Rice Adventures

A Boy and His Dog

2012-02-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

I grew up with a wonderful black lab named Barkley. My crazy parents got 8-week-old Barkleywhen I was just 8-weeks-old. If you’ve ever had an 8-week-old puppyOR an 8-week-old baby, you understand why I say they were “crazy.” When I was a bit older we got Milo, theWonder Dog (a yellow lab). He wassuch a faithful companion - incredibly smart, and the most loving dog a familycould ask for.

I always dreamed of having our children grow up with a lab. We knew it would be a challenge havingRyder just after Boone’s first birthday (Boone was really just a baby himself),but we were excited that Ryder would get to grow up with a wonderful dog likeBoone by his side.

Boone LOVES kids – don’t all labs? But how would he react to a new baby? And not just a baby that was stoppingby for a visit, but a baby that was here to stay. Would he get upset? Would he chew something up? Would he pee on something he shouldn’t(namely, Ryder)?

Before Ryder was born we started prepping Boone for the newarrival. I would take out Ryder’stoys and teach Boone the difference between his toys and Ryder’s (baby toys anddog toys look very much alike). Ialso played sounds of a crying baby over and over to get Boone used to the sound of a baby's cries (it worked!). He did really well with all of it. But how would he react when the time finally came?

Ryder was born and after two days in the hospital we wereready to come home. When we firstarrived, we had my parents (who had been staying at our house with Boone) goand sit with Ryder in the car. We’dbeen gone for 2 days and we wanted to greet Boone without Ryder and let himhave some time with just us before bringing Ryder in. Boone wasquite excited to see us! “Something’s different, something’s different!” he seemed to say. We spent some timewith Boone and then decided we were ready to bring Ryder in. It was the moment of truth.

But…

Instead of rushing to check Ryder out, lick him, or bringhim a toy, he completely… ignored him! He wouldn’t even look at him. This wasn’t like Boone. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Ryder was there. He just seemed to pretend Ryder didn’texist at all.

It took a few weeks but slowly Boone became more interestedin Ryder. He’d try to get a sniffhere, a lick there, and we were happy he finally acknowledged Ryder’spresence. But one day not too longafter Ryder came home, Boone walked into Ryder’s room, lifted his leg, and peedon the carpet. It was very “showy.” Either an “I’m not happy about this,”or a “This baby and everything in here is MINE!”

The weeks passed and Boone started to really fall in love with Ryder. Total apathy became loving obsession. It was amazing to watch how Booneseemed to sense he needed to be gentle around Ryder – giving him space, tryingnot to lick his face if he could possibly resist (“he just tastes SO good mom!”).

These days, according toBoone, Ryder is HIS little boy. Everyday during tummytime, Boone lays right by Ryder and stares at him affectionately. When Ryder wakes up or cries in hisroom, Boone is quick to let us know (he runs to the hallway and “points”towards Ryder’s room and then looks back at us like, “Umm…aren’t you going togo get him?”). Lately Boone willlie in front of Ryder and Ryder will just run his hands through Boone’sfur. They both love it. And when Boone walks by, Ryder throwshis arms out toward Boone, trying to grab a hold. It seems clear that Ryder loves Boone just as much as Boone loves Ryder.

At just five months in, it is quite obvious that these two are going to be the best of friends.

Boone and Ryder Trick: "The Synchronized Roll"

SNOW!

2012-01-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Ryder's first snow angel

We had our first snow of the year this week. It was absolutely beautiful and so funto be trapped warm inside. PLUS Jesse got to work from home ALL week!

We baked cookies, watched movies, andof course took Ryder out to experience snow for the first time. And Boone, oh how Boone LOVES the snow! He pretty much sat at the window watching it fall all week.

In the end we got about a foot of snow (it was reported it was one of the worst storms to hit the Seattle area since 1940). Although most of the snow has melted now, we secretly have our fingers crossed another storm will strike again soon.

Umm...help?

PLEEEEAAAAASSSE can we go outside?!?!

A New Song From Katie - "Hold On"

2012-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

Today marks the 2 year anniversarysince the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. I (Katie) wrotethe song "Hold On" shortly after,inspired by the story of Kiki, a seven-year old boy who was pulled from therubble 7 days after the earthquake struck. To commemorate the 2nd anniversary of this devastating quake, Iam giving my song “Hold On” away for free via Noisetrade. However, ifyou choose to leave a tip on my noisetrade page, 100% of the money Ireceive from your tips will go to UNICEF and it’s Haiti EarthquakeFund. Or if you don’t want to tip me, just download the song andthen head to UNICEFdirectly to donate.

