Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day!

My parents, Ben, and Bailey all came down for Memorial Day weekend. They got here late Thursday night and stayed til Monday afternoon so it was nice that they got to stay for a long weekend too. It was great to have them down again! The guys went to the Indy 500 on Sunday and had a blast! It was my dad's and Ben's first Indy 500 and they loved it. My dad has always wanted to go so I am glad that he finally got the opportunity to go. The weather was perfect for the race which made it even better. Us girls went to the park and had a picnic (Brad had my camera at the race so I was bummed I didn't get any pics), went for a walk, and got some shopping in. My kind of weekend!

The guys at the race

2008 Indy 500 - It truly is so impressive to see how fast and loud those cars are. It is a lot of fun and I do recommend everyone going at least once. Its also a great place to people watch...with 300,000 people you see it all there.

Rylee having fun with Gramma and Grampa

Showing Grampa her toys

Hanging outside with Gramma

Uncle Ben making Rylee giggle

Uncle Brad and Briana Visit

A few weekends ago my brother Brad and his girlfriend Briana came down to visit us. They got here late Thursday night and stayed til Monday morning. It was so nice to have them down for a long weekend. We don't get to hang out with just them very often so it was a lot of fun to be able to spend this time with them. Friday night we went to the Indianapolis Indians baseball game. It was Rylee's first baseball game. I was a little worried because it didn't start til 7:15 and I knew it would be a late night but she was great! We sat on the hill behind the outfield and brought our own subs and food to eat. It worked out good sitting on the hill because then Rylee could crawl around on the blanket and not have to be confined to sitting on our laps in the real seats. I don't think she would have made it sitting that whole time. After the game there were fireworks that they lit off from down on the infield. Rylee was still up for them and she stared at them in awe. She didn't smile or cry, just stared and sat as still as can be for the whole thing. We've never seen her sit still and be quiet for that long. We didn't end up leaving the ball field til 10:30. Needless to say Rylee was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

Walking to Rylee's first baseball game, she was so excited!

Rylee watching the game with Uncle Brad and Auntie Briana

We had to take a family pic too. I don't think she was thrilled to be wearing this hat in this picture, she only wore it for a few minutes and then it was off the rest of the time.

Once the sun went down it got a little chillier so we had to put our jackets on and bundle up in the blankets. I love night games. Being at a ball park with the lights on is such a neat atmosphere.

The rest of the weekend we just hung out, did some shopping, ate lots of good food, had a bonfire, and Briana and I even snuck away and went got pedicures together.

Having fun with Uncle Brad

She had lots of bonding time with Uncle Brad

Her first bonfire. She was only up for a few minutes and then it was time for bed so us adults could enjoy our bonfire with drinks and smores.

9 Months - A Month of Milestones

Standing up like a big girl!

It's so nice to spend time outside finally!

Yeah!!!

Checking out her shadow

Looking for the ducks in the pond. Her hair is getting a little longer but mostly just thicker and lighter.

She is so afraid of the grass (as you can see by her facial expression). She hates the feeling of the grass on her legs and feet.

Month 8 to 9 was a month full of milestones. She mastered her army crawling and even started to do the "real" crawl every once in a while. She goes all over the place now. I'll put her down in the living room with her toys and then I'll go into the kitchen and she'll follow me out there. We've got to be careful now!

Army crawling

My two front teeth!

Rylee's first tooth came through on May 2nd. It was her front, bottom right one. Then within the week her other front bottom tooth came in. She was a little fussy during, not during the day, but she'd wake up every once in awhile at night. She never got a fever from it but her nose constantly ran. We also started a lot more foods with Rylee over the past month. She still loves her puffs and will eat those whenever and wherever. But we also started the chicken, turkey, beef, and mac & cheese baby foods. I think we've almost tried all of the stage 2 gerber foods now and she loves them all. Everyonce in a while she gets something from mom and dad's plate too. She's really good at picking food up now and feeding herself.

Here she is with a Biter Biscuit. It was a lot of fun for her but pretty darn messy. It was all over her face, hair, tray, and hands. Its definitely bath time after biscuits.

