1st Birthday Party

I can't believe Rylee is less than a week away from turning 1! Wow time flies!! We had a little birthday party for her Friday night because we're not sure if Chris will be here next week or not. We didn't invite very many people because she's so shy that she just clings to me when strangers are around. I had no desire to cart her around all night. Plus it's her birthday party so it's supposed to be fun for her. So we just invited the babysitter and her three little girls. I think they all had fun including Rylee. I had Wal-Mart make a Mickey Mouse cake for her which turned out to be adorable! And i bought some Mickey Mouse plates and a Mickey Mouse banner.

Chris took the whole cake up to her at first. We just wanted to see what she would do given the chance. She didn't hesitate to dig both hands in! It was kind of a last minute party so I didn't have time to make her her own separate cake that she could play in, so after we saw what she'd do with it we just gave her her own piece. She loved it! I think more of it ended up in her lap than in her mouth though.

We gave her the piece of cake on a plate and she dumped it upside down. Who needs to have manners when it's your birthday anyway!!! She's squishing the cake in between her hands.

Ok so I just realized my pictures are in the wrong order, so you'll just have to piece them together as you read.

Chris and I got her this big bag of mega blocks for her bday present. The babysitter has these huge legos at her house that Rylee loves to play with so I knew she'd love these blocks.

This is one of the toys that the babysitter and her girls got for Rylee. She loves this toy. It's one of those where you press the buttons and the animals pop up. Rylee gets angry when she closes one and another one pops up.

Overall the night was a success. Rylee had lots of fun. Eventually she started to wear down and was extremely grouchy so everyone took that as their cue to head out. She was so tired she went to sleep at 8:30 and slept 12 hours without making a peep all night!

Yummy. . . Ravioli and Peas She had been eating hamburger helper in this picture, but then she spotted Mickey. I was sitting on the floor trying to take her picture, but she wouldn't stay far enough away. She had to climb on me as I was trying to take her picture. So we got an extra close close up!

She got ahold of my cell phone. It was so funny because she started talking to it. Eventually by the time she was done it wouldn't work anymore. I guess it's not slobber proof! Here's what's been happening since I last updated. . . Rylee is eating all table food and not really any baby food. She pretty well eats anything you put in front of her. I haven't found much of anything she won't eat. Her favorite food seems to be peas and yogurt.

It started out that she was just dabbling in whatever I would eat. Chris and I always ate in the living room and she would stand in front of me and fuss till i gave her some of whatever i had. After about a week of this I decided to transition dinner to the kitchen so she could sit in her highchair and feed herself. She started off with fettuccine and hamburger helper then little by little she just ate whatever we were eating for dinner.

She is still taking a bottle, but we've transitioned down to just the bed time bottle. I haven't tried real hard to wean off that one because we can't get her to drink any milk unless it's mixed w formula. When she drinks out of her sippy cup it's usually always water. She loves water!

She's not quite walking yet, but she just started taking some steps the other day. If we sit on the floor with her and let her walk between us then she'll take a few steps in our direction, but like everything else she dictates how long she'll do this. Once she's had enough she'll hold her legs up in the air if you're trying to stand her up or she just won't stand up at all. She does stand up on her own for a few seconds. She's getting braver though. She'll have a hold of the couch and will turn around and let go like she's going to take off walking then she chickens out and grabs back ahold of the couch.

Her personality is definitely coming through and is more noticeable. She has no problem letting you know when she's not happy about something. She throws little temper tantrums already. I have a feeling these are just a preview for what's to come later!! She'll kick her legs and arms if you try to take something away or are trying to get her dressed. She's just recently started saying NO too. She'll even point her finger at you like you do when you're giving someone a talking to. It's so funny because if you do it to her then she'll start mocking you, but she doesn't point back at me. She turns and points at Chris.

Well Friday was my last day at work! YAY!!! I'm so excited to be able to stay home with Rylee all the time! We still don't know exactly when we're moving yet, but it'll be sometime around the end of the month. We've already started packing some things. We're trying to get as much packed as possible while Chris is still here to help.

