Cyrus' Debuting Photoshoot

Once again my dear friend Courtney came and did a photoshoot for me. I had to post them to show how stinkin' cute they turned out. Cyrus is so precious in these. He's only 3 days old so he's still practically brand new.

This was one thing that I have regret not doing with Ryker. I waited WAY too long. Who knew as a new mother that your child would look so different at 7 weeks old compared to 1? Hmm...So learning from my mistake I had Cyrus' done within his first week of life. They change so fast I wanted to capture these first precious weeks of his life.

2 Weeks Down...

...and many more to come.

The past 2 weeks have been really good considering we have a newborn in the house. Cyrus really has been a good baby. He's been a great sleeper at night and during the day he's just so chill. I've really enjoyed having him around.

I love how much Ryker loves Cyrus. They are going to be some fun together when Cy gets older. But for now Ryker continues to be my little helper.

It's amazing how quickly times goes by when you aren't pregnant anymore. I felt like 2 weeks at the end was an eternity. But now it's nothin' really.

On Friday Mar 18th I took Cyrus in for his 2 week checkup. I had to be there bright and early at 8:20am. I kept wondering how I was going to get 2 kids fed and ready to go and still get there on time. But thankfully Heidi offered up her services to come out and watch Ryker while I just took Cy. What a huge help that was. Thank you Heidi!

At the doctors appointment Cyrus when weighed and measured. They measured him to be 21 1/4 inches long...which goes to prove how WRONG the nurse at the hospital was when she measured him to be 18 inches long. So careless.

His umbilical cord fell off Thursday night and his circumcision is all healed and looking great. Yeah for full on baths!

Also he had to get the second PKU testing done. So his little heal had to be poked. He only cried when the nurse poked him, but after that he was just fine sucking on his hand while she squeezed the blood out onto the card.

Dr Reese said Cyrus is looking great! Which is always good to hear!

Here are his stats;
Weight: 8lbs 6oz---36th percentile
Height: 21 1/4 in---69th percentile
Head Circum: 37.4cm---55th percentile

Coming Home

Being born on a Thursday Morning, the hospital wanted us to stay the full 48 hours till Saturday. But I just couldn't sit in that hospital bed any longer. And poor Jesse just wasn't sleeping well on that couch bed...do you blame him? So when we got permission to leave on Friday afternoon, we were thrilled. I was feeling really well and Cyrus had passed all his labs and tests, so we really had no reason to stay any longer. And there is nothing better than the comfort of your own home.
Since we have been home almost a week now, things have been going really well. Family, friends and ward members have brought us dinners. Which is much appreciated. There is nothing nicer than a warm meal brought to your door step. I wish I could have that happen all the time. haha

Cyrus had his last bilirubin test taken on Sat (Mar 5) and his circumcision done Mon (Mar 7). Jesse was so dear and he took Cy to both of those appointments. His circumcision went much better than Ryker's did. It's already looking great and healing well. But Ryker's on the other hand wasn't done right the first time. So he was in pain for a couple of weeks. So having a well done circumscion is a major relief for us to and I'm sure if Cyrus knew otherwise he would feel relieved as well.

Cy has been a pretty good sleeper. He has been going about 5 hours in between feedings at night. And 2 1/2- 3 hours during the day. We did find out that when I eat a tuna fish sandwich it makes him be colic. Sunday night from 8pm till 1am he just fussed and cried, unless I was feeding him. But then after I fed him again at 1am he slept clear till 8am. I couldn't believe it. I wonder if crying for that long just made him feel so tired that he slept for 7 hours straight being 3 days old.

Ryker has been a big help with his little brother. He just loves him. Ryker is always saying how cute Cy is. We have to remind him occasionally that he needs to be soft and quiet around Cy, but for the majority of the time Ryker does great with him.

The first time Ryker saw me nursing Cyrus he asked me 'What's that?' and told him 'Milk'. Then he pointed to my other breast and asked 'Does that one have water?'

