beautiful girl

while i work on uploading photos from ryker's super amazing, wonderful birthday party, i decided to post a photo of this beautiful girl.

best friends

i first met tonee in our junior year of high school. she was the beautiful new girl at school who had the best laugh and most engaging personality. her "no drama" approach to high school theatrics was refreshing. we clicked instantly and became great friends. i remember the days we would spend driving around town in her 4-runner listening and dancing to music (e.g., notorious big, ghetto superstar), laughing at our high school history teacher's clothing choices, and talking about boys.

we have managed to keep in touch during these past 14 years and yesterday, we decided to get our kids together. her son geddy is six mons older than ryker and her daughter jennsen is three days older than kate. ryker and geddy hit it off just like tonee and i did so long ago. the kids ran on the playground, played soccer, chased each other on the trails, ate lunch, and more. i think geddy summed up the day best when he told ryker "you're my best friend." and i think ryker, being a man of little words, agreed as he shared his lunch and wanted to keep playing games with geddy.

of course the battery in my camera died so i managed to only get a few pictures. but i’m sure i’ll get more pictures of these adorable kids and their sisters during a future play date .

choo choo weekend

we had a busy memorial day weekend. from lagoon, the zoo, and three barbeques, we exhausted our kids and ourselves. but we had a blast doing it! ryker wasn't a big fan of lagoon (see the heart breaking photos below) until he got to ride the train. then he was a huge fan.










ryker also loved the zoo. during the bird show, we sat under the fly zone so ryker had six large birds fly about a foot over his head. he was laughing so hard. it was hard to get photos of him looking at the camera because he was so busy taking in all the sights. he liked the train at the zoo but it wasn't nearly as cool as the train at lagoon




we celebrated my brother's birthday on sunday. ryker helped himself to the frosting on the cake, while great grandma and grandpa vincent played with kate. what a perfect weekend!

one month old

look at this little girl holding up her head! she is so strong. i'm am amazed that she is already a month old. the past month has been wonderful. there are so many things i want to remember from the past four weeks:

• ryker shouting "bug" when he first saw kate. he now calls her "baby kate"


• all four of us spending saturday and sunday mornings cuddling in our bed, watching cartoons. the cuddle part only lasts 30 minutes, at which time, ryker begins his “butt bombs,” which are when ryker stands on the bed, jumps as high as he can, and lands on top of graham. the more graham groans, the more ryker laughs


• ryker, who refuses to say "i love you" anymore, increasing the number of times each day he randomly says "hi mama" or "hi papa" (we think this is his way of saying "i love you")


• kate's head fitting perfectly in the crook of my neck when we snuggle on the couch


• ryker shouting "kate cry" when she starts to cry. he will then run to kate and say "don't cry" while trying to shove her binky in her mouth.


• the sweet way ryker kisses kate and gives her gentle hugs


• watching graham hold and talk to kate. there is something so beautiful when they have these bonding moments


• when ryker says "baby swing," indicating he wants me to put kate in her swing so i can hold him


• watching graham balance work, healing from his surgery, helping around the house and yard, finding time to play with ryker and cuddle with kate, and still have enough time to give me massages. what an amazing man!


• and my favorite - the morning graham and i were getting ready for the day and kate and ryker were in our bed. when i checked on them, ryker had moved over to be next to kate. their faces were only a few inches apart and they were both looking at each other.

energies

our wonderful friends and family visited us this weekend and ryker was in heaven. he spent saturday and sunday running at full speed, and laughing and shouting at full volume. i'm glad the weather was cooperative so he had a chance to get all of 'energies' out. after playing and eating ice cream sandwiches with braxen on sunday, ryker came over to me at 8:00 pm and asked to go to bed. the kid was exhausted from his busy weekend! when i was putting ryker to bed, i told him we could read two books. as i finished the second book, ryker jumped out of bed, grabbed more books off the shelf, held up four fingers (his version of two), and said "two more books." i couldn't resist those negotiation skills!


