3 Months / Christmas Kick-off

Well, this (not so little anymore) little man is 3 months old now. I can hardly believe it. I feel like our lives are just running at break neck speed and I'm trailing behind yelling, "Wait, slow down a little." He is growing, growing! He weighs in at a whopping 14 lbs. He is smiling all the time now. Aydin was a very content baby, but not easily amused. Rykin smiles on demand. I love it! He is reaching for things now, and sitting up in his Bumbo. Just doing great!

Above is my all-time favorite shirt!

He LOVES his big sister! She is not so keen on having to share her space sometimes, but she loves him too and is willing to put up with it if he'll smile at her.

Over the holiday weekend we went up to Beaver Meadows to cut down our Christmas tree (one week later than I was hoping, but it was a beautiful day!) She was so excited to get on her snow pants and play.

Rykin was a little less keen on the idea of getting all bundled up.

We told her we were looking for a Christmas tree so she would point up and say "like this one." We settled on the one above.

She picked out her own ornament last year, and again this year. After a lot of debate she came away with Tom & "Jeremy" Go figure ( ; (and yes she is wearing a "cast." She fell off the couch on Thanksgiving and hurt her arm. We took her to the doctor on Friday and he said that he thought it might be broken and splinted it. We went for x-rays today and it turns out she does have a broken wrist. She will have to wear the splint for 4 weeks. She's okay and it doesn't seem to bother her too much. We'll just have to try and figure out how to keep that thing clean. It is already covered in yogurt, soup, and ketchup.) The house is now almost completely decorated, and it feel so much warmer and more comfortable with the decorations up.

Random

Here are a few completely random pictures and a video as a stand in for a written post.

Ah, parenting

"Would you believe this kid who couldn't even hold his own bottle less than two years ago now has the gall to look his two-hundred pound father in the eye and tell him where to get off? What audacity! Obviously there is something deep within his soul that longs for control. He will work at achieving it for the rest of his life." (Dr. James Dobson)

Exhibit one (see first picture): My baby girl. Truly an easy going baby. I never thought that that easy going little baby would grow to be this two year old spitfire who (exhibit two) posses such a drive for control, such a strong sense of independence, and such a stubborn streak. Where did she get that from? Hmmm... yeah, okay I know exactly where it came from, what I really want to know is how do I effectively and lovingly parent this child to help her to become the Godly and naturally born leader that I know she can be? I think I have finally come to the point where I feel like this is it; I need strategy, advice, a guidebook, prayer. Obviously the terrible twos have been exacerbated by everything that goes along with welcoming our new addition (funny that I thought he was going to be the hard part of being a mother to two) but I know that this is not just terrible twos. This is a part of her that will always be there, I should know, I've still got it. I need to know how to mold it, how to show her how to use it in positive ways instead of using it to fight us at every corner... and straightway... and dead end.

Examples:

"Aydin, it's time to get dressed." She stops in her doorway, turns, puts her hand up and screams "NO MAMA! I do it!" She runs to her closet, while making sure that I'm not following her, and picks out her own outfit."

She points to one of the ribbons on her pinwheel and says pink (none of them are pink, and she really knows her colors). I say "no, what color is that? You know it." She points to it again, "pink." She then points to the rest of them saying, "pink, pink, pink, pink" and smiles with sass.

Jesse was trying to put her down for a nap the other day, and was on the losing end of the battle. After about an hour of trying to get her to sleep he says, "You need to lay down and go to sleep. I'll be back to check on you." He left and not one minute later we heard her door open. He saw her spot him, out of the corner of his eye, and she closed her door as fast as she could. When he went to check on her she was in bed and sat up and said "nap all done, play time."

I know, I know, this sounds like every other two year old, but this is how she responds to most situations. Funny and frustrating at the same time. Eh, we'll figure it out. With the help of good old Dr. Dobson, I will conquer her. I kid, I kid... kind of. She is such a loving, sensitive little girl. She has an amazing sense of humor and although she knows how to push my buttons, she also knows how to melt my heart.

