Smiler Ryler

Parker Picasso

Zoo with Grandma

Jan. 16th, 2009

I hadn't bought a double stroller yet, so we took the backpack for Ryler & this was my view the entire day:) SOOOO cute! He slept the ENTIRE time we were there.

Favorite part of the day was feeding the ducks. I guess we could have gone to the park instead & saved on gas money:)

The weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS lately...so we decided to get out and go to the ZOO! We went not too long ago, but Grandma hadn't been with the Grandkids, so we decided we needed to take her along with all of the kiddos! All of the grandkids were able to go, except Mason, who is in school. We had a great time. The weather couldn't have been better. My mom made us the most DELICIOUS lunch in the world. Seriously, who makes sandwiches on HOMEADE bread to take to the zoo. I was thinking we were going to get PP&J...but she went above & beyond(as always) and made us a great lunch! THANKS mom! Ryler slept the ENTIRE time we were there, which was so perfect...

When we were almost back to the exit...he wet his pants.

All over me.

I can't complain since he slept the whole day.

I cleaned him up, changed him, fed him & headed home with a wet shirt:)

It was a FUN trip to the ZOO!!!

...and very TIRING...

This was Parker about a minute after getting into the car...

Crashed...

If you know me, you know I take about a 1000 pics a day. I inherited this from my wonderful mother. I just think it is a great way to document life. I am also one of those girls that wrote in her journal EVERY day from age 12 when I got the challenge in Young Womens class...til marriage-ish age. Then I started blogging & that is exactly why I like it! It is MUCH faster & is a JOURNAL WITH PICTURES! My 2 things I was doing every day ANYWAYS!

I usually will fill up my memory card, then blog/journal about my pictures & then transfer all my pictures off my camera to an external hard drive & then I have a clean memory card to start all over :)

SO.....last week when I went to turn on my computer to do just that {since my memory card was FULL} you can imagine my DISAPPOINTMENT when it didn't turn on!?! What?!? It is only a year old, it should still be working fine. Right?

Wrong.

We took it down to San Tan & scheduled an appointment at Apple & guess what?

Bad news.

Entire hardrive crashed.

I was sad. We lost EVERYTHING on that computer.

Good News was that I save all my PICTURES to an external hard drive. Thank heavens!

So, I was without a computer for awhile. Matt bought a new hard drive & installed it & our laptop is up and running again!

So...why do I still have 2 full memory cards sitting on my Entertainment center, WAITING to be downloaded & blogged about?

Because I don't have my camera.

My mom needed to borrow it...because well, we think we threw hers away on Christmas with all the wrapping paper (another story for another day), so she has it & I need to just take some time to go get it, so that I can get all of my pictures off of my memory cards & on to my blog/EXTERNAL hard drive.

But...I don't have time for that. I have 2 kids now. And it is REALLY HARD to find time to do anything these days. AND TODAY would have been perfect. Because both kiddos are sound asleep for afternoon naps right now & I have no pictures to blog about!

Oh well. I will just blog about not blogging instead.

Elementary Days

One of my Elementary School Teachers passed away recently & I just wanted to do a little tribute to her.

Ms. Ludwig was my FAVORITE teacher. I had her for TWO YEARS, because I liked her so much. I had her for 2nd grade & then she moved up to be a 3rd grade teacher & I moved right with her! My LOVE for reading came from her. I was reading chapter book after chapter book in those days. She loved to read & taught me to love to read. My mom hated it when I would stay up late reading & would make me turn my light off. I got sneaky & got a flashlight & would read under my covers, so my mom would think I was sleeping. I just couldn't stop reading. She also taught me to write cursive. Remember how your Elementary teacher would tell you that you MUST write EVERYTHING cursive, because that is all you are allowed to write in Jr. High. Lies...all lies. I never used cursive once after 6th grade. BUT...Ms. Ludwig did teach me HOW just in case I ever decide to revert back to my cursive writing days:)

