The Adventures of Mindyanna Jones

Hello 2012, Goodbye 2011

2012-01-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

Okay dad, even though I see you multiple times a week you say you'd like to see a blog post.... well, here it is! lol! I knew it had been a long time but I didn't realize it had been since last April!

The last 9 months have had some of the biggest downs as well as ups and for some reason I didn't feel the urge at the time to document them via blog. I think it also has to do with a rambunctious 2 year old who doesn't sit still unless he's watching Diego.
Though more than anything I have this feeling of time moving quickly and an urge to treasure every moment of it. (That's also the thought I usually try to hold on to when Ryker is throwing a tantrum in the middle of Target!)

What better of relaying the last 9 month's mostly happy and a few sad moments than.... 100+ PHOTOS!

Ryker loved his first time with a sprinkler last May!

A little latter in the spring we found a gem in Herriman within a ten minute drive!

Ryker earned his nickname this summer: Ryker-Roo! He started jumping wherever he goes...and especially when he's happy.

Also in May I had a Pirate's Party at my theatre to coincide with the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean! A treasure hunt for the public, a pirate makeover party, and a private client pirate party. Here's a few photo's:

Breeanna walking the plank for charity!

Me and Corina!

Summer brought lots and lots of outdoor time for Ry and me!

With the outdoors came flowers and berries! Ry loved eating the strawberries and raspberries right off the plants.

This year we also installed flagstone under the pergola and created a firepit area! It turned out GREAT! I'm looking forward to many more summer bqq's and marshmallow roasts in 2012!

July brought the final Harry Potter movie and an awesome party to end it all.
Potions Class was a HUGE hit (and a TON of prep work).

In August my parents had their 30TH Anniversary! WOW!

In September my parents, Breeanna, Ryker and I went to California and stayed in San Diego!

On the flight down I definitely understand why toddlers have to have their own seat. I'm glad this was the last time I had an almost two year old prancing on my laps for hours (ouch!)

DANA POINT

We met up with my Aunt Bonnie and my cousin Daniel in Dana Point and they took us to their favorite beach and showed us around by bike trolley. We totally dug it! Grandma and Grandpa McIntosh also spent the lovely day with us.

Nobody should go to Sand Diego without going to the ZOO!

We went for a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ryker- Roo living up to his name and hoping around the Polar Bear Exhibit.

Mindy the monkey!

This was the first trip that Ry showed us how to pose for photos. He would keep going up to the bronzes and either hugging them for a photos or lean against them. Super cute!

Loved watching the tortoise eat bamboo

I love that I caught ryker's "sign" on camera. This combined with a very energetic "mmmmm" sound means he's thirsty. Why say drink when this works I suppose...? He also says "num num" when he's hungry since that's what his grammy called food when he was younger. It's so precious and one of those things I'll miss as he grows older.

A few other stops in San Diego were Sea World and an Aircraft Carrier called the USS Midway.

OCTOBER!

Here's my baby boy the morning of his SECOND BIRTHDAY!

I lovingly had to document his bed head since we were going to go get his hair cut.

Later in the day he put up with me by letting me take his pictures at a pumpkin patch and park.

I had found the bowtie at a expo and it really made me smile seeing him wear it.

A precious moment caught on camera running to his daddy.

After the pumpkins and then pizza we went to Airborne a trampoline gym so that Ryker-roo could jump his heart out.

That Saturday following was a big day too! Ryker's Birthday theme was: "Cookies and Milk"

I had so much fun pulling it together! Thanks to some help from family and friends there were 12 different kinds of cookies!

That evening at about 9pm Ryker started crying and was asking to go to bed. After a long try he finally fell asleep but then woke up 45 minutes later crying. The way he was crying at the time made me think he had eaten something he wasn't supposed to or had some gas. For a few more hours he slept off and on and cried inbetween in my arms. About midnight he was really making me worry and I noticed he was taking short quick breathes. It kinda reminded me like when I stub my toe or when I was in labor and in pain. At that point we were off to the emergency room since instacare was closed.

In the room with the nurse ryker threw up after getting really worked up...after a few more rooms and lots of nurses and doctors later is when they told us that his oxygen levels were low and that he was having a hard time breathing. Without a prior history of asthma is wasn't a quick diagnose. In the meantime they tried different breathing treatments and admitted him to the hospital when those treatments didn't seem to relieve him. Ryker still wasn't getting any better the next day and both him and I were pretty miserable since I had to hold him and keep him from thrashing around and pulling out his IV and cords. He just kept asking to go home and pointing to the door. Just thinking about it makes we tear up since it's incredibly frustrating to not be able to explain to your toddler on what's going on...especially when they're deliriously sick and feverish.

After 12 more hours his doctor said that she wanted to send him downtown to Primary Childrens Hospital since he wasn't improving. She said that his body was getting tired from trying to breath (toxic) and that he needed a high flow cannula since they couldn't provide that at the Riverton IHC.

So at 4am Monday morning Ryker and I had our first Ambulance ride. He finally perked up a little for this one. His grandpa nailed it when he was just finally happy we listened to his pleas to "leave"....and leave we were. Unfortunately to another hospital though.

As we got to the ICU the doctor let us know that Ryker's blood tests came back and that he was the second confirmed case in the state for RSV and that the virus has caused a severe respiratory infection. Normally the virus only causes such severe infections in babies and it was unusual for a normally healthy two year old to get it. For adults and older kids its just considered the sniffles.

FINALLY Tuesday night he started showing improvements and by Wednesday morning they started weaning him off the high oxygen. By that night we were able to take him home straight from the ICU and bypassing another stay in a regular room (very uncommon) with the promise of a doctors appointment the next day. After some more R&R he was his happy self by the weekend. His mom on the other hand still has some nighmares about it but is soooooo overjoyed everything turned out okay!

Our running joke was that we REALLY wanted to stay out of the hospital for his third birthday. We were there for his birth, we were back on his 1st birthday when he had an anaphylaxis shock after eating peanut butter and then we were back (the night of his 2nd bday party) for the respiratory infection. Other than this stuff....the rest of the last 24 months had been no sweat!

HALLOWEEN

How could I NOT dress him up as a kangaroo!!? (Make sure you notice all the hopping in the photo's)

For Ryker's first time trick-or-treating he did a fantastic! It wouldn't nearly gone as well if he didn't have his Aunt Breeanna there with him. She even got him to say "trick-or-treat"! It sounded more like "tick a teat" out of ry's cute mouth.

Here's a picture of a black dragon and a furry kangaroo!

With November...it brought my Breaking Dawn party at work (VIP passes sold out in 20 minutes... and I believe everyone had a good time that night). I had an amazing partnership this go round with P5 Productions. I think they really nailed the wedding set!

Some snacks for our werewolf and vampire guests...

Here's a few photo's of the VIP area:

Also in November my friends (sister) and I started a foodie club! Most awesome idea ever!

The first evening was at my house (pictured below) and the theme was Tapas.

December was French and it was at Ally's and January was Caribbean and was hosted by Emily. I can't think of anything better than sharing an evening with fellow foodies and eating some amazing food! It's always an open invitation for everyone and their friends.

December brought huge business for me at work with holiday banquet after holiday party.
After it all we got a chance to head to the Hogle Zoo for Zoolights. It was 18 degrees and windy! Super cold but lots of fun!

Shame on me for only having a few Christmas photo's. Ryker really played to the crowd and made sure to "Oooooo" and "Ahhhhh" over everything in his stocking and after opening each present. 2 year olds are the BEST!

2012 here we are!

This year will be one of the best...I can feel it!

Kleman Clan updates

2011-04-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

I think the flowers woke me up out of a blogging hibernation this week.

Here's some updates...mainly to do with my blue-eyed blondie...

Ryker is 18 months old this month!

Ryker and his daddy playing air hockey

Taking every advantage of any day above 50 degrees....

The next 9 photo's are of a typical day in the Kleman House (when we're home that is!)...

Ryker climbing on things and making lots of noise...

Ryker exploring everything and anything...(this is also the face his dad make when concentrating)

Sad Ryker...usually when he's not getting his way or not being understood

Enjoying bathtime and brushing his teeth....
Loves his Blue's Clues...It's not very typical for him to go without clothes but I thought it was super cute since it is typical of him to lay on his monkey bean bagLot's of laughs and giggles....
lot's of funny faces and mimicking....