And here is my little man. Almost 2 months old. Look at that amazing smile. Just imagine... it is ten times more dashing in person.

After one month together...

First Week

We have been home for almost two weeks now. It has been great. Rykin was born Wednesday the 25th, and Jesse was able to take off the rest of tat week and all of last week. Aydin has been doing pretty well, with the exception of a few rough bedtimes and the addition of a timeout chair to the routine for almost a week. She has been a little jealous of the attention Rykin gets from momma, but Jesse was able to do a lot of fun stuff with her, and I got out a couple of times for some quick just the two of us outings (ice cream cones at the park, and a pedicure.)

Rykin has been doing so well! Another easy baby I think, different than Aydin who was also, but easy none the less. He has been sleeping really hard. My only challenges so far are getting him to stay awake to eat, and getting him to burp so that he doesn't lay there grunting all night. He has been staying awake for longer periods of time every day. He was up for almost two hours earlier this morning. I love looking into his eyes. I think they are going to be hazel or brown maybe. They are a darker, warmer grey than Aydin's were. It's fun to already be able to see little things that clue us into what his personality is going to be. So far I can tell he is more patient than Aydin is. I think Aydin has more of my personality in her, and I think Rykin will be a little more like Jesse. Who does he look like? At first all I could see was David. Sometimes when he is sleeping I think he looks a lot like me as a baby, and I have heard from more than a couple of people that he looks a lot like my dad. He and Aydin have the same eyes (I think they are Jesse's).

It is amazing to me how our family seems so complete now. I told Jesse that I will not commit myself to just two kids, but at the same time the way we are now seems so right. I can't imagine how I would divide myself between three or four when it is so hard with just two. I haven't been able to just hold and admire him as much as I was able to with Aydin, and at the same time I feel like I haven't been able to stretch myself enough to give Aydin all of the cuddling, and undivided attention that she is craving. I know she will learn to share me, and as he gets older it will get easier, but right now...it's just hard. I was holding Rykin against my chest, under my chin, yesterday and I found myself just soaking it all in. His smell, the warmth of his squishy little body curled up against me, his quick even breaths. I am going to have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this could be my last little baby.

I think every single person who has asked us how we are doing has also asked if we are getting any sleep. I think if you are a parent you know well enough that we are not (I am not). I think I got a total of 2.5 hrs. last night. Somehow it is just now catching up to me. Today is my first day alone with the kids. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to, so I'll be going on my first official outing with both kids today too. I am a little nervous to see how it will go. Being a mom of two has been much easier than I imagined, but Jesse has been home with us up until now so I may be singing a different tune tonight. I am most worried about how Aydin will handle him being back at work. We'll see.

And so it begins, the little man is calling...

Down to the Wire

39 weeks. Yes, yes, yes I know it is healthier for baby to stay put for as long as possible, but I was hoping that he would be here already. This pregnancy flew by, but now that we are this close it seems to be just creeping along at a snail's pace. I will admit that as far as mothering goes, or life for that matter, the area that I could use the most improvement in is patience. I am definitely feeling it right now, that lack of patience that sometimes gets the best of me. I keep having dreams of holding him, and introducing him to Aydin. I am so excited for that! I can't wait to see the look on her face when it becomes clear to her that "brother" is not just another name for my huge belly. I have been telling everyone every night (for the past week and 1/2) that "tonight is the night." I am coming to terms with the fact that all the wishful thinking in the world won't make it happen, but at this point it really can't be much longer. Oh the wait.

Our Last Hurrah

Jesse and I had talked about how nice it would be to take a family vacation during shut-down this summer, but in reality I'm not really supposed to travel 36 weeks pregnant. So, instead we decided that it would be fun to take Aydin to Denver for a couple of days to do some last only child stuff with her. I got a great deal on a nice hotel that was only a block away from the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, and only a few minutes away from the Zoo and Children's Museum. We stayed one night, and had so much fun together!

