at 12 months:

This is a little update mostly for family that doesn't get to see what she's doing daily.
Rylee at 12 months:

She has 4 teeth (two top/two bottom)
We're getting rid of the bink. It takes her a few more minutes to fall asleep and she kindof chews her blanket but other than that, she's adjusted pretty good.
Takes 2 naps and sleeps about 12ish hrs at night.
She is often found carrying toys or shoes around the house:She'll move her legs faster atemping to 'run' when I 'chase' her
She's still sporting the mullet. I'm dying to get some longer hair on that head and made my first attempt at pigtails:

she gets excited for baths and goes strait to the tub when the water is running. Although, she doesn't care much for bubble baths:

She's a pretty good eater her favorites are alfredo/wheat noodles (seriously 3 helpings!), fish, and limes :)

not so favorite: chicken

she's starting to 'sortof' use a spoon.

when its quiet and I haven't seen her roaming around - 99% of the time she's in her room at the book shelf . After all the books are on the ground she "reads" them. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is still her favorite.

she doesn't really like being on the grass, but if we stick her in the swing or her stroller she'll chill outside while we work in the yard.

Her favorite toys are stuffed animals, books, and our cell phones.

She's banned from the kitchen while we load/unload the dishwasher.

She gives the sweetest kisses (open mouth or she'll turn her face so you'll kiss her cheek)

She's starting to give real hugs and wrap her hands around our neck

She'll throw a little tantrum and refuse to stand up when she wants you to carry her.

She has the funniest gruntish giggle - (think bevus and butthead) she makes this sound about 100 times a day.

She's only had ONE sick baby appointment and it was for allergies!! (the Dr couldn't believe that after being congested for a week she didn't even have an ear infection!)

She could play peek-a-boo for hours

She loves to twirl around and dance with you.

That pretty much sums her up! We just love her to pieces!

numero dos

We thought it was a little selfish to celebrate Rylee's birthday alone so we had a few friends over to grill on Saturday. It was pretty low-key and I (like many others) can openly admit that "1st" birthday parties are more for the Mother than anyone else. It was fun to get together, decorate and marvel at the fact that we kept our little cutie alive for a whole year!! The Banner:

The tissue paper pom-poms:


the photo time-line garland:

It was fun for us to see how much she's changed in a short time - and remember funny things she did {namely how much she's thinned, and how she slept with her hands covering her eyes}

I was a little bummed at the wind speed on Saturday. We'd planned to be outside {imagine lots more pom-poms hanging from the trees and the banner and photos drapped on the fence} alas all was well.

I will say that the decor was planned to be re-used and/or moved to Rylee's room.

{I'll hang the pom poms above the rocking chair and change out pics of cousins etc hanging on the garland}

AND, butterfly cupcakes: a miniature/crowd version of her other cake.

We had a great time, chowing, chatting and chilling.

All in all there was a party but we left out the elephant rides - there's always next year.

her big day

Rylee in her 'photo-appropriate' Birthday suit!

{I chose this picture because you can really see her top teeth. I like to call them 'daggers'}

When she first woke up we showed her the Birthday banner I made. She thought it was pretty cool. The rest of the day was just like any other. . . . . . until Daddy came home!!! We had a special dinner of fish and sweet potatos.

{I've been trying to be brave and cook fish more - Rylee loves it!}

her cake:

She had a hard time getting past the frosting (it was cream cheese baby, can you blame her?) She gave Michael the stink eye when he poked and revealed the actual 'cake'.

Then she got real mad when he tried to give her part of the twinkie (the butterfly's body)

After we got all cleaned up it was present time.

She's one lucky little lady!

I'm probably most excited for the swing for the tree in our back yard.

We {SHE} is so loved!

Thank you everyone for being a part of our lives and making us feel special.

What the One?

Yep, its been an whol year! I can hardly believe it. Excuse me while I get a little sentimental.

(I'll spare you her "first" photo . . . I think its cool but others may not want to see my internal organs)

Rylee has been such a joy to have in our lives and in our family. Being a parent is both harder and easier than I imagined it would be. She holds our world in her finger tips. You know the phrase if Momma aint happy, aint nobody happy? I'd say its the oppossite. Her smiles and giggles are nothing if not contagious. Its been one wild ride watching her grow in just this short year. We couldn't feel more lucky to have her.

We love you Rylee! Thanks for making our life wonderful.

Happy Birthday!

three years later. . . . .

When we first moved to Texas as we were getting settled we decided to purchase a couple house plants, one of which is some form of a lily. There were blossoms on it when we purchased the plant, and enjoyed the flower for a while. After three years of nothing, it finally bloomed again! YAY!!

Now to get Rylee to stop eating the dirt. . . . .

On another plant related note. I found an article in my mystery BH&G magazine about forcing your tree/shrubs to bloom early. Remembering how happy the pink blossoms made me feel last year, I decided to try it out and get a taste of spring a bit early (you know, aside from the blue skies and warm breeze). Well, SOME of the twigs bloomed but not enough to vase. And now the tree itself is mostly covered in pink blossoms. fail. I may hold out for a few more more days anyway.

blossoms on the tree. . .
song birds at my bird feeder. . . .
sprouts of green in the grass. . . .

Oh how I love spring!!

Stock Show & Rodeo

One of my favorite things about San Antonio is the Rodeo that lasts for 17 days. Stock show, carnival, shopping, fair food, rodeo, concert . . . . . there is something for everyone.

We decided to make it a two day (which turned into a three day) affair - one with Rylee, one without her and both were fantastic!

We went to the Rodeo and Gary Allen concert as our "Valentine's Date"

Then a few days later we took Rylee to the Stock Show which is basically barns upon barns of farm animals.
Rylee was {as expected} hilarious! She had this funny growlish laugh and smiled at all the animals (as long as she was in our arms). Her favorites were the baby chicks and the sheep in the petting zoo. She also enjoyed the stuffed animal the carni gave her (seriously, we didn't even have to pay his rip-off game. . . . she was THAT charming)

Michael's favorite was probably the pig auction. (and the fact that he 'had' to watch Rylee while I rode the Tilt-a-Whirl) We were both amazed that the pigs were going for $2000 a piece!! Michael is now spending his spare time figuring out how to put a pig pen in our backyard.

My favorites were of course the Tilt-a-Whirl, the 'baby' animals, taking Rylee on the carosel and all around hanging out together.

Til next year. . . . .

Ice Day

Its true. San Antonio gets snow! Its been the talk of the town for 25 years (the last 'major' snow fall was in '85) Granted, it wasn't much snow but there is (was?) a lot of ice. Schools, businessess and all major highways are closed (at minimum 'delayed') due to the ice. Particularly the overpasses and bridges.

Michael and I didn't really know what to expect and almost laughed a little when people were talking about not doing anything today.

Well, I wouldn't want to be on the road with hundreds of people who have no idea the consequence of ice, tires and braking. And since some employees don't feel safe driving in it, to make it fair, they all get the day off. awesome!

Here's the proof :


Little baby ice angel (and hand print):

Supposedly other parts of the town had more, but this was enough for us. It was fun to walk out and see all the neighbors out too, kids sledding down their driveway into the street, making good use of being out of school, knowing the snow would really only last a matter of minutes.

Glad we could be a part of history and "the great snowfall of 2011" which I'm sure will be the case for the next 25 years.

It'll be back in the 70's in no time.