Happy Holidays!

whew! so much has happened since I have last blogged. I might do less talking and more pictures. but i have said that before and still write more than i think i will.

Dec started out great with Carlee coming to visit. surprisingly i have no pictures? what the heck? well we had fun while she was here! and she even kept all of her appendages and didnt get frostbite. it was close though.... haha. she got here friday night and got to say hi to Ryker before he went to bed. then we spent saturday doing some more christmas shopping but mostly lots of christmas wrapping. she gave us some more clothes for baby girl that dani was passing on. so nice of her to bring them to us. then she stayed with ryker as Justin and I went on a date. it was nice to get out for a bit by ourselves. really it was a pretty chill weekend. sunday was a lazy day. we hung out all morning. then carlee helped me with my primary class for church. it was fun to have her as my second teacher for the week. we played more on monday and then she headed home. it wasnt crazy busy but it was fun to have her here to play and be with ryker. i secretly hoped to go into labor... but i knew it was still way early so it probably wouldnt have been good to do that anyway. baby didnt come! so we just played with ryker.

after that the next few weeks have gone pretty smooth. its getting colder. we still have snow. its icy. the usual haha. primary has been interesting yet fun. I had a really good lesson last week that actually lasted the whole hour. i was so proud of myself. it was about how Christ is with us and he organized the church the same now as he did when he was on the earth. we played a matching game. they earned some muddy buddies. they made a christmas chain to count down the days till christmas. it was fun. and they enjoyed it. I have a new teacher now! i was with her one week and then last week we had our christmas program and didnt have primary so not that week. one more week and we get new kids! new year. all the sunbeams come up to our class. yay!

Ryker is doing okay. still nervous in nursery. but if someone holds him than he is okay. but it breaks my heart to have him scream as i leave. we tried to have justin go with him once. but he was still super clingy. darn.... we are trying! he is still understanding a lot. he can sign more, food, drink, thank you, and say hi, bye and getting so close to other words! he can say and repeat most of the vowels, but is still working on the consonants. i think when it starts it will click and he will just explode with words! we work on it everyday. he has officially gotten attached to hi care bear. the one that used to be justins. he needs it to go to bed for nap and at night time.

christmas came! we missed being with family, but it was fun to just be us for once. we made it work. justin and i had an epiphany when we were making christmas goodies. we can make them however we want! we dont have to put in the ingredients that we always pick out. or we can put christmas candy in our stockings that we want to eat instead of eating the not as good ones and leaving the chocolate ones for last. we are adults! this is our house! haha. it was kind of hilarious. but we have never been in our own home to really think about it.

christmas eve was fun. we opened one gift like we did in my family. after ryker went to bed we played santa and put out the stockings. justins parents sent us some more of justins old trucks to give to ryker so we set those out and got those ready for him. then we rented 2 red box's to watch. we saw the new teenage mutant ninja turtles. its really hilarious. i really liked it. and then we saw the giver. also really good. i dont remember much from the book. great christmas eve right! totally christmasy.

christmas morning was great. we kept the tree lights on for santa. so when we brought ryker down it was cool and he kept saying hi and waving thinking someone was already downstairs. we put him down and showed him where his stocking was. he was so excited about the new trucks! he couldnt decide which one to play with first. so he kept going back and forth. then we put presents in piles and we helped him open all his gifts. he was so excited with all the new toys that he lost interest in unwrapping. it was fun at first but then he just wanted to play with everything! he had so much fun though and it totally wore him out. he took a great morning nap haha. justin and i had a great christmas too. justin was so happy to get some good tools. a creeper, a jack, a dremel, some good new shirts and pants.he got an organizer for his screws and such and a tire iron. im sure there is more, but i cant remember. we were very lucky to have family be very generous to us. they have been so sweet. thanks family! my big gifts were a sewing machine! and a george forman. knowing the sewing machine was coming i have thought of a few new projects to do. im so stoked to be able to do them. but now that we are having a new baby it might be a month or so before i feel rested enough to start them haha. i got lots of great clothes for after baby. and some great clothes for now too. Carlee did let me wear those all month though. its been awesome. also got some great new books im super excited about. it really was a great christmas.

