domination.

bed domination. it happens every time you sleep in our bed.

that's you...you little horizontal sleeper you.

 and yes, your hair is crazy when you wake up...makes me look like i don't ever take care of you.

 i love you!

♥mom

presents have to stay wrapped?

We went over to play at grandma and grandpa’s house tonight, and they had just put out all of the Christmas presents under the tree…there was something about those bows that you just couldn’t keep your hands off of.  You took them all off and put them in a pile…I guess presents don’t really need bows.

You don’t quite have the unwrapping down yet, so that is good – hopefully you will discover this goodness before Christmas morning.

With you crawling now, there are no limitations. You do what you want, and I have no control over you now, and you love everything about that.

I love you.

♥Mom

moustache.

uncle steve and aunt hailey turned you into a little baby-man today…moustache and all.

you sat still just long enough for us to snap a picture and then you wanted nothing to do with it ever again.

there was just something about that nasty thing you didn’t care for…

but, I still think you’re cute.

I love you ry.

♥mom

early christmas.

we got to work this morning and crew was waiting right by the door for you to arrive.  he had set up your christmas present for you and just couldn’t wait for you to try it out.  It is quite a mad contraption if I do say so myself.  you loved it. you even forgot about eating breakfast it was that cool.  you and crew played with this for 2 hours straight today…

I love it when you’re happy.

♥Mom

christmas shopping.

We spent the day Christmas shopping with grandma Mitchell and Kelsey….kelsey was trying to walk out her baby – but, nothing worked.

It was freezing cold today…and you didn’t want to wear your coat at all – so you got stuck inside of grandma’s.  she was going to keep you warm one way or another.

After shopping all day we went home and got all the presents wrapped that we shopped for, and then headed off to our ward Christmas party.  It was dad’s last day of school and he was so excited to come home and go to the party with us.  For the Christmas party we shopped for families in need and then went and secretly dropped them off at houses.  The family that we went to caught us red-handed, but they were so happy that we came…then back to the church we went. You and your bestie Amarra played all night together on your blankets. I love that you can entertain yourself all the time.

I love watching your every move.

You are my favorite.

♥Mom.

hairdo.

I left you this morning so that I could take my last final and I come home to you and this hairdo.  Kelsey is going to get visiting restrictions if this happens again J

'tis the season. for a turtleneck.

I can’t believe I made you wear this.

Hopefully you will forgive me one day.

But then again, I might make you wear one every holiday…

I love you.

♥Mom

souper sat.

It was my first relief society "souper Saturda"y and you got to play with dad all day.  For this souper Saturday, I attemped potato soup…You played with him all morning until you begged him to take you to the library. And we all know dad loves the library.  He got you every Spanish book that he could find! You two must have worn each other out…

I came home to this - 

You have a good daddy ryleigh.  He loves you – and so do I.

teething wars.

I tried to do everything to make you happy today…but teething got the best of you. You just bit your little gums together and made the saddest of faces.

And the worst part-you only have one tooth so far…this is going to be a long one…

I love you babe.

♥Mom

stranger danger.

grandma mitchell is out of town today with great grandma mitchell.  they took the week off and went to the beach to celebrate g.ma's birthday...and i have school today...so that means we have a problem. no one to watch you. but cousin autumn came to the rescue and said she would play all day with you.  i was super nervous to leave you with someone else.  i have never done that before. but you survived. you played all morning, took a nap and then went over to autumn's friends house.  her name is amy.  rumor is you liked her because she has blonde hair like me.
autumn said you were well behaved, and i believe her. i mean, you're perfect, right? could you be anything but?
i missed you today.
i love you.
♥ mom

first of many.

ryleigh you got your first tooth today! i can't believe how fast you are growing. it makes me sad, but at the same time i love seeing all of your milestones.  you were pretty fussy today and all you wanted was me to hold you. i skipped school today and you and i slept on the couch all morning before work.

you fell asleep in the car, but woke right up when we picked crew up from school.  crew adores you.  he says you're his best friend, he just wishes you would crawl around. he tries to teach you everyday.  you almost have it down, but right when you are about to start, you just roll right back onto your bum. everyone says to enjoy you while you aren't mobile, and of course i do, but i'm excited to see you in motion!
after lunch i went to go lay you down for a nap but you just wouldn't have it. so back downstairs we went to play. i was feeding you some delicious sweet potatoes and chicken and you kept gnawing on the spoon...so i reached my little finger in there and wallah! you are going to look so stickin' cute with one little tooth!  i can't wait for more to come.
i love you.