To learn more about Kiki’s story and the inspiration behindthe song, please visit my music blog.

One Year Ago Today...

2012-01-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

The night we found out. Pure JOY!

One year ago today Jesse and I stood in front of our microwave, watching it'stimer count down to zero. We were all jittery, like we had just had fourcups of coffee each. We paced. We jumped up and down. Westood up, then sat back down. Then we stood up again. Desperatelyhoping we wouldn't be disappointed, we were praying, giggling, begging for atleast TWO PINK LINES.

The timer beeped and we looked at each other, half panicked, half thrilled. This was it! We walked down the hall slowly, clinging to each other. We rounded the corner into the bathroom where the two little plastic sticks saton the counter. We could not believe our eyes. Between them therewere a total of FOUR pink lines, two a piece.

Excitement! Disbelief! Crazy joy! Could it really be true? Yes, it was! We were going to have a baby! WE WERE GOING TO HAVE ABABY!!!!!!!!!!

Ryder at 9 weeks.

One year ago today we found out Iwas pregnant with Ryder. Today we get to hold our squirming little guy inour arms. How did he go from that little nugget in the picture (at 9weeks) to this breathing, laughing, joy of a little boy? So much has changedin just twelve months. Our family has grown not only in numbers, but injoy, laughter, dark circles under the eyes, and love, love, love. We aregrateful beyond words.

Ryder’s First Christmas

2011-12-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

"Grandpa's sidekick"

We had anice, quiet Christmas this year. My parents came up from Portland on Christmas Eve. After a crab dinner we went to theChristmas Eve service at our church. We got there a bit late and unfortunately the only seats left were inthe lobby. We were bummed, but itwas our own fault – well, mostly mine really. I HATE being late for things but no matter how well I plan,it always seems to be a mad dash to get out the door (especially now withRyder).

Christmas Eve from the "crying room."

Not longafter church started, Ryder began to fuss. He had gone to bed before the service (and we thought he’dsleep through it), but the excitement proved too much and our tired little guycould not get back to sleep. So wegrabbed our things and headed up to the church’s crying room. As it turned out, the seats up thereended up being WAY better than those in the lobby below (the crying room is onthe 3^rd floor and overlooks the entire sanctuary). Sure, we had to endure some fussingfrom the little ones but we got to enjoy the service lounging in rockingchairs. It was like “box seats”for church. I kept hoping someonewould offer to sell me a pretzel. Thanks,Ryder, for being our ticket in!

New Christmas pajamas!

After theservice we headed home and opened our new Christmas pajamas. We also busted out the box of See’scandy – an entire box of Scotch Mallows, oh boy – and that was all theChristmas present I needed (thanks mom!).

On Christmasmorning we started things right. With a Dutch Baby, of course. The Dutch Baby has been a Thompson family tradition for aslong as I can remember. It is oneof my favorite foods. If you’venever had one, tell me and I’ll have you over to enjoy one with us. It is a sort of pancake meets Frenchtoast meets custard-y heaven type of thing.

A Christmas Chia Pet! Thanks Dad!

After breakfast we opened gifts (yeah, I got a Christmas Chia Pet...don't be jealous!) and then took a nap. Then it was time for more food and a few rounds of cribbage (anotherThompson family tradition). Jesseand I have been on a major losing streak (I’m about to trade him in for a newpartner ;-). In my house ifyou get “skunked” there is a rule that you have to run around the block naked(I think my brother is the only one who’s actually done it). Well, Jesse and I got skunked. Fortunately my parents were graciousand allowed us to maintain our dignity with the neighbors (we didn’t run, wemerely strolled). But you can betwe will be training hard in order to crush them next time we meet.

Thefollowing day my parents had to head home. But first we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at Hector’s (aKirkland favorite). They alsowatched Ryder so Jesse, Boone, and I could go on a run just the 3 of us. Thanks mom and dad!

