The Nay's

King of the Beasts...

2009-11-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Ryker's Halloween Costume 2009

Bad, Bad Blogger...

2009-11-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hi All...

To anyone who is still checking our blog for updates... Thank You and I apologize. I had every intention of being a better blogger and keeping our page up-to-date... my good intentions are merely thoughts in my head- right before I drift off to sleep. I am now pledging to TRY harder- to at least update photos. I'm sure that's what most everyone likes anyway right?? Here's our update:

I have busy with work, travelling a ton, everywhere from El Paso, TX to Meridian, MS to Durango, CO. It's been crazy, but it's so fun! Along with travelling a lot, i've also gotten to spend a lot of time at home. I was lucky enough to be home the whole month of August, Yay! My how time flies! Scott is finally getting busy with work again, for a while there, you couldn't tell who 'worked from home'... me or him... but thank heavens things are picking back up...

funny how it slows down just in time for the Elk hunt!?! Scott spent a ton of time in Jackson, WY tracking and hunting the very elusive Bull Elk... disappointing enough to not bring one home... UNTIL the last weekend. He decided we'd all go up to Bear Lake and he'd head into Wyoming from there... all alone, not really expecting anything, he must of put his whole head and heart into it that day because to my (and probably his) suprise, he brought home a huge, trophy, spike. :O) Doesn't matter to me, elk meat is elk meat and now our little freezer is full! Way to go Scott!! We are so proud of him.

Ryker is growing like always... his favorite thing right now is 'Yo Gabba Gabba'. I swore the first time I saw this show would be the last... but it seems to have grown on me... and I know all the words to all the songs... Ryker loves it and he dancy dances like a mad man... it's amazing to me how much he learns just from watching that show... I know that sounds soooo stupid but he watches the characters and he does just what they do- if they dance he dances the same way... he marches like they march... he wiggles... he holds still... he even wants his hat on his head when he sees they are wearing their hats... it amazes me.

However... Brobie never invited crayons to the party in his tummy.

Lately he has been obsessed with his crocs... he wants them on his feet even when he has nothing else on... (notice the blue feet in the tub). Ryker was Max from 'Where the Wild Things Are' for Halloween... as soon as I get the pictures i'll post them, he was so stinking cute. His mom in all her craftiness sewed his costume but neglected to actually measure his legs and arms so his Max costume nearly fit Scott as well. Ryker had a hard time walking and getting his balance and while we were at gamma lucy's work, he was showing off his 'squatting' abilities and squatted his little nose right into the carpet... three times. Poor baby... the rug burn is just barely healing. We had a great time trick or treating with Cazley, she was a samauri princess... very cute.

Cazley is doing well too. She was baptized the end of July and she started the third grade and this quarter she got all A's!! What a smarty pants!! Well, that is the post-it note version of the last 3 months around our house... good start to my new resolve eh??

My All Boy Little Boy...

2009-08-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

I must admit at the age of one, my little man is about as boy as they come. This was a pic of his first four wheeler ride. He knows when the helmet goes on... he gets to go for a ride. He loves it... riding around on the beach at Bear Lake or even up the hill to the dumpsters. His little knees are stained brown, I can't tell if it's perma-dirt or a little suntan. The other day I was out pulling weeds and he was helping, I look over and he was pulling rocks out of his mouth (anything he can't really chew, he pulls back out, thank heavens!!) My little all-boy boy started walking last weekend. Now he is all over the house... hiding toys, starting up the dishwasher and playing in the blinds. He even has the facial expressions of an all-boy boy, from naughty to nice before the milk even hits the floor!! He is such a good boy!!

What's the facination?

2009-06-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

What is the facination with an empty (or better yet, full) dishwasher? Ryker could play in it for hours. Pulling out the rack, pushing it back in, opening and closing the flap doors. Now, if I could just get him to load and unload, we'd be set.

We're getting ready for Ryker's second surgery on Thursday. This procedure involves the soft palate repair, removing and replacing his hard palate prosthesis as well as replacing the tubes in his hears. We're hoping we'll be home in time for fireworks on Saturday.

Happy Fourth of July!!

I'm so lucky...

2009-06-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

This week i'm spending 4 and a half days in Southern and Central Oregon. I flew into Medford on Monday, spent last night in Klamath Falls and today we drove to Bend, OR. Klamath Falls isn't the lucky part, the lucky part is that we got to drive by Crater Lake, we had enough time before our second observation session in Bend that we were able to take the scenic route right through Crater Lake National Park. I can't even explain the breath-taking beauty so here are a few pictures: Crater Lake was formed nearly 8000 years ago when a volcano called Mt. Mazama erupted, after the eruption, the top of the volcano collapsed in forming a huge caldera.

