Rylee's 1st Thanksgiving

Here's Rylee all dressed up in her pink and brown Thanksgiving dress. I was so excited to show her off. :)


Here's how she spent the first two hours - all covered up by her car seat! Good news: she slept through dinner so Jon and I didn't have to eat in shifts.


The below pics show how she spent the remainder of the evening - being entertained by all her "aunties"!








No time to elaborate as the Vikings play in 15 minutes... what a way to end a truly perfect Thanksgiving weekend. :)

no caps

i'm lying on the floor, playing with rylee with one hand and typing with the other, so there will be no caps or shifted punctuation in this post. i could keep turning the caps lock on and off but that gets annoying to me.

rylee is exhausted and needs to sleep, but right now she would rather lie here, tug on my sleeve, and chat. her stories are a bit rambling and nonsensical...much like her mother's posts at times.

not too much to say. i will post some thanksgiving pics one of these days. i just haven't had time yet. oops, rylee says its time to get up and walk around. gotta go.

*She's out, finally! She's slept through the night the last 3 of 4 nights - let's make it 4 for 5... fingers crossed!

Happy Thanksgiving

A friend of mine just forwarded me this in an email:

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

How true!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Twice or 300 Times

Second night in a row that Rylee slept through the night. I so know what I'm thankful for this year!

Also saw Twilight for the second time last night. As I predicted, I enjoyed it much more on the second viewing... loved it, actually!

That said, today I'm celebrating my 300th post since I didn't do anything to commemorate my blog's one year anniversary back on Sept 15 (guess I was a little preoccupied with other things Rylee that day!). If you would like to send me some diamonds as thanks for all my delightfulness, please feel free. :)

The best part is I'm not concerned about running out of material for posts anytime soon and here's why:

Yesterday I learned something new about Jon. That's right. We've been together going on 17 years and you'd think I'd know all there is to know, but apparently not. What's more amazing is that the person who shared this revealing piece of information was...Rylee!

It all happened when Rylee and I were making goofy faces and googly eyes at each other. All of a sudden she raised one eyebrow. It was so adorable! I love people who can raise one eyebrow because I can't. Wait, I thought, if Rylee can raise one eyebrow she had to get that from one of us...and she didn't get that talent from me...can Jon raise one eyebrow?!

He happened to be coming home for lunch yesterday so I asked him immediately when he walked in. He plopped down on the couch, gave me a devilish grin and arched his left brow! How did I not know this?!

So between Jon and Rylee (and Rio), I'm sure I'll have plenty to say...I mean blog.

10-6

Rylee had another first: she slept through the night. She went down a little after ten and woke up about a little before six. Most importantly, I slept for 7 continuous hours! I had forgotten what that felt like. :)

Sleeping through the night almost makes up for the fact that we had a return of her sparkling personality (codeword: FUSSY) last night right during the finale of Dancing with the Stars. I felt like it was a dance-along since Rylee and I were up and shaking it to their music the whole time.

Murphy's Law: Why is it that the only room in the house with a squeaky floor is the nursery? I've perfected a routine of 4 long strides zig-zagging from crib to door to avoid the worst of it. It reminds me of a combination jewel thief sidestepping those laser security lights and doctor in the Operation board game - if you touch the sides the buzzer sounds (creaks) and you lose your turn (sleep).

BTW: Every Christmas as a child I asked for the Operation game and never got it (along with the Barbie Dream House which I also never received). I totally blame my parents for my not becoming a doctor. I can't wait till Rylee is old enough to get both! :)

4th

So I think I know the rules: 4th folder, 4th photo.



The 4th folder was Christmas 2004. The 4th photo was this family portrait in front of the tree. I gotta tell you I'm not loving my hair in this photo. Rio and Jon look cute though.

It's ironic that what came up was a Christmas photo since I spent the day pulling out the tree and decorations. (I'm setting up a little earlier this year, usually I wouldn't put anything up until after Thanksgiving.) You know your house is as full as it can get when you literally don't have a spot to put the Christmas tree.

The spot it usually goes was occupied by the chair that should go in our bedroom but has been displaced due to Rylee's pack-n-play. (Did anyone other than me follow that?) I looked but there wasn't another place to put the tree. Thus the bedroom chair was moved up to Rylee's Ponderosa. The rocking horses were kicked out of the stable and into the hall. The moral of the story is we are full on furniture!!!!!