we also had a great day that was not just chocolate. mostly, but not all that. we had bacon, eggs, lemon poppyseed muffins and eggnog for breakfast. munchies for lunch. and then brown sugar glazed spiral ham, mashed potatoes, buttered flakey biscuts, green beans, and sparkling cider for christmas dinner. it was super yummy! and all the left over ham i keep snacking on has been so amazing still. its perfect. we have plans to make a yummy corn chowder with potatoes and plenty of ham. its going to be perfect.

well i guess in other news my dr is going to be out of town next week, so he told me that if i wanted he would induce me on sunday the 28th. thats 2 days before my due date. but its a light at the end of the tunnel. i have been in so much pain this pregnancy that i just want to cry everytime i move. not so great when im running after an 18 month old. he doesnt get it. but i dont expect him to. my pelvis just hurts so much. i cant walk or stand up or roll over or really move without clenching in pain and having to take a breather. i have been practicing for contractions not weeks and weeks of pelvic pain! but we have been dealing with it. so! i still want to go into labor naturally but if not then come sunday morning we will kick start things. i really want it to be with my dr so thats important to me. i still want to try to go without an epidural, but with being induced i will see how it goes. mostly im ready to meet my little girl. mom will come tomorrow evening to watch ryker so that will be so nice to have him taken care of. and by someone who will be around for a while and i dont have to worry about them needing to get back to their own kids. not nearly as time constrained. yay! im glad my mom will be here for it. it was such a blessing when i was delivering Ryker.

well of course i wrote more than i intended. oh well. next post will be all about new baby which is what everyone will want anyway haha.

we got a fun picture of the kunz family! they are so cute. we miss being so close to them

ryker trying on dads favorite shirt. haha. 

he had one day where he really wanted to wear his coat, but only by the hood. the jelly smile also makes it great

i tried a few pregnancy pics just to document a little. this is at 39 weeks

opening up his christmas eve gift. he was so so excited! watch the video below

ready for christmas morning!

the beginnning of christmas, investigating the stockings

ryker got the new trucks that were justins. he loves them so much. 

this awesome semi. it makes engine and horn noises. beeps when it backs up. justin spent one night cleaning all the insides to make sure it worked right for ryker. 

he prefers it without the trailer right now. 

we helped ryker open all of his gifts. he really just wanted to play with each toy and got distracted from opening more. 

fun tools!

new jammies!

a fun steering wheel. we can mount it onto something later. but he loves to "drive" around the house. 

new basketball! its a big step for us. 

rylie got a lot for christmas too! even though she wont enjoy for a few more days haha. 

justin loved his dremal! exactly what he wanted. 

i found this train at the dollar store. it totally worked! and ryker loved it. 

ryker trying out dads new creeper

and had to practice using the new floor jack

family christmas photo!

playing tetris jenga. it was fun!

family photo with all the siblings! we are on beez phone and dani and jared are on the ipad

more of me being very very big

ryker opening his christmas eve gift. he got so so excited. 

surprise holiday!

yay november! I always love november because it is the start of the holiday season and everything is cooling off (for better or for worse) and everyone is happy and festive. its just so great.

i admit, i am a scrouge about christmas until after thanksgiving. but its a big deal to me so get over it. haha. i mean that in the best way.

most of november flew by without much going on. Ryker is getting bigger still. he started nursery and did great! he has been 3 times now. he kinda freaks out when i have to leave, but i gotta go to primary for my calling! he cries and it breaks my heart. but if someone is holding him and helps him feel safe than he is generally okay. and when i go pick him up he looks like he is happy and having fun, then sees me and starts to cry and run to me. upset that i left him but willing to come home with me haha.

