Ryan: 6 days old

When Ryan was 6 days old, my friend Brooke took some newborn photos of him. You can check Brooke out here. She's quite talented.



Ryan wins the award for most difficult newborn to photograph. We tried to mold him in to "newborn poses" but he was too strong and kicked right out of them. He was wide awake the majority of the shoot! And of course we picked the one day of the week where it was pretty chilly outside so we couldn't exactly leave a 6 day old naked in her garage to freeze! Luckily Brooke is talented and adapted well to my difficult one & the weather because she still got some really great photos.

Thanks Brooke!

we saw some of our favorite people today.

Today we had a surprise visit from the Andrus family. They are some of our favorite people who unfortunately moved back to Utah a few years ago. They were in St. George this week and decided to pop down to Vegas today to say hello to us for the day! What a fun surprise that was!


{sorry Millie, it's the only picture I have!}

The next best surprise was how nice Nate was to Millie! He's been a little naughty lately so it was refreshing to watch him just have FUN with another little kiddo. And boy did they have fun. They played at the house. They played at the park. They played outside. And loved it. If we lived closer to them I know they'd be good buddies.




It was a perfect afternoon in my opinion! Ryan & Wes stayed at the park with Millie & Nate. According to Wes, the kids just played and played on the playground while Wes and Ryan got to chat. Leslie and I took off with the little guys and ran to a few of our favorites . . . Trader Joes, Homegoods & The District. I haven't had an afternoon shopping with a friend without a toddler in a long time. And we ended our outing with takeout from Lucilles. Like I said, a perfect afternoon.

As I put Nate to bed tonight, he looked up and said, "mom. millie's my friend." It's official Ryan & Leslie - we're coming to visit you in May. Get the golf clubs and shopping carts ready.

Nate even loved little Tyler and danced all over the living room for Tyler to watch him. It got me excited for Ryan to get this big so Nate can entertain him!



I wish you guys still lived here . . . but I guess I'll have to settle for a few weekends a year! Thanks again for coming down - it was great to catch up.

entertaining ryan with a little patty-cake

This is by far one of Nate's favorite things to do these days . . .

i am just a little jealous of wes . . .

He got to meet this little guy tonight - baby Plewe.

My dear friend Laurel had her baby boy yesterday in LA. She has quite a first-baby delivery story that ended in an emergency c-section at 2:30am yesterday. I'm very glad both she and the baby are doing well. Isn't he adorable?

Wes just so happened to be in California this week for a business trip and texted Laurel asking if she needed anything. He ended up going to the hospital to assist in giving a blessing tonight so he got to see Laurel, her hubby Ryan and their yet-to-be-named little boy.

I wish I could go down there to help you, Laurel! Ryan can't wait to meet his long-distance buddy this summer.

Mr. Nate

Most of the time, Nate loves his picture taken. When I was taking Ryan's 1 month photos - Nate kept asking me to take his picture, too.

So, we captured him in his BYU belly shirt with his diaper hanging out. Yes, it's a little small but he loves it. He calls it his B-U-Y shirt.

He's a Cougar fan already.

Where's Nate?

A little over a week ago Nate started climbing out of his "big boy bed". He's been in this bed for 6+ months and just decided to climb out. I know, I should be grateful that he stayed in there so long but I really didn't need to add that to the list of "new" right now!

He is usually hammered at night so he goes right to bed but nap time is an entirely different story. He's slowly learning that he doesn't have to go to sleep (even though he still really needs a nap) but he does have to have quiet time in his room.

Today, we thought he was asleep because he was super quiet & he hadn't come downstairs. I brought some stuff upstairs and saw that his door was open. I started looking around for him and saw that Ryan's door was open (Ryan was asleep in his crib).

Nate was hiding in Ryan's closet with his blanky - hoping I wouldn't find him. I had to laugh.

Ryan: 1 month old

I like this picture - HOORAY, we made it to one month!

We've loved having Ryan in our family. He's such a sweet little boy. Here are a few things about him at ONE month:

. he loves his binky. when he doesn't have a binky, he settles for his fingers.

. when he's awake, he likes to be held

. he smiles at his grandma g

. he loves to poop. you can always tell when he's getting ready because he focuses and straightens his legs out!

. he loves to stretch

. he enjoys bath time

. he likes his swing

. he doesn't mind a car ride

. he makes funny noises. he snorts alot due to boogers.

. he loves to cuddle. i love a cuddly baby.

. he enjoys Nate talking to him. They are gonna be buddies.

. he enjoys eating most of the time. he is great with the real thing or a bottle.

. his last feeding is at 10pm and then he's usually only up once or twice at night.

. likes to be swaddled

. rolls on to his side

. sleeps in his crib

Everybody needs an Aunt Sam.

A few weeks ago, Sam called me and asked if she could take Nate to Touch a Truck on March 20th. Of course, I said YES!



Wes decided to tag along with them this morning as they went to the Orleans parking lot for Touch a Truck where there was every kind of motorized vehicle imaginable that the kids could get in and play in.



They had everything - tow trucks, fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles, etc. This is a dream come true for a 2-year old little boy. Nate especially loved the tow truck and the limo.







On their way home, Sam & Wes were talking about lunch and Nate asked for Cafe Rio. So they headed there and got some icecream afterwards.

