FrIeNdS!

I have so many wonderful friends. Since school let out for the holidays, I've had the opportunity to spend some time with them! They love Ryker and I love them!

Ashley came to visit us yesterday from Oklahoma! I was so happy. I can't believe it's been so long since I've seen her... well I guess just a semester but it definitely feels longer than that. And she'll be gone for SO long. Anyway, she got to see Ryker and it was fun to catch up. I love my Shlee! We are going to miss our daughter Brittany! We were her "parents" while she was here at USU because hers were so far away. I loved going to concerts and hearing her awesome solos - she's the best bass clarinet player this side-da-Mississippi! I really have had a lot of fun with Brittany these last few years. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do without her. :'-( This was at her going-away-party and it was great but we bawled our faces off.
This is currently my favorite couple on the planet. Whitney and Nate are two of the greatest people I know and now they're dating! I helped them with their christmas gifts to each other. Whitney made Nate a quilt and Nate made Whitney a scrapbook! Both were Amaaazing. Nate is actually extremely crafty and creative. He pretty much did the whole thing without me. What a stud.

The Life and Times of Ryker

So here's the stats on our son:
Ryker is such a good baby. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful child. But don't get me wrong, I'm not getting used to it - I know the day will come when one nap is all you'll get in the day instead of dropping in and out of sleep all day long.

He is SO strong! I'm sure every mother thinks that their baby is a fast learner and I do too! Ryker was holding his head up pretty much the day he came out of the womb - I never really have had to worry about it. He is also using his legs to stand and jump when you hold him under the arms. he loves moving around and using his arms and legs.

What a man! No fear in the face of DANGER! haha. (that's the dog's name)

He LOVES being naked. My best friend Ashley claims that he gets this from me. :-)
Ryker is already smiling! I can't believe it. I think he gave me his first smile like... oh 2 weeks ago but yesterday he gave me a HUGE smile when I was laughing with another one of my friends, Tiauna. I haven't quite captured this on camera yet but I am bound and determined!

At night he sleeps... okay. I guess I can't complain but when school comes around I hope he sleeps more. I've heard of how draining it is to not get sleep but what I've heard doesn't compare to how it feels. I had one full week of school after he was born and it was not fun at all. It made me very nervous for next semester when I'll be taking boards. But I can't do anything about it except keep working hard and deal with it when it comes.

I feel bad because I know that I haven't been able to enjoy Ryker as much as I could. It feels like school is still the thing that I think of most often - sadly. I hope this doesn't make me a bad mother. I just know that my sister Jodi LOVES holding and playing with her new baby Colby. She wants to spend every second with him because he is her last. I wish I could do that with Ryker. Just hold him and love him all day long! I'm sure someday he'll understand and I only have ONE semester left!
This is Colby - isn't he ADORABLE?! Ah! I have SO many cute nieces and nephews it's insane. I really don't know how my kids are going to keep up. Colby loves Ryker already. He gave him a nice big kiss - true, Ryker doesn't look too thrilled, frightened even but I'm sure they'll be best of friends.
I think Ryker has been a little spoiled lately. Being the holidays, we spend a lot of time with family and everyone wants to hold him so he doesn't really get put down at all. Well now he's hooked! He never wants to be put down.

Papa Nana Cousin Hannah - She's growing up so fast! Such a beautiful young woman.And even Uncle Paul can't help showing his absolute love for our Star Trek Star
I love my son. He is such a blessing to us and I wouldn't ask for a different child! haha.

BaBy RyKeR!

He's here! And what a handsome little tyke he is too!

Let me just say that I would go back and go through labor with Ryker any day! I know, I'm completely retarded but it was such a good experience and I loved every minute of it.

I've had a call for pictures of little Ryker so here they are!

1 Day old!


4 Days Old

Look at those hands and feet! HUGE!

I love Ryker so much!

Out of my womb and into my heart!

Ryker Vaughn Hoffer is finally here!

He was born Monday, November 8th at 2:26 pm.

6 lb 13 oz, 19 inches long.