so speaking of primary, i have been having trouble slightly with my primary calling. mostly the girl i was co-teaching with decided to not come back to church. not that she is inactive (i dont think) but maybe she moved with her parents a few weeks ago and decided not to tell anyone. either way im moderately ticked to not have any warning. also she was the teacher and i was the helper. so after a week of her not showing up and i had to improve a lesson (while taking care of an 18 month old who was almost old enough for nursery at the time) i have to prepare for just in case she doesnt show up. which she hasnt for like 2 months now? awesome... granted some weeks we were practicing the primary program (which went well in case i didnt mention it in my last post) so there were 3 weeks that i didnt have to prepare a lesson, but i was in charge of seven 5 year olds by myself. ugh. then also there was a week that we had stake conference. so i know im complaining about only 4 lessons in 2 months, but still! since i didnt know i was supposed to be teaching and no one has told me anything its a little irritating to be responsible when i dont know i am in charge. gah. but i have accepted it now that i am the teacher and will always prepare a treat and a lesson for the kids. things are going well. even though i have a different co-teacher every week now. thats fun... but also im about to have a baby remember? which means i can teach for the next 2 weeks at most then im going to be hiatus for like a month. and then when i come back i need to be free to nurse my baby whenever she needs it. soooo  i will be a great helper! (my original calling) but not a great teacher once baby comes. we will play it by ear and i have been trying to keep the primary pres in the loop as things progress.

all things to be thinking about. i also need to be starting the rechartering things for my cubscout calling, but am awaiting info for that. now would be best but im probably going to get the info right as baby is born and i will have to deal with all of that at once. awesome!

in rykers first week at nursery he was so kind to bring home a cold. he got it real bad, and i got it real bad. we took precautions so justin didnt get it luckily. but ryker and i were pretty not happy for about 2 weeks. that was no fun. yay germs from nursery. i think i have decided that when i stay home with the new baby i will probably keep ryker with me because i dont want him bringing anything home to the new baby. smart? justin needs to go because of his calling. so me alone with 2 babies? is that smart? well i guess it will be like that every week day so we shall see!

ryker is still working on words. i wish he was more productive on that front, but we are doing all we can to teach him. he is understanding a ton though. he has learned to do 'bones' which is hilarious. he loves it and will always come back a few more times. so cute.man i love that boy. he loves to run around. he also really really loves oranges. like a lot. when he had a cold it was all he would really eat for like a week.

also we found out that justin got an extra day off for thanksgiving!!! we didnt know he got the day after off as well. that was pretty cool. we found out like a week before and decided that it would give us enough time that we could actually go home to colorado for thanksgiving! we decided to surprise everyone but we did tell my parents. mostly so that they would have a room ready and we could sleep haha. but we got there after a 13 hr drive. long long day, but we got to spend thurs, fri, and sat with family. thanksgiving was great. we loved it. ryker was a little ( alot) clingy but it was a long drive for him and then we surrounded him with a ton of new people. so its not surprising. but he did okay. the drive back on sunday was still long, but doable. basically we think that we are going to fly anywhere from now on, but we need the advanced notice in order to get the flights.

as per thanksgiving tradition, we did the pie eating contest. ryker got to participate this year. he was super confused at first. i stripped him down and put pie in front of him and he didnt know what to do. so i helped him start getting messy, and gave him a bite so he knew it was yummy. then he got into it a little more. he came in second! raliegh rocked it and one. i think she is almost 3 now? so she had an advantage. and a great dad who shoved it in her face. but thats the point right? we did some good christmas shopping while we were there and ate great food. it was an awesome vacation. and good to get out of town.

then! to make things even better carlee is here visiting us for the weekend. she came in on friday and leaves today. her and ryker have been having a great time. so much fun to have her around. it has been so great.

also this past week we have broken out all of our christmas stuff and decorated. ryker is learning not to touch the tree or the ornaments. mostly he is pretty good about it and only have to get after him a few times. he loves all the pretty colors!

well thats what we have been up to. i am 37 weeks as of right now. i am ready for baby but im sure she probably has a few more weeks dang it. according to the dr im 1 cm (have been for 2 weeks now) and i was like that up until the day before i went into labor with ryker so im not surprised.

well thats our monthly update !  enjoy. oh! dani had her baby!!! we have a neice on my side now! Charlotte Janez. she is super precious from all the pics i have seen. a little sweetheart.

new fam of 3!

pie eating contest!

the winner!

he really did enjoy it

eating a sandwich and loving time with dad.

yay road trip!

helping dad with the christmas tree

he wanted to dress up and help with everything

loving the pretty lights and all the colors.

grandma with the new little grandaughter

we found a store with more cool carts. we will be going back often

dad with first granddaughter. he just looks so good holding little girls. 

