Maternity Pictures

When I was pregnant with Ryker, I wrestled with the idea of getting maternity pictures done. Mostly because I didn't want to feel guilty if I did them with Ryker and then didn't with the others. So Randy and I went the day I went into labor and took a few shots.

I knew this time around that I really wanted some with Ryker, but with being in a new town and putting it off until the last minute, I didn't have time to hire a photographer. So Photographer Randy to the rescue :)

I set the basic settings and then let him do whatever. It's much different being on the other side of the camera. I look at the pictures and I'm like, "Stand up straight, take a deep breath, breathe through your mouth!" I needed someone to tell me what to do! Randy didn't tell me any of that obviously...it's just funny to see how having directing you what to do really helps. 

Without further ado, here are the pictures! ( If you so care to see them larger, just click on them!)

For comic relief :)

Just a little comparison.....just big!!!

Baby Shower take 2!

A friend of mine put on a baby shower for little man and me! She and I are a lot alike and like to throw a good party and boy did she!

She had the cutest backdrop for the popcorn bar made from paper chains. She also had all kinds of popcorn--which I am addicted to I swear...I could eat popcorn for days! But all kinds of flavors like peanut butter, caramel marshmallow, white cheddar, puppy chow, kettle corn, etc. They were delicious and I might be eating some right now....

While I still feel like I'm fairly new to the ward and don't quite know a lot of people, I was surprised how many came to celebrate with us! I love getting to know everyone and could have stayed there all night talking to them. I will reiterate probably a billion times on the blog just how blessed we are to have moved into such a great area with such wonderful people. Truly so kind and genuine and so helpful. Seriously, seriously, seriously love my ward. They showered baby boy and I with lots of diapers, wipes and other essentials! Just what we needed. SO GRATEFUL!! THANK YOU!!!

How cute is this wrapping paper. She literally sewed it!

So now here I am at 38 weeks wondering when we get to meet the little squirt.  I have a feeling we will probably go to the due date. Ryker was right on time and I'm sure this guy will follow suit. I shall keep you posted!

Welcome to Texas!!

A week after we got back from Idaho, my Dad and brother came to Texas for a visit! They got to see our new house, meet our ward, tour Dallas and see some games!

The day they flew in, we all went to a Texas Rangers vs. Atlanta Braves game. First we went and had some BBQ food at Fat Cows in Lewisville. I'm not a huge fan of bbq but everyone else thought it was pretty good. I was really looking forward to have them feel the Texas heat and feel a little bit of our pain. ;) But that weekend was actually really nice and cool--60's-70's. We actually had to pack jackets...but forgot the rain ponchos! Sadly, the Braves lost and it was misty/rainy most of the game. I had joked that they were selling hot chocolate when we first got there, but by 9pm I was wanting some!

The next day, my Dad and brother went to another Ranger/Braves game and I'm pretty sure we (Randy, Ryker and I) just bummed around. I never remember much these days....
Anyways, they got back and we got ready to head to AT&T stadium for the Advocare Cowboys Showdown: Texas Longhorns and UCLA Bruins. We were going as Texas fans for the night because if they won, it would make our BYU Cougars even that more awesome for beating them. Randy and Keegan even donned their BYU apparel and got plenty of comments about it. :) There was lots of tailgating going on. Something that I wish that BYU did more. I hear they are getting better at it and letting people do it. But this tailgating was a little different....you could smell the alcohol. And then everyone inside was also drinking. I'm sure those that drink are probably like...."What's the big deal?!??!" It's just so different than what I am used to! Plus I don't understand why you would continue to buy $8-9 beers all night....waste of money. Feel free to explain....
Back to the game. We were able to get really good seats at a really good price and had a blast. It was a really intense game and there were actually a lot of UCLA fans there too so it made it a really good game with lots of noise! It was cool that it was at the Cowboys stadium because I didn't know if we would honestly ever go there for a game because I could care less for the NFL and paying ridiculous amounts of money to go. If anything it would have just been for a tour. So that's another thing we can check off of our list: Go to a game at Cowboys Stadium! It really is quite huge and the screens in there are bigger than you would imagine. Made it hard to watch the actual game! Grateful for my Dad for getting us tickets!

Sunday we did the whole church thing and then my Dad and Keegan went to yet another Rangers/Braves game. Sadly, the Braves lost all three games that weekend. They were pretty bummed! (Funny note, the speaker in sacrament meeting spoke on keeping the sabbath day holy HA!)

Monday was our hang around the house day. We started the day by going to Fort Wildflower and playing. I did some laps around the park while Ryker and Grandpa played. Uncle Keegan and Grandpa went and did some touring in the Dallas Area. I think they went to the temple this day and probably found some more bbq food. That night, we went to a place called Alfredo's for my birthday dinner. I was feeling italian but I was sick of Olive Garden. So we tried this Mom and Pop place. It was really good and here in Lewisville.

