Breakfast with Santa

It's amazing how Santa is everywhere.  We had the pleasure of having breakfast with Santa in Springfield, for a fundraiser.  Ryah was excited that she was going to get another present from him.  Even though she wasn't as friendly with this Santa- she was still so adorable sitting on his lap.

Christmas Program

Look at this ADORABLE GIRL!

 

This picture was taken the night of Ryah's Daycare Christmas Program.  She had been practicing her songs for past two weeks and was excited to get to see Santa at the party.  Here are the pictures from the evening.

 

Singing Jingle Bells

What a joy to see all these kids dressed up and singing Christmas songs!  They all did a wonderful job.

 

Here comes Santa Claus...

 

So ready to sit on his lap

Telling him she wants a doll

 

She would not leave his side

 

 

AND... A KISS FOR THE ROAD...

 

(Matt and I were shocked she did this- she knows who to be nice too!)





Decorating the Christmas Tree

I was excited to get the Christmas Tree decorated this year, since Ryah is older and was excited to see all the lights on the tree.  Each year it is such a chore to dig out all the decorations, and then have to put them all away a month later- but making memories for Ryah, makes it worth every minute.

Matt, Ryah, and I all decorated the tree together.  I had a hard time not telling them where to put the decorations- Ryah was matching all the ornaments and putting them together on the tree, and Matt was decorating more of the back of the tree than the front, but the tree was still beautiful!

Ryah always gets to put the 1st ornament on the tree

Ryah's ornament from Ashley (from when she was a baby)

Family portrait

  Kisses!

Daycare Halloween Party

Well, I am back at blogging and am going to play a quick catch up...

This year the Daycare Halloween Party was held a few days after Halloween, since all the kids were sick on Halloween, and even though the party was delayed, all the kids enjoyed getting in their costumes again.  The kids did their "spook walk" again down to the neighbor's house.  She had saved some goodies for the kids- since she missed them on Halloween.  I thought that was so kind of her!    I was able to sneak out of work a little early to join Ryah at the party.  Missy and Rhonda always have a great party for the kids!

Ryah and Olivia enjoying cookies

 Ryah's cupcake we decorated

Happy Halloween!

Ryah with her kitty mask that she made



Blog update

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the blog.  I have run into a little problem with uploading pictures to our blog.  It is stating I have reached my maximum storage capacity for photos, and can pay to "add additional storage."  At this point I have not decided what I am going to do (create a new blog, pay to continue this blog, etc)... I am going to check with a few of my "blogger friends" to see what they are going to do.

Thanks,
Me :)

Happy Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween Ryah was a princess.  I will be honest- I couldn't justify spending over $20.00 for a costume that she is going to wear once- but Matt said she had to have it- so guess who bought it (not me!).  I was excited to have Ryah go trick-or-treating because she was practicing all week to say "trick-or-treat" and had been singing her halloween songs.  But life doesn't always go as planned!
The daycare ended up with a bad case of hand, foot, and mouth disease.  It spread like wildfire and all 12 kids ended up with it.  Some kids had it worse than others, and I would say that Ryah was one of the kids with a severe reaction.  It started out on her bottom and then spread to her hands and feet, and I saw a few spots on her face/in her mouth.  So- needless to say, our trick-or-treating was not much fun with a sick girl. 
It was a battle to get her to put on her costume- she didn't want any part of it.  I guess I don't blame her- I wouldn't feel like doing anything either if I was sick.  My sisters were able to talk her into putting her costume on to go get candy, while they stayed back at my house to pass out candy.  Ryah was hesitant at the first couple of houses, but after that she was so good about asking for a treat and opening her bag to let them put the candy in it.  We made it a short night since this mama was exhausted and Ryah wasn't feeling well. 

 

 And this is what you get when a 2 year does not want her picture taken:

Wedding in MN

In October Ryah and I went up to Minnesota for my cousin Philip's wedding.  Matt stayed in Omaha for his friend Steve's wedding, so I was a little worried about the trip- because the last time Ryah and I traveled alone, I said I would never ever do it alone with a toddler again.  My sister Ashley had been staying with us while she completed an internship at the zoo so thankfully she agreed to ride along.  The trip went fairly well, but I am sure that I was singing Elmo songs the whole weekend.  I see a portable DVD player in the near future for Ryah :). 

The weekend turned out to be very lovely.  It was so fun to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  It is so hard to get everyone together since we all have families of our own- but events like this make it happen. 

My beautiful mother and baby sister

Ryah getting some Cheerios from my uncle Steve- she really enjoyed teasing him over the weekend

sisters

eating a treat before the reception

yummy... that was good candy

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Our annual trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch with the daycare crew was earlier this month.  Now that Ryah is getting older, it is so fun to watch her interact with her "daycare friends" outside of Missy's house.  She tends to be a little shy at first and wants mommy and daddy right next to her. 

The weather was a little cool this year, but nothing to complain about!  I appreciate the cool evenings- and Fall is a favorite season of mine. 

Matt, Ryah and I sure enjoyed ourselves at Vala's again this year.  I unfortunately had to work a little late on the night of the outing so we didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to out there, but we still made the most of it.  I know Ryah sure had fun- and that is what matters!



