Like father, like son... I guess  :)

New Start

I guess now that I've neglected my blog for nearly 10 months, my son is now a toddler instead of a newborn, we're expecting again and have relocated to Texas, I should probably start posting on a more regular basis again.  I feel like I need to write a huge post to catch up on everything that has happened in the past year but I don't have time so I will keep the topics short.

Ryder is now 10 months old and is as loveable, hug-able and kissable as ever.  He is so handsome, outgoing, and happy ALL the time.  Although Ryder loves being awake and discovering the world, he takes two to three naps everyday, each one lasting an hour and a half.  It's great! Ryder gives the best slobbery kisses that I've ever gotten from anyone and his smile melts my heart every time (which I'm sure you can only imagine get's overwhelming as he is constantly smiling.  I love it!).  We love this kid so much! 

We're expecting again!  The other day we went in for our first appointment at 14 weeks along.  (woops!  A little behind.)  We got to see our little Pumpkin moving a bunch and got a great shot of him/her "talking".  So cute!  Preston and I were anxious to have another baby as Ryder has been such a joy to have in our home.  The two will be 16 months apart if all goes well and the little Pumpkin arrives as scheduled in late October.  I will admit, yesterday as I stared at the ultrasound screen and watched our new little one move about I thought, "what have we gotten ourselves into??"  HA!  I really hope things can run relatively smoothly with two little ones so close in age, running around our small apartment here in Texas.  It's truly an amazing experience watching the life inside me.  I will never get used to the reality of the miracle that goes on in there.  We are looking forward to meeting our Pumpkin!

Yes, we've moved to Texas.  We're loving our new place of residence and are having a blast exploring the new grounds.  Although we are having a blast here, Prest and I are both hoping it will be short term as we would love to move back up to Utah where our home and family are.  I gotta tell ya, it's not easy moving from a house to an apartment although I must say, the amenities are quite nice.  The pool is beautiful and the gym is just a few steps away.  Wonderful!  No excuses now!  Texas is a very beautiful, fun and different place.  We are sure enjoying our time here.

I guess I should also mention that this last week I turned 24.  It's not a huge deal but to me it was.  When I learned what a golden birthday was about 10 years ago, every year since I thought, "wow, it's going to be forever until I reach that age.  That's going to be a huge birthday!"  Just in case you don't know what a golden birthday is, it's the age that your birthday lands on.  My birthday is April 24th so my golden birthday is when I turn, or now turnED, 24.  It was a very fun birthday.  The husband took me out shopping at a huge mall called The Galleria and also an outlet mall like I've never been to before.  They had every store I could image!  Utah really needs to get with the swing of things and start opening more stores and outlets.  Afterwards we went over to my Aunt and Uncles for cake.  It was such a great birthday!

Wow!  Still ended up being a long post.  Sorry about that.  Here's our Lil' Pumpkins big debut! 

    

TeeHee

My little boy has the cutest gummy smile!!
See for yourself...





Ryder has laughed for me twice but I still have yet to get it on video. It is so adorable though, believe me!

Ryders Age: 5 Weeks and two days new

Blessed

Ryder Preston Nilsson
Born June 16, 2011
at 5:59pm
weighing 7 lb 2 oz
and 19 inches tall

I'm a mom!! There is no role I love being in more. I absolutely LOVE being a mom!! My favorite part about being a Mom? Being able to make my baby happy. There is no feeling more saddening or heart jerking than hearing my baby cry due to pain or discomfort and walking into a room, picking up my crying baby boy and soothing him brings me so much joy. I live to make my baby happy. I also love carrying my sleeping baby to his bed. It's so precious seeing him limp in my arms yet somehow still clung to me as if he is completely dependent on me. It makes me feel loved. It makes me love him just that much more.

Preston and I have been so blessed. I cannot believe there is something so perfect in this world. Ryder has no flaw. He is such a content baby. He hardly cries unless he is in pain or has a been in a dirty diaper for a while, he's a great eater and a wonderful sleeper. Ryder literally came into this world eating. As soon as he was set on my chest he quickly found his own way to food. It was incredible! He's a natural with the boob. haha! Too much? I know many new parents complain about not getting any sleep but I am lucky to say that I am not one of them. Ryder sleeps so wonderfully. At night he will sleep for five hours, then I'll get up to feed him and he's back down for another four. Not bad at all, eh?? I have only had two nights that have been a little rough and even those weren't too bad. And honestly, I would stay awake with my baby, holding him and giving him kisses for the rest of my life if I could. I hate missing a single moment with him because of sleep.