Anyway, the tree and lights went up, but I didn't get a chance to start the decorations. I guess that will be tomorrow's project depending on Little Miss Rylee's whims. :)

Twilight Review

Okay, so I'm torn. The movie was good (better even than I may have anticipated), but still no where near as engrossing as the book (not that I'm surprised). I think I may need a second viewing to really see how I feel. Whenever I watch a movie based on a book (especially one that I really like), the first time through I can't help but keep comparing and contrasting the whole time. It's a little distracting. The second time through I think I could just relax and watch.

I liked the casting for the most part. Edward and Bella had nice chemistry for instance, but they cut some scenes from the beginning of their relationship so it seemed like they went from hardly knowing each other to so madly in love kind of quickly. I don't think it bothered those of us who have read the books, but I was wondering if it would seem weird to a regular movie goer.

I liked that Bella had a few voice overs so certain passages from the book could be incorporated into the movie.

Some of the intense vampire scenes which seemed fine in the book were pretty cheesy in translation. And one of the vampires intense facial expressions just made him look uncomfortably constipated!

All in all, it was neat to watch a movie that people were this excited to see. I mean people were wearing t-shirts, buttons, and walking around petitions (for future book releases). I'm not sure I've had that collective feeling of anticipation before.

I feel a little dissatisfied though. I kind of want to pick up the book and get that Twilight feeling back, but unfortunately it's out on loan!

Twilight

I can barely contain my excitement! The film adaptation of the novel, Twilight, opens today and about 10 of us are hitting the matinee this afternoon. It's a tricky situation since it is often hard to enjoy a movie when you love the book so much. I'll report back later and let you know what I thought.

And for those of you out there that still haven't read it - you must! I've recommended it to everyone from age 15 to 60 (friends, family, and several total strangers) and I don't know anyone who hasn't obsessively loved it. And you don't have to like vampire books to be into it.

Try it, you'll love it! :)

All About Me

Yesterday I thought of a post idea that was all about me!

I remember because I told the author in my mind, "hey, the name of the blog is Agate Lake Girl, not Agate Lake Girl's Baby - I should get some posting time too."

I remember that I thought I should write the topic down somewhere.

I remember I couldn't because I was feeding Rylee at the time.

What I don't remember is what the frick I was going to write about. Oh well....

I Love Johnny

I've been thinking about my crazy obsession with Grease 2 and the crush I had on my favorite character, Johnny. Coincidence that I married a Jon? I think not.

- Johnny had jet black hair (so does mine).
- Johnny rode motorcycles (mine rode motocross).
- Johnny liked to bowl (so does mine). My bowling name is even Paulette, Johnny's girlfriend in the movie.

I mean except for the smoking and the breaking into song and dance, my Jon fits Johnny to a T...Bird! (I crack myself up sometimes!)

In other non-Grease 2 news, Rylee went to bed at a reasonable hour last night which meant Jon, Rio and I all crawled into the bed at the same time! That hasn't happened since before the baby was born and it's really been messing with Rio's bedtime ritual. See she likes to give each of us kisses before she curls up at the foot of the bed and drifts off to doggie dreamland, but she only gets into it when both of us are there.

When she saw me assume the position (by position I mean: book in one hand, rubbing Jon's back with the other), she practically assaulted me. And since I hadn't had Rio kisses in months, I didn't even care that she tongue-washed my glasses in her excitement. :)

Cool Rider

Since I've had Grease 2 on the brain lately, I decided to pull out the DVD (yes, I own it) and introduce Rylee to the sequel that actually surpasses the original. I won't spend time lecturing you on that point as I believe I've written several posts on this subject already. :)

Rylee enjoyed bopping to the music and was thoroughly impressed that I knew every word to every song (even though I sang them off key). History, geography, biology - who needs to remember that when you can quote Grease 2 on demand!

For instance...
"If you really wanna know
What I want in a guy
Well I'm looking for a dream
On a mean machine
With hell in his eyes"
I could go on but I will spare you the rest.

Someday when Rylee falls for a cool rider, I guess I'll only have myself to blame!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed...

...I just put Rylee down to sleep in her crib so my plan is to blog, then read blogs and then sleep myself. (Vegas odds are about a 100 to 1 on this plan.) I'm already ahead of the game in that she is still asleep after the lay down. The transfer procedure from arms to crib is a little like disarming a bomb - one false move and... "kablam - nucleuoid war!" (Sorry, I got side-tracked by a Grease 2 reference there.)

