Rylie reached a milestone today, and was quite proud of herself. She put on her shoes all by herself! I heard her from another room yell, "I did it!" And I went in...and she certainly had...even if they were on the wrong feet! Way to go Rylie!
Johnny-boy and Jean...this picture is for you. Here is the ADORABLE outfit you got Rylie a few months ago. I love saying that you got it in France! I am so happy she is big enough to wear it now...and that it is cold enough! Perfect timing! Thank you!
Here is Rylie bursting into song at the dinner table tonight. She sang this "bit" over and over, and over, and over. What a treat to have her at the table!
As a previous video shows, Rylie LOVES corn on the cob. She got so excited when she saw me shucking it tonight before dinner. Once she started to eat it, she kept on calling it "popcorn." Close!
We (meaning only Chad and I!) just returned from 7 beautiful, restful, and fun-filled days in Kauai, Hawaii. We could not have done this without my parents generous gift of a free place to stay on the Island (and two free plane tickets after we accumulated enough miles!), and both of our moms taking care of Rylie all week!!! Praise the Lord! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. No amount of chocolate macadamia nuts can express our deep gratitude!!
A few highlights to the week: - Sleeping in - Lots of eating out...and taking our time!!! - Snorkeling with tons of fish, turtle and LOTS of incredible beaches - Kayaking up the Waialua River and hiking to a beautiful waterfall - A sunset cruise...AMAZING. - Hiking along the Napali Coast for 6.5 hours...seeing dolphin along the way, and swiming in a 300 ft waterfall with dear friends of ours, Jack and Kay - Simply getting to "choose our own adventure" each and every day! - Eating at Puka Dog...the BEST hot dog in the world...seriously, I do not even like hot dogs, but we went here twice! - Visiting our honeymoon hotel...what a wonderful and nastalgic place this is to us! - Only being 4.5 months pregnant, so able to still be comfortable to do lots! - Wonderful accomodations in our favorite part of the island...right near Hanalei!!! Paradise.
That is right...we are having a second little girl, and are so thrilled! We are super excited too, for Rylie to have a little friend to jump around with. She is going to be a fun big sister. Now time to figure out her name...
Chad and I just returned from our "Babymoon" in Kauai, Hawaii. As hard as it was to leave the Island, coming home to Rylie was the very best medicine. We missed her sooooooooooooooooooooo much! (Of course she was in great care, with her grandmas, in our absence!)
One fun item we brought back for her was her own Hula outfit. (Grandma Dub was teaching her the Hula all week long while we were away...) Needless to say, she took to the dance immediately in this skirt! Here is to you Nanna!
While we were unpacking our bags this afternoon, she found a treatsure that she was just as excited about...our snorkels and masks. She did NOT want to take these off...I think she would have worn them around all afternoon and evening if we let her. What a goof.
I had to capture this moment on film as it is just too priceless to miss. Here is Rylie sporting her own style...diapers, pink boots, and a necklace...all her choice of course! Don't you wish you could so confidently where such attire!?
On Friday night the entire family, including all of the cousins, aunts, uncles, and Granne and Gramps, put on their CU spirit. We headed down to the Buffalo Stampede on Pearl Street in Boulder, which is where the CU football game rally takes place. For every home game of the season the cheerleaders, dance team, football team, marching band, and everyone from Boulder, heads down for some football hype. This was the first game of the season. All day, Rylie was talking about going to the parade. After returning from the rally, she now yells "go buffs" and "go CU" while punching her fist into the air with gusto. She is making her dad so proud.
We have recently introduced Rylie to a few of our favorite Pixar movies...Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille. This week she has been asking for "Ratawoowee" every day.
She just loves that little mouse! He must have heard her request, because Ratatouille came to our home for a visit this weekend! Yes it is true...I went and lifted the toilet seat in the bathroom, and lo and behold, a little mouse was sitting there on the "shore" of the toilet bowl, soaking wet with water. We ran and got Rylie to show her. She was delighted! Now, all week long, and even just this evening in the middle of dinner with a guest over no less, she exclaims out of nowhere, "Ratawoowee, all wet!" It is absolutely hilarious.
Here is a little video rendition of "the mouse in the house."
P.S. We flushed Ratatouille down the Ratatoilet! To Rylie's dismay, he has not visited us since!
We love time with Johnny-boy!!! He is like family to us, and we adore every minute that we get with him. We so value that way he joyfully and intentionally shares his life with us. Great to meet up with his best friend too, Todd...the "extra special" one! Ha! We decided to put everyone to work for their dinner, so here we are tossing our own calzones! Mmmmmmmmmm, good!
J-boy, you hold such a dear and special place in our lives. You will always be my little brother. See you at the wedding of the year...YOURS!!!! We will start practicing NOW for Rylie to walk down the aisle as your flower girl. What a total joy that you asked her!
This is what happens when a 6 foot 9 man (a.k.a. J-boy) sits at a table built for a toddler...it breaks! Ha!
We are so excited to announce that Rylie will become a Big Sister come February of 2010! Yeah!!! We are 16 weeks along, and are extatic to meet this little wonder growing inside my belly and in our hearts. The two kiddo's will be exactly 2 years apart nearly to the day! How fun.
This is a picture of Rylie the morning we told her about her little bro/sis to be. We gave her her first baby doll on the same morning...to which she took to very quickly. She immediately hugged and kissed it. She is now officially a sister in training!
Uncle Brian, Aunt Cindy and cousin "Pin" (as Rylie foundly calls him) came for a visit this weekend. We just LOVED having them all to ourselves. This was a first, and not the last that we will get our families together. We packed a lot into the weekend but really just enjoyed getting to know little Finn. We saw Elk in Estes, road the paddle boats around our lake, played basketball at the rec center, and played a lot on the floor! He has to be one of the happiest and most content little guys around. He is sooooooooooooo irrestiably squeezable. He is 10 months old and over 23 pounds!!!! He is a big boy...with an even bigger joyful contenance. THANK YOU FOR VISITING US...we cannot wait to see you in October for the big 1 year old birthday!!!
