Getting Ready For Christmas!

"Merry Christmas!"

As he points to the camera he says, "How YOU doin'?!" :) (Jeff thinks he looks like a salesman here! haha)

Ryker's excited to see his Nona & Papa on Saturday when they come back to KC for the holidays! I can't believe Christmas is already next week! Where has the time gone?!

Ryker's Best Friends!

Hangin' out with his best bud, Finley, who is 4 1/2 months old now!

At our girls' Bunco night, we put all the babies that have been born in order of age.

Finley, Shelby (less than an hr. older than Ry), Ryker, and Charlee (10 days younger than Ry)

Finley & Ryker didn't like getting their binkies taken away for the picture.

Here are the mommies with their babies!

Kacie & Finley, Ali & Shelby, Me & Ryker (who loves looking up at his Mommy!), and Andrea & Charlee

Ryker is already 5 weeks old!!!

Ryker says, "Hey, y'all!"

• Our baby boy is growing so fast! We can't believe he's already 5 weeks old! All is going well, and Jeff & I are loving being parents. Ryker definitely keeps me busy during the day! We have our good days where Mommy can get some things done, and we have our rough days where not a whole lot gets done around the house (or even having time to take a shower)! As far as sleep goes, I get up about twice a night with him. However, some of those times I could be up for an hour with him, so the sleep varies for me. Ryker continues to make us smile, especially when he smiles back at us! Of course, he has his major crying moments, and we do whatever we can to stop him from crying whether that be a diaper change, feeding him, or bouncing him in our arms. He's a spoiled little boy, because he always gets Mommy and Daddy to do what he wants us to do. But that's ok...babies can never be spoiled too much! :)

• As far as my recovery since delivery, all is going ok. I just had my 1st postpartum dr. appt. on Tuesday. So far I've lost over 20 lbs., so that's good news! However, this "in between" stage of clothes shopping is not so much fun, so I definitely have more to lose. I did get some bad news though at the appt. (even though I kind of knew it was probably true from what I have been feeling)...I most likely cracked my tailbone during the delivery, so the pain when I sit down and stand up doesn't feel so great. My dr. said that I could get it x-rayed to be sure, but it wouldn't do much good since there's nothing we can really do about it. It's not like she can put a cast on a tailbone! She said the pain can last up to 3 months. (Julie asked a dr. that she knows, and he said that the pain could even last up to 6 months!) So I'm not really looking forward to that. At least with the pain, I have an adorable son in my arms while I try to endure it! :)

• Enjoy the pictures that we've taken in the last couple of weeks!

"I'm just too cute in my little hoodie!"

"Tippy & I are posing together!"

"Will my feet get as big as Daddy's?"

"I love you, Mommy," says my "Automatic Sprinkler"!

And yes, Ryker has "sprinkled" on us quite a few times! :)

More Hospital Pictures...

One more thing, check out the following website to see a few of the pictures that were taken by the hospital photographer! Click on November 15th, and you'll find Ryker. :)

http://www.our365.com/webnursery/WebNursery/BabyFinder/BabyFinder.aspx

Our Baby is 3 Weeks Old Today!

What We Love About Our Son

We Love...

• when he has the cutest yawns from being tired.
• his little hiccups as he gets burped.
• when he lays on Mommy's chest after eating and falls asleep.
• his milk "drunk" look while eating.
• when he looks at us with one eye open (we call him "One-Eyed Ryker).
• his sweet little fingers and toes.
• when he stretches out his arms over his head.
• his dark brown hair that's so soft.
• when he makes his snorting sounds when he's hungry.
• his cute little ears that look like Mommy's.
• when he makes us laugh as he pees at his 1st 2 dr. appointments or at home on the wall.
• his chubby little kissable cheeks.
• when his belly gets huge after eating.
• his cute little nose.
• when he squeezes our fingers with his little hands with a strong grip.
• his cute "animal" noises that he randomly makes.
• when he took his 1st bath at home and did so well even though he cried just a little bit.
• his baby scent.
• when he lays in between Mommy and Daddy in bed.
• his little chin that quivers when he cries.
• when he takes deep breaths and sighs.
• his amazing strength when he picks up his head on his own and moves it around.
• when he catches himself before he sneezes and makes a cute little sound.
• his blue-grey eyes.
• when he smacks his lips after eating.
• his little toots and grunts.
• when he looks at us and smiles!

