Her First Bath

Even though her umbilical cord fell off last week, Rylan just got her first real bath. Mainly because she sleeps ALL.THE.TIME. With the exception with a few good alert hours in the morning, she isn't awake long enough to bathe. So finally I motivated myself to give her a bath yesterday. She did great, I can tell she is going to be a little water baby like Brady very soon. She only cried when she got cold. And the best part was at the end when I got to smell that clean baby smell. Love it! Here are a few pictures of the milestone (try to ignore the boyish accessories):

After her bath (sleeping as usual) with her clean fuzzy hair. So cute!

Our New Home

I have been waiting to post this because I didn't want to jinx it, but I think that it is really going to happen so here goes...we bought a house. It is around the corner from Alicia and Troy which is great. The cousins will be able to grow up together. It is a huge house, so we have a lot of furniture to acquire and decorating to do. But that is part of the fun of homeownership, right?

The homebuying process can be somewhat frustrating if you are in the foreclosure market - it is so competitive right now. But on the same day that I gave birth to Rylan we got the call that we officially had the house. The news couldn't come at any better time, with 2 kids in our apartment we are running out of room for all of the toys and various baby equipment that accompanies children. We should be moving in about 2 weeks from now.

There are a bunch of pictures in this album, but if you flip through them you will be able to see a bunch of the house:

http://picasaweb.google.com/alicia.dieder/0102#

Halloween 2009

Today was a big day for the Dieder Family. Rylan celebrated her first Halloween and Brady endured his first time trick-or-treating. I knew that there would be no costumes small enough for Rylan so she had a Halloween themed outfit. Brady was a train conductor but we couldn't get him to wear the bandana around his neck and he wouldn't keep the hat on. Hopefully next year he will be a little more cooperative. He has been having a little trouble adjusting to his life as a big brother so I think that helped contribute to his anxiety over dressing up and visiting stranger's houses.



We had a fun day hanging out at Auntie Alicia and Uncle Troy's house. After watching Alicia carve her pumpkin, we decided it was time to attempt to get dressed up and head out. We stopped at one house but Brady got scared and we had to turn around before they answered the door. At the next house he allowed Auntie Lissee to carry him to the door, but cried while he was getting his first treat. The only house that he willingly visited was Troy and Alicia's house. It was also a lot of fun walking past our new house knowing that in a year from now we will be passing out candy there, not just walking around that neighborhood.



Here is a link to a few pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/alicia.dieder/Halloween2009#

Rylan Alani

Rylan Alani Diederichs arrived at 4:40 AM on Friday October 23, 2009. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. I arrived at the hospital around 12:50 AM that morning with contractions that were spaced about 4-6 minutes apart (in the car) and somewhat painful but not unbearable. When I arrived, it was kind of obvious that Labor & Delivery were not thrilled to have another patient there. After hours (past 8 PM) they had received 2 sets of triplets and 5 other women in labor. But I was scheduled for an induction on Sunday morning anyway and knew my doctor would probably keep me there even if the nurses didn't think I was 100% ready.

I was right. I wasn't totally ready but my doctor told the nurse to have me walk around for an hour and then admit for a 5:00 induction. Walking around for that hour I thought to myself that she had said they were going to induce me at 5:00 which mean I was not in labor. But it sure felt like I was in labor. The contractions were about 4 minutes apart and were hurting. After the hour was up (around 2:45) I asked for the epidural but the nurse warned me that I had to be at least 3 cm to get it. Turns out I was 5! Labor was in full swing. I got the epidural and luckily the nurse called my doctor to tell him that I was progressing very quickly. By 4:30 I was ready to push but had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to get there. He came in around 4:35, I pushed for about 5 minutes and out Rylan came!

It was so different this time around, not nearly as many people in the room. And the best part is that my epidural worked. After it was through I thought to myself that I could easily do this again. Which was the exact opposite of what I thought after Brady was born. Not to mention it was much easier on Rylan. I was so surprised when they handed me the baby right after she was born that I really didn't know what to do. I just didn't expect that at all.

Here is a link to a photo album with more pictures of her

http://picasaweb.google.com/alicia.dieder/0103#

Gro Baby Cloth Diapers

As most of those close to me know, Ryan and I switched to cloth diapers a few months ago. With a new baby on the way, we are always looking at expanding our "CD Stash" (cloth diaper supply). One of the hardest parts of using cloth diapers is trying to get our family and friends to use cloth when they watch him. As easy as I think cloth diapers are, not everyone is sold. So at this point in time, we need to make sure we always keep disposable diapers on hand.