The last few months I've been learning more about photography. It's still such a trial and error thing for me but I think I'm getting a little better. I also purchased a new lens and I love it. It's the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8
I setup a photo shoot at work to take some pictures of the centerpieces. After some photoshop, they'll be good to go!
Here's some of my favorites...

Here's Jenae and Camden at our Super Bowl get-together.... Too cute!

Danielle has Netflix on her phone..she played Kipper for Ryker and he was GLUED!
I wonder thinking back on it...did anyone even watch the super bowl? lol!

Silly Boy...

Taking advantage of another slighter warmer...but very windy day!

Ryker is fearless... all though he only went down the VERY tall slide a couple of times...I was just surprised that he did. After a few times though he ended up sticking with the medium slide (forget the toddler slide!).

And this last picture may not seem like much to others...but it's one of my favorites from the past 3 months...

December Recap

2010-12-31T16:03:00.001-08:00

Well,... I really should say end of November and then December recap :)

Family Photo's taken by my cousin Deborah! She did a GREAT job! I just wish it wasn't so cold out that day! Everyone's noses were turning red and people were doing jumping jacks to get their blood flowing, lol! At least it was a fast process for those that weren't excited about getting their pics taken!

Baby's first snow day outside!

December was packed with holiday banquet after holiday banquet at work...which is a good thing! Lots of 60 hour weeks but lots of fun with co-workers and the joy of the holiday season.
One of the biggest banquets was FLSmidth's banquet for 436 people which took place at the Zions Bank Basketball Center (JAZZ practice courts). It was one of the largest dollar wise I've done too, it totaled a little over $29,000. The ZBBC/ESA asked for some help selling the place and sell it I did. I hear it was one of the bigger plated dinners they've done in a really long time. I think they did a great job though! Here's a few pics...

Random pictures of the cuteness that is Ryker...

Seth bought a slide online for Ryker and when it came there was NO WAY we could wait for Christmas to give it to him! He played on it for an hour and a half straight....and we sat there the whole time watching him and clapping with him every time he went down the slide. One of the best moments of my life! Who wouldn't want a slide in their family room??

The very next day he also started climbing the coffee table too...
Seth's Grandma passed away on the 19th of December. We flew out the next day and spent the time with family and attending the funeral services. Seth's family did a wonderful job on putting everything together and it was a lovely service. Ruth has some wonderful kids, grandkids and great grandkids among many people that will miss her...myself included! We loved that we could visit her last February and introduce her to Ryker.

In memory of Ruth Behrend,
We'll miss you!
p.s..."poppycock"! ;o)

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2010
Christmas at my parents....

Did I mention Ry really likes to climb things....
I over did a little on the presents part for Ryker, he was so engrossed with the toys he had that he didn't want to open or play with the next. So we had to save a few for later. It sure was fun to have Ryker more involved with Christmas this year. Kids sure do make it a lot more memorable and fun!

That's it for 2010! It's been one of the best years of my life! Bring on 2011!

Halloween to Baby Suits

2010-11-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've ever had a busier two months in my life!

Catering a friends wedding, Rykers Birthday Party, Vacation, Seth's Birthday, our PJ Party Halloween...

......and then the Harry Potter Festival at the District, Harry Potter Private Events and then a beautiful wedding that I could actually sit down and enjoy.
I have to say that I'm glad the festival part is over. Every spare minute I had at night or at work was preparing and planning the thing. I did have a lot of fun though! The designing part was particularly enjoyable as I got better at Photoshop along the way. Here's the daily prophet, some labels and the house banners.

Then our friends Sean and Danielle FINALLY got married on November 20th! Seth looked handsome as the "co"-best man and Ryker really rocked his suit and the ladies!

Every 10 minutes or so Ryker would go out into the middle of the dance floor and get "jiggy-with-it" and then run off to climb up and down the stage stairs again. SO funny and priceless!

Here's where we spent 50% of our time....the stairs. Ryker LOVES the stairs.

Aruba & NY

2010-10-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

October 16 - 23, 2010 - ARUBA Vacation

October 23 - 25, 2010 - Visit to New York City

740 Pictures Taken...

80 Great Photos....

Only posting 25 or so here! For more visit my facebook album.

We had a BLAST leaving the country for the first time! Aruba was the perfect getaway!

Beaches, ocean, pools, family and lot's of good eats. What could be better?

The ocean was the calmest I've ever experienced it. It was the perfect temperature too!Ryker loved throwing, scooping and rolling in the sand.

The weather was hot and HUMID! Ry had a hard time dealing with it. His cheeks were pink whenever he wasn't in the water. Luckily we caught a smile even though he was grumpy a lot of the time.

Seth and I rented a jet ski out on the ocean. What fun! Seth took a sharp turn and I went flying off...never to find my sunglasses again. Then of course I got him back when it was my turn to drive :)

We went on an all day Jeep tour on Wednesday. Here's a picture from the Ostrich Farm. The tour guide kept calling them big dumb birds...and they were!

Baby Birds with a Baby RykerOn the tour we stopped at a cave that had extremly old cave drawings along with lots of bats
Here's Seth driving our Jeep. The off roading was my favorite part! Each time we'd get back in the Jeep to go to the next stop Ryker would be asleep within two minutes. Each and EVERY time! He would just go limp as a rag doll when the engine started and then almost immediately fall asleep. It made me laugh every time!
Natural BridgeSeth and I had a lovely date night on Thursday at a restaurant called Sunset Bistro. What a cute couple! I'm such a lucky woman!

Goodman's, McIntosh's and the Kleman's

NEW YORK - Manhattan
Battery Park - Statue of Liberty on left

(what a shock to go from the 90's to the 60's!)
View from Top of the Rock - Central Park and Mid-townDad and RykerMe and the 30 Rock Crew Times Square

Taking a break in Central Park

Ending the day at The Met....since it was Sunday they had closed at 6pm...but we did get to enjoy the fountains and view though.

Ry REALLY wanted to get in that fountain...

and to top it off....here's Rykers face and disposition for 70% of the day.I think he was SUPER tired of traveling. Once we got home, he's been acting like a doll since.
I've learned that 12 month old's don't travel well. But there's no way I could have gone without him. I'll have some emotional scars from the plane rides and NY but all in all what a GREAT vacation!

FIRST BIRTHDAY!

2010-10-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

RYKER'S WILD SAFARI PARTY
October 9, 2010
Mindy, Seth, John, Holly, Kaye, Howard, Justin, Sherry, Angela, Breeanna, Tom, Corina & Family, Lynette, Tye, Britinee and Aaron.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Buffet Table

Safari Suckers

I had so much fun making these cupcake toppers!

Gourmet Smores with homemade marshmallows

Flag Pennants! Took a lot of time to cut and glue but totally worth it!

Ryker's first cake! I haven't used a piping bag in years but it turned out really cute!

CAKE SMASH!

I love this picture where he's licking his fingers!

Opening presents

Ryker's first car! He figured out how to sit on it within minutes!

Ryker's Birthday! - October 12, 2o10

My baby's ONE whole year old now! Wow! He's such an amazing little boy, I feel so lucky to have him in my life.
He's running circles around us and he's got two words down: ball and juice. He knows how to clap, high-five, get off our bed on his own, crawl up and down the stairs and he's REALLY good at hiding things. He understands a lot of what we say but just can't quite communicate his thoughts yet...soon enough. He's not to young to throw temper tantrums though!

Ryker's birthday party at McDonalds with his Grandparents, aunts and mom.
I ordered him a happy meal, chicken nuggets and apple slices.

Sherry

Dad/Grandpa John

Playplace with BreeannaOn the 13th I had a company party at Boondocks. Not much you can do with a 1 year old but he sure did have fun in the arcade.

We found out last Friday that he's allergic to peanuts...what a sad thing to find out! After breaking out in hives and throwing up we had a trip to InstaCare and now we carry around an epi pen since he had an anaphylactic reaction. More info at the end of the month when we visit the allergy doctor.

Now that I've updated my blog.....we're off to ARUBA!!! Wha-hoooooo!

Harry Potter and Parties

2010-09-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Can you say Harry Potter obsessed lately?! I feel like I have two jobs right now, my event manager job and then planning the Harry Potter Festival of the century (at the theatre)! I eat, sleep and dream Harry Potter. Haha,...."eat". I guess that could be literal since I've been planning the food and treats. I've been trying to stay true to the books and movies so we're planning on Chocolate Frogs, Cockroach Clusters, Treacle Fudge, Butterbeer are more! Then I've got classes planned like Potions, Divination, Quidditch Practice, Herbology and Charms. I'll have locations like Gringot's Bank, Platform 9 3/4, Hogsmeade, Diagon Ally and of course Hogwarts. Lot's of little details to plan and lots of sponsors to gather. It's been fun though, I've been looking forward to going to work every day. Who could complain about that? I just hope it comes all together in November!

I'm also helping cater my friends wedding on October 2nd. 100 people. Cool. Mini chicken crossiant sandwiches, caprese skewers, a harvest green salad, spiced nuts, some desserts and more! Lots to plan! She's planning on an elegant affair... ivory, crystals and hydrangenas. I'm looking forward to it!

Then of course guess who's turning ONE really soon! I'm having a blast planning Ryker's first birthday! It's going to be safari themed!

Here's the invite:

He's such a big boy already!

One of my favorite people got married on Saturday! I'm so happy for Jason!

Kjori (new wife) is so creative! I wish I would have taken some more photos of the setup. Her friend that took her bridal photos did an OUTSTANDING job too! Some of the best work I've ever seen. They went to a ghost town in Montana and everything so so original and tastefully done. Very impressive!

Here's Ryker on the monkey leash for the first time. Thank goodness too because he's quick and there were lots of places to fall down or into if we weren't looking. He's also really short if you hadn't noticed...
Here's the mountain in Herriman burning! Our house smelled like we had a campfire going in our living room and the smoke was bothering my eyes. As soon as I turned the AC on it all cleared up though. 10000 Acres burned, 100+ firefighters and national guard and only 4 houses were lost. It's amazing that they contained it like they did!

2010-09-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

September brings me 8 pounds lighter and more in love with my little boy than ever!
His personality shines every day and he's hard to say no too.

We were out picking blackberries in the backyard the other day..."one for you and one for me" and as I came in and started cleaning the juice off him in the sink his lightening quick hand shot out, grabbed a peach off the counter and before I knew it, he had taken a big bite out of it with his two little bottom teeth on one top tooth. When I gently took it out of is hands, my sweet little boy scruntched up his little angel face, took a big breath and then screamed till his face turned red. Relunctantly I put the red faced little boy in his high chair took off his shirt, put on the bib and watched as he used both hands to devourer the peach in no more than a few minutes. The only time he took a break was to spit out the peach skins that he couldn't chew. As he got to the pit, he held it out to the right side of his body over the floor, looked at me with a half smile and proceeded to open his fist and drop it on the floor. He then looked down at his bib and started picking the little pieces up and put them in his mouth. I was so mesmerized with it all that I regret not getting the video camera out, alas all I have are some fuzzy camera photos. As I picked up the sticky and juicy child and started hosing him off in the sink I was surprised that I didn't have the forethought to move those peaches. Before I knew it he had another peach in his mouth. Not wanting to hose him off again I took the peach from him, threw it in the garbage since it was gnawed on and I had a bazillion others and tried to distract him in the other room. After a tantrum that lasted an hour or maybe it was only 5 minutes....it's hard to say I finally could walk away and start cooking myself some dinner. Not realizing how long my baby's memory was I turned around in the kitchen and found Ryker eating the peach skins out of the garbage! Yikes! He's never got in there before! After another fit and trying to distract him with some toys I continued making dinner. 5 minutes later I looked up across the room and saw Ryker walking across with two hands holding that peach to his mouth and gnawing on it like he hadn't eaten all day. This baby REALLY likes fresh peaches! I then had to move the trash to the other side of the gate so I could finish my dinner as I listened to my son cry about his love for that peach. Less than 10 minutes later when he still hadn't forgotten about it, he was back in his highchair with a new peach that wasn't quite so bruised. When I told Seth later that night he renamed peaches in our house to "baby crack". At least I think it's funny...

Thanks to Lexi and Jason, Ryker had his first experience in a pool!
He finally got he idea after 5 minutes or so and started splashing. We lasted about 2 hours or so and after lots of sun screen on that baby white skin. He did still get raccoon eyes where we missed with the sunscreen, but not toooo bad.
Oh how I missed the pools in Florida!

Gotta love that hair!

Ryker was following Gracie around last night. I was laughing so hard. I wish my phone had sound for the video! I'm so glad Gracie puts up with him!

August in Pictures

2010-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Very beginning of August Ry started pushing around the chair to help him walk. He thought he was pretty cool!

Ryker yet again getting into the TP

Loves to play peek a boo with the bathroom door!

Garden Pictures

Ryker laying on Gracie! It was too cute! When I found him he was laying there and playing with her tail. I'm so happy gracie puts up with Ry :)

The veggie garden is growing super well! I also LOVE the zinnas that are brightening up the area! The Green Bean Tee-Pee looks awesome!

This banana squash makes me laugh every time I walk by it...its soooooo long

2010 Park City Art Festival with Ryker and friends!

Sean

Sean and Scott

And last but not least... Ryker started walking a few days before he turned 10 months. At first it was only a few steps, then 6 at a time and then before we knew it he was walking across the room and back! Wow! He's got such a cute little wobbly walk that makes everyone smile. He still falls down every once it a while but this kid is GO GO GO! He's had that personality since he was born though....his toddler years are going to be interesting and fun. I have a feeling I'm going to be chasing after him for a while.

Here's a video of him walking:

Creative outlet

2010-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

So now that things has slowed down on the work front I've been in creative mode. 3 weeks or so ago I took some engagement photo's of my friends Zach and Shelly. I was so nervous I'd mess it all up since I'm still learning photography. Luckily we had some shots that turned out really well! Most importantly, they were happy with them! We had gone downtown and I didn't take into account that all the tall buildings would effect the light so much. So I didn't get to take as many as I had hoped or even hit all the locations we scouted. It was refreshing to have a creative outlet that was a little different from the other things I do. Besides the photo's I also put the wedding invite together for them and I've been consumed with pulling the decorations together for their reception at the end of August. Luckily Shelly's favorite colors are my favorite colors so it's been even more fun. I've got most of the table and buffet decorations set and now I'm working on a wishing tree and also a tree branch chandelier that I'll have hanging tea lights, ribbons and photo frames hanging down from it. Shelly and Zach like the woodland theme so it's been easy to oblige since I'm such a garden and nature nut. My only problem is finding the right branches. If you can search the mountains for firewood, does that mean you can also take home some branches? The branches in the store seem a little pricey.
Here's their invite along with their 3 favorite photo's from the shoot.

9 months

2010-07-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

My little baby boy is getting bigger! 9 months is my new favorite age now. I wonder if I'll be saying that each month for years to come. Something new every week! Every time I look at him I think of how freaking cute he is, how much I love him....and how BIG he is! Looking at this picture below may not seem very special, but to me it makes me get a little teary eyed seeing how big he is and how life flies by. He had his 9 month check up this week and he's 22 lbs 7 ounces and 29 inches long. Their computers were down but my book said somewhere around the 75% percentile like when he was 6 months.

He has two wonderfully chunky thighs, strawberry blond hair, and two teeth right now. He can say "ball" when he's playing with balls and he has a lot gibberish in his vocab. He can say Mamamamama and Dad-E but he doesn't do it when you want him too. Seth said when he was crawling over him back and forth the other morning Ry did keep saying Dad-E Dad-E...so maybe he's figuring out what it means. He sure seems smarter than he lets on sometimes.
He's eating most foods he can mush in his mouth and he really likes to feed himself. His favorites are sweet potatoe cubes, squash, whole wheat ritz, mum-mums and of course his bottle. He's been cruising for a while now along furniture and he's been standing up all on his own. He crawls like a stink bug most of the time...I think it's because he goes faster that way. He also "takes a knee" instead of sitting on his bum most of the time. I think he's pretty excited to start walking and I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the next month or two. He stood up unassisted and took one step yesterday! How exciting is it to watch your baby grow!? :)

What a teddy bear!

I am so in love with this face!Ryker and his Aunt Breeanna (-bo-banna)

Here he is "taking a knee"

Here's Ryker using his toy walker for the first time! I was speechless at first! I couldn't believe he just flew across the room like he did! Ignore my high pitched voice...lol...I was totally in baby talking mode...haha

Short video of Ry walking with help

Long video of Ry walking with help

Grandma McIntosh and Ryker

Ryker and Grandpa McIntosh playing with the newspaper.

We had THREE birthday's this month! Mom's was the first. Looking good mom!

Angela's and Grandma McIntosh's was the next weekend on July 18th!
(I totally ruined the picture of Gma with being out of focus...darn it! I need to start paying better attention for snap shots!) Here's Ang and the delicious "Better than Sex Cake" I made...I think there's some more modest names for it but I still think the original is great! It gets a giggle out of everyone. I put a whole bag of heath on top...totally made it better than others I've had.Ryker also had his first taste of chocolate this week :) I came around the corner and found him like this.....
he had stuck his hand in the trash and pulled out the lid from my frappe that I had just thrown in.

Yum.... chocolate... lol!
I thought this was momentous just like his other milestones. :)

Being 22 pounds and 7 ounces my little baby is toooooo big for his infant car seat. So one last photo for the records.... what an angel!

Do not be afraid to go out on a limb ... That's where the fruit is.

2010-07-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

As June wound to a close I found my laptop on the kitchen table with things stacked on top of it. Obviously after many 10 hour days at work sprinkled with a 16 hour day for the opening of Eclipse and a couple 12 hour days mixed in the last thing I wanted to do was come home and be on the computer some more. But luckily I still had some energy to take some snap shots of what our little family's been up to between the long work days.

I struggled with the decision on whether or not to take out one of our trees for a shed this past month. Seth got a great deal on a 8x8 shed kit a few months ago but I was ready to throw it up on KSL since I couldn't stand the thought of having to cut down a tree. There was no where to put it since we have a large fruitless plum, 3 peach trees and two apple trees. BUT we desperately needed a shed to store our garden tools, tiller and lawn mower. Seth's not able to use his work bench in the garage with all my gardening stuff. Sooooooo.....finally after much debate with myself AND Seth we decided on the spot next to the plum tree which unfortunately was occupied. So I had to bid my beautiful peach tree adieu. :(

TA DA! A shed after a day in the sun. Magically Ryker enjoyed being outside so Seth and I almost got the whole thing done. It was ridiculous how warped some of the boards were but it's standing straight and sturdy so I guess I won't hold my breath. Only joking....Seth did a great job of bracing it even more! It'll stand up to even our hurricane winds here in Herriman!

Then here's some of Ryker's ADVENTURES for the last few weeks....

This little guy doesn't like crawling in the grass so he does the only thing an 8 month old can do, walk on his hands and feet with his little tush in the air. It made me laugh every time!

Ryker's trail of destruction...

Then of course on the day of my long 16 hour day I had this wonderful memory of the morning to make me smile...

Yes, that's right. I stood there and took photo's of him instead of stopping him. lol! Maybe after the 20th time I'll get annoyed but for now...it's just plain entertaining :)

Our possessed microwave finally bit the dust in a way. The handle broke off and so it was finally a good excuse to buy a new one that wouldn't try to cook your food for 666 minutes!

We found a new product on the market! It's a microwave AND a convection oven! Yes, that's right, you can bake cookies, muffins, roasts in it and also heat up oatmeal in 90 seconds! It took me awhile to wrap my head around it but after baking some carrot cake muffins in it I'm a believer! I was a little wary since I read some reviews that said it took them 15 or 30 minutes to heat up but they were totally wrong! It took 4 minutes to get it to 350 degrees! Awesome!

It's weird to see metal cooking racks in the your microwave oven but you just take them out to use it as a microwave. You can also use them while using "fast bake" for microwaving and baking at the same time! I haven't quite figured out that one yet...

It's going to make it a lot easier for the holidays! Not bad for an extra hundred bucks!
Last but not least, FIREWORKS! Here's what we did last year.... July 2009
Did you notice that there's no baby? Crazy for me to think about that...

Now here's some pictures of Ryker's first 4th of July in Riverton!

I couldn't hold the camera still enough so this is about all that turned out. The show was just as spectacular as last year!
Our little family
My dad and Ryker! Too cute!

Fathers Day

2010-06-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go?? Only a week and a half left in the month and I've only managed to have 3 posts including this one! Between a sick baby, a sick husband and a stressful month at work I become almost comatose once Ry goes down for the night. All I can do is watch the boob tube and pass out each night. Things are getting better now though. Seth started taking antibiotics last week for his strep, baby started feeling better at about the same time and now opening weekend of Toy Story is over. It's still hard to believe that that was Seth's first time getting Strep Throat. I had it 2 times a year growing up and I hated it! Luckily I did a really smart thing 4 years ago and I had my tonsils removed. I haven't had it since and I rarely get sick.

Well, yesterday I tote-ted Ryker all over town and picked up some steaks for Fathers Day. The whole family met at my parents including Gma & Gpa McIntosh. For some reason I couldn't just throw a steak on the grill. I had to marinate and smother them :) They turned out delish along with honey mustard roasted red potatoes! I think all the Fathers were really happy with dinner. That morning I emailed Seth a Father's Day photo while he was at work:
He also got two cute little blue handprints that said "Happy First Fathers Day!". Let me tell ya, that wasn't easy getting an 8 month old to do that. We both had blue paint everywhere....totally worth it though!

HAPPY 1st DAY OF SUMMER!!

Poor baby....

2010-06-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last Friday at the Goodman Family Reunion Ryker didn't have much of an appetite. I figured it was because there were so many distractions and people. This little kid loves to eat, so it's feels really tragic when he goes from 7 ounces every 3-4 hours down to 2-3 ounces every 4 hours. It was about half the food he normally eats on Saturday too. Sunday he started having diarrhea. It was everywhere :( Monday and Tuesday it started coming out both ends as he starting throwing up. Seth finally submitted that there IS a difference between throw up and spit up. He's got a slight fever and he's a little lethargic as his fever comes and goes. It just breaks my heart. So we're all working on Operation Fluid Intake. He'll drink 2 ounces of pedialite every once in a while and 2-3 ounces of milk at a time. He's still has at least one wet diaper per 6 hours which the nurse said he should but it's still scares me. I can already tell that he's lost some weight by the way his diapers fit. Its really alarming. :( It's also no fun every time hes goes in his diaper...it doesn't stay in his diaper. He woke up crying at 2:38am last night, I walked into his room and found poo up to his chin. So we both had to jump in the shower after I picked him up, pj's and all. Well...anyway....just a new mom going on and on about how her baby is sick. I sure hope he's better soon.

20 more days until this Eclipse madness is over. I'm soooo over this movie and the die-hard fans. Everything is so dramatic and it really wears on me. I'll be making great money from my commissions but it's been a 6 month process to get this far. Sheesh! A few more weeks of this madness and I'm free....until November 2011 that is. lol! On a side note, some of these ladies are really nice and understanding....so its not ALL bad. :)

Here's some pics from the 2010 reunion at the Heber Valley Camp. I obviously didn't do a very good job at taking pictures OF the reunion......ooops. It came and went really fast but it was nice to see my cousins (some of which I totally blog stalk) and then everyone else! I should also mention, there's a few pictures of Ryker's first shoes!

Some pictures of the Columbine in my front yard and my beautiful clematis that I planted last year. There's even more blooms today!

The last few days of my favorite month

2010-06-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of the last few days of the month of May.

Seth along with the help of some friends finished the sides of my garden. I've been waiting a long time and it's totally worth it! It looks fabulous!

My green bean tee-pee. When Rykers older, I want to make one where he can crawl inside.

I thought I had this great idea for the last couple of weeks. I considered it a stroke of creativity until I stepped back and looked at it. I wanted some more color in my backyard as I wait patiently for more flowers to bloom. I thought a bright blue table was the best idea I've had in a while! Well....not so much. It is a pretty color but I'm not as thrilled with it as I thought I would be. I'm hoping with the daisy's and purple salvia blooming close by that it'll look more cohesive. What do you think?

We spent a great day with my parents and sister at a SJ park. I even tried to hit a tennis ball around.
Here's some pictures of my two favorite boys...

SBK

2010-05-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

Superbike World Championship....lots of really expensive motorcycles that go around and around a track...really really really fast. Up to 200 MPH fast.

We went out to see the race at the sports track yesterday along with our friend Tom. We had a good time walking around looking at the vendors and also seeing the qualifying races. It was a beautiful day!
Seth also got into the Ducati owners lounge :) He was pretty happy about that.

It was a great experience but truthfully I had more fun looking at all the photographers from all over the world with camera lenses more expensive than my car.

Crawling...

2010-05-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to believe that Ryker is crawling already! Just a week ago he was just barely scooting around. I thought I had a little bit of time but as soon as he figured out the hand knee hand knee thing he's become mobile over night! Ahhh! MY baby's MOBILE! Then on top of that the at the very same time he's figured out how to sit from being on his back or belly and then on top of THAT he's now pulling himself up to a standing position ALL BY HIMSELF! What-what?!
When he learned to roll it was a gradual thing.....but this time,....THREE things all in one week. Wow. I wasn't prepared but I'm so excited to see him grow.

When he first started moving about he would get really upset midstride almost like he forgot how he did it 10 seconds ago. He would sit there and cry with frustration. But a few days later when he got the hang of it you should have seen how happy he was with himself. lol. I put him on the bedroom floor while I was changing the other morning and he crawled over to a stack of papers and moved into a sitting position. He then got a HUGE grin on his face as he looked at me and then back to the papers as he tore into the stack. I laughed so hard! He's VERY happy being mobile!

7 Months & 6 Years

2010-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

6 Years Ago

Happy Anniversary to us!

I had a beautiful lily and red rose bouquet delivered to me at work on the 14th. With a note that said "For the Holiday we made together". If those lilies didn't smell so good I would kick my husband of 6 years in the arse.... but.... with a smile on my face.
We had a wonderful evening out at Olive Garden and then we went to see Iron Man 2. Ang was a sweetheart and babysat Ryker.
Speaking of....my little baby is 7 months old!

Since I didn't want to spend $70 on more ink for our inkjet printer (haven't used it in 3+ years) I've decided to stop his cute little monthly onsies. I had printed the 1st 6 at one time but now I don't have access to another inkjet for 7-12. Oh well.
And no, Kinko's & Office Max only have laser printers :(

Ryker's a busy busy baby for not being more mobile. He's tried several times to launch himself off his changing table among other things. He rolls and scoots but he didn't actually start to crawl (very slowly) until just this week! He can sit very well and he's about a week away from being able to go from laying down to sitting on his own. This little guy is go go go and he's constantly learning. Anytime you hand him something new he thoroughly analyzes it by exploring, banging and tasting it. Afterwards or during the analyzing he usually will yell out like Tarzan to tell me about it too. He's a VERY vocal baby and likes to make lots of noises.
He's been a very social baby too. Anytime we're at the store he cracks a smile at whoever is looking at him. He's constantly making his dad and I laugh and smile with all his different faces and raspberry blowing. He grabs my heart every time he reaches for me or when he holds me tight. I sure wish babies started at 6 months! This has been my favorite month by FAR.

This one is my favorite for the month. He love love loves to blow raspberries lately. Too cute!Two teeth!

Mothers Day

2010-05-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time believing that it's Thursday already! It's been such a busy and exhausting week at work!
Here's some pictures from last Sunday and then I'll be posting Ry's 7 month pics soon:

I finally found some shade for my white skinned little boy. Costco had an awesome little play tent with 100 play balls. Now he can sit outside and play while mama plays in her garden. :)

Happy Mothers Day to me and my beautiful mom!

My brother Justin hanging out with Ryker. Most time that they've ever spent together. Justin did a great job!

Seth, Tom and Justin were busy bee's Sunday afternoon. What a GREAT husband, friend and brother! I finally have sides to my raised garden! Yippee! Now if it would only stop raining I could plant some veggies....I made mom and the family dinner. Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, along with mango salsa and strawberry shortcake. The Sweet Potatoes were a hit! When even my brother asks for the recipe that means it's a recipe worth posting :)

Garlic and Herb Grilled Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay, 2007

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 25 min (60 mins)

Level: Easy

Serves: 6 servings (10 servings)

Ingredients

6 large sweet potatoes or yams
Salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold water, add 2 tablespoons of salt and cook until potatoes are tender, but still firm, about 15 minutes (MINE TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR). Drain and let cool slightly.

Heat the grill to high.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small saute pan on the grates of the grill. Add the garlic, thyme and chili flakes and cook until the garlic is just soft, about 45 seconds. Remove from the heat.

Slice each potato in half lengthwise then slice each half into 3 or 4 wedges, depending on the size. Brush the wedges with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and season with salt. Grill until lightly golden brown and just cooked through (watch for burning!), about 6 minutes (3 min per side). Remove to a platter and immediately toss (pour over) with the garlic mixture and chopped parsley.

Spring Bulbs

2010-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

What? More pictures of the tulip festival?
Nope.
It's my front yard. :)

May is my favorite month out of the year. A little bit of effort and a big payout every year. I love all the bulbs!

Teeth & Tulips

2010-05-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Ryker has his FIRST TOOTH!So far so good on this teething thing. He's been wanting to gnaw on things, and drool was just pouring out of his mouth last week and the very next day his Grammy found out the hard way that a tooth came in as he chomped down on her finger!
Along with the tooth came whining...I guess it's his new way of communicating. I can't decided if I'd rather hear him cry for food or whine....ugh....I'm leaning towards the crying since it's not sooooo high pitched. But I guess it's one more step toward talking...I hope I hear "ba-ba" instead of a high pitched squeal soon :)

Seth, Ryker and I bundled up and headed down to
Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival.

Can't say I was very impressed.....

Haha, just kidding.....

It was beautiful! Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and I was in HEAVEN!

I wish it wasn't so cold outside or I'd be out in my garden right now. The gardens were very inspiring!

Weekend Pictures

2010-04-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

It was warm and sunny Saturday afternoon! ....Finally!

Check out that chubby leg roll!

Scott and Tom came to visit and we started up the grill for the first time this spring!
Ryker didn't know what to make of Scott's beard, lol. Scott mentioned last time that he was over Ry grabbed a handful and wouldn't let go! That would have been fun to see! :)
Roses are Red, Violets are Blue
I hate my rose bushes
So I bid them, ADIEU!
....Mwuah haha!
Seth hated them as much as I did so it didn't take much to talk him into getting them out! They're terrible to prune, no matter what I'd wear they'd make me bleed every year. The twigs would hide in the dirt or grass and kept ending up in my fingers or feet. They're high maintenance since they have to be dead headed all summer, they require a ton of fertilizer and the actual stalks and leaves are ugly! Adios roses!

I transplanted ALL the strawberries to a better location today. Now I can till the whole veggie garden without worrying!

Among other things I also finally dug the bricks in around my front flower bed! I only took me a year to get around to it. Mowing the lawn will be a lot easier.

I really know better, I do. When it comes down to it, I LOVE digging in the dirt. Whether it's with a shovel or my hands. Unfortunately, I put off using gloves since I love the feel of dirt but I regret it afterwards every time. My fingers hurt afterwards and it takes me forever to get the dirt out from under my nails.

I feel renewed and refreshed from working in the yard even though I'm a little burnt and REALLY sore. I had an upsetting day last Friday with work and hardly even slept that night. The outdoors always recharges me in a way that it's easier to go back to work tomorrow with a positive outlook.
I wish it was this beautiful here year round!

My Brother's 21st Bday

2010-04-19T20:29:00.001-07:00

My one and only brother Justin turned 21 this last Thursday. Sunday we had family dinner to celebrate because we have a birthWEEK in this family, not a birthDAY! Dad made Cafe Rio Steak Burrito's and they were terrific! (I'm so glad that I have someone to share a love for cooking with)

Mom and Grandpa McIntosh lighting the candles on a big pan of brownies

Here's Justin! Make sure to tease him about his choice of shirt....and while your at it, ask him how he can see with all that hair in his eyes... :)

I made him pose for a second picture since I couldn't see those handsome brown eyes in the first photo. What a good sport! The card I gave him (with an I owe you a birthday present note) said "How could such a pain in the butt.....grow up to have such a special place in my heart? Happy Birthday to my Brother!" Here's Ang again shushing Ryker as he fell asleep right on cue at 8pm (yes, I know its super blurry, but I like this photo anyway, so there)

6 Months

2010-04-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

My child, you are a very energetic, curious, loveable, handsome little baby. You play hard, you cry hard and you laugh hard. You are sitting up almost all on your own now. I think you love the new view of things instead of from your back or tummy. You’re scooting and rolling and you’re always in a new position every time I turn around. You reach for anything that looks interesting and you love things that make noise like crinkling, music, or banging your toy keys on a pot lid. Lately you hate being in your car seat, you arch your back until just your toes and the top of your head is touching as you yell with frustration that I’m buckling you in. You do like looking out the window as we drive along but you get bored easily. Since you are such an active and curious little baby you also get bored at home very easily. We are constantly having to move you around from room to room and switch out new toys. This last weekend was very special for me. You were busy telling me (fussing) you needed something new so I took you outside in your bouncy gym and you stood there in the shade for a whole 2 hours as I pulled weeds and cleaned up the garden. You loved to be outside looking at all the new and interesting things and I hope you have a love for the outdoors like me when you’re older. Your even were happy as we did it the next day for another 2 hours too. That time daddy was there and you gave him a big smile every time he looked at you. You melt out hearts with you big smiles and your big laughs. The other day when I was tickling you, you laughed and laughed and then we heard a very clear “he he he”. It was the cutest thing!

Each morning as you get me up at the crack of dawn, your beautiful smile makes me smile and I forgive the early hour. No more sleeping in on the weekends for mommy! Lately you’ve been sleeping the whole night all on your own. You did that for awhile when you were 4 months old but somehow got out of the habit. Luckily, now you’ve been getting a tummy full of milk, some cuddling and you’re off to dream land at around 8pm and then up, wide-eyed and smiling at 6:30am.

I’ve been nursing you every morning and night and you get half formula with your other meals. We’re up to 5-6 ounces for each meal and you eat every 3 hours or so. You like to play with my hair as you nurse and you can drive your daddy crazy with how you twist the bottle left and right when he’s feeding you. A couple weeks ago I thought I would try some oatmeal to see if you liked it and if it would help you sleep better at night since you’re such a hungry little boy. You didn’t mind it but you weren’t that excited over it either. Last week I gave you a little baby snack feeder with some frozen squash and you couldn’t get enough. You loved it! I’ve been feeding you a tablespoon of it almost every day since you get such a kick out of it. It’s more for playtime with mommy right now than anything else. I sure hope you love your veggies as much as I do when you’re older. There’s so many tastes and textures that I’m excited for you to try! I’m also excited for you to be a little older so you can help your mama grow veggies in the garden. I think seeing a tiny seed grow into a big pumpkin will be so much fun for you!

I can’t believe you’re already 6 months old! We went in for your 6 month check up today and the doctor said active and inquisitive babies like you grow up to be very bright and charming toddlers. You weighed in at 18.6 pounds and you're still very big for your age being in the 70th percentile which is 20% over the average. More of you to love is what I say!

Here's some of your 6 month pictures! You kept trying to grab at the camera and it was hard to find things to keep you distracted.

Mmmmm....squash!

2010-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hehe. Squash is so much more fun than oatmeal! I bought this little baby snack feeder. You put frozen chips of food in the netting and let baby gnaw away! I put some frozen pureed squash in one thinking he would suck on it for a second and then forget about it or at least get a grossed out face. Boy, was I wrong! He loved it! He actually reached for it and was very impatient when I took it to reload it several times. New things happening everyday in this house :) I love it!

Easter

2010-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

Easter has been all about family today. From waking up to a beautiful smile from my son, to my grandfather passing, and to an Easter dinner with my parents, siblings and other grandparents.

I mourn my Grandpa Goodmans passing but celebrate his life and progeny. I know him better by his wonderful children, and best of all my dad. My father, aunts and uncles are some of the most warm and caring people I know. To me, that speaks to who my grandpa was. I think I'll miss him more and more every year. I wish things could stay the same forever but then I suppose we wouldn't get to experience things like spring or new little baby boys.

Love you Grandpa Goodman! You'll be missed!

Couldn't help dressing up this little boy for Easter and snapping a few pictures....First flowers in my garden!

Attempted Pavlova for the second time and it came out PERFECT! I love this dessert!
Crispy Meringue, whipped cream and fresh fruit. The recipe is on allrecipes.comRyker's Grampy and my wonderful Dad

Sister Angela and Ry

Grandpa and Grandma McIntosh

Mom, Dad and Bree

Friends

2010-04-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Seth and I just dropped off his truck to have his timing belt repaired. On the way back we were talking about how people can feel trapped at home without a car and how it makes you feel like you need to go out. You feel so stranded even though you were planning on doing things at home anyways.
Well, it's the same for our friends Garrison and Emily moving to Seattle. They only left last Monday but now since I know they're not here in Utah I've been wanting to see them and hang out with them everyday. Sigh.
I wish they didn't move but I can't blame them for wanting higher paying jobs and the adventure of a new city and home. I've known Garrison one day less than I've known Seth; Emily was a wonderful bonus when Garrison met her and then married her a couple years back. How time flies. Well, all I can do is keep in touch and be friends from afar...and.... vacation in Seattle! Whoo-hoo! I've never been there so it'll be extra fun to visit them!
Here's a picture of all four of us last weekend. Love you guys!

New picture that I took and photo-shopped last weekend. I love how it turned out.

Couldn't help but take a picture of this oatmeal drenched face. Love those blue eyes!

First Food, Oatmeal!

2010-03-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd try a little oatmeal tonight with Ryker in hopes that he would sleep a little longer of a stretch tonight. I forgot that babies have to LEARN how to eat with a spoon! Not much actually went down. But we had fun, and Ryker seemed to like the soupy oatmeal.

Here's our favorite picture!
It cracks me up!

Æbleskivers!

2010-03-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

It took 8 years of searching but I finally found it! An Æbleskiver pan! Hooray!

(pronounced: aable-sKEEvers)
Ever since my grandma served them to us when we were younger I've been looking for the pan. I was so surprised when I found it at Target for only $10 bucks. It's being revived and sold as a Pancake Puff Pan. An Æbleskiver is Danish pancake or pastry and is traditionally served with raspberry jam, applesauce or powdered sugar. I've read it's supposed to be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.
I didn't have any buttermilk or applesauce for the traditional recipe so I made an easy blueberry puff this morning. Seth gobbled them down!
Now I'm on a quest for the best Æbleskiver recipe out there! I think I'll start with asking my grandma today....

Fun with photoshop

2010-03-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

In an atempt to learn photoshop I've been practicing with overlay's. I think they turned out interesting enough. Fun!

This was also Ryker's first day out. I gave him the grand tour of my garden as I shared all my ideas for this Spring...

Grundge

5 Months

2010-03-14T22:04:00.001-07:00

Life moves pretty fast.
If you don't stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.
~From the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Due to his mama's love of photography and since I have such a good subject, Ry is going to have more pictures than he knows what to do with when he's older. Luckily, I could spend all day looking at and loving this little fellow.

The picture above and to the right is one of my all time favorites! It really sums up this little man's wonderful personality.

A Night Out

2010-03-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

Seth and I went out with Shelly and Zach last night! I haven't bowled in 4 or more years and I still don't think it's my game. Come to think of it I think it was with Zach and Seth 5 years ago, lol. We had fun throwing those heavy balls down the long lane! Seth bowled a 77 and the a 156! Who knew where that came from!? I bowled a 94 and 82, ick. At least I had a few strikes to make me feel better :)

Then here's another video of Seth getting Ryker to laugh. TOO CUTE! I love my two boys!

Grandparents

2010-03-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday my dad, sister Breeanna, Ryker and I went to visit my grandparents in Springville. They've come up to visit with doctors to get more opinions on my grandpa's heart. It's only working at 20% right now. Grandpa sure was looking good though! It was also a special meeting since I was able to introduce their great grandson to them! It warmed my heart to have them meet, cuddle and kiss him. Ryker was mesmerized by Grandpa's face. He just kept coming back to it and looking at him with a curious face.

February Little Things Project

2010-02-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

This month was EASY to scrapbook for my Little Things Project!

With our Wisconsin Trip with family and friends and some other good times it was a breeze to be grateful!

Here's ALL 14 Pages: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46054481@N05/sets/72157623399260575/

(click on the pictures for larger view)

A 4 ½ Month Old Mom

2010-02-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

4 and a half months in and I love being a mother. I’ve known I wanted to be a mom since I was a little girl. Yes, I wasn’t that big into dolls but I sure could pretend with my dinosaurs, TMN turtles, stuffed animals and whatever else we had. I think a big clue that I’ve always wanted to nurture was my need for pets. My parents put up with a lot through my slew of hamsters, birds, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, puppies and fish! Unfortunately, quite a few of these animals didn’t survive or were given away. Isn’t a life span of a hamster 3 years anyways?
When I was a teenager one of my first paying jobs was babysitting. Even while I was finishing High School at the local community college I was a nanny for 2 little twins 3-4 days a week while their mom went to work. We would play, go to the park, watch Bob the Builder, nap and even go to the community pool. I loved those little kids and all the while I couldn’t wait to do the same thing with my little ones one day. I knew it would be even more special with my own and I longed for the day that I would have a little one that called me “mama”.
Well, here I am 4 and a half months into being a mom to Ryker and I’ve loved the good, the bad and the ugly. Isn’t that strange to say? I mean, how can one have loved getting up every 2-3 hours at night? But it’s true!
I don’t think I fully realized how much attention a newborn needed every minute of the day but I’d do it all over again to have this little guy in my life. Every week there’s something new with Ryker and I feel such pride and amazement every time he does something new or even something that he’s done 50 times! I just hope I don’t become jaded down the road and I continue to marvel at the amazing little person growing before my eyes.
4 months down and there’s still so much ahead of us! I’m so excited!

There’s another part to this story of my love for being a mommy. What I now carry with me is the question of did I choose the best path for myself in life? As time passes and Ryker gets older, I keep coming back to the question of did I always want a career or would I be happier being a stay at home mom? There’s so many rewards to both and I respect both roles played. It gets harder and harder each day to leave my little boy each morning. But I really do thoroughly enjoy event planning even though it’s super stressful at times. Maybe I’ve found the best of both worlds for now? I still get to enjoy my little guy for 5 hours a day and on the weekends and also I’m able to be out in the work force making money and keeping my professional edge sharp. I think I would feel totally different if I didn’t have my own mom watching over him for 6 hours and Seth for 2 or 3. The grass is always greener on the other side I suppose…

4 Months

2010-02-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

I grow to love this little dude more and more each day! He loves to explore his toys, get tickled by his daddy, and to be talked too. He's still a handful but he sure is fun to be around!

He has his 4 month checkup this Wednesday and I'm curious to know if he's hit the 18 pound mark. He's in 6 month clothing and has outgrown a few outfits already. He can roll over and now he's scooting his behind up a little and moving a few inches along the floor.He can't sit up yet without help but he acts like he wants to stand, not sit!

Look at those thighs! lol!

January 2010 Little Things Project

2010-02-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

I purchased a software a couple months ago that really got me into digital scrapbooking. They started a blog this year called "The Little Things". (http://thelittlethingsbymemorymixer.blogspot.com/)
"It's a yearlong project designed to inspire you to live a life full of gratitude. By the end of the year, you will have created nearly a hundred-page album focused on the little things that make your life a happy one."
At first I found it a little difficult to fill in the holes but by the end of the month I ran out of space trying to pick my favorite pictures!

I've uploaded all ten pages to my new Flickr account. Check it out here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46054481@N05/sets/72157623375732634

WI Trip Concluded

2010-02-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Friday, Lyn, Sarah, Sam, Seth and I went to Kopp's again hung out at Sarah's for a while to digest the feast and then hit this old book store downtown Milwaukee. Seth and I ran across it in 08 when we were roaming around. We thought it would be fun to visit again. It's 3 floors of wall to wall to wall used books. I didn't find the books I wanted but it's still interesting to look at everything. Seth picked up a couple of books, one from 1876 and another from 1923.

Seth also had a scary experiences in the very dark basement bathroom....

Later in the evening Seth and I went to the Milwaukee Admirals Hockey Game. We decided that if Ryker's to play a sport when he gets older we hope that it's hockey!

One of my most favorite quotes from the trip was from Sarah, "There's nothing better than to watch a cheese race!"

Afterwards Seth and I walked over to Mader's. A very old German Restaurant. Lots of celebrities had visited and there was a Christmas card framed from the Clinton's.

Then we hit the Old German Hall, met up with Wayne and had the original Fish Fry Friday. Yum!

It's soooo good to be home! We had a good time visiting with family and friends but I've missed sleeping in my own bed! I also need to get back on to the healthy diet wagon! Seth, Ryker and I ALL gained a few pounds. I swear Ryker packed it on the fastest though. The first few days we were there he went through a growth spurt and he's now 18 pounds! Ahhhhh!! His 6 month clothing is tight and he's growing out of his diapers! ( The diapers I'm buying him have babies crawling on them! LOL.)

Here's one of the shirts we found for Ryker on the trip, lol.

WI Trip Continued

2010-02-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Having fun with family and friends here in good old Wisconsin.

I couldn't help taking some pictures of Ryker this morning. I made sure to dress him in trucks and monster shoes so nice old couples won't ask me if he's a girl or boy today :)

Seth, Ryker and I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum today. Ryker was screaming when we got there for some reason but finally quieted down before we went into the exhibits.
It was fun to hear Seth talk about visiting the museum when he was younger....what's changed and what's stayed exactly the same.

They had a portion about all the immigrants that settled Wisconsin. Lot's of history and culture. It made me want to look up my ancestry. I know there's swedish...italian...and I think german....

"Dum-Dum"

Butterfly Garden Area
Seth and I were bugged...a mom wasn't watching her little boy and he squished a butterfly. Other than that it was really neat! I even had a big butterfly land on my leg. If one had landed on Ry I'm sure he would have tried to eat it,...haha.

Here he is crying again. For the most part he checked everyone and everything out as I carried him facing out for a good 2 hours or more!

Angela and Ryker's Adventures

2010-02-01T07:40:00.000-08:00

What a week! It's been an emotional roller coaster for the last week.

My 18 year old sister Angela was getting "sick" off and on for a month or so. She couldn't keep food down, getting very painful headaches that would wake her up in the middle of the night and then they later told me that she was losing balance too. With colds and such going around I think she and everyone else thought she just kept catching a bug off and on. Well last Sunday I was told that mom had taken her to the doctors and that they're running tests. Monday morning Mom told me that the tests were coming back negative for the flu, swine flu, etc and that they wanted to send her in for an MRI that day. When mom was explaining everything and was going over the other things it could be, stress, thyroid, etc. I thought like so many times in life that we always jump to the worst possible scenario when it usually doesn't turn out that way. I really wasn't worried but I hoped that they would figure out what it was so that she could start feeling better (she had lost 12 lbs and was pretty miserable) . Mom called me at work later that afternoon and said that the MRI showed that there was a mass in her brain. What?! There went the feeling that everything was going to be okay. The doctors needed to get her to the emergency room asap so that they could drain the fluid in her brain since it was creating pressure, hence the headaches and nausea and that they needed to remove the tumor the next day. The tumor was in the back of her brain where the fluid drains and the part of her brain that controlled motor functions. I was pretty emotional and was very worried for a while until Seth reminded me with modern medicine she should be OKAY. Seth can have a very calming effect on me :o)

The worst part about these types of events in life is that you feel so very helpless. You want to be able to DO something to help, but unless your the doctor or nurses there isn't much you can do. I was going back and forth with her and dad texting and she still seemed in good spirits. What an amazing girl! Dad later told me that she was smiling and pleasant as they drilled a hole in the top of her skull for the drain. I was able to go visit her the next morning and she put up with me as I talked her ear off about some of the funny things that happened over the weekend at work. 4 hours flew by. Wednesday afternoon they took her into surgery and everything that could go well, did go well! The tumor was about the size of golf ball and it looked like it was a mass of blood vessels with a cyst around it. Dad said the doctor said it was "just bad luck", and nothing that she did or could have done to avoid it. How crazy is the body?! This past year it makes me feel so blessed to live in this day and age. Everything from epidurals & healthy babies to cutting out a tumor from the brain with no long lasting ill effects.

Angela was in the ICU for another day and then on Friday they released her to go home! I couldn't believe she was going home so soon! They made a hole the size of a quarter to get at the tumor, used titanium screws to reattach the her skull and then used 20 or so staples to "sew" the 3-4 incision back up. I visited her again before our trip and she was doing amazingly well. Still her happy self and in good spirits. She was even going to go into work to pick up her paycheck that weekend (the doctors said that she needed to make sure she moved around). Wow! Talk about someone that handles scary AND painful situations well. I'm so thankful that everything went well! Seth says she now has the ultimate ice breaker..."I had brain surgery". :o)

The Airplane Adventure

I've been so anxious and worried about taking Ryker on the plane to visit family in Wisconsin. I read up on it on the web and tried to prepare as best I could. For the first few months of Ry's life I wouldn't have even attempted it. But now that he was 3.5 months old it was something I felt like we could risk. Seth and I really wanted him to meet his great grandma, grandma and aunts and it was good timing since his grammy goodman was going to be out of town the first week of February. There was no one to watch him while we would be at work and taking a week of vacation to just sit at home didn't sound like fun. Anyway, I think with the stress of Ang being in the hospital, drama at work, and trying to pack for myself and him (I had nightmares about being on the plane and realizing I forgot his binki or diaper or something while he screamed his head off all because I forgot something) all really got me into freak-out mode. After some really good sleep and after Ang turned out okay I think I finally calmed down a little.
Off to the airport at 3:45 am in Dad's beamer we went. It was so kind of him to take us! He had been spending all day every day with Ang in the hospital that week and he still wanted to take us. Well we made it to the airport which was the first hurdle, that was the longest we have had Ryker in the car...ever. We were making good time, the check-in wasn't even open yet. After hanging out a little while as Ry slept in his carrier we were able to check in and check one of our bags (cost $25!). We then made the trek to the plane. It began with TSA's security check point. So you know those silver tables and the gray bins? Our stuff took about 10 of those bins and the entire counter and rollers! Ha! Off came our shoes, coats, keys, cell phones, liquids, bottles, milk, carrier, etc etc etc. I'm so glad there wasn't a line. After getting through it, it took us 10 or more minutes to get everything packed up....so far....so good. Whew. Seth and I had been worried about that leg of the trip and it ended up being super easy! As we approached the terminal we were getting casual glaces and a few smiles. I then notice a few looks of panic as we went to sit down. Yes, panic. I'm sure they were thinking "oh no! Is that baby on OUR plane?!!" Thats at least what I would be thinking....this is also what I was most worried about. Ryker was wide awake and checking out his surroundings and all the people. He even flirted with a few people by smiling at them. Seth went to go pick up some coffee while we waited for boarding. Ryker started to get fussy and I started seeing a lot of glances out of the corner of my eye. So what did I do out of panic? I whipped out the bottle! I wasn't about to try breastfeeding in public for the first time, I felt like everyone was staring anyway. I couldn't even tell you if he was hungry...I just wanted him NOT to scream. He cheered up afterwards and continued to smile and hangout.Boarding the plane was a little interesting. We had a 16 pound baby, a carrier, a backpack, a roller carry-on, briefcase and duffel bag. Whew! Our arms were sore. It was almost impossible not to smack people as we walked down the aisle. It was a little comical as we walked though, EVERYONE looked at us and smiled politely but were secretly thinking "I hope they don't sit by ME!". Well, to sum up Ryker's first airplane ride since this post is already going to be super long, it was "nothing to lose sleep over". He slept, nursed on ascent, babbled and smiled, played with toys, had his diaper changed in a 2 foot by 1.5 foot area sitting on mom's lap in the bathroom, played with toys, fussed for a few minutes, nursed again and then slept until landing. Whew! As everyone stood up to get their carry-on's people starting talking to us for the first time saying "what a good baby!" "I only heard him squawk once" "how old is he?". LOL. Obviously everyone, including Seth and I were a little worried to fly with a baby.....We had to rush to our next flight in Minneapolis and we wouldn't have made it unless I had flagged down one of the guys driving the carts. It was a BIG airport! There's a tip for traveling with kids...take advantage of those guys driving the carts around. We had one woman baffled when she came up to the terminal huffing and puffing and found us sitting there when she had run off the first plane ahead of us. She asked Seth how in the world we made it there before her with a 3 month old and all of our luggage. haha!
The second flight didn't go as smoothly as the first. We did get the same stares but no comments about the "good baby" afterwards. One older guy kept giving us dirty looks. Ryker wasn't screaming, just very vocal and fussy. Luckily it was only an hour flight.

Grandma Kleman and Samantha greeted us at baggage, we picked up our 2010 Dodge Avenger and made our way to South Milwaukee.

Here's some pictures of our visit thus far:

Visiting Grandma Behrend. Ryker's Great Grandma.Mindy, Seth, Mom/Grandma Dolly
Mom/Grandma Dolly, Seth, Aunt Samantha (14) and Aunt SarahSeth and Grandma

Lunch at Kopp's while Ryker went to church with grandma! Best frozen custard on the planet! Really good burgers and a fun atmosphere too.

Back to church so mom can show off her son and grandson.

27 years young

2010-01-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

I received two AMAZING presents this year! My parents and siblings went in on a HD Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and Seth gave me a digital photo frame! I feel so grateful and spoiled! :o)

I made a chocolate mocha cake from Ellie Kreigers cookbook. It's made whole wheat pastry

flour, dark chocolate and many other good things! It tasted even better to me since it was also good for the hips (less guilt afterwards!). I've lost 7 pounds in the last 3 weeks even with all the yummy birthday meals.

3 Months

2010-01-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Our little boy is growing up! He's now 3 months old.
It was a little harder to get a smile out of the little guy this time around. He's discovered his hands! He's constantly got them in his mouth. He gets his thumb, two fingers or his whole hand in there.

He also rolled from his belly to his back this month! He's only done it once but I'm sure we'll be seeing it a lot more often! Ryker is also grasping and reaching for toys. It's so lovely when we need to get some things done around the house. He keeps himself entertained for a little while.
He loves to get his diaper changed and he's been sleeping through the night except for 1 or 2 feedings. I've been forced into becoming a morning person these days. Ry goes down at between 7- 8pm, feeding around 2 or 4 and then he's wide awake around 6 to 7am.
Ryker is around 16lbs and had doubled his birthweight! He's been in 6 month clothing for a while now, it's been a little sad and exciting to put his newborn and 3 month clothing away.

2 pounds down, how many more to go?

2010-01-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

I've finally started down the long journey of fitting into my clothes again. After baby was born 30 pounds dissapeared off my body within a week or two. Unfortunately that still left me with 25 pounds to go. Grrrr, I'm so mad at myself over it. When eating was an europhoric experience during pregnancy and I turned into hungry hungry hippo, no duh was I going to add on some extra weight. I do have to say that something about being pregnant also sucked every little calorie out of each and every bite. I swear I packed it on easier than normal. Something about Mother Nature really wanting you nice and plump while carrying a child. Maybe it's just me??
Well enough excuses and moaning about it. After all the delicious pumpkin pie, pecan pie, yam souffles, chocolate and candy it's time to start taking better care of myself. The last time I lost the weight I ate 6 small meals a day so I figured that what I'll do again this time. I'm following the guidelines of Body for Life except that I haven't started the excercise portion of it yet. I keep telling myself I don't have the time but in the book they say you never will unless you work on making the time. Maybe in a few weeks I'll work on making the time.... :o) Well this last week I ate the 6 small meals, one small portion carb and one portion protein, threw in 3 veggies for the day and 10 cups of water. Aaaaaand, I lost 2-3 pounds this week. Yea for me! I'm in the zone! Like a lot of things in life, those first few steps are the hardest. So I'm 2 pounds down and a lot more to go! Size 7 jeans, here I come!

As I was cruising the internet for some funny cartoons, this one cracked me up. Ryker and I had a hard time these last few nights with his cold.