Busy, Busy, and Maybe a Little Dizzy

So Maye was pretty exciting all around. I am going to have to break up may into 2-3 posts depending on what all I want to add and talk about. mostly my first batch of pictures is like 70+ so definitely more than one post. we will see how soon I can get them all up.

Also, I became aware that I have more family and friends that really do read my blog than I originally thought so I hope I dont bore anyone. Or offend them with my grammar and extra long sentences. But maybe I might try to proof read more. unlikely but i promise to try.

Anyways, may started out great with a visit from my mom and sister fallyn. They were supposed to come that first weekend and be here for my birthday on monday, but a little miscommunication and confusion about flight times made them miss their flight and they had to reschedule for the next week. But at least they were still coming! They flew into Bismark, so we went to pick them up. Justin was able to take off a little early that day because he had plenty of extra hours for the week. We drove both cars because my mom so graciously offered to take the kids home while Justin and I went to do a session at the temple. It has been probably over 2 years since Justin and I have been able to do a session, so it was so nice to be able to go. and we have never been to the bismark temple! double plus. Its just not workable to get a babysitter for 6 hrs. 2 hrs drive there, 2 hr session, and 2 hrs back. its a little much. but we were so happy to make it work this time. either way because Bismark is such a small temple they only do certain sessions. we did an early evening one but had all afternoon to kill time in bismark till mom, fallyn, and kids headed home. We ended up going to a childrens museum. It was actually really cool. Conveniently we were the only ones there so the kids could kind of run around and do whatever (mostly) and have a great time without getting lost, or tangled up with other kids. Justin also had a great time with some physics experiments. Rylie found some golf balls that went to one experiment and she just held onto them the whole time. loved it. They even had a little oil rig that pumped water. It was fun to show the kids the type of sites that Dad works on, even if technically he doesnt work specifically with the rig itself. We finished with dinner at texas roadhouse and it was so good. Ryker was inhaling all the peanuts. he just loved them. it was hilarious to watch and made me happy that he currently doesnt have the same distaste as justin does for nuts.

Friday was a chill day at home. I had a drs apt and did some grocery shopping with everyone. mom and fallyn came to help entertain the kids while i shopped for our usual stuff. Im sure with the company and doting grandma some extras might have snuck into our cart haha. but we had company! so its totally allowed right? I can always find an excuse to splurge.

Saturday we went to the zoo in the morning and had a picnic for lunch. The kids loved the zoo. It was nice and cool in the morning. it really was perfect. Its a small little zoo, but ideal for a short trip with small kids. Lots of the animals were out for the morning before the heat of the day. We got a nice little show from some lions who needed to work out some morning pleasure, but we were able to steer the kids away before things got too interesting. I will post a video of Rylie while we were at the penguin exhibit. she was so cute and would shake her bum just like the penguins shaking off the water. love that girl, she is so precious. We got to watch the zoo keepers feed the giraffes. We helped ryker make lots of animal sounds all day long. After seeing all the animals and eating lunch in the grass just outside the zoo, the kids were more than ready for a nap at home. Mom volenteered to stay with the kids while they slept and justin and i went on another date to see the new captain america civil war movie with fallyn tagging along. it was so good! I always love a free babysitter. and we are very grateful for moms generosity.

Sunday was supposed to be easy but turned out more eventful. We were all ready and about to get in the car to go to church when I get a text that church is cancelled because there is a gas leak in the building? what? we double checked with a couple other people that we had numbers for and sure enough it was cancelled. So we had an impromptu lesson here at home. Justin had prepared the second half of his missionary Alma/Amulek lesson for his class so we did a variation here at home. Mostly since Fallyn is preparing for a mission and at the time awaiting her mission call, we watched some mission videos justin had and talked about his experience. we asked mom and justin about their missions and fallyn what she hoped for her mission. all in all it was a good relaxing day.

on monday we were celebrating Rykers 3rd birthday. technically it wasnt till wednesday, but with grandma and aunt fae in town we couldnt not celebrate. so we made ryker feel special and gave him a few little gifts throughout the day. he was super happy and loved the attention. Once justin got home we had a yummy dinner and cake and ice cream. one of his current favorite movies is UP, so i made a yummy strawberry poke jello cake with cool whip frosting and i drew an uo house with skittle balloons. it was super cute if i do say so myself. Then we opened some presents which included some awesome books, new pair of sunglasses, a backpack, a wooden trainsey from mom/dad/grandma and grandpa deitrick, a pop up tent from aunt crystal, and a brand new bike! from mom/dad/grandma reed/aunt carlee/aunt dani. thanks all for the love of our boy! he felt so special. im sorry if i forgot anyone. we really are grateful and it has been a crazy month so i might not get all the facts right. all in all a great day!

