Halloween Part 1

Since today is a holiday I thought I would post a couple different times because of all the excitement that is going on. This morning we "stole" Kennedy so her mom could have an hour to herself and we went to the park and then to the pumpkin patch. I don't recommend picking out pumpkins on Halloween- there are hardly any pumpkins to choose from!

Fortunately neither girl wanted to take a pumpkin home-- they really just played in the dirt and threw rocks.

It is quite cute to hear Kennedy yell, "HAPPY WEEN" over and over again.

Overall it was very fun, very successful, and it wore Ryann out for an early nap.
Can you find the nugget hidden in the pumpkins?

Sweet Tooth

Look closely and you will see that these are store brand lucky charms without the charms. Ryann ate all of the marshmallows for breakfast instead of the cereal bits. I guess I can't really blame her. Smart little sweet tooth.

Talking Frustration

As many of you know, Ryann does a lot of babbling but not much actual talking. She is normally okay with this.... you know, the parents not understanding anything she is saying. This has led her to become quite independent and she usually just does whatever she wants to do.

Well recently she was in her room and I heard her crying. Not hurt crying, not mad crying, but "mom I need help" crying. So I go into her room and she is partially under her crib, reaching for something. I start looking around- pulling things out as I find them.

Now she starts to get frustrated. This is one of the first times I realize she is upset that I am not helping her to find what she needs because I cannot understand her. So I grab a flashlight to look harder. We search and search and finally Ryann takes the flashlight and leaves the room.

She eventually got tired of my severe incompetence and thought the flashlight was better than the frustration. Leaving me baffled and looking at how messy it really is underneath her crib.

Nug's mother is not only incompetent in finding lost toys/silkies/books under the bed, but she obviously can't keep her child clothed or her hair neat... don't judge me :)

Splish Splash at the Zoo

So it has come to my attention that Phoenix is quite a bit warmer than the rest of the Nation. Because of this insane phenomena (91 degrees today), I took Ryann to the Zoo where they have a splash pad. She ran back and forth through the water, plugging holes, and stomping in puddles. She had a blast. She wouldn't stay still for many pictures though!

Please let me in to see the elephants!! PLEASE?!?!?The Goats are definately not as cool as elephants, but since you won't let me into the elephant cage... I will settle for petting the goats. Thanks Natalie and Kennedy for the fun day!!

Special Sunday

Today was a special sunday because Ryann was wearing her flower girl dress from Auntie Devyn's Wedding. While Ryann hasn't asked me yet, I am sure she is wondering (like cousin Ethan) "When is Devyn having another wedding?" because she had sooo much fun when she was there. We actually don't want another wedding right now... we would settle for some visitors!
Cute piggies and messy play room!

Shingles

This is my warning post... I have shingles! This is only a warning for those of you who have never had chicken pox or had the chicken pox vaccine. (and I wont be visiting Rebecca when she is in the hospital with Kate... so sad) Fortunately for Rich and Nugs--- they are safe. Ryann has all her vaccinations and Rich of course had chicken pox as a child. So... if you don't have your kids immunized or have never had chicken pox... let me know and we will definitely try to avoid one another!

Shingles is quite nasty. I have been complaining about a rash on my back for almost a week now. It is small, localized and it HURTS! I believe I have a high pain tolerance and I kept telling myself I was being weak- that it would go away- it was bug bites- dermatitis- maybe even some sort of staph infection- but once we figured out what it was I felt a lot better about being "weak". Cause from everything people tell me and what I hear... it hurts.

Here is a picture of shingles... not my shingles... but someones shingles.

Anyway, I am on antiviral medication now, which is safe in pregnancy... but any steroids, numbing medication and pain medications aren't recommended during pregnancy. The antivirals are most effective if started within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms (unfortunately I was trying to be tough so I waited 7 days!) so we will see if the medications help much.

Questions may be answered HERE, but I will answer a few below.

