Monday Moments

Just a couple of moments from our Monday here at the Decker household

Rilyn sure loves her cowgirl hat

 Had a great playdate with Joaquin...I can't believe they are both toddlers already!

 Snuggling with Aunt Carly while we hang with her and Ryan for a while in the hospital

40 Weeks and 18 Months

Today we are 40 weeks pregnant....

With Rilyn we knew we would go past our due date because it is very common for first time mamas to go at least a week over so really we had no expectations.  But, I've been having some pretty good contractions for 2 weeks now and we thought for sure we would be have a baby before now.  So, we are a little disappointed and I'm pretty dang uncomfortable but the baby and I are both healthy and got a good report today and so that is all that matters to us.

The baby's heartbeat is 150 (higher than Rilyn's was at this time), I've gained a total of 24 lbs (6 lbs less than I did with Rilyn), and I'm a whole 2 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and minus 1.  And none of that really means anything except things are happening, and could be happening for another week or 4 hours we just don't know.

Rilyn and I even headed to the zoo today to see if walking would get some things going.  I've been walking most mornings with the dogs so I didn't think it would, but hey you never know!  Plus, taking her to the zoo is so much fun because she loves animals right now and she got to pet an opossum which was very excited.

Rilyn had her 18 month check-up yesterday and she is healthy and developing like she should be.  Her vocabulary is about 25 words, and imitates everything we say.  I think we've even added 2 more words since her 18 month birthday.  One of them is mommy finally!  Seriously, what kid says 25 words before they say mommy!

She is 29 lbs which puts her in the 97% for weight, 33 inches tall (83%), and her head is 18 1/2 inches (61%).  We were surprised she was still so big because she is losing so much of her baby fat.  But, I am pulling out 3T clothes since many of her 2T clothes are getting too small so I guess it makes sense.

She eats and sleeps great!  She is starting to give up her morning nap but somedays will still take one.  She is napping for about an hour in the morning and then another 1 - 2 hours in the afternoon.  I can't imagine the morning nap will be around for long.  Last week she didn't take one and this week she has needed one every day.  She goes to bed around 7 PM and wakes up around 6 AM.  We would love for her to sleep in a little later but I know we are blessed to have a kid that goes to bed so early and sleeps through the night so I try not to complain about the early morning.

She still doesn't love playing with toys with the exception of her stroller, beads, and phone.  She is also really getting into books and will ask us to read to her numerous times throughout the day.  She loves cooking, going outside, and visiting people.  She is very active and we chase her around all day.  She walked the zoo for 2 hours today without once sitting in the stroller.

She is getting into trouble more and more and we are trying to figure out how to best parent this stubborn little tyke.  She definitely is hard headed and likes to see how far she can push us.

She is such a joy and we can't wait to watch her be a big sister.  I think she is going to love having a baby to take care of.

18 Months Old - Pics

Yesterday Rilyn turned 18 months old.  I can't believe it's been a year and half since we brought her home and became parents.  Time has sure flown by!  We go to the pediatrician this week to get stats so I will do another post with that info.  I just thought I would put up some pictures in case the baby makes an appearance before than and I end up not getting to it.

wearing her goggles in the bubble room at the museum

Rilyn's first painting...2nd attempt...the first attempt the paint was in her mouth within seconds

loving on dogs at the pretend vet clinic at the museum

Tyler and I enjoying the view from our deck while getting a window estimate...see the deer?

a close up of our neighbor friend

And of course I was not prepared and took pictures after dinner so Rilyn is a mess but she's 18 months old and always a mess :)

Getting Ready

Right now the two words that are always on my mind are "getting ready."  Getting ready for moving, a baby, and renting.  I am actually not feeling that stressed about any of it and for the reason we have an amazing family who will do anything to help out.

Last week Grandma and Grandpa Decker took Rilyn for almost 2 full days so I could get some packing done.  It's so nice to spend some time getting stuff done and knowing Rilyn is having the time of her life.  I was pretty amazed at how much we could pack ahead of time.  I figure the less packing I have to do at 6 weeks postpartum the better.  And to make it even better Stacey came to help me pack and we got all of this done!  There is no way I would have gotten even half of that done without her.

One thing I try to do is keep the house as clean as possible when expecting a baby.  This is hard for me in the sense I don't know when this baby will come.  If he/she comes tomorrow our house is clean and ready.  If it comes in two weeks it will be in need of a cleaning again.  So, I try to do things everyday but honestly, it is taking me a lot longer to get things done and I tire a lot more quickly.  But, Rilyn has proved to be quite the little helper and her and I keep at it everyday.

"helping" with laundry

cleaning out the dog crates

Yesterday Carly came over and walked with me and took pictures of our house so we can get it posted to rent.  It's really nice to have someone to walk with since I've been trying to do it most days and some days can be tiring, but not when you have someone to chat with.  Also, Carly did such a great job of making our house look cozy and nice and I think we will have lots of people interested with pictures like these!

Last but not least my amazing husband has been spoiling me rotten...blizzards, trips to the frozen yogurt bar, and tonight home made Pzookies.  What's a Pzookie you ask???  It's warm cookies topped with ice cream and it is delicious.  Plus, we had them the night I went into labor with Rilyn so I think he was hoping for a little good luck charm to work it's magic.  We are both starting to get anxious to meet this little one and it keeps tricking me into thinking it's coming with lots of contractions, but so far they stop as soon as I sit down or go to sleep.

We still have a lot of getting ready to do but knowing I can call on our family for anything makes it so easy and actually lots of fun.