♥ mom

sleepy head

it's super early and dad just left for work. i'm trying to work on a project for school but my head is pounding so much i can't think. me and you have this nasty cold thing going on and before you fell asleep last night you hit me in the mouth with my cell phone. my tooth went right through my lip...good hit ry.
you slept with us all night long. dad calls you the "bed dominator", and that is an understatement. you sleep sideways instead of vertical like a normal person would. you had half the bed, and dad and i shared the other half. you don't really care to have covers on. you kick them off all the time. and then you wake up cause you're cold. weird...
but i love you none the less. you're perfect and i can't get enough of you.
♥ mom

to grandma's house you go.

today was tuesday.  i went to school all day and you went over to grandma mitchell's house to play all day.  she told me you had lots of fun.  she got out all of her christmas toys and cookie cutters just for you.  you helped her make gingerbread houses to take to young women's tomorrow night.

the house smelled super yummy when  i came to pick you up.  you were super excited to see me.  you know, that is my favorite time of the day...it's a long day without you...well we packed you right up and ran down and got our oil changed.  you acted like the perfect child you are and entertained yourself in the backseat the whole time. after that, we cruised home, picked up daddy, and went over to the blaser's house for birthday parties! it was grandma's 50th birthday and ethan's 1st! 

you were off your rocker tonight. so cute and so funny. no one could handle you. you were a riot.

i love it when you can't stop laughing and when everything is funny to you.

you're my favorite.

♥ mom

weekend getaway.

who doesn't love a weekend getaway?

we do!

we went to mccall this weekend to get a lovely christmas tree.

but before we went - dad wanted to buy you a little something...

you wore it the whole day...and good thing we got it for you because it was absolutely freezing up there!

 you and aunt randy were best buds. 

we searched long and hard for our christmas tree...

and then, after much trudging through the snow...we found it.

yay for christmas.
i can't wait for you to pull off all the ornaments.
i love you.
♥ mom

band-aids

Ryleigh you got your first band-aid today…  (aside from those that the mean doctor gives you from those nasty shots.) we had just gotten home from the cabin (getting our Christmas tree for your first Christmas) and we had 30 min to get ready before church.  I hopped in the shower and you got to go and make lunch with dad. Dad was making burritos.  He opened a can of beans and left you and the can alone on the counter. You grabbed it. You started screaming. I came running in and dad just said you were hungry or something. I picked you up to go and get you dressed and saw blood all over my hand. Your poor little hand. We know better than to leave you and dad alone to cook lunch now, he took good care of you though and got you all bandaged up.  You didn’t like the band-aid though and it didn’t seem to stay on very long.

On our way home from church you fell asleep.  So dad and I snuck into our bed and took a quick lil’ snooze before we went over to grandma and grandpa mitchell’s house for dinner.  You didn’t sleep very long before you woke us up.  You and me were sick today.  We sniffled together all day and practically used a whole box of Kleenexes…boy are we a sight to see or what?!  Somehow we still made it to family dinner though.  It was super yummy, leftover thanksgiving dinner.  You ate potatoes and green beans (you love those things you know). After dinner, dad went home teaching and you and I snuck off to the back bedroom to get a little shut eye and rest up.  After our nap, we came home, gave you some medicine and then you and daddy womped on the piano for 27 minutes together.  You just can’t get enough of that thing.  One day you are going to be a master at that.  Dad is working on learning how to play deck the halls. He plays the top hand, and you attempt the bottom hand, and together you sound just lovely.

I can hear you and dad in our bedroom right now, reading books, and you are babbling away.  I’m coming to visit.

I love you.
♥ mom

band-aids

Ryleigh, you got your first band-aid today…  (aside from those that the mean doctor gives you from those nasty shots.) we had just gotten home from the cabin (getting our Christmas tree for your first Christmas) and we had 30 min to get ready before church.  I hopped in the shower and you got to go and make lunch with dad. Dad was making burritos.  He opened a can of beans and left you and the can alone on the counter. You grabbed it. You started screaming. I came running in and dad just said you were hungry or something. I picked you up to go and get you dressed and saw blood all over my hand. Your poor little hand. We know better than to leave you and dad alone to cook lunch now J he took good care of you though and got you all bandaged up.  You didn’t like the band-aid though and it didn’t seem to stay on very long.

On our way home from church you fell asleep.  So me and dad snuck into our bed and took a quick lil’ snooze before we went over to grandma and grandpa mitchell’s house for dinner.  You didn’t sleep very long before you woke us up.  You and me were sick today.  We sniffled together all day and practically used a whole box of Kleenexes…boy are we a sight to see or what?!  Somehow we still made it to family dinner though.  It was super yummy, leftover thanksgiving dinner.  You ate potatoes and green beans (you love those things you know). After dinner, dad went home teaching and you and I snuck off to the back bedroom to get a little shut eye and rest up.  After our nap, we came home, gave you some medicine and then you and daddy womped on the piano for 27 minutes together.  You just can’t get enough of that thing.  One day you are going to be a master at that.  Dad is working on learning how to play deck the halls. He plays the top hand, and you attempt the bottom hand, and together you sound just lovely.

