cake interrupted

because ryker didn’t feel up to
playing with cake at his birthday party
(we later confirmed he had a cold,
which triggered another asthma attack)
we gave him his cake on his actual birthday.

turns out, he liked it.

birthday

happy birthday my darling ryker!
i am so excited for you to turn one
and enter a new stage in your life.
you have grown so much this past year.
i am so proud of how much you have grown.
i love all the memories - big and small.
your laugh, your hugs, your squeals, and more -
all bring huge smiles to my face.

happy birthday ryks.
i love you forever.

























____________________________________

we had an amazing party for ryker
and invited our closest family.
thank you to everyone who
celebrated ryker's birthday!
it means so much to us that he
is loved by so many wonderful people!



























don't you love this soccer ball cake?!


i think ryks thought this was a real
soccer ball because he grabbed it
and seemed shocked when he couldn't pick it up.


but he did get a new soccer ball for his birthday,
which made him very happy!


i took a picture from each month during
ryker's first year and enlarged them.
i then attached them to some string and
hung them at the birthday party.
this was such a fun idea for birthday deco!


happy birthday!

farewell

i am so blessed to be so close to my sister
and my cousins, who are like our other sisters.


so when we heard my cousin was moving to texas
we were very, very sad
but excited for the experiences she and her family
will have while they are down there
(only for a couple of years, right?)

before she left, we had a family party to say farewell.
andrea and i decided to put our sons in the same
knit sweaters we wore when we were little.
aren't these guys adorable?!








i will miss you so much andrea!

wedding of the year

it was about three years ago i knew my brother
would marry nichole - the beautiful girl
who grew up next door to my family.

but it wasn't until a little over a year ago
they actually started dating.

they finally got married on june 2
and had an amazing wedding.

i love nic so much and am so thankful
she is part of our family.
chris and nic have a beautiful love
and are going to be very happy!

after the delicious lunch,
gray, ryks, and i had some time to kill
so we took pictures on the golf course




of course, ryks just wanted to
play with the golf ball and
cruise around the putting green






poor ryks - the wedding was the day after his
horrible asthma attack so this is what
he looked like throughout the day


regardless of how ryks feels, his cousins can
make him in such a better mood!
we love you all garcia family!!


the wedding truly was amazing.
there were hundreds and hundreds of roses
hanging from the ceiling
and in huge center pieces.
italian soda flowed through ice scupltures.
the live band made for fun dancing.
oh the food! it was all so good.
the nine-layer cake was remarkable.
and what better way to end a wedding
than your very own huge firework show?!


congrats chris and nic! i love you guys!!

kid, you take my breath away

unfortunately, the same happens for you.

after a rough couple of days
with a fever of 103.7 and a horrible cough
i took ryks to the doctor.

ryker was diagnosed with asthma and
must have suffered a severe attack
earlier this week.

ryks has had several asthma-like attacks
and the doctor told me he will have asthma
but they couldn't diagnose it until
ryker turned two years old.

however, after having so many severe
asthma attacks over just a couple months,
the doctor decided it was time to now
acknowledge ryker has asthma so we can
begin managing his condition.

ryker is now on a series of
steroids and inhalant treatments.
he seems to be doing much better.

next week we meet with the doctor
to develop ryker's asthma management plan
and asthma-attack protocol.

while dealing with ashtma
will be a challenge,
i am happy to have a doctor
who is so proactive in helping us
get ryker's asthma under control.
plus, with all the people in our
families who have asthma,
ryker is going to have the
system support he needs!