Christmas with the Ryerse's

Christmas this year was magical! It’s always magical, but seemed even more so this year with a child who really got into it. I love everything about Christmas, especially the fun Christmas traditions. Here are a few traditions we do in our family that I love…

• My sister, mom and I always do a baking day. We make a mess in the kitchen making all of our favorite cookies, candy, and other treats together. This year, we made Oreo cheesecake bon bons, orange truffles, chocolate covered pretzels, M&M cookies, rocky road fudge, chocolate dipped dried cherries and blueberries, Junior Mint cookies, caramels, and peanut butter balls. Yummy! We all take a bunch home and assemble plates to take around to friends and neighbors. We’ve been doing this for years, and it’s one I want to continue with my girls. Emma loved sneaking the candy and licking the bowls and spoons, she had chocolate all over her face.
  

• Gift giving and card making. I tried to get Emma into the spirit of giving this year. I had her pick out presents for her cousins, which she did very carefully and thoughtfully. I took her to the dollar store and gave her a budget and let her pick out gifts. She was very excited to see them open the presents. She also picked out a “John Deere thing” for Daddy she saw at Walmart that caught her eye. I had her help me make some other handmade gifts, like our snow globes we gave to some family members. In Dave’s family, we draw names and get into teams and go shopping together. That’s a fun night, but Dave and I just went together this year. Dave got Jerry a BB gun (this next pic is Jerry just opening it, he loved it, but I don't know if his wife did), and I got Shirley some slippers and an embossing tool. On the Stoddard side, we had Amy & Kolby, and we got them a bunch of stuff related to the Christmas Story Movie. We got them a Red Ryder gun and ammo, some red soap, hot chocolate (better than Ovaltine), some coke bottle glasses, and some other stuff. I also like to make handmade cards for family and friends (which I did most of them this past summer). This year, they featured the cute art of Mary Engelbreit.
  
  
  
  
• Christmas Eve with the Stoddard’s is held with extended family. The festivities include a ham dinner, a visit by Santa Claus, and a talent show. Emma wasn’t sure if she should go right up to Santa or run away and cling to me. But she sat on his lap, making sure we were near if she needed to escape. It’s kind of a love-hate relationshijp. This year, Emma, Dave, Kolby and I sang and played percussion instruments to Jingle Bells. Emma got shy and didn’t sing after all, but she did shake the bells, but she did do her belly dance (he he), and I played my flute.


• At the Ryerse’s, the main event is a Pinata, which Emma and Tayla were going nuts over! After Dave duct tapes the piñata (this year it was a helicopter) to make it tougher for us, we start with the youngest taking a turn, and go to the oldest. After each person went, Emma would get so excited and yell out “Good job [Julie]! Yeah!” and she’d clap and get all excited. When the candy started getting knocked out, she and Tayla would get huge smiles on their faces and scream “Woa! Wow!” and they’d run with their bowls and go collect the candy. This year, we also did a white elephant gift exchange, and played some games Stacy put together.

• Christmas morning was fabulous! We opened presents with the Ryerse family. Jerry woke everyone up at about 8 a.m. (we were tired as we didn’t crash until about 2 a.m.!). As always, we all got spoiled! For Christmas, Emma got a stick horse, a snap-on doll, clothes, some jammies, a sleeping bag, some boots, a few games and books, Little People bus and more. Emma had so much fun opening the presents, and her face would light up about everything she got or gave. “Oh my goodness!” she’d say after she saw what it was she opened. Some of her favorite presents were the Princess boots that Grandma Di and Grandpa Scott gave to her, she always wants to put them on and dances around everywhere. She loved her Hello Kitty sleeping bag, and likes to get it out a lot. And she was so excited she got "lots of candy!" from Santa, which is what she asked for. We made German pancakes and hashbrowns for breakfast. Then we just played with toys, like usual. Then it was over to the Stoddard’s to meet my parents that afternoon to call my brother, Mark, who is serving a mission. It was so much fun to talk to him, and listen to what he had to say (when we could understand him, he really had a Chilean accent). Then we had a dinner and watched the movie Christmas Shoes at my Aunt Christie’s home. We loved all the snow we got Christmas night, and were glad we only had a few blocks to travel to get home! May we all make the magic and spirit of Christmas last all year...
  