I can hear you and dad in our bedroom right now, reading books, and you are babbling away.  I’m coming to visit.

I love you.

 ♥ mom

first thanksgiving.

we slept in today - you and me. we were super tired. dad woke up early and went hunting with all of your uncles instead of playing football like he usually does. we got you all dolled up and ready for your first big holiday with all of the family and headed over to grandma and grandpa's to play a grueling game of football. you fell asleep on the way over and slept in the car the whole time.  whether you wanted to be or not, you weren't moving an inch in your car seat. you had your puffy coat on and once you get all buckled up, it's like you're a little pink marshmallow.

i was on a team with uncle steven, uncle tanner, aunt mary, aunt hailey, and kayla. we dominated...and we won. tanner had to keep running over to the car in between plays to check on you and see if you were still sleeping. he got quite a work out.

you woke up the second i got you out of the car. you came inside and had your first little nibble of turkey. you loved it. but we had a serious problem to solve today. you didn't like any of your potatoes...potatoes are my favorite food in the whole world and if you can't learn to like those things asap, we're going to have a starving child on our hands...you that is...so you might want to think about changing your diet. :)

after thanksgiving dinner #1, we got all the ads out for black-friday. you just wanted to play with those and rip everything that you could. you are going to love christmas morning! i'm debating whether or not to get you presents or just wrap up a whole lot of empty boxes...

we looked through all the ads and planned our attack for black-friday and then went over to grandma and grandpa blaser's house for thanksgiving #2. you fell asleep in the car on the way over and slept the whole time. everyone was sad that they didn't get to eat with you but you needed your sleep! mom and dad made a delicious vegetable tray that you missed out on...you would have loved it. 

at 8:30 we left to start black-friday shopping (i know it's ridiculous).  but, we showed up to the store, saw the  crazy lines, and turned around and left.  we went back over to grandma and grandpa mitchell's house.  you stayed with papa all night so that i could go shopping all night. it was a crazy night. everyone decided to open at midnight this year, and so we were shopping fools.  i finally gave up at 4:30 though and came back and slept with you...i bought you a sparkly pine cone to hang your stocking on...that reminds me, we need to go buy you a stocking.

i love you...

♥ mom

you and tanner.

it's almost thanksgiving.
your first thanksgiving.
so, in preparation of this exciting day, i spent the evening baking pies and fudge and shaggy dogs and more pies.
and you - well, you played with tanner.
you love tanner. you never get tired of him and he never gets tired of you.

tonight you two built a little...um...not really sure what to call this thing.
whatever it was, it kept the two of you occupied for hours. you just sat there and tanner would pull you at incredible speeds down the hallway...even if your pictures don't show it, you were squealing in laughter the whole time.
i love you.
♥ mom

long day.

today was a busy day.  it's thanksgiving week, so at least i didn't have to go to school, but of course you and i still had to go to work.  

you love to sit on the kitchen counter while i clean.  it may not be the safest thing for you, but when you are up there you can see everyone below.  i think you like being queen of the countertop...

rocky (dog) is right below you.

you don't like him. 

he scares you.

but when you are on the counter, you love him.

you laugh at everything he does.

you must feel powerful over him or something up on top :)

 we got off work late tonight, and we were both starving. 

i didn't want to cook dinner.

so we met up with dad for dinner at cheerleaders.

you ate all of my fries and dad's keys.

 then we came home and had to help dad with some stuff for school for the following day.

 you always have to have a laptop when i am on mine, because if you come and play on mine, something always gets erased...like my 5 page paper last week for instance...

but i still love you.

a ton.

♥ mom

bazaar day.

i had to be up super early today for our holiday bazaar that your aunties and i were in.  we made lots of fun baby stuff and whatever doesn't sell goes right to you...(win-win situation)
after i got all of my stuff together and ready to go, i went to say goodbye to dad and this is what i found...

love. so i was able to say goodbye to both of you. you and dad spent the day together...
you guys had a rough agenda -
movies
toys
going to lunch
visiting me

i love you ry.
and a little jealous dad got to spend the day with you...
♥ mom

bsu b.ball.

tonight we went to your first bsu basketball game ever, thanks to aunt kelsey and uncle pat.  i don't know if you watched any of the game, but you sure loved all the noise and all of the lights.  you hung out with dad and uncle pat the whole time (i'm sure this was due to the sugar they were feeding you)...and when we got home, i found jelly beans all over in your carseat...something you want to admit to?

i still love you.
♥ mom