Hopefully I have found a solution to this problem, the Gro Baby diaper with Biodegradable Soaker Pads. Basically it is a cloth diaper with a disposable insert. And the best part about it is that the insert is completely biodegradeable and compostable. So basically I can still maintain my goal of being better to the environment and I don't have to make my lovely babysitters deal with the messiness of cloth.

I am going to be able to try these for free through a blog giveaway that they are doing right now and will let you know how it goes!

You can check them out at the link the below and see what I am talking about in the picture below:

http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/gro-baby-biodegradable-soaker-pads-p-745.html

It's been a while...

I have no good excuse for slacking. But now that I am on Maternity Leave, I will try to be better. (Right, cause when I have 2 kids I will have so much more time than I did before). We will see how it goes. For now, here are some recent pictures:

So serious

Roni and Brady going in for "some sugar." They both came out with knots on their heads, sitting on their butts.

I gave Brady a horrible haircut.

Brady and me

37 weeks pregnant

Is Ryan going to be the family photographer?

When Ryan tells Brady to "Smile" or "Pose" for the camera this is what he gets:

When I tell Brady to "Smile" or "Pose" for the camera, this is what I get:

This is the only time I get pictures where he is not crying for the camera:

Grandpa Bob did good

Brady got a present in the mail today from Grandpa Bob. And he loves it! It is a fake aquarium that lights up and the fish swim around in there. We put it up by his changing table and he tried to climb up there and get it. He sits there cross legged about 12" away and says "Ishes" over and over. The only thing that would make it better is if it were battery powered. He keeps picking it up and trying to take it with him.

A little after bath time fish watching!

Hats

Brady finally has learned to love hats, just in time for summer. It probably has a lot to do with being told how handsome he is every time he puts one on. He even insisted on bringing one to bed with him the other night. Whatever the reason for this change, it is worth it. I have to cover up my little tow head in the sun!

What I find funny about these pics is that the 18 month old knows where to look when a picture is being taken and the 30-ish old doesn't. I will cut him a little slack, he is trying to take a self portrait.

Preparing for the winter.

Just cruising around.

What I have been up to the last month

I am 17 months old today! Can you believe it? I probably weigh about 24 pounds. I am learning like crazy. I try to repeat a lot of the words that my parents say to me and I am not too bad at it. I have about 25 words right now, I love to talk! Mama told Daddy that she read somewhere that if parents listen to their babies when they babble and respond to them that they will be more vocal. Daddy's response was "well, we must have been paying attention to every single sound that Brady made." I love to pat Mama's belly and say "Baby." Or let Daddy know when I want a "Nana" to eat in the morning. I get so excited when I say "Baseball" and Daddy knows exactly what I am talking about.


My favorite things right now (besides Mama and Daddy) are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, bananas, and dancing. I love the Hamster commercial that says "Front Back Side to Side, Front Front Back Back Side to Side." After it is over I will sign more to get Mama to rewind it and play it again. I love to go to the park and go swimming in the pool. I hope to take some swimming lessons this summer so I can be safe in the water.

This past month was so exciting, my Uncle Troy married Auntie Alicia. Roni celebrated her first birthday and the Davis family came to visit. I wish all months were this much fun! Here is a picture of me from today, I am so happy because Mama put Mickey Mouse on.

Happy Birthday Roni!

Troy and Alicia's Wedding

We have a new family member. Alicia #2 is now officially Alicia Diederichs. Troy and Alicia were married on Saturday, June 6th. Ryan was the best man and Brady was the ringbearer. It was a beautiful ceremony and the weather was perfect. 75 degrees, which is so uncommon for a June afternoon in Riverside. The bride looked beautiful and you could tell that both Troy and Alicia were soooo happy. Troy kept hugging everyone and telling them how much he loved them. Reminded me of a wedding day 5 years ago.

Brady tried his best to fulfill his ringbearer duties. We sent him down the aisle with the flower girl and with his pillow in hand. And he charged the first few steps but encountered a set of stairs. He dropped his pillow, bent down to pick it up and by that time the flower girl was half way down the aisle. By the time he got everything together I think he panicked because he didn't know where to go. So I had to swoop in so he didn't interrupt the ceremony. I think if we had started him off on flat ground he would have seen daddy up at the front and we would've have had a chance at an aisle walk. Oh well, that's what you get when your ringbearer is 16 months old.

