Sledding!

On December 30, Ryker went sledding down the side of our house with his Mimi.  We got some nice fluffy white snow throughout the night before, so this was their chance!  It was fun for me to watch them.  He got all bundled up and even wore plastic bags over his feet since he doesn't have boots yet.  They only went down twice.  I don't think he was too thrilled about everything he had to wear.  He could hardly move!  I wish I could have gone down with him, but we gotta keep this baby girl safe and cooking! :)  Here are some pics and a video!

 "Got my snow suit on!"

 I told him to smile.  This is what I got.  We put his socks and shoes on first and then put adult socks over his shoes...

 Then we put two plastic bags over each foot.

 Then his coat, hat, and

 Mittens!  "Really? what am I supposed to do with these things on my hands?"

 "Wee!"  he really said that the first time they went down.

Coming to say hi to Mommy in the window and head back up to go again.

Christmas!

We had a pretty great Christmas!  We did some fun things as a family, and we have loved having a little one around to celebrate!  It made us feel like kids again! Love it!  

On Christmas Adam, we went to church and Ryker learned about the Christmas Story and Baby Jesus.  He even made his own little Baby Jesus, too.  I wish I hadn't wrote his name above the head because now it looks like it's supposed to be baby Ryker.  He also made Mommy a Christmas card with a sheep made out of a cotton ball.  After church, we made cookies to give out.  We went to a couple church friends' houses and sang Christmas carols, and we gave the rest of our cookies away to family on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve morning, Joe took us to Lynch park.  It is a beautiful park right next to the water.  Ryker really enjoyed playing on the playground and especially on the big kid playground where he slid on the huge tunnel slide.  You should have seen his face.  It was priceless.  Since it is so close to the water, it gets pretty windy, and it was cold, so we went over to see the water and stand in the sun.  It was beautiful!  Ryker wanted to get into the water, too.  That evening Joe took me to one of my favorite places BWW to eat.  Ryker got to run around the mall a little bit after, which he loves to do.  When we got home we visited with family and Ryker got a couple gifts from second cousins.  Afterwards, Joe, Ryker, and I opened our Christmas Eve jammies!

This was supposed to be a family pic in jammies, but oh well! :)

We woke up Christmas morning to a beautiful white snowfall.  A white Christmas!  It was so nice!  We headed downstairs (after the baby got up at almost 9, haha) and opened our Christmas stockings.  After that, we played around with the stuffers and hung out until Joe's siblings and their spouses/fiances came over at noon.  We had a delicious Christmas (Thanksgiving) lunch/dinner!  After that, we opened presents!  All the siblings and significant others did a Secret Santa this year to make it cheaper and easier for everyone.  Joe had his brother Rick and I had Rick's fiance (coincidence?!)  Joe got Rick a nice soft sweat shirt from Old Navy (Because Rick has lost over 130 pounds and gets cold now!)  and I got Katie a plaque with hooks that says Swim.Bike.Run.   She is a big exerciser and has done so many races!  She just did a half iron man back in September!!!  Ryker got some great gifts too!  We all had a wonderful time as a family!  Our little family got a new plasma screen tv along with the wii u and some mario games for our family gift!  This was the first year we got a family gift, and it has been fun to play together.  We got it on black friday as a last minute idea.  It's been awesome!

 Ryker and all his stocking loot.  He looks tired here, huh?

 Yummy Christmas cookie!

 Ryker and his Grampy adore each other, so he spent most of his time on Grampy's lap opening gifts. :)

 Baby Girl got a couple of gifts too!

 Ryker was more interested in making sure that all the wrapping paper got put into the trash barrel.  Silly boy!  I think that was Sesame Street wrapping paper.  His all time fave!

Ryker's big present was his car!  He wanted Daddy to get that thing right out!  Then he found out that we had to build it first! haha

Here are a few videos from Christmas Day:

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year!

My Very First Christmas Wreath

 In my last post, I forgot to post about my wreath I made December 6!  Every year, the sisters in our ward have a wreath making party and anyone is welcome to come.  It only costs 8 dollars to make a wreath from scratch.  Last year I missed it, so I was really excited to go this year!  It seemed kind of tricky by the way they were trying to explain how to do it, but I guess mine turned out okay for my first time! :)  Joe's parents hung it up out front for me (they are so kind).

I meant to cut the longer tail of the bow to make it even, but it never happened. Oh well!

 

I think it's perfect for their door! :)

I was going through pics on my camera, and I found this goody.  Ryker looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Christmas Time is Here!