it was such a fun visit. we had lots of fun and stayed up super late every night. we felt it all the next week haha. but so worth it! i played my first game of risk. we had lots of laughs and some great bonding. Rylie really took to Fallyn. She just loves her and wants to be held by her. its super cute. maybe mildly inconvenient for fallyn. but i love it. haha.

I think im going to stop there. virginia beach and wedding to come in the next post.

family photo with some giraffes!

Fun with auntie Fae at the childrens museum

feeding the giraffes

they were mesmerized by the otter swimming so close to the glass. the otter of course was loving the attention

drinking from the lion fountain

in the childrens museum this was a chain reaction experiment where you put a whole bunch of tubes together and rolla ball down them and it can ring a bell or turn a lever. that kind of thing. 

technically you are supposed to bounce the golf balls into a whole half way up. but rylie just wanted to hold the golf balls. 

crane game!

teaching ryker how it works

still has her golf balls

justin thought this was the coolest thing and played for a while, even though none of the kids were with him. He was really good at it. 

by touching the differnt metal parts it made music

this was a solar car. you move the light and the car drives around. 

you put on "drunk" goggles and try to hit the target. its so funny to watch people try and missterribly. 

ryker making a track with grandma

if you stand up it becomes a human kalidoscope. rylie loved it. 

jacobs ladder

she loved the funhouse mirrors and would look at herself and shake her head

ryker trying out the kalidoscope

lemures at the zoo

hanging out with grandma

such a good looking aunt

seeing how tall we are compared to a giraff. so close ryker! just a little more to grow

the elephant train that was driving around. ryker loved seeing this come around. 

penguins!

she just wanted fallyn all day!

fallyn hanging out with the giraffes

we had to ride them. 

more playing with the otter

we were not allowed to climb on this one which i think is a little dumb since this was the childrens section. its just asking for people to climb on it. 

justin made a fun little tin can stove to show at scouts. he was having a camp cookout night the coming week. 

practicing our fishy face before church

trying out grandmas dress while she was here. it fits great on rylie!

kisses for grandma

this is us watching a mission video. rylie is hanging out on grandmas lap currently with her legs in the air. but she was quiet and happy!

dad and ryker snuggling durring justins mission slide show

we had corn on the cob for sunday dinner. rylie loved it and wanted to hold the cob pieces all evening. she could eat the ends great. the middle still had some kernals left. 

playing outside on a sunday afternoon

fallyn working on her chalk skills

with lots of cuddles from rylie

we broke out the marshmellows to toast over justins camping stove. rylie just wanted them raw

teaching ryker young to love camping

we love outdoor time. 

the little fire got a little crowded. 

rykers up cake

opening birthday presents

he loves these! and plays with them everyday. 

loving our new bike! he is still a little small and cant reach the pedals when its turning. but he will fit soon!

he loves to jump around in this tent. he is just tall enough that standingup straight gets it like and inch or 2 off the ground and i see this tent bobbing around my living room. its hysterical. 

touching the goat

photo sent to mom and fallyn as we wait for them to come into town. 

Video: Rylie shaking it with some penguins

Its Finally Spring!

I know I complain a lot about how I hate being hot and I really dont mind winter. But I still love when winter turns to spring. its finally warm enough for the kids and i to spend some time outside and play with chalk, run around and get some Vit D, throw rocks and pick dandilions. All the great stuff. Not to mention with 2 energy filled toddlers staying inside all the time is a no go. They have had a lot of cabin fever lately. and some days its sunny and warm, but the wind is killer and drops the temp. Man im ready to get out of North Dakota! Still trying to count my blessings and not my woes.

Things in general are good here. Justin still working and driving all over the state. most of the time its not too bad. but we sure are grateful that they pay him for travel time. some days he drives 8 of his 10 hrs. But they have been good to us so no complaints.

