Favorite Moments

Since my last blog, I've been thinking about all of my favorite moments that i want to share with the world. Okay, not THE WORLD, the maybe 20 people who might read this... And for my records of course! So while the kids are sleeping, and my pie is in the oven, I'll jot them down! DO NOT read that wrong - I have a PIE in the oven.... not a bun!! (In fact, after having babies in 2009 and 2010, my new year's resolution for 2011 was to NOT have a baby this year!)
With a toddler, every day is an adventure to say the least, but here are some moments worth witing down.

-Right after Ryder was born, Rylee walked up to him and showed him "eyes, ears" Then she grabbed his nose and said "honk, honk!"

- Rob rough-housing with Rylee one night and he would fake cry. She would say "uh-oh daddy! Are you otay?" Then once he cried for a long time and she finally said "oh no! You need a paci!" (smart girl - at our house, when you cry, you get a paci!)

- Me: "ROAR!" .... Rylee"That's a lion! ROAR!" ...Ryder :"ahhhhhhhh" (even at 2 months he wanted to join in on the fun!)

- Rob gave Rylee sugars one night and she told him, "That was sweet!!" (We are always encouraging her when she is sweet to Ryder)

- After watching daddy do this for months, Rylee picked up her sippy cup one night and said "gulp, gulp, gulp..... BURP!!"

- Rob rocking Rylee to sleep one night and she was playing with her milk and some got in her eyes. She looked at me and said "owwie mommy" I said "what happened?" she said "I broke my eyes". ...a few seconds later, Rob said "sing your bedtime song" (a little song he sings her every night) She started singing a little song not even close to what he sings her. He said "Rylee did you just make that up?" SHe responds " haha. yea!!"

- Even though Rylee has had many little catch phrases for quite a while, some days it still seems so bizarre, that she is just a tiny little person with her own (very BIG) personality! Here's my favorite phrases

• Oh no!


• I don't even know!


• Oh Gosh!


• What did you do?


• Otay


• Okie Dokie


• Come on! Let's go!


• Yeah! (Her answer to everything!)


• SHe also always says "Please" and she can say "help" "hold me" and "Sorry". She is very polite! She ran into a pole one day at big daddy's house and told the pole "sorry" or actually "soddy" THen one of his dogs sneezed and she told him "bless you!"

- Lately she has been telling me "Sit in my lap, mommy!"

- Ryder stealing Rylee's toys and her telling him "no no Ryder... give it!!" Poor little guy just wants to be close to her and it gets on her nerves! It's funny to watch but also breaks my heart a little for him - because I feel his pain- I'm the youngest!

I gotta say, staying home with these babies is the best thing in the world. It's all I've eve wanted to do, ever! Since I was 5, people asked me what I wanted to be when I "grew up" and i said "a stay at home mom!" My dreams came true and I am so thankful. Very few people get to live their dream. I do - awesome godly husband (and quite the looker), and 2 perfect healthy kids. I'm not gonna lie - my house is messy ALL the time. It's a HUGE financial strain. I'm constantly exhausted and little crazy. But I love it and can't be anything but grateful! On that note, I gotta close with the chorus to a song by an extremely talented and famous musician (you may have heard of him - Rob Dubois)

"I wouldn't change a thing. I love the life we live. We ain't got it all, we ain't problem-free, but there's always you and me. And so I wouldn't a thing!!

(sorry no pics this time, it takes too long and I've got precious-little time before nap-time is over!)

10 months and another kid later.....

So yah - It's Sunday afternoon and everybody is napping. I didn't feel like napping, so I randomly decided to get back on the ol' blog. It has been a little over 10 months since I last blogged!! That's sad. Although, I'm sure it won't be the longest I ever go without!

What can I say? How can you possibly catch up on 10 months of a child's life? And 5 months of another? I guess I'll start there! On December 14, we welcomed our precious Ryder Caleb into the world. He is perfect. And THE sweetest natured baby I've ever seen-so happy. I'm in love. I worried so much about how I could possibly love another baby as much as I love Rylee Grace. Ha! It's possible! My heart just overflows with love for these 2 pure and perfect babies. Ryder is becoming a big boy already (5 1/2 months). He is eating baby food now and already trying to crawl. He can pretty much scoot wherever he wants. Just this morning he started talking alot more and for the first time saying "tha tha tha tha......" I remember the 5 month time period with Rylee and how that's when it seemed like everything started to happen. I cried myself to sleep one night this week over how fast my babies are growing. It's so bitterweet, because every stage is so fun in it's own way, but I just want to freeze time.

