St.Patty's Day

Our Little Leprechaun

It was a beautiful day here for St. Patty's day. It's not very often that it is 70 degrees for this Irish holiday but I'll take it. We didn't do much besides grill out and enjoy the nice weather. Rylee got this cute leprechaun hat from daycare and she loved wearing it so I had to take a few pictures of her.

I also took my 30 week belly shot. I had my 30 week appointment on Wednesday and it was a short and sweet visit. They said my glucose test from my 28 week appointment came back fine. I heard the heartbeat again and he took my measurements and said everything looks good. I go every 2 weeks now but they are pretty short appointments. I'm feeling fine. I can tell my extra weight is slowing me down a little now though. Getting up and down playing with Rylee is a little bit harder than it used to be. She keeps me going and is making this pregnancy seem like it is going by a lot faster than the first. Only 10 more weeks!

Happy 30th Birthday Brad!

Brad turned the big 30 on Friday the 13th! We thought about having a big party but his parents came down for the weekend so we decided not to have a 30th bash. We had not seen them since Rylee's birthday so we thought it would be nice to spend the whole weekend with them. Brad took the day off of work on Friday and him and his dad went to the Big 10 tournament games. His dad hadn't been to a college basketball game since the 60's so I think he really enjoyed himself. Friday night we went out to dinner and Brad's brother Bryan and his girlfriend Katie also joined us. It was great to have everyone together for his birthday. Then we came back to the house and had ice cream cake. I made Brad his favorite pistachio ice cream dessert. It was pretty yummy. For his birthday present I got him a ticket for the Final Four in Detroit. He's going with our friend Jason, and Rylee and I will hang out with Jac, Maddy, and baby Kreider. We are really looking forward to that weekend! My mom and dad also got him a pretty cool gift - 30 things (glasses, pitcher, shaker, ice bucket, etc.) for his new bar in the basement. I am sure we'll get a lot of use out of that gift. Saturday morning Brad and his dad started the fireplace and then we got some shopping done for the basement, while Spindler's babysat Rylee. It was a lot easier shopping at Menards without chasing a little one. Spindler's left really early Sunday morning so we just had a relaxing day around the house. It was beautiful out so Rylee and I were outside a lot while Brad finished up the stone fireplace (which looks awesome). Sunday night we had a birthday dinner with some of our neighbors and Mindi made a delicious chocolate cake cheesecake for him. So overall I think Brad enjoyed his birthday weekend. It's hard to believe he is 30...he's getting old (although I guess I am not that far behind him). Time sure does fly! I remember meeting him when I was 17 and he was 18. I had a little crush on him which little did I know would turn into a lot more than a crush. 12 years later and we've been married for 5.5 years, expecting our second daughter, and wouldn't have it in any other way. Happy Birthday Brad, we love you!

Look at that huge cheesy grin for her daddy on his birthday.

Oh, and thanks to Bryan for taking all of these pictures. I had lost my camera for a week and a half (I found it today in the garage of all places) so I couldn't take any pictures this weekend but luckily Uncle Bryan pulled through for us.

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring...

...at least for a few days anyways. It was so beautiful here this weekend! It actually hit 70 on Saturday afternoon. It felt great to get outside and get some fresh air. Rylee loved spending time outside. She did not want to come in. We ran around and played in the yard, played with the cozy coupe, went for a walk, cleaned both of our cars as Rylee tried to help (or just climb around in them), and went to the park. It was fun and gave us big time spring fever. Too bad the weather is supposed to be more winterlike by the end of the week. At least we know spring is just around the corner.

Rylee running through our yard, so excited to be outside (and not be all bundled up).

Playing with Grace's cozy coupe. Grace was out of town so we played with it all weekend. Rylee doesn't have one but I think we'll have to get one for her. All little kids seem to love those cars.

Cruising in the police coupe.

It looks like she enjoys being in the drivers seat, good thing it'll be awhile before she can reach those pedals.

Honk, honk!

After cleaning our cars we decided to take her to the park. There is a nice park across the big soccer field from us. I swear Rylee ran most of the way there. Check out her running form, looks like she is born to run.