I remember once that my friend Crystal Haws & I created a Newspaper & put an AD in the paper, about our teacher...Ms. Ludwig. I don't remember what it said, but something like "Single Elementary Teacher LOOKING for a spouse....etc.etc.etc" We were very concerned little 3rd graders that worried about our teacher not being married :) We cut articles out of newspapers & pasted all of the ads together on one sheet of paper & then copied it onto one paper & it looked REAL. It really did. Well in our 3rd grade eyes it looked good. We gave it to Ms. Ludwig the next day & told her we passed them out ALL OVER town. She was petrified! Don't worry...we really didn't. We only made the one copy. We just thought it would be funny. She didn't think it was as funny as we had hoped:) haha

I attended her funeral last week & it was a sweet tribute to her. So many teachers & students were there to show their love for her. It was fun to see so many of my old Elementary teachers. She taught at Johnson for 20+ years, so she had an influence on MANY.

I was grateful to have been able to keep in contact with her over the years. After I had her, my brother Jeff had her. Then my brother Tate. Last my sister Heidi. We all LOVED her. She recently retired, as the cancer was too much & back in August I was able to help clean out her classroom. 20+ years of STUFF...lots and lots and lots of school stuff.

I was able to visit her again a couple of months later in the hospital. My mom, sister & I stopped & she was as funny as ever. She had such a great sense of humor. She told Heidi & I that her doctor was HOT at one point...it was a great visit. That was the last time I saw her.

Unfortunately Breast Cancer took her life on Dec. 18th, 2009

I'm SO GRATEFUL to have known her & look forward to seeing her again someday.

Always Remember...

A Run To Remember...

There is an annual "Run To Remember" held every year to honor those officers who were lost in the line of duty each year. We walked the 5K this year, in honor of Shane Figueroa...along with the 4 other officers who died in 2008.

All proceeds go towards helping the 2008 surviving families with their travel expenses to National Police Week in Washington D.C. in May 2009.

Melisha had shirts made up with Shane's picture on the back for the family/friends that were walking for Shane...

Matt...Parker...Britton...

As you can tell, Parker didn't last very long in his stroller & wanted to walk ON HIS OWN...or be CARRIED...

After the walk...
Ryler is under there somewhere:)

There will be another walk in February for Shane & I will get you details if anyone is interested...

TIME...

I haven't had much TIME for ME in the last...oh...5 1/2 weeks...

My usual ROUTINE...even before Ryler came...was SLEEPING in every day until Parker woke up...at around 8:30am-ish. Matt DOES wake me up for a quick kiss before he slips out the door around 7:30am & then I would roll over & drift off back to sleep--usually not remembering that he ever woke me in the 1st place. Since Ryler has been born, this has continued. I sleep until I HAVE TO wake up(because I'm TIRED)

Today Ryler did not wake up until 6:45am.
I fed him...finished up about 7:15am & I felt rested...because HE had slept all night!
So...I stayed AWAKE!
I had plans to make my hubby a delicious breakfast, but instead he made ME a delicious breakfast{THANK YOU!}
We sat down & ate & talked before he headed off to work.
Then I worked out.
Then I did the dishes.
Then I swept the kitchen.
Then I cleaned up the family room.
Then I put some laundry in.
I even had time for a shower.
I had some ME time.
THEN Parker woke up.

It has been a WONDERFUL day!
And I got to spend naptime this afternoon, relaxing instead of cleaning...because I cleaned up this morning!

I think I might just wake up at 7am EVERY DAY from now on!
New Year...New Goals...New Sleep Habits!

I'm not making any promises. Because if Ryler decides to wake me up a bunch at night...I WILL sleep until Parker wakes up. But when he is GREAT...like lastnight, I will wake up earlier & get MUCH MUCH MUCH more done in the mornings! And my day will be much better because of it! I might even get a daily shower. Oh that would = Heaven!

Thats the plan.
We'll see how it goes.

One Word Answers...

I got tagged by Shanell! You have to answer these questions with one word answers. It's pretty fun.