(Look at my impressive vocabulary!!)Can you believe it is 6 miles wide??

This one is hard to see but at the top of the little snow hill is the cutest little rock and log cabin.

The peak in the very middle of this picture is called Scott's Peak :O)

Flag Day

2009-06-15T20:25:00.001-07:00

Ryker was all ready for Flag Day...

Here he is waving his very oversized flag:

Hey... Where's the parade??

Happy 5 Years!!

2009-06-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

Scott and I have been married for 5 years today... The day we wed was identical to today... cold and rainy! We had to move our reception inside, we didn't get as many pictures as we wanted, everthing was wet, but it was wonderful!

5 years later, it's still wonderful! Our lives have changed so much from where we were 5 years ago but I absolutely love the path we walk and the fact we walk it together is even better. Scott is my best friend and i'm glad I get to share everyday with him.

Look at these beautiful flowers he sent me today... Gerbera Daisies are my absolute favorite!! What a sweet guy!!

Ryker's First Birthday!!

2009-06-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Ryker's first birthday!! I can't believe it's been a year. Time sure flies. It seems that all of a sudden he's eating big people food, wanting to do more things himself, trying hard to walk on his own, he's learning more about his emotions and how to express himself (lately that entails a ton of screaming with clenched fists) but he's also taking just a second or two more to snuggle, i've waited a year for this. He's such a big boy. I never imagined I could love someone so much. It's amazing. We had such a good day together. I made him french toast and jam for breakfast, we went to the Treehouse museum, had lunch with Lucy and had the grandparents over for ice cream and cupcakes. Ryker is such a blessing to us. He is such a sweet boy. My life, perspective and priorities have all surely changed over the last 12 months. I am so lucky to be Ryker's mom. I look forward to the year ahead and hope it's even half as wonderful as the year we just finished.

Ryker, we love you so much!!

Ryker and I got to spend the whole day together!

I love to look at this picture of the day we finally brought him home... look how much he's grown.

Mom and Ryker peeking through the hole in the tree at the Treehouse.Climbing through the stump.With Obama in the Oval Office.

Ryker and mom pounding on the drums.My sweet little birthday boy. (He banged his head on Sunday -oops)

Birthday Cake, Birthday Presents and Family....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYKER!!

Birthdays at Bear Lake

2009-06-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in Bear Lake. We had so much fun!! Our next door neighbors and good friends Clint and Kylie came with and we celebrated their birthdays there. Cazley came too and we brought her friend Kassidy Bailey (her mom babysits Ryker during the week). We had a houseful! We spent Saturday morning on the beach and when the clouds rolled in we played horse-shoes in the yard. Saturday night was great because all Kylie wanted for her '24th' birthday was a campfire and smores, luckilly the rain stopped just in time.

Here are some pictures:

(From left: Scott, Daisy our dog, Kassidy, me, Ryker, Dave, Cazley, Kylie and Clint)

Rykers first four wheel ride with Papa Dave.

How Did I Get Here?

2009-05-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

This morning, I woke up in the most beautiful hotel in America (in my opinion). At 5:30 a.m. I began my day in Nashville, TN, in the Opryland Hotel. Things started off so smoothly, we attended our convention until around 11, tore everything down, got it ready to be shipped back to California and headed to the airport for a 5 p.m. flight to Indianapolis. When we checked in, there was an earlier flight to IN that flew through Atlanta but arrived at the final destination around the same time as our original flight, so we decided to stick with our initial plans. Little did we know we should of followed our gut instinct to fly through Atlanta. We finally boarded our flight to Indianapolis via Cincinatti. After a longer flight than I thought it should be, the pilot announced there was a storm in Cincinatti and we had circled for so long we needed to stop for fuel, in Louisville, Kentucky. We were worried we would miss our connection as it left at 8:00 p.m. and we were still in Kentucky at about five to. When we finally got to Cincinatti, to make a long story short: we missed our connection, there were NO MORE connections until 8:00 a.m. the next morning (our training session was to begin at 7:30 a.m.); our luggage was waiting for us in Indiana because it had been placed on the earlier flight because we checked in so early; because of the storm and all the delayed flights there were no rental cars; needless to say as I FINALLY go to bed tonight, it's 11:30 p.m. in Erlanger, Kentucky, i'm sitting in an old, run down Holiday Inn with no pajamas, no food, nothing except a t shirt given to me by "Sky Team" and a little overnight package with one serving of toothpaste (which I will save for tomorrow morning) and a funny little tube of deodorant. Good thing is we decided to reschedule our training session and I will board a flight to Salt Lake City at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Another good thing is I wasn't travelling alone today. I had a very good colleague traveling with me from the Nashville convention and she'll head home to Green Bay ,WI tomorrow as well. Sleep tight everyone...

