Wyoming - Ryker James Liechty

Jocelynn and I drove up with my dad to Wyoming on March 18th. Ryker was born on March 11th, a week earlier. This is my sister's 5th child and 4th boy. I was so excited to spend the week with them and see all the kids. Ryker had jaundice so was hooked up to a machine. He didn't seem to mind though.

Jaeger and Jocelynn are 7 months apart. They have similar personalities and either played really well together or didn't get along. They played all day long together though. They loved these strollers.

Jocelynn loves Jordyn. She's like her little mom. Anytime Jocelynn was upset Jordyn would gently hold her. It was cute.

I had really cute Easter cookie cutters (Bunny, Egg, flower, and butterfly). We made sugar cookies and the kids got to decorate them.

Here are the two taking a bath together. They would dunk their heads underwater and say they were seals.

Jamie is so good. She reads the scriptures to the kids every night before bed. Jocelynn loved this.

Jocelynn loves babies. She kept calling Ryker a "cutie buns."

This is where Jocelynn slept at night and for naps. I was surprised she did so well.

It snowed on Monday and was beautiful all white. It melted away by the middle of the day.

MOnday was mine and James 7th anniversary. I've never been away from him for this long. On Saturday he called the bakery at Smiths grocery and had them make me a cake for my whole family to celebrate. It was really sweet.

The last night we were there we decorated eggs with the kids. It was fun but a lot of work. I haven't decorated eggs in years. The kids enjoyed it.

Life in the Ward Family

We got back from Wyoming on Wednesday and I haven't downloaded pictures yet but thought I'd give an update on everything going on in the Ward family. Life never slows down. Jocelynn continues to grow, learn and won't slow down. I continue to try to enjoy every moment. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and it has gone by fast. At first when I was sick, it felt like a long time but now time seems to move faster. My stomach is a lot bigger this time around then with Jocelynn. I was still getting sick after the 1st trimester and was wondering what was the deal. It was frustrating. I'd be super bloated, nauseous and felt like only laying in bed. Finally after talking with my friend, she had the same problem, I realized it was what I was eating. When I was pregnant with Jocelynn, I worked everyday. Left my house by 5am and got home by 5pm. I packed lunch everyday and it was all healthy things. When I got home I rarely cooked. I would eat chicken or salad. No wonder I felt so good, I ate well. Now that I stay home it's a lot different. I cook every night and you can't just cook chicken and salad for kids or they won't eat so I cook a variety of things. Not all of them are healthy, though I try my best. Here are some things I've eliminated form my diet and feel much better . . .

• Ground beef (this is the worst, the thought makes me sick)
• Onions
• Anything spicy
• tomatoes
• Anything too greasy
• Certain chips

Since I've tried to stay away from that my pregnancy has been much better. The baby still doesn't move all that much. I get this sweet feeling when the baby moves. The baby feels so calm. I know this all can change as time goes on. It's just different then Jocelynn. She kicked, danced, etc 24/7. I may not feel the baby as much also because I'm constantly moving all day. With Jocelynn, I was sitting at a desk and was still all day long. I take Jocelynn to the appointments with me and really enjoy doing that. It's something we get to experience together. She lays on the table with me as the doctor checks me. When we saw the baby last time, she put up her shirt for the doctor to check her baby in her tummy. It was sweet. She can't go a day without talking to the baby. We've been around so many pregnant women the past year that I really think she understands. She says to me "Baby gets bigger and then comes out of mommy!" When she talks to the baby my shirt has to be up. She has learned that we can't do that out in public. I'm excited for her to be a big sister. I know she'll be a good one. She loves babies and this past year we've been around so many that it has been good for her. A couple more of my friends will be having babies before me so it'll be good for her. She sweet and gentle and can't wait to experience these times with her.