Our first stop on the way into Denver was the Zoo. Aydin has been before, but we thought she might have more fun this time since she is a little older.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel to check in and get some lunch. Aydin was very impressed with the bounciness of the bed, and the swimming pool ( : Since we were so close to the "mall" (and because we couldn't for the life of us get her down for a nap with the bouncy bed and all) we did a little afternoon shopping, went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and saw Despicable Me, such a cute movie. The shopping pretty much did her in, so after her nap she was in a good mood for the movie and seemed to really like it. Below is a picture of us in the theater before the movie started.
The hat she is in is definitely a boy's cap, but she found it at Gap, put it on, and decided it was hers. I actually really like it on her. She insisted on wearing it most of the trip.Monday morning we had breakfast at a bakery on the mall and headed out to the Children's Museum. The museum was for sure her favorite part of the trip. She still spent the most time in the painting area, the girl's an artist.
We didn't get a chance to build anything together last time we were at the museum because it was so packed, but this time Jesse sat down with her and built a car for her. She was so proud, showing the other kid's her car. One little kid was very impressed and trying to get his grandma to make him one.
We had such a good time. I told Jesse we need to try and do this sort of thing a few times a year from now on. Jesse is on his three week shut-down now, and although we have a pretty busy week ahead of us, I am excited to get some time with him home to relax a little, focus on Aydin a lot, and just have some time to prepare for a new family member.

Almost There

I have now hit 34 weeks. It went by so fast this time! In no time at all I'll be juggling life as a mom of two. I'm still feeling great, big, but great. I have finally met all 4 of the midwives at my office and I really like all of them. Now that I know that he and I will be in the care of someone that I am comfortable with, I feel a lot more at peace with the upcoming delivery.

Aydin is becoming such a toddler. She talks all the time now, and just gets funnier every day. She has been potty training for almost 2 months now and is doing great with it. We have finally gotten her into some real undies that she wears at home (as seen above). She is very proud of them too.

This is becoming a very busy summer, which is good because it helps to pass the time. We have a wedding shower, a bachelorette party, a three day vacation to Denver (a last hurrah for our only child), two birthday parties, a rehearsal, and a wedding all coming up in the next couple of weeks (how can I look graceful waddling down the isle?). And then, hopefully, he'll be here. We'll see. I have to say that when I think about it all at once my heart beats a little faster, but it is going to be such a great month!

A More Masculine Nursery

I finally finished everything for Rykin's half of the nursery. I have always wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" themed boys room. The movie was a bummer, but I still love the illustrations in the book, and so here it is! I am pretty excited about how it turned out, hopefully this is enough to balance out the femininity coursing through that room.

What are we going to do about this?

Aydin has finally really started climbing. Here are her most recent accomplishments. Both times we walked into her room and found her after she had already climbed up, so we made her show us how she did it in hopes that we could stop her from doing it again. We'll see how that goes.

Straw Bale Gardening

So I recently read about straw bale gardening in another blog, and thought that it looked easy enough. I haven't had much luck with gardens in the past, but this way the garden can be closer to the house so maybe I'll remember to water it. We got our bales last weeks and have been watering and fertilizing every day. Today Jesse took Aydin and I to get some plants and seeds for our garden. We got watermelon, onion, and bean seeds, as well as tomato, cherry tomato, banana pepper, and hot pepper plants. I also love to have fresh herbs every year so we picked out some cilantro, mint, basil, and chives to go in the sides of the bales. I wish we had pictures from the nursery. Aydin was so cute pushing the wagon and adding whatever she thought we needed to the pile. We all planted the garden this morning. I am so excited to watch it take off (fingers crossed.)