Well I'm going to get off here for now. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently now that I'm not working.

Little Girl, Big Personality

It's been busy around here as always. Since my last blog Rylee has started pulling up and has moved on to cruising around the furniture or anything else she can manage to hang on to. She's working on standing on her own now. I watched her stand up in the middle of the floor the other night. Although almost as soon as she got up she was right back down!

Her personality is really starting to come through. She has no problem voicing her opinion. She has even started to smack when you're making her do something she doesn't want to do! Really the only things she doesn't want to do is get her diaper or her clothes changed. I guess she feels like we're slowing her down or something. But yesterday morning I had her on the changing table trying to get us both ready to head out the door when she gave me that "im ticked off look" and actually swatted at me!

I've been telling the sitter about her little temper, but I don't think she believed me. That is until yesterday. . . when I went to pick her up at the end of the day the sitter was telling me how she had her in the highchair trying to feed her when a commercial came on that I guess Rylee wanted to see bc she pushed the sitter's hand out of the way so she could see around her to the TV!

Well standing and cruising are not the only new things Rylee is trying. . . yesterday she had her first drink of cow's milk. I had the sitter give her some and she said she thinks she liked it, but she didn't like it cold so she had to warm it up a bit. She's also eating alot more table food. She's had green beans, little pieces of chicken, bananas, and mac and cheese (which she doesn't really like). I'm sure she's had more than that, but that's all i can remember right now.

She is laying on the pillow in her jammies sucking her thumb! Doesn't she look so sweet and innocent?? Hahahaha. . . if you said yes then she has you fooled!!! Oh my gosh this little girl is so smart! Much smarter than her dad and I ever gave her credit for. When Rocky has to go to his crate we've had to start actually shutting the door and locking it to keep Rylee out of there. Well the other night she figured out how to unlock the door and open the gate to let him out. Rylee sticks her tongue out when she's concentrating really hard on something. Here she was trying to figure out how to get the lid off these cd's.

Well, baby and I are doing well. Even better now that I found out I don't have diabetes. It was a stressful couple of weeks worrying about all of that, but for now I'm in the clear. I'm 16wks as of yesterday and haven't felt the baby move yet, but assume in the next couple of weeks I probably will. I've been feeling pretty good now that I'm into my second trimester. Tired as always, but good none the less.

Everybody's asking when do we find out what we're having. . . well the answer is only a week away. My ultrasound is scheduled for March 8th.

Well, gotta go for now. Rylee is starting to fuss. I think she's ready for breakfast. Better go so I can feed the monster!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I think the last post was before Christmas. That's just how busy we've been since getting home from Christmas. Rylee started crawling the night before we left to come home for Christmas and life hasn't been the same since then. . . hahahaha!!! She is so busy and so mischevious! Speaking of mischevious she is right below my feet playing w the printer as I'm trying to type! I keep having to stop and move her out of there bc she opens and closes the top of the printer (the scanner part) and bangs on the scanner w her hands!!! If this printer manages to make it through all this w her then I will recommend this printer to anyone bc it can w/stand anything!! Well, I'm officially 11wks1day and am feeling okay. I don't feel great, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as it was when I was pregnant w Rylee. I have my good days and my bad days. It's weird how different things are w this pregnancy. I'm not taking pictures of my stomach every week. Mainly bc no one wants to see this stretch marked, flabby stomach this time!!!My cute, tan, little belly is long gone!! Thankfully Rylee is sleeping really good so that helps alot. She's going to bed around 8:30 and sleeping till 7am. Chris and I still haven't decided when Rylee and I are moving home. It seems like we change our minds on a daily basis. His deployment keeps changing. They move it back then they move it back up again. I really want to have the baby in Indiana, but that means leaving Chris alot sooner than I would like. I'm not really worried about me leaving him, I'm more worried about taking Rylee away from him. Eventually we have to make a decision bc our lease is up in April and we have to give 60 days notice if we're moving out. So stay tuned. . . Rylee hasn't pulled up yet, but she tries really hard. If you stand her up against something she'll stand for several minutes. She stands herself up in the middle of the floor but she keeps her hands on the ground and just sticks her butt up in the air. Oh my gosh this has to be the funniest thing ever. . . her in the dog cage!! And the funniest thing is she loves it!!! She thinks its hilarious to get in there. And she could care less wether the dog is in there or not! If he's in there she'll just join him. Rocky on the other hand is not so happy when she decides to join him.Yes, she still loves Mickey Mouse! Now when I turn it on she stops everything she's doing and crawls to the tv to sit and watch him. She giggles and squeals as she's watching it.

