Kevin's New Suit

My brother, Colby, and his fiance, Rashell, are getting married on January 11th. They want all the brothers to be in black suits. All the brothers are getting new suits and so we went and had Kevin measured at the store and they didn't have anything in his size. The smallest they even had was a few sizes too big. That is the problem Kevin always runs into with suits or dress shirts... He's kind of a small guy so the only suits he has sort of hang on him, haha. So we didn't know what to do. We were looking at suits online to try and find a, hopefully cheap, suit in his size. I came across a website called studiosuits.com. They do custom made suits, shirts, jackets, vests, etc. They do dress suits for women too! For a full suit it was 99 dollars and 50 dollars more to have it made out of wool. We were very skeptical, to say the least, but searched and found good reviews on the site. So we went ahead and ordered a gray suit, a black suit, and a dress shirt. We had to take about 15 different measurements and you could pick all the different detail/style options. It said it would take 2-3 weeks to make the suit. We have been waiting patiently, and it came today! It was shipped from India, so i guess that is where they are made. Kevin tried it on, and it looks great! It fits him perfectly and the quality is very nice. The dress shirt is the same! They only sent one suit, the gray one, so we could make sure it fit how he wanted it, then if every looks good, they make the other one. So we are excited to get the black suit when it's done! We are very pleased with this company and will definitely order from them again!

The suit tag

the suit, full length view

another full length view

The inside of the suit jacket and the dress shirt

Ryder and Kevin

Ryder being bored while Kevin tried on the suit

Ryder like his dad's new suit!

I had to post a couple other pictures of Ryder just because i think they are so cute!

The other night Ryder fell asleep on my shoulder while we were watching a movie

A cute bath time face

I Am Now a Quarter of a Century Old

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. 25 seems pretty crazy because I'm now halfway through my twenties. I still can't believe sometimes that I'm married and have a little baby. Life moves so fast! On Sunday we had a birthday dinner for me. My parents and Colby and Rashell came. Also Kevin's grandparents, aunt and uncle, and brother, Brett, came. It felt so good eating outside in the backyard and just hanging out with everyone. Instead of cake this year, i wanted cupcakes. So Kevin and I made a TON and had fun decorating them. We still have a LOT leftover, so i might just have to eat a few ;) Yesterday was a really fun day. Kevin had to work but he woke me up before he left singing happy birthday to me. Then after he left, Ryder and I had a lazy morning spent cuddling mostly :) He was being so cute and was making the sweetest little coos for me. Then my mom called and invited me to lunch and shopping in Orem. So i hurried and got Ryder and myself ready and we drove down there. We met up with Colby's fiance, Rashell, at Jason's Deli. I had never been there, but it was really good. Then we went to the mall to do some shopping. It has literally been FOREVER since i have been shopping in an actual mall. Probably since the beginning of my pregnancy with Ryder. I didn't even know where to start! I ended up buying some really cute things and I'm glad Rashell and my mom were there to help :) I'm so proud of Ryder; he has been starting to stretch his feedings out a little more lately. Yesterday he went three hours between feedings and allowed me to shop uninterrupted! He's such a good little baby. When i was on my way back to Sandy, I called Kevin and asked if he could maybe get a cold glass of water for me when i got closer to home because it was so HOT and i was so thirsty. When i pulled into the driveway, there he was waiting for me with a nice big glass of ice water with two straws. One of the straws had a birthday candle sticking out of the top, hahaha. He's such a thoughtful guy :) We put Ryder down for a nap and I opened a present from Kevin. It was an adorable picture frame that i had wanted for Ryder's room. Then when Ryder woke up we went and got In and Out for dinner. It was soooo yummy. We usually never eat fast food because first of all we are too poor, haha, second because Kevin is more of a healthy eater than me and doesn't like it that often... So that was a real treat ;) It was a great birthday and thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!!

I want to go shopping for Ryder!

My birthday is coming up, but all I can seem to look for is Ryder! This jacket is so cute! Good thing we dont have money or i'd blow it all on cute baby clothes... ;)

Our Anniverary and Other Summer Fun

This summer is seriously flying by! I cannot believe it's already August!! Today is a special day for me and Kevin; it's our 3rd anniversary! In some ways it feels like we have been married so much longer than three years because we have had so much fun and so many adventures :) I will always look back with amazement at how Kevin and I came to know each other (If you don't know the story, Kevin was my brother, Colby's, trainer on his mission in Texas and I wrote him a letter, he wrote back... wrote for 9 months, Kevin came home and we were married 6 months later!) I love that we have a record of 9 months of letters to each other, getting to know each other and falling in love (although we definitely let on in our letters!) I truly married the most incredible man i can imagine! He treats me like a queen and takes such good care of me. Seeing him as a father has only made me fall SO much more in love with him! I'm so lucky to be able to spend eternity with my best friend :) Three years down, FOREVER more to go!