When they got back to our house, Nate had a huge smile on his face. He had such a fun morning. When Aunt Sam went to leave, he kept saying . . . "don't go yet, Sam. Stay here with me."

Like I said, everyone needs an Aunt Sam.

a weekend with grandma and grandpa g and ryan's blessing

Wes' parents came on Saturday afternoon to meet their newest grandson, Ryan. It was great to have them here! We always enjoy their visits.





We stayed close to home most of the time. On Saturday Wes' cousin Dave and his cute family came down from St. George to visit. The boys had fun playing together and then we all ventured to Cafe Rio for dinner and a little Nielsen's for dessert. The rest of the weekend was spent playing games, at the park or hanging out at our house.

Robert is always ready and willing to help us with house projects when he's here. Wes really enjoys working along side his dad. Robert is a general contractor so he can do pretty much anything! This trip involved a new door, a few new toilets & new weather stripping. Oh, and a little yardwork getting ready for new grass.

While Wes' parents were here, we blessed Ryan. We had some friends and family over to my parent's house after the blessing for brunch. The kids ate and then ran around outside and played. They all seemed to have a good time! The weather was quite nice.





Wes gave Ryan a great blessing. Ryan slept through the entire thing and was a good baby all day.



Grandma & Grandpa G were so helpful while they were here. I'm pretty sure there isn't anyone on this planet who loves babies more than Grandma G! I fed Ryan and Grandma G took care of him the rest of the time. She somehow got him to smile ALOT for her! Both boys were spoiled with constant attention & love their grandparents. Grandma & Grandpa G definitely got to see all sides of Nate - excited, happy, grumpy, mean, tired, etc.



One night we were putting Nate to bed & we put an awake Ryan in the middle of his room while we read him books & before we knew it he was out cold.

Thanks Robert & Doreen for coming. It was great having you here. Come again soon!

a dunk in the brownie mix

As my friend Amy would say . . . "I took a dunk in the brownie mix."

Wes might say that I also took a dunk in a red velvet cake mix.

Yep, I was ready for a hair change. One that doesn't involve constant roots {my hair grows faster than a weed} and lots of money. So I went for it. It's brown with some red in it. It will fade once I wash it, I'm sure. It's still a huge shock to look in the mirror - but I think it will grow on me over time.

My natural hair color is pretty dark so I'm going to stick with this for a while.

a WW member - for the 4th time.

Yep, I joined weight watchers again today. They have a great nursing moms program that allows you to eat plenty of calories to keep up your milk supply but not too many like I seem to be doing.

And since I was a lifetime member before I got pregnant, I get 12 weeks free to start losing my "Ryan weight."

Wish me luck. I've enjoyed pretty much eating whatever for the last 10 months!

what a difference a baby makes

Many of you have heard the line - "i do not like newborns" - come out of my mouth a time or two. Nate as a newborn scarred me. He always wanted to be held. He was a terrible sleeper and struggled with nursing after a while. He turned in to quite a good little kid (for the most part) but the beginning was rough for me. Not only was he a little difficult, but the adjustment from working full-time to being at home all day with a baby was also a hard one. Oh, and tack on a really painful recovery from Nate's labor {somehow pushing out Ryan, a 9-pounder, was easier to recover from this time!}. All of this lead me to my "i don't like newborns" statement.

But I'm taking that statement back this go-around.

I'm really enjoying having a newborn baby around.

Maybe it's because Ryan is a good newborn. He loves to eat. He's now 10 pounds 5 ounces! He has his fussy times but overall he's pretty content. He's patient with his big brother always in his face. He has improved with his sleeping habits. Newborns have such a sweet spirit about them. If all babies were like Ryan - I'm starting to see how people get baby hungry!

Although today was a rough day for Mr. Ryan - he was circumcised. I absolutely hate this part of having boys. I heard him screaming down the hall while they were numbing him but then he was calm the rest of the procedure. But today has been a little rough. He is either sleeping or crying. Or both. And it's not his usual cry - it's more of an "i'm in pain" kind of cry. Which is heartbreaking!

We sure do love this kid.

enjoying a sponge bath.

we wear hats in our house.


i finally got a photo of ryan and aunt sam.

a few more pictures of nate and ryan

my parents had some roommates for a few days.

When I said:

. Wes is going on a 3-day business trip. I may move in with my mom.

I wasn't kidding.


Nate on his new Lightning McQueen bike. This was a Christmas present we hid until now and he loves it. His eyes LIT up when he saw it at grandma Marz's house!

Me and the boys pretty much spent three days at my parent's house while Wes was gone! Nate is struggling a little bit with Ryan's arrival. He loves Ryan to pieces but he's being very naughty and is quite emotional lately. So I decided having my mom around would make the three days a little more enjoyable for all of us and she was happy to help.

While I see my parent's regularly - it's rarely just to hang out. There's usually a purpose. So it was kinda nice to just live there and not have anything we had to do. We played outside. I was able to spend some time with just me and Nate. Nate rode his new Lightning McQueen bike for hours. And after Nate went to bed at night I was able to just chat with my parents which was kinda nice. We sat on my parent's bed with a cranky Ryan (he's fussy at night) trying to keep him awake while watching TV.

It was all kinda fun.

My dad had knee surgery last week so when he gets home from work [yes, he went right back to work] - he lays on his bed for a while. Nate went in over and over to read papa stories while he rested his knee.