Sunday Stroll

It was nice to have Jon's Engineer's written test out of the way. By the way, HE PASSED!!! Congrats Jon!!! It was weird for him to be home with us and not have his face buried in a book. Now he is eligible to take the hands on portion consisting of pumping and driving the engine, which is set for Tuesday the 8th. Since it was sunday and it was such a gorgeous day, we decided to go for a walk along a hiking/biking trail that started at Brown's Ravine. I had Brody on my front and Jon had Rylee on his back!!! Both Jon and I were sweating our brains out. We decided to deviate from the path and head down to the water front where we skipped rocks. Rylee had a blast and almost fell in the water. Brody was such a trooper just hanging out awake, as usual! By the way, yes, I did cut my hair.

Brody the doll!

At Oma's house, Johnny and Oma were trying Brody out in the doll furniture. Without suprise he fit! It was so cute how he loved and coo-ed at the mobile in the doll crib. They also sat him up to eat in the doll high chair! "Here comes the airplane, open wide"! Oma gave Rylee a dress up hat that Jessica won at some event. Notice the silver ladle as her wand. She was banging it on just about everything she could see. The only thing that makes me laugh about that hat is Brittany wearing it at her bridal shower! She was a silly one!

Rio Del Mar

Beach weather is just around the corner!!! While we were in the Bay visiting Oma; Rylee, Brody and I went to the beach with a bunch of other mom's from my home Relief Society. (Love the Target bag over the cast!!!)Well, let me back track. The day started off well with getting Rylee and Brody ready. I go out to start the car and the battery is DEAD!!! I was supposed to meet up at a certain time and car pool with Ashley! I'm thinking "CRAPPY" (as Dawn Cattermole would say, it makes me laugh just to think of her saying that in her sweet voice)! Finally Johnny was able to jump start us and we were off to the beach! We car pooled with Ashley, Brooke and Livvy. Thank goodness for DVD players in the car on long rides. ;-) It was nice because Ashley and I got to talk and exchange ideas about having two kids now and the challenges and joys that it brings to our most hectic lives. We got to the beach in one piece and started to unload. The weather was beautiful - sunny and clear with a cold wintery breeze. The other nine mom's had kids around the same age. The kids were in their bathing suits while all the mom's, except me, were snuggled in their sweats! I was responsible enough to remember sunblock on the kids, but totally forgot about myself. My back was a lobster by the end of the day. The water was freezing, but the kids couldn't stay out of it. Brody napped in our little tent while I ate some lunch. Rylee loved playing with her sand toys and dipping her toes in the water. When it was time to go to start the car, low and behold, the battery is dead AGAIN!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! On the way to Rio Del Mar Jon called and told me to turn on my headlights so we would be well seen when driving during the day, "Safety first!". The drive to the coast is very curvy through the hills and is only 1-2 lanes wide. Well, I don't ever drive with my headlights on during the day and I forgot to turn them off when we got to the beach. RETARD!!! So I am my own worst enemy! Luckily Becky jumped us and I haven't had a problem since. By the way, we got home in one piece also!! We had a great time!!!

Can you say tired?

Today Rylee, Brody and I were leaving for Oma's house. I usually give Rylee a nap between 12:00p & 1:00p. If you know Rylee she fights to go to sleep. This is because she has not wanted to miss a thing since she was born. On occasion, naps can be complete torture to her. For the past couple of nights Rylee has been going to bed late around 8:30p or 9:00p (this is late for her, she usually goes to be around 7:00p & 7:30p) and waking up around 5:30a or 6:00a. She doesn't get much more sleep than Jon and I. Today while feeding Brody, I heard Rylee whining upstairs as usual about needing to have a bowel movement. Since I was unable to tend to her at the time, I was yelling up to her "Just go in your diaper!". After a minute or so, she stopped whining so I figured she was able to have a BM and start playing again. After Brody was done eating I realized that I hadn't heard her playing or whining for a while. So I decided to go find her and this is what I stumbled upon. She was wasted. I was able to walk by her and take pictures of her without her waking. Poor thing. Thank goodness she decided to sleep the whole way to Oma's as well. She sure needed it!