1. How did I get shingles?

Once people get chicken pox they have the potential for shingles. However, the majority of the time it lays dormant in your system and you body protects you from ever getting them. However, in periods of immunosuppresion (chemo, cancer, AIDS, steroid use, pregnancy) the virus can flare up. Or, occasionally in times of severe stress (DING DING DING) the shingles virus can manifest itself. I hardly ever get stressed out, but this whole comprehensive exam for school and not having a job and pregnancy really got to my system. So now I am trying to take it easy and hopefully that will help.

2. Does it hurt?

Haha, I already told you it does, but I thought I would remind you all that it is nerve pain- which means it burns and itches and aches and throbs and not much makes it feel better. One website thankfully reminded me that the pain should only last 3-5 weeks with treatment but may last longer than 6 months! So hopefully by the time I am in labor I won't have this nerve pain anymore. The website here explains more about pain and treatment.

3. How bad has the shingles spread?

on my body I only have shingles in the middle of my back in a cluster about 4 inches in diameter (i think). It is right along my spine and someone very helpful *sarcasm* told me that these are the closest to the nerve roots so that makes them more painful and take longer to go away? Not sure if this is true... but thanks a lot for telling me this great news

4. How am I going to deal with this?

I am having a pity party today. And today only. So tell me you feel bad and are sorry and blah blah blah... but by tomorrow I am done with complaining and if you hear me whining then slap me or pinch me somewhere else so I don't think about it anymore. Unless you are my mom or my husband... then I get to complain all I want because you both love me no matter what I do. :) I am also looking on the bright side. I am very young and healthy and I am sure that my body will fight this off fairly easy.

5. What kind of medication am I taking?
Since Shingles is a virus, I am taking an antiviral... this is the same as what you would take for Herpes, because this is also a virus. So... Valtrex here I come!

Depending on your computer screen- this is the actual size of the ginormous horse pill I have to swallow 3 times a day. Bigger than my prenatal vitamin by a long shot!

FlashBack Friday

Since I don't have any good pictures to post... I thought I would post Ryann at the pumpkin patch last year... I have to say the biggest change is the amount of HAIR! My cute little bald baby... now she is my cute little mullet baby...

Popcorn Anyone??

Rich pulled out his popcorn machine the other day and Ryann found it very interesting!! She is trying very hard to fit inside the machine... the rest of the day she was licking salt and popcorn taste off of her fingers

Congrats to me!

I can't believe it is over. It has been an amazing 2 years of school where I have discovered my passion for helping women. Not only has today been an exciting day, but it has been quite the spiritual day for me.

As I realized the significance of finishing this chapter in my life I decided to read my Patriarchal Blessing that was given to me by a man who had the authority from our Heavenly Father to be a mouthpiece for him on this earth. I remeber that day clearly and have reflected on it often. Each time I read my blessing I truly know the love that my Heavenly Father has for me.

The line that reflects most upon completing my formal education reminds me that because of my "good education I will be able to contribute in the world and help others who are less fortunate." I used to believe that this meant having to travel to a third world country to help others (which I may do someday... who knows), but on this day I feel so blessed...
I feel my Saviors love so profoundly today...
And because of this love I know that many of the women I will help and have helped have been less fortunate than I. This part of my blessing is unfolding before my eyes and I know it is only because of the righteous decisions I have made in my life that have made this possible.

*Side note to one of my most faithful readers... Sorry for the churchy stuff Erin... I love you!*

Bouncy House and Pig Tails

Nugs is in love... when we went to the pumpkin patch there were pigs, chickens, goats, cows, pumpkins, donuts, kids, tractor rides, stickers, and much more.

However, nothing could top the BOUNCY HOUSE!

Her squeals of delight came when she bounced with the little kids, when big kids knocked her over, when someone jumped on top of her, and just anytime she bounced. She felt free and I think... most importantly... mom couldn't get her and spoil the fun (moms tend to do that I hear)She was constantly running to the bouncy house... anytime I put her down she was running away to the bouncy house. It really got kind of old... but she is sure dang cute. One time her friend Kennedy was bouncing and Ryann just didn't think it was fair that she was having all the fun. She ran over to Kennedy's dad and basically begged (with pleading eyes) to take off her shoes and let her in.