Eating Leaves...

2009-05-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

So, here's the story with this picture. I was out of town, my mom put Ryker on the lawn by the flowers to take this picture to send to me. She called me and told me that while she was trying to take it, he had ripped a leaf of a flower and eaten it. She said she tried to get it out of his mouth but he swollowed it. I said it was no big deal, he eats a lot of stuff he shouldn't, he'd be fine. Soooo... the next day, I get home and pick him up from Shelly's (his most favorite baby sitter). She said he'd played outside, ate a really good lunch and just woke up from his nap. I held him and his head felt sooo hot!! She said if he had a fever it had to have just hit. I rushed him home and took his temperature, it was 105 on my thermometer. I took him right over to the clinic and it was the same there. Long story short he only had a head cold BUT my mom was insistant she poisioned him with a flower leaf. She was so upset. Can you believe that coincidence?? His fever broke later that night and didn't come back, isn't that strange?? Anyway, this is the picture that accompanies that story...

Park Photo...

2009-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Our Future Football Star

2009-05-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Updates...

2009-05-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Most people have probably given up on reading my blog. I'm sorry and I'm embarrassed.

I'm spending this night in Denver, Colorado. I've had a pretty busy month with work travels. I was in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, Alabama, Colorado today, Nashville Tennessee on Saturday and Indiana on Tuesday of next week. (Breathe...) Then, it settles down. Just in time to spend a long weekend at the lake, celebrate Ryker's first birthday and get ready for Ryker's next surgery. Most know that we were scheduled to have our next set of procedures done on June 19th. We had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Grimmer, Ryker's ENT. Turns out, the tubes in Ryker's ears are fixing to fall out and will need to be replaced. The bright spot is, Primary's will get all of the doctors together to perform surgery at the same time so Ryker will only have to be put out once. The dark spot is all the ENT's are out of the office on the 19th so surgery will have to be posponed until July 2nd. This procedure should be a bit easier than the first. Dr. Siddiqi, the plastic surgeon will repair the soft palate, Dr. Yamashiro, the orthodontist, will remove and replace the hard palate prosthesis, and Dr. Grimmer will replace the tubes in his ears. I'm worried about his recovery, having him on pain meds last time was miserable, but this time he's eating more solid foods (or at least trying) so i'm afraid that will be tough. I'm sure it will all go well. Ryker is one tuff little man. I can't believe that he is going to be one. This past year has flown and I wouldn't trade the trials and changes this last year brought for the world, I know thanks to all of it, I've grown more than I ever imagined I could.

Let see, what else... Cazley is nearly done with school and has been dancing like C.R.A.Z.Y. the last few months. She loves dance. I'll have to figure out how to post video because she took a ballroom dance class and she and her little partner are fantastic. It's so cute, just like a mini 'Dancing with the Stars'. They have performed in a handful of competitions and won a bunch of trophies.

Scott is still working hard. We've been pretty lucky with such hard times all around us, he hasn't spent much time 'out of work'. (Knock on wood.) We've really been blessed, even the couple weeks he was home with no work from his employer, he kept pretty busy with side jobs and odds and ends. He kept pretty busy keeping the house clean too!! That was nice while it lasted. I'm happy to have him back on the job though.

Well, I guess that's all for now...

2009-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

Ryker dumped the dog bowl full of water all over himself

Bath time is the BEST TIME!!

Ryker with his plastic surgeon Dr. Siddiqi

Ryker with his orthodontist Dr. Yamashiro

2009-03-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

I feel so bad that I am so behind on my blog. I didn't really realize that so many people liked to read it, until I haven't posted for a couple months and everyone wants to tell me about it. Over the last few weeks, i've realized that it is a nice way for family so far away to maybe feel a bit closer.

The last few months have been nice. I haven't had to travel much for work so i've been able to spend a lot of time with Ryker. He is getting so big. He has 6 teeth coming in now and boy are they sharp. He is beginning to want to pull his knees under his little body and push himself forward, usually this results in his forehead being shoved across the carpet. We're working on our eating habits and Ryker loves his freeze-dried yogurt bites.

We had a consultation with our orthodontist, Dr. Yamashiro and also, our plastic surgeon, Dr. Siddiqi at Primary's a few weeks ago. They were both so happy with how Ryker's cleft repair is healing. Dr. Siddiqi asked to take pictures for his photo album. We are preparing now for our next surgery. Ryker will have his soft palate repaired and his prosthesis removed and a new one replaced on June 19th. I can't believe he will be 1. This last year has been so full of ups and downs but has gone so fast.