  

Callahan – One Month Old

We’ve loved having Cal in our family. He’s such a little stud muffin! Here are a few things about him and what’s been going on the past few weeks…

Just as when he was first born, he loves it warm! We turned our thermostat up quite a bit for him. He’s always bundled up in layers of clothes, and blankets, and wears hats most of the time. When we change his clothes or diapers, we put a little space heater near (but not too close) to him, and he loved that. He was going crazy! His relaxed and smiling face was really cute. That’s when he really cries, is when we’re changing his clothes or diapers and he freezes. He has this little cry that sounds like a goat, and his lower lip chatters. It’s so sad, but kind of funny. Daddy likes to pamper him and always puts his clothes and blankets in the dryer to make them warm when we’re changing him. And Dave bought a wipe warmer (great product we’d recommend), which helps a little, but he still hates it.

Callahan is great with sleeping! He wakes up only usually a couple of times a night. And he doesn’t wake up crying, we hear him smacking his lips, or whimpering. And after he’s done feeding, he goes right back to sleep. So we’ve been very, VERY lucky with this little guy, as we haven’t been as sleep-deprived this time around.

He’s growing well! At his two week appointment, he weighed 7 lbs., gaining a whole pound! Hooray! His length was at 20 ¾ inches. At first I was worried because he would only eat about 5 to 7 minutes total about every 3 hours (or less), but he had plenty of dirty diapers, so I stopped worrying. As our pediatrician said, some are more proficient at getting it out quicker than others. Apparently, he is growing, and the chicken legs he had when he was born are getting some meat on them now. He is finally fitting into 0 – 3 month clothes now, before it was preemie stuff.

His umbilical cord fell off at exactly 2 weeks old, to which Emma excitedly said “His belly button fell off!” She always asked me when we were changing his diapers what “that thing” was, she could never remember the name of it. Also, she’s getting used to seeing the little boy part now when she helps change him. I decided just to tell her the correct anatomy terms for things, but she calls it his “peanut”.

It’s been a fun month, and hard to believe he’s already that old. Just like my Mom used to say all of the time “It seems like yesterday you were born!” I used to think that was silly, but now I know how she feels.

Married with [2] Children

So the transition going from having two kids from one, in my opinion, was a little easier than going from none to one. With this one, I guess we were already in the swing of things, though we had to start over again, in a way. But things have gone pretty well so far.

Emma’s done a pretty good job and been a great big sister. The first night we came home from the hospital and were all together, I think reality set in, and she had a hard time. She was very tired that night, and was just in tears! She kept telling us to put him down and “Hold Emma”! When it was time to go to sleep, she said “You go sleep in your bed, baby brother! We sleep in our own room!” (Hmmm…I wonder where she’s heard that before) We try to make her feel important and spend lots of one-on-one time with her. Since then, she’s been pretty good and sweet to her baby brother, or Callahan Kitty (she tells everyone that’s his name). She always likes to hold him, help change diapers, burp him, or anything else she can do. She does act up a little bit more, and we’re not sure if it’s that she wants more attention now, or if it’s just the two-year-old thing. But overall, she is very good!

There are a few things that aren’t so hot about having two kids for me. One of them is shopping. I love shopping, and it was fun and easy to take Emma and go shopping. But as we went shopping for Christmas a few times this past week, I felt like we were a circus act! Trying to get in and out of the car, lug a car seat with Callahan in it and bags around while trying to keep Emma to hold on to my hand or the car seat makes me feel like a lion tamer. Emma sometimes thinks it’s funny to let go and run in the parking lots, while I run after her with my arms full. Oh, I bet we’re a sight to see! Once we get in the store, I have to put Emma in the back of the shopping cart, since the car seat now goes in the front part of the cart.

The other thing that is kind of hard for me is trying to spend more quality time with Emma. It makes me sad that I’m not able to as much now. I feel guilty for doing necessary housework that needs to be done. I try to let her help me as much as possible, but sometimes I have to turn on movies or the TV to actually get something done, as she has done away with her daytime naps. I know when I’m feeding Callahan or something now she will tell me that he’s had enough, or that he doesn’t need to be burped. So I know she misses just the two of us. This transition will take a while for her. We try to spend lots of one-on-one time with her and make her feel special still, but it seems that she is feeling a bit jealous. She is doing better though.

Anyone have any suggestions or words of wisdom on dealing more effectively with 2 kids?

And then there were four...