Bath time at home isn't exactly Cy's favorite time quite yet. It'll be better when he can be submerged in water, but for now sponge baths are the key to keep his umbilical cord dry.

Of coarse Ryker was right there to help Daddy give Cy a bath. Handing Jesse the soap, rubbing Cy's leg to calm him down, and lathering up his belly. After they finished up the bath, Jesse took Cy downstairs to get him dressed and Ryker followed. While they were down there Jesse told me that Ryker grabbed the baby safe Q-tips and was cleaning out Cyrus's ears. Once that was done, Ryker brought in more towels for him. He is just a helpful big brother. He's doing alot better than I thought he would. I didn't expect him to be so into helping and soothing his baby brother. I feel blessed to have 2 wonderful boys.

As for me, I have been feeling really REALLY well. The recover with this birth compared to Ryker's birth is night and day. With Ryker I had a serious episiotomy which for 2 weeks afterwards pretty much put me on my butt. I couldn't do anything. I was living off the pain medication. Versus this time around with no tearing, no stitches, and no episiotomy I feel AWESOME! I have been up and moving around since I came home. I am so grateful to my midwife for caring about my body and not treating me like I am another number.

It really is so wonderful to have a sweet newborn in the home. I had a hard time imagining what it would be like to have 2 boys around, but now that Cyrus is here I can't imagine it any other way. I'm grateful to a wonderful helping husband who is a great dad to his boys. I surrounded by boys and I love it.

Welcoming Cyrus Robert

2 days late, but he made it. And I didn't have to get induced after all. Wednesday night I went into labor around 10pm all on my own. Sing Praises! Then around 1am I had one big contraction and my water broke. There was no turning back then, off to the hospital we went. My dear dad hurried to our house to watch Ryker while he was sleeping.

Once getting to the hospital we were settled into our room and I was checked. Only at a 3, but hey it was progress from the day before. I opted to get my epidural as soon as I could. Jesse was able to get some sleep once I was able to relax. I tried to get some sleep, but it wasn't happening. I would doze in and out every few minutes but never really could get to where I could sleep. Around 5ish the put me on pitocin because my contractions seemed to not be strong enough to get me to dilate.

Then around 6am my midwife came in and she checked me and I was at about a 5 1/2. But the baby was still posterior (his head is down but he was facing towards the ceiling). That is why I wasn't dilating because his head wasn't putting the right pressure on my cervix. So she got me situated where I was almost on my stomach to get him to turn face down. After about a half hour or so she came back to check me...he had flipped and I was ready to push. YEAH! I pushed for about 20 mins. And thanks to my dear midwife I didn't tear or have an episiotomy. He was born at 7:45am on 3-3-11, weighing 8lbs 4oz and measuring 21 inches long.

The only scary part was when his head came out the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times and he wasn't breathing. They had to unwrap it like a hose from around his neck. It was so long. Because he wasn't breathing real clearly they called in a nurse from the Nursery and a Respiratory Therapist to help get his lungs clear and help him breathe. He got his color back real fast and was doing fine except for some gurgle in his breathing. After a minute of them suctioning and Cyrus crying he calmed down and was wrapped up and finally I got to hold him.


After a few minutes and unhooking me from all the tubing and stuff they got me ready to move to the next room. Our nurse was helping and then all of a sudden left the room. As she left she almost fell flat on the floor but caught herself. Jesse went to check to make sure she was ok and she was sitting on the ground with her head between her knees. Some other nurses approached her and asked if she was ok and Jesse overheard her say she has had the flu for a month now and it makes her dizzy! After that little mishap Jesse did all the baby handling and most of the lifting when it came to helping me switch beds and move.

