St. Patty's Day

     I'm usually in charge of taking photos of Rylee for holidays and birthdays and such, but this morning she was asleep when I headed to school so it was up to Ryan to capture the perfect photo for St. Patrick's Day. 

      And because Rylee is used to playing for Daddy and not posing for Daddy, this is the best he could do! Don't get me wrong, she's cute and all, but this just isn't a holiday picture!!

      Then Rylee went over to Nonna and Pop-pop's to spend the day because Ryan had to work overtime and I was still at school.

     And Nonna captured this beautiful photo of my sweet girl!!! :) Her baby book is saved by a beautiful holiday pic to go under First St. Patrick's Day!! :)

Family Time

     We had an amazing weekend! Rylee had so much fun that she got completely worn out and slept until 9:30 today! I was glad for some extra rest, too!

    We started out the weekend by going over to Ryan's parents' Friday night. Rylee loves her Nonna and Granddaddy! And they surely love her so! She also has such a good time playing with their dog, Hollister. She plays with him like he's an equal, a friend rather than a pet. :)

    EARLY Saturday morning, we traveled to Middle Tennesse to visit my parents in their new house!!

    Rylee had such a good time being spoiled by her Ma and Pa!!

     We thought that driving 200 miles with two babies in the car would be a nightmare, but we were so proud of Ryles and Kaden. They were such good babies all weekend long!!

    I had an amazing time relaxing and playing with all my favorite people. Kaden got a bit spoiled cuz I couldn't keep my hands off of him!!! :) We came home Sunday night, happy and worn out.

    Monday, Liz and I spent the day shopping!!! When we got home, Mary, Alex, and Bailey came to visit!!! Rylee had fun playing with Bailey in between trying not to get run over by her!

     Uncle Brandon wasn't able to come on the trip this weekend so he spent some much needed quality time with Ryles Monday night!! :)

Being a Mommy Makes Time Fly!

     My sweet princess is growing up so fast!! I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks she'll be 9 months old!! She's almost been in the real world longer than she was in my tummy! :( It doesn't seem right. But I am soooo proud of her. She is so smart!! She learns so fast, and she spends a lot of time just sitting still observing the world around her. It's so precious, like she's trying to take it all in. She is absolutely rotten, but I love it. It lets me know she knows she's loved. Even though sometimes it does get a little old when she wants my attention constantly and I am busy, it's okay. I want to cherish every minute with her because she changes so quickly, I don't want to miss a thing!

     She has learned to shake her head "no" especially when it comes to eating something she doesn't like. She's such a picky eater!! She must take after her daddy! She also has learned to say "yea" and "mama" So now she knows 4 words. :)

       Right before her 8 month "birthday" Rylee learned how to crawl thanks to some coaxing from her Aunt Liz!! Now there is no stopping her!! She's all over the place, but she's still really clingy so she doesn't like to crawl anywhere unless someone she knows is nearby. So that makes it easier to keep an eye on her, and I'm thankful for that!

    And now she has a new skill that she's been working on for a little while, but she just mastered yesterday.. She pulls herself up on everything!! I hope this doesn't mean she'll be walking soon! I want her to be at least 1 or close to it before she walks!! I swear this kid changes every time I blink!! I want to go back to the day she was born and relive that day, because I seriously can't clearly remember her ever being a newborn! She's all over the place now.

Rylee's First Valentine's Day

      Rylee had a wonderful first Vday!! We took her out to lunch at Los Portales. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Ryan took the day off work, so we decided it would be the perfect day to take Rylee to the park for the first time!

       She had such a good time!! She loves to be outside, and she loves to see new things and try to figure them out, and there was lots to see and do at the park!!

     She loved going down the slides!! She went down every single slide at the park!!! (There are lots because there are different sections of play areas throughout the park!)

    I was afraid she wouldn't be big enough for the swings just yet, but I was wrong. She loved to swing!! She didn't even mind if it was going kinda high! My brave girl!

