The Rymsza Family

Updates - 2011!

2011-04-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Wow...I think my last post was in November?! Somehow I had more time to do this WHILE I was working! So far this year has been keeping us busy...mainly just enjoying spending time with Reed as he is growing up so fast :( This is such a fun age, which I could just freeze him here! We found out in January that we are expecting our 2nd little one in September! Reed is convinced he is having a "baby sister" as he says, even though the sonogram lady said she was about 80% sure it will be another boy. Jon wants to get a 3D sonogram done in a week or two to find out for sure what it will be. Other than that, all is the same - Jon's job is going well, he is loving it. And I am loving my job with Reed as my boss! Here are a few pics from this year. The best is the video at the very end of Reed looking at the "hibiscus": My favorite close up :) Reed and Grampi feeding the deer bread Reed got his first official haircut from a professional...my stepmom. This is his Before pic During... Afterwards with his cool new do! Reed and Kota sharing ice cream We took Reed to the FTW zoo..he LOVED it and still talks about all the animals he saw Reed's first car washing experience with dad...he figured out the spray gun! Got Kota with his new weapon And also thought it was hilarious to spray everyone else he could! Going sledding when we had the snow storm in January Kota catching him Just chillin'...something he likes to do while watching Dora the Explorer!
Hilarious video of Reed looking at the "hibiscus" flower with Grandma...too cute!

What's New...

2010-11-30T18:58:00.000-08:00

Staying at home is AWESOME! Reed & I seem to be so busy all day long. I have no idea how I ever had time to work full time! It's pretty exhausting as well, but still wouldn't trade my time with my little man for the world.

I am enjoying "fixing" up the house little by little. Love doing what I call "HGTV projects" around the house. Now that all the paperwork, Christmas decorating, and closet organizing is done (well mostly), it's on to master bathroom updates! Anyone know how to take down a huge mirror without just totally destroying the wall behind it??! hmmm...will let you know how that one turns out :)

Jon is loving his job as well & all is going great there. We have been, and continue to be, so blessed. We are just so thankful for everything God has provided in our lives. I love this Christmas season because we are constantly reminded of His amazing grace & goodness, and the ultimate sacrifice He made for all of us!

Here are a few recent pics of Reed from this past month.

He LOVES the camera...seriously, it's pretty hilarious

Sweet Kota. If Cali would stay still long enough to get a picture of her, I'd post it!

The tree! It's up! Special thanks to my mom & Christie Smith for helping me decorate. There is NO WAY I could have ever done it by myself! (the ladder only reached half way up the tree!)

I thought Reed might be scared of Jon's new paintball mask...but he loved it & thought it was hilarious

Rough-housing as usual

Like father like son!

"Retirement, a time to enjoy all the things you never had time to do when you worked"...

2010-09-20T12:23:00.001-07:00

....like spending time with my boys! Well, many new things have been going on lately...but probably the BIGGEST is that I will be "retiring" from my job on October 8. Yep! Last day with Pulte will be Oct 8th, and then I will be staying home with my little man every day. It's so exciting & we could not feel more incredibly blessed to be able to do this. Reed is super excited as well! It will definitely be a shift from what we have been used to, but I think I can handle it :). Now, I have so many things to do....organizing the office, cleaning out some closets, begin morning yoga classes....the list could go on & on :)

And Reed....well he is as nuts as ever. He has really started talking lately! ....or should I say "talking". Regardless, his vocabulary has really exploded just within the last few weeks. He says all kinds of new sounds. It's like he just figured out that he could make all kinds of different sounds & now practices on them daily. He mimics everything! He drank root beer the other day (thank you Christie Smith), and now says "roo roo". Just yesterday, I was talking to Jon & in our conversation I said something and then said "oh crap" And then my little mini-me next to me all of a sudden started saying "ccccaaa ccccaaa". So...I guess this might be a GREAT time to begin watching what we say??

Here are a few recent pics:

Could someone please tell me when he turned into a little MAN?!

Reed in his new preppy Polo jeans - Thanks Grampi & Grammi :) He looks pretty frat-tastic.

Speaking of "mimicing", this is Reed mimicing Cali. Cali found a spot on the patio that had accumulated some water & licked it up. Reed saw her and well....

I was out of town last week for work. This was the pic Jon sent me of Reed after just waking up one morning :) Getting some fresh air before the morning sun gets too hot.

Friday Night Lights with Dad! Reed's first live football game...he was AMAZED with everything going on on the field.

When the house gets too quiet, something is usually wrong....except in this case :) Jon found Reed reading by himself on the couch.

Reed's 1 Year Pictures

2010-06-24T12:17:00.001-07:00

We took Reed's 1 year pictures last weekend, and I just got all the pics back. I am so excited, they turned out SO super cute! I have way too many cute ones to post them all, so here are just a few of our most favorites. I gotta give a shout out to our awesome photographer, Travis Cobb, who was able to capture Reed & all those little smiles as fast as Reed moves! Travis was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! If anyone needs a great photographer for a great price to come to your house (or wherever you choose), I highly highly recommend him! Let me know if you need his contact info.
Reed now looks like a full out TODDLER! So much for my little newborn infant!? He is so much fun...enjoy the pics! :)

Oh, and also, would love to get yalls opinion! This is kinda fun since we get SO many different opinions...after seeing these recent pics, who do you think Reed looks more like? Jon or Christie?? Fill out the poll on the right.

