15 Months

Bug, you are 15 months now! I just can't believe it! You are my lil monkey, literally! You climb onto anything you can get your feet up high enough to reach! You have most recently mastered the dining table chairs and subsequently, the dining table. The only piece of furniture you haven't mastered without assistance is our bed (and the potty, but that's because you prefer to flush it). You have even crawled into your crib, just not out yet thankfully!

This past month we have started working on you putting yourself to sleep. We started it, and then I had to have my appendectomy and we got off so we started again, and it's going much better the second time around. Prior to starting this, you were taking over an hour to fall asleep while rocking and while I love rocking you, that is just too long and it was causing a lot of pain for me (25 pounds on 1 shoulder is not comfy). So I'm slowly lowering the amount of time we rock, and then I sit by your crib until you fall asleep. Once we get to not rocking at all, I'll work on slowly moving away from your crib and out of the room. You are doing really well, and it's getting easier every night. As much as I love having you fall asleep in my arms, it is nice to see you being so independent.

As far as everything else, you are growing so fast! You love talking! Your new favorite words are "uh oh" and "owwie" and you are working on "bubble" since your favorite book is "Bubbles, Bubbles." You know where your nose, mouth (and tongue), eyes, hair, and toes are. You also know where all that is on me and Daddy. You also know where my "owwies" are from my surgery and you love to give them kisses. You love Dodger to death, once I come get you in the morning you are immediately asking for him, and you have to see him before bed each night.

We recently go a Zoo Membership and have already been several times! You enjoy the zoo so much! Especially when we let you run around like crazy and explore. If it's outside, you are all about it! Now that it's warm we are outside most of the day every day and I love watching you run around! I've been looking for a climber/slider outdoors toy, I think you will LOVE that!

Little girl, you are the light of my life and you put a smile on everyone's face in your life. I love the time you and I spend together and watching you learn something every day!

Coming to...

Random post... but there's only so many times you can refresh Facebook and Pinterest while laid up in bed.

Let me start off with I've been put under general anesthesia 4 times, including this last time for my appendectomy. When I woke up from my surgery the very first thing I remember thinking was "oh my gosh, my mouth is dry" and the second thing was "why can't I close my mouth?!" I preceded for what felt like forever trying to get my mouth to close and got very frustrated in the process. Once I finally got my mouth closed all I could think about was getting something to drink- ASAP! I don't ever remember coming out of anesthesia with such dry mouth. All I wanted was some ice chips or water, and as soon as I could get the words out to the recovery nurse I did- it was very difficult with such dryness. She looked at me and said "you can't have anything yet, we have to make sure you won't get sick from the anesthesia." WHAT?!

I suppose I fell back asleep, because I woke up asking for water again. She finally got me the smallest, least full cup of ice chips I've ever seen. I scarfed down the ice chips as fast as I could without making the nurse mad :) Of course, soon after I felt nauseous- shame, shame, shame (on me, of course). I tried to hide it and went back to sleep. When I woke up, the nurse was telling me that my pulse ox was too low when I slept, so they put that horrendous nose oxygen thing on me, I finally admitted my nausea and she whisked away with my ice chips, and came back with zofran.

By the time Paul got back to me, I was really annoyed. I had all these tubes hooked up to me, I had calf massagers (not as nice as it sounds) on my legs, I hurt, and I was still thirsty. I preceded to call my mom at almost 1am and explain how cranky I was. I finally got some water and some more ice chips. When the nurse wasn't around, I would quickly take off the oxygen thing, and finally talked the nurse into taking the calf things off until they moved me to my room. Things were looking up.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a room ready for me and 20-30 minutes turned into 2 hours of waiting in recovery. When they finally got me to my room, it wasn't the private room I had specified, but there was no one else in the room. They moved me into the bed into the room, only to find out it was broken. They preceded to make me stand (only hours after an abdominal surgery) in the middle of the room (couldn't reach the other bed due to the IV placement) while they tried to fix it. When they couldn't fix it they finally moved me to the other bed. I still had the annoying calf compressor thing on, but they forgot to put my oxygen back on me- YAY!

It was 2am and I was exhausted from not sleeping the night before, my little brother finally left and Paul started to get comfortable. At 3am, the aide did my vitals and I requested pain meds, since I was really starting to hurt. It took an hour and a half of requesting it (!!!), but finally at 4:30 I got the meds I asked for and was able to go to sleep. Sadly, at 5 my vitals were checked, my blood was taken at 5:15, and my IV bag round out and needed to be replaced at 5:30. I finally got to sleep after that, and luckily, my day nurse let me sleep and delayed the start of my antibiotic when she saw I was sleeping at 6:30- I made it until 7:30 before I woke up myself and the day started. I napped throughout the day, but was so happy when I was finally released at 4:30pm- 24 hours after my initial doctor's appointment....