This cracked me up. . . she wanted to get to one of her other toys and instead of crawling around this toy she just climbed over it. Or at least she tried. She eventually got over it but it took her awhile.I don't remember what she was doing exactly in this picture, but she had that cheesy smile that says "I'm a perfect angel and would never do anything I'm not suppose to." And of course she was covered in food! This has to be her favorite spot and her mommy's least favorite! She gets back there and plays in the blinds. These blinds are so fragile! It doesn't take much to knock them down and once they're down you can't hang them back up they're just done! And of course we have to pay every time we have to replace them. No matter what I do she won't stay out of there! And when you catch her back there she just smiles at you like "What? Me?" Well, I think Rylee has decided my time is up. She's tugging at my pant leg and crying so I guess I'm done w this post for now! Enjoy the rest of the pics and hopefully I'll have more to post fairly soon.

Christmas Surprise

Chris and I got an early Christmas present this year. . . we found out that we're expecting baby #2 in August!!! We're both really excited. I have to admit though I'm a little scared. I mean 2 kids both in diapers! A newborn and a 16 month old! Whew. . . it makes my stomach do flip flops just thinking about it! And of course the biggest scare comes w the fact that Chris won't be here for long after the baby is born since he will be deploying soon after. Ok now that we got that out of the way. . . Rylee is 8 months old now and is so much fun! She has developed quite a personality. She knows just how to get our attention when she wants it! She's also into everything all the time. . . the dog's food and water, the Christmas presents, the Christmas tree, and just about anything else you can think of that you wouldn't want her to get into. She recently just started waving bye and waves whether you're coming or going or not! Here she is pulling on the Christmas tree

She crawls under the tree and pats on the presents. Almost like she's trying to figure out what's in them. She just discovered the shiney bows tonight! She's only getting three presents from mommy and daddy bc the other 2 gifts we ordered online we're cancelled "due to their popularity" They actually ran out of my order 2 weeks after I ordered! I was so frustrated!

Poor Rocky! He actually whines when she gets near him! She's definitely not scared of him! I'd say its the other way around. . . he's scared of her!

We recently got our family Christmas pictures taken at Penney's. They did a great job! They turned out really well! We actually get to spend Christmas at home this year! First time in 2 years for me and the first time in 4 years for Chris. I'm so excited to actually be able to join in all the family get togethers again! That's one of the things I miss most is just getting together for all those special family gatherings. We leave Friday morning or Friday afternoon. Not sure which yet. Never know till the last minute w the military! So this will probably be my last blog before Christmas so Merry Christmas to everyone! Cya next year!

Happy Birthday Daddy

It's been a busy few weeks, which is why I haven't posted in awhile. But before anything else I just want to say Happy Birthday to Chris. He turned 25 on November 17th. Here's a picture of him and Rylee w his birthday cake. And yes that is icing you see on the carpet!! She moves fast and got into the cake before we could catch her.

Rylee is almost 8mo now and is as busy as she's ever been!!! She keeps her daddy and I hoppin. She's not quite crawling yet. Although she gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. She just hasn't quite figured out what to do from there. But don't let that fool you. . . she has no problem figuring out how to get where she wants to go. Which is usually where she's not supposed to go!! I'll be doing something in the kitchen and have her sitting right outside the kitchen on the carpet. I'll turn around every couple of seconds (bc that's how long it takes for her to get into trouble) and one second she's there and the next she's gone!!! When I walk out of the kitchen she's halfway down the hallway!!!