I woke up monday morning at 2:00 am soaking wet. I was so convinced of the fact that I was going to be pregnant for the rest of my life that I didn't even think that my water had broke! I didn't wake up Nate either because I just didn't want to bother him for no reason! But after I went to the bathroom and realized that I couldn't possibly be peeing for that long I decided I should start to take things seriously. Nate woke up and got all excited (of course) and I called the hospital to let them know we'd be coming. I also wasn't sure that it was legit because I wasn't having any contractions. They told me to come in because the baby would need to be delivered within 12 hours of my water breaking. Nate went around the house gathering the things from my checklist that we prepared one family home evening while I called my mom who was at my cousin mindy's house in Salt Lake. I'm sure Mindy wasn't super crazy about me calling her cell phone at 3:00 am but what do ya do? I had to have my mom there!

Nice socks huh?

We got to the hospital at 3:00 am and after going to the wrong floor, we settled into our room. I started having little contractions so Nate and I walked around the Delivery floor for a while. My mom showed up around 4:30 and walked with us. I bounced on the exercise ball while we watched Bill Cosby "Himself." I was laughing so hard it was almost embarrassing.

My first nurse was awesome. She helped us a lot with different methods that would make a natural birth more bearable. We tried to sleep a little and watched Harry Potter but I was just excited to have Ryker here. 

After a few hours, nothing was really happening with my contractions so they put me on a low dose of pitocin to make them more regular... That's when I started to feel them. 

Nathan started coaching me through the contractions with breathing techniques that we learned from Helen, our Lamaz teacher. He was AWESOME at this. It made it so much easier to get through the contractions. I felt that I was in complete control and that they weren't unbearable - Just uncomfortable. 

She kept increasing the dose of pitocin and when my contractions started really hitting me, she put me on a great drug called Fentanyl. It didn't take away the pain, it just made me not care that I was in pain. In fact, in between contractions I would look and Nate and say, "Nate, I love you SO much. You're SO handsome." And then I would look at my mom and say, "Mom, Thank you for being here, You are the best!"

By this time, they had me in the bed because they wanted to be monitoring Ryker's heart beat. It was harder to get through the contractions just lying there but I never did feel that they were too painful. We just breathed through them and my nurse kept saying how awesome I was at getting through them. Sadly, she had to go into surgery about 2 hours before Ryker was born. Our next nurse was SO nice but she came in and said that she had only been there for 2 weeks and she'd never seen a natural birth before... This is where Nate took over. 

He did all of the coaching and motivating. He was a trooper! My mom kept a wet washcloth on my forehead and that felt very nice. I was just so pampered! 

Unfortunately, Dr. Kirkman was away on a family emergency and was not able to be there for my delivery. Instead, we had Dr. Blackett. She was great but I just didn't know her. She told me the day after that not many people actually make it through without an epidural and before she came in, she didn't think I was going to make it. 

I loved not having an epidural because I felt that I was in complete control. my body told me when I was having a contraction and I started to push. I only pushed for about 30 minutes and Ryker was born. Nathan got to cut the cord and they set Ryker on my lap for maybe... 10 seconds and then whisked him away to the heating table. He was completely white. Nathan was by his side the whole time as the respiratory therapist was giving Ryker oxygen because he wasn't quite breathing well enough. 

Nate wouldn't leave Ryker's side. Ryker was breathing funny when he came out so he was white as a ghost.

The nurse helped me off the bed, change and into a wheelchair. She said it was nice to have someone who could do it all herself - Because I didn't have an epidural I was standing and cleaning myself off.

First family photo.

I didn't get to see Ryker again for a while because they took him to the NICU but they fixed him all up and when I did get to hold him, it was pure bliss. 

This was my view of Ryker pretty much the first time I got to hold him.  He stared at me... and I stared back.

The Oak Tree

President Ballard used a wonderful poem in his CES fireside tonight and I wanted to share it.

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.

It stole the Oak Tree's leaves away.

Then snapped its boughs

and pulled its bark

until the Oak was tired and stark.

But still the Oak Tree held its ground

while other trees fell all around.

The weary wind gave up and spoke,

"How can you still be standing Oak?"

The Oak Tree said, I know that you

can break each branch of mine in two,

carry every leaf away,

shake my limbs and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,

growing stronger since my birth.

You'll never touch them, for you see

they are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn't sure

of just how much I could endure.

But now I've found with thanks to you,

I'm stronger than I ever knew.

I've been pregnant for 6,432 hours!

Well I haven't had him yet. I know I said that the next time I would post would be when he got here but I wanted to share the thoughts that have been going through my mind the past couple days. I think it will be funny to come back and read this in years to come and to see how much of a baby I was.