Callahan Benjamin Ryerse is here! He was born on Black Friday, November 28, 2008 at 10:19 p.m. in room 515 of Ogden Regional Medical Center. He weighed in at 6 lbs. even and was 17 ½ inches long. Contractions began Wednesday, and kept going until Friday. I wasn’t so sure we should be going to the hospital, the contractions were still 5 minutes// apart, and they say you should go to the hospital when they’re 2 to 3 minutes apart. But the contractions were strong and Dave decided it was time to go. We got to the hospital at about 8:10 p.m., and filled out the necessary forms, then the nurse checked me. I was sure they’d send me home, but to my surprise, I was already dilated between a 4 and a 5. So the nurse left to go find out which room I’d go to and call my doctor. Dr. Rosemary Lesser showed up about 20 minutes later, before the nurse, and shocked no one had gotten me in a room yet, grabbed a wheelchair and wheeled me in herself to our room. She’s pretty funny, we really like her as our OB. From that time, things were a whirlwind, moving along very quickly. The nurses and doctors barely had enough time to set everything up. I did a quarter of an epidural, by the time I got it I was already at an 8, which is what the doctor says is about the worst of the pain. So maybe next time we’ll go natural… But I’m glad I got it, I think I can enjoy things better when the pain is not so bad. At 10 p.m., the nurse said she thought I’d be ready any time. I pushed five times, and our little boy made his way into the world! He cried when he came out. His chin quivers anytime he cries, he sounds and looks like a baby goat. Daddy helped clean him up and cut the umbilical cord, and change his first diaper. He peed on the nurses before Daddy made it to the table. He was weighed and measured and given Vit. K. Then they gave him to me to hold. What a precious boy, and what a miracle birth is! I can’t get over it. It’s such an amazing thing! I fed him for the first time, he did really well and latched on like a pro! Dave and I enjoyed some alone time with him, and then a little later that night, family came over. Jerry, Stacy, Tayla and Kaison made it first, then the Ryerse and Stoddard grandparents, Julie, Randy, Brian, and Jeff, and Emma. Everyone took their turns holding him and we told the story. Emma sat next to me and held him and gave him kisses. She seems pretty excited, but a little unsure of things. She was more quiet than normal. We finally went to bed at 2 a.m., and slept for a few hours. I couldn’t sleep much, I guess I was too excited. The next day, we did all of the tests, met with the pediatrician and OBGYN, did his first pictures, took a bubble bath in the jacuzzi, and just kind of sat around and talked and watched movies. Callahan kept getting cold, his temperature was low the whole time he was in the hospital. But besides that, he’s perfectly healthy, which we’re very grateful for. In the afternoon, we had more visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard and Adam and Meghan came, followed by Amy and Kolby, and Grandma and Grandpa Ryerse with Emma. Emma was cute with him, but again, wasn’t sure about things. She would talk to him and look at him. Then Christie, Rex, & Brooke came, and Jeff and Shirely were the last ones to come see us for the night. Sunday morning, he was circumcised and had some shots, and did pretty well. Then we rounded up our stuff, and filled out all of the paper work and headed out into the real world. Sunday night, my sis-in-law Meghan said “Good luck on your first night with two kids!”, and right after she said that, Emma started laughing this funny, evil laugh I’ve never heard before! It was hilarious, we were dying! Well, the first night went pretty well. Emma was very tired, as she hadn’t had a nap, but was crying and just wanted to hold Mommy and Daddy. She got upset when we changed his diapers or did anything like that. She wanted to sleep with us and told baby brother he needed to sleep in his own bed (hmmm…where have we heard that before?). It was pretty sad though. So we let her sleep with us last night, and Cal did pretty well, waking up only about every 2 hours to eat. Besides that, he was fine. And Emma’s been really sweet to him since then, so I think things are sinking in now. We’re doing great though, and thanks to our wonderful support system – all of you great friends and family who do so much for us! We appreciate the outpouring of love we’ve received. Welcome, little Cal!

Extreme Room Makeover

Move over, butterflies and flowers! As our condo is only a two bedroom, Emma will soon be sharing her room with "baby brother". Her room was decorated in girly colors featuring butterflies and flowers on the walls matching with the Pottery Barn bedding. So it was time to make a change to a more gender-neutral theme. I've always loved Classic Pooh (it was between that and a cowboy/cowgirl theme), and was convinced Pooh would be fun this time around. Emma was given a cute Classic Pooh quilt, made by Grandma Di when she was born, I've always wanted to use it, and now we get to. So we began a few months ago, buying fun decorations (Grandma Sue was excited when she found out how we would decorate it, she loves Classic Pooh also and went hog wild buying fun things). We picked out a fun, light yellow color to paint the room, which Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard did a few months ago (they were worried about me inhaling the paint fumes. He he! Paint is not the same as it used to be). My mom and I have done lots of sewing. Well, she's done more than me, as she just wants to get it done, but I've been getting some great sewing practice in. We made pillows for Emma's bed, the quilt for the crib, and we're almost done with the crib bumpers, and curtain. Last weekend, we painted a large tree mural on the wall that fits the Classic Pooh style, and put some Pooh character 3-D wall hangings on it. I thought it turned out really well! Then we hung the rest of the pictures and Pooh decor. Emma loves her new mural, she loves looking at it, even sings songs about it. I love decorating, it's a lot of fun, and I'm grateful to my Mom who has helped me out so much with this project! See for yourself what you think!