It's even worse if Rylee falls asleep somewhere other than your arms. Then you have to first pick her up before you can lay her down again - "tricky, very tricky!" (Sorry, Bridget Jones quote - I have movies on the brain obviously.) If she falls asleep in her swing, for instance, and you're not feeling brave or lucky, you might just opt for sleeping on the couch. Generally the later in the night, the more likely you won't want to risk that maneuver.

I've even hidden a throw blanket behind the couch for just such occasions. Yet the other night when Jon got trapped on the couch, he chose not to use the blanket but to wear my discarded robe instead. When he came in the bedroom a few hours later with his arms sticking out the too short sleeves and his hairy legs only covered to mid-thigh, he gave me quite a chuckle. Did I mention my robe is furry, pink, and has cute little monkey faces on it?

Speaking of monkeys, I'm hearing chatter on the monitor. I'm not panicking yet though. Rylee is becoming more chatty daily so I'll wait for the full banshee scream before I climb the stairs again. I wouldn't say she coos exactly. It's more like a series of moans, grunts, and coughs - like a cross between an old man and a wookie - an old wookie!

I better not press my luck. That's all for tonight folks!

Poopapalooza

I have three days of blogs to write and post, but Rylee grounded me from the computer. I'm sneaking some time right now so this will have to be brief.

Apparently prune juice is akin to a baby colonic. Tonight she has pooped 6 times already and boy were they stinky. She even ran off her boyfriend, Miller, with her unladylike stench.

Here they are before their relationship turned sour.

2 Months

Rylee had her 2 month checkup and shots yesterday.

Here are her new stats.
Weight: 11 lbs 7 oz
Length: 23 in
She's in the 75th percentile for both so she's doing well.

They increased some of her med dosages based on her new weight, otherwise everything stayed the same. The main issue we're dealing with right now is her constipation...

Case in point: After not pooping again for 4 days Jon and I were forced to do the manual stimulation with the thermometer trick. I didn't want to use her new thermometer so I decided to use Rio's butt thermometer instead. I was once forced to use Rio's as well. I alcoholed it and boiled it before putting it into my mouth. I figured if it was good enough for my mouth, it was good enough for Rylee's butt. Anyway... you could say that the poop was knocking on the door because as soon as Jon put it in, everything started coming out. I won't go into detail but it was rather disturbing - poop was everywhere, on the thermometer, on Jon's hand etc. Needless to say, but no amount of alcohol cleansing will get me to stick that buttmometer back into my mouth now.

... so today Rylee is adding prune juice to her daily diet. I'll let you know how that goes! It's always an adventure over here!

So Much to Say

Rylee has made blogging impossible in the evenings lately, but she's sleeping right now (I know, I'll be up all night) so I might as well try to write.

Date Night: Recently a friend of ours gave me a ride in his older model truck (it has a bench seat and manual windows and door locks). The manual locks reminded me of the "date test" the guys used to test us girls with back in high school. (You know the one. If he opened the passenger door for you, he would see if you reached across the seat and opened the driver door for him while he walked around to the other side. If you did, you passed.) Since most cars have automatic locks these days, I was wondering what they use to test us now? If you know any teenage boys, you'll have to find out and let me know.

Solve for S:
X = I've never been much of a drinker. Y = I didn't drink for 10 months while pregnant. C = One bowl of cereal in an 8 hour period. V = vodka cranberry.

(X + Y) (2V - C) = S

Answer: If you had S = a tipsy, chatty Shannon at Saturday's wedding reception, give yourself 5 points.

Vikings:
Rylee made her second outing to the family sports restaurant for the Vikings/Packers game Sunday.

Here she is showing her frustration after the Vikings gave up their lead.


Luckily they pulled out a win!

Rio & the Grinch

We haven't completely forgotten about our first baby, Rio. She wouldn't let us anyway. She makes sure to beg for treats, ask to play with toys or demand to go on a walk right when we sit down to feed Rylee. :)

So I've entered her adorable Christmas photo in PetSmart's Happy Howlidays Photo Contest.

You can view and rate our photo at PetSmart's website. Go to the Happy Howlidays contest, view photos of dogs and she's towards the bottom of page 2, photo #64. (Sorry Blogger wouldn't post my hyperlink for some reason.)

Winners get gift certificates to PetSmart and since Rio begs for treats every time Rylee eats and Rylee eats about 8 times a day...well, she's going through a lot of milk bones!

