date night

for a new kind of date night, graham signed us up for a cooking class
and given our love of indian spices and all types of curry,
we decided to take a indian food cooking class.

we had a lot of fun, enjoyed talking with other cooks at our skill level,
and ended up making a really good meal that included
samosas, chicken tikka masala, tandoori flat bread, and more!

thanks for a great date night graham!

dog lessons

many of our family readers have seen the video
of ellie blowing bubbles in our yard, while
the dogs were jumping, trying to eat the bubbles,
and ryker was laughing out of control.

we didn't realize the significant impact this
event had on our child's life until yesterday

ryker's teacher was blowing bubbles in class
and graham showed up in time to watch the fun.
ryks was excitedly chasing the bubbles
with his mouth wide open,
apparently trying to pop/eat them just like his dogs.

his classmates seemed confused by this behavior
and decided to just watch ryker run around.
when graham interrupted the fun, ryks ran over to him
with a huge smile and a completely wet face!

understanding how much ryker watches the dogs,
this now explains why ryks prefers to:
use the dog door to go out on the back deck,
go under the our bed to relax (just like kylie)
and loves eating off a plate on the floor
(this happens when we get frustrated he won't eat
so we make a game out of it - awesome parenting award!)

hugs for mom

nigel accidentally bit my finger when
i tried to catch a ball before he could.
i immediately started to cry from the pain.
ryks, who was jumping on the couch,
(his new favorite thing)
climbed down, looked me in the eyes,
and gave me two really big hugs.
he then went back to jumping on the couch.

he is such a loving, thoughtful boy.
my heart couldn't be happier.

solving for x

nigel has been the best dog at not playing
with ryker's toys - unless ryker teases him.
on sunday, ryker was throwing a ball down
the hall, pointing, and saying "GO!" to nigel.
nigel would give us half a glance and then
take off to fetch the ball.

ryker would be fine with this until nigel
would refuse to drop the ball. at which time,
ryker would get mad and yell "No, Doggy, No!"
eventually we would have to get nigel to drop it.

this game went on for a while and we could
tell nigel was getting frustrated with not being
able to chew on the ball. so our (surprisingly) brilliant
puppy decided to solve the problem himself.

the game between ryker and nigel stopped and
we didn't think anything of it until graham noticed
ryker's toys scattered in the backyard.
apparently nigel's solution was to take ryker's
toys to nigel's playground (or at least to where
ryker can't easily access them).

smart puppy!

on an unrelated note, ryker had his 18 month check up
he is doing great and his asthma is under control!
he weighs 32 pounds (94% percentile) and
is 36 inches long (97% percentile).

i heard you can double your kid's height
when he is two years old to get an idea
of how tall he'll be when he is an adult.
if that is true, ryker is well on his way
to being over six feet tall.

last night we were reading ryker's usual bedtime books
(his choice and he rarely deviates from his favorites;
my personal favorite is when we are done with one book,
he'll flip it back to the front and say "more."
oh good, i eagerly anticipate the climatic ending to see
if our hero keeps norman the fish! anyway, i digress...)

ryker surprised us with his new animal sounds.
as i turned to a new page, i asked ryker where the fish was.
he pointed, made a fish face, and opened and closed his mouth.
later, we were reading barney's animal farm book and
ryker pointed to the duck and said "ducky QUACK QUACK!"
what a funny kid! i love seeing him learn new things!

so we'll add these to his current list of animal sounds:
dog = sticking out his tongue and panting (just like nigel)
cow = moo
cat = some kind of high pitch noise
lion, bear, tiger, monster = a very quiet roar
pig = pushes up his nose and blows his nose or shakes his head
bird = open and closes his hand (imitating beak movements)

we are so excited for christmas with this kid and promise to
post tons of pictures (including some of ryker giving santa
high-fives at our family brunch last sunday)
happy holidays everyone!

it's official

we had the 'big' ultrasound last week
where the doctor measured our little baby
and confirmed what we saw in the first ultrasound
(and what i figured based on my cravings
and carrying this baby so much lower than ryker)
we are definitely having a girl.

she is healthy and super active.
we are getting more and more excited
about the idea of having a little girl.

and we think this guy is excited too.

thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving to all our friends and family!
we spent the wonderful holiday with our families.
graham's brother sean cooked one of the
best thanksgiving dinners. it was delicious!

i'm so thankful for my wonderful family,
friends, and all of our blessings.
i love the magic of this beautiful season!

the first snow fall

evening the teams

yes, it's true. we are having another baby.
and it's a girl!

so as graham says, the teams are even.
two parents
two kids
two dogs
two boys (or three counting nigel)
two girls (or three counting kylie)
one family

baby girl weddick is due in april.
we are still getting used to the idea
that we are having a girl.
of course, aunt ashley and aunt nic
are both so extremely excited.
not to mention the grandmas!

ryker is going to love having a sibling.
a teacher brought one of the infants
to ryker's class the other day.
ryker grabbed a toy car and sat down to
play in front of the baby,
letting the baby touch the toy.
he loves playing with other kids and
seems fascinated with babies
(even if it is short-lived).

as far as the pregnancy goes,
it has gone very well.
i've been more tired this time
(and maybe slightly more grumpy)
but i think that has more to do with
chasing a one-year old around while being pregnant.

i waited a while to say anything
because i needed to tell my new boss.
i dreaded the "thanks for hiring me,
i'll be out for three months next year"
conversation but as i should expect at this company,
my boss was very excited and supportive.

so now graham and i are increasing our focus
on selling our house and finding the next one.
we want to move before the baby comes
but ideally want to move before christmas
(that's only six weeks away!).

anyway, we are extremely happy and
excited to start telling everyone the good news!

boxing

my mom has taught her dogs to box.
she'll say "katie, let's box"
and katie will sit on her back legs
and lift up her front paws and
move them like she's boxing with my mom.

it's very funny to watch and
last night was the first time
ryker saw the boxing and
he was amazed!

ryks immediately ran to katie,
bent over so he was at eye level,
and started swinging his fists at her,
apparently trying to
get her to box with him.

katie looked terrified
(she is already cautious around ryker)
and we were all dying from laughter.

ryks is definitely starting to steal the show.
graham and i spend every evening
watching him play and figure things out.
and we can’t think of a better way to spend our time.

loving the season

i love this time of year!
with yummy warm soups and foods,
playing outside,
leaves changing colors,
the smell of the fall air,
great fall styles, including boots,
and hanging out with family and friends.

we had a great halloween weekend.
ryks was a hot dog and was the hit
of the school parade and parties.

the friday before halloween,
graham's work had a parade for the kids.
we took ryks through the maze of cubicles
so he could trick or treat.
ryker quickly grasped the concept and
ran as fast as a hot dog can
from each cubicle to the next.











friday was also sean's birthday so
we had the family over to celebrate
and to take some pictures
for grandma and grandpa weddick.

with our crazy busy schedules,
gray and i decided to do pasta salads,
which we could prepare everything
the night before.
also, the weekend before,
my mom had my family decorate
cupcakes and we all loved it.
so i had graham's family decorate
cupcakes for sean's birthday.
with the creative genius of
laurie, cami, and ellie,
i think the whole family
had a lot of fun.















(kami - i'm so sorry i spelled
your name wrong. i will fix this pic!)


on saturday, we went trick or treating
in bountiful where we spent the evening
playing with family and old friends
and of course, watching the utes.