Merry Christmas

Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas! 

our tree- xmas 2011

So, I have been slacking a little this year.  I didn't get any Christmas cards sent out!!  I had envisioned that I would take Ryah's pictures this year, with her sitting next to the tree- well, this is the best picture I got (I am not kidding either).  She was not happy about the idea I had.  Thankfully grandma Kathy was able to get some adorable ones taken professionally.  I was very tempted to send out this photo on our cards!

Merry Christmas from Ryah!

Even though you can't tell by the photo- Ryah actually did make it on the "good" list this year.  We are so excited to watch her open her presents this year!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  Cheers!

Photos

I LOVE ROCKBROOK CAMERA!  As you may have read from my previous post, my SD card somehow became corrupted, and I thought I lost all my pictures stored on that card.  Thanks to the COT girls and their suggestion of bringing the card to Rockbrook Camera to see if they could get the images off of the card, they successfully retrieved most of my photos- I am missing a few, but some is better than none!

So, here are some recent pictures of Ryah

Getting ready for church

 reading her mickey mouse book

any shoes she finds, she has to try on

being a goof ball

cousins: Rylee and Ryah 

helping daddy install the new faucet (thanks Aaron for the cute pic)

Look at that belly!

Who says Ryah is too young for Mardi Gras?

Sitting in her baby's highchair with all her Mardi Gras beads on (thanks for the cute pictures Alisa)

16 months

I wish I had more pictures of this little sassy girl- but something happened to our memory card, so I am unable to get any pictures off of it!

Ryah at 16 months:

- Puts her shoes on and takes them off... did I mention she is OBSESSED with shoes?  ha ha ha

- Says a few words:  ma- mom

                                da- dad

                                bye (in a southern twang)- bye

                                ball- ball

                                tiss- kiss

- Feeds herself with a spoon and fork... thinks she is a big girl

- Should still take 2 naps a day... if she doesn't... Watch out!

-  She is really starting to become independent and wanting to do things by herself (I don't know if I am ready for this)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We traveled up to MN for the weekend and had a fabulous time with my family!  My mom and dad spoiled us, so we were able to relax all weekend long.  

Kitchen Project

Well, this past couple of weeks has been very busy around the Goolsby household.  I decided that it was time for my kitchen cabinets to have a face lift.  I had been debating for some time now as to what I wanted to do with them.  The cabinets are in great shape, I just was unhappy with the color.  I thought about resurfacing, but that was still going to run around $3,000.00... which, I really didn't feel like spending.  So, after some research, I found another woman's blog.  She had almost the same cabinets that I do and she had painted her cabinets... BLACK.  I immediately made the decision to copy her.  I wasn't sure how I was going to break the news to Matt, since he didn't want to do anything with the cabinets in the first place.  I decided the best approach would be to show Matt the lady's website and all her before and after pictures, so he could see the final product, and wouldn't think that I had completely lost my mind.  Long story short- my approach kind of worked, and after a few discussions on how "I was going to take care of everything" and "this is my winter project", I had the cabinet doors down and ready to be painted.  Thank goodness the lady had step-by-step instructions on how she completed her project- which really helped me when I went to the hardware store to get all my supplies. 

Oh- as a side note: I set a goal of having this project completed in steps and to be done within 6 months, cause remember, this is MY project! It turns out, my husband thought I had lost my mind when I told him that, and does not approve of living in a "construction zone" for that long. So, my solution: help me so I can get this done faster--- ha ha... he fell for it! The two of us have been sanding, priming, painting, painting, and painting the cabinet doors, the trim, and the cabinet frames. It has been a long process, but we are starting to see the results.

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

So, we aren't 100% done, but I was too excited not to post these picutres.  We still have to complete the trim work on top of the cabinets and figure out a light for above the sink, and a few other touch ups on the paint.  But overall, what do you think?  I have to say Matt and I LOVE IT!!!!  (Although Matt hates to admit it, since he didn't want to do this in the first place).

Trick-or-Treat 2011

Even though Ryah is still too little to understand the meaning of Halloween, I decided that it was still a good idea to take her trick-or-treating (maybe so I could eat her goodies).  Kathy had found the perfect costume when she was on vacation this year.  Since Ryah LOVES dogs, it worked out great.  Surprisingly Ryah loved her costume and kept it on most of the night. 

woof woof

I was trying so hard to get a picture of Ryah sitting with her pumpkins- this is the best we could get.