Bonding

I rocked Aydin for a little while before bed tonight. While she was laying on my chest she put her hands on my belly and she felt her baby brother kick. She sat up as soon as it happened and gasped with a big grin on her face. After she climbed into bed she reached over and patted my belly before she rolled over to sleep. So sweet!

Our Mother's Day picture. When we ask her to smile she always squints her right eye.

I have been thinking of doing a post all week, and now that I'm writing I've forgotten what I was even going to write about. There really is nothing going on here right now. Aydin has been talking more and more all the time. I am feeling great. I had my first appointment with the midwife on Friday. I switched from my OB because I just wasn't happy with the way Aydin's delivery went. The visit was the same as all of the others with the OB, but I really am much less apprehensive about the delivery now. I have finished baby boy's crib blanket and am working on the bumper, so pictures of the boy half of our nursery to come soon I hope. Mother's day was wonderful. And everything else is good too. Not much of an update, but oh well.

She has discovered suckers recently. She did share with Abe, but I washed it off. These boots are her FAVORITE. I have a really hard time getting her to wear anything else. This has been going on for about a month and a half, and in that whole time I think she has worn different shoes maybe 3 or 4 times. If I try to put something else on she frowns and says " no, boooos."

Its a...

Ugh!!! Why is it 3am and I feel completely rested? I'm not, but I can't fall back asleep, so what else would I possibly be doing right now?

So we had the big halfway appointment/ultrasound yesterday. First and foremost this is one healthy baby, measuring right on 20 weeks (which is what I am). And if you can't tell from the picture he is perfect.

That's right folks, we're having a boy!!! Obviously I'm so excited. I could tell you I would have been just as excited and happy if this was a girl, but I'd be lying. And since this isn't a girl I do feel okay saying that. Oh, and daddy (who swore he could tell everything he was looking at and knew, way before we were told, that Aydin was a girl) did not have a guess as to what this one was. So when the determining shot came up on the screen and he couldn't say, the first thing that popped into my head to blurt out was "HONEY, ITS A _______" well my grandparents read this so I won't write it, but the most obvious thing on the screen isn't what you would think because Jesse didn't know (so fill in the blank yourself. But I didn't say that... instead I said "ITS A BOY!" And I had tears in the corners of my eyes as soon as I knew. I can't even tell you how happy I was, almost speechless, but not quite. And of course after the ultrasound tech pointed out the anatomy using the correct terminology the next thing that fell out of my mouth was "honey, look how tiny it is." I'm sure that's exactly what he wanted to hear, but I needed a laugh to clear the air before I started crying. She then continued to show us the rest of his perfect self saying "look at the pretty little heart," and "look at that pretty little face." I felt like saying "no lady, let's use words like good STRONG heart, and handsome face," that's my son we're talking about! Oh well, I just sat and took it all in with my mouth hanging open and a big stupid smile on my face.

Aydin didn't have a clue what was going on. When she looked up at the screen she wasn't seeing what we were, because she started making monkey sounds. Hahaha, at least she thought it was some kind of creature, that's pretty good for a not quite two year old. I pointed to my bigger yet belly the other day and said baby. She started poking at my belly button, and pinching my stomach, but we have got a ways to go before she gets it. What a surprise this is going to be.

As to names, yes we have one for him. Jesse, in the midst of a long string of terrible suggestions, came up with one early on in my pregnancy with Aydin. This will be the name! It's the only one that he suggested that I even remotely liked so this is it. However, if we don't have a name to argue over, of course there is going to be a hang-up about the way it is spelled. He apparently has known even since before we came up with the spelling or Aydin's name how he wants this spelled, and I don't like it. So, I won't be writing it out here just yet. Some of you know, but some of you don't and you'll just have to wait. Sorry. Oh yeah, and Jesse says I have to eat steak for the rest of the pregnancy. Gag.

And now it is time to try to fall back asleep!

