First Day of Daycare

Rylee started daycare on October 22nd. She is going to an in home daycare called Kid's Korner. There are 15 kids there but Jamie has 2 assistants. We are really happy with our decision to have them as her daycare provider. We really like them and they are so great with the kids. But...it is still so hard. I cried Sunday night and Monday morning before bringing her there. I just got so used to being with her all day, everyday, that the idea of her being somewhere else with other people was heartbreaking. It was so much easier leaving her with my mom the week before. Rylee didn't sleep much at all the first few days of daycare. There was so much commotion with all the kids around her that she didn't want to close her eyes and miss any of it. Her second week she did get used to the commotion and started taking some good naps. Also, after being at daycare for only a week, she came down with a cold. Of course that broke my heart again. Her first cold and I knew it was from being around so many other kids at daycare, I felt bad. She still has her cold; runny nose, watery eyes, a little cough, but it is getting better. Brad and I also got it from her. Now I understand why parents of daycare kids seem to be sick more often than others.

The whole daycare/back to work is a big transition for all of us. Brad even had a hard time with it cause he's got the hard job of dropping her off in the morning. I get to pick her up in the afternoon which is definitely the better of the two. In the evenings Brad and I squeeze as much TLC with her as we can before she goes back down to bed. Since work has started I feel like I have been behind in everything else: cleaning the house, the blog, phone calls, etc. We've also been out of town or busy on weekends so I haven't even had that time to catch up. It'll all start to work out though. I am excited for Friday's cause I get to work from home so I get to spend the day with Rylee. That'll be our special day together and it will also give me time to catch up on a few things around the house (and the blog). I was so happy that my boss was ok with that.

First Trip Home and NMU beats MTU!

The other weekend we drove home to the U.P. for the NMU vs. MTU fooptball game. It was Rylee's first trip to the U.P. We were a little worried about the long trip home, but once again, Rylee was a road warrior. The way up there was pretty easy. My mom was with us and we left on Thursday and went to Jaclynn and Jason's to spend the night. Rylee slept the entire 4 hours. She had no clue that we were driving through nasty weather. There were tornados throughout lower Michigan and we were driving right through them all. Luckily we were a little ahead of the storms and they never quite caught up with us. We got to the Kreider's late Thursday night and left early Friday morning but at least we got to see them for a few hours. Friday the weather was a lot better and my mom sat in the back and entertained Rylee when she wasn't sleeping. Sunday we had to make the trip all in one long haul but Rylee was so good for us. She's at a good age for traveling.

Saturday was the big game, NMU vs. MTU. It ended up coming down to the wire and our defense held MTU 4 consecutive plays from inside the 2 yard line, for us to come away with the victory 34-27! It was great! I was so happy for my dad and my brother...I know how bad we all wanted to beat Tech. Unfortunately, my brother Brad hurt his knee at the end of the game. We were all very sad for him after the game because we knew it was pretty bad and that game might have been his last of his career. He had such a good game though and was a huge part of the victory over the Huskies. It is going to be different next year watching the games and not having Brad out there. He is so much fun to watch and we sure did enjoy watching him throughout his great career! We are so proud of him for all of his accomplishments and all that he had to overcome! Here's a few pictures from the game.

"Good game Uncle Brad! Sorry I slept through part of it" Love, Rylee

Family picture in front of the scoreboard. (Bailey is at a friend's house, we'll have to super impose her in later)

Gramma Vikki Saves The Week

I know, I know...it's been awhile since I've put up a new post. The past few weeks have been pretty hectic. 2 weeks ago my mom came down and stayed with us for a week. It was my first week back to work and she watched Rylee for us. It was a nice transition so I didn't have to deal with going back to work and leaving her at daycare all at once. It was so wonderful to have her here! I felt so much better going back to work and leaving Rylee with Gramma for the first week. They had so much fun together! Brad had to go out of town for work for 3 days so it worked out great that my mom was here. I would have been a mess if I was by myself. My mom spoiled us while she was here too. She cleaned, cooked dinner every night, baked, and spoiled Rylee with kisses and hugs. It sure was nice to come home from work to a clean house, laundry all done, dinner ready, and a happy baby! We didn't want her to leave. I tried to hire her for full time but my dad said absolutely not. They missed her at home too. Thanks for everything mom!

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday while she was here. It was the biggest pumpkin patch we had ever been too. It was more like a carnival with hay rides, mazes, pumpkin games, and lots of good eats. It will be fun to go back there with Rylee when she is a little older.

"Thanks for a great week Gramma" Love, Rylee

2 Months Old!

Rylee posing for her 2 month pics in her giraffe outfit, from my friend Nichole, and with her giraffe from her Great Grandma Sally.

