Rolling over!!!!

We finally got Rylee rolling over on video...very exciting stuff!

4 months old!

How did that happen?!  We can't believe she is already 4 months old, time sure flies when you are having fun I guess :)  Here before we know it she is going to be having her first birthday...sheesh!

She was totally leaning forward, sitting up by herself in this picture

Yesterday Rylee had her 4-month checkup and as her doctor put it, she is "perfection" but...we already knew that.  She weighed 12.15 pounds (25%), was 25" long (50%) and had a head circumference of 16" (50%).  She continues to be right on track which is awesome.  The nurse told us she acts like a 6-month old, she even charted her as such and has to go back and redo it.  I have been using THIS milestone chart to keep track of her progress and we joke around that she is either advanced or just "average".  As you can see, according to this chart she is definitely an advanced 3-month old but the "advanced" 4-month old we will just have to wait for.  She talks up a storm, but no "baba"or "dada" sounds yet, just coos, squeals and screams.  It's hysterical!  

As far as the rolling over, we have yet to get it on film.  She did it 3 times when Grandma Vickie was here and once with uncle Jeff but whenever we put her on her tummy to get it recorded she just gets super mad.  She arches her back and twists to the side but her arm is always in the way but she will figure it out.  I am not giving up...yet.  I will get it sooner or later.  

She can grab items if held in front of her, then she immediately puts it in her mouth.  Her favorites are her diamond ring and sock monkey.  Her uncle is also teaching her to hold her bottle and put her binkie back in her mouth, but we aren't having much success with it haha

She is starting to be more responsive to her name and will turn toward voices and usually gives a big smile to whoever is talking to her.  She is totally into her toes.  She is lifting them up into the "happy baby" yoga pose constantly...in bed, on the floor, in her bouncy chair, the changing table, in the bath, etc.

One of Rylee's new tricks is standing!  She can stand up with help and her balance is getting a lot better.  Lately she grabs our fingers and will sit up all the way into the standing position--pretty sure this is waaaaaay advanced :)  I will have to get a picture to post later.

One of the coolest things we are experiencing, and I hope I don't jinx it, is a good night sleep!!!  We started putting Rylee in her crib at night on January 1st and she has slept at least 8 hours every night since!!!  Some mornings she will wake up around 5am, want to eat and will go right back to sleep.  She usually wakes up sometime between 7 and 8 and some times not til 9-10!  Sure has been nice.  The only down side is that mom wakes up soaking wet but I'll take that over waking up in the middle of the night any day!

HERE are some more pictures from this month...enjoy!

Baby's First Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!!!  Rylee's first Christmas was awesome!  I totally thought she was just going to sit there as if nothing was going on but she was super active and alert and took having everyone here like a champ!

The day that my parents arrived I was a little behind and still had a ton of stuff to do so I recruited my brother to help me decorate cookies, he did awesome, they turned out great!

Since Grandpa was here we had to get little miss all dressed up for Aloha Friday...I even had leggings to match...well, sort of...they were red and white :)

We went to Zoo Lights on Friday night.  It was awesome!  There was something like 3 million lights and all kinds of animal displays.  We even got to see real animals, zebras and flamingos-woohoo!  I can't wait until Rylee is bigger and we can go to the zoo all the time.  

On Christmas Eve we went to church at a huge community church (they did 5 Christmas Eve services) and we really liked it.  Rylee did too!  At first when the loud music started we got a little worried but she only fussed a little bit and it was because she wanted to get out of her car seat and see what was going on.  We might have to go back and see what their regular services are like; if they are anything like what we went to I think we would really enjoy it.  Rylee got all dolled up in her Christmas dress from Grandma and Grandpa, she looked adorable but wasn't too sure about the dress...

Christmas Eve we ate a huge crab dinner, it was delicious, and then we played games and hung out until Bob and Vickie got in.  Rylee fell asleep and then woke back up right before they got to the house.  Then we got to play Santa for the first time...yay!  When I bought Rylee's toy I didn't think it required that much assembly; it was a different story when we opened it up and saw all the parts!  Santa got it handled though.

On Christmas morning it was a little weird not waking up in Red Lodge with snow but it was still great.  Rylee woke up early so we brought her into our room for a little family time before we went down to see what Santa brought us!

She was more interested than I thought she would be and actually plays with her guys!

