No More Mullet

Ryleigh got her first real haircut today! She looks like such a big girl.

very mullety

before

not too sure about this

definitely not sure about this. we had to break out the binky.

Daddy was the photographer and kind of missed getting an "after" pic at the salon. So this was about the best we could do at home.

 

after

happy girl!

What has Miss R been up to?

My little baby is almost one! How is that possible?
We've been enjoying our summer and getting out of the house whenever we can. It's been so stinking HOT!
Here are a few snapshots of what the little lady has been up to the past week or so.

being pretty

learning to use a spoon

it takes practice

grabbing mommy's iphone

kissing and/or hugging all stuffed animals

petting any kitty within reach (usually lucy)

her zipzac puts her at prime kitty petting height.
i think lucy has decided they'd better just be friends.

dozing off on walks

holding her own bottle like a big kid

Good-NESS!! I super love this kid!

Free Time

I'm a few days behind here... On Thursday, we got a half day off work as a thank you for almost reaching our membership goal and because we hit record membership this year. So I got off work at noon and headed home to an empty, quiet house. Hours at home alone? That NEVER happens.

So I made myself a pretty kick ass lunch, thanks to our new panini maker.

bacon avocado grilled cheese. YUM.

Then I decided to tackle clean-up/organization of my craft/sewing area. It was a disaster. I haven't actually worked on anything in a long time, because my free time is quite limited these days and that would mean spending most of "nap-time" cleaning up and not crafting. I think it looks pretty good now.

see what i mean?

this is what it looks like now.

pretty organized on the built in shelves.

side-by-side comparison.
note: there was beer involved in this undertaking. ;)

Pretty productive afternoon if you ask me.

While I was cleaning up I came across an envelope of a bunch of my old ticket stubs from concerts. Lots of memories in that envelope! One of my favorites:

seems like so long ago.

We drove from Indiana all the way down to the Everglades for this show. I guess really it was more like a festival, but Phish was the only band. I smartly sent all of my camping gear with my roommates and rode down with some other friends. When we arrived, after hours of driving, followed by hours of sitting in traffic, I had no sleeping bag and no tent. Surprisingly, in tens of thousands of people, it didn't take me long to find another Lafayette friend who had already seen my roommates and knew where they were set up. The rest of our time was just...epic. Definitely one of the best times I've ever had. Great memories.

Five for Friday

Five little photos from our week.

lunch time for Ryleigh bug

oh my! crazy baby in the bathtub

birthday card for the hubby

love bug getting cuddly with her little tiger

just another friday morning on umc drive

Ruh-roh Raggy...

Call the gang we've got a mystery on our hands! Yesterday evening I was out in the sun room and I noticed a pile of fresh dirt near the gate.

Hmmmm

Upon closer inspection it appears that someone tunneled under our fence. With my CSI-like investigative skills I determined, based on the direction of the removed soil, that the perp (or "un-sub" if you're more into Criminal Minds) was tunneling from inside our yard.  But who was it? The neighbor cats can easily come and go over the fence. The moles would just go underground. I saw a dog digging after a mole in the neighbor's yard the other day, but it was much too large to escape thru this hole. And how would it have gotten inside the fence needing to dig out? Such an intriguing mystery!

Somebody made an escape!

After much deliberation and a thorough(ish) investigaesh, I am going with ground hog. When we saw a fatty little guy in the yard last week he was coming down the hill. I think he probably came from the woods somewhere at the top of our hill. Ron chased him back up the hill, probably back where he came in. But this time he made it all the way down the hill and needed an escape route to get out to the front. The hole is bigger than it looks in this photo, but definitely big enough for a fat ground hog. 

Independence Day!

We spent our Fourth of July doing a lot of relaxing. I gave Ryleigh some festive pigtails for the day, which, of course, warranted a round of photos.

pigtails {note: serious look due to teething}

the clapping is just too cute

my favorite
can't you just hear her saying, "mommy can i please have your car keys?"

tasty duck

"yes, daddy?"

"ok, now gaze thoughtfully out the window."

love! - actually, maybe this one is my fave

After Ryleigh's afternoon nap we headed over to the Vanderveen pool with our friends the Pourneys. Everyone must have gotten their early, because it really started to clear out by the time we arrived around 3 o'clock. Ryleigh seemed to like the pool and relaxing in her new float. She spent a lot of time intently watching the other people in the pool, especially the kids. 

already a pool lounging pro

yay! and we clap in the pool

keeping an eye on all the other kids swimming. very serious business

serious or tired? i'm not sure

"hi dada!"

We decided to skip the fireworks this year. They are a little too late and a little too loud for our Ryleigh bug. She gets kind of startled by loud noises. Our neighbors had a few LOUD firecrackers to light and woke her up around 9:30, so that was nice. Luckily, she was easily soothed back to sleep after rocking with mommy for a bit. And she woke up in a great mood the next morning! 

We hope everyone else had a happy and relaxing 4th of July too!

Busy, Busy Ten Month-Old

Is she ever! The past week or so Ryleigh has really turned into a crazy baby. She is wanting to get around and get into whatever she can. She REALLY wants to get after the cats. All of this is a wee bit challenging for her with her legs. Because she doesn't move them as much and can't feel them as much she can sometimes get into awkward positions. She is doing very well and Gerti thinks that if we work with her a little more she will be crawling very soon.

We also got her a ZipZac. It is basically a little wheelchair for toddlers with mobility limitations, kind of a Bumbo on wheels. Designed and built by the engineer uncle of a little boy with spina bifida. This is actually our second ZipZac, the original model was too small for our chunky monkey, and we had to send it back. Model II is a much better fit and she will be able to use it for a lot longer.

She hasn't quite figured out how to use it. But she's moved her wheels a couple times on accident and it's only a matter of time before she gets the hang of it. And she is highly motivated. This child is going to wear me out! And that's okay.

On Saturday, we had a little mama-Ryleigh photo sesh, in the back yard. I just can't believe my little baby is almost one!!

love this pretty face

hmmm, this looks interesting

well, if i can't get it open, i'll just chew on it.

tired?

can i have that camera, mama?

teething makes her look oh so serious

two little teeth...soon to be joined by others, i'm sure of it

hello there