Jocelynn will be 2 1/2 years on April 4th. She always seems a lot older to me. Her communication is amazing. She speaks so clear and continues to ask questions. SHe uses her 5 W's often (Who, what when where why). Her newest question was "Mom, what are you talking for?" I thought this was very rude and didn't know how to respond. I was thinking because I want to! I finally noticed after a couple of days she was asking this, when I was talking to someone. She meant to say "what am I talking about?" Last month, she learned how to sign and spell her name out loud and has learned the alphabet in sign language. I continue to try to help her to grow because she soaks it all up. We also worked on "Same and Different." The game Memory helped with that and that is her favorite game. She gets so excited when she gets a match. Jocelynn loves to play games, play outside and read books. She loves to pretend. A new book we got was called "Pete's Pizza." It's about a little boy who is bored and his dad pretends to make him into a pizza. He lays him on the table, kneads the dough, puts( pepporoni checkers), cheese (paper) and puts him in the oven (on the couch) and then pretends to eat him. JOcelynn says to her dad last night "Can you make me into a pizza and brought him the book." It's cute to watch them together. She loved it! Many of her books are memorized and she reads them herself. She is a great helper and is great with helping me with laundry. She gets her stool, puts soap in the washer and I put a pile of dirty clothes next to it and she puts one in at a time. She also loves to wipe down the tables with a sponge. I know she would love to wash the floors with me, if I would do it when she's awake but I can see that being a wet mess so I usually don't do it when she's awake. Although Jocelynn is smart and sweet, there is also another side to Jocelynn. She can either be outgoing and funny to those she knows or sassy and quiet. A couple months ago she started throwing bad tantrums. Many times I've had to leave the store and go home. Walking up 3 flights of stairs with a toddler arching her back and being a pregnant is a lot of work and can be emotionally draining. She has a hard time gaining control of her emotions. Many times she forgets why she's so upset and I hug her to calm her down. She says while she's throwing a fit "I just want to be happy mom!" We've used time outs and taking her favorite toys away when she shows bad behavior and that seems to help. She is very shy and takes awhile to warm up to people. She gets nervous in new situations and will not say a word if she's not comfortable. She won't say Hi to people and won't smile at you. When people say Hi at the store I say "Jocelynn say Hi and I wave her hand." It's kind of funny because I know she can and she knows she can but she doesn't want to. She continues to make James and I laugh.

MOnday was our 7 year anniversary. Hard to believe 7 years has gone by. So much has happened.

• Lived in Corona and Ontario
• Moved 2 times
• Both graduated with Bachelors, James his Masters
• Had a child with another on the way
• Bought our first place
• Bought 1 car since we've been married
• Took our first vacation out of state last year to Oregon

I'm so excited for the future. James and I have so many goals in life that nothing will stop us. "Success is our only option." That has always been our motto. I have plans to be a Speech Pathologist either in the hospitals or in the school system. James has his career goals also. We look forward to expanding our family, traveling the world and growing closer to our Savior and each other. Life is so wonderful. I know we have hard days ahead but now is the time to anchor our testimonies with our Heavenly Father and when that time comes we WILL be able to make it through with him by our side.

Easter bunny at the mall

We went and saw the Easter bunny at the mall on Saturday. I look forward to this every year. It's fun to look back on the other pictures we have and see how much she has grown. Her response is totally different with Santa Clause but she loves the Easter bunny. I like going when they first open because no one is there. It doesn't make her nervous when it's not so chaotic. Afterwards she got bunny ears!

She kept trying to hold in her smile.

She asked the Easter bunny if he'll bring her eggs. He nodded his head yes and she asked do you eat carrots? and he nodded his head yes. It was cute.

She kept sucking in her cheeks just so she wouldn't smile. I'm SSSOO excited for Easter this year! Please mute or ignore my voice in the video below. :)

MaKenzie's 3rd birthday!

MaKenzie and Jocelynn

Last weekend Jocelynn's friend MaKenzie, from nursery turned 3 and had a birthday party. As you can tell from her big smile above she was having a great time.

This was a hit at the party. They were making door hangers. There were a ton of foam stickers to decorate.

Balloons are always awesome for toddlers. She loved this!

Before the party she also got a haircut. She loves getting her haircut. She got bangs and she looks so old.

San Diego Zoo

Pictures are out of order but we went to the San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks ago. I've never been so it was a lot of fun. My best friend Melinda, invited us and thanks again! Jocelynn loves her girls so much. They all play so well together and her girls are so sweet. Afterwards, Jocelynn through a fit for about an hour (yes one hour) in the car but finally stopped and fell asleep. When they woke up they played outside on the trampoline for a little bit.