Last night I woke up at 2:30 in the morning. Dead awake. The only thing I could think about was how I REALLY wanted to go into labor. (Funny right?) I started thinking about school and how hard it was going to be if Ryker came late. I actually got super frustrated and was almost mad that I hadn't had him yet! It was so stupid because I've always known that he wasn't going to come until at least the 9th but there was just this burning rage inside me about why he wouldn't come! Then... I got a leg cramp. haha! It was a sign I think saying to stop being such a retard. I screamed and Nate freaked out and I had to reassure him that the baby was not coming. I told him how frustrated I was and he just told me that it didn't matter when he came, everything would be okay.
Pretty sure that every mother I've talked to in the last week has said that they went past their due date by a week! A WEEK, PEOPLE! That's another 168 hours of being pregnant!
I would really be okay with it but school just scares me. I have done so well thus far and I hope I don't fall behind.
Also, let me just put in the record that I have not just sat around, hoping that Ryker would magically appear - I have made a good effort. I've gone to school up to this point, we've went hiking for 3 days straight and we went to the football game and I walked all the way to the top of the press box to video with Nate and back down to video on the field. I have definitely not been a lazy pregnant girl!
I know I sound frustrated but I hope to convey a lesson to those of you who are also suffering from pregnancy fatigue: The Lord has a special moment in time when your baby will be born. We went to stake conference today and the primary president talked about the Lord's timing. She said that the Lord knows when you want something but He wants you to have the faith to ask for it. So off I go to have some nice study and prayer time. :-)

7 DAYS!

I can't believe that I only have 7 days left until I get to hold little Ryker in my arms!
Until he'll stop kicking me... at least from the inside; until I can get a decent night's rest without acid reflux creeping into my mouth; until I can shave my legs again; until I can wear winter clothes that fit.
Sigh... I'll miss it all. :-)

The Lord has really blessed us this semester. Nathan has been able to go to school and work a little on the side and seems to be doing decent in his classes. The goal is to get his grades high enough to go to graduate school!
I have been flying through my requirements at school and I feel as if I am getting better and better each and every day. I was told yesterday by one of my professors that she would recommend me anytime for employment! That is definitely what you want to hear!
I am excited to get out into the workforce and find an awesome dentist to work for, but at the same time I'm scared to find one that... Well, let's just not even think about it and it won't happen. :-)

I say 7 Days, but I sure hope that he comes sooner... Possibly right now???
Nope... Nothin.
Nate and I have been trying everything we've heard to get this baby moving along and I guess I've felt a few more contractions but nothing significant. They don't even hurt so I'm thinking it's not the real thing. We went to the Aggie basketball game the other night and parked as far away as possible. We basically ran up that hill. Then I definitely participated in a cheer that the students always do where they chant, "I believe that we will win" as they jump up and down in rhythm for about 5 minutes. You'd think Ryker would fall right out onto his head, but no.
I keep telling him that even though this world is wicked, he'll be in a good home and that I promise his dad won't embarrass him too much, but he's content where he's at. Maybe there's just a party in there and he doesn't want to leave? Who knows...
At least I have Danger here to root me on. He likes to go on walks so we've been doing a lot of that too.

We didn't do much for halloween this year but I did dress up which is what I usually don't do.
Scary picture, no?
Oh, I know I'm super cute but wow... what is that thing next to me? Haha. That is Tiauna. She's special and she's actually a good friend of mine. She's pretty crazy. If you couldn't tell, she's dressed up as Lady Gaga.
Nate and I had a good time making my costume...
We'll be sure to tell Ryker that he was Minnie Mouse for his first Halloween.

Here's a nice little taste of what it feels like being pregnant:
YOU KNOW YOU'RE 9 MONTHS PREGNANT WHEN...

… you find new and inventive ways to pick up something you dropped on the floor.

… you desperately wish for one of those hover chairs from the movie Wall-E.

… slip on shoes and flip flops are your go to shoe, even in cold weather.

… in the event you put on real shoes, you have to have someone else tie them for you.

… people call or text daily simply to ask “Do we have a baby yet?!”

… your heartburn hurts more than your contractions.

… you get up, shower, do your makeup and hair, then decide its time for a nap.

… hearing of other people having their babies makes you want to cry.