We got to our next room and our Nurse introduced herself and gave us a few guidelines. She then proceeded to ask me what Goals i had for my stay here. She suggested breast feeding so I went with that one and couldn't think of much more. My Dad in law was the only one of our family who had made it at that point because he had a dentist appointment downtown. He suggested mowing the lawn and Jesse suggested that I have dinner ready for them tonight! They think they are so funny haha. Grandma Heidi showed up next and was so excited to see Cyrus. She was so sweet and just raved over him. Like a good grandma. Then my family showed up with Ryker! Jesse and I were so excited to have Ryker hold his brother and see his reaction. He seems to have mixed emotion. Excited to have a brother and baby here but not sure what to make of all the change going on. My Mom, Grandma & Grandpa Schrader, Tyson and Alexa were there as well. Chantel had to go to school and was sad about that and my Dad had to go to work and is feeling sick so felt like maybe he should stay away for a little bit anyway.

We were all having a great time loving and adoring this brand new beautiful baby when the nurse came in and said some people needed to leave. We were only allowed to have 4 visitors and Jesse counted as one of them. So really only 3. Grandma, Grandpa, Alexa and Tyson had to leave anyway, so they left at that point, and shortly there after everyone filed out and we were left alone for a while.

Grandma Heidi Stayed a while to take pictures of Jesse giving Cyrus his first bath. Everything went smoothly, he had done this before. Ryker loved watching his little brother get a bath. Cyrus of course cried when he was unwrapped and cold but did calm down and stop crying when he had the nice warm water pored over his body to rinse him off. He has so much hair. He looked like a balding 40 year old with a comb over when his hair was wet. When it was dried, the Aid combed it into a cute little fluffy faux-hawk.

We are so happy to finally meet him in person. He is so beautiful and calm. He has only cried when he is unwrapped, which is so easy to take care of. He is such a good little baby already. We are so happy and blessed that he is healthy and that all things during the pregnancy and delivery went smoothly. Jesse has been a huge help and is willing to do what ever I ask of him and I am so grateful for that.

We now have two wonderful healthy beautiful boys and are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for them and the joy and happiness they bring to our lives and will continue to bring. We love you Cyrus Robert Smith!

Over Due

It's a rather strange feeling to wait so long for your due date to come, and then to watch it pass by and still be pregnant.

I went and saw my midwife yesterday morning and after checking my cervix, she said I was at a 2 and that my cervix had softened, but that's it. She thought it would be best to do some testing over at the hospital. So that is where I went next. After registering and waiting for about an hour I was then hooked up to a monitor and they listened to his heartbeat and measured how much amniotic fluid is in there. In order for him to pass the test they had to see his heart rate go up twice for about 15 seconds and then come back down. After 20 minutes he was just staying at the same rate she came over with a loud buzzer thing and buzzed my tummy to wake him up. It did the trick. And he passed! Also there is a good amount of fluid for him. So thankfully that all is well.

My midwife gave me the option of being induced on Thursday if I want to. I was thinking that I don't really want to be induced if I don't have to, but since I'm only taking 4 weeks off of work, I don't want to go too far into that break. So the plan is to call the hospital in the morning and they'll tell me when to come in. Apparently I'm the 5th one on the list, so they very well could bump me to Friday. Who knows?

So fingers crossed that he'll just come on his own in the next few days.

Little Update

A little over a month now Ryker has been sleeping in his big boy bed upstairs in his new room. I wanted to post pictures of it because this room used to be sort-of the nothing yet everything room. Just about anything that we couldn't find a place for was in this room. But after hours of cleaning, de-junking and painting this room transformed from the junk room to Ryker's Big Boy Room. It feels so nice to have this room all done and serving a purpose.

You'll notice that I went with a bunk bed set. Reason being is I figured in the future our 2 boys can bunk together. I still need to purchase the extra mattress, but for now the one will be just fine. Monday night (Feb 21), Rafe came over with his mom and we had dinner together. It was funny because Rafe and Ryker were wearing the exact same shirt and jeans (Their mom's must have the same great taste in clothing). The 2 of them together were having a blast in the hammock swing in Ryker's room.

