Sad/funny moment of the day

Today a sad, funny thing happened. :) It was time for Beck to eat, but when I gave him his bottle, he started whining, which he never does--he loves to eat. I thought he may have a burp, so I put him on my shoulder and patted his back, and much more than a burp came out! The poor thing threw up/spit up (I'm not sure which) big time. That was the sad part. The funny part was that he proceeded to rub his whole face in the pile of his goop on my shoulder! I just had to take pictures!

I'm not too worried about him, as he's never done this before and hasn't done it since, but let me know if I should be worried!

What is going on?

March: in like a lion, out like a lamb? Not this year! :)

Sunday photo shoot!

Beck has gotten even more smiley this last week or so, and we just can't get enough of it! Plus, he just got a really cute tie, so we had to snap a few (more like a ton!) of pics. :)

So happy!

Flashin' gang signs. :)

Dance moves. :)


Flash overload!

Adam has been really sick since Friday, so he and Beck haven't gotten much bonding time this weekend. ;) Looks like Beck has missed him! :)

David Archuleta concert!

That's right! I got to see David Archuleta in concert in Pocatello! He had an Idaho Falls performance, but tickets went on sale for it when I was in the hospital with Beck, and I was way sad I wouldn't get to go! But a week or so before the concert I posted my sob story in a want ad on the BYU-I bulletin board (pathetic, I know; it sounds even more pathetic describing it right now...). A few days later, three people wrote me telling about the Pocatello concert that had just been added, and that tickets went on sale the next morning. What nice people! I almost missed out getting tickets for this show too, as my wireless internet signal was not cooperating that next morning (of course). I was running around my apartment with my laptop trying to find a signal like two minutes before the tickets went on sale. I finally found a signal on top of Beck's dresser--random. Oh, and don't worry, Beck was properly fed, diapered and clothed, and was actually sleeping during this whole ordeal. Although, even if he wasn't, I probably would have been running around with him crying in the other room anyway. Haha, just kidding--don't report me, please. :)
But anyway, the concert was so good!!! I went with my cousin, Amanda, and we had so much fun! We were afraid we'd be the only non-tweens/teeny-boppers there, and although the mean age probably was 11, thankfully there were fans of all ages. :) And we got the most amazing seats! We were in the ninth row back (which was even closer than it sounds!), in the middle section, and in the middle of that section. Whoo! It was so fun! David performed mostly his album songs, with a few additional ones of his as well as some of his favorite songs by other artists. And he is just so darn cute and sweet, and somewhat dorky :) --it was just fun to watch him perform.
It doesn't seem like I'm giving his concert justice (maybe because it's 2 a.m. right now?), but it was so awesome! Even though I was old enough to be 3/4 of the audience's mom (ok, maybe not quite that old!), I was so happy to be there to support such an awesome artist. Even more importantly than him being cute and having an amazing voice, David is just a good kid, and I am so glad he is such a good example for young (and middle- and old-aged) people to look to! Go David!

The many faces of baby Beck :)

Beck is getting more and more expressive every day, and we're obviously enjoying it. :)

Beck's blessing

Hey everyone! Don't have a ton of time to post, but just wanted to share a few pics from Beck's baby blessing. We were going to do it here in Rexburg, but at the last minute decided to go to Boise (that's where everyone in my family was flying in to, so we decided to drive to them instead of everyone driving to us). It worked out great and was so good to have everyone together again. Beck's blessing was perfect, and needless to say, it was a very special day!

p.s. Thanks to amazing Brittany Talbot who made Beck's adorable little dress pants! She also made an adorable little tie, but Beck's neck was too fat. :)

Getting out--our first walk!

Ok, first of all, I just have to say that I don't know how you moms do it; it being anything besides taking care of your child(ren)! I know I've only been a mom for a few weeks, and that it definitely takes some adjusting, but I haven't had the time and/or the energy to do anything else, including blogging. Right now it just fathoms me to think of getting back to all of life's other responsibilities and activities, in addition to a child--cooking, cleaning, callings, socializing, serving, etc. Seems unattainable at the moment! I've decided I'll just take it one day at a time. :) So hats off to all you amazing women!