Christmas Ships

2011-12-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

One of ournew favorite traditions since moving to Washington involves the Christmas Ships. Every year around Christmas, these biglake-sized cruise ships get all decorated and loaded up with choralsingers. They then move from portto port around Lake Washington over the days leading up to Christmas. At each port (okay, they’re justdocks), the big boats stop and the choral singers sing and crowds gather tosing along and it’s all very festive. Smaller, privately-owned boats join the fun too, by getting alldecorated and following around the big boat.

Last year weenjoyed the Christmas Ships from one of our friend’s smaller boats (and by “smaller”I mean large enough to carry 20 or so other people besides us) as we followedthe leader. We even floated byBill Gates’ place, which was tastefully and subtly lit up such that you couldprobably see it from space.

But thisyear, we took Ryder to see the ships from the luxurious comfort of his BOB (stroller)at nearby Waverly Beach Park. Welive about 2.5 blocks from the Park so when we heard the ships coming, we gotbundled up and made our way down. The place was packed but we found a little spot to watch and sing alongwith the rest of the crowd. And ofcourse, the ships were beautiful. The choir on the main ship serenaded us as people on shore sang along –some on the dock, some by the bonfire.

Twas’ the week before Christmas…

2011-12-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas we headed to Depoe Bay, Oregon tocelebrate Christmas a little early with our families. The drive to Oregon was much easier than when Ryder was 2.5weeks old (that trip took twice as long as normal and involved lots of stops indarkened Taco Bell parking lots to nurse). This time, Ryder slept the whole way! Such a champ!

It was a low-key weekend of celebrating. There was a lot of playing and laughingwith the babies. A LOT of yummyfood consumption. We took the dogsfor a walk on the beach (Boone and Corey both stayed at a nearby doggy daycare and we had visitation rights). We played and lost a cribbage game. One day, Jesse took a four-hour nap, the lazy punk. But more than anything, we just relaxedand enjoyed being together. We alsoenjoyed four rare days of Oregon coast sunshine!

Ryder got to see both sets of grandparents, his Uncle Davidand Aunt Erin, and his cousin Alex. Here are some more pictures from the weekend:

Walk on the beach with the dogs.

Gorgeous!


A Grandma's "happy place."

We had some similar ideas about gifts this year. So funny!

Our beautiful boy.

And I just had to post this picture again in case you missed it:

Alex and Ryder at the beach.

Santa Baby

2011-12-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

We bought this Santa suit for $15 at Target and BOY did weget some mileage out of it! Here are some pics of Ryder in his cute little Santa suit (a picture of him was evenfeatured on a parenting website: www.peps.org).

Santa baby

Happy boy!

Mama and her boys

Boone and Ryder

The Rice Fam

At the beach with my little Santa

And the best one yet...

Alex and Ryder

Meeting Santa for the First Time

2011-12-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

About to meet Santa

We were excited to take Ryder to meet Santa for the first time. But like all parents, we weredreading the long lines. Would it really be worth standingin line for an hour and a half to meet someone Ryder would never remember? We decided we wanted the picture bad enough and headed to themall.

On a tip from a friend, wewent to Nordstrom (having heard their line was shorter). Sure enough, when we arrived therewas no line at all and Santa was already waving excitedly to Ryder the moment westepped off the elevator. It turns out Ryder was quite content sitting on Santa’s lap (he probably thought it wasthe warmest, snuggliest blanket he’d ever sat on).

Ryder and Santa

To our surprise (and you should make a note of this), Nordstrom will also let you take pictures with Santa using your own camera (rather than spending the ridiculous $20 for one 5x7). So we took some of our ownpics. And since there was still no line, they let Ryder spend some extra time with Santa. Santa kept asking Ryder if he wanted an Xbox 360. I told him we only buy Apple.

When we were done taking our shots we thanked Santa and hiselves and headed out. We were soexcited about our pictures that we pulled over in the children's shoe department to take a look at them. That's when we discovered our camera’s settings had gotten messed up by a certain member of the Rice family whose name, I can only say, rhymes with "messy." The pictures were allgrainy. Christmas was ruined.

We shyly went back andasked if we could have another sitting with Santa. The pro photographer stuck up his nose but Santa was thrilled to have another chance to hang with Ryder. We got some more shots. ThanksNordstrom! We’ll be back nextyear for sure! (ed. note: The Rices do not officially endorse Nordstrom. Unless for some reason it meant they'd want to compensate us. Then we'll totally do it.)