Life is moving right along. Ryder is 12 weeks old this week. I love that kid :D He is just so fun to be a mom to. When we are hanging out during the day, he loves to practice "talking" to me. His little voice is so cute and is showing up more and more in his fun noises. He had his 2 month check up last month and he weighed in at 10 lbs 7 oz and 23 in long. He is in about the 60th percentile for length but only about the 30th for weight haha. He's just long and skinny. She said he looks perfect though. He got his shots at that visit and i was SO nervous for him! He cried really hard while they gave him the shots and then once i picked him up and cuddled him he was fine. He's my little champ!

He is alert most of the day now, and is getting on a pretty good schedule with naps and sleeping at night. He has started to sleep through the night more and more lately. YAY!! It's so nice to wake up and realize it's morning not 3 am. I think I'm slowly starting to catch up on the lack of sleep since he was born.

We went on a date this weekend for our anniversary. It was the first time i had left Ryder at home and gone more than a block away. When we walked out the door i had a huge lump in my throat and was on the verge of bursting into tears! Once we made it to the restaurant i was doing better and it was fun to just spend some time with Kevin and not have to worry if Ryder was going to start fussing. I was ready to see him by the time we were done. We hurried home and he was fine of course, just playing with Grandma and Grandpa Briggs. I'm going to have to slowly get used to leaving him i suppose, i just hate leaving my little bud. Also to complicate things, he refuses to take a bottle or binkie! We have been trying all kinds of different bottles and nipples and anything we can think of with no success. However, just recently he has started to at least let us put the bottle in his mouth without screaming... we are making progress!

Yesterday we went down to Orem for dinner and to hang out with my family. We played "the perfect pitch" which is a fun bean bag toss game (sounds lame, actually really fun!) We also played a bit of bocce ball. It felt great outside and it was fun to just relax with the fam. My brother, Colby, is engaged to a girl named Rashell. They make such a cute couple and I'm so excited for them. They are getting married in January because they wanted to wait for Logan to be there. I can't wait, it'll be so much fun!

Ryder loves his bath time so much. I took a few pictures of his bath last night. He just sprawls out and relaxes, it so cute! He's a funny little baby :)

I Love Being a Mom!

So, taking care of a newborn is a LOT of work! Who would have thought! I have been having a blast being a busy mommy to my sweet little Ryder. He is already 6 1/2 weeks old! Time flies! He is already starting to smile, and i swear i have never seen anything so adorable in my entire life! I can't get over how much this little guy means to me! He is simply amazing! I'm so in love with my little boy! The days are nice, just focusing on taking care of Ryder. We have been able to go visit Kevin at work almost everyday for lunch, so that's been fun! The nights are a little more rough... pretty much not sleeping at all yet. He has his good nights where he'll sleep about 4 hours in a row, the most he's ever done was five hours in a row (what a good night that was!) He mostly wakes up every 2 hours though, so it can be hard... I'm definitely looking forward to when he will start to space his feedings out! Overall though, being a mom is definitely the best job I can imagine, and by far the most rewarding! I would rather being doing this than anything in the world!

Kevin a such a stud with Ryder :) he is the cutest daddy ever! He is so sweet when he takes care of Ryder. I love to watch the two together. Kevin is a tired man these days with full time job, full time school, Daddy and Husband. I don't know how he does it, but Ryder and I are soooo incredibly lucky to have him!! I love him so much!

We had some newborn pictures taken of Ryder a couple weeks ago. We had them taken by Jeni Boston. She does really awesome work! She was so patient throughout the whole process. It took about 4 hours because we would have to stop and change his diaper, nurse him, and get him back asleep. I love how the pictures turned out!!!

I'm so glad we have these, they are such a keepsake. I'm not going to try and post the pictures on here, but you can go look at them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044849&id=203002619&l=375b40e7a0

Also, there are a bunch of everyday pictures of him i have posted as well. if you would like to look at those, here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043609&id=203002619&l=862c31afcf

Hopefully those work!

Anyways, life is good, i couldn't ask for more! I'm so blessed :)

Happy Fourth of July to everyone! Hope you have a great weekend!

