Full Day

Let's see: Rylee and I started with an early morning trip to Target. (When you have to wait for the doors to open, you know you're getting a head start on all the other shoppers!)

Then my friend Karen came over to spend her day of "couchrest" on my couch instead of hers. We had planned a Grease 2 viewing, but instead...

Our friend Melinda came over with her one month old, Brendan, to visit and play. Rylee had so much fun checking out the little baby. She loved looking at him and using her gentle (one finger) touch to see if he was real. :)

After all the guests left, Daddy took us to Applebee's for dinner. This was a big treat since Rylee doesn't dine out very often.

All in all, a great day!

Zilch

Too busy to post and no funny stories to tell or cute pics to post anyway. :)

New Slideshow!

I finally got a new slideshow up (to the left, to the left). :)

It's all summer pics - some you've seen before in blog posts. At least I got it posted - I was waaaaay over due.

Big Girl

Rylee had a couple of "big girl" milestones today.

First, we installed her new car seat. Here she is checking it out beforehand to make sure it met her safety standards. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that she "installed" it upside down.)

 

She got to test it out during a Toys R Us run later in the afternoon where we picked up her first push walker. I couldn't get a picture of her walking with it, so this will have to do. She took some really nice steps with it and even stood unassisted for like a second. It was exciting!

 

I can only assume that double back flips and triple salchows will be next. :)

Stuff

Rylee and I had a busy Friday - starting with her accompanying me to my doctor appt at 8:00. She did great - they've all been excited to meet her actually. Then we hit Target, Petco and Toys R Us. Then we came home and while she napped I cleaned the house. It was productive, but tiring...

...so I'm too lazy to blog anything really. I'll just post a couple of cute pics instead.

A whole new world:

 

Chillin':

 

MN Recap 8

We're finally to the day that I've been excited to blog about (especially since this isn't really even a recap - I didn't have time to blog about it before we left MN) - Rylee's baptism: 7-7-09!

Jon and I wanted to have Rylee baptized at Immanuel Lutheran, the church that both our families belong to and where Jon and I were married (10 years ago Sept 11th - gasp!). We arranged to have a simple private ceremony on Tuesday morning. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was blown away. It was truly beautiful and moving.

The church made this banner for us with her name and date to commemorate her baptism.

 

They also made this faith chest for her to keep her spiritual items. You can see they also gave her a handmade baby blanket and a baptism medallion.

 

Rylee was great during the ceremony and barely even fussed when Pastor Paul poured the water on her head (more from the awkward leaned back position than the water itself and it couldn't even be considered as crying really.)

Here is a photo with her Godmother Heather (my "sister" from the Johnston clan) and her Godfather Anthony (Jon's brother-in-law):

 

Afterwards we all gathered back at the resort (Cabin 10 aka the big house) for a picnic and more pontoon rides. Later after everyone left, my parents, Jon & I roasted dogs over the open fire and made s'mores (the only other MN food worth mentioning that I also ate at least once a week while I was home!). It was a blessed day!

MN Recap 7

July 5th - spent the day at the resort where Rylee had her first pontoon ride on Agate Lake (she can officially call herself an "agate lake girl" now too!)

"Driving the boat" with my cousin Lilly (though Lillybean is an excellent captain, we're actually still tethered to the dock here hence the absence of Rylee's life jacket):

 

Getting closer to leaving:

 

On our way (give that girl a bottle or a sippy cup and she'll do just about anything - even wear an uncomfortable life jacket!):

 

July 5th cont: for dinner we had another one of my Dad's famous fish frys so Jon (and Howard, Ian & Lil) could partake in the deliciousness (thank goodness we are so well liked by local fisherman - there is an endless supply of fresh fish whenever I'm home).

July 6th - professional photo day at the Polich's...what an ordeal: 6 adults, 4 kids, 1 dog, close to 200 pictures and not one where we were all "cooperating"! I'm exaggerating, but only a little. We also had pizza with Jon's Aunt Linda & Uncle Steve that night.