A Blue Halloween!

On Halloween Day, Emma and I went to my parents house to help set up for the dinner. We helped make the Haunted Gingerbread House, which was fun. My mom always goes all out, and this year was no exception. Emma and I carved our pumpkins that afternoon. She had a great time pulling out all of the guts and seeds (which she called ‘pumpkin nuts’)! We made a Sleeping Beauty castle pumpkin, and a polka-dot pumpkin. We helped set the table and put up the rest of the decorations for the party. We picked Dave up from work, where they had a mechanical bull outside for their party. I couldn’t ride though, and Emma didn’t really want to, so we just watched for a while. Then it was time to get in costume. We dressed up as the Blue Man Group this year. If you don’t know who they are, look them up, they’re awesome! The makeup took a while to apply, but it was worth it. The first time Emma saw Dave with his blue face, she looked around for the real Dave and yelled out “I want to hold Daddy!” She wasn’t too sure of me, either at first. We painted her face last, Dave was paranoid about her, and didn’t want to get it too close to her mouth and eyes, so we didn’t put nearly as much on her. I thought she looked so sad with all of the makeup applied, and it took her about an hour before she wanted to talk. It’s funny how dressing up does make you feel differently. We went with Jerry, Stacy, Tayla (Dorothy) and Kaison (the Lion) to Main Street in Bountiful for their Trick-Or-Treating. That was pretty fun, but not as big as last year. All of the adults and older kids were like “Woa! The Blue Man Group!” and would make comments on our costumes. But the little kids just gave us weird looks like we were crazy. Dave played some Blue Man Group music on his iPhone which was in his pocket to add to the mood. We tried to stay in character and keep straight faces and not talk a ton, but that was too hard! Try not smiling for that long, you’d go crazy! Emma liked the trick-or-treating thing, she had been talking about it for weeks as we had tried to explain to her what it is and what you did. She always said “Trick-or-treat!” enthusiastically and then thanked the person who gave her a treat. Then Emma and Tayla had a fun time playing in the leaves by the Bountiful Tabernacle after the trick-or-treating for a while. Then it was off to my parents for our traditional Chili dinner. Grammie, neighbor Bro. Schroeder, Amy & Kolby, and my parents were all there. We the chili, breadstick broomsticks, chips and dip from the chip graveyard, and veggies and dip. Then we had dessert, which the brownies underneath the gingerbread haunted house and ice-cream. We played pin the nose on the pumpkin and the ghost dart board. When the doorbell rang with trick-or-treaters at the door, Emma ran to it, and loved giving the kids candy. After that, we were back to the Ryerse’s, where we were going to go visit a few of their neighbors, but it started raining really hard, so we decided to go crash Uncle Brian’s party at his bachelor pad. They had a pretty good party going with Rock Band, food, games, and pumpkin carving. Then we ate pie and watched “Hocus Pocus”, which I fell asleep during. It was a great Halloween, and we’re already planning our costumes for next year, it is only 359 days away!

Halloween Carnival

On the 30th, we went to a Halloween Carnival, at Tolman Elementary, where my mother-in-law, Sue works. We stood in line for the spook alley for about 45 minutes, but it was well worth the wait! Sue was dressed up as the Spider Lady, Aunt Julie as a zombie, Grandpa Dan as Frankenstein, and Uncle Brian as a mad scientist. There were other people as well, like a lady that popped out of an old coffin, a guy in a mask that popped out of the wall, a dot guy, car headlights coming for you with a loud honk, and more. The props, lighting and sound effects were all very impressive! Half of them were Sue’s, as she is huge into Halloween! I swear half of their storage is Halloween stuff. It’s fun though. Emma was holding onto Dave very tight the whole time. She knew her family members, as she watched them get ready and put the makeup on so was used to the idea, but got very scared especially by the face that came out of the wall, and dug her fingernails into Dave. Poor thing! “I don’t like it!” is what she said after we got out. And whenever we passed the entrance of it the rest of the night, she would say “No, I don’t want to go!” But she enjoyed the rest of the carnival events – the fish pond, bean bag toss, cake walk, carnival food, sucker pull, stick the eyeball on the skull, and the duck pond. They had Halloween ducks in a kiddie pool, and when the lady running it said “Go!” Emma started getting in the pool, sticking one leg in before we could stop her. She knew what pools are for and went for it. We dried her off the best we could, and then the game began. Emma won, and got pretty excited about that. It was fun seeing all of the kids dressed up in their costumes. There were some cute ones! That is probably my favorite part about Halloween!