Santa Clause came to town

I had an especially busy day at work one day this week. My sweet mom agreed to babysit Ryker all day. I was feeling bummed that I had to be away and busy all day, and feeling bad to impose on my  mom. I sent Ryker to Grandma's in an ugly sweatshirt and sweat pants from Khols, as I figured he wasn't going anywhere special. My super fun mom took him shopping, but him a new outfit, and took him to meet Santa and get his pictures taken. And managed to get this all done between morning nad afternoon nap- way to go! When I picked him up that night I had such a good surprise- darling pictures, new outfit, happy baby! I just love this boy! And I have to brag, because the photo people said he was one easy, happy baby to photograph. 

 Going for a ride...

 Giving him a present gets this face...

 taking a present away gets this face....

 Love that you can see his two bottom teeth!

Seriously... have you ever seen a baby so happy to go to a stranger in a white beard?! I love that they crop them all to avoid Santa's face. That way you don't have a creepy man in  your picture, and it's more about the child. 

"Thanks again Grandma Jen for being a fun grammy and taking me to get my pictures. We had a fun day, and mom loved the surprise!"

Merry Christmas everyone! 

From, Ryker

Winter is coming... though Santa may not ;(

It started like this: a beautiful snow storm that dumped over a foot at our house. It snowed all weekend. It was great fun. Ryker loved it. I was loving it...

 Then in one of my many trips from South Jordan to Farmington that fateful Sunday... ended like this:

Arg!! It was sunny and beautiful in South Jordan, so I set out for church in Farmington. Only to hit a crazy blizzard in North Salt Lake. I promise I slowed down... there were people going faster than me Rick! But nonetheless, I lost control, skidded all over the freeway, and finally slammed into the cement barrier. Ryker screamed. I cried. I felt like a horrible mom. Thank you to the Highway Patrol Officer that got me turned around and out of oncoming traffic.

Now I just await the bad news of the total $. Bumper gone, wheel well bent, suspension off, light gone, cords dangling. It's all adding up to Santa telling me I get no presents! Ahhh... Happy Winter.

A month of Firsts

October was a month of many firsts for Ryker:

 First Bath in the sink... Rick's idea, and quite a good one! It's the perfect size for him to sit up and  have enough water to keep him warm.  And despite this sinister looking face, he is quite a sweet boy!

 First time playing in the snow... don't mind the miss-match outfit.. this is about the experience!!

 First crush...... Ah... which girlfriend shall I choose?

 First piano concert....

where most of the melody was carried by Jared (who has quite the ear for any song, self taught mozart here!)

 First spoon fed lunch at the babysitter's...

 In which he did NOT 

appreciate the flavor I chose!!  Sorry Jen, the presentation was great. Bad choosing on my part. Great picture taking on your part!

 First Halloween...... A costume party at Grandma's. We won the most original!

First time playing in the leaves... who wouldn't have fun with a chubby puppy boy like this!

Fall Favorites

I honestly wish I had the life of a seven month old! 

Three meals a day, spoon fed in the high chair. Mess on your clothes, sure. Spill on the floor, no problem. Feel like banging your hands on the tray with wild screeching, in pure happiness- Go for it buddy!! You make me smile!

 Some play time in the Johnny jump up, which includes happy chatters with Mr. Oreck. 

A leisurely walk in the stroller to the mailbox,

 followed by eating the mail key while we sit on the porch swing and watch for Daddy to come home (poor buddy did get his first official Farmington Mosquito bite the size of a marble right between the eyes.. welcome to the swamp my boy).

A bath with toys, two people smiling and watching me, and not a care in the world. 

Ryker's 6 month pictures

I knew Ryker had his 6 month pictures coming up, so we had been practicing sitting up on his own. Every time he would tip over within seconds. Through some magic, that day he sat up all by himself for an hour!! I had never seen him do that. Since then, he is a champ at sitting up. I also packed the cutest orange shirt to go with this owl I bought, and he spit up all over it before we even got one shot. Ugh! Oh well, white will do. This first one is my favorite:

Thanks mom for the great tip and portrait package at Photogenix. I think they captured the personality of our cute little Ryker.

Ryker's first haircut

 Before: the unruly mop on top was just getting to long!

After: he really did like it and was happy, this face is deceiving. 

And thanks to our master hair cutter Ali! 

The big 3-0- Happy Birthday Rick!!

 Rick's mom made him a delicious Dutch Oven Dinner of chicken and biscuits, followed by a nice chocolate cake.