The food was delicious and Brady had a great time cheering everyone on during the toasts. He would get so excited when everyone would clap and if the group laughed, he would let out a very loud fake laugh. He really loves to be the center of attention and it didn't stop when it came for dancing. He spent about 45 minutes dancing with all of the ladies. All of the festivities wore him out and by 8:30 he was ready to get going.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding. Brady got a small hair trimming this last week and I really am happy with it. And he is not the only one. For those of you that know Troy, you know he usually wears his hair long and typically has a lot of facial hair. But everyone visited Auntie April for haircuts and hairdos this week and Troy looks like a different person. Flipping through my pictures, I had to do MANY several double takes because I was wondering why Ryan was kissing the other Alicia. They looked so much alike! I will try to add more pictures from other people as I get them. Brady messed up the settings on our camera and so I didn't get very many good shots, they all kind of look like they were taken with a cell phone.

Pre-Haircut. April took just a little off the sides and front.

Getting ready to "walk" down the aisle.

My handsome boys, all dressed up.

The couple's First Dance

Cousin Danielle and Brady after the ceremony

New Prayer Request

I added a new link to my prayer requests (on the right side of the blog). Little Dean was born premature and was diagnosed three weeks later with Prader-Willi Syndrome. You can read about him in his mama's words here:

http://shenkinators.blogspot.com/

Here is information on his diagnosis:

http://shenkinators.blogspot.com/2009/05/diagnosis-day.html

It certainly reminds me not to take Brady's good health and the health of our new little baby for granted. Nothing is garaunteed. Please pray for Dean, his brother Cole, and their parents.

I have waited so long for this...

I always looked on in envy as I saw moms with pcitures of babies sleeping in highchairs, jumpers, strollers and other places other than their cribs. I was convinced Brady would never EVER be one of those kids. He skipped his nap completely last weekend when we went to the zoo because he didn't want to nap in his stroller or even in my arms. And then I got a text message from Ryan at work today at 11:45 with a picture of this...

These last few days have been rough on him. He normally goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30. He will usually nap for 2 hours around 1-1:30. However Saturday he went to bed late (what time Gramma??? I still don't know) and woke up at 4:45 (poor Gramma). I thought he would make up for it by sleeping in, but both Monday and today he was up around 6:00. I guess it all caught up to him. If only I had been home to witness this.

A day with friends

This past weekend the Davis family came down to San Diego. On Sunday we met up with Lauren, Carlton, and JR at the San Diego zoo. It was so nice to see them and see the boys together, they really do make a cute pair. We saw a lot of cool animals, but I think 16 months might still be a little too young for the zoo...at least for Brady. It probably didn't help that he didn't nap at all while we were there, but he was soooo tired. He insisted on me holding him and would lay his head on my shoulder, but never did close his eyes for more than a second. 

JR took a nice two hour nap and really seemed to have a good time but he is a pretty mellow kid (according to Lauren this is an act for people other than his parents). The saddest thing happened while we were eating lunch. A family of ducks (about 10 ducklings and their mama) had gathered right near our table. Ducks are one of Brady's favorite animals because he can say both "duck" and "quack." An older man was walking through the tables and must not have seen them because he stepped on one of them! It was bad enough that he stepped on a little duckling! but it was at the zoo! in front of about 10 families with young children! It was quite a scene, but since we were at the zoo, help was on it's way. They scooped up the whole family and I think the little guy will be okay. Poor thing couldn't keep up with his family, it really was sad, I think Lauren even teared up. I was glad that the boys were too young to know what was going on.

After the zoo we headed back to their hotel (the Hotel Del on Coronado - so nice) and hung out at the pool and on the beach for a little while and Lael came down to see us. Then it was off to a delicious dinner. I would highly recommend Ristaurante Tomaso if you are down on Coronado. After dinner it was time to head home, and not a minute too soon for Brady. He was asleep within seconds of us hitting the road. You would think that after a napless day he would sleep better, but he actually woke up in the middle of the night for the first time in about a month. He went back to sleep right away and made up for his lost slumber today by sleeping in and taking a 2.5 hour nap. 

Thank you so much to the Davis family for coming down! We love you and spending time with each other!

Cutie Pie JR running on the beach

Sadly, holding Brady on my shoulders was actually a break for my poor arms! They are still sore from the hours of carrying this 24 pound mama's boy.

I think this was Brady's favorite part of the zoo. And I know that his eyes are in the wrong spot, but this picture is so much cuter than the one where he was "doing it right."

Jared and his daddy

Carlton and Brady