~ Life in Missouri ~: December 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

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! :)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

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!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

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

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

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.