And finally, I am proud to announce that I can get ALL of Ryann's hair into 2 piggies...

BAAAAA!

Look at my cute little sheep--holding onto her donut with a death grip.

Going Green

Call me "CRAZY" but I have purchased my first 2 pairs of reusable diapers. After lots and lots of research I thought I had put the reusable diaper hunt on the back burner. However, I already decided that BumGenius were definately the way to go once I decided to make the big switch.

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Today I went to target and "OMG" (oh my gosh) BumGenius Diapers are on the end of the aisle! It is a sign. Today, I am going green.

Cutest Bum in the world!!!

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However, they are kind of expensive... so I will slowly purchase them and build up my supply... and in the mean time I will continue to contaminate the earth and use the entire costco box of huggies.

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I don't care what others say. I am excited, I am going green, and they are so darn cute! It makes it nice that they also fit babys from 7-35 lbs so I will never have to carry different size diapers in the diaper bag when nugget #2 comes along.

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So many positives that I could go on for days. I just need to figure out how to get these at wholesale price...

Where is Nugs!?

Before we start Potty Training

There are quite a number of things we need to teach Nugs before we can potty train her

(eons of time before we are out of diapers)

**The first being to remove your pants before you wipe**

(she actually grabbed some toilet paper and is "wiping" here)

**Second- you must never leave a baby lying face down on the toilet**

**Third- do NOT take the toilet paper with you after you wipe- leave it in the toilet****Fourth- please wash your hands before grabbing the baby by the face and walking away**

(She does close the lid when she is through... thanks Nugs)I love this girl.

Ryann Dancing Video

I am not quite sure where Ryann got her moves... neither of her parents have any...

(Rich says this is debatable.... ask Rex and Natalie... they have seen Rich dance to the Backstreet Boys... the only one who would debate this is Rich himself though...)

I hope this post works. I have never tried playing a video on blogger land. I usually just do www.youtube.com and our user name is brittirich1... so you can check out other videos of nugs if you want.

20 Months

Ryann is 20 Months today so I thought I would share some of the exciting things she is up to these days.

1. When she is in a good mood and has nothing better to do, she will smile and say "cheese" when I ask her to. (as shown in the picture above)

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2. She has absolutely no idea that her world will be turned around in a few short months as she will be the big sister.

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3. She is starting to say words!!! Maybe we wont have to do speech therapy afterall! (the pediatrician said that if she doesn't say 5 new words by next month then I need to bring her back for a speech therapy consult) She says "elmo", "shrek", "ice", "cheese", and a few others are right there on the tip of her tongue. I am so proud since this all really started when she started saying "shrek" last week.

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4. She loves to talk on the cell phone every day to at least one family member

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5. She has no fear and when we go to the park she always goes down the biggest slide first

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6. She loves to CLIMB (as shown below)

Ryann is truly a joy and a blessing. I have never been more happy in my life than I am now. I am so thankful for a wonderful husband who is such a good father. He has recently figured out that he spends more time taking care of Ryann then the majority of his friends and he is still okay with it. He is always reading her stories, giving her baths, tucking her into bed, brushing her teeth, and changing poopy diapers. He still hates feeding her, but he still does it without complaining.

I love my family and I really can't believe it has been 20 months since her birth.

Hello...

The growing baby in my uterus would like to say, "Hello"

Nugget #2 will be arriving around May 1st

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I would first like to apologize to any close friends of mine who had to find out I was pregnant through the blog. I really do have a good explanation for this. Well, maybe not a good one, but it is very rational to me.

I don't like to tell people I am pregnant. I feel it is always a weird introduction to a somewhat weird conversation that goes something like this:

Brit: "ummm... so guess what?"

Friend: "What?"

Brit: "I am pregnant."

Friend: "Oh congratulations! When are you due? How far along are you? Have you known for long?"

Brit: "Uh, May 1st. Almost 12 Weeks. Yes, I have known since the day I missed my period at 4 weeks."

Friend: "Were you trying? Was it planned?"

Brit: "Yes"

And that is about as exciting it gets.