Tuesday Dad and Keegan went to the JFK museum and some other landmarks in Dallas then ate at Pecan Lodge...supposedly the best bbq in Texas. They were pretty happy about it! They came home for a bit and then got ready to go back to Idaho. Unlucky for them, they had a 4 hour layover in Denver. NOT FUN!

We had lots of fun and had lots of firsts as Randy and Ryker went to their first MLB game, first time at AT&T stadium and my first Braves game. First time trying restaurants and their first time in Texas! We sure love having family come and visit us and seeing our lives here in the South. :)

Idahome!

I'm hoping that I can remember everything that we did in Idaho! It's been a few weeks!

So we left August 26th, a few days after Randy finished his first Trimester at Parker University. He did great! So proud of him. I had had an appointment with my midwife the day before and got the ok to fly. I wasn't nervous about flying, I was more nervous about Ryker wanting to climb all over me. Which only seems to have gotten easier now that I have this big belly he can step on.....
Our flight wasn't until 7pm. So we spent all day twiddling our thumbs just wanting to leave and get out of here! Finally 4pm rolled around and we got going, parked our car, got shuttled over, checked in, went through security, and got settled in to wait an hour and a half to finally get going. Once we got on the plane, everything was great. Ryker didn't sleep on the first flight but did on the second. We had just brought him in his jammies so that when we got to Idaho at 11pm he could just go straight to bed. We finally got to Idaho and had arranged for Randy's parents to pick us up but my family was there too to come see Ryker us. We waited for 30 minutes just for our luggage. It was nice to be able to meet with family but we were so exhausted and just wanted to go home and go to bed!! We did go stand outside for a little bit and just enjoyed the cool Idaho night. It doesn't get cool like that in Texas!

The next morning, I had a hair appointment, then we had chiropractic appointments to help us all out from the day of travel, and then some more appointments! We really just wanted to get it all done in one day so that we could enjoy the rest of our trip!

Unfortunately, it had been a really crappy wheat season because of all the rain Idaho had been getting. It was hard not being able to see Grandpa as much as we wanted too, but he is such a good example of a hard worker! Ryker did get to ride on a tractor and the lawnmower and had lots of fun with that!

Randy and his friends got together to have a bachelor party for his friend Craig. They went and shot guns, had some B-dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) and had some good quality guys time. It's always nice to see friends!

We went on Saturday and did a session in the Rexburg temple when Craig's fiancé was doing her own endowments and that was fun! We almost didn't make it though and right when we pulled into the temple parking lot, it started pouring so we were soaked! All well. It was good to go to the temple and renew our covenants.

We had a BBQ on Labor day and had my family and Randy's family come together and just eat food and enjoy each others company. It's always hard having both of our families there because we always feel torn between the two and spending time with each family. We also went to the fair twice! Randy's sister's family traveled up to Idaho to spend some time with us (and we are so grateful for that) so we went to the fair and got a Primesteer Burger! YUMMO! The next time we went, we went to the hypnotist show and an escape artist show. We saw lots of animals including reptiles. Ryker wasn't too excited about the animals like I was hoping he would be. He's kind of a scaredy cat.

We also went to the zoo! Ryker LOVED the monkeys. They were swinging all over the place and would come and say hi to us! It was a good primer for when we go to the Dallas or Fort Worth Zoo's. We will probably wait until he's a bit older though so that he knows what the animals are and actually cares. ;)

Randy and his parents rode over to Boise where Craig was getting married. I stayed home. Traveling while pregnant sucks and I'm sad to not have been there, but I was being selfish.

It was a whirlwind trip! It went by way too fast as always but we were so glad to be able to go home and especially for Randy to be able to attend Craig's wedding--the whole reason we went! Everything else was just a perk.

The night before we left, we went and got some Mrs. Powell's cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Our flight was at 6:30am and we had heard rumors of them not letting people on planes if they showed up after a certain time so we got there so early at 4:30am...too early but at least we were there! So after checking in and waiting for security to open up, we had our cinnamon rolls. A couple hours later, we were able to board and get going to Denver. Halfway through the flight, I was feeling so nauseas. I swear every seat I sit in never has a barf bag. I looked at Randy and he knew that I needed to do something. So after a few laps up and down the aisle, I came back to my seat. Luckily Randy's seat had a barf bag because that cinnamon roll did not sit well. I don't remember the last time I threw up on a plane but it's not fun. But I felt a million times better. We made sure to get a real breakfast after we landed in Denver!

We finally got home at 12-1:00pm and came home and crashed. Plus it was FREAKING HOT. Idaho weather was so nice!

We love our family and friends in Idaho and love being able to spend anytime we can with you!!