Birthday Night

After spending the day at the zoo and not really getting a nap I was afraid that Rylee would be a beast the night of her birthday, but her little cat nap was enough to perk her up and she was ready to party :)

Baby doll, popper and pink cup from Jamie and Jeffrey

 

 Presents!!!

Boring plates and bowls and a car seat from mom and dad haha

This thing is the coolest!  Took her a minute to figure it out but she's got it now

Every time Aunt Jamie comes over with her cup Rylee always wants to "share" so now she has one of her own!!!  She loves it!

I felt like Rylee HAD to have cake on her actual birthday so we gave her a mini cupcake.  She wasn't too sure about it at first, the sweetness of the frosting kind of took her by surprise and she made a funny face.  However, she got used to is and then devoured it!

I'll admit that after she had her first couple "bites" I took the frosting off her cupcake and just let her eat the cake part.  Come on, it was right before bed time!!!  I know, I suck and am no fun hahaha

The night before Rylee's birthday I was rocking her to sleep and I started crying my eyes out.  It was so hard to believe that just a year ago we were sitting in the hospital and approaching the 32 hour mark.  I relived a few agonizing moments of that night but mostly just thought about how dramatically our lives changed the second she entered into the world.  I don't even remember the people we were pre-Rylee and honestly I don't even care. Rylee has been the most amazing little blessing and it has been such a joy watching her develop and grow and become quite the little individual.  There is no way I could ever express the love I have for her and there is nothing that we wouldn't do for her.  She is such a joy and I am so proud of the little girl she is becoming.  Happy First Birthday baby girl, we love you so much!!!

A Year in Review

Yeah, I cried too!

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

For Rylee's birthday we spent the day at the zoo!  We even got a membership so Rylee and I can go whenever we want!!!  Can't wait to go once it cools off a bit.

Looking at the elephant

There was a squirrel monkey exhibit that you could walk through that had these little guys just roaming around.  There was a gang of about 16 of them just jumping and swinging about.  They were so cute and Rylee loved them!

Riding the Komodo Dragon

Rylee's first time on a carousel.  Of course Dad wanted her to ride the Bald Eagle :)

Right before I started to video her, she was rocking back and forth and singing!

She looks so grown up sitting there all by herself

We had a little picnic for lunch and then went to check out the Giraffe's

Rylee loved walking around and checking stuff out, she got to the point where she didn't even want to sit in her stroller.  She is such a good little walker and did a great job all day.  

We were walking down a hill 

The Phoenix Zoo is pretty cool

Being that it was a Wednesday, there weren't too many people at the zoo.  We went to the Baboon exhibit and we sat there for a minute and this guy walked up to Rylee and started "talking" to her.  It was awesome. She was a little unsure about it at first but then she started to like it.  **Not sure why I stopped the video so soon, the conversation was just starting to get good haha

We had such a great time at the zoo with our big one year old!  It was a great way to celebrate her special day.  More on her birthday soon.

Bath Time

Naked baby alert!

So every night for the last year we have had pretty much the exact same routine...it makes our life a lot less stressful I swear.  Now that Rylee is cruising around we go up to her room, get undressed and then she walks into her bathroom (after she pulls her puppy out of her crib).  

She loves to knock her bottles into the water now and does it every single night.  No matter how many times I put them back up she will continue to knock them in.  

We have also started to sit on the potty for a second before bath, just to get used to it.  She HATES it!  Even now that we have her own little potty--still wants nothing to do with it.  We are in no hurry by any means to start potty training--we obviously are not ready so I don't force her to sit on it.

Somersaults

Ryan has taught Rylee how to do a somersault.  She can't quite do one on her own but she likes to try!

She loves flipping around.  Ryan will do front and back flips with her too -- oh boy!

She is too funny!

Silly Girl

I have started giving Rylee her wash cloth after I get her cleaned up after she eats and she will wipe down her tray.  She does a good job too!  Last night when I was doing the dished I looked over and Rylee had her wash cloth on her head and she was laughing at herself.  Then she keeps saying "boo" and taking it off and then putting it back on her head again. She's too funny!

This girl continues to crack us up daily!