Pics

I thought you all might be getting sick of the newborn slideshow (to the left :) ) so I decided to update with some more recent pics. Take a glance if you have time.

Also, another first for Rylee today. She wore her first pair of shoes. Erin, did you give her these little cuties? I thought so but I wasn't sure if I was remembering correctly...


We were supposed to make an Ikea run today, but Rylee is Little Miss Fussypants so it looks like she is all dressed up with no place to go. :(

Oh, I'm not a big fan of those little headbands, but Nana insisted she wear it for the photo. It does like kind of cute...

Snuffleupagus

You may remember an earlier post about how difficult it is to extract boogers with those nose suctioners. I took all of your suggestions under advisement, but the easiest thing was using my pinkie fingernail to scoop them out. Odd how this does not even disgust me. (It's amazing the gross things you do for the ones you love. I once caught one of the dogs puke in my hand, but I digress.)

Today in the mail I received the nose suctioner of all nose suctioners from my friends Kevin and Rima. It's battery operated and even plays music to distract your little one during the procedure. (Have any of you ever seen this thing? Impressive.) It couldn't have come at a better time as Rylee is all stuffed up.

I'm still not entirely sure how to use it. I tried it once today and it had so much power I was worried I was sucking out her little baby brains. It seems like it will work great once I get the hang of it.

You know I'm a little bit sniffley myself, hmmm.... :)

Flipper

I'm not sure if it was all the time Rylee spent in her mermaid costume or what, but yesterday she decided to flip over for the first time.

Finishing a couple sets of push ups during tummy time.


Deciding it was more fun to flip over and play.


I'm calling it a flip over because she can only go from her frontside to her backside and not vice versa. I'm assuming the latter is required for a real roll over. So far she has a preference for only flipping to the left (to the left, to the left - oh come on, you were thinking it too).

Of course we praised her, gave her treats (oh wait, that was the dog) and documented it all on video. Rio wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. She can do the full roll over so this didn't seem like much of an accomplishment. Rio only rolls over to the left also (to the left, to the left).

Like dog like daughter...weird huh?

Halloween Take 2

Last night was Venessa's Halloween Birthday Bash so Rylee, Rio and I had a second chance to put on our mermaid outfits - and this time people actually saw us - yeah! Jon refused to go as a merman (go figure) so I worked him into our ensemble as a pirate instead.


Here he is enthusiastically showing off his look before we left. Does it seem like I'm the only one who truly loves the costuming?


I so loved my mermaid costume. My very talented mother added some flourishes to my 11th grade prom dress to make it more mermaidish. She sewed the floaty fabric strips on the bottom, turned a sparkly pink belt into a fishnet effect around the waist, and even cut and styled last year's Daphne wig to make an Ariel look. Thank you Mom!


Here's a pic of me and Venessa at the party. She looked awesome as a pretty Octoberfest barmaid.


Rio is barking because she wants a walk. Rylee is up and she wants a bottle. All of this means I have to go pronto!

Halloween Take 1

You know how I love me some Halloween. Even this year with Rylee (who's even better at time suckage than your computer), I still managed to decorate the house and shop for costumes.

So last night I was super excited to get everyone dressed up in their mermaid-fare and pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood (bonus for me that lots of these kids are former students of mine).

Here we are excited and waiting. Okay, I use the word "excited" loosely when it comes to Rylee.


At least Rio looks ready to answer the door.

(I'm only wearing half of my mermaid costume. I couldn't wear the wig and other accessories as we were heading to a party later and I was wearing another costume for that. You'll see the full mermaid costume in pics tomorrow after party #2 tonight.)

So we're all dressed up and ready for fun when the rain starts to pour. It was of the torrential variety so nobody came (boo hoo!). Rylee got tired of waiting - literally.


But we had other festivities to entertain us so I changed and we headed out to celebrate with the gang.


Two Leia's courtesy of Jess and Jerry. Jess looks hot, Jerry looks... well, he made his costume so that's impressive. :)


Erin as Sexy Miss Robin Hood.


Brian & Crystal in their good versus evil ware.


Ryan went sans costume but did bring along his crutches and I deemed Pete's costume too NC-17 for my PG-13 blog. Later he changed into two more costumes though. A fat witch and... mine (during the traditional end of the night costume swap).


A fun night was had by all and we have costume party #2 to look forward to tonight!