Santa brought mom and dad a new stove!!!  Now all of our appliances are going to match.  We also got a metal art piece from Back Alley Metals, it turned out so much cooler than we thought it was going to!  Sneaky way of getting it too...we even hung it up that morning :)  Thanks mom and dad!  We also got our tickets from Bob and Vickie to fly back East this spring so Rylee can meet that side of her family, can't wait!  

We drank Christmas tea all morning and had our traditional prime rib dinner, definitely missed Travis, Grandma Etta and the Browns, maybe next Christmas we call all be together.  All is all it was a wonderful Christmas and I am so glad that Rylee had all of her grandparents and her aunt and uncle here for her first Christmas, it was lots of fun!  Hope you all had a great day as well.

  

Toes!!!

Rylee had lots to tell me yesterday!  She found her toes last weekend and can not stop grabbing them.  She lifts her legs up like this all day long, even in the bath tub--too cute!  We are having so much fun with her now that she is super alert and getting more active every day.  I will post Christmas pictures soon :)

Three Months Old!

Everyone says that time flies and kids grow up so fast. Before you know it they are no longer babies and they are walking and talking, then driving and then graduating college. I of course just shrugged it off thinking yeah yeah whatever! Well, now three months have gone by and I am sitting here thinking holy cow, how did that happen!?  We measures little miss and she is exactly 2 feet tall and weighs 12.4 pounds!  We think she is going through a growth spurt because she eats and sleeps a lot and I find it hard to keep up with her in the milk department.  We are making it through though and obviously she is not malnourished.


I know she is still a baby but she seems so grown up already. She is such a joy and she continues to change and make us laugh every day. Her new thing is "talking" to us with her mouth shut, so she kind of hums. Her dad calls is her ventriloquist act. It's super cute...

(notice how much she is kicking?  This is why we only got a couple picture to turn out during our 3-month photo shoot--they were all really blurry)

Again, she enjoys loves, loves, LOVES taking a bath. She has outgrown the sink so we bathe her in her little plastic tub in the bath tub. She now has much more room to kick and splash and boy does she kick up a storm!  Luckily for dad and me all that kicking wares her out and she is out as soon as we get her dressed for bed and fed.  I need to look into getting her in a swimming class, I think she would really like it.  However, she HATES being cold so that might take some getting used to.

I just love this little smile and giggle!

(it looks like she is wearing a bow tie) 

Rylee is as ready as she will be for Christmas, it's hard to get a 3-month old too excited.  She has been a big help in the kitchen while I make all of my Christmas goodies this week, she sits in her highchair and sings Christmas songs with me.  Next year will be a whole different scene I am sure.  Grandmas and Grandpas will be arriving soon, should be a great weekend with everyone here.  Wish uncle Travis was coming too!

Fantasy of lights boat parade

The other night I made a little deal with my hubby...he could golf Saturday morning if he promised to go look at Christmas lights with me Saturday night (he has never been a fan and it's one of my FAVORITE things to do). He agreed and I found online this parade on Tempe Lake where all the boats get all decked out and float around, I thought it sounded fun so that's what we did instead of driving around. Aunt Jamie even went with us! It was actually pretty cool (cooler than I thought it would be) and Ryan even admitted that it was better than driving around...YAY! Rylee really enjoyed looking at the lights and was such a trooper the whole time we were out there even though her little hat kept covering her eyes.

There were all kinds of boats out there, ski boats, pontoons, yachts and even canoes. My favorites were the Polar Express "train" and Rudolph pulling Santa's boat.

Baby girl all bundled up (it was only 60 degrees out lol). Notice her mittens...yeah, they were a little, I mean a lot big but it was better than embarrassing her in public with socks on her hands like we do at home--haha

Watching the boats with daddy!

Family photo op

Hope everyone is starting to get into the Christmas spirit like we are. We may have started a new family tradition......just sayin'

Afterwards we grabbed dinner and Rylee told me all about her night...

Santa!

Rylee's first visit with Santa was a complete success! We got to Bass Pro Shop and the line was ridiculous; however, they have these things called "Bass Passes" that allow you to comp back when the line was shorter so instead of standing in line for an hour we only had a 10 minute wait. Awesome! So while we waited we went to lunch. She was sleeping the whole time standing in line, we woke her up when we were towards the front of the line, she sat on Santa's lap, got her picture taken and then fell back asleep as soon as we left the store! Here is her first official picture with Santa...

We shall see if she is as cooperative next year. I have a feeling she will be one of those screaming children haha