Ryder Andrew Briggs

So I know a lot of people have been wondering what exactly has been going on with our new little baby, Ryder, so hopefully i can explain a little bit. We had him on May 20th at 10:08. He is the most amazing little guy! I cannot even express how much i LOVE that baby! He has been in the NICU for 5 days and we dont know when he will come home, but he is slowly making some progress. I want to make sure he is completely safe to come home so that i wont be freakin out with worry that he is ok... but i know i will anyways haha. The last week has been an emotional rollar coaster and by far the hardest thing i have ever been through. I knew the love of a parent for their child was stronger than anything, but i guess i never anticipated just how INTENSE it would be. I would easily do anything and give up my life for him if it meant he would be ok. I just cant wait to get little Ryder home and cuddle him in my arms!

I definitely dont have the time or energy to write everything that has been going on, but Kevin wrote an email to my brother Logan on his mission to explain everything. It doesn't have all the details, but i figured i would just post it since it has the general story. I know a lot of people are praying for our sweet little guy and it seriously makes us break down and cry when we think about all the support we have. Thank you to everyone and their kind thoughts and words. We hope it wont be too much longer, we will just have to see. love you all!!


"Hey Logan This is a joint email from Amy and I. I think your mom was going to contact your mission president to see if they could pass on the news of your new little nephew being born, but if you didn't get the news...your new little nephew was born!!!!! haha.

It all started Tuesday night last week when Amy went in for a regular pregnancy check up. The doctor took her blood pressure and saw that it was a little bit high, which can cause some major complications if it gets too high, so the doc sent her down to get hooked up to the monitors to make sure baby boy was alright, and that nothing serous was going on with Amy. They kept taking her blood pressure and kept her on the monitors for several hours, and everything looked alright overall. Baby boy gave us a little scare by dropping his heart rate way down for a little while, but brought it back up and seemed to be fine the rest of the night. They decided to have us come back in the next morning (wed) to check back and make sure he was still doing okay.

So we came back in Wednesday and Amy got back on the monitors for a couple more hours. Her blood pressure was great, but baby boy's heart rate was apparently kind of confusing the nurse that was checking it. So she decided to send Amy up to talk to a doctor to go over stuff with him. We talked to him, and he said that nothing looked seriously wrong with out baby, but that at this point, there was no reason to really leave him in there much longer, cause things could only start getting worse from there. So he wanted us to come back that night for Amy to be induced.

We showed up to the hospital that night at about 8:15, hooked Amy up to more monitors for a couple more hours, then finally gave her the drug to induce her at 10:30 PM. They hardly had to give her any of the drug, because she basically started labor on her own. She labored all through the night, got an epidural, then when it got closer to time to push, baby boy's heart rate would drop every time she would have a contraction. The doctor was kinda worried that when Amy started to push, his heart rate would drop too low. They had the NICU (newborn intensive care unit) team there waiting to check the baby once he came out to make sure everything was good with him.

They had to use a vacuum on his head to pull him out as quick as possible because of the heart rate stuff, and after about 30 minutes of pushing, he was born at 10:08 AM, weighing 5 lb 6 oz. The NICU team checked him out and said he looked really healthy, and we got to hang out with the little guy for a little while after that. They took him up to the nursery to check a couple more things, and they were worried about his blood sugar being way too low. They tried feeding him some formula to get it back up, but it didn't help much. They tried feeding him more, and he didn't want it. We got to have him back in our room with us for only about an hour before they came back and said they needed to send him down to the NICU to get stuff under control. We were freakin bummed about that cause we didn't really get a chance to chill with our baby, but realized that it was necessary to get him better. It sucks cause they made it sound like it was something that would only take about a day, and we would get him back the next night. Well, the next day came around, and we found out that they hooked him up to some antibiotics that he would have to stay on for at least 3 days! We were freakin pissed that they couldn't have just told us that up front! They also had him on an IV feeding him sugar water to get his blood sugar up, and wouldn't be able to come off of that until he was eating on his own. This sucked, because he hated the formula they were giving him and only wanted the real deal (ya know, the boob), and apparently your milk takes a few days to come in after you deliver, so he was basically starving himself at first, which definitely didn't help things!

It also sucked, because he had jaundice (where his skin turns yellow from getting toxins from the poop in his intenstines) because he wasn't pooping, and he wasn't pooping because he wasn't eating, and because he wasn't eating, his blood sugar issue wasn't getting any better. So basically everything hinged on whether or not we could get him to eat.