     I think her daddy had just as much fun playing at the park as she did! He took her on EVERYTHING there was to play on in the whole park! :)

    She got kinda tired of me making her stop to take pictures, she just wanted to play-play-play!!! I couldn't resist, though, as I often can't. I want to remember everything about her. She's growing up so fast, I just want to document everything.

     But finally, I gave in and started playing with her, too!! We had wayyyyyy too much fun!! :) Memories are meant to be made, not observed.

     After we played for a long time, we took a stroll around the track at the park. It was her first time in the stroller and she loved it!! :) Altogether, it was the perfect day with a perfect little Valentine.

6 1/2 Months Old Already?

       Rylee is doing amazing. She is so smart and so well behaved. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. She is constantly smiling and laughing. She now sits up on her own and reaches for her toys and starts to play with them. Her first word was "Hi/hey" but "Dada" followed soon after. She's said "Mama" a few times, but not enough just yet for us to consider it one of the words she knows. She is so amazing.

     My first semester of school as a mommy went well; it was also my first semester since I began college in the fall of 2008 that I made straight A's. I think my good grades were a combination of the motivation I got from wanting to be the best I could for the sake of Rylee and also that I finally got into courses on my major and I enjoyed the subject matter much more. My next semester starts this Thursday. I am anxious to see what this semester has in store for me.

      Rylee is loving her newest cousin! At first she was a little confused on whether he was a toy or a pet or what, but now it seems she understands that he's like her and she's protective over him. If he cries she shouts out as if to tell us, "Hey, he needs your atttention, now!" It's so sweet.

       Today was Rylee's first snow day. We took her outside to see it, but she hated it. I don't think she enjoyed how cold and wet it was, and I can't blame her because I hate it, too, but maybe next year she'll like it more.

     Ryan and I are doing amazing. I know this probably sounds cheesey, but I seriously keep falling more and more in love with him as our marriage grows older and more mature. Sometimes I just look at him and I can't even remember a time when I didn't love him and need him. He is such an amazing father. Rylee adores him. She cries when he leaves the room. She reaches for him each time he's within her eyesight. It's amazing that there is a person in this world now that is part him and part me. It's the most amazing feeling. God has really blessed us.

     We are blessed beyond measure. She sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night and takes 2 to 3 1-2 hour naps each day. Girl loves her some sleep!!! Lol. But when she's awake she is full of fun and energy and I just adore every minute of being this angel's mommy.

New Years in Georgia

    We spent New Years' weekend in Georgia with some of Ryan's family. Rylee amazed me yet again with how well she adjusts. She behaved wonderfully on the trip and while we were there! On Friday, we traveled there, had some dinner, and watched the Peach drop on TV.

      On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with them and exchanged some gifts and just spent some time together. On Saturday night, Nonna watched Rylee while Ryan and I went to the movies with Ryan's Uncle Phil and Aunt Andrea and cousin Paul. We saw R.E.D. and Tron and got some pizza. It was a wonderful night out. On Sunday, we had breakfast and then headed back home. It was a wonderful weekend with wonderful people! :)

Rylee's First Christmas(es)

    Rylee's first Christmas was absolutely amazing. It was so amazing to see her face light up when she got all her gifts. I was scared maybe she was too young to understand, but she did great.  She got soooo spoiled!! She celebrated Christmas with my family on the 21st, mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve, Ryan's extended family on Christmas morning, Aunt Liz and Uncle Brandon on Christmas afternoon, and Nonna and Pop and Aunt Mel on Christmas evening.

     First came Christmas with my family and she had a blast! She got tons of good stuff!! It was so much fun having all the babies together!!! It is hard to believe how much we have all been blessed this year!! 3 sweet 2010 babies all  in one family!!!

     On Christmas eve, Ryan and I read her the first Christmas story and told her all about Jesus and she was so funny she just sat there and listened like she knew what we were saying was important and she understood every word. :) She got this wonderful present from us and we couldn't have asked for a better reaction. She smiled so big and started jumping up and down when we showed it to her!

     On Christmas morning, we headed over to Granny and Pawpaw's for breakfast and gifts. Since, Rylee is the only baby in the family, she got twice as many gifts as anyone else did!! She scored, big time!! Haha!

