Christmas and New Years Eve!

It's been over a month since my last post.  It's been crazy with Ryder, the holidays, and Kevin being out of school!  Kevin had his last final on December 17th.  He did very well on all of them.  One of them he even got the second highest score in the class, a 99%  (especially impressive considering the class average was about 70%)  I'm so proud of him!!  It's been so fun having him here all the time to hang out and help with Ryder.  Ryder has LOVED having Kevin here more.  He loves playing with his daddy so much!  He lights up whenever he sees Kevin :)  Kevin starts back at school again on the 10th.  It's going to be very hard on all of us after getting used to having his undivided attention for a couple weeks.   Kevin is taking a painful 17 credits this next semester.  Last semester we already never saw him and he was taking 3 credits less than he will be... So on January 10th, I will pretty much kiss him goodbye and say, see ya in May!  It's very hard, but I really am thankful for such a smart, hardworking, driven husband.  As we speak, he is taking the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) test so that he can apply to the Engineering Masters program at the University of Utah.  He has been studying a lot this weekend for the GRE and I know he's going to do awesome.

Christmas was awesome.  We were spoiled and had so much fun spending time with both our families. We had the Rino Christmas party on the 23rd for Kevin's side.  It was a lot of fun, with lots of good food, desserts, and a gift exchange. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Nelson's 2nd Annual "Ugly Sweater" Christmas Eve party.  It was a lot of fun.  I love seeing what crazy outfits/sweaters people come up with.  Kevin and i were really excited to "help" Santa this year.  It's very fun to be on the parent side of Christmas.  Christmas morning came, and Santa had brought Ryder a baby laptop.  It was an instant hit!  It has 9 buttons that play music or say words when you touch them, and a screen that lights up.  He loves it!  He is always trying to grab the laptop when we are using it, so we decided he should have his own :)  He also got a play cell phone because that is another "toy" he always wants to play with.  Other than that, he got a couple other toys and mostly new clothes.  He had fun unwrapping presents for about 5-10 minutes, and then got too overwhelmed.  We got to talk to Kevin's brother, Casey, who is serving a mission in Atlanta, Georgia.  After that, we rushed down to my parents' house to talk to logan.  It was really good to talk to him.   

 

Decorating gingerbread houses

Our finished house

Our sweaters at the Ugly Sweater Christmas Eve Party

Colby and Rashell's sweaters

My uncle Mike, who won "ugliest sweater" for the guys

Chantelle, Riley, and my mom

Aunt Joni and baby Leah

My cousin Crystal

Cousin Jeremy

Neice Payton

Aunt Kim and Uncle Chris, wearing sweaters they found out of each other's closets!

Cousin Cassidy holding cousin Leah

My mom and Ryder

My grandparents!  Check out my Grandma's awesome sweater!  She won for the girls.  I LOVE them!

The nativity

Christmas morning.  I got a sweet new digital SLR.  It's a Canon Rebel XS.  It's a beginner digital SLR, but it's soooo much nicer than my little point and shoot!  I love it so much.  The pictures from Christmas morning on out are from that camera ;)

The new camera!

Kevin and Ryder

Ryder loved playing with the wrapping paper

New shoes for Kevin

Ryder became overwhelmed and then very tired!  He loved Kevin giving him arm tickles to help him fall asleep.  He's definitely zoning out in this picture.  He's such a sweet baby!

Christmas day at my parent's house.

Payton's hair cracked me up

Chillin with Grandpa Nelson

Grandpa with the babies

Pater playing with Ryder's cell phone

Ryder eating some lunch

Kevin and Ryder hanging out during the week after Christmas

Ryder showing off some of his new clothes

Me and my baby boy :)

Ryder playing with his new laptop

Playing in the tub.  In the baby tub we have, you start them in a little mesh sling when they are a newborn.  When they can hold their head up you move them to the reclined side shown opposite of Ryder above.  Then when they can sit up, you move them to the seat Ryder is in.  What a big boy.  Not too long until he is a little better at keeping his balance and we will move him out of the baby tub altogether!

Ryder loves relaxing in the water!

He's concentrating on trying to grab the water stream from one of his new bath toys

After bath time, playing with his "friend"in the mirror.

New Years Eve was fun.  We stayed home so we could put Ryder to bed early.  We had some yummy soups for dinner and played games.  Kevin and I continued our tradition of drinking our favorite energy drink called "Bawls"   I can't believe 2010 is over.  It was a big year for our family with the addition of Ryder and the struggles of him being in the hospital, being poor and trying to get through school.  I know we are learning a lot and our little family is growing closer through these hard times.  We couldn't make it without the help of our families.  They do so much for us, we are so blessed!  We have also had amazingly happy times this year and it has been a year I definitely will never forget!