Ryker recently took his first airplane trip. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get them. I didn't take my camera but my mom did. My grandfather in Alabama had been sick for a while and so my mom and dad and Jyl and Ryker and I were planning to take a trip back to visit the middle of this month. We had been busy making flight reservations, hotel accommodations and everything else when my mom and dad got a call late on Thursday March, 5th that my papa jess had passed away in his sleep. It felt a little overwhelming. It wasn't necessarily unexpected but deep down I wasn't prepared. It had been almost 9 years since I had last seen him and I was really looking forward to our visit later this month. Now, all of a sudden we are packing our bags to make a quick trip for his funeral. We flew down late, late on Saturday night. Luckily, Ryker slept the whole time. We arrived in Birmingham, Alabama at around 11:00 on Sunday morning. We made a quick stop at the hotel and then at the Wal-mart to buy Ryker supplies. After that, we spent the rest of the day at papa's house. It was nice because almost all of our family was there, minus 3 cousins, it was the first time in over 20 years we were all together in the same place. Ryker was such a good boy and loved all the attention. The next day and a half were a whirlwind. Once the commotion settled down and everyone started home, we got to spend a few quiet moments at the cemetery before we came home. This was the most peaceful time. I am so lucky to know that even though I didn't get to tell him good bye, he knows that I loved him and missed him, and missed the time we didn't get to spend together, we'll be reunited again.

The flight home was late afternoon, Ryker slept the first half and then for the last two hours, he sat on my mom's lap with big earphones on, watching Madagascar 2. It was so funny. He didn't even mind the big earphones on. It was a great trip. Ryker did better than expected and the time we got to spend with our family was priceless. I hope they know how much I love them.

I swear i'm going to try to update more frequently. TRY being the keyword.

Christmas 2008 Pictures

2009-01-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

Ryker and Santa

Cazley and her cousins Tasia and Hadley in their Christmas jammies

Ryker and his cousin Karson

Cazley, Ryker, Karson and Hadley with Santa

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

I am such a blogger slacker. I could blame on the holidays... or I've just been so busy with work... but in all actuality, I'm lazy. I've been so lucky to be home since the 12th of December. Christmas was wonderful! Ryker loved ripping the paper off his gifts. I was so excited for Christmas because I suprised Scott with a 60" flat-screen TV. I bought it off ShopNBC a few weeks ago and they delivered it the week before Christmas. I hid it in my office in the basement and he didn't suspect a thing!! On Christmas morning 'Santa' left some wildlife watercolors that Scott had been wanting to have framed for so long and a pair of slippers... that was it. We went to my mom and dads for our delicious Christmas breakfast then came home, shortly after that, we went to pick up Cazley and go visit grandma and grandpa Nay in Hooper... we were out there for a while and while we were gone the elves came back by our house because it seems Santa 'forgot' to leave a gift for the family. When we got home from Hooper, oh, I wish I had my camera... Cazley walked up the stairs and when she saw the TV, she just kept yelling down to the garage "Dad, are you kidding me!!" and he just smiled and said "Did Santa leave you something"... and she said "Dad, are you kidding me!!" Scott looked at me and smiled and I told him to hurry up so she could start opening her gifts. I grabbed the diaper bag out of the car and as I headed up the stairs Scott yelled down to me, "Jaym, are you kidding me??"... I laughed so hard. He was sooo suprised and excited. It made it all worth it! Christmas is sooo much fun! Scott suprised me with some diamond earrings... I wasn't expecting anything from him because I had told him that I had bought enough for both of us, so I was excited. Ryker and Cazley got bunches of clothes and toys...

It's nice to be home and be able to spend time with Ryker. He's got three little teeth coming in now, he's rolling around the floor like a tumbleweed and he's in to EVERYTHING he can get in to. It's been so fun to play with him during the day. I've started him back to daycare this week though, I was nervous that he's so used to me being home that once I took him back he'd cry... or that he'd think that I only took him to Miss Shelly's when I was leaving for days so he's spent a few hours a day for the last few days over at her house. He loves it there. He comes home absolutely exhausted! I love knowing that even when he's not at home, with me and Scott, he's happy and he's surrounded by people that love him. It makes going away so much easier.

I can't think of anything new... I hope everyone else had as good of a Christmas as we did.
Happy New Year!!

Time Flies...