Reed's 1st Birthday Pics

2010-06-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

Reed's Elmo birthday party was so much fun! Thanks everyone for coming over to celebrate with us. Reed had a great time....he was definitely ready for bed that night! My friend, Kacie helped decorate (or really just decorate them herself) the Elmo cakes - they turned out so cute! Thanks Kac! :) Reed loved them!

The Birthday Boy!

Elmos (2) in the making

The finished product!

Testing out the slide

The little munchkins

Sweet Madison Culp & Baby Colton Banner enjoying some party time

Reed had NO idea the clown was behind him in this picture. When he turned & saw him, it wasn't pretty.

Mom & my sister in law Jenny

Brian & Ethan also testing out the slide

Look at all this cool new stuff....anyone want to come play??

Thanks for the party Dad!

Just a cute pic...

2010-05-13T11:41:00.001-07:00

Not much new to post, just love this pic of Reed! :)

Putting in a Patio!

2010-05-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been crazy over here as we decided to put in a patio in our backyard! FINALLY...we have been talking about doing something for the last couple of years, and we decided it was time to start being able to actually enjoy our backyard. So, earlier this week, they begun breaking ground :)

We still have a ways to go to get it all finished, but we are just excited to have more than 3 feet of patio in our backyard to hang out on. And Reed is excited to be able to walk around without mommy being paranoid of strange bugs & ants that could get him!

Eventually, we will build a sunroom over half this patio connected to the house (I'm excited to decorate a sunroom! And it will be so nice to hang out in a open & airy outdoor room without any bugs!), but for right now, we just have a really big patio to enjoy! :) Here are some pics of the project:

Breaking ground...

Forming up the firepit area in the back corner

Reed hanging out in the firepit!

Reed LOVED the Bobcat...he was mesmerized!

Reed & Daddy watching the action

Reed taking a break with Kota inside (action shot of Kota licking Reed's face...it's a normal thing now...and Reed usually thinks it's pretty funny)

Salt finish...I think it will turn out pretty cool!

Reed loves the golf range!

2010-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

We took Reed out to the driving range last week (we picked the coldest/windiest day I think). Each & every time we hit the ball, he cracked up. It was so hilarious...that precious little laugh of his! Here is a funny video of him:

Reed get Dedicated!

2010-04-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Reed's very special Dedication at our Church. We were so blessed to have the entire family come over & share in the occasion with us. Now that his little devil horns are cut off, we are ready for him to turn into a perfect little angel :)

We were also able to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew Ethan over the weekend. Reed & his cousin Ethan are about 4.5 months apart. They had so fun hanging togehter over the weekend. And they have already begin the "friendly" wrestling!

Here are a few pics:

Reed & Daddy

Simply precious!

Looking at the dog in the backyard together

Having a seat (on top of eachother!)

This one was on MANY spills!

The boys with Great-Grandma

The whole family at Church

Reed's beautiful cake that my sweet & talented Aunt JoAnn made!

10 Months Old....and Walking TODAY!

2010-04-06T16:17:00.001-07:00

Reed turned 10 months on Saturday! How is that possible?!

So I went to pick Reed up from Grandma's house today. I went upstairs to see him playing in the gameroom. Grandma was on the oppostite end of the room, she set Reed down...and umm, he just WALKED TO ME! Are you kidding!?! It is so cute & hilarious to see him walk!! LOVE it! I can't wait til he wakes up in the morning so I can see his new "tricks" again!

Here is the video of him walking along with a few other recent pics:

He found the dogs' water bowl. He was SOAKED from head to toe, but had so much fun splashing the water out of the bowl and onto him.

Found the tupperware

Toys are much more fun when i am IN them

You can't tell here, but Reed is actually sleeping here under those shades

The cutest little ring bearer :) (at Jason & Tiff's wedding)...loving the white kicks here.

Reed's first few steps

Reed loves to give his little bear hugs (Thanks Levons, he LOVES it & sleeps with it every night!)

Rymsza Updates!

2010-03-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wow...so I've gotten REALLY bad about new posts. No idea where the time goes! Actually...I do...it goes to work and then dinner...and then errands....and then Reed's bath...and then putting Reed to bed...and the putting MYSELF to bed! Geez!

Anywho, a few updates: Reed is now 9 months old! Yikes! I get a little sad when I think about how fast he's growing up already, but at the same time, he is doing the cutest things now which makes it so fun.