Here are just a few of my favorite things about my baby boy...

- His little tiny ears, nose, hands and feet. What mother doesn't love these miniature features?
-His big contagious gummy smile. I have never in my life seen something cuter than his smile. Ryder started smiling on day three and no, I guarantee you, it was not and still is not gas.
- The way his right leg twitches as he stretches after being unraveled from his swaddle.
- His precious little tiny sneezes. He sneezes twice every time, just like his momma.
- I love his innocence.
- I love when he wraps his tiny fingers around one of mine.
- Walking into the room and seeing Ryder sound asleep on his daddy's chest and his tiny arms trying their best to wrap around daddy.
- I love how he snorts when he cries. Sometimes I don't know if I should smile or feel bad.
- I love when he sticks his little hand up on my chest as he eats.
- His little superman and "bus driver" stretches are to die for.
- His loud squeaks as he eats and his little sighs as if he were saying, "boy, this is a lot of work" makes my heart melt.

I love this kid so much, I even love his poop!

Changing his diaper is always an experience and I've loved every one of them. I've been sprayed by the hose four times and by the back end three times. Yes, I have literally been sprayed on by poo and that many times. I'm not talking explosive diaper, I'm talking in the middle of a diaper change and old faithful decides to put on a show. Its awesome! I can't help but laugh every time it happens.

I love being a mom!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderfully perfect little family.

Ryder's Age: 4 weeks new
Cravings of the Week: Spending every waking (and sleeping) second with my baby boy!

Oh Yeah......

I have a blog! I guess I should stop neglecting it. Many people have been giving me a hard time for not updating them on my pregnancy. It's hard to want to want to post pictures of myself right now when I feel fat and ugly. Ugh! But even though I still don't have an updated picture of my current self, I am at least going to blog. I will be sure to have Preston take a picture of me the next I time I actaully get out of my PJ's and dressed.

Life has been crazy busy these last 9 weeks. Preston and I have been working on the house and yard more, getting together the last minuet items that we will need for the arrival of our baby Peanut, going to our birthing class every week (we had our last class last Tuesday, yay!), celebrating our baby peanut with an incredible baby shower thrown by my sweet and talented sister in law, entertaining dinner guests multiple times every week, shooting weddings (at 9 months pregnant and down in Las Vegas), editing weddings, shooting and editing multiple bridal and engagement shoots, celebrating the graduation and return home of my big brother from Officer Candidate School, celebrating several family birthdays (including mine and Preston's is in just 2 short days ), celebrating our 3 year anniversary, Preston has been going to night school, I've been working on some sewing projects that needed to be completed before Peanut arrives, oh yes and all while growing a baby. That's a lot of work, if you ask me.

I cannot believe we are down to the last few days before Preston and I are rewarded the title of Parents. My pregnancy has been going well. Every once in a while I will have a day or two where I feel very uncomfortable. Randomly my tail bone/hip (I don't know which it is) will freak out and make it so I can't even drag my leg let a lone walk with it for about 30 mins. That has only happened to me 3 or 4 times but it KILLS! For about 6 weeks of my pregnancy I had a hard time sleeping on my left side due to the movement of one of my ribs but I would lodge a small pillow just under it making it bearable to sleep on but now I'm great! I don't need to sleep with a pillow and I can comfortably sleep on both sides. Of course little Peanut pushes up into my ribs every so often especially if I'm slouching on a couch but I think he may have dropped this last week so it doesn't happen really any more. All-in-all I'd say I've had a very easy pregnancy and boy am I grateful. I hope I get this lucky every time I am pregnant.