 Rick's parents had a fun surprise for him- a ride around the block in the cash cab, in which we aced the trivia questions and won some serious cash money. It's a good birthday when everyone wins $! Next time we need to get Ryker to relax and enjoy the ride. All the cheering and yelling scared him so bad he screamed and cried. Sadest face ever :(

I surprised him with a chalk drawing done by a cute girl in the Ranches on our driveway. She did such a good job! Rick was pleasantly surprised to come home from work and find it- a fisherman catching the big three-o. If you are old and turning thirty, mind as well announce it to everyone in style :)

Happy birthday to our dearest daddy and the best husband ever! You are a handsome thirty!!

Our trip to the Big Apple

 After getting up very early,  a long flight in which Ryker was absolutely perfect,  and hauling around much luggage, we arrived at our hotel in Times Square. 

 The boys waited patiently while we checked in. 

 We had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant this first night that was one of my favorites. We then ventured to the Empire State building with Ryker in the front pack- something he really loved.

 The view at night from the top is incredible!

 A bit blurry... but here's most of the gang

 The first of many taxi rides with Ryker sitting on our laps. Unsafe, I know, but apparently legal in NewYork. I did take the car seat whenever I could just for the record :)

Little buddy still adjusting to the time change slept in and missed breakfast. But who could wake a face like this?

 A little lunch, shopping and buzz lightyear in Times Square

 Should the two Great Dane Employees adopt the Great Dane at Pet Adoption day in Times Square? Probably not... probably anyone who lives in a tiny apartment in Manhattan should not adopt a Great Dane! 

 Dinner at a rotating restaurant on top of the hotel in which Carter bravely tried the "Quail" for his appetizer. My dessert had real gold flakes on it.. worth taking a picture. 

 A great evening at the Lion King play on Broadway. Thanks to my mom who patiently rocked the tired and fussy Ryker to bed and stayed back at the hotel with him so I could go see the play. The costumes were amazing and I sure enjoyed my free evening!

Sunday we toured Jared's mission, which was fun to see. He was a well liked missionary and still has many people excited to see him! A cute family put on a nice bbq for us and fed us so much food! I wish I had taken pictures there. This is a house he lived in the very top floor in Staten Island for awhile.

 He took us to lunch at Goodfella's pizza- a popular dining establishment and quite delicious. 

 During the mission tour, we crammed all 9 of us in a 7 passenger van for the day. Carter and Jordy took turns riding in the luggage compartment in the back (notice the sweet marks down Carter's face after a long nap back there). And Ryker sat in his carseat on the floor. It worked great!

 Monday brought a day full of sight-seeing, including a bike ride through Central Park. Ryker sat so well back here, and like it as long as Rick kept the bike moving. 

 It really is mind boggling how big Central Park is. Lakes, boat rides, zoos, tennis courts, horse and carriage rides, you name it- they have it!

All tuckered out after working so hard on his bike ride. Just one of the many crazy places he chose to take his nap. 

 This was the only day that was unbearably hot. You can tell everyone looks super happy in this picture. I really enjoyed Ellis Island. Statue of Liberty looks best from the boat ride. 

 The next day we rented two vans to drive to upstate New York. Carter was actually super well behaved on the 6 hour drive. He entertained himself in the back seat quite well. It's so funny to sit and listen to him talk to himself, play with his magnetic metal stick he bought a variety store in a small town on the way, and make video's where he self-narrates the whole time. There is no question what's going through this kid's head- he verbalizes it all!

 The face of a baby who enjoyed the car ride because he caught up on some good naps. The drive was beautiful and I wish I would have taken pictures. 

 That night we checked into our hotel on the Eerie Canal, and attended the Mormon miracle pageant in Palmayra. Very cool! It's amazing how many people are in the pageant and how far they come from to be a part of it. These kids were super cute and excited to be in everyone's pictures.

The boys attempted to jump off this bridge into the yucky canal water in their swim suits and my mom came running out of the hotel, yelling at them to get down!! Attempt failed. Crisis averted. We later found out jumping in is illegal. But the boys still regret not jumping. 

 The Jospeh Smith Family farm house. Very cool to walk inside and see. I can't believe how many people lived here!

 The sacred grove. Some of us remembered to be more sacred than others... :) Rick even spotted a deer in here!

 And last day... Niagra Falls and Canada. Only my sweet Ryker could nap through the crazy rain/mist and noise that comes off the falls. They gave you these complementary poncho's, and we modified mine to have a little hole for his head too.

 It's incredible how much water is flowing over the falls every second. 

 Another nap in the front pack that Rick swore he would never be caught dead wearing. And a very informative and relaxing bus ride narrated by our tour guide Norm- who was very efficient and full of interesting facts. 

 This butterfly atrium was very cool. They were flying around everywhere in here and would just land on you. So many kinds and colors. 

All in all, it was a great vacation, with only a few minor mishaps. We all enjoyed it and really appreciate our good dad Billy for taking us on another fun Nehmer Family vacation. Thanks Dad!