(i promise graham and i try to do ryker's hair but whenever it gets even a little long, it becomes impossible to manage. it grows in so many directions and takes on a life of its own! after several attempts throughout the day, i usually give up.)

kate is doing great! she spends most of her time in people's arms. i love my cuddle time with her and am often surprised when a couple hours pass by as i sit on the couch cuddling her and doing brain teaser puzzle. this is such a wonderful time!

my favorite little girl

kate's first few weeks

little kate is three weeks old! she is doing so well and i am enjoying my time at home with her. when i was on maternity leave with ryker, i considered it a success if i was ready for the day before 2:00 pm. i am not sure if i am now used to working my schedule around kids, or if kate is such an easy going baby, but i am usually ready for the day by 7:30 am. i have kept busy by finally organizing rooms that were unceremoniously thrown together when we quickly moved in a few months ago. and i still get plenty of cuddle time with kate.

kate is doing so great! she is eating well and sleeps for most of the night. two days a week, ryker stays home from preschool with kate and me. those days are exhausting but i love being able to spend more time with ryker. plus, with the weather finally warming up, there are a lot more things we can do to keep ryker busy. here are some pictures from kate's first two weeks at home and from easter.


















here are some of ryker's dance moves. the kid has some great rhythm and energy!






ellie and ryker jumping like frogs. these kids are so funny when they are together!

kathryn reese weddick

our perfect little kate was born on april 18, 2011 at 7:55 p.m. she weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and is 19.5 inches long. she is healthy, beautiful, and very calm. kate has tons of hair and reminds us of ryker when he was a newborn. i know all babies have blue eyes but her eyes are a really intense blue - almost violet color. and kate has beautiful olive skin, which looks amazing with her stunning eyes.

ryker is a wonderful big brother. although he is only interested in kate for a few minutes at a time, he is very sweet and gentle. he does, however, blame katie when he gets hurt. when he stubbed his toe this past weekend, he turned to katie and said “no, no baby.”

throughout my pregnancy, i worried about how the baby would affect ryker. but the instant i saw little kate, i was overwhelmed with happiness as i realized she completed our family. that isn’t to say graham and i won’t have any more kids (in fact, if i get it my way, we’ll have one more child). but for this moment in our lives, our family is complete.

it takes a village

what does a super awesome wife do for her husband who is recovery from a seemingly successful knee surgery but is still in a lot of pain? she makes him one of his favorite comfort foods - his mom's family recipe homemade spaghetti sauce. (i surprised myself with this one folks; the sauce tasted amazing!)

what does a wonderful family do for the same son-in-law, brother-in-law, brother, and son? they visit and entertain him, bring him homemade lasagna, order his favorite pizza, watch golf and soccer with him (and fake like they care as much as he does), move furniture, fix outlets, call often, and come to town to take care of him.

thank you family for a great weekend and all of your support!

preparing for the next two weeks

when getting ready for bed the other night, ryker decided he wanted to wear his old hat. he wouldn't let us take it off and ended up sleeping with it on. lately we have been enjoying and also struggling with his increasingly obstinate personality!




graham goes in for ACL and LCL surgery on monday. this is a very ‘sore’ subject for graham because he loves to ski and play soccer and now he can't ski or play on his club soccer team for a year due to the intensive recovery process. the accident happened when graham was skiing with a friend last month on an amazing powder day. graham jumped into a chute and heard two popping sounds. he wasn't in immediate pain but noticed his leg flopped out from under him. knowing the powder code of “no friends on powder days” (which, i learned early on in our relationship when i was slowing him down on a powder day so he suggested i hang out at the lodge for a while), graham caught a bus ride home before driving himself to the instacare.

after his surgery, he will be on crutches for at least two weeks, which is exactly when our baby girl is due; my c-section is scheduled for april 18. needless to say, it is a very busy time for us! with baby girl coming soon, i finally decided to take a picture of my growing belly. and by the way, we still do not have a name. our goal to is to have at least several names by the time we go to the hospital.