Thumbsucker!

Look what I found Ryder doing when I went to check on him in his crib! Little stinker is taking after his mommy. When I was little I sucked my middle and ring fingers at the same time. Unfortunately it continued until I was 9 years old. AHH! The result - getting made fun of at sleepovers and bad buck teeth.

The latest and greatest

Ryder is continuing to grow, grow, grow. The first picture is of Ryder with his cousin Kale who is 3. I thought it was hilarious how big he looks on Kale's lap. The second he started to fuss Kale said, "Um...I think he needs his mommy." HAHA! Smart kid. Play with them until they fuss and then hand them right back to mom! The second pic is Ryder's new trick. He can hold his head up high! He does better when I prop him up on his boppy pillow. I read on the internet that it's one way to increase tummy time and it works. When I try to give him tummy time without it, he doesn't last as long. He gets fussy real quick. The third pic is just us playing in his room and I wanted to snap a shot of us together since that rarely happens. He's usually with his daddy in pictures. The last two pictures are of my favorite onesie. It finally fits him! Grandma Poulsen bought it for him from a baby boutique and I think it's hilarious. It just totally goes with being a member of the Stowell family. They ALL drink Dr. Pepper like it's water (except for Barb and me) and I swear it runs through their veins. They don't bleed real blood.

Don't drink the water

Poor Jon-o. He came home from Mexico at midnight feeling like total crap. I guess he ate something bad down there but he won't tell me what it was. I'm assuming that's because if he even thinks about it he's gonna puke - again. When he got home he woke me up and said he needed to take a bath and I could tell he had a fever and he was breathing real heavy. When he got out of the tub I heard a huge "SPLAT!" It was followed by violent heaving sounds, which lasted for nearly 5 minutes. I've never in my life heard someone puke like that. I felt so bad for him I couldn't even sleep. I got up at about 1am to go surf the net to get my mind off the sound of vomit and decided to look up stuff about getting sick in Mexico. I found a site that said if you get even a mouthful of water while taking a shower, you could get very ill. However, I don't think it's the water that made him sick. It mos def has to be the food. When we go to Mexico I strictly eat bean burritos because you don't have to worry about anything being undercooked. There was one and only one time I decided to get a carne asada taco because everyone kept raving about how good they were. The meat was sitting out on a plate in the sun surrounded by flies before they made it into a taco but I tried to ignore that. The second the last bite hit my stomach I felt the trots comin on. Luckily I didn't get any serious food poisoning. It only took about 3 bathroom trips to clear it out of my system. Since then I have sworn to eat nothing but burritos when in Mexico. Hopefully Jon will do the same. His dad and sister have gotten sick from the food there before and had diarrhea for up to a month! So I ended up not falling asleep until 2:00 this morning and of course my lil' Ryder bug decided he was hungry at 4:45. Can I just say that I am butt ugly tired? It's okay though. I am willing to lose any amount of sleep for my boys.

Sushi!!!!

You may not know this about Jon and I, but we LOVE sushi. I mean LOOOOVE sushi. I could eat it every single day if it was a little more affordable. Today was a good day. Sunny came over so we could create a blog for her and then she had the brilliant idea to go out for sushi at RA. Jon got lucky and came home just in time to come with us. We ate a lot of sushi. I think it was the most Jon and I have ever ordered. We got a california roll (pictured), a tootsie roll, 2 shrimp tempura rolls, and 2 spicy tuna rolls. YUM! Jon had to leave early to go to lacrosse so he missed out on the creme brulee. Oh man was that good. I had never eaten it before and I will definitely get it again. So I have to thank Sunny for having good ideas and for paying for us!! She totally picked up the tab which was super nice of her (nothing new Sunny is always nice). Yay for sushi!

Buh-bye Binky!