He was the ring bearer in a wedding this weekend (Congrats again Jason & Tiff!) & was SO cute. He did so good, I helped him walk down the isle. He did great, until he sat down half way and started playing with the stones! :)

What else is new?? Well...we were SUPPOSED to go on a much-needed last minute vacation to Mexico last week, but that didn't so much work out. It was about 11pm on Friday night as we were finishing up our last minute packing & leaving at 4am Saturday morning to catch our flight. Our friends Christie & Carlos Smith who are going to Mexico with us, stopped by for some last minute planning we had to do. Thank GOD...Carlos happened to look at Jon's passport and noticed that it expired last month!! Needless to say, there is not much that can be done for an expired passport at 11pm on Friday night, although we did give it a good couple hour try on the phone. But we ended up rebooking the trip for next month instead. At least the weather will be warmer now....hopefully :). MMM... I am so looking forward to getting onto a warm sandy beach and drinking a fruity (stiff) drink!!

On another VERY exciting note, my sister in law, Jackie got engaged on Saturday!! CONGRATS again Jackie & Jordan! We are SO excited for you guys...can't wait!!!

We are just staying busy with Reed & his daily new antics. He has learned quite a few new "tricks". When you say "how big are you??" he puts both hands up as high as he can above his head. I have a video of him doing this, will try to post asap. He also knows "Where are the lights?"...he looks up & points at the lights. He is working on "How old are you going to be?" and sometimes he puts his little pointer finger up like a 1 (this one is still pretty hit or miss). Oh, and his newest one...you say "Earmuffs Reed!" and he puts his hands over his ears and smiles real big. It is pretty hilarious. His dad definitley taught him that one!! He ways hi/bye all the time, except when you ask him to. And he's right in the middle of this separation anxiety thing. He goes hysterical sometimes when we leave. We've been paged on the big screen for the last 2 weeks in a row now at church while he was in the nursery! LOL. And this past weekend was no exception...he didn't even give us a chance to actually get into the sanctuary before flipping out. Oh well! He seems to like all the loud music & lights at least :)

He is crawling 95 mph and pulls up on anything & everything to stand up. He is such a DARE DEVIL and such a boy! He is into everything, has no fear and just goes head first (literally) into everything. He is pretty fascinated with the dogs still (they are not so much fascinated with him though). He loves to climb the stairs, and I gotta say...he is pretty darn fast at climbing. He'll be quite the athlete for sure :). He says "da da" pretty often now, but we're not really sure that he really associates it with Jon, since the dogs seems to be "da da" as well...oh well.Here are a few pics. I tried to post about 10 pictures a while back, but it didn't save, and trying to find the time to repost all the pics is nearly impossible. But here are a couple current ones:

Reed getting dressed

Family pic :)

Hello big blue eyes & little teeth!

Reed was only interested in one thing....finding every piece of dirt & each pebble on the ground

My boys :)

Ready for the links!

Grandma & Grandpa with the little man at the wedding

Reed - 8 months old picture

This is what happens when I leave Jon alone with Reed :) The two of them shopping, well sort of, at Market Street. At least they came home with some good stuff!

Much Needed Rymsza Update!

2010-01-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness...so much has happened since our last post! Here are the highlights:

We went to Chicago for Christmas -- Reed's first chance to play in the snow!
Reed got his 3rd tooth last week! He now has 2 bottom ones and 1 top tooth.
Reed is crawling! He started technically crawling on Jan 10, but has really mastered it over the last couple weeks and is now cruising around quickly!
Reed is eating little puffs & now yogurt melts! The dogs love that he is now eating these little foods - they lay right by him while he's eating them & wait for him to toss one over to them...which he does all the time & he gets so excited when they eat them!
Reed pulls up on anything (or anyone/any dog) to stand up. The dogs are still a little unsure about him being able to get to them, but they tolerate it, and Reed absolutely LOVES them. They are great with him, even though he pulls handfuls of thier hair out as they try to run away. He is somewhat daring I guess, so he'll let go of whatever he's holding on to and will stand up unsupported for a few seconds...before he crashes down. He'll crawl out of his playroom and down the hallway to get to one of the dogs (of course stopping at the plant on the way to pull it over).
As of today, he is eating all kinds of the "good stuff"...he got cleared to have yogurt, stage 2-3 foods which have all the good stuff like "Pears & Wild Blueberries" and "Banana Peach Granola". He is VERY excited about his new & improved menu!
He hung out with his cousin Ethan for Ethan's 1st b-day party last weekend. Happy Birthday Ethan, we love you!
Reed's current favorite toys: riding on his Tonka truck, playing his piano & riding in his wagon around the neighborhood!
Reed started waving bye-bye today!! Just kind of all of a sudden this morning, he started waving bye-bye to Grandma...and then Nana..and then Dad! But he waves bye bye to the dogs too, so I'm not sure if he completely gets it yet. Either way...it's so cute!
Reed starts his little gym tomorrow! He is going to be in the "Tiny Tikes" class :) He is very excited and has his athletic shorts out and ready to go. Madison Myers will be also in the class with him, we are very excited...will update with pics of that whole event soon!

I'll post pics later tonight!

Lots of new pics!

2009-12-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

So I've been a little behind in updating the blog, so here are a bunch of recent pics!

MY COOL LITTLE DUDE:

Reed looking so "hip-hop" rapper style

Like father, like son!

CHRISTMAS DECORATING:

Mom & Dad Rymsza helping decorate our house

Reed pooped out & needed a power nap with Aunt Jackie

Kota loves all the Christmas excitement!

