recounted

So I was tickling Ryker on the bed today and I got a better look inside that little mouth of his. He has 6 teeth coming in not 3. Four on top and 2 more on the bottom. Yikes!  He had a fever of 100.9 today but it quickly went down with some Tylenol.  Now I am I positive the fussiness is due to all those teeth! Today he was much happier. I think because we stayed home all day and Daddy and Kiery Bear were home too. As soon as those little teeth start to show better I'll try and catch a picture.

Crazy Week

Well this week started off with a bunch of new changes. I have officially stopped pumping! Kiery moved in for her trial period so I drive her to school in Destin (an hour each way) everyday. I started Take Shape for Life (stuck to my start day).  And Ryker is getting 3 new teeth and doesn't like the new morning schedule.  However, with all the changes it has been a good week.

First off, starting TSFL wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Although I must admit I did have my usual cup of coffee, toffee mocha. I just had to have my "one last cup". I ate good the rest of the day. That first day was easy. Day 2, I was tired but still in good spirits. By the end of the day I started getting a headache. Day 3, I was so tired and Ryker was so fussy. I just didn't have the patience. I put him back in the car and we drove around and looked at houses.  By day 4 I had the worst migraine. I went to bed early and by yesterday, Day 5 I woke up feeling so good. I had energy! My headache was gone! I felt thinner and lighter! I cheated and stepped on the scale early and I have lost 5 pounds already!  I know most of that is water weight which is good because I don't feel so bloated anymore.  My pants aren't pinching my stomach.  And because I stopped pumping finally my boobs don't feel hard and sore anymore and they actually fit in my regular bras again.  Ahhh it feels good to get on the road to me again and get my body back. I know I have a ways to go but this is a great start!

Having Kiery come live with us was a little scary for me at first. I love her dearly and I would never deny her or Myranda living with us. I went into this marriage knowing Alex had 2 girls and that this would be a possibility some day. However, I can't deny that I felt nervous about being a mom to a 12 year old.  This first week has been great though. She is a big help with Ryker and I know that this is all still new and the newness will wear off, but we are all doing great. Working out the kinks with the new schedule and figuring out what she likes to eat etc. We are having fun.

Ryker LOVES having his sister here. He just lights up when he sees her and loves to play with her. He's been a big fuss this week though with the new teeth coming in and the morning schedule changing, but I think he started getting used to it by Friday. We'll see how next week goes. He is also making so many new noises and babbling all the time. I keep trying to get him to say Mama, but no such luck yet! :)

He also had another physical therapy appointment on Monday. He is doing so awesome that Jenny wants to video tape him so she can show her students what babies are supposed to do!!! So cool!  He is about 10 months developmentally.  She did say that now is the time to keep an eye on him because if there was a delay, now is the time it would show itself. However, since he is doing so good, we don't think anything will pop up.  She gave me some tips to help him balance on his feet and get him to start taking steps. We see her again in June.

We have also been debating about whether or not to buy a house. We've been looking at houses and some new developments and getting excited. So we met with a lender this week and got approved for a home loan! This weekend we meet with a Realtor!  There are 4 empty lots in our neighborhood. One right behind our house and next door to our neighbors.  We've talked about how cool it would be to build a house on one of those so we could be close to Charlie and Dusty still. This neighborhood is pretty well established so we figured it wasn't an option. Well low and behold they started laying a foundation just yesterday right behind our house! There is a realty company sign posted so it's for sale!  We will find out more info this weekend. How cool is that! :)

Ryker's Birthday Party!

Ryker wasn't sure what to do with all the people, but he was having fun playing with everyone. We ate Asian food and watched a slide show of his first year. I cried, as always. Then I helped Ryker open his presents and then we went for the cake. I think Ryker was pretty exhausted by then because he didn't really care about the cake as much as I thought he would. We may do round two on Monday (is actual birthday) just to see. He was super cute though!  All in all the party was great. Here are some more pics of the party. Still can't believe he is 1.  :)

A few pics...

Ryker Update

Went to Ryker's 1 year well baby check yesterday. I am still in shock that he will be one on Monday. Anyway, the appointment went great. He is doing everything a 9 month old should do and some 10 month stuff. I was also given the OK to switch him to whole milk!  He has stalled as far as growing and gaining weight so they want to try and get some more fat on him. Dr. Sarda said this is pretty typical with preemies but Ryker is still only 4% on the preemie chart. He has actually started to drop on the chart for weight.  I have to go back for his last RSV shot in two weeks so they are going to weigh and measure him again. If there isn't an increase then I will see Dr. Sarda again in a month. Missy, is also going to do a blood draw for the standard anemia check when he gets the shot.  I also have to pick a day next week to go back for his 1 yr immunizations.  I am so happy to start him on whole milk! Dr. Sarda said that whole milk, pediasure, or carnation instant breakfast was all good to give him. I bought organic whole milk and the pediasure milk. I started in his bottle last night and all day today and so far no problem. I have tapered down my pumping to twice a day and starting tomorrow, once a day for about a week and then hopefully no more!  YAY!  This also means weening from the bottle to sippy cups. Double YAY! His next physical therapy appointment is on Monday too. I am excited for Jenny to see all his progress so far!

