visitors!!

The only way I even have time to write this post is because Jacey is here! Her, Grant and Sarah are up for the weekend :) I LOVE family visitors! And hopefully I will be getting them more often seeing as Grant moved and is now only 2 hours away (hint hint). It's so fun seeing R play with his auntie...he loves having someone else to play with besides boring old mom ;)
I started knitting my first baby blanket!! It's a really fun pattern even though it's a bit time-consuming (but lets be honest, knitting is just time-consuming in general haha). I've never worked on a project that changes colors this often and I kind of like it, I can really see the blanket coming together! So far I have 3 of 17 stripes done and I just got the yarn a couple days ago. I've pretty much been knitting whenever I can! Which is only when Ryder is sleeping so it's not all that much actually :) As for my tunic that I started knitting last winter, it died. Or actually I killed it. I had about six inches done on the back piece when I realized that I had screwed up the pattern so everything was opposite about 2 inches back. GRRRR! So I started to carefully undo it, stitch by stitch, and then I dropped like a million stitches in a row and got so crabby I ripped it all out. Ugh. I HATE when I do that! I get so frustrated that I figure it'll be easier to just start over. But here's a lesson I need to learn. IT'S NEVER EASIER! It took me WEEKS to knit that much (it's a pretty complicated cable pattern) and all of two seconds to rip it out. And now am I really going to start all over again? I hope so, because the tunic is actually pretty cute and I was hoping to have it for this winter. Which is no longer going to happen since I killed it. Gah.
My other project that I'm working on (okay, that I'm going to start working on...soon...) is making burp cloths! I bought pack of cheap plain cloth diapers at WalMart and some cute flannel fabric last week so hopefully I can start on those sometime soon! I will probably start out just super simple, sewing the flannel on one side of the cloth diaper, and hopefully can progress to make some more creative ones. But we'll see. I'm a pretty inexperience sewer (I've made 2 super-simple quilts and that's it) so I want to just try new stuff with this project. I mean who can screw up burpies? (Not me, I hope).
That's all for now, Jacey and Ryder sound like they are having fun coloring pictures in the kitchen and I think I'll go join them :D

let's just pretend it hasn't been eons since I last wrote...

...everyone with me? Okay good :) I have seriously been neglecting both my blogs what with summer..and ..stuff. Haha okay no more mentioning this gigantic break, I have no excuses!
So now: I have about 2 more months until I'm due to have my second kid!! I (finally) had a big organizing kick yesterday and started on all the boring stuff I have to do before I can do any of the fun organizing stuff (ie: baby stuff!!!). Unfortunately organizing means my house is a complete wreck until I finish it all. Because who wants to clean AND organize? Not me. I'm hoping to have most of the stuff for the baby ready sometime soon so I can enjoy these last 2 months with Ryder...life is going to be so different when it's not just me and him at home! He is so beyond spoiled because he gets all my attention at home (plus he's just cute and I would way rather play with him than, say, do the dishes or something) and I know that's going to change when his little sib comes along! Sigh. That's something I'd rather not think about right now... hopefully he adjusts well (and quickly)!
Just a short post today, I just got home from coffee with Mal and Selina and Ryder has been waking up at 7 (which is not legit since he goes to bed at like 10) sooo I will be like the walking dead all morning tomorrow. Oh well, it's always worth it for a night with the girls!!

whats new with me...