… every time you roll over and moan due to pains, your significant other jumps up and asks, “Is it time?!” (Everyday for about the past... 5 days Nate yells, "Is baby coming today?!" every time I make a sound.)

… you see your OB or Midwife more often than you see your toes.

… you spend hours online looking up ways to induce your own labor. (Castor oil? Yuck!)

… you beg your significant other to take a shower with you, so he can help with things you cant reach. (SOAP IS MY ARCH NEMESIS)

… you have to have someone help you out of bed, otherwise you look like a beached whale.

… you manage to hit random surfaces (fridge door, bathroom counter) with your belly. (I manage to nudge my patient's heads when I'm cleaning their teeth)

… you know you should be eating healthy meals, but have no energy so you opt for easy snacks you can eat while laying on the couch. (Pizza Rolls = My best friends)

… you have to mentally prepare yourself for the chore that is rolling over in bed. (I also have to prepare Nate. It usually takes the whole bed to do so)

… lose fitting shorts and t-shirts are your daily attire.

… you actually talk to your stomach, begging baby to come out already.

… you go to the bathroom so many times, and wonder how it is even possible for that much fluid to fit in your body. (I actually sit on the toilet and wonder why I had to go and that it was definitely not worth the 2 drops that came out)

… when you go to a restaurant, and your stomach touches the table in the booth.

… when the cashier insists that you use the drive up feature to get your groceries.

… the thought of the insane pain that is labor, excites you.

… you cant remember what its like to be able to breathe.

… you pray to wake up in a puddle, meaning your water has broken, and hate it because it’s a no.

… when you use your belly as a desk for your laptop (totally doing so right now).

… you steal your significant others shorts and boxers to sleep in, because your clothes don’t fit. (Pretty sure Nate's clothes don't fit either haha!)

… you sleep with Tums next to the bed.

… you get excited when people put their hands inside you, because you desperately hope you have dilated. (Sick but true)

… a glass of milk gives you heartburn.

… you pray for maternity parking where ever you go.

Well let's hope that my next post bears good news and pictures of cute little Ryker!

Active little Ryker, Lamaz, School, Apartment, DANGER

I feel like my stomach is a bounce house.
Ryker moves around pretty much everytime I sit or lay down. I really like it a lot but it's the weirdest feeling. Nate's so excited because he can actually feel him now.
One morning as we were waking up, he reached over and put his hand on my belly. I guess Ryker didn't like this too much because he kicked Nate's hand so hard that I jumped. Nate screamed, "Oh my gosh!" Haha. He's gonna be a socca playa!This is at our Lamaz class! Oh boy, it is the funnest class I may have ever been to. Our teacher is hysterical! Last class we were talking about labor and she had the funniest things to say about the mother's mood changes throughout labor. She said in the second stage, the mother gets really mad and looks at the husband and says, "My mother doesn't like you... My mother has never liked you and I think I'm beginning to know why!" She also talked about the nesting instinct and that the mother will want to clean out all the closets in the house and then she won't get them put back together until the kid goes back to college. haha. Seriously, I should have recorded this last session cuz I was rolling out of my seat.
I really think that these classes are made for the husbands. She talks to them the majority of the time. She acts like they are the ones who will be in the most hurt throughout labor. haha, this may be true! So far, Nate has learned to give me massages and that it's his responsibility to coach me through breathing exercises and no matter how much I act like I hate him, to be with me during the contractions.

Nate has really treated me well during this pregnancy. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm thinking that I might actually enjoy being pregnant! The last couple weeks have been wonderful. Nate doesn't let me do any heavy work - he does it himself and he always takes me out for ice cream! Not only that, I've felt very self confident. I am content with how I look right now and I'm just happily going along. i'm wondering if this is why so many women suffer from post-pardem depression. They feel so good the last few months of their pregnancy (heartburn and back aches aside) and then go back to feeling crappy after the baby is born. I hope I don't get that way.