Ryker is doing good. we are working on our manners and asking for things instead of demanding them. when he is happy it works really well if he is in the middle of a meltdown then making him ask only makes it worse. so it depends on what kind of headache i want at that point. haha. we have started talking to him about a big boy party we are going to have after Alicia and Brandons wedding beginning of June. when we come back we will have a solid weekend where there are no diapers and we play and party and POTTY all day long. justin will be home so that at least one of us will be on constant ryker duty to watch and remind him and help him. Then of course rewards and big celebrations everytime we have a success. but the other parent will be in charge of rylie and getting things that are needed. but all focused on ryker and getting him to want to go potty. with some hope and lots of prayers we will have him out of diapers before baby gets here in Aug. that is my hope. Im starting my prayers now!

Rylie is so great. I love that little girl. she is my sunshine and always has a smile to share. i love her cheesy grins. i love her babble. i love how when she sits down she rolls her ankles to wiggle her toes. she is very sassy and wants her way often. still a work in progress to teach her that its actually moms breakfast but she is sharing and that means that mom can share with ryker too. not just her. she has gotten really into playing the kids mode on my phone. I try to keep it at a minimum, but she is already getting too attached. so we are working on cutting back. it involves many tears when i say no, and so much excitement when i give in. the other day she got up from a nap, grabbed my phone and wanted up on my lap. once there she grabbed my hand and put the phone in it basically telling me to turn in on so she could play. as i started to load it she got so excited and giggly and kicked her feet. it was the cutest thing ever. how can i say no to that! well i didnt obviously haha. but she is often very happy and i love that about her. breakfast and dinner are the hardest because she is clearly "starving" and i am not moving fast enough to get food to her immediatly. she loves her bear and her dog. yet more often than not when she starts making noise in the morning or after a nap its because she threw her animals out of her crib, and ripped her pacifier off and threw it on the ground as well. when you throw all your comforts away its hard to settle back down! silly girl...

I am doing good too. just had my 25th birthday! yahoo i am officially an adult. I can drive a uhaul and rent a car. no more limits for me! real exciting right? haha. it was a good and mellow day. but thats all i needed. Justin was good to me and got me some almond joys to eat throughout the day. stealthily though because i shouldnt need to share my birthday candy. then we had fruity pebble cheesecake for dessert that night. i told that to my mom and she laughed real hard at me. what! i love fruity pebbles. i know they are pure sugar, so it really i only get a box for my birthday each year as my own little treat. i also decided not to look at my weight this morning because between what i ate and gaining pregnancy weight i didnt want to know what it said. ignorance is bliss!

Baby number 3 is doing fine. He is super active and always moving about. its comforting to feel him move all the time so thats nice. helps reassure me that all is going well. i have my glucose test sometime in the next week or 2, so i should probably try to eat good until then. at least so i can pass. i have no idea whether or not that has any effect, but in my head it does.

i think thats all i have to update. until next time!

happy birthday to me! ryker was all to willing to help me blow out my candles. i think he will be ready for his own this year. 

this is how our conference snuggles started

i get some too!

then ryker wanted us to know how bored he was already

rylie wanted to cut in on mom and dad cuddle time. 

she couldnt get comfortable apparently

ryker cameo during our half hour struggle to listen while rylie sat on both justin and mine faces trying to get comfy but also be entertained. 

laying on dads head worked for 5 sec

i believe this is her getting tired of crawling around so she huffed and put her face in my belly. maybe she was trying to talk to rex?

dads face isnt a great backrest, but we are getting there!

rylie finally got off but ryker wanted to cuddle too. clearly he is sad he wasnt in all the pics. 

but he found a comfy spot much faster than rylie did. 

even better just snuggling with dad

the kids app on my phone has some cool photo features, so of course we had to try them out. 

this is one of his favorites

i thought it was hilarious that it focused on his nose instead of his eyes. bahahaha. brings 4 eyes a whole new meaning. 

very studdly

rylie has a few too. swanky glasses to go with swanky personality

she loves to carry her bear and puppy everywhere! 

justin won fastest car during pinewood derby this year. we had an awesome car set to go! but last minute it didnt work out so we brought some old ones that justin and i made together. sad, but we still won! 

ryker trying on dads paint mask

got rylie up from a nap one day and this is how i found her. i have a pic of ryker just like this around this same age. oh my children. why are you trying to get out of your clothes. 

