{Pregnancy Journal - 31 weeks}

How far along? 31 weeks

Baby is the size of? 4 oranges - 3.3 pounds and 16 inches

Total weight gain:  28 lbs. 

Maternity clothes? YES, I can still wear some normal shirts and the jersey skirts I made last summer {they are super comfortable}. 
Sleep: Most nights I sleep amazing thanks to Unisuam and my pregnancy pillow or as Brady calls it my "Cadillac" {I hate that when I am pregnant I become an insomniac and HAVE to take some form of sleep aid to get any sleep. Good thing I get back to normal as soon as my babies are born.}
Best moment this week: Hanging out watching the Olympics with Brady and eating Blue Bell Ice Cream. 

Any pregnancy symptoms? My back is still doing AMAZING - especially compared to Ryker's pregnancy but it is starting to flare up more these days. I have become more winded when walking up 2 flights of stairs carrying Ryker. Running is getting harder and harder. I am mostly now just riding the bike in the gym and lifting weights. I am going to try really hard this week to get back outside and try and do a few miles of running/walking. I want to try and keep it up through the end so it is easier to get back into it post baby - especially since I want to try and run the Greenville half marathon again in March. 
Miss Anything? A good long run with Steph. 
Movement: YES! about 3 weeks ago he started moving like crazy. I could not remember when they started moving a lot before that. I love it. At this point I feel like our friendship is growing more now that I feel him all of the time. He is staying pretty low down and has not found my ribs yet. Im sure soon his bum will find my ribs. 
Food cravings: Breakfast food all day long. I think Brady is sick of breakfast for dinner but Ryker and I sure love it. My appetite has gone down big time in the past week. I think he is getting so big that there is not much room for my stomach anymore. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: I can't have any poopy diapers in the house. I can smell them anywhere and the kitchen garbage gets taken out A LOT more than normal due to me being able to smell it across the house. Brady is constantly being asked to brush his teeth.... he hates this. 
Have you started to show yet: hahaha YES like months ago. When people ask me when I am due I am now getting the "Ohhhhh.... " with googly eyes of that is really far away and you are HUGE. With Ryker this would have made me want to cry this time it just makes me laugh. Yes, I know I get HUGE when I am pregnant. 
Gender: Boy {although Ryker still thinks he is having a baby sister}
Labor Signs: I think I have started to have some Braxton Hicks but nothing major. 
Belly Button in or out? Its an outie!
Wedding rings on or off? ON and not even tight. This is really exciting because I didn't make it this long with Ryker. I am hoping to keep it on the whole time. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! It has just hit me that I am going to be having a baby soon!! I find myself getting a bit nervous about taking care of a tiny baby and Ryker. I have forgotten what babies are like. I'm sure it will all come back to me. I am just hoping that Ryker likes having a baby around. He has become an even bigger mama's boy.
Looking forward to: Finishing my "before baby list" and having a new sweet baby in our family. 

Thanks Kaitlin for this cute idea for a pregnancy journal. I think it will be fun to look back at and read. 

{BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir}

While Nana was here we had the chance to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir {a Hindu temple}. If you are in the Atlanta area and want to see something really cool I recommend checking it out and its FREE. Click Here to check out their website. 

It was such a peaceful, beautiful place of worship. We were able to do the audio tour and I totally recommend doing it if you go. It was neat learning more about their religion {other religions are very interesting to me - I love learning about them}. We were lucky that Ryker was sleeping in the stroller for most of our visit so we got to read/listen to everything. They don't let you take pictures any closer than these {ring a bell - we don't let people take photos inside our temples either}. 

{Ryker's Birthday Party}

One of my favorite parts of being a mama is throwing birthday parties. 

Love them!

Happy Birthday Ryker Biker!! 

This is where Ryker spent most of the party .... right in front of the bag of Cheetos. This boys LOVES them!! I also love that he has frosting all over him from his cupcakes. 

 Ryker LOVES monsters so we decided to do a little monster theme. I am obsessed with how cute they turned out. Ryker was VERY excited about having a birthday party and there being cupcakes there. He and all of the little kids thought they were great. Ryker loved taking one bite of frosting out of a cupcake and then grabbing another one and doing the very same thing. Needless to say he enjoyed his fair share of cupcakes {or should I say frosting}. 

Ryker was not wanting to be in a picture - he just wanted to eat what daddy was holding. 

 I didn't go too crazy with decorations this year but I thought what I did do turned out cute. It was fun making the time line of photos of the past year for everyone to see how much he has grown and changed. 

 We all had a great time swimming and were super happy that the weather was in our favor. It was looking like it was going to down poor all day long but it held out for us. 

Nana was a major help and trooper putting up with me and my crazy party planning. I was glad she got to relax some by the pool. 

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it. We love all of the support you are to our family and we had a great time. 

{Birthday Boy - 2 Years}

Ryker Gabriel

I can not believe you are 2 already. You are such a joy to have in our family. I love how sweet you are and how you say the funniest things these days. You are quite the talker when you are around mommy and daddy but most other people think you don't really talk {ha little do they know you mostly speak in 5 word sentences}. You are good at pretending to be shy as of late - even to people you know and love and then the moment we walk away you start jabbering about them. Silly boy. You are loads of fun to take on adventures and we have been having a super fun/busy summer and LOVING it! You have become a stinker at time out - meaning it takes about 20 -30 minuets to do a 2 or 3 minuet time out. You are no longer super easy to put to bed.... it is quite a process these days and has been taking hours to get you to sleep. I am hoping this is a short phase and you get back to being my rock star sleeper/ bedtime goer. Here is a look at you over the past year. You have grown so much.