Oh dad!

After pictures with Santa we went and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. In a happy coincidence, we were seated at the very same table where we first learned we were having a boy! So fun making new memories with our growing family!

The Day We Met Ryder

2011-12-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

3 months ago today, at 1:08 in the morning, we met RyderJames Rice for the first time. Myheart still feels like it might burst when I think of that first moment I heldhim in my arms. He wasperfect. He still is. Here is the story of how he came intoour lives. I tried to make thisblog post short, but couldn’t. Itwas too wonderful of a day to shorten.

Ready to pop! (9/11/2011)

On September 13, 2011 Jesse and I woke up knowing that on thatday (or most definitely the next) we would have a son. I had been due Sept 11th and sinceRyder didn’t show up on Patriot Day, my doctor decided she didn’t want to waitmuch longer and scheduled the induction (I was a high risk pregnancy and on blood thinners). So on themorning of September 13th we called the hospital to make sure everything was a“go.” It was. We called our family to let them knowand we started getting ready for one of the biggest days of our lives.

We spent the morning cleaning the house (nesting instincts going strong up to the last minute), loving on Boone (poor guy didn’t know his worldwas about to change forever), and writing a letter to Ryder from each ofus. Finally, we were ready. And surprisingly calm. We had been waiting for this little guyfor so long and couldn’t wait to meet him. Around noon we headed into thehospital.

On the short drive down to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, welistened to the “pump up” mix we’d made (I made a “pump up” mix before I ran mymarathons, so it felt only appropriate to make a “pump up” mix beforelabor).

When we got to the hospital and started going throughpaperwork, the nurse told me I had to stop eating. Now if you know me, you know this was a bad idea (I getvery low blood sugar). We told thenurse that my doctor had wanted me to eat throughout labor to keep my bloodsugar up (honest – she said it!). The nurse then confidently informed us that in all her 10 years in laborand delivery she had never once had a patient be allowed to eat duringlabor. We asked her to call my doctorand check. To our relief she cameback and said that sure enough, my doctor wanted me to eat. Thank goodness! I quickly sent Jesse off to thecafeteria to load up (FREE food! Well, kind of :-).

The nurse started the labor-inducing Pitocin and we had ourparents come into visit while it started to take effect. But there wasn’t much effect. For some reason, I had always thought Iwould have a quick labor. I thinkI’ve always trusted my body would know what to do. In fact, I had told my doctor that my“birth plan” was to have a 3-hour, pain-free labor. She laughed at me.

Around 7pm on the night of my induction, my nurse informedus that I just didn’t seem to be going into labor and that I wouldn’t have ababy before noon the next day. Iwas crushed. I had hoped to tryfor a natural birth but it felt like if I was going to be laboring through thenight, I would rather have us get a little rest for when Ryder was finally bornthan try to labor through the night without an epidural and be exhausted oncehe showed up. So after talkingwith Jesse we decided that once I started dilating I would get theepidural. And so we waited. At around 9pm we sent our parents hometo get some rest (no point in them staying up if we weren’t going to meet our littleguy until the next day).

But what we thought was going to be a very long, slow nighttook an unexpected turn. Around 10pm my water broke and things finally started moving. In fact, they started moving very quickly. Each contraction felt exponentiallymore painful than the last. Atabout 4cm I decided I was ready for the epidural. My nurse left to get the anesthesiologist. A few minutes later she came back andtold us that unfortunately both my doctor and the anesthesiologist had justgone into an emergency c-section and were not available. In answer to our obvious question, shesaid it would take longer to get another anesthesiologist there than towait. That was fine with me. Sure, I was in a horrific amount ofpain. But I could hold out. About another 10 minutes.

An HOUR AND A HALF LATER the anesthesiologist Kevin walkedin. I had never been SO happy tosee someone. My contractions hadbecome incredibly painful very fast and were about five seconds apart. I was miserable and could not imagine12 more hours of torture. Kevin(“blessed, wonderful, amazing Kevin” as I will forever think of him) did aperfect job with the epidural (apart from dropping the needle the firsttime). Soon I was in no pain atall (but thankfully I could still feel my legs and even move them a bit).

