Call's Come

We were so happy to have the Call's come visit us for a few days last week.  Shara and Aaron went snowboarding and left Abby & Dax here with me and the boys one day.  We had so much fun.  Luckily Jess happened to be home that day since Dax only wanted her (she looks a little like her mom).  I tried to keep Kody & Abby entertained with play doh, but that only works for so long!  Tawnya and Reese came up so that all the cousins could play together.  We had quite the houseful, but it was super fun.  Mom & Dad came down too.  We took the kids to Jumping Jacks and they had a blast, then Lucas got a headache so that was the end of his fun for the day.  We ate at Pirate Island Pizza one night... a little too crowded and way way to loud with the live band blasting in our ears!

We had so much fun with them here and can't wait for summer when we get to spend more time together!

9 months

He just keeps growing and growing!  His 9 month birthday should have been on Feb. 29th, but that will only happen every 4 years.

Today he had is 9 month check up.  Other than an ear infection, he checked out great.

Weight:  19.3 (25%)

Height:  28.2 (50%)

His eyes checked out good too.  Even though he still looks a bit cross eyed in pictures, the dr. said they are straight.  He has psuedostrabismus which gives the optical illusion that he is cross eyed due to a wide nasal bridge.  Over time it should not be so noticeable.

Some of Ryker's favorite things are:

• 
  
  His mommy!
• 
  
  Food/Bottle
• 
  
  Baths
• His Tongue
• 
  
  Crawling
• 
  
  His daddy
• 
  
  Nodding yes
• 
  
  Tossing his arms "way high" so you can tickle him
• 
  
  Snacks
• 
  
  Pulling books on shelves
• 
  
  Naps
• 
  
  His Brothers
• Lincoln Logs to chew on!

He does not like:

• 
  
  Getting dressed
• 
  
  Having is diaper changed
• 
  
  His mommy to leave the room/house

We love you little man!

Ryker & his buddy/cousin Daxton

Built in Babysitter

Sometimes it's nice to have a babysitter right at your finger tips.  With Jed's new calling we knew it would get busy.  But then Sunday they gave me a new calling too... Relief Society Activity Leader (formerly known as Enrichment).  I think life officially life just got crazy!  (But the Bishop did inform me that I have at least a 1000 women on the committee!!)

I was trying to plan out the week so we could fit every thing in and mine and Jed's schedule's were not meshing.  I needed to go Visiting Teaching, attend the activity this week, and have a meeting with the counselor over me so I know what I'm doing.  Jed wouldn't be home Tuesday cause of Mutual.  Thursday is Bishopric Meeting, and Wednesday is the RS activity.

So last night at FHE I informed Jess that she will be watching the children tonight so I can go Visiting Teaching AND have my meeting.  Jed will be off bowling with the YM/YW.  We sure love the benefits of having her live with us.

Today Lucas was drawing a picture of our family.  He had drawn six heads so I asked him to name them.  And of course Nappy was one of them.  Love you little sis!

Happy Valentine's Day

Oh what a day it was!

Jed was put in as 2nd Counselor in our Bishopric this morning.  We were blessed to have Jed's family and my parents here with us.  He's excited to serve with Bishop McGhie & Brother Gallacher.  They are great guys and I know he'll have a lot fun. 

I've pretty much a had a pit in my stomach since Wednesday night when we met with the Stake Presidency.  Pres. Raleigh asked if I would bare my testimony and since then I haven't been able to relax.  I'm not to good at getting up in front of people and probably rambled since I can hardly remember what I said.  I was extremly glad when that part was over!

After Sacrament Meeting his dad ordained him a high priest and then they set him apart as the Counselor.  I know that Jed and our family will be blessed for his willingness to serve.

After church we had a lunch at our house with our family.  The bishop gave Jed a break yesterday and he got to spend the rest of the day with us.  I'm pretty sure that was his one and only "gimmie day"!

Tonight we had a little Valentine party with the Webb's and Bird's.  It's been fun to get together with them on occasion.  The kids had a blast playing with all their friends. 

Unfortunately I have no pictures to show from today, but sufficieth to say... it was a good day!

I'm blessed beyond measure with my wonderful husband and three loving boys....

I LOVE YOU!

Dax & Abby

This is me and my little nephew Daxton.  He's six weeks young than Ryker. 

Last night he was admitted to the hospital with Bronchial Pneumonia in both lungs and severe dehydration.  He's been sick for a few days and finally they were able to see a doctor that thought he should be in the hospital.  I know it's been a frustrating road for Shara and Aaron.  And to top it off, Abby has been sick with fevers of 105 & 106 and they aren't sure what's going on. 

Me and Abby

I hate the feeling of helplessness.  I remember feeling this way when Reese was admitted as a baby.  Not much you can do but pray... a lot.  And I know how it feels to be a parent of a sick child in the hospital.  It's not fun to sit and watch with out being able to do much.  I just pray that they both start to feel better soon.  Especially since they're suppose to be coming up here in just a couple of week!

We love you guys!

A scary trend amongst 2 year olds...

I think they're addicted. 

Not good!

The Rancher's Come to Town

This pretty girl and her mom came to the land of hustle and bustle yesterday for an appointment.  We were happy to keep Reese while Tawn ran all her errands and checked in the doctor to see how baby boy is growing.  I tried my darndest to keep them all happy and entertained, but alas I turned into the mean mom (and aunt) when Lucas bit Kody (what???!!!), Kody bit Reese, and Reese bit Kody!