Kevin with his drink

Showing some of the Martinelli's we'd be drinking later.

Hanging out

Playing games. 

A toast to the new year, 2011!

Ryder in a sweet new church outfit from my mom.  Doesn't he look adorable!  He has just enough hair to comb it over.  I love my sweet boy!  He is now 7 1/2 months old!

The next week is going to be a very busy one!  My brother Loagn is coming home from his mission on Wednesday, the 5th.  I am so over the top excited!  I have missed him sooo much!  I think everyone in my family has a special soft spot for Logan since he is the youngest.  So on Wednesday, we are picking him up from the airport, and going back to my parent's house to open presents, since we waited to have Christmas until he was home.  That weekend is Logan's homecoming talk in church.  We are having a lunch afterwards with family and friends.  The next night is the wedding dinner for Colby and Rashell.  Then, Tuesday, the 11th, is Colby and Rashell's wedding day!  Also, Kevin starts school on the 10th... so it's going to be a little crazy.  We are so excited for everything coming up though!

Thanksgiving Break

This past week Kevin had Thanksgiving break on Thursday and Friday.  We had a lot fun having him around since that is rare around here.  He definitely didn't get as much studying done as he needed to, but Ryder and I were a little selfish and wanted to spend time with him!  Before I talk about what we did, I wanted to post some pictures of our new Christmas stockings i have been working on.  Since Ryder needed one, I decided to make all new ones for the whole family.  I'm very happy with how they have turned out so far.  I have Kevin's stocking made, I just haven't decorated it yet.  Here are Ryder's and mine.

Ryder the little musician.

Ryder loves apples but when we let him suck on one, he kept biting chunks off and I was scared he would choke.  So we put it in this handy little thing that has a handle and a mesh pocket to put food in.  He really actually liked sucking on it even if his face doesn't show it haha.

I LOVE this picture of him!  I just love his sweet little face and chunky fingers :)

Thanksgiving day we ate at my Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house.  Almost the whole extended family was there.  It was so fun.  The food was amazing!  Just thinking about it is making me crave more!  We ate at one, which is Ryder's usual nap time, so he was cranky!  He finally fell asleep in Kevin's arms and then my Grandma Nelson got to cuddle him for a while.  Then we laid him on her bed and surprisingly, he slept for a while in there.  I was surprised because Ryder is definitely not known for taking good naps, especially if he is not being held or in his swing (he's spoiled I know...)

Kevin had to take a nap too :)

Riley and Trey coloring some turkeys 

We put up our Christmas tree this week.  Ryder was already asleep when we decorated it, but in the morning we showed it to him.  He LOVES it!  I'm pretty sure he's trying to figure out how to get all those ornaments into his mouth.  He was reaching and trying to grab for everything.  Good thing he can't crawl, or we'd be in trouble!

Friday the 26th was the first night of the temple square lights in Salt Lake.  We really wanted to go down and walk around, but the temperature was in the teens and the only coat we have for Ryder is still a little too big.  So we went to Kid to Kid to see what we could find for cheap since we are dirt poor.  I wanted one of those really snugly full body bunting outfits, but the only one's they had were for girls...  We thought about it and decided, he's six months old and doesn't even have a clue what he's wearing, so we went ahead and bought one for him.  It was very pale pink haha.  Soooo cozy and warm though!  It's actually really cute and I'm glad we have it because hopefully someday when we have a girl she can use it.  Someday I hope Ryder laughs at the pictures of him in his girly outfit.  A couple people even commented on how cute "she" was! 

Ryder was really ready to leave at this point, notice his classic "arching the back tantrum" pose... 

On Saturday was THE game.  My family are true blues, and Kevin's family are Utah Utes, so we definitely got the rivalry thing going on in our little family.  I can be a little too competitive sometimes though and so I tend to lose my temper when Kevin and I are "playfully joking" about the other's team.  He is so good to put up with me when I got mad over dumb things haha.  Anyways, it's been a very hot topic of who Ryder will cheer for.  Of course I would like him to be a cougar fan, but I say he can choose for himself when he's older.  Kevin's is pretty set on him being a Ute.  We couldn't decide on how to dress him on Saturday.  Either something had a little bit of blue on it or a tiny bit of red.  So a plain white onesie it was.  The game was close with both teams playing amazing defense.  BYU was leading the entire game up until the last bit of the fourth quarter and it came down to one field goal that was almost a sure bet to win the game for us.  However, it was not meant to be and Utah won.  Kevin and Chad started yelling and cheering so loud when the field goal was blocked and the Utes won.  It scared Ryder so bad!  He let out a loud scream and then burst into uncontrollable crying!  It was so sad.  He couldn't stop crying!  I know the real reason he was crying though... it was because his team lost :(  Oh well, it's only a game I guess.