Rylee Grace will be 2 in less than 2 months. She's a little person now. Here's an example. After her bath the other night I said "Rylee, are you cold?" She said "I'm freezing!" We have real conversations. The times when I can't understand her are getting fewer and further between. She is so incredibly smart and funny. And gorgeous- I am struck by her beauty. This age is awesome because she picks up on everything. I can teach her something one time and she remembers. I don't care what anybody says about "terrible twos" I think it's so fun. Then again she has yet to really "throw a tantrum". She seems to get over stuff super fast and hardly ever fusses or cries even when she gets hurt. I am so enjoying getting to teach her. We play little games and sing songs. It's a blast! We wear each other out every day!

She has adjusted amazingly well with Ryder. Don't get me wrong - We are SUPER busy and I'm crazy all the time, but truthfully, having 2 kids is easier than I anticipated. Lately though, we have had to remind Rylee alot that she isn't Ryder's boss. She loves to tell him "no". It's hard not to laugh sometimes. She'll definitely want to boss him around. But I've got a feeling he will hold his own. He is already so tough - typical boy.

My brain is going crazy thinking of all that's happened in the last year. I will have to post more later - I could do this all afternoon. But for now, here's some favorite pics.

sibling love!!

he loves being upside down! so funny!

melt my heart!!

Rylee's first Easter egg hunt! (well technically her 2nd, they had one at school as couple of days before..)

LOVE!!

playing outside on a nice evening. Took so many pics and could never get Rylee to set her juice down!!

sweet happy girl

Ryder's first "swim" of the year. the water was too cold for him, so he just chilled!

Mine & Rylee's first swim! Bought a little inflatable pool that has already been worth every penny!

I love this! "Busted - I was supposed t be playing wioth my car and I got caught with the magnets!"

Lots of Catchin Up!

Oh my goodness - it has been 2.5 months since I've blogged - that's redunkulous! SOOO much has happened. I'm gonna break it up into like 3 posts - just for easier reading. Your welcome (lol just kidding...)

So I just read over the last blog and saw that at that time Rylee only had 4 teeth - well now she has 9!! She even has one of her big chompers in the back! That big one gave her greif! She looks like such a big girl with a mouth full of teeth! And she was biting really bad, but it has gotten a ton better, now she only bites every now and then. I had to start thumping her on the cheek and telling her "no biting". I hated having to do that at first and then looked in the mirror one day and saw like 9 bruises on my arms from her teeth, so then it got a little easier....

She still isn't walking yet, but it getting closer! June 29th she started standing up without holding on to anything. She is really strong. But she will usually only do that when she is distracted by a toy because once she realizes that she is standing, she gets scared and sits down. Rob wants her to walk and is always trying to get her to take steps, but she doesn't want to. However, she LOVES walking with your fingers, so we do that ALOT. Lets just say, it's gonna be good for momma's back when Rylee starts walking on her own!

We've been swimming quite a bit this summer which has been really fun! And it became blatantly obvious that Rylee inherited Rob's skin (Thank you Jesus!) She is so tan - like 4 shades darker than me... haha! About a month ago we were swimming with out MOPS friends and she got stung by a bee! Poor baby! I was holding her and didn't see it at all, until she screamed. It was so sad - but she is really tough, only cried for a little bit. And it just left a tiny mark. What are the chances - I've never in 26 years been stung by a bee and my baby girl gets stung - unfair! She also got her first sunburn, which I felt horrible about. I am usually pretty cautious about sunscreen but we were with some friends at a ranch rodeo under a canopy all day and everybody got burned! Never would have imagined you could get sunburned under a camopy... But like I said, she has Rob's skin so she recovered fast. We've also been hanging out alot with Valerie and Caden, Rylee's brithday buddy! They are so much fun to watch together! I can tell they will be BFF's!! Here's a few of my favorite pics from lately. I will now move on to the 4th of July and birthday blog posts... :)

The only thing cuter than a baby in a cowboy hat is a baby in her daddy's hat!

Love this face!!

