Ryker is Here

Sorry it has taken so long to post the first pictures of Ryker, but things have been pretty hectic since his arrival on January 13, 2011. This is a picture when he was first born. Those are my hands shielding his little eyes. The light was way too bright. He wasn't in any hurry to be born. Even though he was a C-section the doctor still had to use forceps on him. He kept going back in while she kept trying to scoop him out.
Here he is being weighed and measured. He weighed 6 pounds even and was 18 1/2" long. He looked like a living baby doll.
He was very alert from the moment he was born. He stayed awake for about an hour or so after he was born. I'm sure Allen and I looked stupid talking to him through the glass but we didn't care.
Ryker has hip dysplasia. The ball of his hip won't stay in the joint. This is due to his feet being up by this head through most of the pregnancy. He has to wear the harness for about 3 weeks and then the doctor should be able to take it off. He goes back to the doctor on Feb 4 to see if he can take it off.
PawPaw and Ryker.
Grammie and Ryker

Great Great Grandma and Ryker. This is Allen's grandmother. Great Great Grandpa wouldn't hold him because he thought he might drop him. We are very blessed to have them in our lives. A lot of people don't even have their grandparents anymore much less their Great Great.
Here is my little man in his boppy. He is only 2 weeks old in this picture. He went for his 2 week check up yesterday and the doctor said he was doing great. He now weighs 6# 8 oz. The doctor said that usually they only gain their birth weight back by their 2 week check up. Ryker gained that plus 8 oz. He said Paige must be producing half and half instead of just milk.

We are enjoying Ryker very much. Will try to post more pictures soon.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Well we got our first mini ice storm yesterday. The roads are fine and the mini storm didn't knock out any electricity so I chalk it up to a good storm. Allen started a fire for me and we sat and watch the fire and little TV. It even snowed just a little bit.

We also helped Paige and Colby put down new floors in their living room. She wanted to rip up the carpet before the baby arrived. Colby had most of the flooring down Allen just help with the tedious outside pieces. A LOT of cutting. I guess tonight we will go back over there and Colby put the funiture back in the living room.

Baby Ryker will be here Thursday!! Please continue to pray for Paige and the baby. So far everything is good. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I know some ladies out there do not even want to acknowledge they have birthday's anymore much less celebrate them. Thank goodness I'm not one of them or else I would have missed an amazing birthday dinner. My birthday was November 18 so I'm a little late in posting this but at my age, better late than never.

Allen, Brittany, Paige and Colby decided to take me somewhere special for my 45th birthday. It was a surprise so I didn't know what to expect. I was told to dress casual and be ready by 3 p.m. We all loaded up in the car and headed east on I-20. At first I thought Allen was going to take me to a little Mexican restuarant that we found in Winnsboro, LA. Nothing fancy but GREAT food. Well, Winnsboro came and went and we were still driving. Then I thought maybe he was taking me to St. Francisville to the Ox Bow but then dismissed that idea because he said to dress casual. They like business casual not blue jean casual so I knew that was out.

As we kept driving I was racking by brain trying to figure out where he was taking me. Finally, a sign...Welcome to Mississippi. Then I knew....King's Tavern. I couldn't wait for the bread pudding. Paige even tried and liked it. She said she doesn't like bread pudding but really liked theirs.

I found this little place back in the summer when we took Brittany to look at old Antebellum/Colonial houses in Natchez, MS for her birthday. It is a little hole in the wall but the food is wonderful. You can go to your web browser and type in King's Tavern Natchez, MS and read about the history of this wonderful little restaurant. It was built in the 1700's and his been several things over the centuries. They found 3 skeletons in the fireplace back in the 1930's. One is believed to be the original owner's mistress. Suppossedly, his wife found out about the affair and stabbed her with a jeweled dagger. They think the other 2 people may have helped her hide the body and then she killed them.

After dinner Allen and the kids gave me my present. A kindle. I have really enjoyed it. My only problem is watching how much I spend in buying the books. I could go broke as I'm an avid reader.

Thanks Allen, girls, and Colby for a wonderful birthday!!!

It's Official....

Allen and I are alone in the house for the first time in 25 years. We have been alone a total of 10 months and 3 days in out entire marriage. Paige was born 10 months and 1 day after we were married.

Brittany and Scooter moved out Saturday. It was so nice to clean the house once and it stay clean all day long. I had heard of people doing this but didn't believe it until I saw it for myself Sunday. I half expect to come home this afternoon to find a shoe or a piece of dirty laundry in the living room. Scooter was notorious for bringing stuff in the living room while we were away at work.

After Brittany cleaned out her room and moved everything to her new house that she will be sharing with a friend in the GAP band, she helped me move Paige's bed and the baby bed into her old room. Now Paige and Ryker will have tons of room when they come to stay with us for the first 2 weeks of his life. As of this Thursday it will be 5 weeks and counting down. I'm a little excited if you couldn't tell.