*ONE MORE DAY TO GO - SORRY BLOGGING ABOUT THIS TRIP FEELS LONGER THAN THE TRIP ITSELF! :)

MN Recap 6

July 1 - went to Mpls: visited Ruthanne, picked up Jon from the airport, and made a drive by visit to see friends Jen & Stacy
July 2 - spent the day at Polich's and celebrated Grandma Sandy's birthday
July 3 - met friends Kyle and Jody (daughter Valerie too) in Crosslake for Rafferty's pizza and visiting:

 

July 3 cont: celebrated Auntie Laurie's birthday; Rylee went on her first boat ride on Serpent Lake; Jon and I went to Crosby's annual pre-4th street dance

July 4th - Rylee's first parade (watched from the best locale in town - in front of my Dad's place - we're early in the route so the kids get tons of candy!); attended my parent's post-parade picnic; dinner at Polich's; fireworks on Jon's Granpa's pontoon (they shoot the fireworks right over the bay and we lay back and get a 360 view - ooh, aah!) - sorry Rylee you were sleeping and missed out :(

Here's a couple of pics of Rylee in her Fourth Fashions:

 

 

(not pictured: white shorts and red old navy tank ensemble - I already posted pics of her and the kids in their matching outfits the first time around.)

MN Recap 5

June 21 - Father's Day with Papa (also the day of Rylee's first cold :( )

Here he is trying out his present: a new deck lounger.

 

June 22 - Stayed in since Rylee had a fever (missed lunch with Dalton Chambers who is 98)
June 23 - Papa babysat while Noni and I went to Gary's for her class reunion meeting (their 60th birthday bash reunion is coming up any day now)
June 24 - Rylee's first out of town doctor visit followed by me ditching her for girl's night out with Sara #2 (Rafferty's & a movie)
June 25 - Papa's famous fish and potato fry with Greg & Sara (Rylee loved the sunnies, northern & walleye)
June 26 - spent the day at Polich's to see Laurie & the kiddos and that night kicked off the Mooers' Family Reunion Weekend
June 27 - more Agate Lake fun with the Mooers clan

Here's a cute shot of all the youngins (my cousin Katie's daughter, Esther, is only a month younger than Rylee):

 

June 28 - my Grandma and her sister, Lalla, live in the same memory care facility so we were able to see both when we went to celebrate Lalla's birthday. We also hit a Ustipak graduation party before heading back home. (Rylee got to eat lots of great food that day!)

Here's Lalla with my Dad's cousin, Becki, who organized the bday party.

 

June 29 - visit at Polich's followed by Rylee's first spiritual reading with Reni (I go to this gal every year when I'm home)
June 30 - one more night of babysitting for Papa so the AmFam crew (me, Mom, Jeanine & Diane) could go to Crosslake for dinner & ice cream at the yellow store (the barbie doll clothes place!)

Okay, we're almost up to the point where Jon comes! Whew - I'm exhausted just reliving it!
*FYI: the Serpent is for Serpent Lake (where Polich's live) which is serpent shaped if you view it from the air.

MN Recap 4

June 11 - afternoon in Aitkin with Chelsie & the boys
June 12 - visit with Grandma Signe and then the first of my girl's night outs with my friend, Sara (this one was to Crosslake)
June 13 - barbecue with my adopted family: The Johnston's (back story: they were my next door neighbors growing up, we went on vacation together every year for like a decade, and their daughter, Heather, is one of my Grease 2 fanatic friends)
June 14 - barbecue with my Uncle Duck, Aunt Judi, their daughter Lisa, and one of kids, Dawson

Dawson was a great babysitter. He entertained Rylee by strolling her all around.