Friday night (Feb 25) I came home from work and had the thought that we as a family should go out together for one last hurrah before the baby came. We went and saw Gnomeo and Juliet. Ryker certainly enjoyed it, but Jesse and I weren't feeling the same. But hey we all got to be together, and that is all that matters.

Yesterday was my last day at work. And I am grateful to say that I made it through this last week. I was kind of concerned that I'd go early with this baby and disappoint a lot of clients, but thankfully it all worked out. So now it's just the waiting game. I feel like I am a ticking bomb just waiting to go off at any moment. Jesse describes it like he's waiting for Christmas to come, but doesn't know when it's going to come. Either way we are all excited and very anxious to see this little man.

Maternity Pictures

I debated back and forth for a long time if I really wanted to do Maternity pictures. And I just have to say that I'm actually really happy that I did them. My friend Courtney does such a wonderful job with her photography. The pictures turned out so cute. I love them!

We had these taken on Monday. So I was a day shy of 39 weeks. Can I just say that I can't believe that I am down to single digit days. It's hard to imagine that in a weeks time we are going to have another little one around. It's kinda hard to wrap my mind around. I don't feel like it's really coming.

Jesse and I are still debating back and forth about the name. I really like Syrus Robert, and Jesse really likes Cyrus Tyson. So the compromise that he has proposed is that I either choose Cyrus Robert or Syrus Tyson. I have to pick how bad I want it spelled with an 'S' or how bad I want his middle name to be Robert. Which one is more important to me? Not really sure yet. I'm hoping when the little man comes and I see him it'll help me to decide (fingers crossed).

My last day of work is this Saturday. I was feeling worried last week that I wouldn't make it till then. But my midwife checked my cervix yesterday and there's just nothing going on yet. So she was pretty confident that I'd be just fine working till Saturday. Then he can come anytime after I get off work.

Well I think my next post will probably be when the little man gets here. So until then.

Thought I'd share....

...the cutest story.

Sunday morning Ryker and I were lying in bed feeling the baby move. He was so excited and was loving it. It was the first time that he really wanted to feel my belly and the baby move. Usually when I've asked him to feel the baby, he'll put his hand on my belly and have it there for 2 seconds and claim he felt him move. It was a moment that I don't want to forget. We were laughing at the crazy forms my belly was taking and having a good time. Then out of the blue Ryker asked me "Mommy? Does he have toys in there?"

Ryker is 3!

Our little boy isn't so little anymore. This last week Ryker turned 3 years old. It boggles my mind how fast the past 3 years have gone. I swear just the other day Ryker was so helpless as a newborn, and now he's jumping around on the couch and using the bathroom all by himself.

Sunday (Feb 6th), my family and Jesse's family all got together at my parents house to celebrate Ryker's birthday. He was so excited to have just about everyone there that he loves. It was almost like he was on a high.

Of course he was super blessed with lots of gifts. Being the only grand kid and nephew on both sides of the families, there is no shortage of love and gifts for him. Jesse and I gave him a bike this year. Ryker was so excited when he saw it. We brought it out at the very end and he just was so giddy when he saw it. He calls it his 'bike ride'...not just a bike, but his 'bike ride'.

The first of the week we took Ryker to the Bakery to pick out his cake. His cake of choice was Woody and Buzz Lightyear. (As a side note, he was so sad after he picked it out that he had to wait till the weekend to take it home.)

When he was blowing out the candles, he was too far away that nothing was happening. His cheeks were getting bigger and bigger as he kept trying harder and harder. After a few blows he finally got that he needed to be closer and he was able to get the 3 candles out. It made me chuckle.

Everyone was there to support Ryker.

Tuesday (Feb 8th), Ryker's actual birthday, he had his 3 year check up that morning. I was so proud of him because he was REALLY good. He was so happy with the nurse and the doctor. The doctor says that he is doing remarkably well for his age. Dr Reese mentioned that if other people think Ryker is a 4 year old, it's because he is the size of one. He's been a big boy since day one. He also asked Ryker if he was a little boy or a little girl...Thankfully Ryker said he was a boy. haha.

