Ryder Bryce Young

June 7, 2011

11:44 pm

7lb 15.9 oz

21.6 in

Perfect in every way

I need a distraction.  Jason is on a flight from Vegas, my mom is on a flight from Denver, my contractions are getting harder and I really want them both here NOW.  I went in for my appointment today and I am dialated to a 5. A FIVE.  How is that possible to be walking around at a 5? I'm afraid that if I sneeze a little arm may poke out. Last week I was at a 3 1/2 and even then I was nervous to use the outhouse at the lake since I was 20 feet above a sesspool with a gaping hole in my cervix.  He stripped my membranes again and even though I'm scheduled to get induced tomorrow, I have a feeling this little guy might come tonight.  I've never really gone into labor on my own (Kylie was a scheduled c-section, Jayden I'm 99% positive was false labor and my water broke with Maddox), so I'm not sure what to expect and when I should head to the hospital.  I can't even remember what to pack in my hospital bag.  I'm nervous to wait too long because I'm strep B positive so I need to have the antibiotics for 2 hours before I deliver and with only a measly 5 cm to go I'm thinking (and hoping) that it will go really fast.  Who knows, this may be false labor again, he stripped them last week and for 2 days straight I had contractions, then nothing.  I'm starting to have serious doubts that my body even knows how to go into labor on its own.  I wish I would have done something grandiose on my last day of freedom, instead I spent it at Wal-mart and cleaning the house.  I would like to say that I was only cleaning to try and induce labor but you all know me and my OCDisms too well.  A clean house calms me and I want to give coming home to a clean house a fighting chance (Jason really is pretty good about this, but I know what kind of damage a potty trained 2 year old can do to a toilet). Of course I am so excited and so scared, it's amazing all the emotions you go through when you're about to have a baby.  I can't wait to meet him and I'm so excited for the kids to see him as well.  I'm so curious to see how Maddox will react.  He talks to the baby and about the baby as if he understands, and several times he has asked if he can climb into my stomach when the baby opens it up and comes out.  He tells me what songs he's going to sing to him and how he is going to give him his bottle when he cries.  He acts excited, but the past couple of days he has also been saying that he wants to be the baby and is always pretending to be one so I think the jealousy may get to him.  Hopefully a houseful of people here will be a good distraction.  Anyways, we'll see what happens, either way the end is near and I can't wait!

Summer in full swing

The temperature's up, the backpacks have retired, the worn out school shoes can finally get chucked and homework is now a dirty word.  I love summer, but I won't lie, I am a little nervous to be cooped up with all 4 kids all summer long with no vacations planned and the only outings are to our back yard pool.  So far we've started out good with our annual neighbor end of year party (and going away party for one of our favorite neighbors, sad.) and the first day of summer was spent sleeping in (even Maddox, which is a very rare occurance), 5 hours of swimming and playing with friends, and an attempt at recreating last year's "ABC's of summer" (the kids are begging to do it again, I hope I have the energy) with a scavanger hunt and new snow cone machine as the prize.  Happy summer!

Kindergarten grad (finally)

I didn't shed a tear, not because it wasn't centimental to see little GiGi graduating from kindergarten, but because after I filed away his fourth "my first year of school" memory book, I knew it was time.  So no tears were shed, but I couldn't wipe off the smile from my face or the pride in my heart.  He has worked so hard this year and has excelled (much thanks to the 2 years of preschool and additional year of kindergarten...I think I would be worried if he didn't excell). He got chosen to introduce the class with a little poem and he looked so adorable with his little clip-on tie and hands clasped as he confidently recited the poem.  Confidence is definately his strength, like when he told me he had to wear church clothes and then everyone else showed up in jeans and polos, and he could care less.  Kylie would have been humiliated but it didn't even phase him, he's not one to care about what others think and I really admire that about him.  He knew he looked spiffy and that's all that mattered. They sang the cutest songs and it's a good thing I made a special trip to buy new video tapes since the battery wasn't working on the video camera, boo.

We LOVE Mrs. Moore.  Kylie had her as well and she will always have a special place in our hearts. I thought Jayden would be so excited about summer but instead he spent the last school night crying in his bed because he was going to miss Mrs. Moore.  He said he would rather be at school with her than at home with me, such love.

Everyone took off quickly after the graduation so this was the only friend we could snag to take a picture with.  Jayden liked Hudson because he is nice and had the best birthday party out of anyone in the class. Necessary requirements for a good friend.

