Family Update- Almost 2

Hey folks!

Its been quite a while since I have been able to post. There have been quite a few changes in our life and many new experiences! In October, Ryker got to come to nursery for the first time. I have been Nursery Leader for a year and a half, so if I thought I would get a break from parenting, I was mistaken! Ha Ha. He is turning two at the end of the month and he has become quite the independent stinker.

My parents have each been having their own problems to deal with, so at the end of October, Ryker and I made and impromptu field trip, cross-country, in a car. We drove from Sedalia to Ogden in less than two days. We made great time and Ryker did wonderfully!

While in Utah, I discovered I was pregnant! Baby #2 is currently on HER way to making her presence. Just over three months left. We were also able to attend my little sister's baptism. She was beautiful and the spirit of a baptism is so special! I hope she will remember how she felt as she made the decision to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We were also able to be in Utah when my beautiful cousin returned from her mission in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was so fun to catch up with her! Ryker was born while she was out, so it was also the first time she was able to meet him in person.

After a month away, Justin was dying to see us again and we were pretty excited to see him! So we drove back home.

My sister and her husband just had their first baby! He was born April 7, and he is adorable! We won't be able to meet him in person until after our little baby is born in July.

I am also starting a new job. I will be working as a breastfeeding peer counselor at the WIC office. It will be about 4 hours a week. After nursing Ryker for 20 months, I have lots of experience and knowledge to pass on. I'm excited to get other mom's excited about breastfeeding.




Not so fun news...

In September we decided to increase our household by one. We got a Puggle from the animal shelter, he is almost 3 and fully-grown. We fell in love with him very quickly! However, 10 days after we brought him home we discovered that he had a skittish problem and was not very good with kids. He bit Ryker on the face. It was very tough to make the decision we did. We chose to keep him. With lots of work and teaching Ryker how to approach him and letting Jasper know how to react to Ryker, we were incident free for a long time. Six months later, Saturday night, Ryker was on my lap and Jasper was sitting on the other couch.  Ryker got up to get a toy from across the room and Jasper lunged. The most traumatic experience for me was witnessing this whole thing happen. All I can figure is Jasper was jealous of Ryker. For him to attack without having been touch or looked at was very startling for me. I grabbed Ryker and ran into the bathroom. Justin removed Jasper from the home and we are never looking back.

After filing a report with Animal Control and speaking with the animal shelter, we have decided that he will live with Justin's aunt. He is wonderful with adults, but she has been warned that he needs to be kept away from children. Hopefully she will heed our warnings and there will be no further incidents.

We were given two options. First, he would spend the rest of his life at the shelter because he can not be adopted again. I am too soft-hearted to allow him to live a life like that. Second, he could live with a family member or friend and all responsibility would be removed from our hands. Justin's Aunt is happy with the decision. However, if I have to see him again, I may break down.

It has been a very emotional weekend, not from pregnancy hormones, but because every-time I close my eyes the nightmares start and I see Jasper attacking Ryker over and over.

14 Months and Running the House

Ryker is now 14 months old. He weighs 24 lbs and is almost 32 inches tall. He is quite the little dare devil. Ryker is always sporting bruises on his shins and quite often the side of his head. He also gets his feelings hurt very easily. He knows when he is doing something that isn't approved and when he hears the word "No" he gets so dramatic!

When it comes to eating... It is quite struggle. He is in between the period of wanting to feed himself table food, and still wanting the puree. He is sporting 6 teeth on top and 2 on bottom. So I am quite afraid to give him whole food because he can't quite chew his food. Apparently he is also afraid of this and it is my only explanation for why he is having such a hard time at meal time.

When he does eat, he eats a lot!

Ryker currently doesn't have any favorite toys because he is so busy playing with all of his toys at once! He absolutely loves the park and especially loves the kiddie pool in our back yard. We also had a friend over, Silas, who is 19 days younger than Ryker. It was so fun!

As far as our breastfeeding is going, I am still breastfeeding 3 times a day and how ever often Ryker wants at night. Ryker sleeps in his bed all night. He went from waking 3 times a night to eat, to once. I have conflicting emotions. But that is for me to deal with! I love my  little man, and my big man is pretty amazing too!

Trip to Utah

My sister Chelsea is getting married!

And to help feel a little included in the wedding planning process, I surprised her and Ryker and I flew out there last week for bridal showers and wedding planning. She was very shocked!

I learned very quickly that there is very little free time in the Durrant, and Bartholomew family households. Everyone has a schedule, they go, and go, and go, and go... Very little time was actually spent as family time. I slept at my mom's like usual.

I noticed that one of the biggest complications we experienced was not having a crib for Ryker. We had just gotten him into the habit of sleeping in his own bed every night. There was a crib at my dad's, but the side wouldn't stay up. My mom has a play pen, but Ryker never fell asleep deep enough to be moved to the play pen. As a result, he shared the bed with me. It took a whole day  trying to get him to sleep in his crib again when we got home.

To complicate our busy week at home ( in Missouri), Ryker developed a bacterial sinus infection, probably from teething. He seems to get teeth two at a time. It happened this way with his bottom teeth too. One tooth will break through and then go back in until the other one is ready to come out. So, he is on an allergy medication, an antibiotic, and iron drops because he is slightly anemic. We discovered the infection when he woke up one morning with a fever of 103.4-degrees. Our poor child was so cuddly and sleepy for two days after he started the antibiotic. Now, he is back to making lots of messes and is even eating more. While he was super sick, the only food he consumed was breastmilk. So, good thing I wasn't even close to weaning him!