Grumpy Face

I have been loving this grumpy face.  How can I not kiss those chubby cheeks?

The Baby Grows Up

I can't believe how quickly my "baby" has grown. It blows me away to think that when Nicholas turned 2 that Ryker was 4 months old. I can't imagine having a 4 month old right now!

The little guy had his birthday about a month ago while we were on the road in Arizona. We celebrated with the customary birthday donut, followed by swimming and a pizza movie party that evening. It was a perfect day, and perfect for him.

Ryker is sweet, cuddly, and Mommy's boy. He has the cutest smile with a dimple on the left cheek. He is happy and loving, but can turn on the attitude if he's decided to. His tantrums are loud and dramatic, naturally making us laugh every time.

Rykie loves to play with stuffed animals, cars, trains, and balls. He loves his blankies, and his doggie, and requires all 4 of them to sleep. He loves Finding Nemo, Winnie the Pooh, and anything his brother is interested in. I love how he is easy going and also affectionate. He loves to swim. He is also potty trained!!

Physically he is a lot more tan than his big brother, and a bit heavier. His hair has turned a pretty sunbleached dirty blonde, and it is wavy like mine. His eyes still aren't a specific color- sometimes green, brown, dark blue, or a mix of all three. He has the longest, thickest eyelashes ever, and I get comments about them often. He has a sweet face, I can't help but kiss him.

We love our "Rykie Roo"!

New Year

I feel like no matter how long some days can be the kids are growing up way too fast.

Nicholas has ended the terrible two's and entered a new phase of being agreeable, polite and kind to his brother. I was so worried it would be a short-lived change but he has been great for a whole month! Kiki requests it be written that he likes to play with his Toy Story guys and play Cars and watch the movie. He is still short and skinny, so we are hoping to fatten him up with food and get a growth-spurt going sometime soon.

Enter Ryker, the newest candidate for the Terrible Two's! At almost 18 months he is at the "running everywhere without listening" phase. It becomes hazardous at times and I feel close to a heart attack a couple times a day. His favorite ways of scaring me are looming at the top of the metal staircase, and spontaneously letting go of my hand and running off while walking through parking lots. I am reminded of Nicholas at this age doing similar things so I am hoping it will pass soon enough. Otherwise he remains his cuddly self with lots of cute little words. He loves to say, "I did it!", and "right back".

Jared and I were happy to squeeze in a much-anticipated date to Disneyland. We had so much fun we still talk about it every day. I love going with the kids but it was fun to do all the bigger rides I see so often I can't do with them. We started off with the Tower of Terror, and hit most all of the others we wanted to, walking on to almost every ride. This is definitely the best time of year! We ate giant ice creams on the fresh waffle cones for dinner, and got soaked on the Grizzly River Rapids. It was awesome. I am hoping to get back sometime again before Jared's pass expires.

This month should be lots of fun as we are expecting several visitors and a trip ourselves. Now that Jared's school is starting to wind down I am also getting my LA bucket list going of fun things I want to do here. We are loving all the city has to offer and I'm sure it, and all our favorite people in it, will be sorely missed.

And on a side note, here is the dress from my mom :)

Ryker's Firsts

This has been a fun week for Ryker. It seems like all of the sudden he has crossed the threshold from baby to toddler. He had his first haircut on monday, and seems to be learning some new words every day. For the sake of preserving our memories, we have tried to write down his favorite things to talk about.

Rykie's words

Ball

Football

touchdown

fumble

up/down

on/off

all done

amen

mama

dada

opa

mamma= grandma

purple
Green
yellow
red

bread

water

more

please

shoes

elmo

no!

choo choo

mine

uh oh

cheese

banana

cookie

cheerio

pasta

pooh

bear

dog

buzz

yee-haw

show

pat-pat (his name for Little Einsteins)

all the characters from Backyardigans

toothbrush

eye

go

bye-bye

hi
Jesus
Temple
Bed
Boom Boom
Diaper
whoa
lights

Baby's Birthday

Today is our sweet little boy's birthday.