Dad and Fallyn at the Orion launching. it is a satellite that dad has been working on at work and he got invited to the test launch. awesome! 

having fun with aunts at thanksgiving. 

he loved to play basketball at thanksgiving. apparently we need to introduce him to sports more. dont worry... santa has got that covered. ;)

we found airbud on netflix and decided to watch it. ryker got so excited whenever they played basketball. he would cheer for the team and the dog. it was so funny to watch. With justin and i being so not into sports at all we havent really watched anything or played ball with him. clearly now we know that needs to change! we will be better. i promise. haha. 

the hunt for wood october

So i feel like october went very similarly to september. we didnt do much, but at the same time i guess we did a lot and i have plenty to blog about.

first off as the title suggests, we did finish some projects that we have been thinking about for a long time. there is a place here in minot that throws away old palates. and they told us that we were free to take anything that was in the bin. the biggest cost in any wood project is of course the wood so we were super happy to get it for free!!!  not its not all super great quality, but it suited what we needed it for and we were not afraid to get our hands dirty making them smooth and pretty. so we spent a while (both in september and in october) taking apart the palates and taking all the nails and screws and staples out of it all. it was a lot of work. and it was difficult trying not to break the wood as we were tearing it apart.

ryker loved to help. he would often grab the extra hammer and go with dad to help pull nails out. although at a somewhat slower pace haha. justin was great to let him help a little and then when ryker lost interest he could do some more banging and get it done fast. we ended up with a ton of wood. lots of planks and a  good amount of 2x4 s  as well. so we were stoked to start our projects. we made a work bench for the garage. that helped a ton as we were sawing and sanding to not kill justins back. and keep all the important things away from a little boy with grabby hands who wants to do just what dad does. then we made a headboard for our bed. we really liked the look of palate headboards and took some ideas from a couple of places and made it our own. it turned out pretty awesome if you ask me. then we made a chair to go with the work bench/ for me as i watch and be the gopher to justins projects. justin said it was for him as he would do other things and fix small stuff on his work bench. but im pretty sure his pregnant wife is getting more use out of it.

then we made an awesome toy box for ryker!this one was the longest project. obviously we wanted it super super smooth for baby hands. and dad with his deitrick detail needed the planks to be straight and perfect. with imperfect wood it was difficult. but they were good enough to make him happy with it. ryker and i painted letters to go on the front. most of the last 2 weeks was spent painting and then letting it dry for a few days. halloween night we actually were able to put it all together again with the hinges and such./

can i just take a second to say that love justin so much. he constantly impresses me. i swear he knows everything. or at least can make a logical guess that sounds totally legit. even if he is pulling an answer out of thin air its totally believable. but even more so the things he does know and can do i am always impressed. i thought it would be simple just screw some hinges on. no, of course he would notch out a spot for them so that it is flush and looks perfect. am i surprised he wanted to do that? no. and i surprised he knows how to do that so well? no. just didnt expect it. and how much he really wants things to be good quality especially when he makes them himself is just awesome. i just really love his motivation and eye for detail.

halloween was good. we were ready for trick or treaters! but they never came... so now we are stuck with all this candy to eat. darn..... between halloween, thanksgiving, and christmas being in my last trimester i might gain more weight than i should with this pregnancy! ha!

Justin had a super busy week last week. he worked like four 12 hr days and then friday was still even longer than usual. he was super tired and ryker missed him so much. one night he got home right as i was brushing his teeth for bed. justin came up and said good night and i put him in his crib. he just cried. he wanted dad time so bad. so justin got him and rocked him in the rocking chair for like half an hour. he was so happy to just snuggle with dad. thats all he needed. it was so cute. and so sad that it had been such a long week for everyone. ugh. oh well. we are glad its over and we had a relaxing weekend with lots of family time. definitely needed.

anyways, its been a fun month, and we are excited about all of our projects. things are definitely getting colder here and ryker is sad that he cant go outside as often. but we are all doing great. ryker now has 11 teeth, 3 molars and all 8 of his front teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom) so we are doing great. he definitely still drools a ton and likes to chew on things. but we love him!

our halloween pumpkins!!!

helping dad remove the nails

chewing on a frozen banana to help with those sore teeth

bassinet for baby rylie came and we put it together! ryker loves to turn on the music and dance to it. 

found some awesome carts at home depot! we have been back like 3 times. he loves it. 