Beach Day

Today we spent the afternoon at Cherry Creek State Park and let Rilyn play on the beach for the first time.  She had so much fun and loved everything about the beach...sand, water, and food.

We thought she might be a little afraid of the water but nope the total opposite.  She was trying to lay face down in the water while the waves washed over her.

It was a great day and we loved spending our time as a family of 3.  It's bittersweet to me that we may not have another outing as a family of 3.  I never thought I would be so content with our little family considering I would love a large family (say 6 plus kids)....I'm pretty sure we will stay under that number though :).  But, it's just reassuring to know that however many kids we have it doesn't really matter because I will absolutely love and cherish the family God decides is right for us!

Rilyn exploring the water for the first time

For Carly - You Ask, You Get

A couple weeks ago our dear sister Carly asked for more pictures of Porter.  I have to admit I have definitely slacked on the dog pictures.  So here ya go Carly - some pictures of the stud at the dog park today:

And of course a picture of Rilyn!  She is looking at a very big beetle with daddy!

Crafting Time

Ever since Rilyn was born I've been excited to do arts and crafts with her.  I have visions of the most amazing shelf filled with globs and globs of crafting materials for my kids to use at their disposal and walls covered in their creations.

Let's just say I've been crafting with other kids since...well forever...from my mom's daycare kids, to all the kids I was a nanny for, and of course my students. So, it just seems natural that I would start crafting with my daughter the minute she was born.  Don't think I haven't looked up crafts to complete with newborns.

But, one thing I've learned is that if a kid isn't ready you will just fight them the entire time and I know my daughter well enough to know up until now she was definitely not ready.  She doesn't like structured activities, just recently stopped putting everything in her mouth, and she has the shortest attention span on the planet.  And trust me I've seen some short attention spans!

The last month, I've noticed a huge decrease in the amount of stuff she immediately sticks in her mouth, she has been using more materials appropriately like crayons and stickers, and has started sitting for structured activities for about 5 minutes so I thought I would give some crafting a shot.

I found a fairly simple project on pinterest where they decorated a butterfly on contact paper with ribbons.  I really liked the idea of using the contact paper because this eliminates a step of gluing.  Another good thing to remember while creating with kids is that they should be able to do a majority of the project themselves.  If not, you end up hanging your own artwork on the fridge.  That might seem like common sense but trust me I've seen plenty of adults doing the project while the kids sit and watch because it was too hard.

So, we decided to do a sun and I added an extra step with adding the rays, which did take glue but only for a small portion of the project.

I prepared all the materials ahead of time so we were ready to go when she was ready.

Step 1: I put a small dot of glue on the sun and Rilyn placed the rays on each dot.  She actually did very well with this and it was the perfect amount because she was getting bored by the last two rays.

Step 2: I put the sun on the contact paper and let Rilyn place ribbons all over.

Step 3: Rilyn told me she was all done(even though there was more ribbons left), and we admired our finished project.

I think this project lasted about 15 minutes, but I didn't time it so I'm not sure.  She put nothing in her mouth and we had no meltdowns so it was a success for us.

I'm excited for the contact paper projects because it is so much easier than using glue with kids her age!

I can't wait to craft some more!!

The House

Yesterday we had our inspection and everything looks pretty good. Obviously there are things that need fixing, but nothing that would prevent us from buying the house.  The windows and deck need to be replaced and some stuff done to the garage door as well as the crawl space, but other than that not much that can't be done over time.

We want to re-do the house completely as far as cosmetic work goes but I think we will start with flooring and paint and then work from there.

We were even happier with the house than last couple times we saw it and could really picture our family living there.  We've had some reservations about the house...mostly the size (can we realistically fit a family of 4 let alone possibly more here?) and the storage space (there isn't any).  There are no closets other than the bedroom closets which means no coat closet or linen closet.  BUT the good news is there are a lot of under-utilized spaces in the house where can add extra storage.  And the garage is a good size so we will be able to use that space well too.  Plus, Tyler promised me a storage shed eventually.  I've also been on pinterest and pinning like a mad woman to get ideas!

Although we've had reservations there is so much we LOVE about the house...a.k.a the view!  Like the inspector said, "this is worth the price of admission" while standing on our deck and looking out.  I can't wait to pull up some chairs, a bottle of wine (when I'm not preggo of course), and my hubby and just sit on our deck!

We also LOVE the location and town of Larkspur we are in a small town, but close to Denver and Colorado Springs, and close to Tyler's parents I timed it yesterday and just so you know Grandma Decker you are less than 20 minutes from your adorable grandkids!!!  Tyler is probably around a 30 minute commute to work which is totally doable and I can still make trips to the city to the zoo and museum without it being a complete hassle.

the garage

dining room and kitchen

living room

bathroom

nursery

master bedroom

master bath

rest of master bath

door leading to garage

laundry area

front of house

side yard

other side yard

backyard (it continues past the brush which we will eventually clear out)

deck

view from deck

Last night we also had dinner at Kendall's with Tim, Kelsey, and the Harm's family and it was tons of fun and really good food!  Once the girls got their pajamas on of course Kendall had to put his on too so he didn't miss out on the pajama party!

snuggling on the couch

reading a book about golf

Seriously in love with this little boy!  He is so darn cute and smiley!!! 

Pajama Party!

look at that hair...LOVE IT

Well, time for me to start some packing!  I probably won't be blogging much...you know since we are having a baby in about 3 weeks, moving, getting our house ready to rent, and taking care of Rilyn.  Yikes we are CRAZY!