1. Where is your phone? couch

2. Where is your significant other? chiropractor

3 .Your hair color? brown

4. Your Mother? idol

5. Your Father? giving

6. Your favorite thing? family

7. Your dream last night? embarrassing

8. Your dream/goal? travel

9. The room you're in? family

10. Your hobby? reading

11. Your fear? scorpions

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mesa

13. Where were you last night? parents

14. What you're not? shopper

15. One of your wish-list items? couches

16. Where you grew up? Mesa

17. The last thing you ate? Sandwich

18. What are you wearing? pajamas

19. Your TV? new

20. Your pet? ughhh

21. Your computer? Mac

22. Your mood? relaxed

23. Missing someone? husband

24. Your car? Rav

25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? Craft

27. Your Summer? HOT!!!!

28. Love someone? Matt

29. Your favorite color? red

30. When was the last time you laughed? morning

31. Last time you cried? weeks

32.Something you crave? Aloha

33. Why you blog? Journal

I tag Tanilee, Lindsay, & Julie...because I haven't seen you blog in AWHILE!!! :)

Ryler's Blessing

SUNDAY, JANUARY 4TH, 2009

...Matt gave Ryler the SWEETEST Baby Blessing at church

My mom made him this GORGEOUS Blessing Blanket...THANK YOU MOM!
You are Amazing!!!

It was such a SPECIAL DAY!
Thank you to EVERYONE who came to share it with us!

Hallie's Birthday!

We got to celebrate my niece Hallie's 3rd birthday with her! She had an ARIEL cake...her FAVORITE princess :-)

All the kids were eating their cake on this tablecloth for awhile. They didn't last long, before they were gone playing somewhere. Parker was the only one to stick it out until his cake was COMPLETELY gone! Hmmm...must have his mother's sweet tooth! ;)

Ryler-1 Month

Ryler- 1 Month Old

Weight: 11 lbs
Height: 22 inches

Eating Habits:

I eat every 3 hours throughout the day & usually wake up once or twice at night to eat.

P.S. I HATE it when mom eats spicy food, lots of orange juice and lots of chocolate...I'm sure there will be more things that I don't like...but those are the things I haven't like so far in life...

Sleep Habits:

The 1st week home from the hospital, my mom was worried I was "too good to be true!" I NEVER woke her up to eat, letting her get the rest she so badly needed. Now, it wasn't like I was sleeping 12 hours straight. But I slept 7-9 hrs & my mom was REALLY HAPPY...well, except she was so worried that she would keep checking to make sure I was breathing throughout the night! :) But really...I just LIKED my sleep & decided to give my mom a break for the 1st week! Now that I'm 1 month old, I am more alert & not quite so sleepy all of the time & I like to eat at least once during the night. If I go down between 8-10pm, I will usually wake up twice a night. If I go down between 10-Midnight, I will wake up once at night to eat. Still very good, but I've decided to be more "normal" for my mom & make her get up ONCE in AWHILE :)

Play Habits:My big brother Parker can't WAIT to start playing with me & is already teaching me all about cars & balls & cartoons & all of the fun that goes along with being a BOY! My mom tries to give me a little tummy time each day & even though my head is HEAVY...I'm getting stronger & better at holding it up:) Mostly I just like to be cuddled or talked to when I'm awake...which still can't be for more than about 2 hours at a time or I get exhausted:) I think my mom is jealous! My parents seem to like it when I smile at them...they get all excited & start making funny sounds in my face, hoping I will do it again. It is a fun game I play with them.

Any 1st this month???
Lots of 1sts...in no particular order...

1st trip to the store(Home Depot)

1st trip to the Temple(Temple Lights on Christmas Eve)
...I'm the one in the stroller...conveniently cut out of the pic. Don't worry I'm not bitter...

1st New Years Day @ the Desert

1st New Years Eve
...I didn't quite make it to midnight...

1st Christmas
...I scored lots of great presents!

1st Bath
...yes I'm sucking my thumb...the only time since birth & my mom thought it was the cutest thing in the world...

1st Acting Role
...Everyone said what a cute Baby Jesus I was

1st time meeting lots of Relatives!
This is Granny...I was born on her 85th Birthday!!! She thought I was a pretty great present!

1st of SEVERAL attempts to catch my dimples on camera...

1st trip to the Pediatrician

I know I said it every month with Parker & I will say it again with Ryler...but the months really do fly by! Ryler is such a sweet little baby & we feel so lucky to have him in our family. Parker LOVES his little brother & ALWAYS wants to hold him & is a great helper...most of the time :) I can't wait to watch these 2 boys grow up together over the years!