B-U-Z-Y

Yeah. That's right. I'm so busy I'm spelling it with a Z!

Nothing too much to report. I've had late meetings at school, I've been cleaning house in preparation for our guests this weekend, and today I even pulled out the Halloween decorations. The house is now sufficiently festive.

Not sure how much blogging I'll get to in the coming days. I'm out of the house most of the night tomorrow and then Laurie & Big Nick are here Friday through Monday. Can't wait!

I'm sure I'll have lots of cute cousin photos to share when I get back on the blog next week. :)

Lazy

We're back and we had a great trip - too short, but really fun and relaxing. It was nice having today off so I could hang out with Rylee and take her out for lunch (not to mention getting caught up on laundry and lesson planning).

I'll fill you in on the trip details another nigh. Jon and I are getting caught up on The Office and How I Met Your Mother tonight. :)

Getaway

Hi. We're on the road for our anniversary trip. Mobile blogging is tedious so I'll probably just check in when we get back. Have a great weekend everyone!

Holidaze

I forgot to tell you all that I had the best treats when I was sick. I always give myself a pass to eat as much ice cream as I want when I have a sore throat (I mean c'mon, there has to be some upside) so on Friday night I had two different flavors for dinner (yes, dinner).

The first was pumpkin pie ice cream - delish! I love pumpkin anything in the fall (which reminds me I have to start wearing my pumpkin lotion again). The second was this peppermint ice cream dessert that was leftover from the book club I missed. OMG! If you could turn that magical feeling you got as a child on Christmas morning into a flavor - well, it would taste like this!

If only they made candy corn ice cream - I could have pulled off a holiday trifecta. :)

Walkabout

Rylee went on her first walk around the neighborhood tonight. It didn't start out too great. She stepped off our sidewalk into the grass and did a faceplant. (Ironically it was in pretty much the exact location where I took my faceplant last year when Rio escaped out the front door.) After a quick brush down, she walked all the way from our driveway to... Dave's driveway (our neighbor). :)

It was pretty funny actually. I had put one of those sun hats on her with the wide brim (it's a little too big since it was a hand-me-down from cousin Maddie) so all I could see was this fabric bowl on the top of her head and her awkward feet shuffling along. It reminded me of ET when they dressed him up on Halloween! You probably had to be there. :)

She walked several times throughout our outing. She probably covered about 6 to 8 driveway lengths and she only had one more stumble (the fault of the uneven sidewalk) so I was impressed. This is only the beginning right?

I haven't had a chance to post a pic of the sign Amy painted for Rylee for her birthday. We hung it right inside the door to her room - it looks awesome. Thanks again, Amy!

 

Purple Pride

It's that time of year again - Go Vikes!

 

I haven't posted many pictures of Rylee walking so here's one. I like how Rio is skulking in the background...

 

I love this little cheerleader outfit that my friends over at Mom2ET bought for Rylee, but does she slightly resemble an oompa loompa?

 

I forgot how sensitive Rylee can be. One little oompa loompa comment and she's in the closet looking for a new outfit. :)

 

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA as of late, but I came down with the yuckiness that has been going around school. It was not a convenient time to get sick (if there ever is) as I had a full weekend planned:

Thurs night - book club (missed it)
Fri night - birthday bash (missed it)
Sat - spent the day at my Mom's in hopes of not spreading my germs to Rylee
Today - baby shower (you guessed it - missed it)

I am beyond bummed, but I was able to get lots of rest and mainline vitamins. I feel better than I did when it started so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm on the mend and that I didn't infect anyone else (Rylee, Jon or my Mom). Otherwise I have a feeling that Jon and my getaway trip next weekend will be put on hold indefinitely...

Stats

Rylee had her 12-month checkup today.

Height: 31 1/4 inches 97th percentile! :)
Weight: 21 lbs 6 oz 50th percentile

I'm so excited she's starting to get tall. If only because I won't have to double roll her pants anymore. :)

The doctor said she looked great and was on or ahead of schedule for all her developmental milestones. She also got a buttload of shots (technically a thighload): two in one leg and two in the other (measles, hep A, chicken pox & flu). She didn't particularly enjoy that. :(

In other news, man is she is a walking machine since her bday. I can even see the beginning of running (oh no!). She's also been a cranky teething machine. Her other 4 front teeth aren't coming in yet, but one of her right molars came through over the weekend and there's one on the other side that is ready pop out soon. I hope we're on the every other weekend teething schedule like Miller - we could use a break this weekend. She gets feisty!

Random

It's been a busy, long day and there's more I want to accomplish before bed so I apologize for another lame post. Here are some random cute photos though...

Rylee with Daddy, Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Chip (while I was hard at work - for once!)