Six Months Old

Today is Ryder's half birthday! Yep, he is SIX months old today! He had his six month check up on Thursday and got some shots, including the flu vaccine :( He weighed in at 15 lbs 3 oz and 26.25 inches tall.  He's come a long way from 5 lbs 6 oz and18 inches!


Loving carrots!

Sitting in his big boy high chair

Daddy tickling him

anticipating the tickle attack!

Love this, and not so much...

I do NOT love this...

blowouts that go through three layers of clothing and all over legs.


I DO love this...

The two LOVES of my life :)

It doesn't get any better than this!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Look who popped up to say hello...

Ryder's first two teeth!

These hard months of teething have started to pay off!  Ryder got his first tooth on November 1st.  About two weeks later, on November 13th, the second bottom tooth cut through.  He has not enjoyed the process!  Poor little bud has been waking up at night screaming sometimes because it hurts.  I hate teething because i feel so helpless to take away the pain.  He really has been such a trooper and done pretty well overall.  Let's hope he at least has a little break before the next ones come.

It's kind of hard to see them, but they are definitely there!

Ryder will be six months old this week!  I can't even believe we have had this sweet little boy with us for half a year already!  The time is slipping away so fast; too fast sometimes...  I seriously fall more and more in love with Ryder everyday.  Sometimes it's hard and he stretches me to my limits and pushes me to be a better mom.  I can't imagine life without him now.  Life before Ryder seems like a dream.  It feels like he has always been with us!  Kevin and I were talking the other day about how Ryder feels like one of his best friends and i definitely agree.  It's an overwhelming responsibility to be in charge of another human being.  To provide them with everything they need, protect them, teach them, and most of all love them!  I would not trade being a mom for anything.   I sometimes get so scared thinking about the world today and how it is going to only get worse when Ryder is older.  I just want to teach him the gospel and everything he will need to stay on the right path.  I hope i can be the kind of example he needs from a mommy.  I am so thankful to have an amazing, hardworking, smart, loving, funny, righteous priesthood holder as a husband and a father for Ryder.  I know Ryder has the perfect Dad to help him through this life.  Still, sometimes I just want to keep him my sweet little baby forever!

-Ryder has almost tripled his birth weight, yay!!  He had a hard start being so small, but he's slowly making up for it!

-He refuses to take a bottle or binkie.  He loves nursing so much, I'm hoping it wont be too hard to wean him when the time comes (we're shooting for a year) 

-His hair is finally starting to grow!  Just these past two weeks or so i have been noticing a difference.

-We introduced solids at 5 months, and his favorites so far are sweet potatoes, a strawberry/apple/banana mix. yummy!

-He LOVES standing up!  so much that he will cry if you set him down in a sitting position.  He wants to walk so bad!

-He hates when you take a toy away from him, especially when it's time to get out of the bath.  Watch out!

-He is the sweetest/silliest boy.  He is constantly giving huge smiles and giggles to mommy and daddy.

-He loves grabbing his feet/toes

-He loves grabbing ANYTHING within range of his little hands!

-He blows raspberries when he's mad, and when he cries he sounds like this, "beh-beh-beh-beh-beh!" haha, he likes the "b" sound.

-He hates taking naps!  Unless it is on Mommy's lap, then he could sleep all day haha.

-He loves to grunt himself to sleep :)

-He has conversations with himself in the car.

He is the most precious baby i could ever imagine.  I feel sooooo blessed and lucky to be his mom!  I don't know what i ever did to deserve such an amazing husband and son! 

Laughing during a diaper change

He has such a silly personality

Always chomping on something

I love his smile and I'll do anything to get one!

I'm Already Counting Down...

Guess what I was listening to a little bit this morning...

Christmas Music!!

Yes, I am one of "those" people that start listening to Christmas music as soon as November starts.  I am outnumbered in my family by people that think listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving is stupid, but at least I have my Dad on my side ;)  I just can't help it.  I LOVE everything Christmas, especially Christmas music!  I think I could listen to it in July and it would still make me smile haha.  I love Pandora.com because I can listen to all the Christmas songs I want for free. YAY!  Kevin thinks I'm crazy, haha.