   August 2011

 September 2011

 October 2011

 November 2011

 December 2011

 January 2012

 February 2012

 March 2012

 April 2012

 May 2012

 June 2012

July 2012

It is crazy how much you have changed in the past year. You learned how to sit up on your own, start walking, talking, your hair finally started to grow in, you have a mouth full of teeth, you play with toys and friends, and so much more. I can't wait to see what this next year brings. 

Hugs, Mommy

{Monsters in my closet!!}

Ryker has become quite the procrastinator at bedtime already. Tonight he was yelling from his bed "daddy come here, there are monsters in my closet!" Where he learned or got the idea of monsters in his closet I wish I knew {maybe Monsters Inc. but it has been months since he has watch that movie}. After 3 or 4 minuets straight of this Brady goes in there to show him there are no monsters in his closet he then begins to have Brady check "monster on the wall?" Nope! "monster in my big boy bed?" Nope! "monster on the floor?" Nope! "monster in my toys?" Nope! By this time Nana and I are dying of laughter on the couch listening to all of this. Silly guy. Where does a 2 year old get off knowing/thinking about monsters in his room? Monsters are COOL to Ryker - he doesn't know/think they are supposed to be scary yet. 

{Big boy bed}

Tiny's big boy bed. 

I wish I would have taken a before picture but I never remember to. Oops. It was a natural birch color of wood before I striped it painted and stained it. I learned that staining is A LOT more work than spray paint. But you cant spray paint brown - it doesn't look right. I am SUPER happy I did it and that it is done. And that I got it finished before Nana arrives tomorrow {that was my goal} and I even got it on the blog. Now Nana and I just have to get the boys new bedding made so I can get to work on the new look for their room. I am thinking grey and green or grey and yellow.

{One cool dude}

 Ryker man you are one cool dude! 

You love wearing your sun glasses and sometimes you like seeing just how many pairs you can put on your face. {I have a sweet picture of you wearing 3 pairs at once and can not seem to find it on the computer...}

You have been a total champ this week. Thank you!

 I have been working like a mad woman trying to get your toddler bed refinished and it has proven to be a LOT bigger of a project than I thought. Thank you for being cool with watching LOADS of shows, playing by yourself, and beings stuck in the house all week long. Good thing we went on LOTS of adventures with Auntie Kels and when Nana gets here on Monday we will have many fun adventures with her. 

I did finish the bed!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!

Pictures will come tomorrow.  

I have officially hit "nesting" mode. My "to do" list before Baby Gray gets here is mighty long and today we made a dent in it. Here is to hoping I can stay productive and be a fun, nice, adventurous mama. 

Oh Ryker you did start saying some new funny things this week.

* You came up to me {the only day this week I put on normal clothes} and said "you look pretty mommy" It melted my heart and you kept saying it over and over. Then you walked over to daddy and said "you look cool". You are one sweet and VERY smart boy! 

**You have learned the word "favorite" and you love telling us what your favorite book, toy, show, and shoes are. It changes daily as to what you say "my favorite" is. 

***Every time we walk outside you say "mommy I need to look at my big boy bed" and "Oh look mommy's painting my big boy bed, it looks good". 

I love you Tiny!  

{Boothers in town part II}

The long {not really but felt REALLY long due to 3 crazy kids} drive down to Callaway Gardens. I love Ryker's face - this is exactly how he felt about sitting in between Ali Jo and Sophi Ann. 

 The beach at Callaway. It was so nice and relaxing to just let the kids play in the sand and water and not be so stressed about them drowning in deep pool. We all had such a blast and we cant wait to take Brady back down with us. I love Ali Jo's pose - this is what she does when you ask her to smile. Those arms crack me up.  We were so happy none of the bebies got burnt but some how Kels and I forgot to put sun screen on our thighs and they became lobsters. It was super OUCH! 

 The kids had a sweet dance party just before we left. I love that Ryker fell into the splits. It was TOO funny! 

We all had fun in the butterfly house. It was super cool to see some of them hatching from their chrysalis. These kids are so fun together. I hope they keep these friendships FOREVER!! 

 Fire Feet.

This is Kels making fun of me and my "fire feet". Sometimes at night my feet feel like they are on fire and super hot so I have to cool them off in a ice bath so I can go to sleep. 

 Botanical Gardens

Ali Jo was way into having her picture taken today. She kept asking us to take her picture. That was fun since usually it is the opposite with the kids. 

 Ryker got stuck in this little slide {he HATES tunnels} so I had to go down it it push him out while he was screaming. He was pretty traumatized by this and me being the nice mom I am laughed at the situation. HAHAH 

 Stone Mountain playground.

I forgot how fun this playground is and it was so nice to have it all be in the shade. The kids really enjoyed having a low key day with no big adventures and rule following. I think we all needed that. 

 This is a HUGE step forward in Ryker's world on the playground. He went through a tunnel!!!!!! Thanks Auntie Kels for capturing this victory. He even did it a few times. Way to go Tiny!!! 

Cousin love.

Both smiling.

Sophi being sweet hugging Ryker. Ryker not so sure.

Ryker really not liking her loves.

Whack - STOP touching me Sophi. 

We all had so much fun with the Booths in town and made many good memories. I love that I have such a great friendship with my sisters and REALLY wish we could live closer to each other. Thanks for coming to visit us and know that you are always welcome back!!