"Sick"mas and the Celebrations that Followed

      I must have jinxed myself with my Christmas Eve post because I woke up around 6 AM Christmas morning with a pain in my stomach. I knew what was coming but tried to convince myself it was just indigestion or something. By 7 AM, there was no denying it: I had the dreaded stomach virus! I was almost more upset that our Christmas plans were ruined than I was that I was sick! By some Christmas miracle, the virus was very easy on me. It was ROUGH while it lasted, but it only last until about 1 PM, then I fell asleep til around 4 and felt pretty much better, just sore, tired, and weak. I laid in bed for a while longer until about 6:30 PM to make sure I wasn't going to get sick anymore. Then, I was able to get up and shower and sanitize and go spend a little time with Rylee on Christmas day. I am so grateful for that! We decided to give Rylee 48 hours to make sure she didn't develop any symptoms before we made anymore plans.

     Since our Christmas day plans were all messed up, this has been a busy week. Tuesday night, we had Christmas with Liz, Brandon, and Kaden. We ate barbecue chicken and opened gifts and just enjoyed spending time together! Rylee and Kaden both had a lot of fun. They really just play so well together. It's adorable!

      Wednesday night, we celebrated Christmas with Nonna and Grandaddy. Mel and Josh took baby Austin home to Atlanta Tuesday morning, so we didn't get a chance to see them, but we still had a good time. We had a steak dinner and then opened gifts from them, Mel and Josh, and Aunt Andrea and Uncle Phil. Rylee got SPOILED! She got way too many presents, and she loves them all! Her big gift from Nonna and Grandaddy was a princess castle ball pit!!! They are amazing! :)

     Tonight, we celebrated Christmas at Granny and Pawpaw's. We really had a blast. Rylee was in such a silly mood, and she was showing out! It was adorable. I laughed more tonight than I have in a while. It was a really good time. We all got some really good stuff. And God answered some prayers for Ryan and I tonight through his grandparents, and I am really thankful for them. I cannot count how many times they have allowed God to use them to bless others. They are such wonderful people. I love them and all of Ryan's family so much. They are my family, too. :)

      This has been a different Christmas to say the least, but I truly know how blessed we are. This year has had its ups and downs, but through it all God has been right there, and my faith is stronger than ever. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I do not know what 2012 has in store for us, but I do know that God has a plan for us that is greater than we could ever imagine, and He is always faithful. I look forward to growing closer to him and teaching Rylee more and more about him. I see him in her every single day, and I don't see how any parent could ever doubt the power of God. Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy New Year! and God bless!

Christmas Eve



     Ryan and I have done Christmas as a family on Christmas Eve every year since we've been married. The year before we were married we celebrated it on the 23rd. It's our little tradition and it works out because we usually have several places to go on Christmas day.

           This year, thing have been kinda crazy. With all the holiday excitement and Ryan still trying to recover from bronchitis he caught from Rylee, we've been kinda worn out. Then, Thursday night while I was spending some time with Austin, Ryan texted me with horrible news. He was leaving work early because he got a stomach bug! Ick!! Those are the worst in my book! It started for him about 4 PM on Thursday and didn't end until after 7 PM yesterday. 27 hours of misery. Two cans of Lysol and a large bottle of germ-x later, Rylee and I appear to have managed not to catch it. Thank God!

     I've had the holiday blues a little with all this going on, so I really needed today to be a good day. Then we got even more bad news, Ryan's Granny caught a different stomach virus from his Aunt and we aren't going to able to go over there for Christmas breakfast tomorrow. We talked about just waiting to open presents until the morning since we had nowhere to go, but I needed a pick-me-up so we decided to go ahead and open gifts.

     It was amazing. Rylee was so excited. She opened gift after gift and when she finished hers she opened all ours, too. She just kept saying, "Happy! Happy!" over and over again. It really was something else. Her excitement quickly spread to us as we put her gifts together, and she started to play with them. She loved them! We couldn't have asked for a better reaction from her. We're excited to celebrate Christmas tomorrow with Liz, Brandon, and Kaden and then dinner with Ryan's parents and Mel, Josh, and Austin. It's going to be wonderful. :)

18 Months Old

      Today, Rylee is 18 Months Old! Ah! Where did the time go? She's really growing up quite gracefully, though. I enjoy watching the little girl she's growing into. She's so filled with life and personality. I couldn't imagine my life without her.