baby belly! now that i hit my 3rd trimester im starting to look pregnant! haha. 

justin was nice enough to make me this awesome dvd shelf. we love movies and have so many that i was getting frusterated with the disorganization and then trying to help the kids know which movies they could play and pull off and which ones to leave alone. so i love this. we rearranged placement, but still have this on the other side of the TV. we put the kids movies accessible to them so in general this case is off limits. so far so good! and only occasionally do we have to remind rylie not to pull them down. 

i love these people! i love that they love to snuggle and be together. 

post bath rylie ran away from me and stole a book from rykers room. she loves to flip through the books and carry them around everywhere. i love that she loves to read! well... "read"

justin helped rylie try on moms boots

then of course ryker had to try them on. but he was insistant on completing the outfit

my little thug

so much swagger on this boy

the wizard of oz was on tv and they were both enthralled with it! it was so funny to watch them get entranced by an old classic. love

ryker teaching rylie to bounce on the couch

a new favorite dinner time game. this went on for like 10 min. it was so funny. 

i cant remember if i have posted this before or not, but ryker singning his abc's. he is so much better now, but it still melts my heart every time i hear it, he is growing so fast! also little baby bum nursery rhymes on youtube for anyone interested. they are so awesome and a favorite. they have songs about numbers, letters, shapes, colors and all the regular nursery rhymes plus some ive never hear of before. they are wonderful. 

March Mayham

Well, Its that time of month again. I am working on taking less naps during the week so that maybe it wont be so much of a shock when baby 3 comes and it wont even be an option anymore. Mostly im not super tired anymore which is good, but some days it hits hard. a blessing for having my kids nap together in the afternoon. Plus on the days i dont nap, i can get a lot done!

So our family update starts with March Madness. as you all know i am not a sports fan. mostly meaning i dont really play or watch sports. we watch the superbowl and that is about it. just not our thing. but we do participate in the march maddness tournament that my family has. so we do our part and i put in a bracket and justin puts in one. we have never won, never gotten close. but this year our champion made it to the finals! woohoo! i think thats the closest i have ever been. we root for UNC every year because it was in Justins mission. We still dont watch the games at all. I get updates from my family or check my bracket once a week or so. Kuodos to those who get into it. more power to you.

Justin is still enjoying his job. Not much update there. He told me today that some other managers on the construction side of things had a big meeting and he came up a lot. all good things. He is doing great at communicating and making unbias observations. They really like having him here. KSI really lkes having him here. basically everyone loves him and he does good work. Not shocking I already knew he was great ;)  But its nice to be recognized by his job for stepping up and magnifying his responsibilities.

Ryker is great. He is still in his testing boundaries stage. Not shocking. He will continue to be for months if not years. But we are getting less tantrums which is helpful. We learned that if we give him warnings then it helps. Like telling him he has to eat 2 more bites before he can get down from the table. He has 2 more min on his race car game before his time limit is up. He can watch 1 more rhyme then we need to turn off the nursery rhymes. and (mostly for our benefit) we can only bounce you on our leg (35 lbs is heavy for 1 leg!) 2 more times then we need to find a new game. He is a lot better at saying all done okay lets find something new. His phrases and sentences are getting better. He still needs a lot of coaching, but he will repeat it and occasionally ask a full question "can i have a drink please?" instead of just "drink please".  he is very good at saying thank you and your welcome. very good at his pleases too. at least he is polite right? He is really good to share the snacks with rylie. right now rylie is the one that wont share and she is very forcefull about it. we are working on that.

He loves to sing and dance. he loves to come to us if we are sitting on the couch and say "come on mom! come on dad!" so we get up and play with him or dance with him. He tries to get out of bed time by saying he needs a bath. or now he is hungry enough to finish his dinner. the saddest being he wants to snuggle. thinking that if we snuggle he doesnt have to go to bed. its adorable. he says it in the saddest voice and it breaks my heart a little bit. but not enough not ot put him to bed. he doesnt really snuggle. just uses it to stay up. he is a sneaky one! He is getting great at his ABC's he loves to sing the song over and over again. we try and pick out the letters on his busy board and he knows a few of them. we were running errands the other day and stayed in the car while justin returned something real fast and he told me he could see 2 W's on a sign. he was so right and i am so proud that he is learning to pick things out everywhere we go.