Too much excitement?

Finally got the lights done outside

BAYLOR/TECH GAME:

Jon & Reed, with Kristin & Madison Myers

Bus that took us to the game...love how the front of the bus says "Jon Rymsza"

The Waterstone girls!

Dad Rymsza manning the hot dogs at the tailgate

SNOWY DAY:

Snowy day in Dallas?!? What?? That doesn't happen too often!!

Margarita Ball 2009!

2009-11-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

Jon & I were invited to the Margarita Ball this year. One of his clients from work was so nice to invite us to go with them...and it was definitely a BALL!! We had SO much fun. The amount of toys that were dontated through the event that are going to Children's Charities was amazing, never seen anything like it before...filled to the ceiling with toys!! Unfortunately, little Reed doesn't have a tux yet so he stayed home with Aunt Jackie & Jordan and fun with them all night! But we took pics with Reed before we left :)

Reed also now has 2 bottom teeth...sharp bottom teeth, but so cute!

Jon made friends.

Here are some other pics of Reed from this weekend:

SO excited to go eat Mexican on the patio at Angelina's!

With Dad at lunch :)

What Else is New...

2009-11-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well...Reed has had lots of new things going on lately!

Rolled over - November 4th (now changing his diaper is a much bigger challenge!)

Tooth breaking thru his gums - November 15th!

Eating - has mastered all his veggies (loves everything except green beans) and has tried just about all his fruits. We just have pears left to try out.

Entertainment - he loves bubbles! We found all of the little bottles of bubbles from our wedding 3 years ago...and Reed loves to watch them in the air! He thought it was hilarious!! And Dakota loves to jump up in the air and catch/eat them too...and Reed thinks that is hilarious too! He also loves his ExcerSaucer & his Jumperoo. He studies all the little attached toys so intently and loves to spin the things that make noise or have lots of bright colors. And he gets going FAST on his Jumperoo!!

He is such a happy baby & so much fun! Here are a couple more pics of him.

All ready to go to Grandma's this morning.

Just happy going for a car ride!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-16T07:40:00.001-08:00

Reed's first Halloween...he was a sweet pea!

We usually don't have many trick or treaters at our house, so we went over to Bobby & Tara's house for Halloween...they have many more little munchkins to pass candy out to. Reed loved hanging out with his Aunt TJ & Aunt Alli (oh yes, and the boys too!). He got to see so many little superheros all dressed up. After seeing them, next year Reed says he wants to be something so much COOLER than a PEA for Halloween!...like Superman! He could always follow in the footsteps of his Dad who dressed up as the purple hippo for Halloween! For those of you who have seen Jon's purple hippo costume, it's probably not a surprise to you that he dressed up. All the little neighborhood kids loved it...so did Reed!

Going to Bobby & TJ's!

Grandma & Grandpa Rymsza with the little pea!

Reed knows what he likes...and what he doesn't!

2009-10-23T10:22:00.001-07:00

The verdict is out....Reed hates green beans! Here is a short video of him trying them:

He has grown to love his cereal though...Oatmeal & Banana is his favorite!

We haven't tried the "good" vegtables yet like carrots and sweet potatoes, but for now, greens beans & squash are at the bottom of his list.

Here is a pic of Reed trying Squash:

And here is one of him enjoying the good stuff - Oatmeal & Bananna!

Reed tries cereal!

2009-10-06T19:37:00.001-07:00

Reed went in for his 4 month check up today & all was well! Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz (45%)
Height: 26.5" (91%)
Head: 16.75" (56%)

He got the green light to start on baby cereal, veggies & fruits. Here are some pics from today.

Battle wounds made better with blue camo bandaids.

Reed - 4 Month Pictures

2009-10-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

We took Reed in for his 4 month photo shoot last weekend, and he was as cute as ever! Here are some of the pictures. He goes tomorrow for his 4 month doctor visit - another round of shots :( - but hopefully he gets the green light to start on some baby cereal! We have his banana & oatmeal cereal all ready for him!

Reed is getting big...and so fun!

2009-09-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Reed is almost 4 months now and is growing so fast and getting so big! He is so much fun & loves to smile & laugh all the time, he is such a happy baby! And me...well I am officially obsessed with him!!

He just started being able to keep his chest up with his arms and actually enjoys tummy time now. He is sleeping great these days - goes to bed about 9pm and wakes up around 6:30-7am...its pretty amazing!

He is loving this cooler weather & going for walks. He sits directly in the stroller facing out now when we go for walks and likes it much better that way. He loves looking up at the trees when we get close to them :)

As for the pups, Cali is still playing with/murdering rabbits in our backyard, and Kota is still my little sidekick & follows me (and Reed) everywhere. Reed has finally started noticing the pups, but still gives them very confused looks.

Here are a few recent pics:

Lovin' the new view of my toys from this angle!

I'm ready to go out!

Woah, who is that good lookin' guy in the mirror!?

mmm, my strap tastes good! ...and I think I like my feet on top of the tray

Lots of Firsts!

