life at home

some of you may have been wondering what this kid has been up to. the answer is everything you would expect for a little boy, and more.















he jumps from couch to ottoman to couch; he chases and climbs on the dogs (kylie runs away and nigel likes to play); he yells as loud as he can; he tackles me or graham whenever we sit on the floor; he throws, kicks, and tries to bounce balls; and he dances like the best of them.

instead of just sitting down when playing "ring-around-the-rosies," ryks trys to fall on top of anyone else who is playing. we think this is a game he and his
friends play at daycare. we chuckle thinking of a bunch of two year olds falling on top of each other.

we closed on our old house last week. we loved that house but were definitely ready for more space and better location. so we are enjoying the new home! our neighbors have been awesome in welcoming us to the neighborhood. many families here have dogs and the dogs all seem to get along really well. plus, ryker is a big fan of all the dogs and especially likes the lab puppy next door.

here are a few pictures of the house. we are still decorating but that will take time. our out-of-town family should know we have plenty of space (especially those of you who will be traveling for chris weddick's wedding or others like the garcia family who love to visit SLC for the summer). you'll even have the whole basement (pictures to come) to yourself so you should come stay with us.


don't you just love this cheese-ball! i thought sharon would love this picture. i taught ellie to make the same face when she was ryker's age. whenever sharon would try to take a picture, ellie would make this face.


finally a big kitchen where we aren't tripping over ryks or the dogs!








i'm so excited to use this deck in the summer


graham and i have slept on a double bed ever since we got married seven years ago so we are thrilled to finally have a king size bed









by the way, graham and i still don't have a name for baby girl. we like the names "kate" and "reese" but this may be a game-time decision. she is so active throughout the day and night. she is doing well in her measurements and is giving me the worst heartburn. ryker likes to kiss my belly and say "baby" but then he wants me to kiss his "baby" (belly) so i'm not sure he understands what's happening.

ryker is the sweestest kid with babies. he is so helpful - giving them blankets, binkies, bottles, etc. he really loves to touch and hold babies. here he is holding his cousin max (or as my mom says 'here is little graham and little mike').

home sweet home

we bought our new (amazing) home!!
it is in the beautiful old mill area of cottonwood heights.
i really thought we were going to move to bountiful
but then we found this house and knew it was our new home.
we are so excited to be in a much bigger house,
in a cul-de-sac in a great neighborhood, and
with awesome family and entertaining spaces.

we'll post more pictures once we move everything
and clean our old house for our buyers
(it's going to be a very busy week!)

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!