Rylee is 2 months old! I know I say this all the time but she truly is growing up so fast. She is getting stronger and stronger everyday. Not just her neck but her legs too. When you hold her in your lap she will try to straighten her legs and push up. She is also smiling more and more now. Although she doesn't really like to smile for the camera. Every once in a while I catch those smiles but I don't think she likes the red light that goes off from my camera. Her sleeping pattern is still about the same. We put her to bed around 9 and she usually wakes up around 3 in the morning and then again between 6 and 7. She sleeps good during the day too.

We had her 2 month Dr.'s appointment yesterday. She had to get her 2 month shots (Pediarux, HIB, Prevnar, and Rotateq) Brad and I really didn't like to see her in pain when she got her shots. She was in such a good mood, cooing away, and then screamed when she got pricked. I was happy though that when the nurse was done I picked Rylee up and hugged her and she almost stopped crying immediately. We gave her a little bit of Children's tylenol yesterday for her pain and in case if she got a fever. She acted pretty normal yesterday though and never got a fever so we were relieved.

Rylee has grown a lot this past month...as I am sure you can tell by her pictures. At least we know she is a good eater! I need to take a picture of her thighs. They're all rolly polly and so cute! I think it is the only time in life that rolls like that are considered to be cute. Here's Rylee's 2 month measurements:

Weight: 12 lbs. 8 ozs. (90th percentile)

Height: 23 3/8 in. (85th percentile)

Head: 39 1/2 cm. (75th percentile)

So this is my last week of maternity leave (I took one extra week...9 instead of 8). I am pretty sad about it. My mom is going to be here next week so at least my first week back Rylee will be here with my mom. That makes me feel better and it will be a nice transition before work and daycare. I sure have enjoyed my maternity leave! I love spending all day, everyday, with Rylee. She is just so darn cute, she must get a hundred kisses a day from me. It will be very hard to leave her and go back to work...hopefully I can be strong.

Happy Fall!

According to the calendar fall has been here for awhile but today was the first day that it actually felt like fall here. The past few days we have had record highs in the upper 80's and even 90's. But today it was a beautiful fall day in the 70's. We love the fall! These pictures were taken over at my friend Mindi's house. She put together this set up so she could take fall pictures of Gracie and then invited Rylee over for pictures too. So cute!

First Road Trip

All set for her first road trip

This past weekend we took our first road trip with Rylee. We went to Big Rapids, MI for the NMU vs. Ferris St. game. It is about a 5 hour drive and Rylee was so good for us both on the way there and back. She was sleeping a few minutes after we left our house and then slept for the next 3.5 hours! I think she really likes the car, at least for now. We have a lot of road trips this fall so we are hoping that she continues to travel well.

A few minutes into the trip and she's already sleeping (look at those cheeks)

We had a good time in Big Rapids. Friday night we met my family at the hotel. We got to see my mom, dad, Brad, Vanessa (and her boyfriend Alex), Auntie Diane, Uncle Lance, and cousins Tyler and Zach. With all the commotion going on Rylee didn't get to bed til after 11 PM but then she slept til 4 AM.

Rylee playing with Grampa Friday night

Saturday we went to the game, which we lost and was kind of a bummer game. But it was so nice to see everyone!

Auntie Ness and Rylee before the game (Rylee has her game face on)

Rylee hanging out after the game waiting to see Grampa and Uncle Brad

Uncle Brad, Rylee, Alex (Vanessa's Boy) and his niece Kayleigh (who is 11 days younger than Rylee) People thought they were twin boys dressed all in green and gold.

Saturday night we stayed with my mom and Vanessa in the hotel again. Jaclynn, Jason, and Maddy drove up from Howell to see us and stayed at the hotel as well. We just sat around and visited, played with the girls, and ordered pizzas. It was great to see them again too, even if it was just for a night. Maddy absolutely loves Rylee. She wanted to be by her all the time and play with her. Then she would get all concerned for Rylee when she would cry. It was really cute.

Maddy in her bikini, sitting by the pool

Rylee smiling at Gramma

Sound asleep (in her "I love Mommy" pj's) after a long day

Sunday morning and ready to head back home

Maddy giving Rylee a kiss good-bye

Sunday morning we all went out for breakfast and then headed home. Again Rylee slept for the first 3 hours or so and then we stopped to get out and change her and let her stretch. We listened to football the whole way home so the trip went really fast. Then we got to come home and watch highlights of the Packers win and Favre's record setting touchdowns. Yeah!

Grady Gauthier

My cousin Zach and his wife Meg had another baby boy, Grady Lawson Gauthier, on September 19th. This is the 11th great grandchild on the Anderson side. The boy-girl ratio is still pretty lopsided; there are 8 boys and 3 girls. It's fun having such a big family! Congrats Zach and Meg!

Zach and his boys: Tramon and Grady

Grandma Spindler

Last week Brad's mom came down and stayed with us for a week. Rylee enjoyed having someone else to play with all day. I was able to get stuff done like get my haircut, do some errands, and get some cleaning done while she watched Rylee. Brad and I even went out for a date and had a great dinner together. It was very nice!