The girls waiting for the Sea Lion show. This was Jocelynn's favorite part of the day.

Girls being silly.

It was such a great day and beautiful weather!

18 1/2 weeks (19 wks Thursday)

So I realize I may have sounded a little obnoxious my last post. I did feel huge, but I think the word I should have used was "bloated." This pregnancy has been different for me. I love the idea of having a child growing in me and the miracle of it all but I have not enjoyed it as much as when I was pregnant with Jocelynn. I feel guilty saying that. My picture at 12 weeks, I was sucking in my stomach. I decided to let it all hang out above. I don't remember feeling so bloated with Jocelynn. Not sure if I'm eating too much or not eating the right things but my stomach always hurts like I just ate a ton.

I've always gotten migraines since I was a little girl. They get really bad. My symptoms first come with blurry vision, I see spots, then my lips and hand gets numb. They scare me because I know the excruciating pain that comes. I usually have to take deep breaths ( like I'm in labor) and if it's really bad then I throw up till it goes away. I got one last Saturday and started to get another one Tuesday. I haven't really felt the baby move since, maybe once or twice. Concerns me a little but I felt the baby move today so I guess shouldn't worry. The baby just doesn't move as much as Jocelynn did. She was crazy.

It really has flown by fast. Makes me sad that time goes by this fast. I try to enjoy every moment I can.

Kids Klub

Jocelynn has been going to Kids Klub at the gym since she turned 1. I tried when she was 6 months, then 9 months but she was hard to leave. SHe didn't like it and it was hard on me. At one, I just decided to keep going and eventually she'll get used to it. I only work out about 30-40 minutes a couple times a week. She walks right in now and knows the people there with her.

This is Ella and Pinky. They love Jocelynn and it's nice for me to work out a little and get some energy for the day.

Where has the time gone?

Time has flown by super fast. A lot has been going on and I need to get back into blogging, especially because I print these out the end of the year. I think there are 3 reasons why I have been laggin with blogging 1.) my camera stinks. It doesn't take good pictures. We got this camera almost 6 years ago and we're in need of a new one. 2.) Jocelynn, the whole month of January and couple weeks of Feb was sleeping HORRIBLE. I was exhausted all day long and taking care of a whining toddler (she's all good now). 3.) In my free time, just want to do nothing. (blame that on being pregnant).

This first pic is of Jocelynn and Gabrielle. We go see Gabrielle every couple weeks. Jocelynn is really close with Grandma Alice and Uncle Phil (Close friends of ours). We love to visit them

We really go to the park almost 4 times a week. She loves the park and being outdoors. There are usually 3 main parks we go to.

My friend told me about this gymnastics place in Moreno Valley. $4 for an hour. They have the neatest stuff. Jocelynn loved it! She loved jumping in this foam, sometimes she'd get stuck and I'd have to save her.

Feb 15 we went to the beach for a couple of hours. It was such a beautiful warm day. We even saw a seal playing in the sand.

I love my little girl so much. It dawned on me today that I only have 20 more weeks alone with just her and I during the day. Made me kind of sad. Like I said earlier, she transitioned to a toddler bed and was doing fine the first 2 weeks and then it got bad. She was getting up and I'd put her back in bed. Tantrums would last forever because she didn't want to go to bed. Every night would take an hour to get her in bed. Sometimes she would wake up all throughout the night and throw tantrums in the middle of the night. I was exhausted. During the day she was all over the place . . . because she was tired. She would kick, hit, scream. I thought "what happened to my sweet girl." I knew that because she was not getting the proper sleep she needed that she was acting this way. I bought a gate and wish I did this sooner. I put the gate up and said goodnight and the first couple times she cried for a long time, of course I did too. Who wants their child to cry??? but I stuck with it and am so glad I did. The 3rd night she said "don't put the gate up!" I said "don't get out of your bed then." SHe hasn't and we haven't had to use the gate. She goes right to bed and it takes 5 minutes. It has made a difference in my energy, in her behavior during the day and even in my relationship with my husband. Most importantly, Jocelynn and I are able to once again enjoy our time together during the day because she is rested and happy. She is like her mom, she needs her sleep!