The Big Guy

This weekend we took Ryan to see the big guy in red. My aunt and uncle came in town and suggested the idea, and to be honest I had not even thought about it. I guess my mother mind hasn't totally set in. I had a feeling that Ryan would like seeing Santa, because she goes crazy everytime we show her a Santa doll. She starts bouncing and screaming like Santa is her bestie. Well, it was not different when we took her to see the real thing. I will say, the Santa in the Auburn mall was very realistic. He had a real beard and mustache and I am pretty sure I saw him shopping at Big Lots yesterday- so he is my kind of guy! Anyways, Ryan just LOVED him. She would stare at him and then give her scrunched nose smiliy face to me. Then look at him again to make sure he was still there, and then smile at me again. She was a doll.

The Face

About the past three weeks Ryan has developed this hilarious face. It is very rare that we capture an adorable Ryan smile nowadays, instead we capture this...She scrunches her nose up as much as she possibly can, then squeezes her little baby eyes together, and bucks those teeth out. I think she gets it a little bit from me, the whole scrunch nose and all. I just hope she doesn't end up with my nose..a big fear of mine!

She is absolutely adorable!

Nine Months

Well, it has officially been almost a month since I have blogged. So much has been going on in all of our lives, that we have not had time to get Christmas up yet. I will say we are on stage two, we decided to get a real tree this year and have it lit in the living room, but no decorations yet. This is the firts time Bill and I have ever gotten a real tree since we lived with our parents.

We decided since we have a baby boo now, we need to start with holiday traditions. Bill and I have some things that we try to do each Christmas, but nothing that sticks EVERY YEAR. Well, some of my fondest memories growing up were the traditions our family practiced each holiday season. So, our first step was a real Christmas tree. I thought it would be a magical, holiday music, hot chocolate day filled with Christmas cheer and a sweet holiday chill in the air. However, it was nothing of the sorts. Bill decided to get our tree at Home Depot, not the best Christmas atmosphere, but a great tree selection. Well, it was freaking freezing outside and there was a foreign family following us around and tried to take the same tree we had decided upon, Ryan started crying because she was so cold, I tripped over some yard crap (that is what my dad used to call it) on my way to take Ryan back to the car. Let's just say it was not the special moment I was hoping for. Nevertheless, we got our tree and have it set up in the living room. Our next tradition will be to get Ryan a new ornament every year. We just thought it would be something cool to have for her one day as well.

Okay, back to the orignal post. Our little girl is nine months old. I really have to sit back and think about that. I remember the day Bill and I found out we were pregnant. We were at Bill's parents cabin and I remember us lying in bed and looking at each other saying, "We're going to have a baby in nine months." Now our precious little baby IS nine months. Motherhood has been the most amazing experience in my life. Everytime Ryan breaths I am proud of her. She is changing so much and I just love every minute of her existence. I cannot kiss her enough and thank God enough for blessing our lives with such an amazing daughter.

Another update about her..she is crawling. I really did not think she would go through this stage. I thought it would be sitting and then walking, but she has surprised us again. Now, at her first stages of crawling, she hated it. She would just get MAD when we put her down, but now she loves it. It has really just been this past week that has set her off. She is moving around this house like a little vaccuum. Once again, another proud mother moment.

Falling Behind

I have really been a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. Since, I am home with the swine flu, I have no excuse. Yes, this is the second time I have had the flu this season...miserable. To make things worse, Bill and I were supposed to have a date day today (Verteran's Day) since I did not have to work, but stupid flu season had other plans. It has been so hard, I have not been able to hold Ryan since Monday morning, I really miss my baby. But not to worry she is in amazing hands with her daddy, this was her entertainment last night. She is too precious. Well, this past weekend we traveled home for Jack's christening and Kate's 3rd birthday party. It was great to see everyone, but even better to get the cousins together. It's sad they do not get to see each other more often. Here are some pics to recap the weekend. We did not take our camera to the main events, just other house happenings. This is definitely going on both of their wedding slide shows!!

Little Horsey

Since it was 76 degrees Thursday night, the official Auburn trick-or-treating night, we were not able to put Ryan in her costume. Well, I could not let the costume go to waist, so my girlfriend from high school, Jen, and I had a little photoshoot with butter bean tonight. Let's just say she did not start out thrilled, but she warmed up. Please take notice of our extremely tacky western setting.
Happy Halloween!!!

Ryan definitely cannot pull herself up yet, but man she loves starring out of this door. Perfect entertainment!!

Pumpkin Rolls

Since there is a home football game this weekend, Auburn had its official trick-or-treating night last night. We did not take Ryan house to house, because I cannot stand it when I open my door and there are two parents standing there with an infant who cannot ask for his/her own candy, let alone eat it. So, we went to the Hill's Halloween party, which was a blast. They had the absolute cutest decorations that just fascinated Ryan. I did not get too many pictures there, we just had a photo session at home.

Ryan's original costume was supposed to be a horse, but since it was 76 degrees outside, I had to make other plans. I decaptitated another costume option I had (a pumpkin) and put Ryan in her pumpkin shirt Mrs. Allyson gave to her, threw on some pumpkins shoes and voila...

I am very proud of my throw some crap together abilities and of course Ryan was perfect at pulling the outfit off. I love this child.