I suddenly felt the urge to push and told my nurse as soonas Kevin left the room. She lookedat me like I was crazy. Usuallywith a first baby you dilate about 1cm per hour and you have to get to 10cm before you can push. It had only been about an hour and a half since I was at4cm. There was no way I was readyto push. But I asked her to checkanyways. So she did. And then she checked me again. “How dilated am I?” I asked, wonderingwhy she kept checking. “All theway,” she said, looking shocked. “You are about to have a baby, I’m going to go get the doctor. You might want to call yourfamily.” I had gone from 4cm to10cm in an hour and a half without an epidural. No wonder it hurt SO MUCH!

But! Jesse and I were not prepared for this. Yes, we were thrilled. Yes, we were excited to meet our littleboy. But we had thought we stillhad 12 hours left. We hadn’t watched our movies that we brought. Or read our books. We hadn’t even listened to any of thesongs on my “push playlist!”

But it was time. Our little guy was almost here.

My OB came in and she and Jesse sat at the end of my bed(they had discussed Jesse “catching” Ryder as long as everything wentsmoothly). I pushed for 20minutes. It was a wonderful timeof laughter and excitement, thanks to Kevin’s perfect epidural.

** SPOILER ALERT: Before you read on, the next part of the story does involve BLOOD soread at your own risk. **

When Ryder’s head came out the cord was wrapped around hisneck (which of course I couldn't see from my perspective). I waslooking down at Jesse and my doctor, waiting to see my son for the first timewhen “POP!!!” There was a loud popand blood sprayed everywhere. Nowwhen I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. Ceiling, walls, my OB, Jesse, me, the nurse standing 5 feet away, therocking chair in the corner of the room, the white blinds on the windows. Everywhere. My thought process went like this: “I’ve just exploded. I’m going to die. No onetold me that could happen. Stupidbirth classes.” A split secondlater Jesse and my doctor (who had both jumped backwards at the “pop”) startedlaughing. If they were laughing, Idecided, then I probably wasn’t going to die. It turns out that when my doctor went to pull the cord overRyder’s head it had burst and sent blood flying around the room (it looked likethere had been a chainsaw massacre). I guess it is pretty rare, but can happen (which I did not know). Nevertheless, Jesse caught our son andhanded him to me.

Ryder James Rice was perfect. He cried for just a bit, telling me the story of his owntrauma. Then he quickly quieteddown and just gazed at me. Whatmust have been going through his head? I wish he could write down the story of that day from his perspective.

They asked Jesse if he wanted to “trim” the cord (since itwas kind of already “cut”). He didand we then got to hold our little boy in our arms. He was here.

We had picked out the name, Ryder James, 3 years earlier on awedding anniversary trip. So in asense, we had been waiting for our Ryder for years. How wonderful to finally have him withus.

(Sidenote: In the end my labor was almost exactly 3hours. Just like I’d“planned.” Although not pain-freeas I’d hoped).

The past 3 months have flown by, and yet it is hard toremember a time when Ryder wasn’t in our life. Everything is so much richer, more colorful, and moremeaningful now that he is here. Last night we were reading to him before bed. I know he does not understand the words or the story, but hesure does love all the different voices his dad does as he tells it. Then we sat and watched him as hesmiled his way off to sleep. Howcan you only know someone for 3 months and be so madly in love?

Everyday we discover something new about him. Something more to love. Ryder James Rice, we thank God for themiracle of you. We thank God fortrusting us to be your parents. And we promise to love you each and every day as your wonderful storyunfolds.

Rice Family Christmas Traditions

2011-12-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

Every year since we’ve been married, we spend a day doing "Christmasy" things and gettingour house ready for the holidays. Itincludes the same thing every year. This year was no different - apart from the fact that it was made allthe more fun because we got to include Ryder.

The day started with a family run. We bundled Ryder up in his new snowsuit (which he loves!)and went for a run.

Then we came home, showered, and headed to Starbucks for sometreats before driving out to the Christmas tree farm. While usually we are able to find our tree pretty quickly, thisyear it took us a little while to find “the one.”

After getting our tree, we headed home to bake cookies,set up and decorate the tree, eat our favorite pizza (spinach, grilled chicken, and feta) andwatch “Love Actually” – our favorite holiday movie. Our house feels so cozy. And there’s nothing better than watching a 3 month oldexperience Christmas for the first time (Christmas lights are amazing!).