Not too much! Actually so much has been going on but in the end nothing has changed. Make any sense to you? Yeah, me neither. So here is the story of my life (okay its just a little tiny part of it). Let me start at the beginning. At the end of June/beginning of July they told me I had what is called a molar pregnancy. I had a D&C in July and then started going in every week to get my blood tested for the pregnancy hormone. Supposedly, it would drop down to zero (the normal number when you are not pregnant) in a couple weeks. Every week I went in and every week it dropped a little. It was taking longer than they thought so the doctor had me come in every other week instead. One week in October (I think, it seems so long ago) the nurse called to tell me that my hormone level had gone up, not a good thing. I hadn't been the best about taking the birth control pills so there was a chance that I could be pregnant but that was quickly deemed not the case when I went in for yet another blood test. After that they took my blood (again, I think I almost ran dry) and sent it to Marshfield. The docs there were looking for something (insert medical jargon here) in my blood that would make my hormone level appear high and they thought they found something. So next my blood was sent to the Mayo Clinic (yay roadtrip!) and they said there wasn't anything there. Huh. So all this time I am putsing around my house and waiting and waiting because my doc said it I would get the result in ten days. Riiiight. A month later they finally got back to me with the results (they hadn't told me it got sent off to Mayo too so I didn't know what was taking so long)only to tell me that they were inconclusive. ... NOT what I wanted to hear. But I put on my polite Tahnee voice and uh-huh'd and okay thanks!'d my way off the phone. And then called my mom to complain :) Luckily she was just as frustrated about the whole thing as I was, so thanks again for listening mom! :) Next I made an appointment with my doc (Dr. Ming Huang who is absolutely amazing even if he is a bit hard to understand) and went in to (finally) talk about what was going on. Turns out that we won't really know what's going on until I get more tests done. Sigh. But it's all good because at least I know what the plan of attack is now! Tomorrow I go in for an ultrasound (I don't really know what they are looking for, probably doctor-y stuff I guess) and then on the 28th I go in for another D&C. After that I wait for the results of the sample from the D&C. They are looking for cancer (yikes the big C word!!!!), which would explain why my pregnancy hormone went back up, the mole would be growing back. If they do find cancer then I'll meet back with the doc to see what's next and if they don't find cancer then they will probably just have to keep doing more tests to figure out why my level is going up (though I am just guessing here). SO. That is what has been going on in my life lately.
Oh, and Ryder got his top two teeth in (he looks adorable!!) and has four more on the way. He is getting so big!! He can point to his ears, nose, mouth etc. when I ask him to (mostly anyway) and his vocabulary is growing every day! His newest additions are "clock" "doggie" "tree" and "buck" among others. About the last word listed...yes, I do know that I am raising a lil Yooper :] Lately he has been obsessed with kicking his soccer ball around the house and climbing on the chairs. He also LOVES the Christmas tree and is always taking ornaments off of it or putting his toys on it :] Seriously he is just growing so fast! He babbles all day long, to me, the dog, himself, or his toys and it sounds like he's actually saying something but just in a different language. He loves to "talk" on my phone too. He picks it up and puts it in the vicinity of his ear and says "Hi, dad!" haha it is just too cute :) So, with all the stress of the last couple months, Ryder has really been helping me through it all! And you have too mom, I don't know what I would ever do without you! Anyway, that's all for now...further updates as events warrant! :]

a few pics from Ryder's birthday

Birthday boy!!

Today my little boy is ONE!! It's so hard to believe that a year ago today I had our beautiful baby boy! We had his birthday party a couple days early because my mom and sisters were coming up. I started looking up party ideas about a month before and I found the PERFECT one! I found a picture of a cake inspired by the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and right away I knew it was the one :) I made the cake out of a Bundt cake cut in half and put back together to form an 'S' shape. I used three different shades of green frosting for a slightly striped look and frosted the head red, using frosting for the eyes and mouth and two dumdum suckers for the antennae. I also made twelve cupcakes and, with frosting, drew pictures of some of the food the caterpillar ate and other things related to the book. I also made a Happy Birthday banner out of construction paper, which turned out well! I was so glad to have my mom and sisters up to help me, especially since this was my first ever birthday cake. The party went off without a hitch and mostly importantly no tears! I was a little worried because Ryder was starting to get a little crabby right before the party but once people started showing up he was just happy to be the center of attention. His favorite part of the whole party was probably the two helium balloons followed closely by getting to eat a big piece of cake all by himself! (he made such a mess!!)
On his actual birthday (today) Ryder had a doctors appointment were he got 6 shots! Poor guy, I felt so bad for him! While he was getting the shots he was just bawling and looking at me like 'why are you letting them hurt me?!' I almost cried myself! After he got the shots the nurse tried to smile at him and say hi but he kept pushing her away and shaking his head. It was actually kind of funny because he looked like a big kid with an attitude! But he soon forgot all about that and for the rest of the day we read books and played with his new toys. He even let me rock him to sleep for his nap! He has been starting to cuddle less and less now that he is becoming so independent so I gladly rocked and sang him to sleep. He was starting to look a little sleepy when he just climbed up on my lap and snuggled his face in my neck. I just love that feeling when he is all snuggley and warm and singing himself to sleep in my arms. After he fell asleep, I stayed rocking him for a little while longer, just looking at him and thinking about all that has happened this past year and how he has grown from a tiny newborn to a busy little toddler. Later, we all went to Grandma Hyrkas' for supper and cake (an awesome Winnie the Pooh one!). I hope Rydes doesn't start thinking that every year he is going to get two birthday parties!
It still hasn't sunk in all the way that RYDER IS ONE so I will have to write more later when it does, though I think I may be in denial :)