But anyway, I just wanted to make a little post about mine and Beck's first walk today! Thankfully it was decent outside; well, decent for around here, anyway (40 degrees). It was soooo good to get out, and Beck enjoyed it too. I think I'm adjusting to the responsibilities of motherhood just fine, and I really do find so much joy and love in it, but I am not adjusting so well to being home all day every day, with almost no social interaction. :( The doctor says we shouldn't take Beck out until at least March, and we don't really have many neighbors to hang out with, either. So I'm totally fine, and "this too shall pass," (and then I'll probably look back and cry and wish I had this time back with my newborn!), it's just a huge change of lifestyle I'm still getting used to. Before this, I probably had never stayed at home for more than two days. Ok, now I'm blabbing. But I'm good and happy and just enjoying and adjusting to motherhood! Maybe once I get a hold on things I'll have time to catch up on blogging. But if any of you do want to come hang out with me while I have to be cooped up, let me know!

And a couple more pics, just for fun. :)

Pics of Beck!

Thank you all for your sweet thoughts and congratulations! Our adorable little boy has been keeping us pretty busy lately, so I haven't had much time to post! But I did add a bunch of pictures to Facebook. So until I can add to the blog, feel free to check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115313&l=99ec7&id=193302310

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115319&l=0f9bd&id=193302310

Here's a sneak peek of the cutie. :)

Welcome to the world, sweet boy!

Our little boy is here! And he is beautiful and perfect! Here's the scoop. :)
-Beck Adam Ririe
-January 29, 2009
-8:50 a.m.
-7 lbs., 10 oz.
-19.5 inches
-Blue eyes
-Light brown hair
-Looks like both his mom and dad!

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for us! Today has been a wonderful, wonderful day. We slept probably only three hours last night (partly because of excitement and partly from trying to get a bunch of things done!), and neither of us have taken a nap today, so we are way exhausted, but soooo happy. :)

The c-section went perfectly. I wasn't really nervous beforehand, and the staff was perfect and gave me no reason to worry, so overall I think I was pretty calm and collected! They delivered little Beck and then swept him off to get his APGAR tests and all the little protocol procedures, which Adam was able to be with him for the whole time. Afterward, they were still stitching me up, so I didn't get to hold him, but Adam brought him over by my head and I was able to kiss and talk to him! Love at first site!





Adam and Beck went off to the nursery while I got finished up. I was then wheeled back to my room and hung out/snoozed for a few minutes, and then Adam wheeled in with our baby boy! Love him! In my unbiased opinion, I think he is absolutely perfect. :) He has my nose, Adam's hairline, Adam's coloring (light eyebrows/eyelashes), and everything else is kind of mixed--good balance!





I don't even know what to say. Beck is adorable and wonderful. He's such a good-natured baby, too; not fussy at all. He freaked us out one time because he was fussing and we didn't know what was the matter. We tried calming him down for a few minutes and then decided to check his diaper, even though we had just changed him. Whoo, what a surprise! His first poop! And boy was it a good one. ;) Kind of freaked both of us out for a sec because we weren't expecting it, and I asked Adam if we should call in the nurse, and he said we'd better. Luckily she is way sweet and didn't make fun of us for calling her in about a poopy diaper. Lol, kind of funny to think about now. It was scary at the moment, though, we promise!

We've already had a few friendly visitors! My parents (who drove over from Boise last night and brought me beautiful roses!), Cody and Elizabeth, Jordan and Victoria, and Melinda and Galen. Thanks for vising, guys! Anyone else is welcome as well!

My ramblings don't give justice to this amazing day or our amazing little Beck, but hopefully you will all understand I'm going off three hours of sleep, had major surgery, and am on some lovely pain meds. ;)

I'll post more soon!

Decision

So, today has been a crazy day, but here are the results: I am having a c-section at 7 a.m. tomorrow.

Thank you sooo much for all your input, advice and support. We have been thinking and praying a lot these last few days.