I cannot believe that Christmas time is already here, and there are only 6 days until Christmas!  Time is really flying by!  I am 33 weeks pregnant already (!) and our little girl is scheduled to arrive January 28th at 8:30 a.m. unless she decides that she wants to make an appearance earlier.  I just feel like there is so much to do and so little time, and yet I wonder "what is there to do?" haha.

So we've just been living life as usual.  Joe is working hard like usual, but it's nice because he has almost 2 weeks off, so he doesn't go back to work til after Christmas!  Originally, his work schedule was for him to work Christmas eve and Christmas, but he took both days off.  We're happy about that!  We want Joe to spend Christmas with us! :)  He doesn't get triple pay since he is not working those days, but he will still get paid, so we can't complain! 

Ryker just finished his second set of swim lessons at the YMCA.  He is doing so well!  He is getting more and more comfortable in the water and he'll even jump (more like lean) from the side of the pool.  He still isn't blowing bubbles, but he is kicking and paddling a bit.  He is going to start going with his Mimi (Joe's Mom) to his next set of lessons since I will be 35 weeks pregnant by the time they start up again and eventually I'll have the baby, so we figured we'd get him started on going with Mimi so he can get used to it.  He also like to go to the YMCA for open gym, where he can play in the huge gymnastics room and do whatever he wants (it's free).  Ryker's language is really starting to come along.  There is still a lot we don't understand (he has his own language sometimes), but he is saying more and more words and it is just starting to explode!  He is obsessed with balls and running.  I think we have a little athlete on our hands!  He is beginning to look more and more like a little boy!  I cannot believe it.  He is growing up so fast! We love him so much!

Joe and I went to his work Christmas party on December 8th.  Last year they didn't have one, so I was excited to get to go this year.  Oh boy, was this party fancy!  I almost felt like I was dressed down when I saw some of the fancy dresses some of the women were wearing, but then I did see some women with slacks, so I felt better.  It was in this ginormous room with beautiful decorations.  They had a coat drop off at the front, and they gave us each 2 tickets for free drinks (which, of course, we got sprites!) but even the sprites were like 6 bucks each, so that was nice to get them free.  The food was fancy and delicious, and they had music and dancing.  We had fun dancing and laughing at the drunk people. ;)  I got to meet a few of Joe's co-workers who all seemed pretty nice.  It was a nice date night for us, as Ryker stayed home with his Mimi and Grampy (he always has fun with them!)!  Here is just one pic that we got at the party.  I should have taken more pics.  It was nice!

Ryker has been having a lot of fun getting on his Uncle Steve's back, so one day he got on Daddy's back, and he just laid down and hugged him (this was right before bed when we were doing family scriptures).  It was so cute!  In the last pic, we told him to close his eyes and pretend he was asleep.  He couldn't help but peak! haha

 

On December 15th, our ward had our Christmas party.  It was actually a brunch this year.  We did a few service projects for terminally ill children in the hospital.  It was a great party.  We made Christmas cards, snowmen, New Years bags, and fleece blankets.  I mostly helped with the cards and snowmen.  I don't think I could have sat on the floor to tie blankets with this big belly in the way haha.  Joe had to work that day, but Ryker and I had a good time.  Ryker played with his best friend Jenna.

 He was getting a little wild at this point in the party (no, I didn't give him any cookies)

 GOOBER!

I really didn't think they were going to have Santa there, but they surprised us at the end with Santa!  It was our bishop who dressed up as Santa, so that was pretty fun!  Ryker didn't cry, but I'm not sure he was thrilled.  I think the candycane helped keep him calm a little bit.

My mom sent our family a cute little fisher price nativity scene!  Ryker loves that thing so so much!  It lights up and plays the song "Away in a Manger"  He knows who the baby Jesus is and a few of the animals.  As you can see from the second picture,  he prefers the animals on top of the stable instead of the angel.  I don't know why, but he doesn't want that angel up there.  It's kind of funny that the animals will attach on top too.  Actually I think all the animals and people can.  Anyways, we love it! Thanks Mom!

 Putting Baby Jesus in the stable

 

"No Mom, the donkey needs to be on top" LOL!

31 Weeks

Monday marked 31 weeks into this pregnancy.  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going!  I am getting bigger and my belly is really getting in the way, and I am starting to feel overwhelmed with getting ready for our second child!  There is still a lot of organizing to do and what not.  Ryker is keeping me very busy as it is!  Seriously, that child wears me out!  On a positive note,  my mother-in-law is always willing to help with Ryker so I can get things done, rest, etc.  It is really nice.  Having Ryker in our family brings us so much joy, and I am very excited for our little girl. I am very excited for Ryker to have a sibling too!!!

