one month, two kids

oh man, january was a fun month. while getting used to life with 2 kids and being by myself during the day, its been exciting. i admit there have been days where all 3 of us cry at the same time. it happens. but for the most part we are all happy. Rylie has been such a joy and a blessing. she has been a good baby and a happy baby.

we have had some issues nursing. she wasnt latching deep enough so for a while i was in a lot of pain. i needed to talk to someone about it so we ended up calling a lactation consultant. she said that everything looked good she just needed to start out deeper. it was hard to practice that when i was still in so much pain. so we decided to stop for a few days. i would pump and then feed her that. it actually worked out really well. after about 5 days i tried to nurse again. it was still tender but so much better than it had been! no more sharp pains. it didnt make me cry. so we are on the mend and doing much better.

Rylie already looks so big. she is chunking up really nice haha. at her 2 week appointment she was supposed to get back up to her birth weight (7lbs 11oz) but she was well over that at 8 lbs and 15 oz. so even with some problems eating she was getting plenty! but she has been so much fun. i love her being little and cuddly. Ryker has gotten more cuddly too. im sure its because attention has changed. but we get some good one on one time with him as well. its important. most days rylie is still sleeping when ryker gets up so we spend the morning just the 2 of us again. then rylie gets up and we all hang out. then we all go down for a nap. its a perfect system! sometimes rylie wants to stay awake. happy but awake and i dont get a nap. thats a little more sad for me, but if my kids are happy then that is the important part.

Ryker is doing great with rylie. when she cries he will always run over to pat her and make her feel better. he gets a little jealous when she is in the swing and wants to grab her and take her out so that he can swing. its adorably cute. he has recently gotten into stopping it from swinging and then pushing is so it swings really hard and fast. practically dumps her out of it. maybe thats the point... haha we are working on that. ryker is still growing up so fast! he looks so old now! he is really good at saying hi, bye, thank you, cracker, and has sounds that definitely mean certain things. he is doing awesome and is so smart! i love that boy so so much.

once my mom and alicia left it took some time to feel comfortable with being able to care for 2 very needy kids at the same time. but i think we are doing great! a nurse told me at rylies 2 week apt that she was really impressed that i was keeping ryker happy during the appointment. apparently most moms just let one kid cry while they focus on the baby. that doesnt sound fun to me so i try to avoid it. apparently for my first outing i was doing good!

side note, we got the dr bill for rylies delivery. it was a lot less than we were expecting! so we were able to pay that off with what we had already saved for it so far. yahoo! i dont know if i mentioned this before, but we did finish paying my parents back for helping with the student loan. so we are officially debt free!!!!!! yay!!! it was a big accomplishment for us. we were so excited to have that done with within less than a year from finishing school. i think its a great accomplishment. we worked hard to get that done. but its great! and now we can save for other things. our 6 months savings. a down payment for a house (in a year or 2. we are not buying a house yet) and other such expenses.

the biggest thing this month is we were able to bless rylie! it was simple. Justins parents were able to come into town and my mom and dad (and fae! so stoked she could come visit too) came and stayed with us for the weekend. my family had some issues combating snow as they were coming in on saturday, but made it finally! justins parents had come that friday night before so they were already here. it was fun to hang out with everyone. sunday was bright and early needing to leave at 7:30 am for 8 o clock church. it was rylie and mines first time back at church. it was fun to come back. i missed it. mom and fae took turns helping ryker back to nursery. i was able to meet my new class and talk with my other teacher again. dad got to go to sunday school for the first time in a while. being in the bishopbric has kept him busy haha. he mentioned that he was super happy to be sitting where he sees the back of peoples heads instead of being on the stand. made me laugh... both dads, justin and the bishop were in the circle. it was a beautiful blessing. i was trying to keep ryker quiet but it was so nice to listen too. i love the priesthood and the blessing that it gives. im grateful justin can give our kids blessings. its just so nice. rylie looked so beautiful in her new dress. so it was a small group of us, but so perfect.

also to show our lack of sports knowledge. justin and i didnt even know the super bowl was this weekend until like a week ago. haha oops.... so after church we had a fun little super bowl party. half sea hawks fans and half anti sea hawks fans. it was fun. and a much better game to watch than last year. but we had yummy food! that was my favorite part. veggie salsa, pigs in a blanket, peanut m&ms, chips, a cheese ball with crackers. im sure there is more. but i ate a ton and was in a food coma for a few days. haha i am still enjoying the left overs.

everything is going good! been a good month so far, and the more rylie grows it will keep changing. but we love her and love ryker. just love our fun family of four!

rylie in her blessing outfit

i love my babies!

tummy time! still working on those strong neck muscles

thats an apple by the way. does it count as his first "apple" phone?  ;)

always love daddy cuddle time

justin is teaching ryker young how to work the power tools

giving rylie a quick kiss!