Going into my appointment today, we felt like going with a c-section would be the best decision. Dr. Barton came in and I explained what was going on. He checked me and agreed it would be difficult to get that large of a baby out of me naturally and that it would bring some risks, but also that he had seen it done before, and that it was just up to me. He was really helpful and took the time to answer all my many questions. He remained pretty unbiased, though, making it even harder to decide. I wished he would just decide for me! Anyway, he left me for a few minutes to make a decision. I called Adam, and after talking everything over, we still felt best about a c-section. Dr. Barton came back in and before I even told him my decision, he said although he usually doesn't give recommendations, he felt impressed that a c-section would be best for me and my baby. Relief!

So this week has kind of been insane and much different than expected, but we feel good about it all and can't wait for our little boy to get here in less than 12 hours!

p.s. Even though I've had nine months to prepare and let it all sink in, this is still so surreal. I can't believe I'll be a mom tomorrow!

p.p.s. We'll post details and hopefully some pictures as soon as possible!

p.p.p.s. Please keep us in your prayers!

C-section? I need your advice again!

I need all your guys' advice again! I went in for my 39-week appointment yesterday and "got checked" down below for the first time, to see if I was dilating or anything. I still haven't had any contractions at all, but I wanted to get checked anyway, hoping they would discover that I just have an amazingly high pain tolerance and was already dilated to a 5. ;) Hehe, just kidding. Anyway, the doctor checked me and said, "Hmmm, I'm glad we checked you. Your pelvis bone is rather small, which could make a normal delivery not possible if your baby is large."

Getting a big baby out of a not-so-big birth canal obviously can cause problems, the biggest of which would be possibly getting his head out, but having his shoulders get stuck. This could cause permanent damage to him, and I could possibly have to get an emergency c-section. They also couldn't/wouldn't use suctioning or forceps to get him out, since this would impose a danger as well, trying to pull him out of a space he can't fit through. Anyway, my doctor and the ultrasound tech said from looking at me/my belly, my baby didn't seem really big and that it probably wouldn't be a problem. They said if he was close to 9 pounds, I'd for sure need to have a c-section.

So, I got an ultrasound (which I was happy about--I hadn't seen my little boy in like four months since the last one!). Turns out my "little" boy is already 8 pounds! And he'll probably gain at least another half pound by his due date (Monday, Feb. 2). The average baby is 7 to 7 1/2 pounds. And all this time I've been thinking he'd be malnutritioned from me throwing up so much!

So, my options:
#1: Let nature take its course. Wait to go into labor naturally, go through labor, and then hope he has room to come out. If he gets stuck or in distress, have an emergency c-section. (If I don't go into labor by Monday, they'll have me scheduled for a c-section no matter what.)
#2: Schedule a c-section, probably for Thursday morning. Have surgery, and a longer recovery, but avoid any problems/worry of him "fitting."
#3: Get induced early, probably Friday. Wouldn't have to go through surgery and longer recovery; still could be a "fitting" problem, but less of a chance of one since he'll have a few days' less weight/size.

What should I do? Dr. Allred suggested I get a second opinion from Dr. Barton (they're "team doctors" together), so I have an appointment with him tomorrow. I'll obviously heed their advice, but also want to have my mind made up on certain things. Right now I'm leaning toward just scheduling a c-section. But I'm open to advice! Thanks, you guys!

Our current sleeping accommodations...

You guys are amazing--thank you for all of your advice!!! Seriously helpful.

I just wanted to share in the funniness (is that even a word?) of our current sleeping accommodations...



The funny thing is that we just got a new, beautiful mattress set (our bed was furnished in our old apartment), and we can't even sleep on it! I don't know if I've mentioned it on our blog before, but I have pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. It drives me crazy! It started a few months back, but has only gotten worse and worse. I used to be able to sleep in a bed and just wake up a few times in the middle of the night with throbbing, numb hands, but for the last month or so, I have had to sleep in this lovely little recliner (which I am so grateful to have!) if I want any hope of sleeping. My arms/hands have to be straight down in order to not go numb, so the recliner helps with that. And Adam is just fine, but he's cute and sleeps on the couch so we can be in the same room. :)

Kind of funny, huh? I never would have thought that in my last month of pregnancy, my hands would be the thing driving me crazy!

