Ryker's 6th Birthday

Ryker entered my life October 10th 2003.

Rick left for Iraq on February 14th 2003. Two weeks after he left, I got a call from him, he said, "what are you doing?" I said, "taking a pregnancy test." We waited together on the phone for the results...needless to say, it was positive. Truth be told, I was pretty depressed most of my pregnancy and really didn't want to be having a baby by myself. Little did I know he would be the best anti-depressant that I needed.

Rick was allowed a two week leave from his 15 month tour. He came home four weeks before Ryker was due. He was home for a week before we had Ryker induced. We had to do an amnio to make sure his lungs were ready, they looked good so the doc gave us the go ahead. He was 5 lbs. 12 ozs. and fuzzy as could be. We called him a little werewolf because he had a layer of fuzz all over him and a head of long soft fuzzy hair. Rick didn't get to see him again until the following May. This sweet baby was my salvation, he was the only baby of mine that was ever allowed to sleep with me. I took full advantage of Rick being gone and snuggled that baby every night for 7 months straight. He was such a huge blessing in a hard time. I love you Ryker Bear! Happy Birthday!

Ryker had a pirate party for his 6th birthday. It was fun to see all the boys dressed as pirates. We played lots of games, a few of them were pin the patch on the pirate and a treasure hunt. This is the treasure chest full of goodies. It was a fun party with cute boys; Caleb Smith, Gabe Sparks, Jake Sparks, Brock Golding, Tyler Prestwich and Kenyon Barker.