Wow, What a Year!

It has taken me a few days to compile a little review of the past year. When I look back on all that has happened in 2011 I am a little amazed that I am still standing. Whew! What a ride.

JANUARY
We started out the year with the happy news that our little one was on her way!

FEBRUARY
A blizzard dropped about 20 inches of snow on Columbia, closing down Mizzou for three days.

We get our first glimpse of teeny tiny baby Rowe. She was about the size of a gummy bear.

MARCH
UK makes it to the final four - Ron wears jorts.

APRIL
Happy news that our baby was a girl, and devastating news that she had a serious birth defect.

MAY
More doctors' appointments and tests lead us to the decision not to have prenatal surgery for Ryleigh's myelomeningecele.

After 18 years of higher education Dr. Rowe, JD finishes his last degree.

We get our first new car ever.

JUNE
Traveled to Indiana for a baby shower.

Celebrated our second wedding anniversary.
Ron studied his butt off for the bar exam.

JULY
Ron's 36th birthday

PS. he's not tanning bed tan in this pic, it's just the lighting and paint color in the restaurant.

Ron takes the Indiana Bar Exam

AUGUST
The final count down. Getting little girl's room all ready for her to come home.

August 26th we welcomed our sweet Ryleigh Katherine into the world. She was immediately transported to Cardinal Glennon Children's hospital for surgery.

SEPTEMBER
We are residents of St Louis.

September 5th Ryleigh has her second surgery.

September 21st we got to put Ryleigh on her back for the first time.

September 28th finally headed home!

OCTOBER
Ron starts his new job at the State of Missouri Department of Social Services.
Mommy and Ryleigh spend some quality time at home.

  

Visit from Gramma Kim, Aunt Christy, Cousins Madi and Avry.

My 35th birthday!

NOVEMBER
We decide to buy our first house.
Visit from Mimi and Pop.
Mommy has to go back to work and Ryleigh starts daycare.
Little one starts to discover her voice. (and her hands)

DECEMBER
Move to our new home.

Visit Santa.

Christmas.

Visit from the Rowes and Ryleigh meets her cousins for the first time.

Well, there you have it. Law degree, new car, new baby, new job, new house. We are big time grown-ups. Cheers to a much calmer and more relaxing 2012!

Wishing all the best to our family and friends in the coming year. Happy New Year!

iPhone Snipit

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We definitely did. The Rowes pretty much spent three days relaxing, enjoying each others' company and watching Christmas Vacation (over and over again). I'll post some photos and perhaps a video or two of Christmas soon. Ryleigh wasn't all that cooperative when it came to Christmas videos, and seemed to get quiet every time the camera came out.

But for now a couple gems from the ol' iphone.

I just think little miss looks so pretty in this pic, and MUCH older than four months.

This all went down shortly after our visit with Santa. So happy and smiley, then it goes south oh so quickly. We have noticed that in Ryleigh's world there is a very fine line between laughing and crying.

Seriously, less than 13 seconds. Hmmm, I wonder where she gets that world-class pouty face from?

Man, I love this kid. She had her four-month check up yesterday. Our little chunker is above the 95th percentile in weight. She's 18 pounds, yes she's only four months old. Healthy and happy, she's doing great!

What Blog?

Remember when I used to be a blogger? Well, it turns out I might not be all that good at it. English major married to a philosopher/lawyer means I get a little wordy. So, if I haven't had the time to write a dissertation on everything that has been going on, I haven't been writing at all. So I'm changing gears and my blogging philosophy. Update more often, and keep it brief. If you all want to know more you know my phone number or email address. Just ask me.

I also added a fancy little "follow by email" gadget over there in the corner. I know a couple people have asked if I could email them when I post updates. Now blogger will do it for me. You just have to add your email. I love technology...

So what have we been up to? Eh, not much...

Just buying a house.

Taking Ryleigh to see Santa.

 

We went to our local Bass Pro Shop to see Santa, because we had heard the lines were shorter and at the mall they don't let you take pics with your own camera...lame. I had never been to Bass Pro, and I was impressed. It's like a redneck wonderland! Freaking awesome! I have never seen so much camo in my life. But really, they have a pretty cool set up for Santa and all sorts of christmasy activities for kiddos. I had to add the official Bass Pro photo, so you all could see the set was complete with dead, stuffed reindeer. I told you it was awesome.
I love the look on Ryleigh's face, as if she's not all that impressed by the fat man.

And we've been getting ready for Christmas...in our new house.

Ryleigh's first ornament:

And another new ornament this year:

  

So there you have it a brief little update complete with photos. 

I guess it's worth mentioning that I went back to work at MAA the week of Thanksgiving. We were able to get Ryleigh into a daycare that comes highly recommended from a lot of people. So far so good there. It is hard leaving her in the care of others for most of the week. I do love those big smiles when I come to pick her up though. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!