Loves his snowsuit!

Sleepy And Ready For A Run!

Ryder And Daddy

Helping Bake Cookies

Our Tree

Ryder’s First Thanksgiving

2011-12-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful, full Thanksgiving week. Katie's parents, brother, sister-in-law,and nephew, as well as Jesse’s dad and stepmom joined us for Thanksgiving. It was our first time making a turkey,so needless to say we were a bit nervous. Although in the end it turned out great, we did have a few hiccups. The first was that two bullets (yes, Isaid bullets) fell out of the turkey and got lodged in our garbagedisposal (don't worry, no damage done). However, in addition our kitchensink decided not to drain and we ended up having to prepare much of the dinnerin the shower. But in the end, our“shower” turkey turned out pretty good. It was a very fun night of family, babies, and food.

All Dressed Up For Thanksgiving


The Fam


The Turkey

Ryder's First Bite of Turkey ;-)

The rest of the weekend was filled with even MORE good foodand lots of family and friends. OnSunday, Jesse preached at all 5 services at our church. You can watch him here.

Boys and their mamas.

Uncle David and Ryder

Grandma and Grandpa, Ryder and Alex

Ryder and Alex

Ryder and Alex are getting more engaged and expressive everyday. Here they are having a littleconversation with grandma.

For more pics from Thanksgiving and Fall, click here.

10 Weeks With Our Sweet Ryder

2011-11-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow celebrates 10 weeks with our littleRyder. And what an amazing 10 weeks it has been. We have lovedgetting to know our son. It isquite the understatement to say we are head over heels in love. He is a delight. And we couldn’t ask for a betterbaby. From the start Ryder has provedto be mellow, easy going, and a great eater and sleeper. Jesse had the first month off from workand most days found us going for walks, cuddling on the couch, surprisinglygoing on many dates (with our little guy tagging along :-), and having lotsof wonderful visitors (and amazing food delivered! Thank you all!).

Over the past month we have noticed a lot of changes asRyder is more alert, smiling and cooing, and just seeming to interact with hissurroundings a lot more. And oh that smile. That sweet little dimple in his cheek. Amazing.

Some ofthe other highlights of the past two months were:

A trip to Portland at 2.5 weeks to meet Ryder’s cousin
Alex(born 2 days after Ryder) - see blog post below.

Ryder’s first ferryboat ride and a trip to Whidbey Island

(where Jesse was a speaker at a retreat).

Ryder's first Halloween - see blog post below.

And lots of wonderful visits from family and friends
(Picture: Ryder and Grandpa Rice).

We finally understand what parents mean when they say itgoes by too quickly. Last week wepacked up Ryder’s newborn clothes and moved him into his bedroom (as he hasalready outgrown the bassinet in our room). Ourlittle boy is growing up so fast. But we are loving every day, every moment, every smile. We can't wait to see what he'll do next.

Our Little Monkey

2011-11-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

For Halloween Ryder dressed up as a monkey. And boy was he the cutest monkey we’dever seen! After getting ourlittle monkey dressed, we headed out to our neighborhood Halloween parade. There were tons of kids (and parents)dressed up, and even a dog costume contest. We paraded into town where games, treats, and even the mayorand fire department were waiting to celebrate. Sure, Ryder slept through the whole thing, but mom and dad had fun!

On Halloween, Ryder donned costume number 2 so he and Katiecould be “mummys!”

mummys!

Ryder's First Trip to Portland

2011-10-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

What are the chances that Katie's only brother David and his wife Erin would be due with their first son only 4 days after us? Well, he came even closer than that! 2 days after we welcomed Ryder into the world, Alexander Russo Thompson was born. It was really hard not to be in Portland for his birth, but when Ryder was 2.5 weeks old we made the trek to Portland to introduce the new cousins. Although the 3 hour drive took over 6 (many nursing stops in fast food parking lots), it was a wonderful time with our family. Alex is adorable and I'm sure these two are going to be best friends.

Ryder and Alex

What traveling with a 2.5 week old looks like

Erin and Alex, David and Ryder

Uncle Jesse and Alex

We also got together with two of our cousins, who have each had babies in the last 6 months. So fun to see the different stages of all the little ones (and look at those beaming grandparents!).

The cousins and their babies

Proud grandparents and their grandbabies