What's in a Name?

• There are 485,494 people in the U.S. with the first name Ashley.
• Statistically the 114th most popular first name.
• 95.58 percent of people with the first name Ashley are female.
• There are 63 people in the U.S. named Ashley Nielsen.

• There are 39,820 people in the U.S. with the last name Nielsen.
• Statistically the 888th most popular last name.

• There are 157,747 people in the U.S. with the first name Dustin.
• Statistically the 387th most popular first name.
• More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Dustin are male.
• There are 21 people in the U.S. named Dustin Nielsen.

• There are fewer than 1,532 people in the U.S. with the first name Ryker.
• There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Ryker Nielsen.

What's funny is I think there were 3 girls in my high school named Ashley Nielsen. Also, I found out from the pharmacist that there are 2 Ryker Nielsens in the valley- what are the odds.
Want to find out how popular your name is? Go to: howmanyofme.com

Pay It Forward

This is how it works.....
The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me sometime during this year.
When and what will be a surprise.
BUT, in order for you to play along, you have to post this on your blog. (That means that sometime during this year you will send a gift to 3 people as well.) Get it?
So, the first 3 people to comment on this post will be the lucky ones!
Good Luck!!!
Ashley

Random Babbling

I figure I better get at least one post a week done. We've been pretty busy this week- but nothing fun has happened!
It is finals week and I am pretty stressed. I have 10 essays to turn in tomorrow and a final exam and then I am FREE! Well, til September at least :)
Ryker is changing a lot. We have stopped swaddling and it is taking some getting used to for him. He is just so active that he thinks that since he can move now, bed time is play time :) Speaking of moving, he is CRAWLING! Well, taking a few little "crawls" forward. He's getting the hang of it now, but at first he would get up on his tippy toes or leap frog forward. I LOVE IT! But, now I am in for it!
We got a bath seat for him and he acts like such a big boy! He's growing like a weed and I go to put an outfit on and it is WAY too small...where did time go?
Ryker also has a little cold, this weather is really not fun!
Here is a picture to break up the monotony of me babbling:

Dustin and his brother Colby practicing with the blowdart gun.What are they going to shoot? Squirrells, or so they say :) I took the picture because man, they look and act EXACTALLY the same!

The snakes are GONE! YAY! My house still faintly smells of liquid ginger which they spray to kill the snakes (weird, I know). We are getting a new neighbor upstairs, my cousin is moving in in the next couple of weeks.
Ryker took his first long ride down to Riverton yesterday. We went to see my....umm we'll just say we're related...Michelle and Bendy. They adopted Skylar and we are so happy to have him in our family. I didn't get a picture, dangit, but he's such a cute kid!
Ryker did well with the ride but man was he sick of the car! 5 hours almost straight is not fun for anyone!
Speaking of cars, funny story...I went outside of my grandparent's house the other day and this is what I saw:Which one is my car? My cousin got the EXACT same car as me! (Mine's the closer one incase you're wondering :)

This became quite a long post, but I just want to capture everything!
Ashley

Horsies!!!

We are over at Scott and Cindy's and Ryker is loving being outside!

Can you tell?

He also had his first experience with the horsies---

Are we ready?

I want to love you...

And kiss you...

What fun...I hope this weather continues!

Ashley, Dustin and Ryker

Our Old Man

Hey everyone,
Not sure if anyone reads this but I need to blog to keep the memories for me, so here goes...
Ryker has been really silly lately. He loves to make noises with his tounge, hum very loudly while he is going to sleep and especially make this face:

He looks like such an old man without teeth!So dang cute!

One word- mischief!

He is teething though and is very ornery...I hate ornery! Hopefully that passes soon.
Everyday he is getting better and better at getting up on those little legs. He wants to crawl so so bad and is always climbing all over Dustin.
On another note- we still have snakes- yes snakes as in plural. How many you ask? Over 50. 5-0! There have been like 10 in the house and I am so paranoid. I dropped a piece of spaghetti on my foot tonight and nearly fainted because I thought it was another one. I also slept in my ugg boots last night because Ryker was getting up every 2 minutes for the first half of the night and I was so terrified of stepping on a snake- I'm losing it! We are exterminating but they are everywhere this year and our neighbors are having problems too. Until the day there are no more, we are living at Grandma's during the day so Ryker can play on the floor.
That's what is going on in our house right now- also hating this weather.
Ashley, Dustin and Ryker

Sitting Up!

It's official, Ryker is sitting up all by himself. Still a little wobbly but he's sitting next to me and everytime he starts to tip he sits himself back up. What a big boy and what fun times we have ahead of us!



He is also turning in circles like crazy and moves himself backwards. Frustration sets in once he realizes "hey! I'm farther away from those toys!"

5 Months

At 5 months, we:

Laugh a lot and have so much fun!

Move all around and try to crawl
Eat and eat and eat
Still snuggle to go to sleep

Oh how I am going to miss these days. He is so cute and fun!

Food Storage and GC

Hey everyone,
Since it's General Conference time, i've got to get organized and get my food storage built up.
Check out shelf reliance for help- it's really great and so easy!
Enjoy conference!
Ashley

Cute Boy

Hey everyone,
I just had to share these cute pictures of my cute boy with you. He is getting so big and is getting lots of hair (well in my opinion). It sticks up all over the place but it's so light you can't really see it.

He is going to be crawling soon. He scoots and gets up on his knees and turns in circles.
He is sleeping better and just has his nights. His naps have settled into a routine so that is so nice!
I didn't get the job that I applied for, but that's okay. I am pretty much done with school and I just have to keep going to one class per week for another month. I can't wait till I'm done and I get to be just a mom!
Hope everyone is doing well and hopefully spring is on its way!
Dustin, Ashley and Ryker