12th Day of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas,
the Good Lord gave to me:
a baby brother for a sibling -
the perfect addition to our family!

So we'll have to wait awhile for baby brother's arrival, but at least now we can call it a "he," start seriously working on those baby names, and decorate the nursery!

I'll try to scan some of the ultrasound photos, but they aren't as good as our last ones so I'm not sure how they'll come out. In the meantime, here is a belly shot of baby boy Polich (referred to from now on as BBP).

 

In other news, I guess this is my 1001st post. It would have been cool if it had turned out to be 1000, but close enough! :)

Happy New Year everyone!

9th, 10th, 11th...

On the 9th day of Christmas,
everyone gave to me:
lots of toys to play with-
like princesses and clothes for Barbie!

On the 10th day of Christmas,
Grandma Sandy gave to me:
my very own tooth pillow
so I'm ready for the Tooth Fairy!

On the 11th day of Christmas,
Santa gave to me:
a trampoline for jumping
to save those couch springs!

 

 

6th, 7th, 8th...

On the 6th day of Christmas,
Gaga gave to me:
a special donut maker
(just don't tell me they're not as good as Crispy Creme!).

 

 

The donut maker is pretty sweet for a girl with lactose intolerance and donut envy. We made some cinnamon sugar ones on Christmas Eve and then Rylee wanted frosting and sprinkles on Christmas morning. The girl has been in donut heaven.

On the 7th day of Christmas,
everyone gave to me:
lots of new clothes and jammies
'cause I never stop growing!

 

Unlike her birthday, Rylee was very excited to get clothes. She tried most things on right when she opened them and fell in love with one pink t-shirt with bling on it (that Gaga bought for her) and wore it for three straight days.

On the 8th day of Christmas,
Auntie Laurie gave to me:
a silly Skippyjon Jones book
autographed by author Judy!

 

I was most excited for this gift. I have all the Skippyjon Jones books (my Kindergartners loved them). I couldn't believe how nicely the author signed the copy with name and sketch and all. Too cool!

3rd, 4th, 5th...

On the 3rd day of Christmas,
Grandma Sandy gave to me:
3 little ponies &
2 little pony DVDs!

On the 4th day of Christmas,
Grandma Sandy gave to me:
4 Thomas the train cars
on railroad tracks for driving!

 

I'm not sure who's more excited by the train: Rylee or Jon. Either way they are both talking about more tracks, more train cars & tunnels of course. :)

On the 5th day of Christmas,
Grandma Sandy gave to me:
a ballerina music box
for my golden rings and jewelry!

 

Rylee adores her new jewelry box. She winds it up and lets the ballerina pirouette until "Fur Elise" plays out. (Sorry, I should have zoomed in or cropped the photo so you could see the music box better. It's pink with white polka dots and the ballerina dances in front of a heart-shaped mirror.)

1st & 2nd...

On the 1st day of Christmas,
Gaga made for me:
a beautiful veil & bouquet
for when I pretend marry!

 

The silk bouquet is lovely, but I didn't have a great picture of it. My mom also bought Rylee an adorable play wedding dress, but she hasn't had the chance to try everything on together. Maybe she'll be in the mood to get married later this week so I can get a picture of the whole ensemble.

On the 2nd day of Christmas,
Gaga gave to me:
a stroller & twin babies
with knitted hats & booties!

 

 

 

Rylee actually got "Baby Elsie" from Grandma Sandy 2 years ago, but when Rylee started wanting twin babies she decided to add another Bitty Baby to Rylee's collection. "Baby Emily" looks more like Jon with dark hair and dark eyes. (My mom thought Rylee should prepare for the fact that the new baby might not look exactly like her!) To make them twins, my mom bought them matching jammies and knit them matching hats & booties. They are adorable! My mom also sewed them little blankies and made Rylee matching "chew blankies" as she calls them. As Rylee says, "Gaga is so talented!"

Christmas 2011

It was a bittersweet Christmas this year. After a couple of fun days, Grandma Sandy started to not feel well. At first we thought it was just side effects from her chemo on Tuesday and her oncologist recommended she go into the ER for fluids. When she got there, they found a bowel obstruction (a problem she's had before). Unfortunately, this meant they had to admit her to the hospital. She spent most of Friday and all of Saturday in the hospital. Not exactly how she envisioned her visit going. :(

The good news is that she was released early this morning and was able to spend Christmas Day with all of us! Rylee was especially excited to see her (since we hadn't brought her to the hospital to visit). Today when I asked Rylee what her "favorite Christmas gift" was she said "spending it with Grandma Sandy." :)

I have tons of pictures to go through so expect the "12 Days of Christmas" posting to commence soon. Merry Christmas everyone!

Safari

We got Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Chip up early Thursday morning so we could head up to Lion Country Safari. We'd never been and had always wanted to check it out.

The first part of the park is an open safari-type zoo that you drive your car through. There are lots of warning signs to keep your doors locked, your windows rolled up, and to give the rhinos a wide berth. They forgot to warn us about the sneaky ostriches though. One pecked my bumper twice before we drove away! I never did remember to check for damage. :)

I'm not sure what Rylee enjoyed more - seeing the animals or roaming free about the vehicle (no car seat laws apply in the park since the speed limit is 8 mph). She was giddy! She sat on the center console, helped Jon drive the car a bit, and walked around in the back with Grandma and me.

 

The second part of the park has your usual rides, petting zoo, and other attractions. Rylee chose to stroll part of the time.

 

Before we left, "the kids" monkeyed around for some silly photos:

 

 

All and all, it was fun excursion!