There is no doubt the worst part of pregnancy for me is the weight gain. I feel SO fat. My face looks huge to me. I cannot wait to have my old body back, although I am told it won't be exactly the same. Probably true but I'm determined to get it back. I've been lucky enough not to get any stretch marks on my belly. I think I have gotten a few spider veins or stretch marks on the backs of my legs but they are small and there are few. They will disappear for sure when this baby comes out so I'm not worried about them. Two weeks ago I went walking for an hour, (30 minutes longer then usual) yeah, not the best idea. I was swollen for a good week. My fingers feel like sausages sometimes but I hear I am lucky to not experience any swelling until my last couple of weeks of pregnancy so I am grateful.

I've got a bunch of pictures to share with you guys but I'm not at my computer with all my pictures on it so it will have to wait a little bit. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will be able to get to it.

Life is going well and Preston and I are more than anxious to meet out little guy. Only a few more days until he's due to arrive!! I'm sorry if I've bored you all with my post. I'd be surprised if many of you made it this far into the post. I consider my blog to be more of a journal for myself than a place to share my life with the world.

Until next time,
- A pregnant momma

Week: 39 weeks and 3 days
Cravings of the Week: (or past two months) FRUIT!

T-Minus 10 Weeks!!

I guess since I've hit and passed the huge milestone of the 3rd trimester and am now 30 weeks along, I should post an update.

30 Weeks

Today marks Week 30! I've started jogging again. Not quiet running but it feels good to get my blood pumping again. Since I slowed down on exercising for the past 7 weeks, I can tell I've gained a little more weight than I probably should have while being pregnant. Not fun. But I have high hopes that I can get back into some shape that's not just a huge blob.

I'm lucky to say that I still do not have an outtie belly button nor any stretch marks. Thank you Fish Oil!

For the past three or four days I have started getting more uncomfortable. I'm finally feeling pregnant! As miserable as aches and pains are, I'm thrilled to be experiencing what every expectant Mom talks about. Every so often my tailbone starts to hurt. I woke up one morning and it was killing me! I guess it has to do with the way Peanut is laying. He will push against something (I forget what it is) and it will trigger pain in my tailbone. Weird. A long with my painful tailbone, my left side hurts a bunch from my rib cage. It hurts mostly when I've been sitting for awhile and when I lay down. I have one rib that pokes out from all of the belly expansion and because of it, it kills to lay on my left side. I'm pretty limited on sleeping positions now. I mostly sleep on my right side. Just today I started getting slightly painful kicks from Peanut. It feels like really strong muscle spasms and so far has occurred mostly on my right side.

Honestly though, I really do enjoy having these pains. It's just more reassurance, aside from all of the kicking and punching that's going on inside my belly, that I have a little guy growing in me and that makes all of this discomfort worth it!

I can't WAIT to meet my little man. It's driving me crazy!! I held my cousin-in-law's 3 week old baby boy, Miles, the other day (I even had the privilege of babysitting him for a little while a couple days before that) and it made my heart ache to hold my own son. I can't describe the feeling I get when I long to hold my son. It's so strong and incredible. I love my baby so much already.

Preston and I have been working on Peanuts room a little more. We've picked up supplies to build a closet system and we're going to start working on it this evening. I've also been busy with some sewing projects which I will have to write about and post later. I'm so excited for my baby to have and use them.

Life is very exciting for us these days and will only be getting more exciting. I love my husband so much and couldn't have asked for a better Father to my children. Preston will be, without a doubt, the best Daddy! He is so cute with our little man already as is just as anxious as I am to meet our little Peanut.

Week: 30
Cravings of the Week: Root Beer Floats

Unbelievable

Can you believe it because I can't.
Our garden area has been tilled!!

For the past couple of weeks we have been working hard to get our garden prepared for some growing. I weeded, Preston tilled and we put down clear plastic together to kill all the seeds from the weeds. It only takes a couple of weeks (some say days, others say weeks) to kill off everything but I think this year we're just going to leave the plastic down all season. I don't know if I can keep up with being a new mom, photography and learning how to garden all in one year. We're probably going to plant some tomatoes and squash on the end of the garden just so we can get some experience in before next year.

We are looking forward to having a garden!

Duke was so cute and did a great job at being a watch dog. I'm pretty sure he was afraid the tiller was going to attack Preston but thanks to Dukes impressive watching skills, Preston returned in alive and without injury at the end of the day.






Amongst all of our dead weeds, spring is found :)




FINAL RESULT

Before


After