Adorable Poses Within 1 Minute!

Grunt grunt..."Mommy, I don't like gas!"

Jeff and I took a bunch of pictures over a week ago right after I fed Ryker, because that's the time that we get the CUTEST facial expressions from him. We took about 20 pictures within only 1 minute. These are some of my favorite pictures of him!

"I like to wave to everyone!"

"I have a question, Mommy!"

"Whoa, my tummy sure is full!"

"Pass me a drink!" No, no, Ryker. You're way too young for that! haha. :)

A Very Thankful Year!

Auntie Malena is thrilled to spend time with her new nephew!

This was the 1st time for Uncle Kyle to hold a newborn baby! Ryker was in good hands. :)

Wow, I'm updating my blog 2 days in a row! Aren't you impressed?! I'm feeling a lot more rested today compared to yesterday. Ryker let me sleep a little more last night, even though I still got up twice with him.

Thanksgiving Day this year was wonderful since we had both sides of the family together! Ryker was exactly 1 week old that day, so we were all very thankful to have a healthy baby boy with us. We spent the holiday at Rick & Julie's house and ate some very yummy food! (Thanks for all of your cooking, Julie, Grandma, & Dad!)

Jesse, Malena, Mom, Jeff, Ryker, Janell, & Dad

Jeff, Janell, Ryker, Kyle, Julie, & Rick

More pictures!

Ryker's name above his crib and rocking chair

4 days old on his way to his 1st Pediatrician visit

Such cute little hands! Just got his nails cut by Daddy.

Finally...another update!!

Being weighed right after delivery...brrrrr, it's cold in his new surroundings!

Here are more pictures to share with you! (Yes, I know, finally! I've been trying to get used to Ryker's schedule, so I'm still pretty tired.) Ok, I'll go back to day 1 for you and briefly describe the hospital events since many friends were asking.

• Showed up to the hospital for the labor induction on Wed., 11-14, at 8 pm. They didn't have us on the schedule to be there that night! Long story short, there apparently was lack of communication with my dr.'s office and the hospital. We had to wait in the waiting room for 40 min. while they called my dr. and called an on-call nurse. Not a fun start for the night! We were almost tempted to just go back home but stuck to it when they finally came out to get us.
• Got the IV stuck in my arm and then the Cervadil at 10:30 pm. Contractions basically started like 10 min. later.
• Had quite a miserable night with contractions. Neither of us got a wink of sleep all night long (so we basically were awake for 2 straight days). Contractions got pretty strong after midnight.
• Was dilated to 4 cm at 2 am.
• After a while, I ended up having to be put on oxygen because Ryker's heart rate was dropping a bit since the contractions were so close together.
• Got epidural at 6:50 am. LOVE the epidural! Felt no contractions and no pain!! Still on oxygen.
• Dilated to 5 cm at 8:45 am.
• At 10 am, almost to 10 cm.
• Started pushing at 10:30 am (still on oxygen), and Ryker arrived at 10:59 am!

Ok, so that wasn't really that brief. Overall, the pain and long night was definitely worth it! We have the cutest little baby boy now!! Here are some more pictures from the hospital.

A Thankful family! Mommy's still a bit swollen in the face from the delivery.

For y'all in Memphis...here's Ryker's Elvis impression with his happy Daddy!

Papa & Nona (Italian for Grandpa & Grandma)

Grandma & Grandpa

Both sets of grandparents are very proud to have their 1st grandchild!

OUR LITTLE GUY HAS ARRIVED!!!

Welcome to the world, RYKER!!!

7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 in.--born 11/15 at 10:59 am

(Mommy is very tired at the hospital.)

Getting ready to go home! He has to cry a little bit of course! :)

What a beautiful baby boy! Look at that hair!!

Mommy & Daddy are SO IN LOVE with him!!

Feels good to be home!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers that you've sent our way. Don't worry, we'll be updating more and sharing our hospital experience this week when we're more rested. :) Ryker is such a sweet blessing! Can't wait for you to see more of him!!

40 Weeks on our way to the hospital!

Family of 3 ready to be family of 4!

Last appointment was today!