2008-12-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast time passes. My mom informed me that I needed to update my blog, it seemed as though I just had but as I look at it, I see, it's been nearly a month. This picture was taken on Ryker's 6 month birthday. I was in Rochester, MN, so my mom took it and sent it to me. I can't believe he's 6 months already. We had to go get immunizations last week... YAY us! Ryker finally hit 15 lbs, 15 lbs. 5 oz. to be exact and 25 inches long. He is growing so well. He is so smart and alert and can hardly sit still, the last few Sundays I would swear I had a two year old on my lap... up and down... back and forth... it's fun though. We've started feeding him baby food, he makes the funniest faces but with practice, he's started understanding what it means to push it back instead of out. I can't even remember what life was like before him, he has brought so much love and excitement!! Ohhh, I know what else is new... Ryker is learning to clap. It cracks me up. We say 'clap, clap, clap' and he'll spread his arms as wide as he can and swing them both in just as hard and as fast as he can... he'll clasp his little fists and get this really excited look on his face. If I can ever learn how to upload video, I'll add it.
This week finds me in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. I was so excited to get up this way. I've never been here before. It's absolutely beautiful. I have a lot of work to do so it doesn't leave much time for sight seeing. I did see the space needle as I drove by on the freeway. I'm hoping i'll finish up a little early tomorrow and maybe i'll be brave enough to venture out. This is my first trip alone, so far, so good.
Not really much else is new... or exciting. We are trying to get ready for Christmas at our house. We took the easy way out again this year, instead of buying a tree we opted to use our little decorative trees that are in our family room all year long. I did, however, put lights on them... and decorations. They look really cute. As I said when I started this post, time flies... I feel like it was just the 4th of July. Where does the year go?? I can't believe the holidays are upon us.
I hope everyone has as wonderful of a Christmas as we will at our house. Happy Holidays!!!

Our First Tooth...

2008-11-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! My little man is growing whether I want him to or not. I have been travelling so much the last month, the first week in Phoenix, the next two in Orange County, this week in St. Paul, Minnesota, it's hard being away from home, but last night Scott gave me some crazy news over the phone. We were talking about our day and very casually, Scott tells me that he got bit. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, I said 'you got bit? by what? a dog? a spider? what?' He then told me 'Ryker'. I wasn't sure what he meant because when I left, Ryker was gumming his binkie. He informed me that Ryker had a tooth coming in... I am so excited to get home and see him. It's amazing how fast things happen. He's only 5 months old, how can he be teething? Maybe he'll just get one little tooth and we'll have to wait a long time for the others... I'm not ready for him to have teeth... I love his little gumline. Huh... I can't get over it. As soon as I get home, I'll take a little picture and post it.

Thought I'd take a second and tell everyone that Cazley got all A's in her classes this last semester. She was pretty excited so we took her to see Madagascar 2 last Friday. She is such a smart girl, her teacher told her mom that she is at a fourth grade reading level. She loves her school and loves that she wears a uniform but can wear whatever shoes she wants.

MY LITTLE MONSTER...

2008-11-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

Quirky Me...

2008-10-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that my cousin Chrystie tagged me in one of these crazy 'tag' games... I have to list 6 quirky things about me... is she hinting that she thinks i'm 'quirky'??

1. I am a check book balancer fanatic... I can't stand to have the ledger not balanced. I check my online account nearly every other day... I don't know why, nothing changes.. money doesn't 'just appear'... but I watch for it.

2. I set my alarm for almost an hour before I have to get up... just so I can snooze a dozen times with out running late.

3. I like to seperate the silverware in the dishwasher... I have 8 compartments for silverware: steak knives, butter knives, big then little forks, big then little spoons, then any misc. utensils then bottle nipples... don't know why, I guess it makes it easier to put things away.

4. I NEVER develop film. I just barely took my digital disc in to have it put on a CD, ONLY because my camera said my disc was full. I am proud to say that I will now have another 375 something photos to add to my collection... (REALLY??)

5. I WILL not eat meat on the bone, steak, chicken, ribs, whatever... if it is on the bone, don't put it on my plate.

6. For the longest time, I wouldn't make left hand turns unless there was no other way to get to where I needed to go. I would take as many right handed turns as necessary to avoid a left hand turn. Especially when I worked at the clinic on Washington Blvd. Instead of turning left (south) to go home, I would right turn, drive half a mile up the road, right turn into the grocery store parking lot, right turn again, and again, just so I could make a safe, comfortable, left hand turn at a light. (Hello... waste much gas).

Hehe.. hope this was as enjoyable to read as it was to write...

Now, I want to 'tag' Kathryn K. (I'm excited to read yours)... Jyl... and Sheena S. along with anyone else who wants to actually think this hard about themselves for a few minutes....

Travelling...

