Today is my sweet baby boy’s first birthday! I know it’s cliche, but time really has just flown by. And it really does seem just like yesterday that we were checking into the hospital (although I’m knocking on wood that there will be no hospital visits today!) and preparing to meet our little guy for the first time.

Ryder means “mounted warrior” and it’s a very fitting title. His birth marked the end of my fourth pregnancy. And even though most of that pregnancy was very “normal” and healthy, it ended with a bang… or should I say a bite. At 32 weeks pregnant, we moved from CA to IL, and the following week, I contracted West Nile Virus. Thankfully, he was not affected by the virus and like a true warrior, he arrived perfectly healthy and beautiful.

Like I told him last week… Sometimes I don’t know what to do with him, but I certainly don’t know what I’d do without him!

Happy birthday, Monkey!