Sometimes while I cook, Rylee sits in her high chair and talks to me. I forgot to shut the fridge one day and turn around to find her digging out all of our salad dressings and marinades. I had to crack up!

With one of our very best friends, "Aunt Joey"!

Baby & Mommy

How cute is she in her swim suit and shades? I'm talking about Rylee of course!

Swimming at Caden's house!!

Her first Dr. Pepper! No it's not really opened....

That just never gets old!

Well, as I predicted, I haven't been as faithful to the keeping of this blog as I had hoped... However, we have had ALOT going on. In the past two weeks, Rylee became a big girl. I don't know how it happened, but she did. As I said in my previous post, she got her third tooth on the day of her dedication, and then got the fourth about a week and a half after. She already looks so different. And she has already broken skin on my handing biting me!! Those tiny little teeth can do some damage!
SHE STARTED CRAWLING!!! We were so excited... at first... The first day she only did it twice, and only for a short bit. Then next day she got better but was still doing her scooting thing. By the third day she was getting good and by the fifth day it was dangerous for me to go to the bathroom because I didn't know what she was gonna get into!!! yikes! Hence while we were excited at first. Now she will crawl across the floor really fast, then stop, sit up , and clap for herself. It is so cute! Also, she is pulling up on everything she can get her hands on. She is so brave too - she will be walking in no time. She can walk all along the fire place bricks (fire pokers are gone!) and then to the rocking chair, etc. In fact, we noticed the other day on the tv that the bottom half was all clean/fingerprinted, and the top half was all dusty! haha! Because she is so brave in trying to walk, she got her first bump on the noggin this week. It was SO SAD!! She got a bump immediately on her forehead, which was good. It didn't bruise as bad as we thought, so I was glad about that. I realize that she will get lots more bruises, especially while learning to walk, but it doens't make me feel any better about it. It still hurts my poor baby! Speaking to pulling up - she is always pulling up in her crib! So it is to the lowest setting now. She looks like a little prisoner behind bars when she is standing up. Used to she would roll around and maybe fuss a little but eventually fall asleep. Now, she sits up and then stands up, so it keeps her awake. So bedtime takes a little longer now, because I have to go in and lay her back down, sing to her a little, until she finally gives in and goes to sleep! I'm not that great at numbers, but I would guess that I've sang "Jesus Loves me" about 5 billion times to that little girl!
Rylee also learned to feed herself last week! We were giving her puff cereal and crackers and things, but couldn't get her to hold it and feed herself. Now she does great! I went out to eat with a friend yesterday and Rylee ate Saltine crackers while we ate! A huge blessing because even if she is full, she wants to eat if you are eating.
Rob recently left the pool business to work full time at our church, Top Hand Cowboy Church! So, he has gotten to spend alot more time with Rylee which is awesome! They have a blast together, and I'm always following close behind with the video camera. Of course, they usually catch me and stop playing - they both love giving me grief!
Rylee hasn't been sleeping that great this week, but our AC was acting funky so I'm attributing it to that. We got it fixed yesterday and she slept fine - praise the LORD!! She is our little hot-natured girl. I used to check her temp all the time because she would feel so hot, but I finally realized that she is just genuinely hot-natured.
Okay - she is up from a nap, so I will have to post pics later.

Dedication and more!

Well, ALOT has happened the past 2 weeks! Namely, we dedicated Rylee at church yesterday! It was so special. Both of our families got to be there. Pastor Greg explained the dedication to the church (since we have only done 1 other one in Top Hand's history!) Then he read scriptures over Rylee. Then my dad got up and gave a "charge" to Top Hand to pray for us and Rylee and hold me & Rob accountable and support us. Then Rob sang a song for Rylee that he wrote. It was the most beautiful song ever. Rob wrote me a song when we were dating, which is obviously extremely special. But hearing the man I love sing those words over our precious angel was even more special. ....And I'm crying again! It was a big day - I had been thinking on it all week, and I had heard the song once before, but it was still pretty emotional. It was a struggle between enjoying this special moment and trying not to be sad about our baby growing up! Apart from the song, my favorite part was part of my dad's prayer - he said "God, we know that you are big enough for Rylee Grace Dubois!" Wow! What a comfort and awesome promise! I am so thankful that I can claim that over my child. Me and Rob are limited in our parenting, but our GOD is limitless!!! And that is why it is easy to dedicate her to HIM!!

