Where to begin

I have not blogged in over a month and I was starting to feel overwhelmed, like I didn't know where to start because there was so much to blog and post and say. I am going to post date some entries and include Christmas, Ryder's arrival, and our happenings in January. Here we go.....

Ryder's 1 month bday

Our beautiful baby boy was 4 weeks old yesterday and it's been an amazing month. He's starting to do so much already. We've seen a few smiles from him, he's starting to hold his head up, he grabs my hair when nursing, and when he's awake he's so alert. Ryder loves to be held and his favorite spot is tucked into the Moby Wrap like a little kangaroo. I love snuggling with him and holding him. Here are some photos that I snapped of him on his one month bday.

Rockin' the MobyWrap

A liitle scared if he's okay in there, but it appears that baby boy is snug as a bug in there.

Go SuperDad!!

Sweet big sister

As told by Mimi:

Before I left today, Ryan and I were alone with Ryder in the kitchen.  He was in his seat on the kitchen table.  Ryan climbed up on the chair, stood beside me, and said, “I want to tell Ryder something.”  I told her to go ahead and talk to him.  She got close and whispered, “Ryder, Jesus is watching over you.”  Then she turned to me and said, “Mimi, he’s not TALKING to me.”  I told her that he’s not talking to her yet, but that he’s listening.  It was the sweetest thing…..

Ryder Louis Whyte's arrival

Our baby boy, Ryder Louis Whyte, arrived on January 7th, 2010 at 6:00pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 inches long. It was the best surprise in the delivery room when Cory yelled out, "It's a boy!!". We are so blessed to have a wonderful, healthy baby. Here are some photos from his birthday to us leaving the hospital:

Last photo of just the 4 of us.

Last tummy shot

Mom & I waiting to be admitted.

Misty, Cory, and I waiting to go back into surgery. Misty is such a wonderful friend and I felt so blessed to have her as my nurse.

It's a BOY!!! 7lbs. 5 oz.

So fun to have Mimi in the delivery room. One big happy family :)

The girls got to come visit at the hospital. They were so excited about baby brother!!

Heading home with flowers and gifts!

Proud Daddy with his baby boy.

Christmas Day

Santa came to our house and brought some bikes. The girls were SO excited. They were also excited to get their stuffed snakes that they had been asking for all Christmas long. We had such a fun day together, first at home just the 4 of us, and then later at Mimi & Papa's house :)





Cory beat me at our first game of checkers but I got in the groove and whooped him for the next 2 games. Can you tell I'm competitive?

Christmas Eve

We always do Christmas Eve with the Whytes and it's such a fun evening for us. We tell stories, eat great food, and just spend fun time together with the family. The kids tear into their presents and it turns into utter chaos. Here are a few photos from our fun evening.

Reese & I.

Grandma with Reese's favorite yellow blanket.

We love Grandpa!

Casey was a rockstar at solving the puzzles that stumped us all that night.

Christmas wishes

We have had a great Christmas season with the girls. They get so excited about mangers and seeing baby Jesus. This scene below was in someone's front yard and we had to stop, get out and take photos. We also bought them their own little people manger set that they love to play with. This particular evening was spent with the family and going to visit Santa at the Reitmeyers house. The girls told Santa that they want snakes for Christmas. Not sure where that came from but that's all they would ask for.

Keira, Ryan & Reese with Santa

Ryan sitting with Santa and telling him that she wants a green snake.

Reese telling Santa she wants a yellow snake. She loves anything yellow.

Posing with Gammie and Santa.

Mimi is laughing about the snake request.

Family photo

Fashion show

Last weekend was crazy and we had so much going on. We woke up on Saturday morning and headed out the door early to participate in the Nordstrom Children's Fashion Show. We did it last year and the girls were a little more timid, but I guess that's to be expected at the age of 2. This year they did much better as three year olds. They walked down the catwalk and looked really adorable in their pink satin dresses. It was a fun family outing and we had our aunties there as well as Mimi & Papa.

Christmas Party

We hosted the Ryan Team Christmas party at our house this year and it was so nice to have everyone over and enjoy the comforts of our home. Every year we do a white elephant gift exchange and the hot gifts that get stolen over & over are usually the liquor gifts. I stole a gift card to a Mexican restaurant that came with a bucket of small tequila bottles and a tank top that read, "Save Water, Drink Tequila". Everyone was making fun of me for wanting tequila when I'm pregnant but all I could think of was enjoying a margarita on a date night a few months from now after the baby is born. I put the small little tank top over my dress and it looked AWESOME with my preggo belly. What a great look!

Understanding

Our girls understand the pregnancy much more than I thought they would. They say the funniest things about the baby. Both girls pretend or think that they have babies in their tummies. Ryan has said from the beginning that she's having 2 babies and their names are Googa and Maya. Googa is a boy and Maya is a girl. Reese says she's having a boy and his name is Captain Feathersword. Lately if they want something they use the baby as way to try and get it. IE: "The baby in my tummy is hungry and wants to eat a cookie" I've had some of the best conversations with Ryan about the baby. The other day I asked her if she was ready for the baby to arrive and she said, "Not yet, the baby needs to grow some more". This past weekend Cory was gone and the girls slept in the bed with me. Ryan was snuggled right up against my belly when she was sleeping and the baby was moving a lot. She woke up and said, "Hey! The baby is kicking me!!" I thought it was so cute and funny. I can't wait to see their interaction with the baby and how they act as big sisters.

A fun girls night

We had a fun girls night at the house this week. We celebrated with a baby shower for Karen's baby boy that's arriving soon and a gift exchange among all the friends. Karen is 36 weeks pregnant and baby boy Hobbs will be here any day now. She got some really great gifts and we had a ton of fun with the gift exchange. Here are a few photos from our fun evening.

The 2 preggo girls

Getting ready for the group pose. My pink shirt is working hard, stretched across my big belly.

We finally got it together for the group pose :)