2009-09-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of firsts with Reed over the past couple of weeks. He got a Jumperoo, he went swimming, and he started laughing!

Grandpa and Grandma Rymsza got Reed a Jumperoo last week -- he loves it! Here are some pics and a video of him the first time he got in it.

Jon & I took Reed to the pool for the first time tonight. He loved it!

Laughing at Dad on the way to the pool

First touch into the water

It was a perfect night to take Reed to the pool!

Reed loved looking at the waterfall

Woah that was crazy!

So Much Fun -- Lots of Pics!

2009-09-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

We have been having so much fun with the little man!! I started back at work last week after 12 wonderful weeks at home with Reed. Grandma (Jon's mom) & Nana (my mom) are watching the Reed during the week. We are SO blessed and SO thankful to have such a wonderful situation and such a wonderful family to take care of Reed. Thank you Grandma & Nana! Reed loves spending time with you guys!

Reed is officially sleeping through the night these days. It's been about 2 or 3 weeks now and he is doing GREAT at night. He usually goes down for the night between 9-10pm, and wakes up between 6-7am. Jon and I are loving getting sleep again!

Here are a bunch of pics over the past couple of weeks:

Reed & Dad watching sports. Reed LOVES to watch tv (we limit his tv time to 1 hour a day, it usually consists of a bit of Sesame Street and a bit of ESPN).

Go Aggies! (Disregard the BU onesie)

With Nana...

Laughing with Dad...so cute!

HELLO!

All bounced out.

With Aunt Jackie at Grampa's birthday dinner at Maggiano's

My 2 boys!

With Madison Culp. 2 little cuties!

Could it be?? Reed starting to sleep through the night??

2009-08-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well we're not making any promises yet, but last night was the2nd night in a row of Mr. Reed sleeping from about 9:30pm to about 7am! He outgrew his bassinet a few weeks ago, so he's been temporarily sleeping in a pack in play in our room. But he just never really seemed to be able to get comfortable for a long period of time. Plus he kicks and moves alot so we thought his actual crib would be best. So Friday night we moved him up to his room to sleep in his big boy crib. Jon and I have been sleeping in the room next to his so we can be closer to him during the night. Friday night he woke up a little around 3am and fussed for about 15 minutes. He fell right back asleep after that until about 6:30am, ate just a little bit and then went back to sleep until about 9am! Last night, he fussed for about 5 minutes around 1am, but then went back to sleep until about 7am this morning. I was watching him on the video monitor and when he woke up he started looking around and kicking and playing. When I went to go get him, he was so happy and started smiling and kicking. I think Reed is really enjoying getting a full nights sleep as much as we are!

A couple of other new things he is doing: He may be rolling over soon! When he is laying down playing, he picks his little legs up all the way to his chest and starts leaning to the side. As soon as he gets enough momentum, I think his side lean will roll him over (onto his side anyway). He is also starting to show an interest in one of his toys that has a small clear plastic roller ball on it that has little colored plastic things in it that spin when you roll it. I've tried to get him to notice it before, but he hasn't paid any attention to it before now. Now he tries to touch it and loves to see it spin!

We are going to attempt church again this morning. He did great last week and actually really liked the loud music (but then slept through the sermon :) ). Hopefully he does as good this morning!

Reed 11 Weeks Old

2009-08-19T11:36:00.001-07:00

Reed is getting so big so fast! He is about 13.5 lbs now, and smiling, laughing, and "talking" so much. He has so much to say sometimes, especially in the mornings, and he will talk to you nonstop to tell you all about his night. Most of the time, it sounds like "ah goo" and "ah ooo" but I'm sure he is telling a great story! And he kicks so fast and SO hard! If we set him upright, I think he would start walking!

He is also starting to grab for his toys. Sometimes he hits them so hard and it scares him (and he'll cry), but most of the time he likes to grab them. His eye-hand coordination is still a work in progress. He gets a very serious look on his face and concentrates very hard on getting his hand to actually grab the zebra! He always looks a little surprised after he actually makes contact with it - he still can't believe it actually worked!

Other things we love right now: we love taking baths, going for evening walks with dad rocking out to music on his iphone, sucking on his fist (he tries to fit his entire fist in his mouth), talking about the letter "R" (makes him smile every time you say it), cuddling (he likes to sleep WHILE being held, not in his own bed) and watching TV! I have to turn the TV off because he won't stop starring at it. We went to lunch the other day and he found the TV in the restaurant and watched it until we turned him around!

As for sleeping...he is sleeping better and better each week at night. He sleeps about 5 hours at a time, which I guess is technically considered "sleeping through the night" at this point, but when he goes to bed at 9pm and wakes up at 3am, it does NOT feel like he is "sleeping through the night". Usually we just pick him up and he falls right back asleep until about 6:30am. Sometimes he is still so sleepy after he eats and will go back to bed for another hour or so. So it definitely could be worse, but we are ready for him to start sleeping those 12 hour shifts!

(Check out his left hand in this pic! LOL)

He LOVES the penguins from the Precious Planet line, and he LOVES the monkey in the Rainforest line. He talks to them often, so cute!