she is so wide eyed in the morning

cute sunday outfit! even though we didnt go for another few weeks

sometimes we all play on the floor

getting warm after bath time. this is her favorite part. ryker will ned to teach her that baths are fun

much better! she looks so much like her daddy

jelly smile!

he is getting so big. he can hold a burrito and eat it by himself without it falling apart. thats a big deal for us! haha

i love the big puffy skirt

a cute pic with her sampler from grandma deitrick

love the booties from grandma reed! also the same ones ryker wore. i think they fit ryker better. he was only 2 weeks old where she is 5 weeks old

the 3 men quickly broke off to talk cars, tools, and manly things

grandad with baby rylie. she loved his deep rumbly voice too. 

playing with auntie fae and grandad. 

playing with grandad! he had such a fun weekend.

loving some grandma time

reeds are really into the super bowl. haha. granted they were all suffering from bad colds.

yay auntie fae time! favorite aunt of the weekend

i love my family! 

updated 3 generation picture

the whole gang that came into town for the blessing

priesthood in the circle (with the bishop)

Deitricks

3 gen with grandma deitrick

3 generation with grandma reed. 

reed side

deitrick side

love that face ryker is making  :)

Rylie Annabelle

okay. now that my baby girl is a week and a half old im finally getting around to her birth story.

i ended up being induced 2 days early. my doctor was going out of town. it was after christmas and just before the new year. Justin and i went back and forth for a while with this decision. i know some people will yell at me and judge me for being induced without any medical reason. but i dont want to hear it. my baby was healthy, i was healthy. it was 2 days. and she is here so nothing you say can change what happened haha. anyways, it was important to me to be with my dr and having it planned the potential for my mom to be there was significantly higher and what i really wanted.

so even though i hoped to go into labor on my own i was glad to see the end coming near. my mom got here sat night. she would be here to watch ryker as he woke up and be with him during most of the day and then my visiting teacher could help watch him while my mom was helping me during the delivery. that was the plan! does it ever go according to the plan?

justin and i got up sunday morning and got to the hospital at 630 for my induction. it was pretty chill. they didnt seem to busy or that they were super full. i know that means nothing, but it was fairly quiet that morning. they got me into my room (which was freezing by the way! everyone commented that it was a cold room. apparently the heater works, but the blower doesnt.) i was checked in and given all my wristbands. i was getting anxious and nervous which of course makes me nauseous. so i was feeling like i was going to puke and i havent even gotten my IV yet. Justin helped calm me down and talk me through it. he really was such a help through all of this. i love him. my nurse (which changed half hour after we got there) tried once to get my IV started and couldnt get it. im not shocked. they tried 3 different times when i was in labor with ryker too. they called in the on call paramedic, and he got it going.

so now im hooked up to and IV and the monitors. they got the pitocin going and i was on my way! it took a while for me to start feeling anything. so it felt like things were dragging along all morning. my mom came and visited with ryker in the morning before his nap and it was good to see him. they went home for his nap and eventually to church. they were so nice to give me lunch! well. kind of. because i was "in labor" i could only eat clear fluids. so i had juice, chicken broth (which was so good compared to the cold room i was in) and jello. yummy right?

early afternoon my contractions were getting more and more intense. around 1:30 it was getting too much to handle. i had every intention of going as natural as possible. (haha even though i was medically induced. makes sense right?)  i had practiced and researched all ways to help handle the pain and everything. but the intensity with the pitocin was getting too much. so i asked for an epidural. the lady came in about a half hour later. she tried once and couldnt get it. she wanted to try again. i told her okay, but looked at justin and just about cried. if this didnt work i dont know how i would make it through. i was worried and just prayed and prayed and prayed. she got the second stick to work, but it was different. i remember with ryker i was completely numb from the waist down. couldnt move my legs, lift my hips, nothing. with rylie, my epidural worked but i could still wiggle my toes and shuffle my legs around on the bed to do what they needed me to and i could help lift my hips when asked. but i couldnt feel my contractions! so thats all that mattered at the time. then once it was in, my dr came and broke my water. told me i was 4 cm dialated (1 cm when i came in that morning) so i hadnt progressed too much, but was doing good. so its 2:30 and finally everyone could leave my room. i had my drugs, my water was broken, and we were all set to progress!

