Facebook withdrawals? NOT HARDLY!!

Hey ya'll. I know I told you I'd be better at blogging due to the absence of my facebook account. But I guess I have just BASKING in the time I have been given back. Honestly, I haven't even cared to check my emails! It has been so fun spending REAL time with Ryker and Trevor w/o having the thought "I wonder what everyone is doing!" I do care what my friends are doing and that why I have read your blogs or stopped by to visit or called, which has made a difference in my relationships with ya'll. I do love the real time convo much more. Although, there are some of you who do read my blog that I have NO clue what your blog is, so I don't get to read it...so do me a favor and maybe become a follower so I can just click on your pretty picture instead of having to put my underdeveloped memory skills to work!

So what has the Atkinson household been doing?! Well...a lot! October was a very busy month...and I still feel like it is September. I feel like when I look outside I should see blue skies and butterflies, but to my surprise I see frosted grass and gray skies that chills me just thinking about it.  However, I do love this time of year, and I was grateful that the snow fell NO EARLIER than beautiful November! 

October, like I said was busy and FUN!! I don't even remember the first half because it flew by...I am sure we were in Utah for half of it!  I guess the milestone was my big brothers birthday! October 15th! Last year on his birthday we found out we were having a baby boy! And this year our family found out he was having a baby boy! YES! My little Ryker is going to have a baby boy cousin his age!!! WAHOOO!!! I am so excited! And I adore my big brother and his wife. They are going to be fabulous parents! And they hid it from us for 5 1/2 months! FOR REAL!? Now I know who to trust with my secrets! haha.

Then the next weekend we were in Utah for Witches Night Out.  What a riot! I went with my Sis-in-laws and mother in law. And we had so much fun! Basically everyone dresses up like a witch and goes and parties at Gardner Village in SLC! I love Gardner Village as it is, but to see women who love it as much as me was so fun! We had dinner which was AMAZING! We window shopped which was all I could really afford! haha. We danced to the music, joined the Witches parade and just enjoyed laughing at ourselves! It was a great ladies night out and to top it off my BFF and lil sis came and met me there! So fun! They even played an old spice girls song and that brought back some memories! Jiggin with my BFF is always a blast and I just wish we could do it more!

Then came Halloween! Trev and I spent the whole week glued to the tube! haha. we have never seen the Halloween series, so we recorded the ones off TV and then watched like 2 a night! It was fun to see the process of hollywood! And Jamie Lee Curtis!! haha. Next year we are going to start a little earlier and watch another series. Scarey movies are hilarious to me! Maybe next year we will  get to go to a scarey haunted house. We didn't get to go this year due to a miserable cold that I retracted playing in the rain one cold evening! And we even had free tickets!!! LAME!  Who wants to go next year?! We had a hard time even finding people to go with us!

Ryker was a dragon for Halloween. I think we had more fun trick or treating (in behalf of Ryker of course) than he did. He did get to have some suckers and HE LOVES them? I felt bad taking them away. But we did the Trunk or Treat and then visited our fam. We also stopped by some cool decorated houses which is always fun to see people festive! Someday I hope to be like that!

Then November came. We got new carpet in the basement where we are living. It is amazing how carpet came make such a huge difference! It feels like our own apartment now!! Thanks Connie!!!! It is really nice...anyone want to come visit?! We also got our family pictures taken...FINALLY! Now that the basement is done I have a big empty wall that has been waiting for family pictures. Thanks Ashley! She was so fun to work with and I am excited to see how they turn out! (Ashley MacKay Photography)

Our New Basement. You can kinda see what it looks like but the carpet is fabulous!

I also went to a Holiday Boutique in Utah after pics. Also a fun time! I didn't sell as much as I hoped but thats alright. It was a nice ladies night out yet again!  I also started donating plasma this month. That is fun! It is actually interesting to be on the other side...some of you may not know that I used to be a phlebotomist for a plasma center. So to be a donor in the bed experiencing what others had is fun...but it is also nice to know what is going on with the machines and what all the numbers mean! It also gives me some extra $$$ to get the stuff we need without making a dent in the bank account! Like fabrics I want or patterns I want to try.



This picture doesn't do it justice...but then again...don't look to close! haha. I am still a beginner!