Only two weeks and two days to go! Any advice?

Yep, I can't believe it: only two weeks and two days to go until little Beck will be here! So, all you mothers out there, and all you future mothers who probably know a lot more than I do--any advice? We didn't take any birthing classes (a million and one scheduling conflicts), although I have been reading a lot in books and such. But any advice on preparing for labor, labor itself, nursing, or motherhood in general would be definitely welcome and appreciated! :)

p.s. I've been a blogging slacker lately, but hopefully will do better this week! Hope you are all doing great!

Goodbyes!

We are both back safely in Rexburg! I had a great time in SLC and Adam had a great time in New York. I'll post about that soon, but first I need to do a few catch-up posts!



Goodbye to the ward
Last Sunday was our last Sunday in the 69th Ward, after 2 1/2 years; it was definitely bittersweet. We have loved being in this ward, and have made so many good friends in it. Things we will miss:
-Bishop Bitter
-Seeing our good friends every week!
-Sunday potlucks
-Serving as Relief Society President
-Relief Society!
-Adam serving in the bishopric
-Being surrounded by young married couples and their families!


Goodbye to University Village
We like our new place, but really do miss University Village! We'd lived there ever since we were married, almost 3 1/2 years ago. Lots of memories were made in that complex! Things we will miss:
-Storage space!
-Our friendly neighbors
-Building 1 parties!
-The Building 1 picnic table hangout
-Complex activities
-The well-maintained grounds
-The playground
-Being surrounded by great people!


Goodbye to Adam being manager
Most of you that live in U.V. have probably only known Adam as your manager! He was assistant manager the first year we were married, and was manager after that for about the last 2 1/2 years. Things we will "miss":
-People knocking on our apartment 24/7
-Adam having to fix hot water heaters during the middle of the night every night during the winter time
-Adam carrying around his emergency work phone 24/7/365
-Getting phone calls on the emergency work phone and our home phone 24/7, especially for reasons that were so not emergencies (If any of you reading this called for non-emergencies, don't feel bad! We didn't mind when you called!)
-Spending our holiday "vacation" on duty at the complex
-People stopping by for tours 24/7

Haha. Sorry, laying on the sarcasm pretty thick there. :) Being manager at U.V. honestly has been a great job for Adam! But a change every three years or so is also good! :)

We are really excited to have moved on to this next chapter in our lives, but can't help but be a little sad to leave our "past life" behind. :) Thank you to all of you for making this past chapter of our life wonderful!

We are alive and will post soon!

Just wanted to make a little post to let everyone know that we are alive! Moving almost killed us, but not quite. ;) Just kidding. We're getting settled into our new place, and although we totally miss University Village and our old ward, we are liking it here.

Adam's headed to New York for school for a week, and I'm headed to Salt Lake to have a spontaneous girls' week there with my mom and sister. So I will be posting a lot when we get back on Sunday!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Use our washer and dryer for free for a few months!

THANK YOU, HAYLEE! OUR WASHER AND DRYER HAVE A GOOD, SAFE HOME NOW THANKS TO YOU! :)
Hey everybody! Crazy to think that we are moving tomorrow! It's coming along really well, though!

We need to figure out what to do with our washer and dryer ASAP! The townhouse we're moving into comes with a washer and dryer, so we won't be able to use ours, but don't want to get rid of them permanently. So, question for all of you--would you, or someone you know in Rexburg, want to use our washer and dryer for free for a few months? We won't charge or anything! We thought we had someone lined up to use them, but found out today they don't need them afterall. Hopefully we'll find someone that we can help, and not just have to put them in storage!

Let me know asap if you know someone! Comment, or call me at 359-7203.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

P.S. Look, I made eight posts in December! A new record! Half of them were lame and short, but still! :)

Let me know if I missed re-adding your blog!