He has been a joy to our family, bringing happiness and lots of love. Anyone who knows him will attest that he is a sweetheart with an easy, warm smile.

My pregnancy with him was a bit more difficult, and the labor was short but very painful. I figured it meant he would be an easy baby, which definitely was true.

(day before he was born)

newborn- 9lbs 1 oz

with big brother, almost 3 months

9 months

11 mo. in Carlsbad

Happy 1st birthday to our sweet "Rykie Roo"!

Rykie's First Words

We went to Utah this weekend for Matt and Angelica's wedding (which was awesome by the way, more on the tiring weekend later). While staying at Grandma Nelson's Ryker had his first encounter with little yippee dogs. Apparently he liked Jack and Lady though because after just a few hours whenever he would see the dogs he would say "dag" for dog.

The first video you can hear Ryker say "dag" when he sees the dog. In the second video he says dog and ball (2 of his 4 words, the others being mama and dada) but for some reason it came out sideways. He says the words so well though I had to include the the sideways video.

Mmm Mmm Good

We love oatmeal...

and 5 minutes later, he's feeding himself

In addition, the last couple days he turned 6 months, and got a tooth. What a week!

Two For the Price of One

(me at 5 mo with my brother, Matt age 2 1/2)

As much as I love having a Jared mini-me for a son, I really hoped Ryker would be his own person and perhaps maybe a little bit resemble me and look like my child. At times he has looked like his brother's identical twin, but lately has taken on a bit of a different look.

Rykie has darker hair, eyebrows, and lashes. Kiki's lashes and brows have always been blonde.

Kiki has solid blue eyes, and Ryker's are beginning to look hazel. Maybe I will get my brown-eyed boy after all!

(Poor Rykie gets jipped a bit in the new stuff department)

Rykie Roosie

Ryker is 5 months old!

19 lbs, 4 oz, 26 cm (percentiles 95, 75)

He is a big, happy boy full of smiles and hugs. He still doesn't sleep that great (8-5:30, too early for me!), he is teething big time, and he fits snugly into 6-12m clothes. He loves gnawing on his fingers, talking to us, pursing his lips and trying to blow bubbles. He loves to nap, eat, and play trains with his brother.

Change

I'm not one to wax all sentimental usually, but a lot has been happening here, reminding me of how the days are passing by and my babies are becoming boys.

Yesterday I packed up Kiki's 18-24m clothes along with RJC's 3-6 months. It was overdue but it was hard to part with some of our favorite items, especially the Baby's knowing it'll probably be

a long while before another baby wears it (or maybe never if we have all girls from here on out). On the bright side we got to open up the 6-12 month box and take in the baby Kiki smell. Love it. Also, all of K's 2T clothes are brand. spanking. new! (There's nothing like pulling off a tag from clothes for weeks at a time. {I know, I have an addiction.})

with his 2nd cousin, two weeks older, and his great-aunt

(she's super old)

Well, I've put the clothes in the drawers, and accepted this fact: Ryker is almost 6 months, sitting up, smiling, jabbering, and becoming our snuggle-bug, less newborn and more baby day by day. Kiki is kicking the diaper habit, and hooked to the adrenaline rush from our incessant proud praises. (warning, upcoming "mom moment") He talks non-stop, making us laugh with the phrases he comes up with. He is spunky and super cute.

Some days I think I have the best job in the whole world.

5 Things You May or May Not Know About Rykie

1. He loves to be held and will snuggle into you when you hold him. He even snuggles his blankets

2. He is a big time talker. He loves to jabber and giggle

3. He loves to grab onto everything and everyone, especially my hair. His favorite toy is a play gym he lays under where he can bat at the toys and try to grab them

4. He loves his hands. He tries to suck on all of his fingers and his fists, especially when he is hungry or cranky

5. He was the best "surprise" we could have ever asked for!!

If someone had told me a year ago that I would have a 3-month-old right now I think I would have been so overwhelmed and nervous about how I would handle it all. I found out about the pregnancy two days before we had a big Christmas party, a week before Nicholas turned one, during the rush of the holidays. I was nauseous while I traveled with Nicholas alone (Jared had to work for another week), and my mind was constantly filled with concern for how I would manage two babies so close. We knew Jared was going to do a master's program, but we weren't sure where, and I was aware that I would be on my own quite often.