Speaking of patterns and sewing...I just made a super cute and fuctional diaper bag! I was so excited to make it and the more I started working on it the more I love it! It originally is a pattern for a tote bag, but I just added some of my own things I always though would be nice in a diaper bag and now it is one I call my own! We have the bottle/sippy cup holders on the side, inside we have  pocket for diapers & wipes, and another pocket for clothes. If I could've thought earlier how to put in a divider for toys, and another for snacks and formula I would've done it...that will just have to be for another diaper bag down the road.  I also didn't like how the bag looked so gigantic so I added a few snaps to make it smaller, but it can be unsnapped for when we travel and I have to pack alot more things. In attaching the snaps I made a booboo and put a snap on backwards...so I used some mental notes and attached a stretchy keyrings. I now have a special place to put my keys so I do not have to dig through the dang bag to find it...and it stretches so I can leave it on when I get to the door, or it can be detached so I can just pull it off when I need to drive! And it is super cute fabric and its not a hand-me-down bag. A diaper bag to call my own. I just have one more thing I need to make and it will be complete!  A mommy purse, for my personal items. One that I can pull out and have when I leave Ryk with a sitter...or when I am going out on my own. Fabulous! I am so excited to make it!

I just recently also had my 25th birthday! Quarter of a century!!! I thought I would feel a lot older at 25 but nope, just more benefits like being able to rent a car w/o $25 extra a day! It'll be great when Trev is 25 cause our insurance will go down! PHEW!!! Well about my birthday...my family has just never been big on celebrations or gifs....so I also have inherited that trait. I figure, if I need it, I'll go get it. I don't need anyone to go get it for me when I am capable. I also am a want it or need it person and if I want it I most of the time do not get it.  Trevor on the other hand is complete opposite. Sometimes it is a bad thing when he has to tell a difference between want and need, but sometimes its a good thing! He is so awesome and really went out of his way to make sure I had an awesome birthday! I got a cute beanie, two new cds, a sweater, a guitar book from one of my favorite artists, Colbie Calliat, a new perfume from Mary Kay, two tickets to "The Forgotten Carols", some car candles from Scentsy, and some AWESOME hair product that helps hold in the backcomb! My parents also gave me a sewing table and of course some cute cards from my neices Mackennah and Amarrah. Trevors family LOVES giving gifts and celebrations so it was fun to celebrate my "special" day with them. 
My family got together for some treats and it was just fun to have us all be together. My parents took me to ice cream and that is always a treat to spend time with them.  Later that evening Trevor took me to see MegaMind and then to dinner at Johnny Carinos! All in all, Trevor went out of his way to make me feel very special! 

Once again, sorry it has taken me so long to post something up here. I know this is a long post because I haven't been good about blogging. But to make it a little longer, let me tell you about Ryker!

Rykers attempt at crawling...pretty much just push ups.

Gross I know...but I tried everything to get him to not eat the shopping cart...so I just gave up and took a picture instead! Thankfully I did use the complimentary wipes before!

He thinks its funny when I say "Dada" this face is also known as the Stinker Face.

Go Colts. We tried to find a Saints onesie but couldn't. So until we do we will just have some Hoosier pride!

He is getting so big! It is so fun, but it is sad at the same time because he doesn't like to snuggle with me like he used to! He just wiggles his way out of my snuggles and well, just wants to explore the world! I don't blame him, there is a lot to learn.  He isn't crawling yet but he can sure get around. He rolls, and does a one armed/elbowed army crawl. He LOVES to eat snacks and he is just learning so much. He started waving and we are working on clapping. He thinks those are pretty funny. He has this little sesame street remote and he LOVES it! He also enjoys eating my phone and cords and anything else he can get in his mouth! He loves books and flipping the big pages...he isn't a fan of me reading them yet...but hopefully soon we can start that! He jabbers like crazy...my favorite words are when he just says "Mamamamamama" I know he doesn't connect them to me, but I still love it! He thinks "Dada" is a funny word and always giggles when I say it.  He also loves his Daddy. He and Trevor are really starting to have fun together. Trevor can toss him around and make him do flips (which makes my stomach do flips) but Ryker loves the attention he gets from Trev. Those two are great buds and I know Trevor is dying to take him out on a Father/Son camping/fishing trip!

Needless to say, I have a wonderful life! It isn't always glamorous...like me sitting in my P.J.'s writing on my blog at 1:30pm when I should be showered and ready, or waking up every other hour to calm Ryker in the night...but it is SOO much fun! I really enjoy being able to stay home and take care of my little boy! I love being able to make things and I am just really grateful to have all of the MANY marvelous blessings we have! We may not have a lot of money but I have a lot of love and that is all I need to keep me happy!