2008-10-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

I actually have time to think about my blog, to update my blog, and to read everyone else's blogs. Being on the road leaves a lot of time to do.. well, whatever.. I spent last week in Phoenix and it's surrounding areas. It was my first week really working in my new job. I liked it pretty well. We spent the week visiting the WIC offices in the area and updating the software on their Hemocue equipment. It was a good way to break me in. This week I am in Lake Forest, California, this is where our U.S. office is located. It is a small office, only about 40 people actually have an office there. I've been spending the day in appointments with a bunch of different people and learning what they do and how their role supports my role in the company. Everyone is so nice and very excited that i've joined the team, that makes it nice, I feel very welcome. I have had a hard time being away from Scott and Ryker though. The good thing is my mom is cell camera crazy and she sends me pictures of Ryker nearly every night before I go to bed, that really makes me feel better. I couldn't believe how much he changed in a weeks time. I'm excited to get home this Friday and dress him up for Halloween, even though he is too little to 'get it', it'll be fun to put his little monster costume on him and drag him around and show him off.

I don't want Scott to feel left out on the blog because I never have much to say about his life adventures so since we've got a momentous occasion, I'll take a second to touch on it. I wish I had a picture, but Scott shot a deer this season. (About time). He hasn't killed anything since before we met so I had almost given up hope. Scott and his best friend Brady spent some time in the hills around Bear Lake and both came home on day 2 of the deer hunt with a buck.. YAY! I'm so happy for him. I don't know who was more excited... Scott, that he finally got his kill... or Grandpa Nay, that he'll finally have meat in his freezer again??

Here is a sweet picture of my little man that my mom sent last week... no wonder why I miss him so much eh??

I love this picture of Ryker...

2008-10-21T22:56:00.001-07:00

Things Change...

2008-10-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe as I look back over the last year how things have changed in my life. Obviously having Ryker was a major adjustment and going back to work after my leave was a very hard decision. Do I go back full time? Part time? Not at all? Because I carry the insurance I needed to go back and it wasn't worth the money to go only part time so I dove in, full time. I had only been back to work for 2 days when I received a call from a friend of mine that I met through his company, Hemocue Inc. He wanted me to apply for a position that had come open through this company. The position was for a 'training specialist'. When new accounts buy the point-of-care equipment for their clinics or hospitals, the training specialist would go to the site, get everything set up and teach the team how to use the equipment and software. I told him he was crazy because it involved travel and Ryker is still so small but after I decided that i'd really give it some thought. After a few months of back and forth with the supervisor of the position, I said I'd give it a go. Leaving North Ogden Clinic was the hardest thing i've ever had to do... my coworkers there were closer than family and I loved having everyone around me all the time. This week was the first with my new job, it's been nice because I work from home part time and travel the western U.S. part time, luckilly this week has been spent getting my computer up and running, getting things lined out for the next few weeks.. which has been nice because Ryker and I have both been down with the cold. Next week will begin a new adventure.. I'm off to Phoenix because their WIC department uses the machines and the company is in the middle of a huge software upgrade, so I get to go be trained there, then the following week I'll be off to the U.S. corporate headquarters in Lake Forest, CA. We'll see how that all goes.. I'm pretty excited but nervous at the same time.. leaving Ryker and Scott for 3 or 4 days at a time.. traveling alone.. driving in new cities (I barely can find my way from my front door to Primary's)... I think this will be a good thing for our family. Change is always hard but I think this is a move in the right direction.

Just A Little Update...

2008-09-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ryker had his 4 month well child check yesterday, he finally outgrew the 10lb stage and is now 11lbs 15oz and 24.5inches long. When I'm lugging him around in his carseat, however, I feel he is heavy enough to be walking on his own. I am also happy to announce Ryker passed his hearing screen. When he was in the NICU, he failed his newborn screen and they told us it was because of his cleft. The doctors told us that once the tubes were placed, he'd be fine but I was still worried about him, I was very happy when they tested him yesterday and said his hearing is just fine!

He has been doing so well since his surgery. It seemed that first week home was the hardest. He didn't want to eat and wasn't sleeping well. It took a week for him to snap out of it and really start eating even better than he was before and finally after a week and a half of him not sleeping at night we realized it was because his nose tubes were plugged. We've started pulling them out and cleaning them each night before bed (this is the worst job ever.. I did not sign up for this when I said I'd be mom to Ryker, he hates me for like two hours after) and this helps him sleep better through the night.

Ryker is getting to be so much fun. This is a picture of him with his first tomato. Yesterday, my mom came over and was holding him in the kitchen and he just stared at the tomato. When she handed it to him, he pulled it to his mouth and licked it for about 5 minutes. Lately, everything goes to his mouth. I can't believe how big he is getting so quickly.