After church we went with our families to eat which was a great time. Rylee must have known it was her big day because she was hamming it up! She does this thing where she shakes her head and kinda dances - it is so cute!!! She was making everyone laugh!

Also, one of her top teeth broke through! Gigi was the first one to feel it! I kept thinking it would break through, but never acutally felt it. So far - Rylee got her first 2 teeth on Christmas and Papa (Rob's dad) was the first one to feel them! Third tooth on dedication day and Gigi felt it! I'm sensing a trend here...

Other milestones (which now seem very small):

*Rylee went from laying down to sitting up!

*Then she went from laying down to her knees, to pulling up! yikes!

*When she is standing now, she will let go - which is scary because she can't stand on her own yet! But she is very brave!

*She started making clicking noises with her mouth, which kinda sounds like dolphin noises to me.

*She STILL hasn't crawled. She is so close!! We even got a new rug to help her out!

* This one is silly but she sat in a high chair at a restaurant like a big girl! We usually try to leave her in the car seat or hold her. But she did great in her chair and she was happy because she could see everything.

The other night we went to eat and afterwards, Rylee and daddy played air hockey on the table with one of her pacifiers. She has one that is flat on the back so it slides really good. I was holding Rylee and Rob just slid it across the table to her. She thought it was funny so she started playing! He would slide it to her and she would catch it! I am amazed by her coordination and motor skills! She's gonna be an athlete!

I have a video of the dedication, and have been trying to post part of it, but can't figure it out.... I will try again later. It has been a great two weeks for us. This precious girl has made our lives so rich! Thank you Jesus!

My dad didn't get to be in this picture because he had to go preach. :( But he got pics with Rylee later!

Easter

Well, Rylee's first Easter was a blast! On the way to church I was telling Rylee the Easter story, even though she didn't understand, I felt it was really important to talk about anyway. So I start crying telling her about the Resurrection and look back and she is asleep! I had to laugh - guess I need to work on my story-telling skills! We had a great service at church, where Rylee looked ADORABLE in her dress (notice the necklace)! Then we had lunch and an Easter egg "hunt" with my parents. We put Rylee down on a blanket with eggs all around and made her crawl to them. She did really good!! She banged eggs together and cracked them open! She ALMOST crawled, she rocked back and forth a lot - it is so funny! I, of course, forgot the video camera, but we got it on our phones, so when I figure out how to upload that, I will. Not only did I forget the video camera, my SD card on my camera filled up in the middle of all the action. Go figure.

After we left my parents, we came home and daddy & Rylee took a long nap together, and then we all played outside! It was pretty much a perfect day! So, here are a few Easter pics! More to come...

Milestones!

A lot has happened this week! Let me go through the list...

-Rylee went from sitting to the crawling position.

-She is getting up on her knees really good, but still hasn't crawled. But she is scooting like an inch worm, where she sticks her butt in the air and then scoots forward. (Part of the reason I think she hasn't crawled is because we always have her on a blanket on the floor and she figured out how to pull the blanket to bring her toys to her! Smart or lazy??)

- She started trying to pull up!!

- While she was standing up holding on to one of her toys, she inched her way around it. So my guess is she will crawl really really soon and then walk really soon. yikes!!

- I had her in her jumper toy in the kitchen the other day while I was cooking and she figured out how to open the kitchen cabinets! Time to bust out the cabinet locks!!

- She has been "clapping" for a while now, but she never opened her hands up very good, so it didn't make the "clapping sound". Last night she made the "clapping sound" and was so proud of herself! It was funny! She looked at her hands and smiled and then looked at us as if to say, "Look what I just did!". So she clapped the rest of the night and even this morning! So cute and funny.

- I was feeding her last night and she was eating peas. Then I started giving her sweet potatoes and she licked her lips after every bite. It was so funny! She loves sweet potatoes! And lets face it - they taste WAY better than peas! :)

Also, I ate Mexican food with my best friend this week and we gave her a little queso on a peice of a tortilla and she loved it! Girl after her mother's heart!

We have gotten to the point where eating is pretty clean these days. We could feed her without a bib and it not be a total tragedy. But this it what it looks like after green beans. She does NOT like green beans!!