Here are some stats...

Weight: 34.8lbs (78th percentile)

Height: 39 inches (85th percentile)

Last year when I made this appointment for him I was told that he wouldn't have to get another shot until Kindergarten. But since they upgraded one of them they said he need to have it. I felt terrible that he would have to get a shot on his birthday. But it was out of my hands.

When the nurse came in, Ryker asked her "What's that?", so she just said it's a bandaid. I had to hold him on my lap while the nurse poked him in the leg. Thank goodness it was only one. He was so sad afterwards. But he did cheer up when he got a sucker for being so brave.

When we left the doctors office I took Ryker to Barnes and Noble to pick out a new book with the gift card he got for his birthday. He loves reading books, so this was fun for him to pick out a new one. He actually was able to get 2 new ones. (And Jesse and I welcome new books so we can change up the stories he wants to read at night).

Later that afternoon, I met up with my mother in law, Heidi, at The Living Planet Aquarium. This was my first time going, but Ryker's 4th or 5th. So he pretty much showed me around the place and pointed out all the cool fish.

This was probably my favorite. There was this big tank with sharks and a sea turtle. Ryker thought the sea turtle was cute...and so did I.

Out of all of the cool things we saw, Ryker kept going back to this crab with one big claw. It had a magnifying glass hooked to the tank, and he just loved looking through it at the crab. He spent like 10 minutes there just staring at it each time.

Once Jesse was done with work, we ate pancakes for dinner (Ryker's pick and complements of Heidi). Then the 3 of us went to the dollar theater and saw MegaMind. It was alot better than we thought it would be. Ryker loved it which is all that matters anyway.

On the way home Ryker fell asleep in his car seat, which he never does. But I think the combination of no nap and a fun filled busy birthday he was just plain pooped.

We had such a fun day together. I enjoyed being with my little man all day. It still blows my mind how fast he is growing up. Oh I just love it....and I just love him.

It's the Final Count Down

4 WEEKS!!! That is nothing. When you find out your pregnant you're already 4 weeks along, and yet I feel like it's so far away. Like it'll never come. I'm mixed with many emotions; Excited to meet him and see what he looks like, Anxious to sleep comfortable again, Nervous I won't know how to be a good mom of 2 children, Stressed I won't get things done around the house in time...and the list goes on.
But all in all, soon we will be blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby boy who came straight from Heavenly Father's presence. And that tops any emotion I have.

Sister/Seattle Trip

Sat Jan 22, Alexa and I ventured to Seattle, WA to visit our other sister, Amanda. Her and her husband, Jon, just moved there at the first of December. And I being 8 months pregnant, thought this would be the perfect time to visit her before I have this baby.

At first it was just me flying up there, but last minute Alexa got the weekend off and we were able to fly together. I'm so happy that she did, because I wasn't really looking forward to flying alone. It's just stinky. So thank you Lex.

Our flight had a 3 hour layover in Long Beach, CA. Lex and I were rather hungry and 1) didn't want to sit in the tiny airport for 3 hours, and 2) we didn't want to spend $20 on airport food. So we decided lets kill some time and walk around Long Beach and see what we can find for food. Well I looked up some food places that were around on my phone, and the closest was a Starbucks that was about a mile and a half a way. We thought we'd try that and hope for a good bagel or something there.

After a LONG and HOT walk we made it to our destination. But what made it even better was that DENNY'S was right next door to Starbucks. Oh how happy we were because it didn't come up on my phone, so it was like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. It totally hit the spot for our tummies and for our wallets. We walked just about 3 miles round trip. Goes to show what Lex and I will do for food.


Once we arrived in Seattle, Manda picked us up and we drove to her apartment on Mercer Island. And all we wanted to do was chat as sisters and get caught up on life. Nothin' Better.