I must say, even though I was cranky, I really wasn't impressed with my service at the hospital in Tulsa I was transferred to- I definitely prefer their sister hospital in Owasso- they took great care of Paul when he had pneumonia. Glad I got that out :)

14+ months

So if you have a toddler, you know why this blog has gone silent for a bit. That's because keeping up with a toddler is a full time, no blogging time, job. However, on Friday night I had my appendix removed and am now laid up in bed while Paul has complete control, so I thought I would update what is going on in the life of my baby girl.

Rylee has been 14 months for a week now, and she is in full blown toddler mode. She is a little over 25 pounds and close to 31" tall. She is walking, running, and climbing all over the place. She is quite the little daredevil. She likes to do anything that makes my heart skip a beat (and not in a good way). She is quite the explorer and loves to be outside all day, every day. She is quite the vocal one and is talking more and more every day. She is also signing all the time- up to more than 30 signs. She is wearing mostly 12 month clothes, though I can put her in 18 month shirts. She seems to be growing more and more everyday. Even right now, when I'm not around her as much, she seems bigger every time I see her!

We are all having fun and enjoying time together. We are currently trying to plan a trip to Florida to see Suzie and Eric this summer. I'm very excited to take Rylee to the beach! I think she'll love it, and all the water time it'll involve. We can't even say the word "bath" without Rylee trying to take her shirt off and crawl in the tub. If she hears the water going, and she's not in the bathroom, she has a mini-meltdown, until you distract her! The girl loves her baths!

Another big change in our life is that we are in the process of going gluten-free. We already get most of our produce and all of our meat from a local, all-natural farm, and after much reading, and my previous stomach issues, we've decided that gluten-free is our next best step. It's going to be a hard, complicated change, but I think in the end it will be best for our entire family. We can also get a lot of the GF products from the farm we get our meat and produce, so it'll be like a one-stop shop for the most part for us now! I can't wait to see how this change manifests itself for us.

Sorry if this is all over the place, I blame the pain meds :)

Let's end on some recent pictures of Rylee

Day 372: A New Year

So we're 3 days into the new year and I'm thinking it's going to be a good one. Last year was a tough, learning year for our family, and I think we can only go up. I'm pretty happy with what we've made it through together as a family. Everything just made us stronger and we'll be more successful in the long run.

We spent New Year's Eve with both of our families, separately, but it was still nice. It's nice to end the year with the ones you love. That day we spent together as a family, and the weather was almost 70 degrees, so we went outside with Rylee and played. She refused her nap, so it wasn't that great of a time as she was cranky, but we made the most of it.

All I can think is I can't wait until summer when we can spend a lot of time outside! Rylee is definitely an outdoors baby and this summer is looking like it will be a lot of fun!

As far as resolutions go, I, of course, want to be healthier, but my main one is to be a more patient parent. When Rylee is in one of her fit-throwing moods (terrible two's at one?!) I tend to lose it and raise my voice, and then I hate myself for doing so, so I hope to be more patient with her and speak calmly with her. Here's hoping I stick to my resolutions as both have a great effect on my little girl!

Day 365: Happy 1st Birthday!

Baby girl, you are 12 months old!! I just can't believe it! You grew up on me, and I know there's still a whole lot more growing to do. Yes, we bombarded you with the camera on the morning of your birthday, because we had to cherish and record every moment, just like the day you were born. We set up your birthday present the night before, and made sure you walked into the living room to see it, though you are a fan of being cuddled in the morning so you weren't too excited until you saw what was waiting for you.

"What's going on here?!" 

"Mom, what's that?!" 

"My own car?! I love it!" 

Determined to honk the horn, which you have yet to do

Starting it up!

She loves it!

Monthly picture

After breakfast and playing for the day, we headed out to the mall. Daddy and I decided that for your first birthday we would get you a Build-a-Bear and every year, until you were over it, we would take you back for a new outfit, etc. We held up several options and you reached out for a stuffed dog, you are your Daddy's daughter! We asked what you wanted to name her, and all you kept saying was "ello!" so we went with "Ella" since it's close to how you say hello. We went out to lunch and then headed home for your nap. We had family pictures scheduled for the evening, and then all of your grandparents, aunts, and uncles came over for cake and presents!

We had a wonderful day with you! You are talking a lot and signing a lot and have changed so much in just 12 short months. We went through some rough times, but those are all outshone by the wonderful days we've had. I've been lucky to be a part of all of your firsts and that just warms my heart. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us as you get older. I have a feeling you are going to be a handful, but that will keep me on my toys and prepared for any future siblings :) Love you, bug! Happy Birthday!

On the 28th, we went in for your 1 year check up. You are 30.75" (94%ile) and 23lb10oz (93%ile). Big girl! You got your shots, and unfortunately had a reaction to the chicken pox one. I was very upset as I didn't originally want to get it but your personality was never affected and all the spots were gone within 2 days. The doctor was impressed with your verbal skills, though you didn't like him too much. I had just calmed you down from your exam when the nurse came into the room with the shots, luckily you were fine by the time we left the room, and back to normal once we got home and played outside. 