Monday was the first day of school. Ugh... I guess the first few days aren't bad - at least there aren't projects and tests due. But believe me, THOSE ARE COMING UP. I really don't know how they have time to come up with all of the things that we have to do. I also don't know how I'm going to keep it all straight and in on time.
It's nice to be second years. Although I'm not excited for it, at least I'm not scared out of my mind. First years, on the other hand, are another matter. haha! They wander around looking lost and confused and usually travel in packs. I came across one little girl who had a big box of books in her hands and was pacing back and forth in the lobby muttering something to herself. She seriously reminded me of Dory from Finding Nemo. I asked her if she needed some help and that's all it took - her eyes teared up and she bumbled, "I lost my clinic manual!" I had to hold back a giggle but I told her we'd find it. I opened the nearest door which was our locker room and pointed on top of the fridge that is in there. Sure enough, it was her clinic manual. She looked a little embarrassed but said thanks. Haha! She was so cute. But seriously people! You think Dental Hygiene is a fun little program laa laa laa where we make cute posters and look all pretty but they will eat you alive!

We moved into a new apartment this last week. It's on what those from Logan call, "The Island." It's a beautiful area with trees everywhere and there is even a little stream that runs right next to our house. I'm pleasantly surprised because we already have the apartment pretty much unpacked!
So you may not think this is a big deal but when we moved into our first apartment, Aggie Village, I did not have decorations on the walls for about 1 year! Nate says I'm exaggerating but I doubt he took a second look at the blank cinder block walls. Here I am in our new kitchen. Everyone wants to see pictures of my belly so here ya go.


Along with the new apartment, we also have a new dog! Yes everyone, that's right - KaDee got her dog before Nate got his baby!!! I guess this really isn't true because we are just babysitting him for my brother James but I still consider him mine for the time being. everyone meet, DANGER. Isn't he handsome?!
You know you gotta love that face.
Sadly, right now, Danger is in time out. :-( He took off after a cat and I then had to chase him through people's backyards until he couldn't find the cat anymore. He's an awesome dog besides cats. They just get to him I guess. He's gotta eat them when he sees them or his whole universe will explode. He's usually pretty chill - he follows us from room to room and sleeps. It's funny to see him attack the vacuum though. He'll run away when it's coming right for him but he'll come back for an attack when the vacuum is turned away. Haha.
The best part is when we come home from shopping or something. He gets SO excited! He has no tail to wag, but he wags his whole back end and turns around in circles. It's the greatest.
The one other times he gets excited is when I feed him. He only gets to eat once a day so you can see why it would be exciting but he'll act like he doesn't care while I fill the bowl but when I set it on the ground he runs around the room and half way up the stairs and then rears up on his hind legs. He'll stop again for a minute and look at me, once again acting like he really don't care that much and then when I turn back to what I was doing, he runs for the bowl. He always grabs one mouthful and takes it back to his bed, dropping a bunch on the way. He savors each bite and then vacuums up what he dropped on his way back to the bowl where he takes about 3 minutes to finish it off.

Kidney Infection = PAIN

Before I start this entry I guess I should clarify that we are currently now living in Idaho for the summer with my parents! YAY! Nate got an internship at Idaho National Laboratories - he's loving it! He's working on some kind of nuclear-power-plant-blah-blah-KaDee-doesn't-understand project. My parents were so excited to have us come. I hope they are still happy that we are here. I honestly am probably THE worst pregnant woman you will ever meet. Like seriously...