I recently started giving Rylee her bath in the big bathtub. Until this past week she's always taken it in the kitchen sink, but even w me standing right over top of her she still manages to create chaos! If there is anything on the counter like clean dishes or dirty dishes for that matter or her towel and rag it's guaranteed to end up in the sink w her! The final straw for me was when she realized how much fun it was to flop onto her belly while in the sink. She wouldn't stay sitting up no matter what. I kept sitting her back up and she'd work herself right back onto her belly. I was terrified she was going to crack her head open so I decided it was time to graduate to the big tub. Now she loves it. She has more room to slide around and make lots of waves w her legs.

Poor Rocky. . . he's so mistreated! She just loves him, but unfortunately the feelings not mutual. As soon as she gets close he takes off. It's not going to be much longer though and she'll pretty well be able to go everywhere he can. When we get in the door of the evening after I've picked her up from the sitters she just immediately starts talking to him. I have no idea what she's saying, but it's very obvious that she loves her puppy.

You have to watch this little girl like a hawk. She'll sneak right up on you w/o you ever knowing! Which is exactly what happened the other night w Chris. He was on the phone w his mom telling her what he wanted for Christmas and didn't even realize he had company. It was so cute. I just sat back and watched it unfold. She worked her way across the room. . . rolling and scooting until she was close she could wedge herself between the computer and the loveseat. Then she just kept looking up at Chris like she was trying to get his attention.

And of course what all little kids love to get into. . . the dog's food and water! It didn't take her long to work her way over to Rocky's food and water dish. The first time she did was so funny bc it was like Rocky realized what she was thinking. He took off real fast and lapped up all of his water before she could tump it over. We have had to start telling her no when she starts to get into stuff. Although it doesn't work to well bc we usually can't stop from laughing as we're telling her no. She just gives the funniest look when you tell her no. It stops her momentarily and then she turns around and gives you this look like "Me? Sweet, Innocent, Little Me??" and then turns right back around and continues what she was doing.

Her other new thing to do is roll her way over to the sliding glass doors and pat on them or just look out the door. I thought you didn't have to worry about hand prints being smeared on the windows till they were walking??? I'm not sure if she was expecting someone this night or what exactly she was looking at?

We bought this toy when she was just a few months old. It lights up and plays music so we thought she'd love it. It's one of those toys that starts out being for when their babies and can lay on the ground and kick it then as they are able to sit up it switches again so they can sit in front of it and push the buttons and then as they are able to stand it switches to an upright position so they can stand and play. Well when we brought it home the first time she HATED it! It was incredibly loud and scared her so Chris put a piece of duck tape over the speaker so it wouldn't be so loud. She at least tolerated it then, but still wasn't crazy about it. So it has sat in our living room for months. But now that she's able to sit up she LOVES it. It can entertain her for quite some time. She presses the buttons and talks to it.

Among the discoveries she's made would be my blinds! I used to have trouble w Rocky messing w my blinds and now it's Rylee who messes w the blinds.

She was concentrating so hard it looked more like work than play!

I took this picture during the Nor'Easter. It was almost like she was hiding from the storm under the bed. We were trying to stay out of the living room bc the wind was so strong that it was causing the sliding glass doors to buckle. And as you can tell from how dirty her clothes are we had no power and no hot water!So a couple weeks ago I had a family visit I'll never forget. My grandma came down w my dad and stepmom for a short visit. This was huge! Grandma isn't much of a traveler. I think she's traveled to Cinicinnati Ohio which is a few hours away from where she lives. I'm pretty sure this was the longest trip she's ever made. And let me tell you she made the most of it. They stopped in Northern Virginia first to visit some family there and then after a couple of days made there way here to see us. It was so nice to have her here and really meant a lot to me that she made the trip.

This was Rylee's second trip to the beach. We went to Virginia Beach bc Grandma had never seen the ocean.

We ate lunch at a really nice restaurant on the oceanfront called Waterman's.