By Sunday I was still so excited about having the house to ourselves that I went out to the shed to get the Christmas decortions. Allen helped me put out a few things and with a wave of my magic wand and help from my little elf, the house is ready for Chrismas this year. I have a few more things to get but basically I'm ready for Christmas.

Who knew moving your last child out would give someone this much energy!?!?! If I had known I would have this much energy I would have kicked her out years ago. Just kidding Britt.

Rita and Allen

Laugh of the Day

Just for the record I have my husband's permission to tell this story. Now you will have to use your imagination a little bit. For those of you that know Allen this is probably going to be so funny that you might fall out of your chair. For those of you that don't know Allen, imagine your own husband or male figure in your life.

Allen was standing before the throne (toilet) in our bathroom taking care of business with just his underwear on when Callie, our grandcat that we are keeping while Paige is pregnant, decided she wanted to get a better view of what Allen was doing. In our bathroom is a half wall that hides our throne.

Callie decided that she would jump up on the half wall to get a better view of what Allen was doing. Little did she realize that a towel was on the wall. Upon delicately landing on the wall Callie falls straight down into the trash can that is sitting beside the throne. It was almost like one of those Wyle E Coyote cartoons when he falls off a cliff. As soon as she falls into the trash can she springs out of it into the toilet. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. ha ha.

Now I must remind you all of this has taken place in a matter of seconds and Allen is still standing in front of the toilet taking care of business in just his underwear when a cat is all of a sudden in his "stream". She is wet, she is NOT happy, and she has claws. He trys to take a step or two back but can't go to far back without peeing all over the floor and a big mad hairy cat with claws is coming straight for him.

Of course being the great wife that I am, I am about to fall to the floor and pee on myself because I'm laughing so hard. I can barely see because of the tears of laughter in my eyes. I must admit there is rarely a dull moment at our house.

I hope this at least made you smile today.

Yes, We're Still Here

Sorry it has been so long since our last blog. We have been really busy. I thought I would show you some pictures of our aquarium.

This is Cinnamon Stick. He is our clown fish. For those of you in the know, yes this is Nemo.
This is an anemone. The clown fish is suppose to love this thing but so far he hasn't gotten into it yet. If he doesn't get in it soon we will have to start feeding it ourselves. The clown fish is suppose to rub up against it so it can produce it's own food. Two weeks and no luck yet. The anemone can go inside itself and it can move all over the tank. Believe it or not it dug it's way under this rock. We had to move it to the other side of the tank because it got into the tube that carries the water up to the filter. It is amazing to watch.
I forget what this is but it is amazing to watch. It can go inside itself and it looks just like broccoli. But when it comes out it stretches it's limbs. Right now it is in a growing stage so it is smaller than normal. Can't wait to get some more coral in the tank. Everyday it's something different going on in there.

We helped mom move some of her things a few weeks ago. She has moved a lot of the basics but still needs to get stuff from the old house. I think she will like her new house once she gets to stay there more than a few hours. Mom works long hours and most of the time she works at least a 1/2 a day on Saturday's.

Paige is getting bigger and bigger. It is thrilling watching Ryker grow and feeling him kick. Paige has complete previa. If you don't know what this is you can look it up on the internet. I don't even won't to think about what can happen to her and baby Ryker. Basically, Paige gets to work and go bed. Nothing in between.

Paige and I went shopping for some clothes for Ryker today. I think I need to design boy clothes. Two thirds of the little boutique we went to had the cutest little girls clothing. There was a piece of a wall for boys clothing. I'm sorry but little boys just don't have the cute clothes like little girl's do. We were oohing and aahing over the cutest little girls clothing.

Believe it or not, I'm crocheting a blanket for my little doodle bug. I haven't crocheted since I was a little girl but I'm actually have a great time crocheting this blanket. I think it will be a tradition for me. I will crochet one for every grandchild. I'm not good enough to make little hats but I bet I could make a scarf or two.

I have 2 more weeks left on my Abundant, Faithful, and True Bible study. It has been a joy and a lot of fun leading this Bible study. It is by Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore. I highly recommend this study. I have to admit Kay's portion of the study was hard but I learned so much from her. Priscilla is very funny and a delight to watch. I have learned a lot from her too. Beth is our next segment. Beth is always a joy to watch and I always learn so much from her. All of these ladies are truly on a mission for God. Thank you God for sending these ladies to us through video.

Well, I hope this kind of catches you up on our lives at the moment. I will try not to wait so long before I post another blog.

What Do U Do When U Can't Go to the Beach...

You bring the beach to you. We have started a fish tank.

Not just any fish tank.
Can you guess what kind?

Figured it out yet?

You guessed it...It's a salt water tank. It is a work in progress.
We have a few rocks but will have to wait to put the coral, fish, crabs, and shrimp in here.
We will have to wait 30 days before we add anything else. We will mostly have living coral in here with just a couple of clown fish. I will keep everyone posted on our progress. Are we crazy or what?!?!?