left, and all I knew is that I didn't want to work outside the home, and I didn't want him in day-care. I was looking for anything to help make some money, as there wasn't much since Jason wasn't working and our savings was only going so far.....so I was tutoring for a while. Well, then the online teaching job literally fell in my lap. It was pretty crazy how fast and easy it happened, I knew that it was a gift. Not only did it pay more than I had ever made teaching, but it gave us benefits and I could stay home with Ryan! So great!

This job has been great....but it has also been very hard. When I started, Ryan wasn't mobile...he still nursed a lot, and slept most of my teaching time. It was pretty easy....then Ryan started getting bigger and schedules changed, food changed, etc. One blessing came that I was able to combine two of my classes so I had less teaching hours, which was great. Also, Jason has been able to be home to care for Ryan when he isn't in classes. So, it has worked....it has been a struggle as Ryan is definitely a 'momma's boy,' and it's super hard for a momma to be home, but not be available. So, we prayed.....

I was thinking that this is just how this season of life was going to be, and that this is what I was supposed to do. Which was ok, but I didn't have a peace about it. Then....Jason has been looking for internships. He found a small firm here in San Diego who are wanting to start a mediation side to their firm....which is where Jason fits in. They are hiring him (yes...with pay!) starting this summer to get their mediation firm going. The only catch is that he will no longer be available to help watch Ryan.

So....with prayer and counsel, we have decided that I am not going to work next year and let Jason pursue this internship that has potential to get us through law school and possible job offers. What a gift. I could've never imagined a month ago that I would not have to work next year. God knows the desire of our hearts, and what an amazing gift for Jason to gain experience in the exact field that he wants to go into. We're excited about what God has for us in this next season!

We serve an amazing God...capable of the unimaginable!

Family Pics

We had the privilege of taking family pictures a few weeks ago. There is a guy at our church who is an aspiring photographer, and we got a great deal from him. Many of you have seen these on facebook, but my blog is our family scrapbook, as I print it out once a year. :) It was so fun taking them. I wasn't sure how they would turn out since Ryan was more interested in finding the coolest stick and running away from the photographer, but I think he really captured our lives right now. Ryan LOVES being outside. He is constantly waving 'bye-bye,' which is asking to go bye bye, and sometimes our back yard soothes his cravings for the outdoors, thankfully. I love that he loves to explore and be outdoors, it has allowed us to get outdoors more and find fun places for us to be as a family. These pictures were taken at Sea Port Village, one of our favorite places here in San Diego. We usually go there on Friday afternoons and walk around, get a coffee and let Ryan run around and chase the birds and dogs that are there. It really is a great place. I love these pictures and they will live to remind me of this sweet time of life that we have right now.

Embracing the world...haha

This teddy was Jason's when he was little....now it's Ryan's favorite....so sweet! :) 

this is what most of the photo shoot consisted of :) 

oops... :) 

his favorite 'trick' ;) 

love the joy on his face! 

Seriously....I have the best looking guys in my family....I love this picture! 

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