 

June 15 - picnic, followed by visit with Adam (one of Jon's high school buddies), and annual girls night out with "the women" (from the adopted family I mentioned above):

pictured: Patty, me, Mom, Heather, her daughter Megan, and Penney

 

June 16 - visit to my Mom's book club so they could ooh and aah over Rylee
June 17 - visit and dinner with Grandpa Chip
June 18 - visit with Teff and two of her daughters
June 19 - afternoon with my Mom's friend Jan, her daughter Ally and her two boys (that was also motocross night)
June 20 - spent a little time in Crosby park on the swings and Rylee had her visit to the Serpent (next year she will be crawling on it's tail, I'm sure)

 

*Correction: yesterday's post went in as King King instead of King Kong - oops! Hopefully you all knew what I meant. :)

King Kong

I put Rylee's puffs in one of those no-spill snack cups the other day. Guess what? It's like a kong toy for babies (you know, those things you put dog treats in). It kept her entertained while she struggled to figure out how to get to them and eat them.

Here's Rio offering her support. (Now that Rylee is eating food that Rio thinks is fun to eat, they seem to bonding a bit more. Only for that time of shared snacking, but hey it's a start.)

 

If you blow this one up, you'll see Rylee offering a sweet potato puff to Rio.

 

Here's Rylee trying to give Rio one of her famous open-mouth kisses. Not that she could find her under all that fur. (In case you haven't noticed, Rio is in serious need of some grooming!)

 

MN Recap 3

June 3 - Rylee attended her first funeral :( (my friend's Grandfather passed away)

Things start to get fuzzy here as we entered into the week of frigid cold temps that forced us to stay close to home - nothing too exciting to report...

June 4 - took a trip to Aitkin to see my hairdresser, Celia, and check out the new dollar store opened by some friends (the people who bought my parents Crosby house!)
June 5 - stayed home?
June 6 - stayed home?

June 7 - playtime and dinner at Polich's followed by Big Grandpa Bob's birthday party

June 8 - dinner with my Uncle Don and his son Drue

June 9 - errand day in Brainerd (I remember this because I desperately needed to get out. I thought I might be suffering from seasonal depression IN JUNE!)

June 10 - Rylee's big day
(She spent the whole day at Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Chip's house while Mommy went to Nisswa for some eating and shopping fun!)

Bad to the Bone

Rylee is like a human vacuum cleaner. She crawls all over looking for the minutest speck of something to put in her mouth. She always manages to pick it up too - dang her impressive pincher skills!

Yesterday, Rio was eating a dog biscuit and Rylee reached in to grab some of the crumbs...or so I thought. Upon second look, I could tell that it was a rather large chunk and she still had it in her cheek pouch. I managed to sweep it out, but she almost ate the little nubbin part of the milkbone. (I'm sure at some point she will!)

Rylee is also an impressive beggar. When you eat, she wants to eat - plain and simple. Jon came home for lunch yesterday and was eating a sandwich on the couch. Rylee was practically crawling into his lap and she had her little mouth open like a baby bird waiting for a worm.

Jon turned to me and asked: "Are we feeding Rylee tablescraps?" I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Don't you love how we relate all our parenting to dog training techniques! :)


*Rylee had a great 10 month checkup yesterday.

Height: 29 inches (85 percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (65 percentile)

She also impressed the Doc with her receptive language skills (ie understanding what we adults are saying).

Taller and thinner (no woman can complain about that) and smart to boot - she does a mama proud! :)

Wipeout

Now that Rylee is more "active", she's also more accident prone. She had two hilarious crawling wipeouts on Sunday. The second one was practically a somersault. I think her arms got trapped beneath her because she was carrying something, but the momentum just carried her forward. "It all happened so quickly!" She didn't cry either time. She was more surprised -like whoa, what happened?!

Yesterday though she took two tumbles that left marks. She tipped over near a coffee table leg at my friend Karen's house and smacked herself in the head. She wailed pretty good on that one. Later she bumped the same side of her face, but more temple and cheek area, on one of the rocking horses upstairs (Poco to be exact). Luckily those red marks have subsided. I wouldn't want to take her in for her doctor visit today with too many bumps and bruises!