1/2 way there

Well we have been very busy this past few weeks. They have flown by. Aydin and I made a trip to Olympia, WA to see some great friends. We decided to go almost last minute, but I am so glad that we did. While I wouldn't say that it was a relaxing trip, it was sooo much fun. I could totally see myself living there (no plans to move) There is so much to do, they have an amazing fabric shop and great coffee, and it is beautiful, not to mention the friends. This trip was planned by my brother and his fiance, so we went with them. Needless to say, Kailin and I got to spend some more time together, and I think became a lot closer (we were sharing a bed).

Aydin has been talking so much this past few weeks. She went from not seeming to care about talking, to now trying to repeat everything. She still doesn't talk much in public, but at home oh my. It is really fun to wait and see what she will say next. At 20 months old she finally has 8 teeth, and two more molars almost ready to be done popping though. We can FINALLY give her whole pieces of some things for her to take bites of. Can you tell this is a big deal for us? The video was included just because I think it's funny, and I didn't feel like posting a bunch of pictures.

Halfway through the pregnancy now, and feeling great. Will not be posting a belly picture quite yet (not that there isn't a belly yet). Halfway, ahhhh I need to start my "scrapbook" for this one. I already had at least 5 entries in Aydin's by now. This has gone by so much faster than my pregnancy with Aydin. I suppose it's because I am pretty distracted from thinking about it all the time. I have tried to think of what has been different with this pregnancy that would give me any indication of what this baby might be. All I can come up with are my cravings; hamburgers with Aydin, apples with this one. Oh, and this baby moves a lot more than I remember Aydin moving. All day long. That's not enough to go on. Only one more week until we find out. How in the world do people make it all the way to delivery without knowing. Even 20 weeks is killing me.

Moved

I think I felt baby move today. I have been thinking that for the past week every once and a while, but today I am almost 99% sure of it, although it is a very subtle movement that I guess could be other things. But no, I am almost 99% sure today that this movement that I am feeling is baby. Oh, I love that feeling... I can't wait until I can be 100% sure of it.

Random Update'

We have actually had some interesting things going on in the past couple of weeks.

Our pet thing: So we got a cat. We decided that our fifteen some scattered mouse traps weren't really doing the job, so we got an outdoor/sometimes indoor cat to help us out. So far so good. The picture is the cat after meeting Samson (Levi's Saint Bernard) for the first time.

Our fun thing: We were able to go to the Children's Museum in Denver on Monday with some great friends and cousins. We all had such a good time. We went on President's Day without really thinking about it, and it was pretty busy, but still a good time. I think we will go again when it is not a holiday. I think her absolute favorite thing was the painting exhibit. She painted two pictures and probably would have kept on painting if we didn't need to move on. When we got home I decided to see if I could find a good deal on an art easel for her. It should be here next week, and I think she will love it. I have been wanting to find some other constructive things to do with her, so this will be perfect!

Our exciting thing: We had a surprise visit from Levi and Danielle over the weekend. It is always so fun when they come. Aydin and Ethan get along so well (when she's not bossing him around) and she loves his company. They haven't come down quite as often this winter as we thought that they might (maybe because they have a brand new baby) so we are hoping for a few more visits before the summer rush.

Our thing to look forward to: The Mercantile is getting their first batch of chicks in tomorrow, so we are going to give it another try. This time with a hopefully impenetrable chicken yard. I think Aydin will love them. She seems to like any and every animal she sees.

Our sick thing: Aydin came down with a stomach something last night and was up getting sick all night. We have our little set-up on the couch this morning with a drop cloth for the couch, a puke bucket, a few bottles of water, and some rags. This is her first bout ever, so we'll see how we handle it. She seems to be feeling okay, but hasn't had anything to eat yet, and didn't keep her water down.

Our baby thing: Everything is going well so far. I have my first check-up with the doctor on Monday. I will be 14 weeks then. After that only 4 more weeks until my next appointment, and I am hoping that they will go ahead and schedule an ultrasound then so we can find out what we are having. We'll see.

Well thats it, my random update.