My weird reasoning for not wanting to tell people I am pregnant is because while I think it is an amazing, wonderful, beautiful part of the creation process that Heavenly Father graciously instilled into our bodies... getting pregnant isn't hard for me.

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I think about getting pregnant and then I am.

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Now don't get me wrong, I am so excited when others get pregnant and I want to congratulate them and share in their joy... but when I get pregnant it is no big deal. I don't think about it constantly, I don't show for awhile (hopefully this stays true this pregnancy), and when everyone knows it makes the pregnancy last forever.

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I actually didn't want to tell anyone I was pregnant until I was at least 12 weeks and heard a heartbeat... but once one person knows then everyone knows. And since my family has tried to keep it quiet... not very successfully I might add... I figure I might as well let it all out of the box.

Can you spot the nugget?

I found Nugs sitting in her toy bin... I promise this is not staged... It was hard to tell which one was the real baby. Haha
Yes, Ryann isn't wearing clothes... it is a long story, but basically Daddy let her drink from his big cup and she got over-zealous.

Halloween Decorations

I don't have many Halloween decorations so I decided to make my own this year! Here is a picture at the request of my mommy!

I took mini pumpkins and painted them with elmers glue. I then sprinkled glitter all over them and waited about an hour for them to totally dry. After this I painted the stems brown. My favorite are the ones with the orange glitter and the clear glitter. I made the jack-o-lantern with black glitter that I sprinkled on the face area I made with paint... then after that dried an hour or so I painted the rest with glue and glittered that.

This was a fun project but it had the potential for making a huge mess!

(like when you do this with your YW... guaranteed mess)

Jaidin

Jaidin came over today to play with Ryann and I. I watched her once a week for the first year of her life and I sure love this cute little girl. Jaidin and Ryann are a year apart but they still laugh and giggle and get into trouble! They were jumping on the bed and throwing pillows onto the floor and having so much fun. Come back soon Jaidin!

Shrek!

"Shre"
"Shre"
"Shre"
"Shre"
This is what I hear every morning, afternoon, or just any time that the TV is not on. I absolutely love it!

Ryann doesn't say very many words at all, and this is the first time she has ever tried to attach a any other letter to the "S" sound. I am so proud of my cute Nugs.

Playground Time!

The past 2 days Ryann, Rich and I have walked across the street to the elementary school playground. Ryann loves it! She walks funny through the sand and climbs up the steps. She then starts at the little slide and goes down...

She then climbs up the the next biggest slide and goes down that one. Then finally she remembers the "big twirly" slide (as we call it) and goes down that one. Here are pictures of her climbing up the big stairs to get to the "big twirly." I couldn't decide which was my favorite. So I am posting them all.This picture below is definately NOT my favorite, but I think it is hilarious so I posted it as well. After the slides we go over to the fire truck and then to the swings. After about 30 minutes we are all tuckered out and walk back home. Good thing it is fall break and the elementary schools aren't in session. Ryann would definately miss playing on the slides this week. What will we do next week??

A Message from Nugs

Happy Conference Day! I love you all and miss you! Come play soon.

Look Out World

And you thought all I could make was fresh, homemade pumpkin pies.... not even close! This pumpkin bread was delicious as well! All from scratch... Look out world... here come Mrs. Brittani Homemaker! But not really.

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However, I can say that I cleaned my entire bathroom for the first time in oh... I don't know... We probably shouldn't guess how long it has been.

FlashBack Friday

4 Years ago Rich and I used to bowl a lot at the BYU bowling alley. We always had so much fun. Now I can't remember the last time we went bowling. I think it is about time to take Nugs. Anyone up to take the kids bowling in a couple weeks? Maybe after fall break? During fall break? Let me know, we will be there.... bumper pads and all!

Pumpkin Pie from Real Pumpkins!

Yes, that is right my friends.... I cut open, cleaned, cooked, pealed, smashed, and mixed a real pumpkin to make a fresh, homemade pumpkin pie.It is delicious and I am very proud of myself.

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Watch out Natalie... this baby is coming your way. Along with some cool whip and fresh pumpkin bread!!

The recipe I proudly snagged from http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/