       Rylee is 20 lbs, 6 oz, and 32 in tall. She's in the 5th percentile for weight and the 60th percentile for height. (She failed to thrive between her 15 month visit and her 18 month visit, but we're hoping it has something to do with her learning to walk in between the two, and not anything more serious. She is having some tests done to be sure on Jan. 16. Pray that everything turns out fine.) She eats 2/3 cup of infant/toddler cereal for breakfast, a morning snack, a fruit and grain bar and yogurt for lunch, an afternoon snack, and for dinner she usually has some sort of canned pasta like spaghettios or grilled cheese. She's pretty picky about the foods she eats, which could be a reason for her failure to thrive.. She drinks from a sippy cup, but she doesn't drink very much throughout the day usually between 10-15 oz. I offer her her cup several times per day, but she just doesn't drink very much, another possible cause...

     Rylee wears size 3 diapers, size 18 Month clothes, and size 5 shoes. She has 15 teeth. She walks fully. She never crawls unless it's necessary.  She has such a sweet little personality. She's shy to strangers and people she doesn't get to see very often, and she's definitely going through a "mama phase." She wants me pretty much all the time, but I really don't mind it one bit! :) She smiles and laughs a lot, and loves to play. She talks non-stop. She picks up new words what seems like everyday. She loves books. She'll sit down and "read" for a half hour and be perfectly content with her books. She also loves to be read to. She'll grab up a book and walk over and plop into your lap when she wants to hear a story. I feel like her love of reading is what gives her such a large vocabulary, and I'm very proud of my little smarty-pants!

Christmas with my Family

       This morning we celebrated Christmas with my family, but the fun began on Monday evening when Mary, Alex, and Bailey arrived. Bailey, Rylee, and Kaden had so much fun playing together. They are such a mess!! They played in every room of Liz's house then took a bath together! Haha! After that we headed home and got some rest for Tuesday.

       Tuesday Ma and Pa and Anna arrived and things just got even more fun. Rylee was a bit exhausted because she didn't get much of a nap since we went to visit her newest cousin, Austin that morning then headed straight to Liz's to join in on the fun. She still seemed to have a good time, though.

      The kids had matching PJ's, red for Kaden and pink for the girls. They were so cute together! They read some bedtime stories and then Rylee went to bed. The other kids stayed up way passed their bedtimes, but Rylee just couldn't make it! We talked and played some games, and then we went to bed, too.

      This morning we opened gifts. Rylee got so much good stuff. This is only the beginning, we are going to have to do some major rearranging after she gets gifts from the rest of her family, too! I love watching her open all her gifts and get so excited. Being a parent is such a joy and holidays just magnify that joy. :)

Baby Austin is Here! :)

      On Monday, December 19, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Austin Charles Friedman entered the world weighing 6 lbs 13 oz. Melanie and Josh couldn't be more proud of their little man! Why shouldn't they be? He's so adorable!

      Ryan and I were unable to get to the hospital to meet the little guy on Monday, but we got to meet him yesterday. The hospital even let Rylee in to meet him! We were thrilled! She didn't know what to think of him. She showed no interest in him at first then once I held him she got jealous. Her exact words were "No, no! My mama!" Haha! I take it she's not ready for a sibling anytime soon...

    He's such a sweet guy. His nurse was talking about how feisty he is, and she was right. He has quite a big personality for such a little guy. I can't wait to see who you grow up to be, Austin Charles. Welcome to the world, bud.

Christmas City and Christmas at Church

       Last night, Liz, Brandon, Kaden, Melanie, Josh, Ryan, and I went to Christmas City at the Rose of Sharon Campground in Covington. First we had dinner at La Huasteca. It was really good; I love Mexican food! Then we made the drive over to the campground, and luckily we found places to park!

      We had a short wait for the train. When we got on it, we were a little closer than we preferred to be, but we still had a good time. The lights were so pretty, and there were so many of them! Rylee really enjoyed it. She kept pointing to all the different displays and saying "What's that?" over and over again! :) After we got off the train, we grabbed some hot cocoa and funnel cakes and then got in line to see Santa. We don't do the whole Santa deal with Rylee, but Kaden does, so Liz wanted to get a picture of them together. However, Rylee started shivering, so I decided to take her to the car to wait. Kaden had a melt down when she left, and we all just went home.

     Today we had a Christmas service at church. Since next Sunday is Christmas, service will not be held, so we celebrated today. There was a puppet show and Rylee was thrilled. She just stood and watched it, entranced the entire time. She looked absolutely adorable in her cute Christmas dress! :) Soon we are going over to Nonna's and Gran-da-da's to have some burgers with them and Melanie and Josh. Baby Austin will be here tomorrow!!!!!!