Happy Early Halloween

This past Friday Bill had his Psychology department Halloween party. This was the first big party we have hosted at our new house, so we knew we would go all out. And all out did we go! Thankfully, Ryan's second Auburn mother, Donna M., agreed to watch our butter bean for the night so Bill and I could retreat back to our pre-parent party days:) You know the nights where you were able to stay up past 10:30 and not be the drop dead tired the next day!

Well, we really did have such a blast and had a fabulously, fun night. Here are some pictures of Mr. & Mrs. Flash in action.

On a baby note, Ryan is doing great. She really has changed so much in the past week and a half. She is eating normal food and baby food and has 6 teeth now. I mean these things seriously popped up over night. She is walking around everywhere (of course holding onto our hands, she has no balance), and I swear today she reached out for me and said MaMa. Bill said no, but I beg to differ:)

Chillin'

This past Friday we went to downtown Opelika for their bi-annual "On the Tracks" wine tasting trail. We went with the Mosholders and had such an amazing time. Ryan tagged along and was so incredibly good. That child is turning into quite the night owl. We left around 11:00 and she was the most amazing trooper.

After a relaxing weekend, we spent all day Sunday playing at the Adam's house. Literally playing, we played golf, football, and four square. Once again, Ryan was perfect just sitting on her blanket, eating a water bottle, and rolling around with the dogs.

Such a doll baby!

Skipping Stages

The past week Bill and I have really tried to get Ryan into the crawling stage of her life. Everyone says we are crazy and to just leave her be and she will crawl when she wants. They also say we are crazy because why would we want to rush her mobility, well we just want to. I don't think it matters anyways, because I am pretty sure this child is going to skip crawling and go straight to walking. She HATES being on her stomach. I think she would rather eat green beans all day long (which she also detests). Since she hates her stomach so much, it is very tough to encourage her to crawl.

Well, I really don't think we have anything to worry about. Ryan has become obsessed with Bill and his dad holding her in one of their hands with her legs locked straight. When we need to sit her down somewhere she just arches that back and locks those legs in her refusal to sit- she always wants to stand. Well, this really limits our time to set her down to get things done. So, we are just pushing her to the next stage now- standing. Everytime she wants to stand we just let her pull herself up on our arms and put her against something so she can stand. Her favorite is the couch, but today we tried the stroller. I think she just wants to show off her butt, I mean look at that thiing...BAM!!!

JoJo & Pap

Ryan loves her JoJo and Pap!

I Love My Job!

Okay, for those of you who know me, I mean even barely know me, you know that I am a competitive person. I get into competition too much to the point of obsession. Well, a couple of weeks ago Drake Middle School had its first pep rally. When I think about my old pep rallies, I think watch the cheerleaders, hear from the football captain, and miss class. Oh no my friends, our pep rallies are NOTHING like that. Ours turn into all day events of face painting, cheer practice, and hair styling. I do take some pride in the cheers I make up for our team. I take the most modern rap/hip hop songs, change the words, and relate the cheer back to our school. This pep rally we had cheers to: Throw Your Hands in the Ayer, Got Money, Get Silly, and Baby Got Back! Of course you want your team to do well, but you really want for your team to get the coveted award of "Best Cheer." (side note: this is where my competitive nature comes out). Now, we did not get that this pep rally, but I have never been so proud of a group of kids. They were jumping off of the bleachers like little chipmunks all hopped up on caffeine. Some lost their voices, some received bruised appendages, and some got a good old fashion pom pom to the eye- but they never stopped cheering!

The kids get so so into these pep rallies. Now if the kids get so into these pep rallies, the teachers get so so so so into these pep rallies. Check it out

If you cannot tell, my team is the Leopards!!! That may not sound like a big deal to you, but for those teachers who are reading this can tell you, teams are a BIG DEAL!!!! So after we dress up like ridiculous neanderthals, we make our way to the cafetorium, hike up the 52 year old bleachers and get ready to cheers our heads off. Please observe..

Yes, yes, the foolish woman in the awesome Leopard vest is yours truly!

Not only was this pep rally a crazy yelling fest filled with amazing cheers, football players, and screaming band members, but also it was one where the kids got to hit some teachers in the face with a pie. Yep, I was one of the teachers...

Ya'll know I am not going to let a good pie go to waste, of course I ate some!

My amazing team still accepted me, pied face and all!

Bill even came to watch the festivities. I have to give him props, he helped me create one of our masterful cheers. Ever since he came to his first pep rally, he has not missed one since! He loves them! We're like one big social experiment waiting to happen!

War Eagle

I have been meaning to post about Ryan's first tailgate last weekend, but we had a pep rally last week- so let's just say I was a little consumed (pictures will be posted soon). For the AU vs MSU game, we decided to be normal Auburn citizens and participate in all home game activities for the weekend. On Friday night we went to the Auburn downtown bloack party, which was a lot of fun. Saturday morning I had a soccer game- then it was time to head on campus. Since we are so close, we were able to walk from our house to campus! Oh it was amazing.
We had a great time hanging out with friends and jumping tailgate to tailgate. I think we mooched off of a total of six tailgates. We were busy people:) Here are some pictures of the day.

THE HOUSE- TOTALLY REDONE!

You have to check out my sister's blog to see all of the new house pictures.

Check It

What a doll baby. Ryan had her 6 month check up today and is doing fantabulous. She is 17 lbs. 1 oz., 27 inches tall, and her head is still in the 95th percentile. So proud of our little girl.