MN Recap 2

May 30 - was my cousin's wedding. Rylee came for the ceremony in Gregory Park, but went to Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Chip's (GS & GC) for the wedding dance so Mommy could actually have some fun! :)

Here's a photo of my cousin Suzie, her new hubby Scott, my Aunt Judi and my Uncle Duck (the one who nicknamed Rylee at birth Riles - how did he know it would be so fitting!):

 

And here's a shot of my Dad with his siblings (from left to right - Paul, my Dad, Mike & Judi in front):

 

May 31 - Rylee and I spent the day with GS & GC
June 1 - Rylee and I visited Great Grandpa Polich...

 

...and had dinner with my parents and our friend, Greg

June 2 - Twilight movie night with Mom, Sara, Heather, Penney, and Teri. Rylee slept through all the fun until we made the mistake of trying to open her door so Teri could take a peek at her. We quickly learned the doors in that old apartment are way too squeaky for that maneuver! Live and learn. :)

MN Trip Recap 1

Since I use my blog as a sort of scrap book for Rylee, I want to go back and mention some of the highlights of our trip and also post more pictures. Plus I recently downloaded Picasa's picture software so I am seeing if posting pictures from there is quicker and easier. So far, so good!

May 27 - Travel to MN (Rylee's first airplane ride!)
May 28 - Visitors begin arriving to see Rylee aka Miss Popularity (I think there were 7 visitors in all!)
May 29 - Afternoon visiting Great Grandma Signe at Diamond Willow (followed by dinner with Sara at Rafferty's Pizza)

Some pics of Rylee and "The Old Woman" as we affectionately call her:

 

 

Juan's Lawn Service

Jon bought a new lawn mower today. His old one crapped out when he was mowing the lawn before he left for MN (he actually had to run his way through part of it in order to get it done). He wanted to repair it, but I suggested that he had gotten his moneys worth out of that $150 piece of machinery over the last 10 years. Then I strongly suggested he buy a self-propelled mower this time around. He took me up on the offer.

He's outside right now mowing with a big grin on his face. I yelled outside to ask him how he liked the new mower and he expressed his affection in a way that is not appropriate for me to repeat here in blogland. Let's just say it translates to: he loves it and wonders why he put up with that other hunk of junk that long.

Okay, he just came inside practically skipping with excitement and said:
"It mowed the grass so fast that I set it up, mowed the lawn, and I've only drank this much of my beer [pointing to about 1/3] - and it's still cold! I want to do it again. I might go mow Dave's lawn. Blog that!"

Best part is: he still "looks like the type." :)

So Much to Do

We're back! MN Vacation 09 went by so quickly and of course there were things we didn't get to do and people we didn't get to see... hopefully next year.

On the flip side, there's so much we did do and people we did see. I can't wait to recap and post all the cute photos, but first I have a long list of chores to get through. I hope to get organized over the weekend and back to regular blogging next week - I'm going through withdrawal!

One quick story:
As we were leaving the plane yesterday, we heard a man say:
"Well that would have been a nice flight, if it weren't for that kid!"

Thankfully, he wasn't talking about Rylee! She did awesome yesterday and slept for most of the flight and the landing. Thank you! Thank you! :)

Sponge Rylee

Rylee had her first Serpent Lake boat ride on Friday. She looked ridiculous in her life jacket (kinda like a human head on a spongy robot body), but she loved it (even though she did wish Daddy would drive a little bit faster!).






*She also learned to climb stairs on Saturday. She went up a flight of 6 stairs, four times in a row. I was standing by to catch her if she needed help - but she didn't - no surprise there. I did have to walk her back down to the bottom since she is too little to do the scoot down on your butt technique. Good thing Daddy installed the gates at our house!

First 4th of July

Rylee had a great first 4th of July yesterday: the parade was perfectly timed after her morning nap; she loved all the bands and "danced" to the music; she enjoyed her time out at the lake with all her cousins; and she slept through the noisy fireworks. :)

With Papa (or Papa John as I like to tease)...


With Daddy (who she is so excited to have around again - she is her Daddy's girl)...


Dancing with Noni (formerly known as Grandma Connie & Nana Connie)...


With Mommy, Auntie Laurie, & cousins Ben, Maddie, & Nick (sporting our Old Navy gear)...