Luckily, Amy's milk came in late saturday night-ish, and we have a breast pump that she can pump her milk with and feed him that. The first time we took some down to him, he freakin downed it in like .5 seconds, which usually took them like 15 minutes to feed him the same amount of formula. We've been pumping butt loads of milk and taking it down, and he's started eating more and more each time. He's been doubling the amount he's been eating today, and doing way good, so they turned down the amount of stuff they're feeding him through the IV. As he keeps eating more, they'll keep turning down the IV until he's completely off it. Once he's off the IV, they'll probably keep him for a couple more days just to make sure he can keep it up with food alone, and then we can FINALLY bring him home! (he also has to be able to maintain his temperature for 48 hours in an open crib, and gain weight for 48 hours before we can bring him home)

We were able to stay at the hospital with him (by the way, we named him Ryder Andrew Briggs) until yesterday when they kicked us out. Leaving him beind really sucked, coming out to the car with his car seat all ready to take him home in but no baby to put in it really sucked, coming home to the awesome baby room we fixed up with no baby to put in it definitely sucked...yeah it's been pretty rough having to leave him there, but at least he's making a lot of progress. We go and visit and feed him a few times a day, but they only let us take him out of his incubator thing 2 times a day, so that's the most we actually get to hold him.

We're not really planning on getting him home before this weekend, if not later, but we'll see. We're just freakin exhausted from stressing over him and not sleeping at nights and all that fun stuff, so hopefully time flies and we get him home ASAP!

Anyway, Ryder is freakin AWESOME. Having a baby is freaking amazing, but we definitely never realized how hard it could be. We'll try to get some pictures of him uploaded soon and sent off to you, but I think your mom may have sent a couple off already. We'll keep you posted on how he's doing, but please keep him in your prayers. Hope everything there is still going good for you. Hit us up when you get a chance, and we'll catch ya on the flip side. Love ya! Kevin, Amy, and Ryder (yeah Ryder actually typed most of this)"

The Nursery

Over the last couple months, Kevin and I have been really busy with a lot of things, with one of those things being baby boy's nursery. We have been really lucky to be able to use one of Kevin's brother's old rooms to turn into a nursery. After we move out, it will be used as a play room for all future grand kids so we tried to keep that in mind as well as add our own taste to it. I am so pleased and excited with how it has turned out so far! I really just love being in there and imagining holding our baby :) I really wanted to get the room done as soon as we could so i wouldn't be stressing about it in the last month. We are pretty much finished, we have just a few things to add, like a glider rocking chair we just ordered. eventually i will put cute things on the walls and hang up the valance that came with the crib bedding. For now though, it seems like I have a million other more important things to get ready before baby boy comes!

This shows you a little bit what the room started like.

We were covering up to protect ourselves from fumes

painting

painting done with the chair rail put up

a cute lamp from ikea

a little bookshelf that was already in the room, now with baby boy's things on it

some decorations

a dresser i was so happy to find at a great price from down east home.

Kevin's mom found the cute bed spread for the bed that was already in there.

the crib bedding pattern

the crib

So that's what we have so far. It's fun every time we get new things to go in there and arrange it. I had my first baby shower this past Saturday at my Grandma Nelson's house. I have the best family! It was so fun and I got such cute stuff! I'm getting really excited to meet baby boy and also just to be done being pregnant. Pregnancy is really starting to catch up with me and my body is definitely hating it. It's really been hard for me at work because the kids can be so stressful and there is a lot of running around and up and down all day. Working at a daycare is not the best job to be pregnant with... oh well! I gave myself one week off before my due date, so hopefully he doesn't come before then so i have at least some time to relax!

Pregnancy Update

OK, I'm terrible lately at posting anything. I have felt so busy these past couple months. Who knew being pregnant was so much work?! Things have been going great though. I am now 29 weeks along and starting into week 30! Being in the 30's as far as weeks go makes me so happy. Like i can almost see the end! I know i still have about 11 weeks to go, but it feels great to have 29 weeks under my belt. I guess as far as updates go, the biggest one is that the week after Christmas we found out we're having a BOY! It was funny because for the longest time, neither Kevin or I had the slightest clue what it might be. But about 2 weeks before the ultrasound, we both just started feeling (without saying anything to each other) like it was going to be a boy. Sure enough! There was no mistaking it, he gave us a good view ha ha. So we weren't really surprised. Since then, things have just been moving slowly along. I always worry that I'm not gaining enough weight (which i don't know why because i definitely have been putting on weight, even if it is all belly). However, at my appointments, the doctor says I'm measuring perfectly, so i guess i should stop worrying. I don't think it's possible to be completely worry free while pregnant though!