This morning Jeff & I went to our 8:15 am, 39 week appt. Here's an update: I'm only still 50 % effaced (which I have been for several weeks) and still haven't dilated yet. Bummer, no change. If the little guy doesn't show up by my due date, next Tues. the 13th, I will be going into the hospital Wed. night at 8 pm to get prepped for labor induction. Pretty crazy! No matter what happens, we'll have a baby next week!!! Without going into too much detail, we basically stay the night after getting "prepped" (which also includes me getting a sleeping pill). When I wake up and take a shower, they start the rest of the process. Honestly, I would rather not be induced, but last week we discussed that she would induce me that Thurs. or the following Thurs. if he doesn't show up. Well, the following Thurs. is Thanksgiving Day. So if I have to choose a day to have it done, then I would much rather take the 1st choice so I can hold our sweet little baby boy on his 1st holiday, enjoy the company in town, and eat the yummy food instead of being stuck in a hospital! :) Mom & dad are driving down from MN this Sat. and will stay until the Monday after Thanksgiving, so it'll be fun to have them here for the whole experience. I know the new grandparents are EXTREMELY excited! My sister, her husband, and Jeff's brother are also coming in town the week of Thanksgiving, so it'll be one big happy family all together! I'm really looking forward to it. My nerves are starting to set in for the whole labor part, but I know all will go well. Keep us in your thoughts & prayers. THANKS! :)

FINAL WEEK!

Today marks the beginning of my final week of pregnancy! We had a pretty busy weekend. On Sat. we helped our friends Derek & Andrea move into their new house for most of the day. Then we shopped a bit together at Babies-R-Us, ate at Panera Bread, and rented "Transformers" for the night of relaxing (ended up being a pretty good movie). It hit us that Sunday was going to be our LAST full day of just the two of us without company and/or a baby in the house! So we wanted to spend the day together. Guess what we did?! We went to the sold-out CHIEFS vs. PACKERS game at the Arrowhead Stadium! A friend of mine had 2 extra tickets so she called late Sat. night and asked if we wanted to go. Thinking to myself, I only have a week left of pregnancy...would that be smart to go? Then I said, "Why the hell not!" :) We had lots of fun and had AWESOME seats right behind the Chiefs, 30 yard line, 21 rows from the field, lower deck! Even though the Chiefs lost, what a fun day to spend together, right! After the game we picked up Tippy, ran to Best Buy to get the video camera that Jeff wanted, and headed over to Rick & Julie's house for a yummy dinner.

So Many Baby Showers!

On Sunday after Carrie & Liz left, we had a baby shower for Andrea (above in middle). Hope you had fun, Andrea!! :) She's due 2 weeks after me, so her little girl is coming soon too! Kacie (on left) can't wait for other babies to be around to hang out with Finley!

Julie & Dana are happy and excited to be Grandmothers!

Do I Really Only Have 1 1/2 Weeks Left?!

This was taken this past Friday at 37.5 Weeks

Drumroll please...........I only have 1.5 weeks left until my due date!!! Last weekend was another eventful weekend full of girl time! 2 of my close friends from MN, Carrie & Liz, drove down to KC on Thursday night while Jeff was out of town getting ready for his Professional Engineer Exam. It was nice to not be alone, just in case anything would happen. (No baby yet!) On Friday, as I was wondering how Jeff's 8 hr. exam was going during the day, the girls and I had fun eating a yummy breakfast, relaxing by just hanging out and chatting, baby shopping at Target using gift cards, and having fun at Bunko with the KC girls that night. (If you're wondering, Jeff thought the test was of course very difficult but that it was a little better than he thought it would be. He won't get the results until around February, which is quite the long wait! Let's hope for the best! THANK GOODNESS he's done spending every night studying!) On Sat., while Jeff had to spend most of the day at a work meeting (poor guy), the girls and I had another fun day shopping for the little guy at Babies-R-Us spending more gift cards, organizing the baby room, and doing baby laundry. After Jeff got home and before we went out for dinner, Carrie & Liz decided to do a pregnancy photo shoot! Our friend, Kim, is an excellent photographer (as you can see on her blog if you click "Beejo" on the right side of my page), so the girls wanted to give it a shot like Kim did while she was pregnant! It was lots of fun; we enjoyed having the giggles as they tried to "pose" me and have me change outfits--Carrie was the photographer and Liz was her lovely assistant. They definitely made me feel like a beautiful pregnant woman! :) Thanks, girls!