Snow in the Fall

     I am not the biggest fan of the white stuff. It's cold and wet and it makes it had to travel anywhere. However, it has been kinda cool to see it snow twice while it's still Fall. This picture was taken last Monday, November 28, 2011. It had been raining all day, and just started snowing big flakes around 2 PM and this picture was taken at 2:30. It started accumulating very quickly, but it didn't last for long so we didn't get a huge amount.

    Last I heard, we were supposed to get a few flurries last night,I didn't really think anything of it because surely it wouldn't really snow twice before Christmas, right? It never snows and sticks here before winter. We usually only get a handful of snows all year. I woke up this morning and everything was white. Another snow in the Fall!

     Monday, we didn't take Rylee out in the snow because she was still pretty sick, but today we took her out. She liked being outside, but she didn't really like the snow. It made it difficult for her to walk because her feet kept getting stuck in it and that made her frustrated. I think she'll like it better when it's not such sticky snow and she's a better walker. I hope this early snow isn't a sign of a snow-filled winter. If we get snow days while I'm student teaching, I'll have to make them up at the end of the semester and that does not sound fun!

Kade-man is 1!

      Today is Kaden's first birthday! His party was amazing. I think everyone had a really good time!

     I really cannot believe it's been a year since the day he was born. That day changed my life forever. Life is such a miracle. I love that little guy so much. Sometimes I feel like Rylee and Kaden are siblings that have four parents. I love spoiling him rotten and seeing his big smile.

      Kaden is still pretty sick with a nasty ear infection, but God blessed us by letting him have no fever and feel fine throughout his party. Only once his party ended did his temperature come back up. I praise the Lord that Kaden at least got to enjoy his first party, but I still HATE that he's sick on his birthday.

      His party was fun. So many people that love him showed up and celebrated the day of his birth. We started out by having some snacks. There was fruits and veggies, sausage balls, and chips and dip. It was all yummy!

      Then Kaden opened gifts. He like opening the first gift, but when he saw it he wanted to play with it and he didn't want to open anymore gifts. Also, all the kids at the party wanted to help open gifts so it got to be quite hectic. Rylee was excited to see that Kaden got a "pop-pop" for his birthday. She has one at Granny's house that she adores, so she took right to playing with the one he got.

    After presents came cake! Kaden seemed to enjoy it! Once everyone got done and went to play in the living room, he wanted down as well, so he didn't end up eating very much of his cake. But you could tell he really liked what he ate. After the party was over, the kids played with the toys a while longer before everyone left. It was a lot of fun. We released the balloons and then the kids played for a little while longer until Kaden's temp came back and he went to sleep. Overall, it was a wonderful day celebrating such a wonderful little guy! I'm glad he had such a great party; he deserves every bit of it! :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

     This birthday has definitely been my best in 22 years. :) The celebration has been going on almost all week! Tuesday night I came home to 4 perfectly wrapped presents sitting on the couch and a note telling me I couldn't open them 'til Friday, but they were there for me. Wednesday night when Ryan came home, he came through the door with a bouquet of flowers! Thursday night I came home to homemade cake and the sweetest card. I truly have the best husband in the whole wide world. I adore that man!

     Ryan let me open my presents at midnight! He got me a new purse, a sweater, two shirts, and some bath and body works! Ryan's granny got me a sweet card and cash, Ryan's mom got me a sweater and an Olive Garden gift card, my mommy got me a penguin potholder, a sweet card, a Max Lucado mini book, and she ordered me the newest season of One Tree Hill. I haven't gotten my gift from Liz yet because poor, sweet Kaden has been awfully sick with a nasty ear infection. His first birthday is tomorrow, but that will have to be another post entirely!

    Today we went to lunch at Los Portales to celebrate my birthday as a family. Rylee was really good and was such a happy girl all day. She really makes me so happy! When we got home from lunch, we ran into Uncle Lynn so we talked to him for a minute and then we took Rylee in to have her nap. We wrapped Rylee's Christmas presents while she napped. That made me really happy because I'm so excited about the things I got for her!! When she got up, I let her have some of my birthday cake for her afternoon snack. Let's just say bath time came early today!

     After we gave Rylee a bath, we took her over to Nonna's and Gran-da-da's so that Ryan and I could go on a date. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and did a little bit of shopping. It was wonderful to spend some quality time with him after he's been so sweet all week long! I had an amazing birthday, and I am truly thankful for all the wonderful blessings in my life!