We taught Ryker to say "uh-oh". It's so cute. He knows to say it when he drops stuff and usually anytime he is in the high chair. I'm trying to teach him to clap. He will clap toys together, but not just his hands. I think he is starting to figure it out though. I want him to be able to clap at his birthday party on Saturday. On that note, since I don't know anyone with babies here yet, I've invited the dominoes ladies and their husbands to come and of course his sisters will be there. Our neighbor Max told Ryker that someday there won't be just Senior Citizen's at his party! ha ha!  I know...all we know is older people!  But now that Ryker has hit the year mark with out getting sick and being toted all over the country and back, I feel good about looking for a play group to join. :) I'm excited about that too.  He also is crawling super fast, he knows his way around the house and lately he decides to take a toy in his mouth and crawl around like a dog carrying a bone! Cracks me up! He talks up a storm and is saying new sounds all the time. He is getting his third bottom tooth and one top tooth is peeking through. We are trying new foods all the time. He loves the baby puffs and picks them up and puts them in his mouth, but he loves to be fed.

Since his appointment yesterday, I have this new sense of energy and happiness. I am sure that it's because I get "me" back.  I made the goal to stick to breast milk for a year and I have accomplished that goal. Now it's time to set new ones.  I am looking forward to renewing myself again. My internal motivation is starting to emerge!

I apologize for the last couple posts being so depressing. That was my mood I guess, but I'm feeling good today and ready for the next phase of Ryker and myself. 

Changes

So ever since I met Kiersten and Myranda, Kiery has always asked if she could live with us. The idea was always short lived and I knew it was a testing the waters thing. Of course our visits with them always have included fun stuff since they are on vacation when they visit. We don't get to do the normal, mundane, daily routine with them. So our house always seems like the "fun" place to be.  When we got orders to the same base last year, Alex and I wondered if either one of the girls would want to switch households. Sure enough Kiery brought up the idea to me again over the holiday's. My answer is and has always been that I would love to have her live with us, but she needs to talk to her Mom and Dad about it first.  She turned 12 in November and since the hormones have started kicking, things have been rough for her at her Mom (Winda) and John's house.  While I was in Tri-Cities she gave a little too much attitude to Winda and got in quite a bit of trouble. Not to mention our little straight A student started getting D's and F's for not turning in her work.  Alex happened to be down at their house having dinner while Winda worked late one night (John is deployed) and Kiery asked again if she could move in with us. He asked if Kiery had brought it up to Winda. Her answer was No. Alex mentioned it to Winda and the ball began rolling. When I got back from Tri-Cities, Winda, Alex and I all sat down together and talked about how to handle the situation and what would be best for Kiersten. We decided that no matter what we want her to be happy and that it would be solely her decision with what she wanted to do. We offered her a trial period for this last quarter of school, keeping her in the same school and then by the end of the school year she needs to make her final and permanent decision.  She decided she would take the offer. So, next weekend she moves in! We are excited, but I am a little nervous. I am going from being a new mom to a baby to now a full time mom of a 12 year old hormonal girl!  We also live an hour from them so I will have to drive her and hour to and from school every day, not to mention the toll fees for crossing the bridge to get to Destin.  I do think this will be good for her though. She will have some space from her sisters. I also think she will start to feel a little more grown up here since she will be the oldest. Right now she is in between Myranda being close to an adult and Meagan still being little. I think she is craving some attention. Her grades are an obvious clue to that. So we'll see how it goes. If she decides to stay with us then we will switch her to a middle school here in Crestview next year.  It will be an interesting few months!

Where does Motivation Come From?

I struggle with this everyday. Just getting out of bed is hard. Ryker is my alarm clock, but most days I really don't want to get up and I wouldn't if it weren't for him. I always wonder if anyone ever feels "refreshed" in the morning and how many actually get a good night sleep?  Maybe when I start eating healthy and working out I will start feeling that way. But where do I find the motivation? I have my start day set. I plan on sticking to it, but in the back of my mind I am not feeling it. It's not just about eating healthy or working out, it's about finding the motivation to do the dishes, clean the bathroom and do the laundry etc. I know my role now is a stay at home mom. It's what I wanted and yet I don't like it. Well I take that back. I do like it, but I feel like I am missing something.  Maybe motivation comes from feeling complete, or from happiness. But this is a vicious circle as far as I'm concerned. I would be happier, 30 pounds lighter, which will make me feel better, which will give me the energy to clean the house and motivation to eat healthy. But I have to start this cycle to get 30 pounds lighter and get that energy. ~sigh~ So how do you jump in when you are so far off the track?  I want to know how to wake up feeling like I got enough sleep to last me through the day. I need that energy to get going. Where is it? Coffee? 5 hour energy? ha ha. It the starting part that's hard. Does motivation come from society? We don't want people coming into our home and seeing our house in disarray. We don't want to go to the beach or the pool with our kids and have others see us in a swimsuit unless we look like a magazine model.  Maybe I am being too critical, striving for perfection when it really doesn't exist.  Alex always tells me I am too hard on myself.  Maybe motivation comes from a sense of accomplishment.  Once the task is complete you feel good that you got it done. But again, it's the getting up and starting it that's hard. As I type I think about the things that need to get done today. Nobody here to tell me to do it but myself, so as I type about motivation, I guess I better just take the first step, get off my butt and get started.