Here's my 1st belly shot that has been posted on this blog!

Next pose: Hands of Mommy & Daddy on the baby belly

Carrie & Liz were being creative in being photographers!

THANKS FOR THE FUN WEEKEND, GIRLS!!!

Eventful Weekend

Finley is getting so big!

On Friday night, a bunch of us had a surprise party for Derek's 30th birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Derek! We were all enjoying taking turns holding Finley and giving Kacie & Dan a break. :)

Baby Shower with Co-Workers

Yesterday my co-workers threw me a fun baby shower at a yummy local mexican restaurant...THANKS JAN & MARY for all of your creative planning! And many thanks to all of you who were able to make it. Our little guy will look so adorable in all his new outfits & will love his baby goodies!

36 Weeks--Oh Boy!

Oh My Goodness...I only have 4 WEEKS LEFT until my due date!!! However, it could be sooner than that or later. As long as he doesn't show up before Jeff's PE Exam, which is on the 26th in less than 2 weeks! Poor guy...he's a bit stressed with all of his studying and so much to do at work. Keep him in your prayers!

I have my last shower this Saturday with my co-workers, so that'll be fun! I sure miss teaching with them. At least I've been subbing almost every day at my school in the last couple of months. My last day subbing is next Monday, and then I'm cutting it off. I have lots that I want to get done at home and errands to run before the baby shows up! I know I won't regret my decision of taking the year off of teaching once the baby shows up. He'll definitely keep me busy! :)

Kansas City Baby Shower

Julie made me a collage!

I had my 2nd baby shower on October 7th at my mother-in-law's house. It was lots of fun with family and friends! (THANK YOU!!!) The ladies who put it on did a fabulous job! In the above picture, you can see that Julie made me a sweet collage of when Jeff and I were babies and 1 picture of our wedding day. I wonder who our little guy will look like the most!

Father & Mother-to-Be at 35 Weeks

Many thanks to all who could be there and join the fun!

6 Weeks to Go (or more or less)!!!

Week 34

Where has the time gone? I really wonder at this point when our little guy will want to show up. Will he be early? On time? Late? As long as it's not too early, since Jeff's big PE (Professional Engineer) exam is on Oct. 26th. He's a bit stressed, but I'll know he'll do fine.

On Tues., I had my last 2 wk. appointment. Now I'll be going in once a week, which means the time is near! The appt. went well. Baby boy's head is still down and most likely will stay that way. Let's pray! The books say that he's probably almost 5 pounds by this week, and the dr. said the same. We had our hospital tour Tues. night, and the private rooms are really nice! Heck, they have 2 flat screen tvs (a bigger one in front of the bed and a smaller one in front of the fold out love seat couch) that you can order free movies & games, a jacuzzi tub, wireless internet, little desk area, glider chair, curtain if needed by the bed, etc. There are a total of 11 rooms at this newer hospital, so hopefully they won't be full by the time I go into labor! (Yes, that can happen but hopefully not with us! They would have to send me to another hospital that my dr. goes to.) All the registration paperwork was filled out also. Tonight from 7-9:15 pm we had the breastfeeding class, which went well. It was pretty good, especially since we both learned info. that we didn't know before. (And yes, there were several other dads-to-be there with their wives.) Jeff was glad he went. What a good guy! :)

This weekend is going to be a busy one! On Sat. from 9-4:30, we have our childbirth prep. class (lunch/snacks included). Then we'll have to head home to relax a bit and allow Jeff time to study...yes, on a Sat. night. On Sunday, I have my 2nd baby shower which is being held at "Grandma" Julie's house. It'll be lots of fun!! I'll try to have someone take good pictures for me to show all of you!

There you have it...I finally updated my page! Sorry I've been slacking for those of you who have reminded me. :)~ I'll have lots to write about after this weekend! Hope all is well with all of you, and write me a little message if you have the time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to My 2 Dads!

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

HAPPY 55th BIRTHDAY to my father-in-law, Rick!

(Yes, they share the same birthday!)

Don't worry, you guys don't even look that old! :)

Love you both!