Becky's Thought: Fall

It is Fall!!! Out of all the seasons Fall brings back more memories than Winter, Spring, and Summer combined. I love the Fall. The air is intoxicating. Its crisp, cool, and clear and you can literally smell the changes in nature that occur around you. The mountains light ablaze in amazing yellows, reds, and oranges and beckon to those who live in the valley to come and celebrate with them the arrival of Fall. My taste buds start to crave anything with allspice in it and a fresh apple to be picked off a tree is never too far. When I am outside I can close my eyes and just feel Fall wrap itself around me soothing any fear or worry that may be bothering me.

Not only does the Fall hit my senses but it also brings up many wonderful memories. Fall makes me think of the beginning of the school year. Being a gal who yearns to learn and LOVES school with a passion, these memories are joyful memories for me. The excitment of meeting my new teachers, getting my textbooks and supplies, and meeting new people flood back into my mind. I think of all the amazing people I have met through the educational system. The wonderful sense of accomplisment I would feel while at school. And then of course in the end Fall makes me miss school.

Fall seems to be my season of change which is appropriate since that is exactly what Fall does, it changes things. I became a single mom in the fall, I got to know my Curtis in the Fall, and I rediscovered who I am in the Fall. I also changed my train of thought and view on life in the Fall. Some of these changes bring brief moments of mind numbing pain but overall as the years pass I feel thankful for everything Fall ever brought me.

So all you out there who do not like the Fall simply because it means Winter is coming. Stop worrying about things you can not change and enjoy the brief moment of Fall while it lasts! Besides, Winter is not all that bad. Winter means hot chocolate, the silence of a fresh snow, the sound of winter birds, a blazing fire to cuddle up with your sweetheart, the holidays, and family. And Winter makes you even more grateful for that first flower that pops its head out of the ground as the ground starts to thaw.

Yay for seasons! Especially Fall:)

Ryker Charles Dudley

 A while back ago we went into our OB's office to get an ultrasound done because I was measuring small as usual. And as always even though I was not showing it on the outside, the baby was measuring big on the inside. So my husband and I thought for a while and decided to induce on the 17th of September.

As the date began to creep nearer, I found that I was getting a decent amount of anxiety over my last pregnancy and birth. This was abnormal for me. But I was worried that since my last three had gone so well, it was my statistical turn for something to go wrong. As I fell asleep that night, I found myself to be very emotional and very anxious.

The next morning I felt a little better. We gathered things up and headed over to my parents house to drop off our two boys. Then we headed to the hospital where we arrived promptly at 7AM to begin my long day of inducing the baby. Here is a very quick and shortened version of the labor and delivery.

1- Needles and questions and bags and bags of liquid with various drugs and sugars in them.
2- Contractions start but nothing I could not handle.
3- Dr comes in wants to break my water and encouraged me to get my epidural before he does so, claiming the pain will increase 10 fold.
4- I conscent to an epidural but it only worked on my left side of my body.
5- Dr. breaks water and I swear half of the weight I was carrying gushed all around me.
6- Contractions get more intense and closer together. Half of my body is still feeling all of it.
7- Eventually I have a different Dr. redo the epidural completely.
8- Epidural worked perfectly, Thanks Dr. Fisher.
9- hours go by. Around 5PM I finally make it to a Ten.
10- Wait for Dr for about an hour.
11- Dr comes in tells me to push. I give it one big push and the head came out revealing that the umbilical chord was wrapped around the babies neck twice. Dr removes the chord twice and tells me to give just a little push.
12. Out he came at 7 lbs, 11 ounces, 20 inches long, and screaming his lungs off making everyone raise their eyebrows in astonishment that a newborn could have lungs like that. Baby rated a very high 9 on the health chart. Hair was light brown, eyes to be decided (I think they may be brown, Curtis things they will turn blue like the other two boys).

And that is pretty much how it went. I had a bit of a problem with excessive bleeding and low blodd pressure and had to be under close watch for the night but baby was a picture of health and took to nursing like a true boy.

It took us about a day to come up with the name. And in the end Curtis gave him his first and I gave him his middle name. So officially he is named, Ryker Charles Dudley. And yes for all you treky fans I have heard all the jokes about unisuits and calling him number one.

So far, Ryker has turned out to be a pretty easy going baby. I have not heard those pipes he displayed since his birth. He seems to have a good amount of patience for a baby and he is just so darn cute. He looks a lot like Jace did when he was a baby so my guess is he will grow up to be blond, dark skinned, and have similar facial features to Jace. Time will tell.

And finally, pictures! Cause lets face it, most of you are here to see pictures:)

Grandpa Dudley and Ryker

Grandpa and Grandma Wilde with my boys Ashton, Jace, and Ryker

Dad and Ryker

Mom and Ryker. Note: I want you all to know that I really don't like after birth pictures with me in it since I look like a train wreck. So feel privileged that I put one up for you all anyway with no makeup, crazy hair, and completely worn out.

Mom Dudley and Ryker

I would like to give a special thanks to my parents for watching the boys for me for a few days. And to Holly for helping out with Sage. Curtis is a very protective and caring husband and does not like to leave his wife alone in the hospital in case something were to happen. And of course a special thanks to my husband Curtis for being an amazing husband who obviously loves me more than anything.

Crazy Times

This last few weeks have been a whirlwind of craziness. The following has happened within the last 2 or 3 weeks.

1- We found our family pet. Her name is Cassie and she is a gorgeous kitty cat that loves to follow us around and get into everything that we are doing.

Sage and Cassie.

2- One of our DVD players finally gave up the ghost followed closely by our little TV. This resulted in a new blu-ray player and TV in our room.

3- Curtis finds a good deal on a the gun that he has wanted for a while.  It's an 1874 Shiloh Sharps just like Quigleys rifle from the movie. Now he has been busy with trying to find everything to hand make his bullets.

I am Man hear me Roar!

The kitty was having fun playing with the gun while Curtis cleaned it.

 

4- Our Renters have given their 30 day notice and we are frantically trying to find someone before our lives get more complicated when baby comes. That means a lot of rental showings and going through applications.

If you know someone that may want to rent a 4 bed 3 bath for 1200/month in the Ranches of Eagle Mountain let me know. We will be taking applications till the end of this week.

5- Curtis's Grandma died a few days ago from natural causes in Texas.

6- Life is crazy and I am due to deliver this baby in one week.

So if you see me and I can not even manage to remember you name... this is why. Too much going on right now and little time to deal with things. Good thing Curtis is bringing home Pizza tonight!