10 min break before the big adventure

walking to the neighbors

After hitting up the neighborhood, we went to visit Aunt Moe and Uncle Dan, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Franny, and Grandma and Grandpa Goolsby.  Ryah was so spoiled with treats and Halloween presents.  She even got a Halloween gift box in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen.  It was filled with her favorite treats- puffs!  I wanted to take a picture at the end of the night with Ryah sitting around all of her candy- but she was so tired and ready for bed, so I will have to save that for next year. 

Daycare also had their Spook Walk again this year. I was able to get off work a little early, so that I could walk with the kids. It was fun to see all the little kiddos dressed up.



Ryah, Brielle, Eva, and Olivia



Holy buckets- I am behind, Ryah 15 months

Oh my goodness!  I have fallen so far behind in my blogging!!  So sorry to the weekly readers.  I have had an incredibly busy past couple of weeks, with Ryah, work and at home. 
Well, Ryah had her 15 month appt a couple weeks ago.  Dr. Andresen gave her a clean bill of health, and said mommy and daddy were doing a great job as well.  Her are her stats from her appt:
height: 32.2 inches   90th percentile
weight: 24lbs  60th percentile
head circum:  18 3/4in  90th percentile

At 15 months old Ryah:
-waves bye bye at everyone
-loves to give kisses
-loves to rock and cuddle her babies
-likes to go for walks up and down the neighborhood
-loves to watch Dancing with the Stars (I think dance classes may be in the future... yikes!)
-is OBSESSED with shoes! (she gets this from her daddy)
-likes to wear "pretties"... aka jewelry
-only gets her paci during the night (sometimes she will sneak it out of her crib)
-loves to look at pictures of herself.

Ryah is changing everyday.  She is such a goof ball and makes Matt and I so happy! 

Aunt Franny and Ryah

Having a little melt down

so cute!

Stay tuned for the Goolsby Kitchen Project!

New Found Love

So, since I have not been scrapbooking lately (cause it takes WAY to much time), I decided I need to find a new hobby.  I have been looking into doing some online scrapbooking.  I love the idea that these books take 1/2 the amount of time to create!  And, another added bonus, is that Ryah loves to look at them.  We make up little stories to go along with all the pictures.  I think Matt and I have made up over 100 stories for her obsession over these books. 
Well, to go along with the scrapbooking- I thought it would be fun to try some editing of pictures.  I always see pictures from other people that look absolutely fabulous and always wondered how to get my camera to take those type of pictures!  Well, come to find out- my camera can take those pictures... it's all about editing the photos!!! (duh, right?... ha ha)

Well here is a quick glimpse at a couple of pictures that I took yesterday of Ryah.  My mom had bought this outfit when Ryah was born.  It is so darn cute and I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to snap a few pictures of her wearing it.  I had a couple hours to goof around this morning before doing some work, so I attempted to edit a couple pictures.  I thought they turned out pretty good for my first try. 

Before

 After

 Before

 After



Pumpkin Patch~2011

Last evening was the annual daycare pumpkin patch trip.  The weather was gorgeous plus being a weeknight, made for a perfect evening at the patch.  Matt, Ryah, and I had some time before the daycare pot-luck started, so we visited some of the exhibits.  We fed the goats & llamas (which Ryah really didn't get too excited about), visited Storybook barn (which was cute for the kids), listened to the barnyard band (Ryah loved watching the stuffed animals play the instruments), and this year Ryah was able to experience her first pony ride! 
The potluck was great.  It is always nice to chat with the other parents, and good to see the ones that you don't get to see all the time.  All the kids were so well behaved. 

(notice the crying kid in the front row?  ha ha ha)

Family photo- Pumpkin Patch 2011

getting taller

this poor goat was so ugly!

daddy and Ryah

Playing on the hay bales

Where is Cinderella?

Not the best picture, but the only one that turned out-  Ryah was not thrilled at all of riding the pony.  She sat on him for about 30 seconds and then had a death grip on me. Thankfully we were able to end the ride early.  Maybe next year she will be more comfortable.

She liked this pony much better!

AND: Just for grins & giggles:  Here are a more pictures of Ryah that I took this past week:

Eating yogurt-  she prefers to use her hands and not the spoon.

notice the yogurt in her eyelashes?  hahaha

story time with daddy-  she is obsessed with the photo books that I have made

Ryah's new shopping cart (don't mind the mess on her shirt!)