Sunday, Lex and I went to the Mercer Island Ward. It was the smallest ward I have ever been to, but everyone there was super nice, welcoming, and had strong testimonies. .They were all really happy to see new faces. They kept teasing us to stay in the ward.

The rest of the day was spent just hangin' around the apartment. Poor Lex wasn't feeling so good that she pretty much crashed on the couch the rest of the day. She only got up to eat some dinner, and throw up a couple of times. I think out of the 24 hour day she was awake for maybe 6 hours of it.

While Lex was snoozing, I played Beauty Parlor in the kitchen...coloring Manda's hair, and cutting Jon's. They were both in desperate need, so I was glad I could lend a helping beauty hand.

Monday, while Jon was at work, we went out into the city. Manda first took us to the mall, then to our favorite restaurant...Olive Garden, Mmmmm. We always like to go together when we can. For some reason being together we enjoy our meal so much more. I think it's because the three of us love it so much.

After that, and with the help of GPS on my phone, we drove to Pike's Street and walked around Pike's Market. There were tons of fresh produce, flowers, and fish. And so many things for sell that people had made. (I'm not really sure why I didn't take pictures, Sorry).Once we saw what we wanted to see there, we drove past the Seattle Space Needle. We thought we would save going up to elevator for another time. So i just took pictures as we drove past it.

After our little downtown adventure, we went back to the apartment and made some dinner, ate, chatted, played some Wii, and watched a movie till we all fell asleep on the couch.

Tuesday morning, Jan 25th, Lex and I were dropped off at the airport to return home. We were trying to talk Manda into flying home with us...but she has her ties there with Jon and their dog Tok. Understandable. But thankfully they are coming to visit once this baby comes. So the count down is on... for the baby and for Manda and Jon's arrival.

Even though this was a fast and furious little trip, I much enjoyed being with my sisters and not having a care in the world. I needed a little time to myself before I devote it all to a newborn.

I love my sisters so so much, I really don't know how I could function without them. They are rocks in my life.

No need for a cup...

...when you can drink it straight from the faucet.

Lookin' Back

I was looking at a few of Ryker's pictures when he was about 5 months old, and seeing his chunky cheeks and cute toothless smile of his got me feeling really excited for baby #2 to come. I can hardly remember what its like having someone that young around. It's almost like I don't know this little man in these pictures....and it's kinda sad how easy you forget. Oh but I am really looking forward to having a little one around again. :)

A Few Tid-Bits about Ryker

-He knows all the letters of the alphabet and loves to sing about it.

-Sings along with just about every song we listen to.
-Acts like a Choo-Choo train when he's outside seeing his breath.
-Has a very broad vocabulary.
-Loves Trains and Cars.
-Can put 30 piece puzzles together all by himself (over and over again).
-Uses his imagination really well.
-Plays well with his toys by himself.
-He'll play that he's dead, or that some part of his body his dead. Then suddenly come back to life.

-Prefers to drink straight from the faucet...no cup.
-Voluntarily tells his family members that he loves them with pure sincerity.
-Excited to have a "baby brover".
-When something needs to be fixed he likes to "Bix it".
-When you try to get him to say Hamster, he says "Master".
-When his daddy has him say "Yes Daddy Hamster", we hear "Yes Daddy Master".
-After this week, he will have been to Disneyland 2 times already without his Mom and Dad.
-Enjoys Skyping.
-Every time someone takes a picture of him he asks to see it on the camera.
-Even though his crib has been turned into a bed, he still stays in it until we come and get him after he wakes up.
-If we aren't fast enough to come get him out of bed, he starts to yell "Mommy-Daddy" until we respond or come into his room.
-Has the book "Are You My Mother?" almost memorized...So he reads it to us instead of us reading to him.
-It's the sweetest thing to hear him sing "I am a Child of God", "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam", and "The Wise Man and Foolish Man".
-Enjoys going to Nursery every week.
-Every kid he sees he calls them his friend.
-Very Social.
-Can work his Dad's touch phone better than Ryker's own Mom can.
-He always says 'yours' when it should be 'your'... IE: "I wanna play on yours phone" or "Where's yours phone?"
-Threatened his dad with a Nerf gun, and in a deep voice said "Gimme yours phone".
-Has so much energy and personality.
-He sometimes acts so silly and goofy, we can't help but giggle at him.