It's official - Ryder will no longer take a pacifier. It's actually been weeks now that I haven't been able to get him to take it, but I wanted to document that he is now pacifier-free!! In his first few weeks of life, the pacifier was the only way I could get him back to sleep in the night. Then as time went on he would only take it when he was REALLY tired and just couldn't fall asleep or when he was hungry and I needed to hold him over for a bit. But now...now he won't take it at all - EVER. It's kinda of weird to me only because I've never known a baby to not take a binky. I always thought all babies loved them. I even worried that Ryder would be 3 years old and still sucking on one - I did NOT want that to happen. So I guess my only worry now is trying to find something else to soothe him when he's cranky. Hmmm......

Uncle Jake

Ryder's uncle Jake got his mission call today. He is going to the Canada Halifax Mission and reports to the MTC on August 6th. We are gonna miss Jake sooooo much and I'm sad he's gonna miss Ryder growing up. I'll probably be pregnant with our second baby when Jake gets back and Ryder will be 2 years old!!! So crazy. Before Jake even gets home Ryder's uncle Jesse will be leaving on HIS mission. So he will miss our second baby being born! AHH! I don't like to think about it.

To Grandmother's House We Go

Grandma Poulsen likes to take pictures of Ryder with her dolls and things. He had just woken up from a long nap and eaten so he was a pretty happy boy. We thought it was a good time to take some pictures of him. Plus, I need more pictures to document how BIG he is getting. When we got back from San Diego he looked so different in just 2 days. He is so heavy already I have a hard time carrying him for long periods of time. Anyways, I thought he looked so funny in the last picture. He just had ENOUGH of getting his picture taken and he wanted OUT of that pram. I guess it is kind of girly. Oh well he doesn't know the difference :)

He did it!

So...I fed Ryder a bottle and gave him infant Tylenol (he had shots) and put him to bed at 9:00 last night. He was wide awake when I put him down but I gave him a little "pep" talk and told him he needed to go to sleep and that I wasn't going to see him again until morning and that I wouldn't be coming to change his diaper or feed him. Then I closed his door, closed MY door, turned on a floor fan and went to bed. I didn't hear anything all night but of course my first night to be able to sleep through I'm SICK and couldn't sleep. I woke up once to get Theraflu and then woke up again to my nose just running like a faucet everywhere. I hate summer colds. So he may have cried, may not...but whenever I was awake I didn't hear him. It is 6am now and I'm wide awake while he is still sleeping. YIPEE! I think it's working. So Jon and I are going to San Diego tonight and my mom offered to keep Ryder for us the whole weekend! We are excited to get a little vacation together. However, I am so sad to leave him. I'm pretty sure I'll cry. I feel like he's too young for me to leave him even though he's bottle fed and my mom is completely capable of taking care of him. I hope he sleeps good for her at night.

Finally! I've been tagged.

I've never been tagged but Melissa finally tagged me. So here are 10 reasons why I suck and 10 reasons why I rock.

Reasons why I suck:

1. I'm super stubborn. Even if I know I'm wrong I will still keep trying to convince you why I'm right and you're wrong.
2. I am very forgetful. If you ask me to bring you something or grab something at the store or anything I am bound to forget it 5 minutes later. Melissa has experienced this side of me many a time.
3. I suck at doing laundry. I just hate it. Growing up we all did our own laundry so when I moved in with Jon and he expected me to do his too (his mother did his laundry until the day he moved out) I had a really hard time with it.
4. If I don't get enough sleep I am crabby pants. It's amazing that I am able to take care of Ryder when he keeps me up in the night and I lose sleep.
5. I suck at driving and honestly I think 95% of girls suck at driving. It's just our thing. But I am especially an airhead and directionally challenged when it comes to driving.
6. If I'm mad at you, I can be REEEALLY mean. You don't want to get on my bad side.
7. I'm very easily annoyed. I wish I could change this trait. I've even prayed about it but it seems to be something I just can't help. Little stupid things annoy me too easily. Like people staring. I HATE that.
8. I have body image issues. I was a fat little girl and even though I'm about 110 lbs now, work out at least 3 times a week, and just had a baby, I can't seem to stop feeling FAT! Doesn't matter what anyone says if I don't feel good about myself then I just don't feel great. I don't have an eating disorder though....promise!
9. I suck at shaving my legs on a regular basis. Now that it's hot out I'm getting better because I wear shorts everyday and want smooth legs. But most of the time, it's once a week for church and that's it. Sorry Jon!
10. I suck at snowboarding and bowling. Believe it or not, I am in LOVE with both. But I suck extremely bad at both. When I met Jon I had been snowboarding 7 times and had my own board and all my own gear. When we went for my 8th time and his 2nd, he was WAY better than me and it pissed me off so bad I actually threw a pouty fit.