We made some very lovely Valentine heart men.  I kept trying to think of things we could add to it so the project would take up more time.  Hence the goofy hats and funny placed feet.  Oh well... they loved them and that's all that matters.  My attempt at a picture resulted in all outtakes.

Look at him...

thinkin' he's all big.

So far it's just poopin', but thats 3 days in a row of no poopy diapers.

I'll take it!

The Bathroom

Before... boring!

In between...

After...

So this is my (almost) finished project.  Except for the decorations, its about done.  A big thanks to Jess for doing most of the painting.  Jed hung the molding on Saturday and I love how it turned out.  I do need to paint the ceiling and I'm hoping to get around to that in the next day or two.  Have to do it when the kids are occupied, ya know!  I love how everything is coming together.  And even Jed thinks it looks good... he's was a bit skeptical about the project to begin with. 

I need a nice beach/ocean pictures.  If anyone has a suggestion, let me know!

When it's all the way finished, I'll post that too... at least the decor.  Until then you get to see the before and after with the paint and molding.  I'd like to replace the mirror at some point, but that wasn't in the budget right now.

Ocho Months

Have you ever seen a cuter 8 month old?  I think not!  I know I say it all the time, but time really does fly by.  We love this rollie pollie!  He is half-way crawling every where.  He rocks on his ands and knees, but most of the time ends up face planting and then scoots on his tummy to where he wasn't to be.  He's fast too!  He has two favorite places he likes to play... the fireplace bricks and the stairs.  Pretty much the safest places we have in our house!!  He loves to pull himself up so he's standing, especially on the bottom stair.  He's thinks he's pretty tricky.  I think he's too young!! 

We like to call him our little stink bug since likes to make that pose quite often.  It's pretty darn cute.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to capture it on the camera yet... but I'm still trying.

He has his two bottom center teeth.  He got the first one during Christmas and the 2nd one last month.  He likes to use his tongue to play with them.  You can kind of see them in the picture.

He's slowly going away from the binky and pretty much has it only at night, and even then he falls asleep with out it sometimes.  He mostly likes to play with it.  By 9 months I hope to have him all the way done!

He's been sleeping through the night since right after Christmas.  Lovely!!  He goes to bed around 8 and sleeps for about 11 or 12 hours.  It's pretty easy to tell when he's tired cause he'll start whining and rubbing his eyes.  When you lay him down he'll grab the blanket and pull it right up to his face.  It's the cutest thing ever.  And he takes pretty good naps too... when he's not interrupted by 2 year old who loves to wake him up!

He pretty much loves all food he can get his hands on and really enjoys feeding himself those puff things.  He likes to repeat back sounds that you make.  He loves Peek-a-boo and especially loves Pat-a-Cake.  He laughs almost every time you start saying it.  He loves to be tickled (actually he probably doesn't, who does??!!) and can't help but laugh.  I love it when he laughs... especially when it's out of control.  Too funny!

Lucas is such a good helper and loves to make sure he's okay.  Kody can't hardly stand it if he's content.  He likes to lay on top of him, try to pick him up and then drop him, ride him like a horse, run over him with the walker, etc.  He's sort of a pill at times!!  Thankfully this doesn't happy all the time and he does give him some good kisses and some serious hugs (ok, so maybe it's more like choking, but I like to think he just loves him lots).

I can't imagine our lives without Ryker.  He brightens our day, everyday!

We Love You Ryker!

And I thought the spit up was getting better...

Nothin' New

Every time I look at my blog I realize I've turned into the worlds worst blogger/documentor/journal writer, etc.  I'm always thinking about updating, but never do it.  And then I forget what it was I was going to write about.  Oops.  Good thing I didn't make it a New Years Resolution!

Anyhow... we're all still alive and doing well, minus the sickness, but that's to be expected in the Valentine household.  Everyone healthy at once just isn't an option.  I think we're about through with it now, if only Ryker would cooperate.  It's the darn cough that seriously plagues our house... and then it decides to stay around for weeks.  Anyone else excited for Spring?!

I am happy to report that the new migraine medicine Dr. Bennett gave Lucas worked like a charm last week.  His headache only last about 4 hours and there was no throw-up involved.  Happy days!  Although he didn't end up going to sleep until about midnight since he had a 3+ hour nap.

I've decided that I'm going to take a room each month and work on organizing/re-doing it.  This month is the half bath downstairs.  I figured since I decided to do this half way through January the smallest room in the house would probably be the best choice.  So far I'm loving it.  It's all painted now.  This weekend we are going to put up the molding and then the decoration.  I have a vision so hopefully it turns out some what close to it.  I'll post some pictures of it soon.

In a bit of sad news... my sister Tawnya and her family are moving to Holden on Friday.  The good news is that we'll still seem them since she'll be up here for her doctors appointments... although it won't be often enough.  We're going to miss having them so close, but the kids will have lots of fun visiting the ranch.

Jed is still working in Tooele putting in long long (14 hour) days.  His wife isn't to fond of it, but thankful we have a job.  Hopefully it won't last much longer, but he's not sure when they are suppose to be done.  We're glad on the days that he gets home before 7 so we can see him for a minute before bed.

I can't hardly believe this month is about over.  Nothing to exciting, but sometimes that okay!