Daddy and I are so blessed to have you in our lives and thank God every day for allowing us to guide you through this life. I can't wait to teach you and watch you learn! You are so inquisitive and try to mimic everything dad and I do and you're pretty good at it too!

Day 363: Christmas

So these next few posts will most likely be brief because well most of it went by in a blur and I'm finally getting my head screwed back on.

Christmas Eve we made cookies and set them out for Santa. We all got in our Christmas Eve pajamas and had a photo session in front of the tree!

Santa came and ate the cookie and left some pretty exciting presents! Paul and I had a blast setting her presents out, and have some pointers for next year- aka open everything and put it as together as possible. 

When Rylee got up the next morning, she went straight for her "Santa gift," her PBK My First Anywhere Chair. She also checked out the plate with this missing cookies and milk.  I will say that Santa was pretty successful for all of us! Rylee got her chair, a shopping cart, a xylophone, some books, snow boots, and in her stocking was 2 new sippy cups, a turtle night light, and 2 DVDs: Shawn the Sheep and Potty Time!

I got a Keurig and a griddle, two things I was very excited about! Who knew I would ever want kitchen appliances?! Paul got a robe and a new electric razor. 

After breakfast, we headed over to Paul's parents and that's where I got lost in playing and not taking pictures. We spent several hours there and Rylee got one of her favorite toys: a ball pit! Thanks Josh and Staci for introducing us to this great toy at Zoey's birthday party! Rylee played in that thing almost the entire time we were there! If it weren't for lunch, I doubt she would've gotten out. Rylee had a blast playing with her Aunt Suzie, who she must've missed over the past year! She was tentative around her Uncle Eric, but would warm up to him every now and then, and then be shy again. After this week, Paul and I have vowed it won't be a year before seeing them again! 

After lunch, we headed over to my parents, where we hoped Rylee would take a nap, but that didn't happen. Though we were lucky, she did great the entire day. After dinner, we opened presents there and Rylee got some more great things! And I got a Kindle, which I love! Rylee is a very lucky, very loved little girl. 

She slept great that night and has loved and had a blast with all of her toys since then. 

Day 354: Sign Language

When Rylee was 4 months old, we started doing sign language with her. Thanks to some great advice from moms on the Babysteals Facebook page, we bought the Baby Signing Time DVDs. It was a lot of money and I was worried if Rylee would even enjoy them at such a young age or how effective they would be. The first time I popped one of the DVDs in her eyes lit up and she just stared in amazement. I'm not sure if it was all of the babies on the screen or the music or the cartoons or all of it together. But I knew even if she didn't learn sign language that she would love the DVDs for any moments when I needed to sit her down real quick (or to avoid meltdowns on car trips!).

As I learned the signs, I started incorporating them into our everyday talking to Rylee, and Paul did the ones he picked up on. The main ones I wanted Rylee to learn was milk, more, and eat. Knowing those would be the most essential, though I did all of the ones I learned/knew.

At 7 months, she started signing milk and was thrilled when I responded by giving her a bottle, and so it began. She really tested it out that first week or so and was constantly signing milk, and seemed pleasantly surprised when I would always give her a bottle. After a few weeks though she seemed to be moving on to bigger and better things and didn't take the time to sign milk anymore. In that time she started waving bye bye and pulling up on everything and cruising. She definitely was back into physical learning mode.

Randomly about 2 months ago she started signing milk again. She was ready to use her communication skills again. In the last month or so, her signing skills have grown exponentially. I'm shocked, surprised, and thrilled all at the same time.

Towards the middle of November she started to sign more and learned to clap in the same week. I was so proud! In the last 2 weeks, she started to sign:  finished/all done (she says done when she does the sign), sign, ball, and hot. She uses the sign "sign" when she wants to watch her Baby Signing Time DVDs, which is always! HAHA! She is also working on the sign for outside, though it looks more like bye bye right now.

Today was the first time she signed "hot." She loves watching our front-loading washing machine, and today I was doing a load of diapers. I use a very hot setting to wash those and the glass door gets hot to the touch, so I told her it was hot and used the sign when I said it. She looked at the washer, then looked at me and signed hot and said "ha." She then touched the washer and did the same thing. About 10 minutes later, as I was putting lunch into the oven, without any prompting she walked up behind me and did it again. At the washer, I was doing it with her, but at the oven/stove, I didn't even say anything, she just knew. Then all night when anyone was near the stove, she would do it again, without any kind of prompting.

If I could afford it I would buy every parent a set of the Baby Signing Time collection. Rylee is communicating and learning so much right now, thanks to that. When the DVDs are on, I see her moving her fingers trying to make the signs she sees on the screen. She's actively learning and then applying it. I can honestly say it's the absolute best money I have spent on her, nothing beats communicating with your children.