And now...10 reasons why I rock:

1. I am very forgiving. Contrary to #6 above, there are very few things I have not been able to forgive in my life.
2. I am punctual. If I'm ever late to anything, it's Jon's fault! He he :)
3. I think I am a good listener. Even if I'm not feeling well, or tired, or don't want to listen, or you've already told me something 3 times...I will listen again.
4. I have what I believe is the cutest baby boy ever and I'm super proud of him.
5. I love being a mom. When I was younger and my siblings all started having kids I thought motherhood seemed way too difficult and I never wanted kids. Well I was right about the difficult part, but it is SO worth it.
6. I am really good at English. It was always my strong subject. I should've majored in it but I don't want to teach and didn't know what else I would do with it.
7. I love to laugh and make people laugh. I think comedy is therapeutic.
8. I am fairly laid-back and Jon is REALLY laid-back so we pretty much never fight. It's awesome.
9. I feel that I am a good wife. I cook, TRY to clean, and take good care of our baby.
10. I am a money saver. I get buyer's remorse really easy and Jon loves to spend, spend, spend. I guess I am more like a man but I just really don't shop other than for groceries.

Okay that was fun now I tag Sara, Sonia, and Mackenzie!!

Fatty McFatty!

Ryder had his 2 month check-up today. I can't believe he is 2 months old already - time flies! His weight is off the charts at 15 lbs 8 oz and his height is in the 97th percentile at 24 inches. Such a big boy! He had to get 3 shots and I've never seen him cry so hard but he was a strong man and as soon as I got him dressed and put him in his car seat he was fine. He didn't even cry the whole way home. So...the Dr. said he should be sleeping 12 hours straight at night (which he isn't - he wakes up after 4-6 hours and wants to eat) and that he is sleep deprived. I also told the Dr. he sleeps in his car seat at night which he said is a HUGE problem because when Ryder turns 1 and still won't sleep in his crib, THEN what am I gonna do? I totally agree. I have myself trapped and it sucks. Oh well I guess that's why the first child is the guinea pig. I have no idea what's right and wrong. So tonight is going to be Ryder's first time to sleep the whole night in his crib. The Dr. said he will probably cry the whole night but by night 4 he should be sleeping the whole night through. I'm SO excited I can't wait. I have no problem with the cold turkey method as long as it's going to work! Wish me luck!

My smiley guy

Happy Birthday to Pops!

So...I was looking through my pictures and it turns out I don't have ANY of my dad by himself. In this picture you can't even see his face, but I just like it anyways. Today is my dad's birthday and I just wanted to talk about why I love him. Here are my reasons...

1. He is SUPER kind and soft-hearted. You can be the worst kid in the world (me as a teenager) and he will still forgive and forget and do anything for you.

2. He is a hard worker. He pretty much worked himself to the bone at Motorola for most of his life so that he could support our family and give us all the things we needed and wanted.

3. He is a worthy priesthood holder and AVID churchgoer. I am so lucky that my dad was able to give us blessings growing up. It made me realize that I wanted that in my home when I got married and I am so proud to have Jon as a priesthood holder. All my life I remember that my dad did not want us to miss church unless we were bleeding out our eyes. At the time I thought it was totally unfair, but now I feel the same way. I always feel remorseful for missing church, even when one of us is sick.

4. He likes to play games. My dad is always willing to play any game any time just so we can be together.

5. He is a great grandpa. He is always wanting to play with his grandkids and hold them and I think it's sweet.

Well the list can go on and on but Ryder is waking up from a nap so I gotta go. Happy Birthday Dad! You're the best. We love you!