Ryker's 1st

An ENTIRE YEAR has completely flown by! 

I can't believe that little Ryker is already a year old. Where did that year go? I think being in school made it go by so fast. 

We had a lot of fun for Ryker's birthday. We started the festivities by getting his pictures taken and allowing him to engorge himself with a sugar filled cupcake. He loved every minute of it.

True Blue Aggies!

We then had a great party for him where a bunch of his friends came to play.

 

Grandma Hoffer wouldn't like this picture too much...

We then traveled to Colorado to visit Richard, Sara, Briley and Ali.

Sara and Ryker's birthdays are on the same day! They got to celebrate together

We stayed at the Breckinridge Resort. WAY NICE.

Papa and Ryker taking a nap while the ladies go shopping

Ryker LOVES his cousin Ali. He followed her everywhere she went

By Ryker's first birthday, he was walking, signing "milk," saying "mama" and "dada" and giving big open mouthed kisses.

We love him SO MUCH.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYKER

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

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!