Rylee LOVES slides, as you can see by the following pictures. She would go down a slide and get to the bottom and instantly say "more". This park has about 10 different slides so she was in her glory. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time here once the weather is nice.

Basement Update

Brad has been working hard on our basement. He did all of the framing and electrical work himself. Then he hired a crew to come in and install the drywall. Here's a few pics from before the drywall.

He built a built-in entertainment center. The fireplace is on the right and that is going to be all stone.

Working on the playroom for the girls.

The handy-man

Last weekend my parents came down. They got here Friday morning and stayed til Tuesday morning. It was so GREAT to see them again. We missed them a lot! Rylee was so excited to play with Gramma and Grampa. It wasn't all play though that is for sure. They worked so hard on our basement and got so much done! My mom and dad painted the entire basement (2 coats). Brad was very happy to have that done cause he doesn't like to paint and with me being pregnant I wasn't a lot of help either. My dad and Brad also painted and installed the wainscoting in the playroom, painted all of the trim and baseboards, installed most of the trim and baseboards, installed all of the doors, finished the trim on the entertainment center, tiled the bar and bathroom floors, and installed our butler's pantry cabinets. By the time they left it looked like a completely different basement. We are so thankful for their help! Brad said the amount of work they got done in those 4 days saved him about 5 weekends of working alone. Thanks mom and dad!

My mom painting the playroom

The girls playroom all painted with wainscoting and trim up. (it's all the same color tan but this picture with the flash made it look different)

My dad working on trimming out the entertainment center.

Hard at work. My mom did all the ceilings and trim in the entire basement and they both rolled.

Brad and our friend Jason installing the tile in the bathroom and bar area.

My dad finishing up the cabinets.

We love the way the cabinets and tile look! The cabinets are cherry with a chocolate stain. The accent wall you see is going to be a picture wall and it is a rustic orange color. We are very happy with the way the 2 paint colors look. Sometimes paint is hard to pick out and once its up it looks totally different than what you thought, not the case this time though.

I was bad with picture taking and didn't get any pictures of Rylee with Gramma and Grampa. She sure did have fun with them and I wish I would have gotten some of them playing with her. She loves to tackle Grampa and rough house with him on the floor. When he is sitting on the floor he runs and jumps on him and says "tattle" (tackle). She has never said that word before this weekend but she says it a lot now. It's really cute. My mom, Rylee, and I also got a lot of shopping done (imagine that). We always have so much fun browsing the mall, especially the home stores, together. So thanks again mom and dad for coming down to visit. I know the long trip, especially in terrible weather like you had, is not fun but we really appreciate it. I am not sure our basement would have a chance of being done before this baby comes without all of your help!

18 Months Old

18 Months

Rylee had her 18 month Dr.'s appt. last week. She had her last shot for awhile, yeah! She really doesn't like doctors/dentist offices. As soon as Dr. Slaven walked in she clung to me and started wining and the doctor hadn't even done anything yet. I don't blame her though, who likes shots, x-rays, heel pricks, etc. She has another dentist appointment in a few weeks to take more x-rays of her upper mouth. I'm already dreading that but hoping for good news. Rylee's stats really haven't changed much in the last few months. The doctor thinks her height was measured wrong last time because she only grew 1/4 in. this time but yet she has grown out of some of her pants in the length, so we thought she grew more. They lay her down to meausure her so it is hard to get an exact measurement. But her trend of being tall, skinny, and having a big head (full of brains of course) continues.

18 Month Stats

Height: 32.5 in. (70th percentile)

Weight: 21 lbs 11 oz's (15th percentile)

Head: 48 cm (90th percentile)

She is getting her i-teeth. One on the bottom and one on the top have popped through but just a very little bit. We're still waiting for the others to pop through. It seems like it is taking forever for these 4 teeth to come in. We have had a lot of days with runny noses.

Runny nose and kleenex in hand, but still cute.

Her vocabulary is improving a little each day. She still talks a lot in her own language but we are trying to get her to use her words more. Here's a list of some of her new words that she says. Most of these words we have to tell her to say and then she repeats it but sometimes she uses them on her own.

-yeah (not yes, its' yeah)

-more

-up

-down

-please

-thank you

-love you (its really cute, it sounds like "au jus" like the french dip sandwich)

-baby

-oww (when she hurts herself, or barely bumps into something)

Rylee is a busy little girl right now. Here's a list of her likes and dislikes.