Fair Weather

2008-09-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Scott was out of commission with the stomach flu so I decided to load up Caz and Ryker and head to the State Fair with my mom and dad. It was a great day to go.. and so thought everyone else in the state, it was packed. I love being able to look at all the smelly animals.. it really is fun. I enjoy looking at the crafty things that people have made. I love all the choices of things to eat, deep fried PB&J, churros, navajo tacos, hamburgers, ice cream, fudge, licorice ropes, gyros.. anything your heart desires and more! I hate the clusters of people, I hate trying to cram the entire city of Salt Lake into a little building where a man is trying to sell pots and pans and another is showing those wonderful little knives that will slice a garden hose. I must admit, however, I was sucked in.. I spent about 15 minutes watching the guy selling the steam mop. I have laminate floors in my kitchen and they NEVER shine like they should. The guy in the booth assured me his mop would do the trick. Not only would it make my kitchen floors shine, it would get gunk out of grout, the hard water off the shower wall and.. because this happens every day at my house, it will get pancake syrup out of the carpet!! Well, that was all I needed to hear! I was so excited to get it home and try it out, I've already used it twice on the kitchen floor and am very happy with how easy it is to use.. and my floors do shine!! We promised Cazley that after we had seen everything possible from the 3000 lb cow to the butter statue she could ride some rides. I was very happy that I was successful in talking her out of the farris wheel, instead she jumped on the big tramp thing and then rode the ponies. I think the ponies were her favorite part, she is sure a cowgirl at heart!! Ryker even had a good time, I think he liked his first fair. We had so much fun.. can't wait for next year!!

The New Man In Our Life...

2008-09-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

What an emotional day we had yesterday.. We were told to be at Primary's at 9:00 to check in and by 10:30 we were walking Ryker down the hall to surgery. We were only allowed to carry him half way and then we stood where the carpet met the tile, gave him a few goodbye kisses and handed him over to the anesthesiologist. Scott and I just stood there long after they had passed through the double doors, not quite sure what to think or what to do but we knew that he was in the best hands. Ryker was in surgery for nearly 3 hours. Scott had gone with my mom and dad to get some food from the cafeteria when the nurse called to tell me that Ryker was out of surgery and would be going directly to his room. Scott's mom, dad, grandpa and I walked to the same spot where we had left him just a few hours before, but this time Ryker was being wheeled in a big crib towards us through a different set of double doors. I was so nervous to see him. I didn't really know what to expect, but as I finally caught a good look at his little face it was hard to keep back the emotion. All I really remember was rubbing his little head and saying..'oh my goodness, look at your little face'. He was absolutely beautiful. His little cleft had been erased. He looked perfect!! I can't believe the skill of the artists that worked on him.. his little lip is truly a masterpiece, perfectly shaped.. it is amazing. I was most nervous about his recovery, I was afraid he'd be in terrible pain and spend most of the afternoon crying. He didn't. He has such a high tolerance for pain, I can't even begin to imagine how his little mouth must of felt. They had him on morphine most of the afternoon but once he started eating they gave him liquid lortab. The nurses couldn't belive how good he was and how easy he was to take care of. They told me that most cleft repair babies spend a few days in the hospital because they don't want to eat but Ryker's hunger was stronger than his pain because it didn't take him long to finish the bottle they'd given him. I was so proud of him too when he slept most of the night.. (I camped out on the little pull out chair that was about as wide as my thigh). This morning the resident that works with the plastic surgeon Dr. Siddiqi came and evaluated Ryker. He was very pleased with how he was doing and told us we could go home. I was so glad to be home by lunch time today. Ryker is still getting pain medicine every 4 hours and antibiotics every 6 hours. He is such a good boy! He has little stints in his nostrils that help them from swelling shut and he has to wear these for a month. He has splints on his arms so that he can't touch his face and he'll wear these for two weeks! Doesn't he look like a new man? I am so grateful for all the prayers that were said for Ryker and for all the people that kept us in their thoughts. I know with out a doubt that is the reason we had such a fantastic experience and Ryker is doing so well. He is so tough.

2008-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

I have a few minutes before it's time for church, it's nice a quiet around here because Scott is gone to bishopric meetings this morning and Ryker is down for a nap. Today is a special fast Sunday for us because this week is Ryker's surgery. I'm excited to head to fast and testimony meetings with special prayer in my heart that all goes well with him and he will recover quickly. I thought it would be a nice time to quickly share the testimony I have of the gospel. I'm not one to stand in sacrament very often and share it but I would like everyone around me to know that I love the gospel, I love the knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and knows me and my needs. I'm comforted in the fact that He knows the true intent of my heart. I'm grateful for prayer and the peace that comes from the Spirit, in a world so chaotic and crazy it is the peace I find through prayer that keeps me sane. I'm grateful for the work of Joseph Smith and all he gave to restore the Church so that we could have it in our lives, I don't know how we would make it through this life without the knowledge we have. I'm grateful for the priesthood and the power that comes along with it and the fact that through Scott, Ryker can be directly blessed by our Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for President Monson and the example he is to us. I'm grateful that he continues to receive direct revelation for us today and that he leads this church with such exactness. I'm grateful too, for all of my friends and family that offer so much love and support and i'm thankful for all the prayers that have been offered in our behalf. Thanks to everyone who loves us so much.

