I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast

buttttttttttttt, I may just get the Mom of  the Year award.  or at least get even in the shortness of patience that I have displayed recently toward my wonderfully stubborn Aylen John.

Russ, AJ and I watched The Polar Express movie in Christmas pjs the other night.  It was a first time showing for all of us.  So toward the end when the bell went missing, I just knew that he was going to get that bell back and I got an idea.  I quietly went rumaging through my purse and found the bell that AJ had received last Christmas on the Santa train.  On cue, the little boy opened up his present to find the bell and at that exact moment I managed to sneak AJ's bell underneath his blanket.

He moved and the bell rang and it was PRICELESS.  He grabbed the bell and said, "I got a bell just like that boy from SANTA CLAUS." 

I almost started bawling my eyes out because he was so surprised and happy and just in awe that he had this bell from Santa.  Just like that boy. 

Thank you Aylen John for that moment.
It truly is what I needed as a reminder of how precious and amazing you are...

Love,
Momma

Oh 29.

I love this kid.  he's a cool cat.  and funny.  super super funny.  and things are moving on up for him in this world and i have been super delayed in talking about some/most of them.  so i'm going to quickly spell it out, because this momma has a date with a yoga mat at 530 tomorrow morning.

sleeping...we got back from our trip to Nebraska last Friday and from that evening Ryker has been officially kicked out of the bed.   it was one of those moves that I knew needed to happen and i just felt like the whole entire time we were in Nebraska he just really took advantage of our co-sleeping situation.  I was left feeling pretty worn down and thought ya know, why not be crazy and just ride the wave of new routines and keep him in the crib.  bed-sharing is awesome.  seriously, i feel like i need to give it the love it deserves.  I truly believe that is what has allowed me to nurse both of my boys to the year mark.  because my maternity leave wasn't exactly helpful in the nursing arena because i had to return to work within 6 weeks of delivering.  i also returned to work full-time therefore i was pumping 5x a week, 3 pumps x day.  that is a lot of freakin work.  and that separation often causes many mommas difficulties in keeping up with the milk demand of their babies.  by bed-sharing i was able to have ryker nurse whenever he wanted and keep the supply up.  but no more.  so the first night consisted of him waking up every 3 hours and me going in there and nursing him back down.  not really fun.  but the second, and third, and fourth, and so on nights have entailed 7+ hours of sleep in the crib for him without so much as a peep.  for real.  we did not experience this with our colicky AJ.  so wow.  it's pretty amazing.

weaning... we are within weeks of our OMGweareawesomeandsurvived2under2movingtocoloradoandeverything else Aruba trip.  I wanted to wean at the year mark, and decided that a week before Aruba was my goal end date.  we had started solids at the 6 month mark, and that is the beginning of weaning.  now ryker consistently eats 3 meals and snacks a day, and often times surpasses his brother in solid food consumption.  i had started reducing the number of pumps i was doing at work.  daycare lady was/is on board.  everything is cool right? yea right.  it's like this rush of emotions in my head.... you aren't technically making it to the year mark if you're stopping two weeks early, you know people recommend 2 years breastfeeding, you love it, you hate it, you want sleep, you want your body back, you love that special time, you love being able to excuse yourself, you are kinda over it, you don't want to pump or worry at all in aruba, you really should just suck it up and pump in aruba, you you you me me me me....  guh.  and for instance today I totally left my 7 ozs at work.  yup that means that i'm dumping 7 oz out when i get to work tomorrow.  i was a mess, until i found out that ryker is almost preferring cow milk  to mine.  thank god.  thank god that he is super cool with transitioning.  makes me feel okay and know that i did good.  i did.  i did really great.  and breastfeeding is amazing, and hard work, and totally freaking worth it.  and no matter what i did, i gave it an awesome run.  and it's okay to move on, and forward, and onto the next phase.  so calling daddy reinforcements, here is the start of less momma time and more daddy time!

walking... he is walking everywhere.  he is quick. and amazing and wants NO help.  he completely amazes us how quick he can get up stairs and over obstacles.  so different than his brother;)

I love the infant phase.  I truly do.  And so it is so bittersweet to come to an end of an era with Ryker.  But as Aylen shows us on a daily basis it does stay interesting and amazing no matter how old.  So goodbye baby Ryker....you have been a complete joy, and i'm ready to see what your toddler years have in store for us.