 

Jon & I before heading out to our anniversary dinner (Rylee just had to get into the picture!)
FYI: How you can tell it's your 10th anniversary (and not your 1st) - the only store you shop in while strolling through the swanky shops is Carter's Baby & you're home by 8:30 pm :)

 

Rylee aka the swimsuit model

 

Bday Recap - Part(y) Girls

After gifts and cake, it was time for the kids to play with all the new (and old) toys (except Miller - that boy was tired and needed a nap). It was so cute to see Rylee get the chance to play with some girls her age.

Here is a series of photos of Rylee and her new BFF, Kaila, doing synchronized "toying."

 

 

 

Rylee was apparently in the mood to communicate with Ava (Kaila's older sister) but all she kept saying was "Dada" over and over again. Ava (showing supreme sweetness and patience) kept asking her, "Daddy what?" After that didn't help clear things up, Ava tried "which Daddy?" It was too cute!

The Big 10

Happy 10th Anniversary Jon!

Thanks for putting up with me all these years, for always keeping me laughing, and for being such a good Dad to Rylee (& Rio).

I love you!

Bday Recap - Part Cake!

After swimming and gifts, it was time for the cake. Here's a shot of Rylee in her "slicker" and wearing the party hat Noni made for her (I use the word "wearing" loosely).

 

Here's a pic of the cake (sort of). Technically this is the extra cake we ordered to feed all the adults. The kid's cake had a mini cake in the middle for Rylee and was surrounded by cupcakes on the outside. Unfortunately we had already dissected it prior to the photos. (Thankfully Erin stepped in and snapped a shot of this one for us or we would have forgotten it too!)

 

Rylee didn't exactly love her cake. She was more interested in her "milk."

 

The kids devoured their cupcakes though so that's what counts. :)

 

Bday Recap - Part 2

We were really worried that our pool party would get rained out, but lucky for us the forecasters were wrong and the 60% chance of rain turned into beautiful blue skies. Maybe someone from up above helped us out a little bit?

Here's Rylee and me chillin' in the kiddie pool. Much fun was had by the adults and other kids in the big pool as well.

 

After pool time, "Rylee" opened her presents. You can see how enthused she was in this pic! :) Mommy ended up opening most of the presents (and there were many). The good news is now she's had a chance to play with all of them and she loves them! If she could say "thank you" I know she would.

 

I've mentioned before how Rylee loves to dance, well recently she's added singing to the mix. She sings "yah, yah, yah, yah" when playing with this gift. Sadly, she can't carry a tune (just like her mother). I guess that microphone wasn't necessary in the career circle - her singing career is definitely out!

 

Rylee's Bday Recap - Part 1

Rylee's 1st birthday party was quite a success: the weather cooperated, Rylee had fun, she got awesome presents (thank you everyone!), and the cake was delicious (even though Rylee was really only interested in her "milk"). I don't have much time to blog before work so here's what happened before the guests arrived.

We had an ocean themed pool party so here is a pic of Rylee in her cute swimsuit and hula skirt.

 

A friend of ours had told us about a Chinese custom that takes place on the child's 1st birthday: you place the child in the middle of a circle of objects that represent different careers - whatever the child picks is supposed to predict their future aspirations. Here's Rylee sitting inside the circle:

 

Here are the objects:
purse - fashion designer
microphone - singer
hedgehog - veterinarian
makeup brush - makeup artist
money - independently wealthy!
pen - writer
calculator - accountant
camera - photographer
apple - teacher
airplane - pilot
ballet shoes - dancer
thermometer - doctor
medicine syringe - pharmacist
shot glass - bartender/ rum drinker like Daddy :)
mouse - computer geek
toothbrush - dentist
book - librarian
beach ball - sports figure

She was really more interested in picking at her hula skirt and basically didn't move for 5 minutes. I removed the hula skirt and stood her up in the circle hoping that would encourage her some. She proceeded to stand in the circle and look at all of us for another 5 minutes. We've decided this means she really doesn't want a career. Let's hope she marries well! :)

Finally, I sat in the circle with her and she begrudgingly picked up the toothbrush. I guess dentistry will be her backup plan.

 

More bday details to come...

Happy 1st Birthday Rylee!

Dear Rylee,

Thank you for the best year ever! We have loved every minute of watching you change and grow. You are the cutest, sweetest, silliest little girl and we wouldn't change a thing about you. We can't wait to see all that you'll do and learn this year.

Happy Birthday!

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Leftovers

Swoon:
(Jon was doing something off camera and Rylee was enthralled. She can be such a Daddy's girl!)

 

Maybe you've heard, but I'm going to be 1 on Sunday. Yep, it's pretty cool. :)

 

Frogger

Here she's trying to drink the water that is dripping down.

 

Not sure what her excuse is in this shot. :)

 

Just Plain Cute

 

Undecided

Rylee can't decide if she wants to be a yogi or a football center - maybe both!

 

Then again, maybe there's still hope for an astronaut in the family - blastoff!