Thanksgiving and a Sick Little Turkey

     Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, Ryan, Rylee and I packed up and got into the car with Ryan's parents to head to Georgia to visit Ryan's mom's family. We were in the car for what seemed like ages, but when we got there, it was surely more than worth it! Thanksgiving dinner was ready and waiting for us when we got there, so we dove right in. It was yummy! In typical picky-eater fashion, Rylee only ate a piece of cornbread and a brownie. She doesn't know what she's missing! Maybe next year she'll actually eat some turkey on Thanksgiving! This year I am definitely thankful for my wonderful family: Ryan and Rylee mean the world to me. I am thankful for all the blessings God has placed in my life, all the opportunities available to me, and the way God's been moving in my life.

     After we had lunch, Uncle Phil asked us if we wanted to take Rylee on a golf cart ride, and we did. We took her down to the park, and Ryan, Rylee, Uncle Phil, and I had such a good time. Rylee swung on the swings for a while, and then she slid down the slide over and over again. She even slid down with us completely letting go of her which was a first. She had a lot of fun. When we got back to the house, Aunt Andrea and Ryan's cousin Alex had set up a bunch of toys for Rylee to play with while we stayed there. She was really excited to try out each and every one. She played and played until she wore herself out and had to be put to bed. Ryan's parents left to go stay with Ryan's Maw maw who is in poor health, and Ryan and I stayed at Uncle Phil's and Aunt Andrea's. We play Bezzerwizzer, and then Ryan and his cousin Paul went Black Friday shopping, and I worked on some homework and went to bed.

          Friday we had big plans to go do a movie marathon, but they got sidetracked. Rylee was not feeling very well. She woke up Tuesday morning with a runny nose, but I didn't think anything of it because she gets a runny nose about every other week due to teeth or weather changes or whatever. But Friday Rylee developed a fever and I began to worry about her because all she wanted to do was sleep. Our plans also got sidetracked because we were supposed to start the marathon early in the day, but Melanie and Josh didn't get there until late afternoon, and we got a late start. After giving Rylee some medicine to get her fever down, she was acting better, so we decided to go out to dinner. When we got there, she was miserable. She slept on mine or Ryan's shoulder throughout the entire meal. The poor thing was burning up. We decided to skip going to a movie altogether and just head home and rent one When we got home, I took Rylee's temp and it was 103! We put her in a lukewarm bath and gave her some medicine and decided to just put her to bed and see how she was in the morning before taking any further action. We went downstairs and watched Captain America with the family and enjoyed the movie as much as we could.

     On Saturday morning Rylee woke up and still had a temp. She had lost her voice and was coughing and wheezing, and we were worried she might get pneumonia or something, so we decided to take her to Urgent Care. She was so miserable: she was either sleeping or crying the entire time we were there. The doctor barely even checked her out and then dismissed our concerns and told us she simply had a cold. He didn't do any tests or anything. He wouldn't give her any medicine, so it was pretty much a complete waste of time.

     Today, we headed back to Tennessee. Rylee had a bit more energy today and her fever never got high again, so we were relieved. She was so happy to be home, she went in her room and immediately started playing. Then, a couple hours later, she started to get fussy and her fever came back. We put her in the bath and put her to bed just before seven and now I'm listening to her coughing in her sleep over the monitor. I'm praying that she gets better soon.

A Love Story

    Ryan and I met in the fifth grade when we were both in Mrs. Hendren's class. We weren't really friends or anything; we just knew each other existed. Then junior year of high school, we were in Pre-Calculus together. He got on my very last nerve! Hahahahaha! I remember telling Mrs. Martha that I just HAD to go to sleep in that class because if I had to listen to him and his remarks I would lose it! Of course, I was overly dramatic like any other seventeen-year-old, but it is so funny to us now how much things have changed.

     Senior year, we had AP Calculus together. There were only nine of us in there, and it was a full year class, so we all got pretty close throughout the year. I actually started to think some of Ryan's silly remarks were funny--SOME of them! Ha! Second semester, Ryan and I had EVERY single class together. I told him that it was destiny, and we were now best friends. We started talking a lot and realized we had a lot in common. We never even thought about being anything more than friends (at least I didn't ;)), but we had definitely become really good friends. The very last day of class in Advanced Mixed Choir, I started crying because I really liked choir, and it was our very last concert and I felt like it was going to suck because our normal director, Mr. Patterson, was having some heart problems, and wasn't going to be able to make it, and all anyone did in class was argue, not rehearse! Ryan made me laugh and gave me a hug, and it was a really sweet moment. Instinctively, I kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for being so sweet. I know this sounds cheesey, but it gave me butterflies, and, at the time, I was seeing someone else, so I couldn't figure out why, and I just ignored it. After graduation, we didn't talk very much because we are both kinda anti-social, and apparently he had feelings for me, and I still was dating someone else, so he didn't really want to be around me. We saw each other at University of Memphis's orientation. We hung out in a group, but we didn't really get a good chance to talk. 