In my last blog I was telling you about Rylee going to the babysitter for the first time. Well she's now been going there for a little over a month and loves it! I love it as well. I feel comfortable going to work and leaving her there. I also don't feel as guilty about having to leave her and go to work bc I know she's having fun and enjoys being there. The babysitters little girls love her and usually fight over her. In fact Wednesday when I picked her up they knew it was going to be her last day until Monday so they devised a plan to tell me that her dad had already been there to pick her up and that way they could just keep her all weekend! Their mom told them no bc it would make Rylee's mommy sad!

First Tooth and First Words

Well, it has been two weeks full of lots of firsts. On the 19th Rylee went to the new babysitters for the first time. She did really good. I went early enough so that I didn't have to drop her off and just leave. I wanted to give her enough time to get adjusted. I managed to slip out pretty well unnoticed. She was busy playing with the babysitters little girls so she didn't really pay much mind to me leaving. The first couple of mornings she was a little hesitant, but never really shed any tears. She's now been going there for over a week and could care less whether I'm there or not. In fact the last couple of times I took her she was reaching out for the babysitter! I was even holding her a the time! Shows where I rank. . . .hahaha!!

By that Wednesday, the 21st, Rylee was saying da-da and ba-ba. It was pretty random and when she first said it I wasn't sure I had heard right. It started out more ba-ba than da-da, but now she's a pro and says da-da non-stop. She falls asleep saying da-da and wakes up saying da-da if that tells you anything!

Less than one week later Rylee came home from the sitters with a surprise. . . her first TOOTH!!! She had been working on that tooth for awhile. If you ran your finger over her gum you could feel two little ridges side by side. One of them finally managed to break through. That same night she decided to celebrate by rolling from her back to her belly for the first time!! It was a busy night!! Then just two short days later her second tooth popped through!!!

Then on the 29th Chris went to the ship for the first time in 2 years. It's been really busy with him being on the ship again. He leaves around 5:30 every morning and doesn't get home till about 5:30 that evening. By the time I get off work and get Rylee from the sitters we're usually getting home around the same time. Then the fun begins of trying to get dinner started, Rylee fed, clean up after dinner, get Rylee's stuff ready for the sitters the next day, give Rylee a bath, then before we know it it's time for bed. The evenings are short and busy. Rylee goes to bed around 8 so we have literally 2 hours to get everything done.

We thought once he got on the ship that some things would settle down and we would know more about the upcoming months and holidays. Unfortunately, that's not the way it worked out. We're just as lost and unsettled as we were before. There are lots of rumors flying about the holidays. Some are saying they may not even be here for Thanksgiving let alone get to take Christmas leave. So who knows when we'll make it home again.

Here are some pictures from the last week. . .

Once she started to roll over from her back to her belly she discovered this was the perfect mode of transportation. Here she is digging in her toybox. And P.S. we did not put her anywhere near that toybox when we sat her down. She rolled and scooted her way over there. Guess the toys I had out for her weren't good enough so she was going to solve that problem on her own. She must know the saying"If you want something done right you have to do it yourself!"

"Uh Oh I've been caught!"

We've had some really crazy weather these past couple of weeks. One day it's freezing cold and the next it's 80 degrees. This was one of those days so we decided to take advantage of it and go for a walk. Rylee loves to go on stroller rides.

Rylee and her best friend Mickey Mouse. And yes she is still obsessed with Mickey Mouse. I have no idea what was so funny here. Obviously I wasn't in on the joke! She loves Mickey Mouse. . . need I say more. . .

I think she was so tired this night she was just delirious. She was laughing so hard at absolutely nothing

Notice the remote scattered amongst her toys? This was an old remote that we took the batteries out of so she could play with it. She's always so interested in the real remotes that we thought this would keep her occupied and keep her from wanting the other remotes. And as you can imagine she could care less for the fake remote!

We always lay this sheet down and spread her toys out on it and sit her down on it. After a short time we'd start to notice that she was wrapping her self up in the sheet.