Rylie is doing great as well. We are working on her sharing a bit. She tries to shove or scratch Ryker out of the way when she wants something. we are working on teaching her that we had to have ryker share, so she needs to as well. but at 15 months old it doesnt always get through so clearly. she will learn in time! but that is our current lesson. She still loves to run around with Ryker. She loves holding her stuffed animals. She has a bear that she is attached to, but she does okay with any stuffed animal. She is still our great eater. She eats basically anything, and then some of rykers leftovers. we are also working on having her say up when she wants to be held. Ryker used to always go "ah! ah! ah!" Rylie just makes the P sound. so together they said up! that almost counts right? She loves to babble and tell us stories or talk to aunts on facetime. she moves her tongue in and out of her mouth basically saying blah blah blah blah. its great and she loves it when anyone "talks" back. She is still my sweet girl. I love when she snuggles with me even though those times are far and few between. She has been getting 3 molars and 1 canine tooth the last week or so (what luck right?) so she has been pretty miserable. but that leaves lots of snuggles for mom! I do love that.

I am doing good. Pregnancy is going great. no surprises there. We did find out we are having another BOY!!!!!!!! we are so so excited. we break the 1 boy curse. its awesome. we are really happy with a healthy baby. But having a boy is just a nice extra. it will be so fun. and i love hearing ryker bless baby rex in his nightly prayers. so darn cute. I am starting to show a bit more. we officially bought me some new maternity pants. so now i can break out all my maternity things. My pelvic pain is doing okay. I just need to be careful and very conscious of how i move and sit and on good days exercise. if anyone has any good routines to do while pregnant and cant move my hips apart please let me know. most lower body or core exercises are just too much and then i can hardley move for 2 days. its sad because i still really do want to work out! but then i hurt all day. ugh.... i have also noticed that since my weight loss last year, when i eat junk if i was good for a day or 2 it would melt off and i was back to my good weight. now being pregnant, if i eat junk it stays and doesnt come off as easily even if i am really good. now before you freak out, yes i know i am supposed to be gaining weight, im pregnant. but this is definitely junk food weight. going up 3 lbs in a week is not what it should be like. so i am trying to be extra good and keep my weight slowly moving up instead of quickly.

My calling is still doing good. we are busy in the middle of prepping all our summer events and activities. I still have my ward conferences every month. and I still help out in nursery once a month. its almost like getting to help Rylie transition there in a few months. hurray! Justin still enjoys his Weblos calling and is helping them with pinewood derby stuff right now. He enjoys his primary teacher calling with senior primary instead of sunbeams.

so we are all doing pretty good! we had a great easter. got a cute outfit from each grandma for the kids to wear. They really loved finding their basket and hunting for easter eggs around the living room. rylie didnt quite get it, but we tried. We still have a few eggs left over. we ration them out and give them 1 egg to eat every night after dinner. when they literally stuff their faces full we  had to take them away soon after the hunt.

happy march!

she is such a ham. I love her

baby boy coming beginning of aug!

she was sick for like a week with a bad cold. everytime I got her up she would have snot all over her head and in her hair. this was taken right after a nap for lunch time. she looks like a little homeless lady sitting in her corner eating her peanut butter and jelly, with her hair all ary. it was the cuttest thing. but i was sad she was feeling so miserable

dying easter eggs

rylie got to watch a little. she kept trying to drink or spill the dye. yuck... 

awesome baskets!

i made strawberry cinnamon rolls for breakfast. so delish. they were amazing

digging into baskets

had to break out all the new toys. 

ryker looking for easter eggs, rylie just watching. she was not about to let go of the ones in her hand. 

dad and daughter playing selfie on moms phone

dad is great entertainment when he gets home. 

ryker was so good to put all the tetris jenga pieces together. he did 95% of this on his own i helped him pick out maybe 2 pieces that would help fit and thats it. such a smart boy.

happy easter!

late valentines gift to me. Justin made me a universal knife block. I love it! its so amazing. He woodburned a tiny chefs hat and Deitrick into the front. i think it turned out awesome. 

family run! gets all the energy out. 

practicing our suicides. 

singing is ABC"s the first round was better but this is all I could get on camera. still! 

we got him a little fishing hook and some magnetic fish for easter. he LOVES it! this is Ryker taking his fish for a walk. dont worry we stopped to let him swim too. haha.