He loves to play on his changing station!

Reed in his duck outfit!

2009-08-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Reed looking adorable in his "you quack me up" outfit. Thanks Aunt Gloria!

Family Pic

2009-08-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Reed's first shopping trip to Target

2009-07-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Reed was such a trooper and went with me to Target yesterday. I was a little paranoid that he would start screaming at any moment, so we made record-fast time through the store and I ended up forgetting half the things I needed! He was smiling and "talking" the entire time, and even flashed one of his adorable little smiles to the check out lady. He is already such a flirt!

Reed and Madison go out for a walk!

2009-07-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the first days that it was actually somewhat nice enough outside to take the little guys out for a walk. So Kristin, Madison, Molly, Reed and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. The little guys did pretty good -- Madison (of course in her cute "workout attire") slept the entire walk, and Reed got hot and had a wet diaper for the whole way home so he was a little fussy. We stopped at Grandma Rymsza's house for a much needed air condition break!

Click on the picture to zoom in on Reed's face - hilarious!

A few pics of Reed from the last few weeks!

2009-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Reed will be 7 weeks old this week!! I can't believe 7 weeks have already gone by since this little baby miracle arrived. We are having SO much fun with him.

In the past 2 weeks, he has begun focusing in on faces and his toys (he loves his musical lobster the best). He smiles so much now and loves studying every detail of people's faces and all of his toys. He pays attention when you talk to him, and it seems like he wants to talk to you too. He tries, but right now the only word he can say is "ooohh". Its so cute :)

As for eating and sleeping...he is still eating like a CHAMP! He is eating anywhere from 5oz - 7oz at each feeding! And sometimes he is STILL hungry! He gained 2.5lbs in 2 weeks. At his 4 week pediatrician visit, he weighed 9lbs, 11oz. His next doctors appt is Aug 3 - his 2 month appt!

As for sleeping...he is doing better each week. Right now, he is sleeping about 4 hours at a time. It could definitely be worse, but Jon & I are definitely ready for him to start those 8-10 hour nights!

Here are a few fun pictures of the little Reed over the past few weeks:

I'm not sure what I think about this swing thing yet...

But I do LOVE my play mat...so much to look at!

Aww, clean diaper...much better!

Too cute for words!!!

Woah, look at those Cubbies go!

This is the life...I just love to stare at my Cubbies go round and round!

Reed gets his picture taken

2009-06-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

We took our adorable little monkey to get some pics taken!

First Bath at Home!

2009-06-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hanging out at home with the little man!

2009-06-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Going Home!

2009-06-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 6th we took Reed home from the hospital!

First Family Pic!

2009-06-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Reed Austin Rymsza has arrived!!

2009-06-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

Reed was born on June 3rd at 12:34pm. He weighed 7lbs, 4oz, and was 20 inches.

He is doing amazingly wonderful & has been the biggest bundle of joy ever. He is eating & sleeping (and pooping) like a champ!

He is the biggest miracle & Jon and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been given this amazing little gift.

He is SO cute & we are having so much fun with him! He is sleeping right now, so he is giving me a few minutes to update this blog with pictures of him:

So whoever said a c-section was "planned" was WAY off!

2009-06-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

So today, Jon & I had another quick change of events!! We went to our routine dr appointment today at lunch time. Everything starts out normal...we check in & are just sitting waiting in the lobby. By 40 weeks, we have now made friends with all the fun nurses & receptionists in the office (mainly b/c Jon likes to give all of them a hard time...and they give him a hard time about the gel in his hair!). Anyway, so we're just sitting there waiting in the lobby, both laughing at & feeling Reed because he was moving SO much, and then... it happened. The receptionist looked at us with this big, happy smile on her face, and goes "So...tomorrow's the big day, huh?" After Jon & I sat there in silence for a couple of seconds starring at her, I responded with "huh? Wait, what's tomorrow?" This was the rest of the conversation:

Receptionist: Yeah, you guys are having the baby tomorrow, right?

Christie/Still Speechless Jon: Oh no, we are having ours on Thursday.

Receptionist: Hmm (looks back at the computer screen)...no you're Christie, right?

Christie/Jon still has mouth open: Uh, yeah. (I am now second guessing myself at this point...am I??)

Receptionist (who is now starting to laugh & turn red): Uh Yeah, we have you guys down for tomorrow at noon. Oh...shoot...I hope I didn't just stick my foot in my mouth.

Christie/Jon is now laughing hysterically because I am now white as a ghost: No, no...please keep talking. So we're having a baby to....tomorrow?? Oh...um...are you sure?? ooooooook...???

Receptionist (Now realizes, yeah...this is obviously not how they were supposed to find out about it): Ok, well I gotta go, but you'll want to talk to the Doctor about that.

Yeah we will, you think?? The other ladies in the lobby are now all laughing hysterically at this whole thing.

The nurse calls us back, and she still has no idea what is going on here. I think I went back into a speechless shock, and the nurse goes, "wow, you're awefully calm today". That's when I let her know that it was probably because I thought we were having a baby on Thursday, not tomorrow!