My baby is almost ONE!

Wow, I cannot believe that Ryder is going to be ONE YEAR OLD in a couple days! It feels like he was just born a couple months ago! Though I am considerably more rested than back then. :) This last year has certainly been quite the ride, from the first few panic-stricken hormone-crazy euphoric days to the where-did-my-little-baby-go feeling that I have now and everything in between. Yesterday, I was playing peekaboo with Ryder and it just hit me...he's no longer a baby! (I always say this but I guess I never really got it until then) He walks and plays games, has a sense humor, "reads" books and babbles nonstop. The other day we were playing "How big is Ryder?" and he was giggling that perfect little kid giggle and my heart just melted. Then, later, he walked up to me holding a book and babbled to me like he expected me to understand. And even though there wasn't a single understandable word in what he had just said, I understood him perfectly. How weird, I never knew I could speak baby :)
So, since the big "oh-one" is fast approaching, I need to start planning his party! Well, actually I have been planning it all month but I need to start put my plans in action!! I am thinking of doing a The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party. (Why not go all out, right?) When I was looking up cake ideas I found one that looked pretty doable. Making a caterpillar cake out of a bundt cake pan? I can do that! (insert self deprecating chuckle here) And to top it all off, I decided to bake cupcakes and decorate them as the various things that the caterpillar eats in the book. And a "Happy Birthday" banner in the shape of a caterpillar. And now I am officially freaking out. I have a feeling that I am going to accomplish this all on "Tahnee Time" aka: I'm going to procrastinate but still hopefully manage to finish it all at the last second. Oh and have I mentioned that my house is a mess? I'm in the middle of organizing, which means I am making my house messier in hopes of somehow making it all clean and orderly. Yikes. But hopefully my mom and sisters will be up in time to work their magic and help me decorate the cake!! I am so excited that Ryder is turning one, but at the same it's so crazy that a year has passed already! Wish me luck! :]

summer's over :(

I think I can now officially say that summer is over. :( College is back in session and the warm weather is long gone (but then again it is the U.P. so it could be 90 degrees tomorrow!). It's been sweatshirts and pants for the last couple days and it feels like fall! I have to say I am kind of excited for fall, if only because Ryder has a ton of cute sweatshirts and some cute hats! :] This weather has gotten me thinking about Halloween and Christmas and, of course, Ryder's 1st birthday! Wow I cannot believe that he is almost ONE! I swear he was born just a month of two ago! Sometimes I just look at him trying to walk around in his big boy clothes and think "where's my little baby??" It doesn't help that I gave him his first haircut yesterday so he looks like a toddler now, not a baby! I wanted to wait until maybe November to cut his hair but it's so long and was always hanging in his eyes so I finally cut it. :( And, for the record, I do NOT know how to cut hair! John's hair is so thick and curly that if (I mean When) I make a mistake it's pretty much hidden. Not so with Ryder's hair! Oh well it was my first time cutting it and he was pretty squirmy as always :)
At the end of this month I am heading downstate with Ryder for about a week and I can't wait! Though that means that he will be one month closer to being one! hmmm... <3