Good news--I finally finished adding all of your guys' blog URL's back on my list! I don't recommend losing your blog list; it takes forever to build it back. :) I want to make sure I didn't forget anyone, though, so if you don't see your name, please let me know!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. :)

Life is crazy sometimes :)

Re-laid off
So things have been kind of insane. As you all know, Adam has been looking for a job, and one that starts asap, since Dec. 31 would be my last day of work. Well, as if we weren't pressured for time already, my boss called me in on Wednesday and said that some investor funding hadn't come through and that I needed to pack up my things and leave as soon as possible. 60% of the company was laid off. So, I packed up my things and said goodbye to YHS, unexpectedly early. Cody, Adam's brother who also worked at YHS, was laid off as well.
Craigo's happened to be having a special that day, so we (me, Adam, Cody and his wife, Elizabeth) went and drown our sorrows with amazing salad, pasta and pizza, whilst watching the cold, depressing snow through the window--sad picture, huh? :)


We then came home and played Monopoly--even though our real money-making had been cut short that day, we could at least pretend we were rich! It played out perfectly: Adam, who always wins, actually lost; Cody got second place, and I actually won for the first time ever! We then all cuddled up on the couch and watched "It's a Wonderful Life." Depressing day, but we enjoyed ourselves as much as we could. :)


New job
So, more than ever, we were really hoping for the BYU Housing job or the BYU-Idaho Facilities Planner job. Well, on Friday we found out that BYU-Idaho has started a "hiring freeze," putting that job on hold until further notice. :( Then less than an hour later we got a call from BYU telling Adam he didn't get the job. :( It always sucks to not get a job, but it especially stinks when you were in the final round/running for it. So, needless to say, we were pretty unsure what to do next. All of our options were gone. And although Adam's manager job @ UV has been great, we couldn't survive on it alone, with me not working, and with a new baby coming in about a month. Well, thankfully, just a few moments later, Adam called the Housing Office to fill them in on the latest and was offered (and accepted) a Housing Assistant job that had just opened up, which he will begin on Dec. 29. Honestly, it's not an amazing job (pay- and duties-wise), but he will do amazing at it, and we're grateful that it came through in our time of need.

New apartment
Because our apartment is attached with Adam's manager job, and since neither of us are students anymore, we have to move! We were very lucky and blessed to be able to find and sign a contract for a great little townhouse to rent only about a mile away from our place now. But we will still have to move out of our complex/ward, which will be way sad :( , especially in all this snow. :) We'll be moving Jan.1.

Although we'll be sad to leave the ward and complex, it will be fun to start this new chapter in our lives. Isn't it absolutely crazy how much can change in less than a week?

Belly shots @ 34 weeks

My growing belly/baby!

This is the only shot where I don't look huge; I totally prefer this angle. :)


Growing, and growing...


Ok, this picture is gross--I apologize. Adam accused me of trying to hide my belly by wearing black. I totally wasn't! Even if I had been trying to, it's obvious it didn't work very well. :) Anyway, so this is my all-out pregnant belly shot, thanks to Adam. :)

Stupid blogger!

Ok, so I just have to do a little venting. I was getting bored with my blog background and wanted to spice things up for the holidays. I'd heard horror stories about fellow bloggers losing their family/friends blog list when doing this, so I was super careful as I went about the process. I found a cute background, copied the code into my blogger layout HTML thingy, and previewed it. To my disappointment, the preview didn't save any of my gadgets, including my precious blog list. So sadly, I clicked "clear edits" and made sure I did not save the new code. Phew--or so I thought. But, as it would turn out...

IT ERASED MY WHOLE STUPID BLOG LIST ANYWAY! ALL 81 OF THEM!

Thankfully, I prepared for the worst and made a screen shot of all the names on the list beforehand. But now I have to go through for every single name and track down the URL, and enter it in again.

I am grateful for Blogger's free services that help me stay in touch with my favorite people, but this made me so angry! Especially since I never even saved any changes!

Ok, I feel bad having a negative post around the holiday season, but I just couldn't help myself. Please don't judge me. :) Judge Blogger. :) Haha. Happy holidays, everybody! A more cheerful post is hopefully on deck for next time!