So baby boy, as i have called him since we found out, is a pretty active little guy. His favorite time of day to party is when i am at work, during the kid's nap time. I don't know if it's because i finally get to sit down and rest, or because of the classical music or what, but he starts dancing around like crazy in there everyday during nap without fail. Another time he ALWAYS kicks or moves is anytime Kevin feels my belly. He just seems to know it's his daddy, and he always says hi! Kevin loves it so much! I can't wait to see Kevin as a dad. That's one of the things i'm most excited for, to see Kevin taking care of and interacting with our baby. He is going to be so awesome and i feel so lucky to have him :) It's fun and completely crazy to feel baby boy wiggling around though. I love it! It makes me sooo impatient for him to be born so i can finally meet him and hold him. I can't wait to see what he looks like and how he changes. It will be so fun to see his personality develop as he gets older. I'm SO excited!

I'm a little nervous because my back has started to give me grief... I woke up last week and it was so bad i couldn't go to work. I went and saw a physical therapist at Jeannine's office. She specializes in women's issues and is great with pregnant women. She said something must have thrown me out, but she popped my back a couple of times really good and i have felt great after that! She said to come back anytime i need to and she can fix me up, no charge. That's definitely really nice of her, and I'm very thankful for the offer! Other than that, i have been feeling great! Definitely really tired after working all day, but I kinda just love being pregnant overall :) Although, i am eagerly awaiting the finished product! Kevin and I signed up for a birthing class, a newborn care class, and a breast feeding class. Those should be good and help me feel a little more prepared, i hope! I decided to post some pictures Kevin has taken of me all along. We have this one spot in our room that's become the designated "picture spot" ha ha. So you can take a look at my expanding belly...

5 1/2 weeks. obviously, no noticeable change yet, mostly just a reference point of where i started.

12 weeks.

14 weeks.

17 1/2 weeks.

Christmas morning, 19 weeks.

19 1/2 weeks.

23 weeks.

28 weeks.

Baby boy's profile. I love his little head and belly!

A shot looking up between his legs...he's a boy!

His two little feet :)

Beautiful Niece!

I have such sweet, beautiful nieces!! Chantelle had some newborn pictures taken of Payton, and then some pictures with the rest of the family too (which I have not seen yet). The preview pictures look absolutely adorable! I am so impressed. I just had to brag about my niece when I saw them :) Little Payton looks like a beautiful angel! I'm so excited to see the rest of the pictures!

Check them out:

http://jeniboston.blogspot.com/2009/11/payton.html

Big News!

So Kevin and I are going to be parents! We are expecting a baby and I am due May 23, 2010. We could not be more excited and happy! We told both our families together at our Halloween/Birthday party (for Kevin's birthday) that we threw on Oct 23. We wrapped up a book called "For the Expectant Father" and I gave it to Kevin as a birthday present. He opened it and said, "Thanks Amy! This is awesome!" and then turned it around to show everyone. Some people got it right away, some thought it was a joke (because Kevin was dressed up as a baby), and some just weren't paying attention. My mom's face was the best though. She was sitting across the room and slowly got to her feet with a confused expression. She started to look like she was going to cry as she realized what we were saying. Finally I couldn't handle it and I said, "I'm pregnant!" Then there was lots of hugging and congratulating. It was a fun night! I have been feeling pretty yucky for the past month or so, but there seems to be more good days now than bad, thank goodness! We went in for my week 12 appointment on Monday and we met our doctor. We really like her and she seems awesome! We are way excited about her. We also heard the heartbeat for the first time on monday. We were both excited and knew it would be cool, but I think both Kevin and I were surprised at how much awe we felt sitting there listening to our baby's heart beat away. The doctor said it sounded really good! She kept having to find it because it would go away after a second or two. She said the baby doesn't like the pressure, so they tend to move away when you are listening to it. That made me smile to think that our baby is already so active even though I can't feel it yet.

I'm very excited and nervous for this huge change to come. I know Kevin will be such an absolutely amazing dad and I just can't wait to see him with our baby! (I know, I still have a while, haha)

The excited grandmas!

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Amy with Riley

Riley snuggling up to "cow-a-patch-u-a" (that's how she pronounced Cleopatra)

Chad and my dad

Grandpa, Grandma, and Riles

On Halloween, Kevin and I went down to Orem to see my family and go trick or treating with Riley. She was so cute! Then we watched a movie over at Tyler and Chantelle's that night. It was a lot of fun!

Trick or treating with Grandma.

The cute little Nelson family

Riley is sooo cute!

Payton was a pumpkin :)

Tyler was the "I like turtles" boy.

Look up "i like turtles" on youtube if you dont know what it is.

Colby was a Texas redneck