Guess What...

Okay, so I know that I look exhausted in this picture...I am. This was just 18 days after Ryker was born and happened to be the same day as Justin's graduation. I know I'm a nerd for loving my birthday, but I do! Ha ha, so year 24...bring it :)

Graduation

Wahoo! We made it! Justin is finally done with his Bachelor's Degree! I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. He ended up with a 3.12 GPA - which I think is pretty dang good especially with a job and a family for most of it!

Justin graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering on December 18th. We are now anxiously looking for a job and hopefully one here in the valley. Although, we are willing to move wherever he can get a job especially with the economy being the way it is!

We had lots of friends and family come to help celebrate his graduation. Thank you all for that and for your love and support throughout our lives!

 

Slideshow of Ryker's Pictures

He is SOOOOOOO beautiful!!! I love my little guy! And the photos that Bonnie and G with Once Remembered Photography took are AMAZING! Here is a slideshow of our beautiful little guy!

Just a Recommendation

Don't have a baby two weeks before finals your last semester in college! We made it through and passed all of our classes, thank goodness. But really, I don't recommend it!
We had Ryker's newborn pics taken on December 5th. Here are just a few!

Ryker John Reed

He is finally here! Ryker John Reed was born on Tuesday, December 1st at 8:05pm in St. Luke's Hospital, Meridian, Idaho. He weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 3/4 inches long.

We went to the hospital at 6:30 Tuesday morning for a scheduled labor inducement. I was actually happy about scheduling his birthday. No offense to everyone with a November birthday, but I think December's birthstone is a lot prettier...but I am bias and I know it! Everything was all setup and ready to go when we got there, it really was nice! The room they had me in was HUGE!

Getting Ready to go to the Hospital

After they got the pitocin going to induce labor I started having really regular contractions. The funny part though was that I couldn't feel them...not even a little bit! At about 9:30 my water broke on its own and that is when the pain really started pretty heavily! By 10:30 they had my epidural in and the pain was gone...nothing can explain how wonderful an epidural is!

Ryker was born later in the evening, though I didn't get to hold him right away. There was merconium in the amniotic fluid so they had to check him and make sure he didn't swallow or breathe any before I was given him. Poor little guy came out face up with his head to the left so his head was all sorts of deformed. The swelling went down pretty quickly though.

Being Weighed

 My first thought when I saw Ryker was that I couldn't believe how much he looked like MY DAD only with Justin's nose! Ha ha ha! Then it set in, I'm a MOM!!! I remember asking Ryker, "Okay Kid, now what???"

We had quite a few visitors come see us in the hospital and actually ended up staying in the hospital Tuesday and Wednesday night and came home around 2 on Thursday afternoon. Justin's mom, Merena, was there to greet us and had made the cutest little gingerbread men/women to welcome Ryker.

"Welcome Home Ryker!"

Merena stayed with us through Saturday, which was so awesome! It was great to have her here to help! 

I am so excited our little man is here...Let's get this party started! :)

Thanksgiving 2009

Where to begin? I am so thankful for so many things this year.
I have the most amazing husband in the entire world and I love him so much. He is always there for me and puts up with a lot! I am thankful to have him in my life.
I am thankful for our families and the opportunity we have to be so close to all of them. We both come from very strong families and extended families. That, I feel, is truly a blessing in and of itself.
I am thankful for the gosepl in my life and the knowledge that I have about the Savior. I am so grateful to be able to attend church each Sunday and to know what God's plan for me is.
I am thankful for my home and the things that I have that make my life more comfortable. I know that many of these things are simply for my enjoyment, and I am thankful to be able to have them.

This Thanksgiving we stayed in the Treasure Valley since I was due on Monday. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Waite's for dinner and had a good time with everyone. No baby yet, but that's okay. It was a fun day/weekend. 

Justin surprised me on Friday when he woke up at 4 am to go Black Friday shopping for one specific gift for me! We'll see what it is come Christmas :)

Me Thanksgiving Day!

Last Doctor Visit Before Ryker's Arrival!

I went to the doctor for the last time on Wednesday, November 25th. I had an appointment on Tuesday the 24th. However, my doctor was off delivering a baby, how dare he! He had a different doctor do the check up - bad idea. The subbing doctor was so rude! He told me that I wasn't even close to having the baby and when I asked about being induced he informed me that there was no way he would authorize that and that I just needed to come back in two weeks to be checked. Keep in mind, this visit was already the day AFTER my due date. Needless to say, I broke down and bawled right there in the doctor's office. I totally lost it! I called Justin and then called my mom. She suggested seeing if I could get in to see my doctor the next day. Fortunately, he was able to squeeze me in. Ryker was very sleepy and non-responsive to their attempts at poking and prodding. I had an ultrasound performed just to make sure I wasn't losing any amniotic fluid and that he was okay. Everything checked out just fine and Dr. Agrusa scheduled me to be induced on the following Tuesday, December 1st, if I hadn't had him by then! I am so glad I went in again rather than just waiting two weeks. Mama's really do know best :)