So ever since we came to Idaho I just haven't been feeling the best. Last week I felt a little fluish and I seem to throw up about twice a week. I also don't eat... like ever... I think that's a problem. Don't you? Well I thought that this was just another "You're pregnant, it sucks." thing. This week, however, things got a whole lot worse.
Tuesday I randomly threw up all over the outside of my parents car (My mom didn't pull over in time). It was actually kind of funny because my two nephews Jordan (13) and Pierce (10) were in the car with us and they were surprisingly nice while it was happening. They weren't like, "YUCK!" They just screamed really loud when the vomit hit their windshield. :-P
Then after I finished my biz they asked if I was okay and then started replaying it all the way to my sister's house where they helped me hose down the car.
I was feeling kind of sick but my sister, Jodi and brother in law, Paul were planning on going boating and invited me along and I just told myself that I couldn't let being pregnant ruin all my fun. I went with them and we had a blast. I didn't get in the water but I held my new baby nephew Colby pretty much the whole time. He was so cute.
The next day was when things really collapsed. All of a sudden I had a temperature of 100.3, body aches, chills, and heat sweats. All classic symptoms of the flu. So that's what I thought I had. Wednesday through Friday were horrid! I could not sleep or eat the entire time. I tossed and turned and no matter how I positioned myself, my muscles didn't like it. I would get super cold and wrap myself in a blanket and then have sweat dripping down my forehead two minutes later. It was super frustrating when my legs would be cold and my torso and head were way hot! I spent pretty much the whole 3 days in my bed trying to get better.
By Saturday, I was pretty bummed because there was no progress being made and my mom and dad bought us tickets to go with them to the mack's Inn dinner and theatre as well as a cabin for the night in Island Park. My sister, Heidi and her hubby, Tim came along as well. I really didn't want to miss this. It was pretty expensive and would be a fun time. I really figured that the flu would blow itself over but alas, the only change was that my temperature had increased to 102 degrees on the car ride to Island Park. They dropped me off at the cabin and while they went shopping in Yellowstone, I stayed and tried to get some sleep. When it was time to go to the dinner/theatre I was feeling a tad bit better... a tad. Dinner was all you can eat prime rib... boy, it was good. But I wasn't eating remember?! Yeah, sucky. The two bites I had were really good.
The play was hilarious! It was a Robin Hood spoof... "Robin Hood and the sheriff of Rotting-ham" Super cheesy but was actually really funny. I made it through with like 3 jackets covering me and I kept putting my head in my hands. We were on the front row, they probably thought I hated them. The "Deep Fat Friar" was the funniest character. He had a pillow in his outfit to make him look fat and a fake bald spot on his head. He had a really funny accent and played to the audience very well. He was telling us about the Cinnamon rolls that they were selling at intermission and he said that they were as big as the bald spot on his head. He said that he works on making shapes with the cinnamon rolls but so far the only thing he can make it look like is a rock. haha. I guess you had to have been there. This picture is of the fat friar and my mother. He came and sat by her at intermission and she asked that he NOT take her on stage like they do to so many people there. He just said, "You are cwazy lady." I went to take a picture and he poses and my mom is just dying of laughter. After I took it he said, "I hope you have a fast shutter cuz she was all over the pwace." I'm not a huge fan of totally cheesy plays/musicals but this one was really good. They have an awesome cast with wonderful voices. I would highly recommend that you check it out! So anyway, I was really sick the whole way through. I couldn't hold still - rubbing my legs and getting chills ect. I was ready to get back to the cabin.

Sadly, I spent potentially the worst night of my life in that cabin. Chills, fever, hot sweats and then came the vomiting. I hadn't had anything to eat but I was actually drinking quite a bit. I had my camelback next to me in the bed and I just sucked on it all night like a baby with a bottle. Sad thing was, three times during the night I had to get up and throw up all the water that I had just drank. Needless to say, 6:00 am rolls around and I'm ready for the hospital.

My poor family had to leave their trip early but I was in really bad shape. I mean, I was thinking about what would happen if I died and how I wouldn't want that to happen cuz I wouldn't want to lose my baby. Haha. Have you ever had thoughts like that when you get sick?

The nurse had me take a urine sample and the doctor almost thought it was pneumonia because of the hacking cough that I have at the moment. As it turned out, it was a big fat kidney infection. I never would have guessed that. I thought that the pain in my back was just part of the muscle aches. So for the first time that I can remember, I got slapped with a nice big IV needle. They gave me TWO bags of liquid and some antibiotics. I was there for about 4 hours with the IV in my arm. Luckily my family was there and luckily there was a TV. We had a good time in that room.

So moral of the story is... Go get it checked out if you're not sure what it is and that kidney infections can be just as incapacitating as heart attacks.

OH! And here's a great picture of my dad being a goofball. My brother, Richard is a dentist and he put an implant on #9 (for all of you hygiene freaks) or one of his front teeth and so my dad has a flipper until he can get out to Denver to put a permenant crown on it. My dad is a farmer and he does not wear his flipper while he's out working but a problem arises when he is half way to town or scouts when he realizes that he does not have his tooth with him!!! He takes it out randomly to make us all laugh.

IT'S A BOY!