Happy Easter Sunday!

Today was such a great day! After church we had three families over for an early dinner. It was such a feast with meats and salads. Thank you Kingstons, Gowdys, & Flannerys! The kids had a ball running in the bubble machine. Look out!!! That thing spits them out fast! Here's a picture of Rylee and Addie with their kazoos! After eating we went out front for an Easter Egg Hunt! Thanks to Aly for the easter eggs. They were small, just their size. Go Rylee go!!! She did pretty well since this was her second time around with the concept. DO you think she likes chocolate? Afterwards the kids ate their treats and the adults ate homemade chocolate eclairs made by Aly and brownies by Sarah! YUM YUM!!!

Easter Eve

This morning the four of us attended our ward pancake breakfast "Hippity Hoppity Breakfast". We were able to gab with others and eat until we were full.For breakfast there were pancakes, of course, with buttermilk syrup (which tasted like sugary carmely syrup for icecream) eggs, sausage, orange juice, and hot chocolate.The kids made Easter baskets that looked like bunny heads and then used them for the Easter Egg Hunt! Rylee didn't quite get the concept at first, but by the end she was grabbing the eggs as quickly as her crippled hand would let her. We all had a great time!!!

Just the Two of Us

Rylee and Brody are fun to watch together. Brody really lights up when Rylee is smothering him with her love...or crying. It's difficult these days to teach Rylee that her cast hurts when she lays on people with it. She sure is helpful though.

Rylee's 2!!!

Rylee turned 2!!! We are so very proud of our little girl and the strides that she has made these past two years. She is so sweet and wonderful to be around. It is all too true when people say you can learn the greatest things by having kids.
I decided to invite all the little kids in our ward from the nursery, plus a few extra. Since there was going to be so many kids to entertain, we decided to rent a bounce house. It went up in the backyard. This was perfect size for the older kids and us adults!!! Luckily one of my neighbors let us barrow a small bounce house that was set up in our family room. It was the perfect size for Rylee and her little friends. To keep it simple we oppted out for cake and decided to make a Rice Krispy Treat cake in the shape of a butterfly. Good idea JON!!!! They loved it! We even had a pinata, yet only a few kids were able to hit. Thanks to Blake for opening it up! We all had such a great time!! Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out! We love you all!

The Worst Day Ever!

Today started out GREAT! The three of us went to the gym and ran multiple errands. Rylee was a trooper and only took a short 10 minute nap in the car. Brody was a breeze and just went with the flow. As we pulled up to our last destination at 6:00pm, little did we know this GREAT day was going to turn out to be the WORST day ever. It was going to be a quick "get in and get out" at the store. Rylee was in the basket (a no no, I know, hey she has great balance...guess it runs in the family) and Brody was fast asleep in his car seat on the seat where Rylee should be sitting. We were having a good time until Rylee leaned into the checkout counter and I pulled the cart in the opposite direction and she did the most graceful front flip in the history of falling. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I just couldn't move fast enough to SAVE her. I yelled, "Oh #%@&!" and the manager came running over asking if there was anything she could do, like an ice pack. I told her no, while I was consoling Rylee who was screaming hysterically. I thought to myself, "She's ok, she's just shocked from the fall, no big deal". Then I realized she wasn't stopping with the SCREAMING inside the store. I decided to finish up the transaction and look at it in the car. Rylee would not let go of her arm. It appeared to look slightly swollen and deformed, but it is so hard to tell on funchy little kids unless it is a big bad break. Since she was guarding her arm and wouldn't let it go (except when I pried her hand off it) I decided to go to the ER. "Yippee" I sarcastically thought to myself, "I get to go to work while I'm on maternity leave". So I decided to call Jon at work and he agreed to meet us in the ER. I felt absolutely terrible. We took some xrays (which was like torture) and sure enough she had a little buckle in her radius. Thank goodness it wasn't displaced and only needed a splint for the time being. We left with a fracture eval appointment to get a cast the next day. She did a great job and chose PINK, of course!!!