Needless to say, my always regular & right-on blood pressure was through the roof! They took it 3 times because it was so high. Finally my doctor took it again at the end of the appointment & it was back down to normal...I guess heart attacks aren't great for your blood pressure!!

Turns out, there was some miscommunication (an understatement) between our Doctor & the nurse who schedules the procedure with the hospital. My chart said that June 4th was the date, but the 3rd would be the next choice if nothing was available on the 4th. The nurse read the chart & just saw that we could go with either the 3rd OR 4th, so she just scheduled us for the 3rd. I never heard back from the doctor's office that is was NOT scheduled for the 4th, and I figured someone would have called me IF I WAS HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!?

Oh well, just glad we found out before I missed the birth of my child tomorrow!!

So tomorrow at noon it is! We will keep you posted with updates & pictures on here, so stay tuned!! Never a dull moment...and I'm sure many more exciting times to come in the near future!

5 Day Countdown...And Dakota the miraculously healing dog!

2009-05-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well unless he decides to come earlier, Reed Austin will be born this Thursday, June 4th! He is just like his dad and apparently already has a mind of his own (should have known!)...he is head up & in pike position (Olympic Diver??) , so we have a scheduled c-section for Thursday morning. Gotta say, I guess I am looking forward to 15+ hours LESS of labor!!

But until then...Kota is really working it to get some attention every...last...day she has before Reed arrives. Today, she woke up limping, could barely walk, and wouldn't get off her bed all day. I even had to bring her food bowl TO HER so she would eat. When she actually tried to sit up, she would pathetically whine & hold her little paw up until I came over and checked out her hurt paw. I felt so bad for her & didn't know what to do. So to "reduce the pain", I iced it down for her. (All we had were frozen strawberries but she didn't mind). So this goes on from about 6am to about 6pm today...she would whimper, look out the back door, look at me like she was in so much pain, and then just sigh & put her head down on her bed. At one point, it actually even crossed my mind to take her to the vet for x-rays!

But here's the crazy part! Jon gets home, she immediately literally JUMPED UP off her bed & ran to him and then went outside to play catch with him!! What?!?!? I could NOT believe it...I was in shock! It's like she was just faking it all day so I would continue to give her all my attention while she was on "bed rest" all day! I am pretty sure she know something is going on here...uh oh.

So what is she doing now?? I'm pretty sure her & Cali are chasing each other around the backyard as we speak...um and I pretty sure I just saw her jump in her doggie pool! If this is ANYTHING like what Reed is going to try to pull, we are in big trouble!

37 Week Pictures

2009-05-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of weeks left til the big day (17 days to be exact)! Here are a few pics of Jon & I...and the little man Reed...oh and the pups of course!

Of course, the pups wanted to be in a few of the pics!

We get to see some amazing sunsets from our house!

Just a few days left -- It's gone by so fast! We're trying to enjoy these last few days of sleeping in & relaxing as much as we can...but we're also both very ready to meet Reed!

Reed's Nursery

2009-04-22T08:51:00.001-07:00

We are just about done with Reed's nursery - maybe just few last minute touches (Jon doesn't think so, but I still do)

With the nursery being just about done, we just need the little guy to arrive soon. Only about 6 weeks left! Here are some pics of the nursery -- the Cubs mobile plays "Take me out to the ballgame"...He's going to love it! (thanks Aunt Kristin!)

These are a few of Reed's favorite outfits...him & I now have matching #54 Urlacher Bears jerseys :)

And with his baseball hats, all he needs is a mit, and it looks like he is all set for Daddy to take him to his first Cubs & Bears games!

Chicago Baby Shower

2009-04-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a very fun long weekend in Chicago with Jon's family & celebrated Baby Reed!! Thank you to Mom Rymsza & all of "the aunts" & everyone else who helped put on the shower - we had so much fun!

Frisco Baby Shower

2009-03-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower with all the girls in Frisco! So much fun & such CUTE stuff for Reed!

Thank you Kristin & Christie for hosting!

Group Pic

Jon was very excited about Reed's Cubs mobile!

(I look excited as well!) :)

Baby Shower at Mom's

2009-03-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we celebrated with a baby shower for Reed at Mom's house. It was a beautiful shower & we had so much fun! Reed got tons of great gifts too... Thank you Mom & Jen for everything - Reed says thank you too! We love you!

Reed's Baby Shower & Girls Weekend!

2009-03-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

We decided that it had been just too long since we've hung out together & that we needed a "girls weekend" to the wine country! So we headed down to Fredericksburg for a weekend of R&R with just the girls & also to celebrate Reed! (Unfortunately, I had to stick to Sprite & grape juice!)

It was such a fun weekend - thank you to Kacie, Courtney, Jamie & Jessica for such a wonderful weekend -- the baby shower at the winery on Saturday was perfect. We celebrated with lots of great wine (and non-alcoholic Coors!), live music, great food, & tons of great baby gifts for Reed! All of Reed's aunts are already spoiling him! Love you girls! Thank you!