I was at my grandparents for Christmas, and I was overwhelmed with anxiety and stress, and felt I couldn't share yet because it was so early. I eventually confessed to my parents so they would know I wasn't infecting everyone with the swine flu, but had my own non-contagious ailment. I was in a bit of shock, so I didn't really share the news for quite a while until I came to terms!

Its so funny to think I felt that way just over a year ago. Ryker has turned out to be such a wonderful addition to our family. He came at just the right time for our insurance, moving plans, and family schedules. Hs timing really was perfect. He is so happy and content most all of the time, and accomodates my busy schedule with his big brother's demands. He obviously wanted to come and be in our family, and I'm so glad each day that he did!!

I can't wait for our Christmas this year with two boys!!

2 Months of RJC

Our little guy is a whole two months old, as of monday. He is our litte cuddlebug. He loves to be held and snuggled, and will always reward you with a smile or two. He is a pretty happy baby as long as he is fed, cleaned, and given moderate amounts of attention and affection.
He is growing wary of his big brother and gets an adorable wide-eyed look of terror as he approaches.

Kiki loves him though... so much that he could just squeeze him!

I tried to do a Rykie photshoot, and ended up with dozens of these....

Gotta love these two... There is never a dull moment!

Blessed Day

Today we had the opportunity to bless our sweet little boy. It was a little bit of heaven amidst all of the stress going on right now.

Little baby Ryker in the blessing outfit his grandpa and uncles wore

Our first family portrait as a family of 4

Daddy and son

Proud grandparents with their 2 grandsons

Brad, Emily, and family were able to come and be with us too

Along with Kiki's favorites, Brittany and Kelly

Having our baby blessed made me think of what a wonderful spirit he is, and we are so blessed that he was able to join our family. I constantly marvel that in our two years here we have been given two sons. We're now going to start another chapter of our lives as our own real family!

Chronicling the day... August 12

First of all we'd like to thank our sponsors, Skipolini's Pizza, makers of the "Prego Pizza", for making this all possible....
I ate their specialty pizza in high hopes on Tuesday, and was slightly disappointed when it seemed nothing was happening as we went to bed that night. We enjoyed a full night's sleep and I woke up the next morning, 6 am, with no action. I expressed my frustration to Jared, when I started to feel a little something. It seemed like no big deal, but kept building until it dawned on me that I had better get in the shower and start cleaning myself up. It was a big goal of mine to be all showered, blow-dryed and ready considering with Nicholas' birth my hair was wet, curly, and I had no makeup. In the shower at 6:45 I realized it might not happen after all and told Jared to alert my mom and his mom that we had better get moving. I ended up barely, barely, finishing my hair and we ran off.

Ryker was born at 10:08 am after a placental abruption and lots of blood loss. Due to all of that, he was put on oxygen, had to get his stomach pumped, and was taken to the NICU. I wasn't able to hold him for almost 12 hours, and then we had to deal with all kinds of cords and wires. The first night was hard to sleep without him, and I walked back and forth all night to come visit my boy.

Fortunately by the next afternoon (the 13th) he was released from the NICU to my room. I want to truly thank all of those who prayed for our little guy, and I am so grateful that the prayers were heard.

The next day, the 14th, we were finally able to go home. We have been enjoying being at home, back with our Nicholas too, and trying to get a bit of sleep here and there. Ryker is a beautiful, sleepy little guy who fits right in with us.

Ryker Jared Cordon

August 12, 2009

9lbs 1oz, 21 inches