What wonderful news right?!
Ever since the start of this pregnancy, I've really just thought that it was going to be a boy. Maybe because I was wishing it, but at the same time I would have loved having a girl as well. Anyway, Nate and I only talked about boy names, we only thought about boy things, we just basically KNEW that it was going to be a boy. I conveyed this feeling, cautiously, to friends and family. I could always be wrong! well about a week before we found out it was a boy, I started to get these thoughts like, "uh oh, what if it's a girl? I've basically just told everyone that I think it's a boy."
When the nurse was doing the ultrasound, I was in search of something that could tell me whether I was right or wrong. I couldn't see anything and figured, "oh, it's a girl." But then she gasped and said, "Oh look! It's a boy!" She pointed at this random white line in the middle of the screen that DEFINITELY did not look too convincing!
I was pretty skeptical at this point... How on earth can you tell from that?! Then she put it into 3D and things became a whole lot clearer.
Hopefully you can see his arm and hand in his face, and his legs are kind of curled up and there between them... WaBam! haha. I started crying at this point and looked at Nate. He had a huge smile and then he said, "Little Ryker!" (He thinks this is what we'll name him... I'm sure he'll get his way but you never know, a lot can change in 4 months.)

Here is another 3D picture of our precious little boy. His head is in the upper right corner and he has his fist in his face. his little legs are crossed at the ankle. haha! So cute!

We called my mom first because she made a fuss about us not telling her first about the baby. The way we did it was priceless and Nate and I were laughing so hard... Mom wasn't too happy. We called her on her cell phone and said, "mom! It's a... Isn't that exciting!" I made it sound like the phone cut out at that second and then she was like, "WHAT?! I didn't hear you!" and I said, "It's a..." and then I hung up the phone. Oh, I'm sure she was ticked. She called right back and eventually we told her and she was super excited. I did the same thing to dad and we heard him say, "stupid phone!" Good times.

I had to call my brother Richard and tell him right off because he wanted a boy so badly (or so he says, I know that he would never trade his beautiful little girl).

We are beyond excited for our Son of God to come to earth and be with us. I know that he could not wait for the chance and when he saw that 4 of his cousins would be coming down this year, he jumped at the slighest oops from mom and dad. haha! Well we are certainly glad he did! I definitely can't wait to meet him and I hope that we can be wonderful parents.

The Sick

So... I can't keep an honest, up-to-date blog without telling about the sickies.
I pretty much got sick around week 5 and it is now week 12 1/2 and I may be seeing the light... but not yet.
There hasn't been too much throwing up, which is good but I think that if I ever wanted to get out of class or work, it would be super super easy. I would just have to think about throwing up and I would have a free pass home.

I have to tell you about the worst day though.
I was about 8 weeks along and was at work. For some random reason, my body just decided to start getting rid of everything in my stomach. Luckily, I go to work after everyone is gone to make phone calls so no one was there. I threw up twice while I was at work and then I was on my way home when it went for a 3rd. I thought I could keep it down till I got home but it showed no mercy. I had to pull over on 4th North in Logan in busy traffic and hurl in front of someone's house. Wow... never will I forget that experience! And neither will this baby for sure.
Well, after throwing up you feel like superwoman for some reason so I decided that I could make it to Ashley's nutrition class that she was teaching. All was well until we got up to do some Zumba. I didn't really do it but my body must have been like, "Oh, you're tying to do something physical right now? Yeah right." I had to bolt down the hall and puke in the smelly bathroom of the dorms. Well, you'd think I'd learn my lesson but I didn't. I thought, "Okay, 4 times is enough. Surely it won't come again." I was feeling great again so I went back to semi-zumbaing. John, Ashley's husband, came in at this point. He could tell that I wasn't feeling very well and was so nice. This is where I give a shout out to John Frampton. He is probably one of the nicest guys I know, almost as sweet as Nate, which is saying something! After running to throw up for the 5th time that night, he offered to take me home because I had walked there. (back when I thought I was superwoman, remember?) By this point I was pretty worn out. I had tried to keep fluid and saltine's down but once something hit my stomach it was like a trampoline and came right back up. John helped me into the car and then was very happy to help Nate give me a blessing. He went and picked up Nate and helped me into the apartment. He was just so kind and gentle. They gave me a blessing and of course that was so amazing and he gave me a huge hug afterwards and said, "If you need anything at all, you better call me!"I will never forget his kindness that night. After that, Nate tucked me in and played with my hair until I fell asleep.
The power of the priesthood - so wonderful.

Since that day, I've only thrown up a couple times. One was when I was brushing my teeth :-( and one was when I was coughing... yeah weird.
Everytime I start coughing now, Nate chants, "Keep it down! Keep it Down!"
He's so funny.