What a cute messy face!

Rylee also started pulling herself up on furniture this month. These crib pictures are from the last day before we lowered her crib down all the way. She can still pull herself up, but now she can just barely peek over the crib rather than standing all the way up and looking like she is going to climb right out.

Pulling herself up...

...and she's up and smiling.

Rylee had her 9 month appointment on May 9th. It was just a wellness visit, but no shots this time (yeah). Unfortunately we found out she had another ear infection. We didn't even know. With her teeth coming in we just assumed all of her ear infection signs were just because of her teeth coming in...poor girl. This puts her at 6 which means our doctor referred us to the ENT doctor for tubes. She is scheduled for June 5th to get her tubes put in. It's a quick 10 minute procedure but we still wish she didn't have to have it. We've talked to other parents who's childeren have had tubes put in and they all say it's the best thing to do. We don't want her to keep getting more ear infections and then constantly being on antibiotics, so we kind of feel its our only option. Other than that, her doctor said she looks great! She is slowing down in weight gain but it's because she is SO active. She's dropped down to the 30th percentile in weight. She's tall and skinny now. Here's her measurements:

Weight: 17 lbs. 9 ozs. (30th percentile)

Height: 28.5 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 45 cms. (75th percentile)

Another Shower for Auntie Nessa

On Friday after work we headed to lower Michigan. Alex's mom was throwing a baby shower for Vanessa Saturday afternoon at their house in Dearborn. Friday night we went to Jaclynn and Jason's house and spent the night there. We didn't get there til about 9:30 but Rylee had slept from 7 til we pulled into their driveway, so she was up for awhile then. Maddy was still up too so they got to play for an hour or so. Maddy saw us pull in and she started yelling Rylee's name, it was so cute to see how excited she got to see us (or should I say Rylee). They had fun once again. Jac and Jason had some other friends there too so we all stayed up til about 1:30 playing games. It was fun but 6:30 a.m. came pretty quick.

Maddy teaching Rylee how to sing into the microphone

Starting to get tired...way past their bedtime

Maddy giving goodnight hugs and kisses

Saturday morning we headed to Dearborn for the shower. We had a beautiful day! The shower was outside and the guys all went golfing during the shower, so we were lucky it was so nice, especially since the next day it rained all day. It was so great to see Vanessa again! It's crazy to think that the next time I see her it will be for the birth of her baby boy! I can't believe she is only a month away! Wow time flies.

Again, she got some wonderful gifts!

Pretty girls!

I tried to keep the sun out of her eyes but she didn't keep her hat on very long, it looked cute for the little time that she did have it on.

Alex's niece Kayleigh is only 11 days younger than Rylee. It was fun to watch them interact with each other. They're going to have fun playing together this football season.

Obviously something else was more interesting than looking at my camera

Rylee, happy to be hanging out with Auntie Ness

Rylee was having so much fun and being so nosy that she only slept for a half an hour the whole day. Luckily, she was still in a good mood, for the most part. We left for home around 8:00 that night. I don't even think we were out of the neighborhood and she was sleeping already. She slept the whole way home (which made the drive home a piece of cake) and then til 7 the next morning. I guess all the commotion really wore her out. So another good trip and baby shower. I am so glad that we went! Now next time we see them baby cuz will be here! I am so excited to be an auntie!

Happy Mother's Day!

I enjoyed my first Mother's day yesterday! Brad and Rylee let me sleep in and then made breakfast for me in bed and got me some flowers too. Then we went to church where I kind of got a little emotional. At the end of church they made all the moms stand up and said a prayer for us and then everyone clapped. I was standing up holding Rylee and I was so proud, it was special. Being a mom is truly the best gift I could ever ask for and I am so thankful!

We want to wish our moms, grandma's, sister, aunts, cousins, and friends a happy mother's (and mother's to be) day! I especially want to thank my mom for not only being the best mom a girl could ask for but also a best friend. I hope someday Rylee will look up to me the way I look up to you. Thanks mom, Love ya!