my mom was texting me and saying that they were on their way to church. (we have it at 3pm) i told her that after sacrament to check in with me and i would let her know how things were going and if i needed my VT to take ryker for a little bit. so i hunker down to try and take a nap now that im comfortable. i was still fading away when i notice i can feel my contractions again. gah! the epidural is wearing off already? but this is different. its not so much pain as it is pressure in my perinium. it started out being just noticable, but with each contraction it was getting stronger and eventually more painful. i told justin that i was feeling really uncomfortable again. now i undrestand what everyone talks about feeling the pressure and need to push. we decided to call my nurse in to check and see what was going on. (new nurse. shift change at 3pm) conveniently she walked in so we didnt even need to call her. but we told her that things are feeling intense and i dont know whats going on since i shouldnt be feeling anything. she said she would check me. its like 3:30 pm by the way. she checked me and told me i was complete and we could start practice pushing. im sorry... complete what? dialated? effaced? i was at a 4 an hour ago what do you mean im complete? that was crazy fast. i just looked at justin and i was told him we need to call my mom! or something! and my VT to tell her about taking care of Ryker. but no time. justin texted my mom saying hey they are telling her to push! my nurse got everything ready and around 3:40 told me to push with this next contraction. she was a little askew so my nurse wanted to see if she would turn the right way on the way out. with that first pushed she turned right and moved on down. i rested and my nurse said push with this next contraction and she moved more down. she told me to stop and that they were calling in the dr. okay! this is intensly fast! no response from mom. im freaking out and not just because im mid delivery. the pressure is intense. i was moaning while i pushed because of all the pressure. dr got there and told me okay we are going to deliver on the next push. what?!?!?!?!?! so i pushed and when i was done with my 10 sec he told me to keep going and push through it! im pretty sure i blacked out. i remember what the dr said and then my mind went black. i couldnt see (not just because my eyes were closed) and i couldnt hear anything. i was not aware of anything going on in the hospital room. i tried shaking my head to come to so that i could pay attention to what the dr was telling me to do, but when i opened my eyes they were placing my little girl on my tummy. 3 pushes and she was here. born at 3:55pm. weighing 7lbs 11oz. 19  1/2 inches long. beautiful little girl.

still havent heard from my mom. she is still in sacrament meeting with ryker haha. justin and i were in love with rylie from the start. we were loving the time to be with her just us 3 for a little while. justin was able to cut the cord this time. she was so perfect. my mom ended up texting back around 4:30 when she finally looked at her phone. we texted her saying hey she is here! and it still took a while for her to respond. but it was church! and i wasnt supposed to go that fast! i was actually really sad she wasnt able to be there for the delivery. i wanted her there. but i was also glad that she could be with ryker so i didnt have to worry about him at all. so her and ryker rushed over to see the new family member.

she has been so great. we were able to come home monday night and my mom was here to help out for a little over a week. alicia came to visit as well for a while. it was so nice for them to come and help. it was so great for me and great for ryker to get some good attention as we adjust to rylie being in our family. i do miss my sleep haha but i love having her here with us. welcome rylie annabelle!

you know me. you know the pics are never in order... dont judge. also i am trying to coordinate getting them from like 4 different phones.

playing a game way too late the night before we go to the hospital. 

yay IV. go pitocin go!

ryker at his morning visit. 

she is here!

his own little baby to play with!

apparently she had a major blowout in her blankets before her first bath. she mad a lot to clean up!

but she got a cute christmas hat

love my little girl

dad and ryker hanging out while we wait for rylie to get back

he misses his infant carseat i guess. he wanted to try it out again. 

getting ready to come home from the hospital

fixing his elmo with his own tools. just like dad!

he is still happy even though things are changing

first night with aunt lisha! she loved to cuddle and talk to rylie

at least one of my kids wants to cuddle with me haha

family of 4!

first time holding baby sister

he was much calmer holding her than he was with Ryker

such a natural. most attractive thing ever right?

grandma with Rylie!

getting her hearing test done

when grandma came to the hospital. first time holding her. 

on our way home!

first bath. she was not that thrilled. ryker will have to teach her to love baths

Ryker gave her his grover to play with. she was sleeping so we gave it to her as a pillow. its the thought that counts!

ryker loves to come over and hold her. its so sweet. 

he can even juggle 2 kids. man he is perfect. 

first time with aunt lisha

look at those beautiful brown eyes! gah! i melt every time i look into them

aunt lisha introduced ryker to winnie the pooh. he LOVES it! he always wants to watch pooh. 

he loves to watch and sit with grandma too. 

see i can juggle 2 kids too! ryker does love to sit with us when rylie eats or needs a cuddle. 

we tried to dress her up a little bit and get some cute pictures. it was hard because she wasnt super thrilled. but they turned out so cute! 

i love this outfit. i wish it was warm enough to wear more often. but its negative always right now so short sleeve and no pants are a no go. 

awesome hat from aunt carlee! thanks!

she purses her lips after eating just like Ryker used to. 

this is the blanket i made for her birthday. so warm and fun. im so happy with how it turned out. 

3 generations! 

mom helped me learn my sewing machine that i got for christmas. my first project, i made a blanket for Rylie. i mistakenly picked the 3 hardest fabrics to sew together. but that aside it turned out great! thanks momma!

we found a channel on youtube that plays a whole bunch of nursery rhymes. he loves to dance to them. this is him dancing to head shoulders knees and toes.