We are so proud of you, Jayden and are excited for the new adventures that await you in first grade!

Visitors

We try to entice any visitors down with the promise of Jay's steaks (which have now been affectionately named "J-bones"...instead of T-bones..get it??) and a trip to the lake.  We were excited when my brother Troy and his family took the bait and came down for Memorial day weekend.  We got an extra bonus when my other brother, Tyler who is down in Tucson for the month doing his medical residency was able to get the weekend off and come too (along with a quick visit from Jason's highschool friend and his wife and some of my brother's friends who recently moved here too...maybe we shouldn't throw out the lure of steaks quite so loosely next time, haha :).  We really did do more than just go to the park but I have not been at the top of my photography game and this was the only time I remembered my camera.  Besides the park we lived in the pool, on the lake and at the kitchen table (and in front of the TV with wii and movie parties).  Brenton and Jayden formed an eternal bond over Christmas and it was fun to see them reunited.  Maddox adopted Alyssa as his "new baby brother" and was so cute and protective of her.  Troy managed to pop out a few ribs on the wakeboard and Sam gave me AMAZING foot massages and that pretty much sums up our weekend.  Thanks for coming!!

Big Boy Nana

First to go were the sippy cups, then the diapers and now his crib.  Maddox has been forced to grow up over the past few months before this baby comes and rocks his world.   So far he has embraced his inner big boy with open arms and it has been fun seeing him grow up.  He has finally hit the terrible two's, though, and curse whoever came up with that.  It may be for the best since I was having serious issues with playing favorites.  I remember a month ago talking to my sister on the phone and taking pride in the fact that he is so easy and I had never raised my voice or lost my cool with him while every other mother of a two year old was at the mercy of their tantrums.  Then IT happened. I was at the store and he happened to open a sucker and since the cashier was watching I had to do the right thing and pay for it, even though it was one of those obnoxious blow pops that are the size of his head.  I wouldn't give it to him even after I bought it because all 2 year olds have the intellectual capability of understanding consequences (right??) and that was the beginning of the end.  Back arched, writhing on the floor, feet kicking, non stop crying....and it hasn't stopped yet.  I still have room in my heart to love him, but he has definately dropped ranks in the favorites category (although he does get extra credit points everytime he randomly runs up to me, wraps his arms around me and says, "I lub you, mom, you my bes fren").  Maybe just maybe he'll get it all out of his system before the next little bundle of crying joy comes along.

LA Baby!

I didn't go into labor, much to the relief of my 10 honorary birthing coaches...we learned the hard way that a Subway located in a gas station is never a good idea...we laughed until we almost peed our pants in the McDonald's parking lot...after 3 failed attempts at good food we finally had a decent meal...we didn't get attacked by our sketchy "6 foot, 7 foot, 8 foot punch" hotel neighbor (who ended up being a church going family guy)...we shopped more in one day than I have the entire past month...thankfully the world didn't come to an end on May 21st as predicted by the crazies...we enjoyed the magic of Hollywood with shoulder to shoulder sweaty tourists and creepy guys dressed up trying to make a buck...we thought 11 obnoxious hot mamas would be enough to get us front row seats at the Jay Leno show, but we were lucky to barely get in and enjoy our nosebleed seats...We were hoping they would secure the likes of Justin Timberlake, Usher or The Beibes on the Tonight Show.  Instead we got Kirstie Alley, whoop....I forget that unlike Gilbert, every other woman in LA is not pregnant and I can't count how many times strangers commented on my belly (like the lady who asked me how I got pregnant and then continued to lecture me, if only my fingers weren't too swollen to wear my wedding ring)...not getting cited for jay walking across 4 lanes of traffic in front of a cop is always a good thing....eating Crumbs cupcakes in the middle of the night after some questionable Mexican food is not a good thing...I really tried to not pull the pregnancy card but when my friends volunteered a foot massage I didn't hesitate for a second and it was heavenly....contrary to popular belief, you do not get sick from fettucini alfredo that has been sitting in the car for hours and then reheated in a gas station microwave (we had some serious food issues on this trip)....to sum it up: we slept in, ate like crap, shopped our hearts (and feet) out, we chose girl talk over sleep every night and we have enough inside jokes to keep us laughing for a loooong time now. I had the best time with these girls and can't wait until the next girls trip!