Muah.
Momma

Love gu...

I'm currently trying to get a 2 year old to go to sleep but he is currently on repeat..."love gu sooo much mom. Hi mom. Love gu. So much mom." I mean I can't really tell him to be quiet when he's been that adorable.

Tonight he truly learned what Christmas lights are and he couldn't quit talking about then on our ride home. I love the increased awareness he shows. So cool. "Ohhhh look ders Chistmas yights. Oh mo Chistmas yights!"

Love,
Momma

8 HOURS

After two weeks of lots of nursing through the night due to who.knows.what.....Ryker 29 slept 8 Hours in the crib last night!!!!! Longest stretch EVER!!!!!!

:)
Momma

this Kid is meant for walking...

So on September 20th Russ said..."this kid will be walking in a month".  I didn't believe him.  I knew it was going to be before a year...but Ryker is IMPRESSIVE.

On October 7th, Ryker took his FIRST TWO steps.

A week ago he took 10 STEPS in one shot.  Now he still crawls but he is definitely starting to prefer to walk.  Nothing cooler than watching your baby start talking those BIG independent steps.  And it's so fun to see how different Aylen and Ryker are in their milestones.  Ryker is walking 6 months earlier than Aylen (that is obviously what a big brother does for you).  But when Aylen was starting to be more upright he wanted Russ and I to hold his hands and walk EVERYWHERE.  I swear there were times when we spent hours climbing stairs with Aylen, holding his hands.  Ryker has only allowed us to do this once.  And just as Russ said, "Meg, look he is letting me hold his hands," he had let go.  Chicken or egg.  First child vs second child.  First time parent vs. old hat parent.  :)

Who knows!  But it's awesome!

-Momma

Pumpkins, Rocket Mans, and Polar Bears!

1

Halloween season has been a month long celebration for us!  These pics were taken when the Grandparents were here.  See this post.  And then the following weekend I participated in the Pumpkin Run with some friends.  And can I just say how much I love that in Colorado any type of workout is immediately rewarded with local alcoholic beverages. 

With the 15lb pumpkin I received with the face, Aylen John was allowed to go crazy with paint and Thomas the Train Stickers.

The weekend before Halloween I convinced the family to go to Longmont Halloween parade.  Love me some parades!  It is such a cool thing to see a HUGE portion of Longmont out celebrating together in the Halloween spirit.

The next day we went to Loveland to get all dressed up with friends.  I was a tid nervous that Aylen was not going to wear his very cool, very awesome ROCKET PACK that I made him.  OMG.  He started saying, "I don't want to".  But somehow my awesome Husband quietly convinced him that a rocket pack was really necessary.  Ryker was a polar bear missing his hat, so he just looked like this amazingly cute little white furry something or other. 

On Tuesday night we carved pumpkins.  I can't wait for Aylen to be able to carve his own pumpkin someday.  Instead he told me what to do and I made it happen.  I was quite proud of these pumpkins.  Thank goodness that Aylen does not have the fear that Russ has of pumpkins.  "They (pumpkin and guts) smell gross"-Russ. 

On Halloween Day Aylen and Ryker got to have a party at daycare.  It was full of costumes, pumpkin cake, and treats!  I had this weird idea that it was silly for Aylen to go Trick or Treating because he is still little and CANDY.  He doesn't need CANDY.  Oh Momma.  Seriously.  Let the kid go.  So we did!  We went around to 5+ houses.  I'm pretty sure Aylen never ever said, "Trick or Treat".  He is just so shy and soft-spoken when he does talk.  

This was our best pic of the night.  Aylen was way too interested in his loot.  And Ryker had enough polar bear time.

;) Ahh I just have the feeling this time of year will keep getting progressively more awesome:)

Love,
Momma

Top Right is Aylen John when he was 4 months old in the Polar Bear Suit.