he is a crazy driver!

we learned how to play baby jenga. ryker loved it. at least for this moment

or maybe its because he was playing with dad...

biker outfit still fits!!!

we also had to use the skeleton outfit at least once. its a little small, but we made it work. 

so happy to help dad!

our toy box! ryker loves it so much. we brought him down saturday morning and it was like christmas morning he was so excited. ran right over to play with it. 

our rockin headboard. 

making dinosaur sounds. its hilarious! i love this boy!

dad taught him how to make all the shifting noises while driving. haha. he has no chance of being anything but a gear head like dad. 

slow september

well... to be honest i dont know what there is to say. september seemed to fly by and now its over and i dont know what we did. we are just continuing to settle into life here in minot. we dont have any travel plans anytime soon. not with baby girl so close to arrival during the holidays. we are continuing to pay off the student loan and have plans to have that done by the end of december.

justin still enjoys his job. he still drives a crazy amount, but they love what he is doing so everything is great there. Ryker is getting so so big! i love playing with him every day. we are working on words still and dont have anything new to report there, but he is trying and babbling a ton so im hoping they will come soon. we practice words everyday. its very repetative and simple for me haha so i love when justin comes home and i can have a real conversation. thats nice... he has gotten 2 new teeth. his 3rd tooth on the bottom and a molar on the bottom just poked through as well. i can feel the other 3 molars moving down. makes for a cranky boy sometimes but he is doing really well. drooling of course, but thats expected. he is doing better at night. he hasnt gotten up for about a week now. im grateful. my nights are restless enough.

im feeling great. getting bigger everyday. i feel like little girl is moving a ton more than ryker did. but im glad to know she is there and safe and healthy. we just ordered a carseat cover for her. one that will protect her from the wind and hopefully help seal in some warmth so the -40 degree north dakota cold doesnt bite at her nose. this little one will be using all the blankets we got. haha. i am officially 28 weeks this week. its crazy how fast this pregnancy is going. so different from ryker. but equally exciting. she could be here in as early as 10 weeks! i would totally be play with that... i am actually hoping she comes 2 weeks early so that she can share a birthday with auntie fae and also be far enough from christmas that she can feel special and its still all about her. we will see what she has planned, but heres to hoping....

it really was a slow month, so not a ton of pictures. but after last months overload its okay right?

he LOVED!!! washing the car with dad. he was so happy to play with the hose

with our new cubscout callings grandma deitrick sent Justins old scout stuff. here is ryker wearing justins old cubscout shirt. he has a lot to live up to! look at all the badges and everything!

he has gotten into shoes. he loves to have me put them on him. and he loves to try on daddys shoes

we were practicing patience with goldfish. mostly he was still out of it from his nap, but we thought it was funny

quick story! the pic doesnt do it justice. this bruise was BLACK! i went for my glucose test at the dr. the lady taking my blood was super nice. she put the tourniquet on and the vein in the middle of my arm shot up! you could see it from space. big. bulging, full of blood. perfect spot. but no. she chose to go for one of my side veins. i dont know if she just wanted to practice or whatnot. im not going to tell her how to do her job. and thats a decent vein as well even if its not as obvious. but she had to search a little. and i think her first attempt poked all the way through. its been a month and its still big and a decent shade of dark purple. it makes me roll my eyes. but whatever. i just dont get why she chose that one when i had a much better and easier vein like an inch to the left. oh well. 

i take baby bump pics in this shirt a lot... i believe this was last week? (27 weeks) ish. its getting round! and not just because i eat whatever i want...

he recently got into wearing this hat. he looks like a thug but i love it. 

ryker loves to play in the truck. now everytime we go somewhere he will come stand by the steering wheel till the driver gets in. climb on their lap and sit down. clearly this is his spot. he will look up at us like okay im ready to go. lets drive! its so cute every time. i finnally took a pic of it and got this perfect shot. i love this picture so much i can hardly contain myself. its just so perfect. i love my boys! i love that they are pretty much the same person. 

a new game he learned to play with dad one evening while i was at a relief society activity

he loves this song so so much. we watch it every morning. and he stops whatever he is doing to dance to it. its that good. 

more fun boy sounds! i think it doesnt help that we are laughing so hard egging him on