Rylee loves:

-Coloring

-Running around with her stroller (she does laps around our first floor) She's usually not in high heeled shoes like she is in this picture but that brings me to her next "love"

-Shoes (especially her crocs, my slippers, and my high heels)

-Her baby dolls and stuffed animals (in the following 2 pictures she decided she wanted to play with all of them at once)

- Chilling in her chair (reading or just relaxing with her head up on her football pillow)



-Playing with her bowls and spoons from her kitchen and tea set (she is constantly feeding her babies and stuffed animals)
-Pretending to put on make-up like mom (she's got the Bare Minerals "swirl, tap, apply" method down pat)
-Cuddling with her blankie (she has to sleep with her blankie and she likes to chew on the corners)
-To sit on people's laps and have them read to her
-Feeding herself applesauce, pudding, ice cream or anything else that requires a bowl and spoon

Rylee does not like:
- Mom or dad to brush her teeth (she wants to do it herself - I think she is still traumatized from her fall when we basically pinned her down for a few weeks to wash her gums and teeth)
- Mom to do her hair (I would love to put barrettes, headbands, or pigtails in but she doesn't let me touch it or if she does she takes it out right away)
-Transition (sometimes she doesn't like to get ready in the morning to go to daycare but then sometimes she doesn't like me to get her ready to leave daycare either)
-Doctors offices

A few days ago I found out a childhood friend of mine is in the hospital. She is pregnant and due a few days ahead of me which puts her at around 26.5 weeks. This past weekend she found out she has preeclamplsia and is now on bedrest at the hospital. They are constantly monitoring hers and her baby girl's levels and making sure the numbers stay steady. If the numbers stay steady it gives the baby another day to grow. I've added her blog "Baby Jenson" to my friend list if you would like to follow their progress.
On Monday I also found out that my good friend Jaclynn was in the hospital. She is 34 weeks pregnant and had the flu over the weekend. She was dehydrated and having contractions so they sent her to the hospital on Monday and kept her overnight. She is home now, feeling better, but on bedrest.
It's scary to think that one day things seem to be going fine with your pregnancy and then not so much the next day. I know sometimes it seems like 40 weeks is a long time but it just makes you realize that everyday is so important and not to take it for granted. I ask that you please keep my friends and their baby girl's in your prayers.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a pretty low key Valentine's Day. Brad got Rylee, baby sister, and myself each a rose. Rylee ended up taking hers out and breaking the stem but that's ok, she enjoyed it. Saturday afternoon we took Rylee to Lowe's and a brick/stone store to attempt to pick out stuff for our basement. We picked out our counter top for the bar/pantry and stone for our fireplace but it was hard with a toddler who wanted to run around and get into everything besides what we were looking at. Then Ryan, Abby, and Beau came over that evening. The guys made us dinner and it was even complete with cake for dessert (which really hit the spot, especially for 2 prego's). Brad and I actually have a babysitter (Miss Jaime) for next Saturday evening. We have a gift certificate from Brad's boss for a fancy restaurant that we are finally going to get to use. Brad also got me a prenatal massage appointment for next Saturday. Needless to say I am really looking forward to next Saturday!

25.5 weeks (can't forget that half week, everyday counts)

I haven't taken any belly shots in awhile so I thought I should take one. As you can see I have gotten so much bigger since my 20 week picture. I really had a growth spurt (that's a nice way of saying I am getting huge). I feel like I am about a month ahead of where I was at this point with Rylee. Oh well, I'm not going to worry about it. It's my second so I am expected to get bigger a lot quicker, right? I had a Dr.'s appointment last Wednesday and the doc said everything looks good. It was a quick and easy appointment. The next one is my long glucose testing appointment. I am feeling really good and sleeping through the night (which I am very thankful for). I feel her moving all the time and she seems to be a very active little one. We are still undecided on a name for this baby girl. We do have it narrowed down to our top 3 but are having a hard time deciding. We loved Rylee Dawn and just knew that was the right name. I am hoping that over the next few weeks one of the names will just feel right. That's about it for the pregnancy update =)