3 months old!

2008-09-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ryker is 3 months old today! I can't believe how fast time goes by... Today Ryker weighed 11 lbs. 5 oz. He is growing more and more each day. It's been wonderful for the last few weeks he has been sleeping so good! I put him to bed between 9 and 9:30 and I have to wake him up to get ready for day care at 6:45... Yay! His fantastic new sleeping habits have made a dramatic change in my attitude!!
We also had a orthodontist appointment today, Dr. Yamashiro said that Ryker's soft tissue is in perfect position for his surgery! He checked his retainer and also took a mold of his mouth so that he can make his more permanent prosthesis that will be placed next week! This whole process is amazing! Ryker was such a good boy, he hardly cried at all.. I remember when I had to have a mold for my retainer I thought I was going to pass out because I couldn't breathe, I can't imagine what he was thinking through the whole thing...

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

We got to spend Labor Day weekend at the cabin at Bear Lake. It was so nice. Saturday was beautiful! We spent most of the morning at the beach playing in the sand and throwing the ball for Daisy.

Ryker slept the whole time, he loves the fresh air.

After lunch we spent some time wandering around the shops and getting shaved ice from Yellow Snow. We also got candy from Barbara's candy shop, she has the best chocolate dipped ultimate smores. :O)

Later that night, we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. We had so much fun! Cazley loves going to Bear Lake and we were all sad that we had to come home. We are so lucky to be able to go there whenever we want!

Ryker's NAM

2008-08-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

We've been going to visit Ryker's orthodontist Dr. Yamashiro at Primary Children's, every other Tuesday since July 8th. Dr. Yamashiro made a small retainer called a NAM for Ryker and since he doesn't really have anything in his mouth for it to hook to, there are two small posts that come out of his mouth that we tape to his cheeks to hold it in place. Over the last month and a half adjustments have been made that have caused his cleft to come closer together. It's an amazing process, at first his cleft was large enough to stick the bottle nipple into and now I can barely slide a Q-tip in it to clean it out! The latest adjustment was a paper clip size wire that goes from the retainer into his nostril, at the end is a pink ball that pushes out on his nose, this is stretching his nostril so that it isn't so collapsed. Ryker is such a tough little man, he hasn't been bothered by any of it, except when the nose piece was first put on, the wire was rubbing on his gumline. I didn't know it except that he was really fussy. After a few days, I pulled it out to clean it and it started bleeding really bad. We were able to go back and have it adjusted around his gumline and almost immediately, he was back to his usual happy self. I can't believe how much such a small little appliance can make such a huge difference!! His whole face is changing before my eyes. We only have 2 more weeks until he's changed forever, Dr. Siddiqi is our plastic surgeon at Primary's and we'll be in for surgery on the 10th of September. His lip will be permanently repaired, his soft palate will be temporarily stitched and he will get a more permanent prosthesis screwed in over his hard palate, at this time, Dr. Grimmer, our ENT will also place tubes in his ears. It sounds overwhelming but we are lucky they can do so much at once and he will only have to be in the hospital for two days. It's scary to think our little guy will be changed for the rest of his life, it's a change that we have to make, but we've grown so used to how he was sent to us that it'll be really hard to let him be taken into surgery knowing that he'll come back completely different. He's so brave.

This Is How We Roll....

2008-08-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! For my birthday this year my mom and dad bought me a new bicycle and a baby carrier for Ryker. He absolutely loves it! Every night, we get all loaded up and take off. We usually go for about a half an hour, through the block to my mom and dads, over to the park, around the holding pond.. It is so much fun for me and it helps Ryker wind down for bed.

Sometimes, if we are gone too long and he knows it's 9:00 (bed time) he starts crying which just makes me pedal faster. The last few nights though, i've started taping his pacifier in his mouth.. is that bad? It keeps him happy but I'm probably giving him a complex. He's probably the only 2 month old that is already embarrassed to be seen with his mom...

FINALLY!!

2008-08-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've finally got this page put together! It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. This will be fun. I"m going to try to keep it updated so everyone knows what is going on with us. Most of you know the scoop with Ryker and his procedures and all things like that so I won't put it all up here again.