Today being almost 13 weeks I think I might be feeling better. I hope I'm not jinxing it but Nate and I went to Center Street Grill and I was actually EXCITED to eat something! I wanted a hamburger and fries so bad and I actually ate it! The baby is probably so happy to have something other than cereal, saltines and vitamins. I know I was.

Well, I'm sorry if I've ruined anyone's desire to have children. haha. But seriously, if you're thinking about it, don't come talk to me right now. :-)
Here's to a brighter, less sick day tomorrow!

This is going to be the start of something BIG

Well hello friends and family!
This is the first of many installments on the Great Hoffer Story.
Today is April 30th and I am done with school for the year!
Nathan still has finals week next week. But then he is done until the fall as well.

On March 5th, we found out some exciting news! We found out that we are pregnant! How great is that? Sadly, I had a hard time with it at first. I was scared because of school and how it would work out but when I thought of telling our families, I got so excited!

I took a pregnancy test after my friend Natasha just had this... 6th sense that I was pregnant.
Turns out she was right!
I texted Nate and asked him if he would take a break from studying and come home.
I didn't think that it was suspicious but Nate said that he knew right then that I was pregnant. He rushed home on his bike but on the way, the chain decided to fall off! What timing!
He came in the door and I had the test and a couple onesies sitting on the washer. I started bawling and Nate just held me for about 2 minutes. He wasn't sure how I would take it but once he saw me smile he got excited.

The first people we told were Ashley and John. Ashley was on the phone with her mom when we popped in and I took the test (wrapped in a baggie, of course) and set it on the counter in front of her. She stopped mid sentence and started screaming. haha. It was great. Ever since she got married we always send texts to each other when we have our period to say that no baby this month. Guess I won't be sending her anymore texts for a while! It will be a sad sad day when Shlee and John move. :-(

We told Grandma and Grandpa Hoffer (Wow, isn't THAT going to be wierd! ;-) and the rest of the family at Chris' birthday party. Nate and I got him a cake and wrote on it, "Happy birthday UNCLE Chris! Love, Oops!"
Chris didn't even read the words until he had a good wish picked out. Erika looked at it and then looked up at me and gave me this cute little smile. She's so smart.
Finally, Chris decided that he should read the message, read it out loud and everyone looked at me. What a moment. haha. There wasn't jumping and yelling like I'd thought there would be from Eric but he was recovering from pneumonia so I'll give him a break.

We sent Brett a onsie that said, "My uncle is the greatest missionary in D.C.!" We didn't put a letter or anything... just our return address on the box and he sent Marie an e-mail and just sounded confused. After sending him an e-mail, he was excited and said that he hung it above his desk and tells everyone the story. I'm so happy that he is excited and it will be weird for him to come home to a niece or nephew!

We told my family, the Stoker's at Easter. I would have liked to have done it earlier, but we have a tradition in our house that states you have to do it creatively. In our family, 5 babies are going to be born this year! Jodi is having a boy, Misty is having twin boy and girl and Sarah is having a girl! Our baby is going to be the tie breaker!
I put together 4 huge eggs with candy in them and onesies. Each kid got to pick an egg. Abby got the egg with a blue onesie in it that said, "Famous Aggie Ice Cream" and Lexi got a pink one for Sarah's baby girl and Mckenzie got a blue and a pink one for Misty's babies. Then Jordan opened his and there was a white one in there that said, "Famous Aggie OOPS!" haha. They freaked out. My sister's are so excited for me, my mom started crying, which made me start crying and my dad came over and gave me a huge kiss on the cheek, which made me start crying even more. My mom was pretty upset that we didn't tell her before we told everyone else. It's just fun to tell them all at the same time!

On April 19th, we had our first ultrasound! I'm going to be honest and say this outright... I didn't like the intra-uterine wand thingy! ah! But it gave us a lot better picture of our baby since it's so small right now. What a great feeling to see our baby there, moving around like crazy! I was so surprised that it was moving so much! And when I talked, it would move more!!! AH! so so so cute. Here is the picture. It's head is on the left and it has it's hands up by it's face! The other one is a good one of it's hands and feet... and it's tail. haha! Yeah, I was pretty excited that it might be something else but nope!

Nate and I are so excited for this baby. God works in mysterious ways but I have faith that he will provide. I know that if Nate and I continue to be faithful, we will be blessed and so will our precious little one.