-Has 2 favorite blankets. One has stars all over it so he calls it his 'star blanket'. And the other one has one specific corner that is worn down and he calls that one his 'Quorner Blanket'.

-Enjoys having his tummy softly tickled...Especially with his favorite corner on his 'Quorner Blanket'

Everyday Ryker surprises me with how smart he is. I wanted to record these tid-bits about Ryker while I am remembering them. He makes me so happy! I just love him so MUCH!

Birthday/New Years

The big 2-5! Back in high school someone who was 25 seemed so much older to me, but now that I am 25 I really don't feel like I'm any older than when I was in high school. Weird how that happens.

On my actual birthday (Dec 29) Jesse and I had the night together to go to dinner and a movie of my choice. The plan was to go downtown to the Megaplex in the Gateway Mall and see The Tourist after eating at Biaggis. But it had started to snow really bad about an hour before we were going to leave. Pulling out of our driveway we slid right into the curb. So we thought it would be best to stay in Bountiful and avoid the freeway at all cost.

So dinner plans went from Italian to Steak! Texas Road House! After which we went to the newly remodeled Bountiful theater. Unfortunately they weren't showing The Tourist at that theater, so we settled for Gulliver's Travels....I highly recommend NOT seeing this show unless you are 5. I have never sat through a movie where I have wanted to end faster. Luckily the night before Jesse and I were able to go see the new Harry Potter Movie. That following Saturday (Jan 1), we went out, for what is going on now as a 3 year tradition, sledding on New Years Day with Jesse's Family. It kinda blows my mind that this is Ryker's 3rd year going sledding as well. It seems like yesterday he was just a tiny baby.

I being pregnant was more of the photographer rather than a sledder. But next year I'll get to join in the fun again.
Ryker seemed so grown up to me. He went down the hill all by himself over and over and over again. I think if we would have let him he would have gone till it was dark. He was having the time of his life. Even though I wasn't sledding I was thoroughly enjoying him having so much fun. I just thought he looked so cute going down on the tube all by himself.

After a couple of hours sledding, we called it a day and head back home for dinner. Once we got in the car we took off our snow gear. Ryker's hair was all crazy from his hat. He thought it was funny when I showed him what he looked like after I took the picture. It almost looks like he has curly hair.

After a yummy dinner, joined by the missionaries we had my favorite cake...German Chocolate. Heidi made the frosting from scratch. It was so delightful. After which, I was able to open some birthday gifts. Andrew and Emily gave me a scarf and a gift card. They called it a now and later gift. I can use the gift card to buy skinny clothes, once I have this baby. Mike and Heidi were so thoughtful and had my blog printed up to two books. 2008 and 2009. I love it because now I everything all down on paper.

The next day (Sunday) we got together with my family to continue the birthday celebration. My Birth-DAY turned into a Birth-WEEK this year. My parents gave me an awesome huge steamer, Jon and Amanda gave me a target gift card, Tyson gave me a large crock-pot, Alexa-gift certificate to Charlotte Russe, Chan-Skull Candy ear buds with an I-tunes card, and my grandparents gave me money!

Another German Chocolate Cake... still my fave! Check out the candles...my mom didn't have 25 candles, so she clumped 2 together and 5 together to make 25. Clever!

When I was ready to blow my candles out, Ryker actually blew out half of them for me. He'll do really well when it comes to be his birthday in Feb.

My birthday was fun this year... I cant wait to spend all my gift cards. Thank you to everyone who made me feel special and is always there for me. Love you all!

2010 has been a good year... Bring on 2011!