The Ekk Family memories: May 2011

Wow! This has been a busy month. I don't even know where to start. Jason started this month with finals...I've decided it's not my favorite time. Every spare moment he has he is studying, and I am trying to find ways to give him extra time to study. But, it paid off because so far we know that he has received at least one A!! Yay...go Jason! He rocks, and that has been such an encouragement to me that we are where the Lord has us for a reason. Here is what I saw my husband doing for about 2 weeks straight:

Also, this month we celebrated my second mother's day! I think it's my new favorite holiday. Being a mom is the best gift that I could have ever asked for and I love being able to celebrate mommy-hood. My fabulous husband made it special even in midst of his finals. He hand-picked a box of See's chocolate for me, made me a delicious breakfast, and gave me the sweetest cards. He also gave me some uninterrupted time to clean...which may sound funny...but I was dying to do some deep cleaning (a sickness I have), and he watched Ryan so that I could. It was wonderful. I am so blessed by such a sweet husband and awesome son that gave me the gift of mommy-hood!

chilly day on mother's day! Love this little man!

And then Jason went to China. He is studying abroad and getting some units done so that hopefully he will be able to be done with law school a semester early. So....our life has been a bit crazy. Jason left on a Thursday night, and then Ryan and I went to Fresno the next morning. We were in 4 different homes in a week. We spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa McElroy, the work week with Heidi and Josh, the weekend at my Aunt's house, and then the last night we were at Grandma Enns' house. Ryan had an awful first night, but he actually did really well though it all. It seemed as if he knew I needed him to cooperate as I was busy packing/unpacking and traveling. It was great to see so many family and friends. I was able to go to a dear friends baby shower, have a play date, spend time with my favorite sister in law, have dinner with Shellie on her birthday, have a super fun playdate, dinner with great friends, and sweet time with my high school best friends. It was super sad...my camera died the first few days and I had forgotten the charger. So, I didn't get many pics, but here are some:

Grandpa Jerry giving Ryan a ride in the wagon...he loved it!

Ryan helping Auntie Heidi with some yard work.

Well, Ryan is going to be 16 months on the 2nd! I can't believe it! He is sssoooo much fun right now! He is starting to talk, most of the sounds he makes are "bababababa," but he says; ball, bird, cracker (caca), mama, dada, yes (dis), bear, (moe) for Elmo, and my favorite: "men" for Amen. :) I love listening to him just babble to himself and all the imaginative play that he is doing. Here are some of my favorite things that he does this month:

-Loves to brush his teeth: he smacks his lips together to ask to brush his teeth and he loves to 'help' momma brush her teeth.

-When I say, "Does that sound good?" he squints his eyes and smiles as if he says; "yeah."-so cute!

-I love when he says 'dis' when I ask him if he wants to eat or do something.

-He is obsessed with brooms, rakes, any kind of yard tool. When we were at a restaurant a man was sweeping next to us and Ryan was mesmerized for about 10 minutes watching him. He just learned to drag the broom in the back yard...he was very proud of herself.

-He loves playing in the back yard...and brings me a shovel so I can play with him. I love just sitting and playing in the dirt with my little boy.

-He loves to take a spoon and bowl and pretend to stir.

-He loves to help me peel an orange...and eat them...he LOVES grapes and oranges right now.

-He gets super excited to watch Elmo...he gets to watch it two days a week during one of my classes....he says; "Moe, Moe, Moe.."

-He gives me kisses and the best hugs!

Anyways, that's about good for now. Here are some pics this month. I haven't been great about taking pics, but it was just one of those months. Here are some keepers: