April Showers

not necessarily rain showers, but lots and lots of change. so much has happened since i last posted. its all a blur and i dont remember all the details. so it might just be a quick rundown and then pictures because lets face it thats all i post. i cant help it. its my picture journal.

so lets see... end of march justin went on a trip to denver for a few days for a job fair that the school was putting on. he had a good time. nothing too exciting. but it was a good trip. good people to meet. that friday the 28th was our good friends Jaxson and Christines wedding. it was beautiful. they were both glowing. and it was so fun to spend the day with them and celebrate. they are so darn cute together. they really are perfect for each other.

Jusitn then accepted a job offer from KSI. they offered to train him in Bakersfield California and then move to North Dakota for at least a year. after that they will re evaluate and see where they really need him. its good money and they are helping with rent because north dakota is crazy expensive because of the oil boom. we are excited about it!

Justin graduated! he now has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. I am so so so proud of him. he really has worked so hard and spent many nights studying and doing homework. it all paid off! he is done and ready to work! a masters might still be down the road, but we will give it a little time for that one. it was great to see him walk and know he has accomplished so much.

lots of family came into town. all of justins family came in. it was great to see misty, italo, tricia, and brandon again. so great to be with the family. then my family came too. mom, dad and alicia all came. mom helped us drive to california. helped entertain ryker. that was a big help. thanks momma!

we spent friday and saturday playing with both families and jareds parents that came. also packing because both us and dani and jared are moving. that added to lots of stress. Justins mom is an expert packer. she did like half the house. i could not have done it without her. and probably half of our pictures and dishes would be broken if it was just me packing.

side note, Dani announced she was pregnant! so exciting. justin and i have known for a week or so, but graduation is when she told the fam. it was cute. everyone squealed.

so now we needed to find an apartment. we looked online, found our best option and went for it. but we are still in idaho so we had to do it all over the phone. it was very crazy and ridiculously complicated. we thought we had it all figured out and then when we got here tuesday the 14th of april apparently there were still some things that needed to be done. so we scrambled to get it all set up and a lease signed. i just wanted to put my baby to bed! we had been driving since 4 am. it was a 13 hour drive. the AC was out in our truck. i was cranky and tired and the woman in the office was telling me different things than what i was told through emails. we had to pay more money and didnt have a bank in california. and i almost cried and it was stressful. but it worked out! we got into our apartment. the ward was great to help move all of our stuff in. we set up beds and promptly went to sleep. it was rough. but we are here and we are set up.

so lots of family, celebration, moving, driving, and much much more. but now justin is liking his job. and we are enjoying the california summer!

cuddling with dad

relaxing morning with mom and spike

dad dont go! i want to come with you!

Jaxson and Christine's wedding

loves to stickout his tongue

just look at those boys

loving lasagna

you cant see it well but he has a lasagna handprint on his head. 

our dining room in our new place

so much space in rykers room now

dads tonka truck. 

loving the california sun

Yay dad!

Grandparents with their grandbaby

all the deitrick cousins!

playing with dad in the truck

walking around in our huge living room

loves swings!

bouncing on the tramp for the first time

March Madness

alright. time for the monthly update. i figure i can at least keep up with that. not much has happened in the past month. just lots of school for justin. he is working so hard and doing great. but definitely stressed. i wish i could do more to help, i do all i can from home. cleaning, taking care of ryker, and making sure bills get paid. so he can just focus on school. but when justin comes home stressed and tired and all quiet i just feel bad and want to fix it! i know he just needs time and to probably sleep it off, but i hurt when he hurts like that. i guess thats how being married is. they hurt we hurt. but goes the other way too. when they are happy, we are happy. 

for a graduation gift we decided to give ourselves a budget and splurge a little. we got enough back from tax returns that we could afford it. Justin decided to get a gun. he has been looking for a while, but now was a good time. he got a mosin nagant rifle. its an old WWII rifle that was made in surplus and then they put them all in storage. they are fairly cheap long range rifles. but they are covered in nasty grease that kept them in good condition for decades. the gun we got was made actually a few years before the war, so its a little better quality. but Justin spent lots of time degreasing the gun. the metal parts were easier. but for the wood stalk we needed to put it in the oven to sweat out the grease. bad news, it was too long and didnt fit. so we put it on a towel that we use to clean the guns and used a blow dryer. slow work, but it did the trick. it looks so good now and doesnt feel sticky anymore. we went shooting last friday. i got to shoot my Kahr gun again and am getting better at that. the mosin did great. the kickback wasnt even too bad. i enjoyed shooting it. granted i am definitely bruised even 2 days later. but still worth it! Justin was beaming the whole time. 

Saturday was jaxsons bachelors party. justin and clark planned the whole thing. there were like 12 people who all came. they started out by going dirt biking. everyone loved it. then came back to jaxsons place for pizza and video games. lots of manly things haha. i had my cousin marissa come babysit and i went out to dinner with Christine jaxsons fiance, Courtney Austins (jaxsons brother) girlfriend, and Livia. it was super fun! kinda weird... i havent gone out and had a girls date without ryker or justin before. but i enjoyed myself. then we went back to jaxsons. tried not to interrupt the bachelor party as we helped courtney and christine make food for a dinner they were going to have on sunday. it was was fun. i had a good night all around. 

lets see... other updates... ryker is doing great! getting bigger everyday i love it. he has learned to stick out his tongue. i have a video of him chewing on it and playing with his tongue. i think its funny. he was really doing it for like 15 min before we recorded it. he is learning to stand on his own. he can only do it for a second or 2 at a time. he sometimes is holding on to the couch or rocking chair but then will let go and try and clap. its hilarious. he still falls a lot. im hoping he will walk by his first birthday/. i got 2 months. so we will work on it! i figured out that when he eats cherries he gets a really bad diaper rash. like chapped and bleeding bad. he hurts so bad... i feel bad for him. so we try to keep him clean and dry as much as we can but then we have naked hours. i keep him on the towel because i am not ready for the potty training accidents everywhere. i think he needs to walk first. haha. but we got him cleared up and he is doing much better. 

we also got the chance to babysit a little girl in our ward. her mommy was not feeling well so i took her while her hubby took her to the dr. she was so littl! she was born around 5 lbs. and at 2 months old she was just under 7 lbs. still so little! her name is allison. cute little girl. i was really enjoying myself. ryker liked her too. he wanted to pet her. i was careful and made sure he was soft. mostly that meant i held his hand while i let him barely touch her head. haha. he woke up from a nap and i had her playing on the floor. he still wanted to snuggle and rest so he layed across my leg right next to her and snuggled. it was adorable i just wanted to die. so i took a picture instead haha. makes me want another little one real bad. im trying to convince justin of the same thing ;)  haha. we will see about that... 

oh! before i forget, Justin has got some feedback from a company he talked to at the BYUI career fair. its KS Industries. its an oil and gas company. he sent them an application and talked with the guy who came to talk about it here. he got a call about 2 weeks ago from a lady who works at the base of operations in california saying she would be more interested him coming to work there instead of the oil fields in north dakota. i am all for living in california instead of north dakota. well he had an interview today and it went really well!  

well thats us. our little update. 

dad! dad! come out and play!

I got to babysit a little girl in my ward. she is so small! makes me want another one... ;)

Ryker wants to sleep with little allison

he was jealous that allison got to be in his bouncer so he wanted to get in too. 

my little nephite!

had to try on the motorcycle helmet again. almost fits! haha

playing naked while trying to heal a bad diaper rash. look at all those rolls!

we were playing and having fun! then all of a sudden got really tired.

i made an apple pie braid for pie day. doesnt look pretty but its was so good!

my little leprachan for church!

he looks super tired in this picture but you can see his fauxhawk better

playing peek-a-boo!

playing while mom and alicia were in town

found his tongue! it was so funny to watch him play. 

Feburary travel plans

well it has been a busy month! lots of family and friends and travel. but oh so worth it.

ryker turned 9 months old last week! it is so crazy to see him grow so fast! my little boy isnt so little any more. i kinda miss it. but i love how independent he has become. he finally broke 20 lbs. so he is still pretty chunky. but now that he is crawling so fast everywhere i wonder if he will loose his chub. i just love those cheeks i dont want those to go away. Ryker is standing and moving along the furniture. he does really well even with just holding on with one hand. he never wants to be left out. he loves to go up to dad when he gets home and just sit in between his feet. or climb up his leg begging to be held. its adorable. and very attractive to see justin with his son.  ;)  haha. he LOVES bath time. we have to set aside at least 15 min to just play before any washing actually begins. loves to splash in the water and play with his cool bath toys. he has found the silver round thing (i have no clue what it is or what it is called) thats on the tub under the faucet. he can see his reflection so he will play with that and try and bite it. to much lime scale so i dont let him chew on it. gross. he has learned how to clap and loves to praise himself even if its because he knocked over the trash can. but we clap with him when he does do something great like finally listen when we say no dont touch the cable cord. its not a chew toy. its hard to discipline a 9 month old. how much does he understand? not much... we are still experimenting on that one. he never wants us to eat without him. it doesnt matter if i just barely fed him lunch! if i have a sandwich i better be willing to share. he loves his cheerios. gets so excited when he gets to have some with breakfast or as a snack every once in a while. he is learning more everyday and will sometimes even sit still enough to read to him! he loves to pull himself up and try to be up on mom and dads level.

he got his first haircut this last week. he was getting a mullet in the back. i loved the little curls, i wanted to keep them, but as soon as justin called it a mullet i knew it had to go. so we clipped them. because he is so curious and moves around a lot i didnt want to use scissors. so we tried clippers. he was a little scared. we got him used to the noise, then i pressed the handle against his leg or arm to get used to the buzzing feeling. once he was okay with that i tried to be quick and do the back of his head. he didnt like that so much. thought it felt funny to have his head buzz. but he cried for a little bit but then sat still and whimpered till i finished. sad, but it worked and he did great. now he looks like my little boy again.

justin and i have been doing good as well. justin hard at school, work, and everything else. he did get released from his calling at church so that should free up a little time. he went to a career fair at BYU last weekend and met with some good companies. hopefully we can hear something from them! fingers crossed.

the last 3 weekends have been packed. the first weekend of feb my mom, alicia, and ethan came to visit. they got here friday and we spent a fun weekend together. lots of games and playing with ryker. we even went to the track at the BYUI center to walk around one morning. we went over to dani and jareds for the superbowl on sunday. a room full of bronco fans and justin rooting for the seahawks. it was so sad. and so embarassing. broncos did awful and it was a terrible game. but justin was happy for his team. very proud to be from seattle that day haha.

then the next weekend Ryker and i went to utah to visit my friend and old roomate rachel. she is pregnant with a little boy due in june. it was fun for her to meet ryker and to catch up. it really has been too long. im pretty sure i havent seen her since before she got married. not cool. i clearly need to see her more often. we really just chilled most of the weekend. but i was all for that. its easier for ryker if we are not running around so much. he had a pretty good weekend. didnt get too fussy. on sunday we went to kaitlin reeds farewell. she had a great talk. and after we had to run home. got home around 6 that night so we could still have a relaxing weekend.

then wed night we went to utah again! justins career fair was thursday and it is easier to travel at night with ryker so we went and stayed with tricia and brandon. Misty moved to utah and is styaing with them too for a little while so we got to be with her too. we brought the truck for her to use while she is there before Italo gets there next month. it was different driving by myself. justin normally drives. so ryker and i in the forester listening to a book on cd and justin in the truck caravaned to utah. it wasnt too bad. and ryker did great. only stopped once to feed him dinner. friday justin and i were able to go on a lunch date for valentines day while his sisters watched ryker. he was being a stinker and didnt want to nap. it was a struggle some days but he slept eventually. saturday we went to the hunting expo with tricia and brandon in salt lake. ryker loved looking at all the taxidermied animals. there were so many people there! and it seemed like everyone was drinking. unfortunate. but its utah so there were plenty of people who brought their kids in strollers too. definitely fit in haha.

sunday was a hard day. both misty and i got sick with a really bad flu. we were both up all night throwing up. i havent been that sick in a really long time. not even when i was pregnant. it was bad. i heard ryker and had to wake justin up so he could feed him while i cleaned up my mess in the bathroom. all day misty and i just sat on the couch. didnt have anything solid. just sips of water and a little ginger ale. i could hardly move. eventually the nausea went away and i was achy and weak all over. that was hard too. but after a good night sleep i was doing better. not completely but mostly. i could function. justin was so great with ryker. he took care of him all day sunday. played fed put him to sleep. i really could just sit there. which is all i could do. he is such a good help and i am so grateful. we came home that night and then justin promtly got sick with the flu i just had. it was a rough night for him. scary really. i have never seen him shake like that or be that sick. normally he handles throwing up better. the whole 2 times i have seen it in our whole relationship. so tuesday it was his turn to lay around and not do anything. i was a good little helper and took care of ryker and got him everything he needed. more than willing to do the same for him as he did for me.

thankfully ryker didnt get sick! i dont know how he avoided it but i am so grateful. it was awful and we are adults that know how to handle it. i cant imagine how hard with would be to have ryker that sick. knock on wood that he doesnt.

well. that is our family update for the month. ryker is still as cute as ever. i love to see him grow, but still wish he was my little baby.

i have pictures this week! i figured out how to do it. i hope they turn out okay. my phone sucks so the quality is not so great. but its something. be happy about it. they are out of order but thats okay.

he loves to play with the curtain

dad helps out a ton when he is home! love these boys

ryker got a little bit of a cold and was sick for a day or too. just wanted to cuddle with momma for his nap

another great face we discovered

he loves to look out the window every morning. thinks its the coolest thing

always stands up. maybe we shouldnt have him so close to the tv... haha

great shot of his 2 bottom teeth!

he loved playing with cider at aunt heidis. cider was a little scared when he grabs her ears

Deitrick siblings reunited! 

fun with dad!

first haircut. he seems a little timid about it... 

Mohawk at bath time!

gaming with dad. he sat here for like 20 min

auntie beez rockin zip. even if this wasnt part of the actual game

playing with grandad reed while home for thanksgiving

fell asleep on the drive. didnt even bother him that his hat was over his eyes

eating his toes! he has only done this like twice. but its so darn cute

just like dad at christmas time!

in our santa suit for christmas day

Dancing with dad

cant catch the christmas snow man!

fun at bath time. 

Happy Holidays

now that the holidays are over we have settled down into the usual routine here at home. winter semester is always the hardest because there is nothing to look forward to until the end of the semester. last semester we had halloween, and then thanksgiving, and christmas. now its 4 months of stressful classes for justin and me chasing ryker around the apartment. dont get me wrong, its kinda fun. i enjoy it.

christmas was great. we ended up going to WA to be with justins parents. they are in the middle of a move so they wernt able to make it down to us. but its christmas! and rykers first, so we had to spend it with the grandparents. we drove friday after justins last final. weather was pretty good up until we got to boise. we were able to get ryker fed and in jammies and sleeping in his carseat for most of the trip. that was great. but after boise it got really snowy, and hard to see, and slick, and in general just awful. justin was so great. he drove through all of that even after driving the 4 hours to boise. so by the end of the snow storm justin had been driving for about 10 and a half hours. poor guy. and stressed because of the weather. in much need of a break. so i drove the last hour and a half ish. we were all so tired. we thought it was going to be a 9 hour drive. while looking stuff up we figured out it was more of a 10 hour drive. but with the storm it added more time so it ended up being about 12 hours. so happy to finally be there and be able to go to sleep.

but staying in WA was great. we got to spend the weekend with grandma and grandpa Deitrick. so great. they loved ryker. loved playing with him and we had lots of laughs. unfortunately grandpa had to work mon and tues so we spent the day with grandma and then ryker was on his way to bed when grandpa got home. sad but we were able to at least say hi. and thats why we came on friday anyway. christams day was awesome. we got up around 7:30. ryker kinda dictated the time for everyone to roll out of bed. we dressed him in his santa suit and had a very happy christmas. lots of new toys for ryker. he didnt really get the whole opening part, but he liked the the wrapping paper and liked the toys when the paper is gone. it was fun and we mostly enjoyed just watching ryker.

Justin got some tools that he had really been wanting/needing. i was able to get a big crock pot and a rice cooker. a very good christmas all around. we came home on thursday so that justin could work friday. i spent the day taking down all the christmas stuff. not that i was eager to take it down, but ryker has pulled the tree over onto himself twice already and broken a few ornaments so i wanted to take away that danger zone.

we went to logan and joyclyns for new years. jackson came too. it was fun! ryker was sleeping the whole time. which made it easy to play with friends. we played games and talked will like 2 in the morning. it was fun. nice and simple.

ryker did officially start crawling. he took his first few steps ( i think you can call them steps even if its on all fours...) new years eve. so we welcomed the new year to a mobile little boy. since then he hasnt stopped moving. as of right now he will follow us into any room. he loves to crawl over to justin while he is doing homework and sit between his legs and play and chew on his pants. just loves to be with dad! its adorable. i love it. he has also started to pull himself up. he can go up onto his knees. he still bounces a little bit and occasionally falls over. sometimes hits his head harder than usual and thats sad. but he bounces back real fast! we make sure he is okay dont worry.

another new development is that ryker is now mostly on formula. sorry if this is too much info, but im telling the world anyway. he bit me shortly after we got home from christmas. i didnt think anything of it when it happened initially, but it kept getting worse. to the point where everytime i would nurse i would just cry. not fun at all. so i decided that maybe i could bottle feed him during the day and nurse him at night. it has worked out. i was able to heal just fine and since i was planning on weening him around 9 months anyway. its a month away. and it took a few days to get him to take a bottle. so instead of doing this all over again in a few weeks i decided that its a good time to switch over. i still nurse him at night. but he is all on formula during the day.

its kinda great. the last few months i have been feeling kinda depressed and tied down because i was still nursing. 8 months is a long time! and i felt like i could never do anything because i always had to be here to feed him. justin was doing things all day (for school and sometimes for fun). and i could never do that. it was kinda rough. i love my boy. im glad i could nurse him. its healthiest for him and definitely great on our budget. i dont want anyone to think i hated it, i didnt. i just felt very attached. now its a little different. now i feel okay with leaving him over a meal time and its okay. he will be fine. he will take a bottle. its a good feeling. not that i have really done much. but i have the option. i have family coming into town in a week or 2 and they can help me watch him! i can go to the temple with my husband and not worry about timing the whole time. its kind of a relief.

well thats an update on our life. justin is working hard at school. has group meetings almost every night. but does make it home for dinner. haha. i chase around a little boy all day. or he chases me. i still dont know how to put pictures on here! i used to do it though my tablet, but we sold it. and i cant do it from our ipad. so i dont know how to get them from my phone to the blog. when i figure it out get ready for on overload! but until them im so sorry, but the ryker pictures will have to wait.

Thanksgiving Shenannigins

well here we are again. 

I never remember where I leave off so sorry if i repeat myself. but i just spent the last month at home in colorado. it was super fun! i loved it. loved spending time with the family and having everyone dote all over my little boy. it was great. He got used to having lots of people around and loved all the attention. i got some great naps in and got to make lots of yummy desserts that i could never make at home because my dear husband doesnt like nuts or coconut. this does however mean i need to reaffirm my diet and workout plan. maybe after the new year. lets be real. im gonna eat a lot of sweets between now and christmas. im thinking of making a batch of devil food cake mix cookies. its probable going to happen. i am not ashamed!

justin is doing great at work and school. its always a rude awakening to come back to the real world from vacation. but this week and next for school and then finals! so the end is coming. we still have another semester but he is doing great! I appreciate all he does. 

also we figured out that justin doesnt have to take another religion class thank goodness. thats good news. the end is in sight! we are still job hunting. but looking forward to the holidays! 

side note, Ryker cut his first tooth! yay!!! this explains why his afternoons have been so cranky. its a sharp little tooth. i hope we get a little relief before the next one comes. i would post a picture but im having trouble figuring out how to load it from my ipad. im still learning!

grandma hanging with ryker

playing with uncle ethan!

awesome new walker. Thanks grandma reed!

yummy squash!

michillen baby. seriously. look at those rolls!

i love his tigger outfit. it makes me so happy!

this face is perfect. i laugh so hard everytime

6 months and counting

its official! we have made it 6 months and baby Ryker still survives. I think that is cause for celebration dont you? i mean im pretty proud of myself. good thing he is so darn cute.

really, he is such a good baby. he is a great sleeper and only gets up once or twice a night. he eats great. we have started feeding him squash and pears and peas. he might be the only one in the family who likes squash right now... but thats besides the point. he is doing great and loving eating when we are. he doesnt feel quite so left out.

Justin is doing good. still busy with work and school. you know the same old same old... but that will change soon! well by soon i mean a few months from now. he is on the second half of this semester and then only one more to go before he graduates!!! so exciting. we are both excited to be done with idaho, but im sure he is even more thrilled to be done with school. we are still in search of a job to go to after graduation, but that will come as well. all we can do is keep applying places and pray for answers.

On my end things have been  a little more exciting. I decided it would be fun to go home for a little while and surprise my mom. Ryker and I drove home with my sister and waited for my mom to get home. when she saw us she screamed my name! and promptly picked up Ryker. i see where the love goes  ;)  i know she loves me too and i did get a side hug. that counts. i know im wanted for my baby now. but im okay with that. i dont like being the center of attention anyways.

so we got here last wed. and will be here in Btown till thanksgiving. Justin will come down once he is done with classes and he will be our ride back to idaho. It is going to be super fun spending this much time with family. but i do admit i miss my husband. both at church and here at home i see my parents and other couples cuddling in the evening. relaxing after a long day. darn i miss doing that. i want to cuddle. at 6 months ryker is more squirmy than cuddly. i love him for that. but i need a man right now. i need my man right now. i get a little sad sometimes, but we were able to skype with Justin yesterday and that helped a lot. im grateful for technologies that help me keep in contact so it doesnt feel like i am so far away.

Ryker has bee doing okay with the change. its a new place and a lot of new people so he is taking a while to get used to that. sometimes gets overstimulated. he isnt sleeping as well as normal. he now gets up 3 times a night ish and will be up for the day at like 6:30 7 am. im not as much of a fan of that... i wish he would sleep more. im tired. maybe today i will enlist grandmas help so i can get a nap. i have tried to keep him to his schedule and that has helped a lot. he is still doing great and having lots of fun. thats the important part right?

Grandma got him a little walker off of craigslist. its super cute. has a steering wheel and a car and other fun things to keep him busy. its new but he does like to play in it for a little while. it will help strengthen his legs! i love the chub on those legs... i dont want to see it go.

at his 6 month appointment he is doing great! it was hard to get a weight because he kept kicking the scale and turning it off. but he is about 18 lbs. 26 and 3/4 inches long. in the 66% for weight and 63% in heighth? i think... if i can remember right. overall doing great! he is a healthy healthy boy. just the way we like it. im glad he is so solid. he is so much fun to play with. grandma is just on cloud 9 while he is here.

sorry no pics this time. i need to figure out how to get them on here while in a different state. haha.