November

November was just as busy for us as October. We had something nearly every weekend and we went to Chester TWICE in a span of a three weeks. We all had a great time and it was nice to hang out with Marty and Laurie. The first time we went up was for Logan to go hunting.

This is what happened the second morning we were there! It snowed all day and it was incredibly entertaining for Diem.

She wanted to be outside all day but we had to bring her in here and there to warm up. We snuggled a lot and watched movies while enjoying time with grandma and grandpa.  Lawson had a lot of fun laughing and cooing with grandma.

The second time we went up was for Thanksgiving.  We met Marty, Laurie, Susie, Gary and Scotty at the Golden Corral and had a wonderfully huge and delicious meal. There were a lot of people there and I was happy with the choice (I have never eaten a Thanksgiving meal out before) and it was nice to have the whole time to chat and not worry about dishes :)

This is what the next time looked like. Diem didn't get to play in the snow but she still had a ton of fun and wanted to be outside A LOT!

Her and Sug probably got the most exercise they have ever gotten.  We had a great Friday night dinner with some family and friends of prime rib, cheesy potatoes, salads and the best cheese ball ever! We had a wonderful time and got some good pictures of the kids with gma and gpa.  Here are just a few more pics from the trip.

I also began my first grad school class online. So far it is OK, but I am a little insecure about some of the discussions....I will work on the insecurities and get better :)

New Hours

I have been approved to reduce my FTE at work to 30 hours starting January 1, 2014.  This is exciting and scary at the same time. Exciting for school, scary to lose the income! My boss is being great about it. He said during the week, as soon as I hit 30 hours, I can just go....even if that means Fridays off :) I will get to spend more time with Diem and Lawson, or get homework done!

We are excited for Cat/Griz this weekend. We hired a babysitter and she is fantastic. The weather should be nice which RARELY happens on Cat/Griz. We are excited to see our CATS WIN!!

Apparently, we have been busy.

Since it has been over a year since I have even attempted to post something on here, it should be clear that a TON has happened. I might just fast forward to the last few months. We found out we were pregnant with Lawson last year at Thanksgiving. The pregnancy was a lot more difficult than it was with Diem. I was sicker and exhausted. Fast Forward>>>

Lawson Gregory Lyders was born July 12, 2013.  He was 7 lbs and 10 oz. I honestly thought I was going to have him on the way to the hospital. My doctor said when I go into labor, to hurry more than my first since theoretically they second one comes faster. Boy, was she right. I was in labor no longer than 3 hours, he was born almost exactly 3 hours after my water broke. It was fast, furious, and incredibly painful. Don't tell anyone, but I lied about the pressure I was having because I didn't want them to know that I was literally holding him in because I could not imagine going any longer without an epidural. I know that's not what most people would do, but it is what I did and everything was fine.

He was a really easy baby the first couple weeks and I thought we were blessed (and lucky) to have another easy going baby. Ha, we were wrong. Shortly after he turned 3 weeks old, he began screaming after eating, you could NEVER put him down and he would arch his back and wail....a lot. I was a mess. I praised GOD he slept at night but he was like this ALL day and I was home alone with him. It was a very challenging time and we finally found he had a lactose intolerance and also Acid Reflux.  The last two months have been a series of meds and soy formula to keep it from harming him and it took a while for things to level out. They finally did and he is a completely different baby. He may even be growing out of it.

He is now 4 months old, he LOVES sweet potatoes and bananas and cereal. He is still on soy formula and the baby Prevacid but we will reevaluate those at his next appointment. He is currently almost 20 lbs. he is a big boy and such a sweet one! He cuddles and he smiles bigger than ever and talks like he knows what he is saying.

Diem loves being a big sister. At first, she was about as happy as a fat kid with cake but slowly began to withdrawal from Lawson and from us. She was mad. He cried A LOT and it took Logan and I a lot of back and forth holding and rocking to get him to calm down for a few minutes. It was really hard on her. She was sad and lashed out at day care. I hear that is normal but it didn't make it any easier for me, or her, or Logan. We felt terrible. But as most things do, it got better when Lawson got better. We are happy to announce we changed how we handled certain things and in return, had a happier girl :) She is so flippin sweet now that she can talk. She has great manners and is, most of the time, a great helper and loves being a big sister again.

Diem turned 2! She is a typical 2 year old. She currently loves movies. She watches The Croods about 4 times each time and goes back and forth between Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, Brave and Despicable Me. We have cut down on her iPad time because she would just watch these over and over again. She has gotten better at day care and is a completely different kid at home. Unless she is tired :)

I just had to share this picture. This is my new nephew Robert Martin Dyer. He was born 2 weeks after Lawson and as you can see, he is more of a quiet baby and Lawson is a ham. Robbie would just stare at him and appear to wonder, "what is this kid doing?" It was fun to see them interact and how different babies are in just 2 weeks.

Logan and I are busy. We are about to get busier too. I will be going back to school starting December 1, 2013 to get my teaching license and my master's in curriculum and education. I hope to be teaching Family and Consumer Sciences (Home Ec) soon. I finish my first year on June 28, 2014 and can teach after that while I complete the second year. Logan is loving the cement world. He works for a great company and we are really excited to see where things go. they have incredible opportunities.


I will do my best to keep up on this, thank you for checking back and being patient!