Thanks, Erin, for recommending the Cutest Blog on the Block--totally using them from now on instead of Pyzam!

Elf Yourself! :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas decor, mini-sized :)

Adam and I always love putting up Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving, but since this year we don't know if we'll still be living where we are now (see post below), we didn't want to have to take everything down again before Christmas. So, we have done mini decorations on top of our bookshelf! We got a mini tree and a mini tree skirt fom Wal-Mart (adorable!) and I also went all out and cutely wrapped our presents. :) Yay for Christmas!

p.s. Totally didn't plan this, but the layout of this post looks like a Christmas tree! How appropriate. :)

Updates

Baby update: Everything is going well! And we will have our boy here in less than two months! I have my eight-month appointment next week, and after that I start going in for an appointment every two weeks. Crazy! It's gone by really fast, and we hope these last two months go quickly as well. You've probably noticed from the ticker, but the name we have decided on is Beck--we love it.

Job update: I have less than a month left of work now. Although being laid off stinks, at the same time I am excited to have a few weeks to relax and get things ready. Adam has applied and been offered interviews for three jobs; one in Idaho Falls, one here in Rexburg and one in Provo. We feel very blessed that these opportunities have arisen, and hope and pray that one of them works out! So, if one of these does turn into a job, we could be moving within a couple of weeks. :( We don't know anything yet, but it's definitely a possibility. We would be way sad to leave our apartment complex and ward, but excited for a new chapter of our lives. We'll keep you all updated!

Good people

So, this week has been kind of crazy. First, Adam got sick last weekend, then on Monday I started feeling sick. I had a bad cold Tuesday and Wednesday, and by Thursday it was only getting worse. I went to the doctor and he informed me I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. On top of this, I was still throwing up from being pregnant (yes, I still throw up about once a day :( ). And Adam was still sick this whole time too.

On top of all this, I got laid off on Wednesday. My company is undergoing some restructuring and will no longer need my department. Thankfully, they are keeping me on through Dec. 31 to help out with the transition, but after that I am officially unemployed. Needless to say, this definitely has thrown us for a loop. Our plan was for me to work right up until the baby is born, to save as much money as possible as well as be eligible to use my work insurance.

So now Adam is just applying for jobs like crazy. He's been submitting applications for a while now, but now there's a little extra urgency involved. :) If you know of anything (particularly in fraud investigation, administrative work, or even housing management), let us know!

My point of this post wasn't to complain, I promise. :) This rough week has really helped us to realize what is most important. Imagine if work was all we lived for! I am so grateful to know what's important: me and Adam being together no matter where life takes us; our baby boy coming to us in just a few short months; the Gospel knowledge we are blessed to have that really helps put things into perspective; and for all of YOU! We have received so much support, love, kindness (and food!) from our wonderful friends and family, and couldn't be more grateful to have the blessing of good people at this time.

We are both still sick, and I still won't have a job after Dec. 31, but my favorite saying has always been, "Things turn out best for those who make the best out of the way things turn out." Now is one of those times for us to make the best out of the way things have turned out. Thank you to all of you for making this a little bit easier to do. :)

The grossest picture of me ever taken (or at least ever posted), but I thought it added to the post. :)

Cute videos!

Hi everyone! I don't have much time for an update at the moment, but my beanie pics are really getting old. :) So I thought I'd share some of my favorite YouTube videos with you all!











Yes, I have a fetish for cute, squishy animals! Here's one way cute, non-animal video for your viewing pleasure. :)

Beanie fun

Today I stopped by the Bookstore (technically the "University Store" now) and found the cutest beanie ever! And it was only $2.99! I quickly fell in love with it and decided it was worthy of a blog post. :) Unfortunately, I don't even do the beanie justice in the pics--but I had fun in the process!

Belly shots @ 23 weeks!

Well, my belly is growing! I'm still totally in the looking fat stage versus the cute, round belly stage (hopefully it's a stage)--but oh well! I'm grateful for whatever way I'm carrying!

Straight-on shot


Slanted shot


Side shot


Sad to have a belly, but so happy to have a baby inside of it! :)