     Then we headed over to Liz and Brandon's to exchange gifts and she got another big present!! :) And of course I got to snuggle on the new lil man a little bit! :)

        By the time we got to Nonna and Pop's she was so tired. She didn't last long before she passed out on Granny's shoulder. The perfect ending to her first Christmas!

My 21st and Welcome Mr. Kaden Scott Jones

     My Birthday was Thursday! I spent the day with Rylee and Ryan! I got a new digital camera!! We went out for lunch and Los Portales. :) And then I had to go to class and Ryan had to go to work so we went our separate ways.

      EARLY Friday morning, I woke up and headed to the hospital with Liz and Brandon. Liz was induced around 5 AM. Mr. Kaden Scott Jones got here at 6:05 PM weighing 7 lbs 9 oz and 21 in long!!I was in the room when he was born and it was such an indescribable experience. Let's just say my sister is now my hero, and life is beautiful, magical thing. :)

      Rylee spent the night with her Nonna and Pop last night so we could stay at the hospital pretty late and go and grab dinner to finish celebrating my birthday. This morning we went and visited Liz and Kaden and then did some shopping. I missed my babygirl, tho and at the end of the day, I was so happy to finally see her again!! :)

Rylee's First Thanksgiving

      Today was Rylee's first Thanksgiving and I think she had a pretty good day! :) We went over to Granny and Pawpaw's and had Thanksgiving lunch with Ryan's family. We ate entirely too much and had a wonderful time doing it!! Rylee tried some sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. She liked the sweet potatoes, but not the mashed.

     It was kinda a stormy and blustery day, but it was a good one, nonetheless. Rylee loves spending time with her Daddy's family because she is the only baby and she gets TONS of attention! Rylee also loves when she gets to see her Aunt Mel because she lives in Memphis, so she doesn't get to see her all the time! But she loves her so!

     When we got home, we watched Killers and Rylee fell asleep in my arms for the first time since she was Brand New. :) I love my babygirl so!

Rylee's First Halloween

      Because Liz is going to be too far along by Thanksgiving to travel, we traveled to Monteagle to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents.We headed home on Saturday after a feast so Rylee could get ready to TrickorTreat!

     She was a moo-cow!! She looked so freakin' adorable in her little costume. But the costume was hot and itchy and she was tired, so she wasn't in the best possible mood for TrickorTreating. But she seemed to have a little bit of fun. She got money instead of candy because she can't eat candy yet, and she made quite a few bucks!

      But she was sad because all she wanted was to go to bed!!! So we hurried home and laid her down, and she was happy as can be once more!!

14 Weeks Old & Counting

     So, Rylee is already fourteen weeks old. She's going to be fifteen weeks old on Monday, and I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by. She seems so big to me now. She can do all kinds of things. She has mastered rolling over, she can roll over from her back to her tummy and from her tummy to her back. When on her tummy, she can lift her shoulders neck and head up with her arms so that she can look around the room. She is also becoming more and more mobile, starting to scoot around during tummy time. When on her back, she can kick and reach for toys hanging above her and directly beside her. She has mastered sleeping through the night and sleeps right through every single time now. And she is beginning to master sitting up, she can sit up unsupported for about 2 full seconds before she begins to waiver and fall either forward or backwards.

    Last weekend my sister, Mary and her daughter Bailey who is 7 months old visited and Rylee seemed to really enjoy the company from someone close to her age. She did not appreciate the way that Bailey showed excitement which unfortunately was to slap Rylee in the face, but she did seem to learn a lot from her and begin to try new things that she saw Bailey doing. I'm glad she likes her cousin and I cannot wait for their relationship to grow when Mary and her family move closer this winter.

    School is getting a lot better for me now. I still miss Ryles like mad, of course, but I feel like I am really going to enjoy teaching and having my own classroom full of students one day and I can't wait to reach that goal. I know Rylee will be proud of me for graduating college even though it's been hard. And I hope she'll know that everything I do, I do to make her life as good as I can possibly make it. I only want for her to be happy and to have everything she wants and needs. I love my babygirl with all my heart!! :)