Pregnancy, Hurricane Sandy, and Halloween

 Ryker really enjoys to pull people's glasses off of their face, so I decided to pop the shades out of these dollar store sun glasses and let him wear these.  As you can tell by the photo, he broke them so I taped them up.  He looks so intelligent!

 Joe really wanted his head shaved (he gets to a length where it just bugs him), so I decided Ryker was due for a buzz himself.  I think they look very handsome!

 3 of Ryker's favorite things: coloring, brushing his teeth, and toilet paper (rolls)

 The pregnancy continues to go well.  I am growing fast and this little girl is very active!  Like a ballerina in my stomach or something!  For the most part this pregnancy has been just as easy as my pregnancy with Ryker...except I get pain in my lower back and my hips and butt.  I have to be careful to not carry Ryker too much and to find a balance between being on my feet and sitting.  Ryker is 30 pounds, so I am pretty sure he is adding to my pain.  I wasn't carrying anyone around when I was pregnant with Ryker.  Also, I think I am carrying lower with this one. But in all honesty, I can't really complain because the pain has been bearable, except for maybe a couple times and that is it.  We still can't believe it took less than a month to get pregnant with our little girl! We anticipated AT LEAST as long as it took with Ryker (2 months), but we are very very grateful for this opportunity for us to raise a family and thank Heavenly Father everyday for trusting us enough to be their earthly parents.  We love our kids so so much! :)

 The little cutie is growing up so fast!  Poor kid always get red eye like his mom and dad.

Hurricane Sandy hit us Monday afternoon and the eye of the storm hit us that night.  I tried to get a pic, but it just looked like a rainy day.  A picture wouldn't do it justice (unless it was a pic of a fallen tree or something), but a video might have worked.  It was a little bit scary for me, but we didn't have it nearly as bad as NY and other areas.  We lost power (Ryker was very confused about why the light switches weren't working, a little bit frightening for him) for about 15 hours.  We feel very blessed to be safe and sound and pray everyday for those families who lost loved ones or their homes have been affected by this superstorm!

It was still a little rainy, but the storm passed in time for our ward Halloween party on October 30.  Here is Ryker the monster with his best nursery friend Jenna the Elmo monster! :)

 I told him to give her a hug.  He looks like he is trying to plant one on her! haha

Unfortunately those are the only pics I got at the party.  I had to chase Ryker around.  He wouldn't stay still.  He did 3 carnival games and went trunk or treating.  I was surprised how well he did for how young he is! 

 Ryker getting ready to go trick or treating on Halloween night!

 Joe picked out this Halloween costume at Old Navy.  I think he made a good choice.  Ryker makes a cute little monster!

 The best pic we could all get together! He was pretty squirmy!

 "uh oh Mom, I ripped Grampy's dart apart!"

 I loved this costume also because he could wear his shoes and there was a strap to keep his monster feet down.

 Ready to go!

 "Ummm...can we go?"

Joe and I had so much fun taking Ryker trick or treating this year! Last year obviously Ryker was only 7 months and Joe was working that day and it was colder last year.  This year Ryker is mobile and Daddy got to come!  Plus, it was a beautiful night! Not nearly as cold as it was last year!  We went down our street and did a huge loop around the neighborhood.  I could not believe how well a one and half year old did with that distance! No stroller or anything!  He did ride on Daddy's shoulders a couple of times though.  Everyone loved his costume, and he did really well knocking on doors and taking only one piece of candy out of their bowls.  He almost always chose a reeses or snickers. haha.  Oh, and he waved bye bye to everyone too.  A couple of times he tried to invite himself into their homes, and he also insisted on closing their screen doors on them.  It's alright, they still thought he was cute after that. HAHA!  I thought that he was going to try and pull all his candy out of his bag after he got it, but he did so well at putting it in each time he got it.  He also loved seeing all the other little kids.  It was just really fun for us.  Joe and I admitted that we felt like kids again being out there with Ryker.  I know I am bragging about Ryker a lot, but I was just excited that he had a great time and that he wasn't too much of a struggle...as he has been lately...I think he's reached the terrible 2's a little bit early sometimes... but then there are times when he's a little angel, so I can't complain!

 Here is Ryker's loot.  That thing was shoved full.  I had to take a couple of big things out (caprison, animal crackers, famous amos cookies) and shove them in my pockets while we were walking because candy was falling out.

Ryker eating his Halloween pretzels...one of the very few things he gets to eat out of his candy bag...the rest is for Mommy and Daddy! haha

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!! :)