Happy 1st Birthday Beau!

Sunday afternoon we went to Beau's 1st Birthday party. I can't believe he is one already! It went by fast. We had a great time at the party. It was nice to see Ryan, Abby, and Beau and their families. Rylee had fun too. There were lots of new toys for her to play with and she also had fun following Beau around by army crawling everywhere.

Birthday Boy

These 2 were on the move the whole time but I got them both to sit for one second, enough time to take a quick picture and then they were both off again.

Beau giving Rylee kisses

Look at that mouth! I fed Rylee in the car on the way home because she missed her dinner but apparently she had wore herself out with all that crawling and playing. It was so cute, I was feeding her and she ate about half of the jar and then just closed her eyes and went right to sleep. I'd never seen her do that before in the middle of eating.

Rylee and I Fly to Marquette

I am so far behind in my posts, sorry I've been such a slacker. About 3 weeks ago Rylee and I flew home for a quick fun filled weekend. It was her first time flying and she did great! She was too nosy to sleep on the flight from Indy to Detroit but she did sleep from Detroit to Indy. I was worried about her ears but the pressure didn't seem to bother her at all. Yeah! We had a lot going on at home that weekend. We had Vanessa's baby shower Saturday afternoon, the NMU spring game Saturday evening, and the NMU football banquet Sunday. We flew in Friday afternoon and left Sunday after the banquet so it was a quick trip, but we got to see a lot of people, and packed a lot in for one weekend.

The mama-to-be

Rylee with her Auntie Nessa (Rylee just woke up from her nap and she looks like she is still sleeping in this pic, but it's cute anyway)

My mom and I threw the shower for Ness at my parents house

She got lots of great gifts from family and friends

Rylee playing with her cousin Grady and friend Brogan

I forgot to bring my camera to the game so I didn't get any pictures at the dome. But we did get some pictures at the banquet on Sunday. It was a great banquet! With Brad being a senior it was especially hard on my family this year. My dad and brother both pretty much had the whole place in tears when they were doing their speeches but also got the crowd to laugh too. My dad and Brad are both very good speakers and did a great job. It was so special that Brad got to play for my dad! It is going to be so different without him out there. We are really going to miss watching him. Congrats Brad on a great career, we are all really proud of you.

Brad with his senior gift that my dad and Coach Wender made for all the seniors

Our fam (Bailey was at a friends house)

Rylee smiling big with her Uncle Brad

Like I said, it was a great weekend and I am really glad that Rylee and I were able to make it home for it all. Unfortunately Rylee did end up getting sick over the weekend. By Sunday night she had a fever and was just not feeling good. I was really worried about the flight back but she just cuddled with me and slept the entire time. Then Monday we took her into the Dr.'s and found out she had another ear infection. That was number 5. I felt so bad for her. She was such a trooper the whole weekend though and was good for the shower, football game, and banquet.

Kreider's and Pudelko's visit

Two weekends ago we had our good friends from college, the Kreider's and Pudelko's come and visit. It was so great to see them! The six of us (now 8) use to get together every few months but it had been about a year since we've all gotten together, so it was well overdue. We had a lot of fun! They all got in Friday night (Krieder's from Howell, MI and Pudelko's from Milwaukee, WI) and left Sunday late morning. So it was a quick trip but it was so nice to all be together! The girls had fun playing together too. Maddy just loves Rylee! Maddy is talking more now since the last time we saw her and it is so cute to hear her say baby Rylee all the time. Rylee gets entertained by watching Maddy too. Those two are going to be such good buds growing up together! I meant to take some group pictures and it never happened. The time just flew by and before you knew it they were all leaving. I did manage to take some pictures of the girls though.

The girls hanging out together on the floor

Maddy telling Rylee a secret

Maddy attempting to hold Rylee

Like I said "attempting" to hold her

Rylee tackling Maddy

The girls playing ring around the rosy

I don't think you'll fit under there Maddy, but you can try

Big hugs for Brad

Annie playing with Rylee

Thanks for coming down guys...we'll have to get our next get together on the calendar for sometime soon.