Daycare Crew 2012

Ring-around-the-rosie with Rhonda and friends

Riding the train

 

 

playing with daycare friends

 

playing in the corn pit with daddy





Big girl driving the tractor

This picture cracks me up!

 

being silly with daddy

 

Look what I did mommy...

I should know by now, anytime a 2 year old is quiet they are probably doing something they shouldn't be.  The other day Alisa had given Ryah some stickers to play with- and boy did she have fun!  Look at how proud she is of her sticker collection on my staircase.  It was hard to discipline her with a smile like that!

Daddy's Girl

I had to share this story because it melted my heart this morning. 

Every morning before Matt leaves for work, he gives Ryah and I a kiss and tells us to have a great day.  This morning Ryah had slept in a little, so Matt thought she was still asleep and didn't want to bother her.  After we said our goodbyes and Matt was walking out the door, I hear "Daddy Tiss" (kiss) from a little voice that had snuck into our bedroom.  She said it again "Daddy Tiss."  I felt so bad that I had to call Matt and tell him to come back to give his little girl a kiss.  Without hesitation, he turned around and came home to give Ryah a kiss and hug (even though he was going to be late for work).  You should have seen the little grin she gave him after getting her kiss!  (I think she knows she has him wrapped around her finger!!). 
After watching that, I felt so much joy and even shed a few tears.  It reminds me of a quote: "Slow down and smell the roses."  Sometimes we are in such a hurry, we ignore the small things.  Even though this was a small gesture on Matt's part, it made Ryah's morning complete! 

Hope you all had a great day today!  I know I did :)

Princess Ryah

Over this past month, Ryah has developed a new obsession.  Her new favorite things are Princesses.  She loves to play dress-up and dress like a pin-cess (as Ryah would say).  Anything that sparkles, has diamonds, or is wearing a dress is a" princess" to her.  I can see a trip to Disney World in the near future! 
Funny story that I am sure most of you have heard, but I wanted to document it for her memory book.  My sister Alisa was over the other day and Ryah had seen her belly button ring. Here is how the conversation went:
Ryah:  "See-sa (Alisa) pin-cess"...   (as she is pointing to Alisa's belly ring)
Alisa: " Yep, that is Alisa's princess"
Ryah:  "Eye-ah (Ryah) pin-cess?"...  (as she is pointing to her belly button)
Alisa and I:  "No, Ryah is too young, when you get older you can have a princess like Alisa's"
Ryah:  "Ryah want pin-cess"... (as she is kicking and screaming, and throwing herself on the ground).
Alisa ended up putting a crown around Ryah's belly to make her think she had a princess belly ring too.  Oh brother!  I just had a shot of 10 years into the future when this whole converstation was happening!  I guess when the time comes, my response will be "Ask your Dad!"  LOL.

 Here is our little Princess.  This is how I found her the other day. 

Someone got into Mommy's purse and put make-up on :)

 



 It's times like these that make me forget how bad the terrible two's are!

2 years old

Well, I can start out by saying it seems like Ryah learns a new word everyday. She sure is talking up a storm, and even though Matt and I only understand about 50% of what she is saying, it won't be long and she will be carrying on a conversation with us.


Ryah had her appt with Dr. Andresen a week after she turned 2. I was a little worried about this visit, since over the past year Ryah has really developed a little phobia for doctor's offices. She had a few battles with ear infections this past winter, so I am sure she associates those feelings with all doctors/nurses. Ryah absolutely threw a fit while sitting on the scale and it took all my strength to make her lie still on the table to get an accurate height. After we made it through that, I thought this is probably going to be a pointless visit because there is NO WAY Dr. Andresen will be able to complete his exam on her. Much to my suprise- I was wrong!!! Ryah brought her baby doll with her to the appt and Dr. Andresen was so WONDERFUL about showing Ryah what he was going to do by first doing it to her babydoll. The exam went so well- and he didn't have any concerns. I am sure there are other pediatricians out there that do this kind of stuff, but Dr. Andresen tops the charts in my book!

Here are her stats from the visit:

Height 37 inches (98%)
Weight 29lbs 2oz (78%)
Head circum. 49.3 (90%)


Some of Ryah's favorite things are as follows:
-favorite toy: babydolls, coloring books
-favorite food: hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks (you know... all the healthy stuff... ha ha)
-favorite song: "wheels on the bus" (we probably sing this at least 5 times a night- no lie!)
-favorite cartoon character: Minnie mouse


Some of Ryah's new words:
tootie... "cookie"
doopy... "Goofy" on Mickie Mouse Cartoon
pone... "phone"
durs... "purse"
mana... "banana"
duce... "juice"
pin cess... "princess"


Funny story I had to share with you guys: When Ryah isn't following directions, I usually say "Ryah, 1, 2, 3 NOW!" and then she knows I mean business. So the other night Ryah, Alisa, and I were sitting in the basement and Ryah wanted Matt down there to play as well. She yelled up to him by saying "Matt, sit chair NOW." We couldn't help but to laugh at her!

Here are a few of the most recent pictures of our little princess:

At the zoo with cousin Rylee (as Ryah would call her "Ryde")

Grandpa and Grandma Jensen treated us to a day at the zoo

At the swimming pool with mommy

Reading books with auntie "Seesa"

Always Beautiful!