      The summer went along, I went through a pretty rough break-up and decided to move out into my very own apartment. School started and I had a class with Ryan's roommate, Will, who we also went to high school with. Will and I got along pretty well and our class together was pretty awful, so we talked a lot to try and make it through. We were pretty good friends and had hung out a couple of times over the summer, so we just continued to be friends as usual. He and Ryan didn't take to living together very well, so I listened to him complain about Ryan from time to time and wondered what Ryan had been up to. I didn't have any classes with Ryan, so we didn't really talk until about halfway through the semester. Then he asked me to go to lunch with him and we went and we ended up sitting in a booth talking for two and a half hours. I guess we missed each other. ;) We made plans to meet up again in a few days and register for classes together, and we went our separate ways.

     After we got done registering for classes, I asked Ryan to go eat with me and he agreed, but he didn't have any money so he refused to order anything, he just sat in there with me. Haha! After we ate, I drove back to his dorm to drop him off and we ended up sitting in the parking lot listening to music and talking for hours. Then it happened: we kissed. "Take Me With You" by Secondhand Serenade was playing on a CD in my car, and there was a pause in the conversation, he looked at me and kinda leaned his head, and I just kissed him. It was a crazy, everything is going to change now, kind of moment.  After that moment we were inseparable. That day was November 11, 2008. Two days later on November 13, Ryan asked me to be his girlfriend. Three years ago today. :) The rest is a roller coaster of ups (and a few downs) that led to the altar six months later and happily ever after ever since. :)

Look Who's Walking!

      On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, sometime before noon, Rylee finally took off walking. Now she's a walking machine!!

      On Sunday evening, I was sitting in Rylee's room playing with her before bed and she stood up by her book shelf and just walked over to me and sat in my lap with a book. She took about 10 steps. But I couldn't get her to do it again. And she didn't try it again on Monday, so I considered it a fluke. Then yesterday, while I was completing my last set of field hours at Crestview, Rylee took off. Ryan said she was standing by her high chair eating some animal crackers then just started to take steps towards him and Melanie who just so happened to be visiting. Then she did it again and again and she walked several times yesterday. Ryan took 2 videos with his phone and sent them to me, and I couldn't believe how good she was at it! I was kinda sad that I missed it, but when I went to pick her up from Granny's after class last night she walked for me several times and I felt better once I saw it with my own eyes. I am kinda sad that my camera wasn't home, so I didn't get a good video of it until today, but day 2 is still a good memory. :)

      Rylee is 16.5 months old. She has been acting like she was ready to walk since her first birthday. I've been thinking it would be "any day now" for so long, that I kinda started to give up on that. I knew she would walk eventually; I just wasn't sure it would be anytime soon. I am so proud of her! Last night, I showed my entire class on Infant and Toddler Development the video that Ryan sent me of her walking over the projector in the classroom. I just love to brag about my big girl.

Restful Weekend

     We have had a wonderful weekend. Thursday I had field hours at Crestview during the morning, but when I got home, I stayed home. I did not go to class. I know it's bad, but it felt really good to spend some quality time with my buggy. We laid in bed, snuggled, and watched Veggietales together. It was absolutely wonderful and much-needed, I might add. On Friday, I had field hours at Crestview in the morning, but I don't have class on Friday nights, so Rylee and I went grocery shopping and then spent some more quality time together that night.

      Saturday, Ryan, Rylee, and I went to Dyersburg to do a little shopping and have lunch. Ryan and I got shirts to wear for our Christmas card photos that would look good with Rylee's dress that I got a while back. We walked around the mall a little while, Rylee played in the little rides they have, and then we got some lunch at Applebee's. After lunch, we went to Walmart and picked up some Christmas decorations. Can you tell I'm ready for the holiday's this year? I'm super excited about Christmas, because Rylee's older now and I think she'll get into it a bit more!

     Today, we got up and went to church. We haven't been going as regularly as we should lately, for a lot of different reasons, but since we had an extra hour of sleep last night, we woke up ready to go! Rylee looked precious (as always, in my opinion) in a cute fall jumper. She also went to the nursery for the first time today, and she did pretty well. I have been putting off putting her in the nursery for so long because she's never been with anyone but family, but I figured it was time for her to be introduced to something new. She was unsure about it and wanted the sweet nursery helper to hold her the entire time she was in there, but she didn't have a break down or anything, so I would say it went well. :)