In the pavillion at the "Torre di Pietra" winery in Fredericksburg

The cake was delicious! :)

Reed's Nursery

2009-03-04T14:53:00.001-08:00

Reed's nursery is coming along. We are still waiting to get his glider, window treatments, and nightstand/lamp.

Dakota LOVES Reed's room! She goes straight to the rug (with her tennis balls) and makes herself at home every time. She's going to be Reed's personal bodyguard!

Reed's 24 Week Appointment

2009-02-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

We had Reed's 24 week appointment on February 10th. Everything went great, and he was growing right on track! This wasn't the most exciting appointment (no new sonogram pics unfortunately), given that the previous appointment was his anatomy scan, and the appointment before that was when we found out he was a boy! But still, it was great to hear his little heartbeat & know that he was growning bigger and bigger every day.

Our next dr appointment is on March 10 - where they test me for "gestational diabetes" (??) Yikes!

I hope to get some belly pics up soon. Our next task is picking a great pediatrician for Reed!

Kappa Baby Shower

2009-01-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing baby shower with all my A&M Kappa girlfriends on January 24! Reed got so much fun stuff & it was so fun & so great to see everyone. Thank you girls!

Reed can't talk yet, but he also says Thank You to all his beautiful Kappa aunts!

Just what Jon always wanted his son to have...a baby "Go Kappa" onesie!

Reed's 20 week appointment

2009-01-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

Reed had his 20 week doctor's appointment on Tuesday, January 13. They checked the kidneys, the chambers of the heart, his bladder, his brain, and pretty much EVERYTHING else. (and we double checked...yes he is still a boy!). All of his parts looked great & the doctors said he is "thriving". He is exactly the size that he should be for his age & is growing daily!

Within the last week or two, we've been able to feel Reed moving & kicking! Jon was able to feel him kick for the first time yesterday. He moves pretty much constantly throughout the day, every day. I just hope this doesn't continue when he is 8-9 months old!

Here are some new sonogram pictures from the appointment on Tuesday. You can see his little tiny feet in one of them (his feet are 1 inch long now) :)

We keep meaning to post some pictures of my baby belly, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Will post some soon though!

These two pictures are of Reed's profile of his face. You can see his little nose :)

Here is a pic of both of Reed's feet...1 inch long!

Finding out the sex of the baby!

2008-12-16T20:22:00.001-08:00

16 weeks...

Today we found out the sex of the baby! It wasn't easy though...Jon tried EVERYTHING to get the doctor to do a sonogram so we could find out the sex of the baby...asking, begging, pleading, finally he even jokingly busted out a $50 bill. Keep in mind, this is the same Jon who originally said that he didn't want to find out the sex of the baby until we actually had the baby! Ever since we found out I was pregnant, he has been NUTS about finding out the sex of the baby. Well we finally ended up having to pay a little extra to get a non-routine sonogram done today, but it was completely worth it. We asked the sonographer not to tell us during the actual sonogram, but to write it on a piece of paper instead & to put it in an envelope for us. We wanted to open it at home together later that night. But no...of course, Jon couldn't wait until the evening...he wanted to know right away. So we opened it today around lunch time, and saw this: (just a warning, if you click on the picture, it may appear very LARGE on your screen)

Needless to say, Jon was instantly jumping up and down with excitement (and actually still is). We are both so excited to have a little baby boy!! We can't wait...little footballs & toy trucks all over the place! At this point, he wil most likely will be named Reed Rymsza. Not certain yet though...

Jon is already talking about buying him Cubs hats, and playing football, and fishing...and all kinds of stuff! And as of today, everything that the sonographer could see looked very healthy - the heart, brain, kidneys, etc all looked great.

Thank you all for you continued prayers for a healthy growing Baby Reed Rymsza. He weighs 4 ounces as of today!

2008-12-03T19:36:00.001-08:00

Pictures from the 2nd sonogram at 12 weeks...starting to look like an actual baby!

He/she is smiling in this picture :)

The heartbeat was at 171 beats/minute at this visit. The doctors said that the baby is actually measuring about 5 days larger than "average" for this time. Yikes!

Also, at this visit, they ran tests & took bloodwork for a Down Syndrome test. Thank you for all your prayers...they called earlier this week, and said all is good! Baby Rymsza is a healthy baby! Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Exciting News!

2008-12-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

We found out recently that we'd be expecting a baby Rymsza in June of next year! Jon & I are still battling over whether it is a boy or girl. Tell us what you think - be sure to vote on the Baby Poll on the right!

Here is a picture from the first sonogram.

We got to hear the heartbeat during this visit. It was going SO fast...about 160 beats/minute!

She looks like a girl, right?

Vacations in 2008

2008-12-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

July 2008 - San Diego

March 2008 - Cabo San Lucas!

One too many margaritas??

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

The Pups!

2008-12-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

We're ready for bed!

PLEASE let me up to the front seat!?

Kota loves to snuggle!

Best of friends...

You can't see me!

Dakota at Puppy Graduation

WHAT is on my head??

The Wedding :)

2008-12-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

Almost 2 years ago...January 27, 2007

The Honeymoon - Maui, Hawaii

2008-12-02T20:09:00.000-08:00