Jeremy's Birthday

Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday & he took the day off to hunt. When Rylee & I got home, he opened his presents & Rylee insisted that he 'share' with her!

She thought it was necessary to try both of Jeremy's new hunting boots on for size. She had a little trouble walking in both of them.....but she has problems walking in her own shoes sometimes :)

And she insisted that the pull-up she found on the floor (it was a clean one, by the way) was a 'birthday hat!' She decided to wear it the rest of the evening :)

Update

Here's a quick update. Things have been crazy with Thanksgiving, Jeremy's birthday is today, Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping & planning, etc. Thanksgiving was great, except of course, the time off went way too fast. Jeremy hunted (of course), we put up our Christmas tree & the outside decorations. Here's a couple recent pictures of the 'princess.' We let Rylee pick the 'color/theme' for the tree this year & she picked red, much to my surprise?! It actually turned out really nice. She had fun helping us decorate....she's very interested in the ornaments. She took one off the other night and I told her that she could look, but to not touch. Well, it's apparent she can listen, but has a little trouble with 'following the rules' because last night, while vacuuming, I found some ornaments that she had 'stashed' under her bed :) I couldn't help but laugh!!

I think this picture (and the shirt) speaks for itself.

Yes, she's still attempting to pick out her own wardrobe, and........

Yes, it's still very amusing!!

She is growing up so quickly.

Halloween

This year I went with the kitty cat costume -- easy to put on, easy to take off & no whining from Rylee about being in some frilly, poofy costume!

She is such a cheese!!

This is 'Gonga' & my Uncle Rick from California

And those nice brown streaks on my Mom's cheeks are from Rylee. She felt it was only fair that if Gonga got to mark on her face (with eyeliner), she should get to mark on hers. Smart girl :)

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we had pictures taken with the 'Goldie' side of my family. It was definitely long overdue.

Front row, left to right -- Spencer (nephew), Dad, Rowan (neice), Kathy (step-mom) & Brenden (nephew)

Back row, left to right -- Debbe (sister), Jeremy, Rylee, myself, Eddeana (sister) & Tony (brother-in-law)

'Ghost Train'

Saturday night, Michele, Shelly & I took the kiddies to 'Ghost Train' in Mt. Pleasant. It's an outdoor carnival with a 'Ghost Train' ride. It was pretty cool & all the kids loved it!!

Here's a picture of the 'gang'!

Here's Michele & Trent when we went on the train ride. It had random stops where there were scary scenes and spooky people walking around the train....as you can see, Trent wasn't really too fond of this part. Poor little guy.

Here's Rylee is the Jumping Castle. Which she loved..until 'Spiderman' (there to her left) knocked her down. Then, that was it for her.

Overall, it was a very fun night!! Rylee is so much fun at this age. I was very proud of her because usually at 'new' places, she tends to stay glued to me. But, not last night. She got right in every single line, all by herself, holding Sidney's (Shelly's daughter) hand the entire time. I have to say I was so relieved to see her being so outoing & independent. She has a tendency to act shy at times, and she misses out on all the fun. But, not last night!!

Some Saturday Fun!

First we took Rylee to the St. Vincent's Carnival Saturday night. She had a BLAST!! She even did the cake walk & won us a cake!! She loved all the games & especially the food!

Then, we dropped Rylee off at Gonga's & BaPop's for awhile while Jeremy & I went down to my Dad's bar, Chintz's, to hang out & listen to the band. We had a good time & we ran into a bunch of people that we haven't seen for a really long time (since we don't go out anymore)!!

Ok, so...maybe we should consider signing her up for some dance classes!? :)

She makes up a lot of these 'moves' (if that's what you want to call them) herself. She definitely has a good sense of humor.....not real sure about rhythm...but definitely humor :)

Too Funny, I Just Had To Share.....

So, while I was gone tanning.....Jeremy asked Rylee to pick up her room. Look how great it looks!!!

However.........here is what our hallway looks like:

Now either Rylee has too much stuff OR her room is too small....and I'm leaning more towards the 'she has too much stuff' idea!!!

And it's now 8:00 and Rylee is still adding to the collection :)

I'll say one thing....as much as she can stress me out, she's always good when I need a laugh!!

Pictures From PJ & Bobbi's Wedding

Ok, so I have to start off by admitting 2 things: #1: These pictures were 'borrowed' from PJ & Bobbi (thanks!!) because I didn't get any that night......which leads to #2: I was sure glad that Katie got some pictures of my daughter, because I was way too busy trying to keep up with her at the reception, that I didn't have a second to grab my camera!! So, thanks to Katie for catching the moments & thanks to PJ & Bobbi for sharing!

Awesome....Semi-Weird....Pic

.........And just so you know, I did absolutely NO editing to this picture....isn't it kinda cool lookin'??!!.....Yeah ok, maybe a little pyscho, too!

Park Fun

On Saturday, Jessie, Jeremy & I took Rylee, Patrick (aka - 'Magic', Jessie's little brother) & Kendall (Jessie's step-son) to the park. It was SO MUCH FUN!! Rylee had a blast with Patrick & since she couldn't pronounce his name exactly & she thought she heard us calling him 'Magic' (instead of Patrick), the name stuck. From then on out, it was 'Come on, Magic!,' 'Come over here, Magic!' It was too cute for words!

Rylee's favorite thing at the park is the slide. She will do that over & over & over. It's funny too, because her hair gets full of static :)

This is Rylee, Aunt 'Wessie' & 'Magic' on the merry-go-round. Patrick was so sweet, he actually kept pushing them slow so that Rylee didn't get too scared! But....let me just tell you, the girl isn't scared of anything!!!!

And here's 'Magic' tickling Rylee!! She loves Magic :)

'So, She Thinks She Can Dance!'

So, my girl can dance!!

Which comes to no surprise, I've got moves, too :)

She is hilarious!! I was laughing so hard last night, I was almost crying! She is so full of personality, spunk, attitude (sometimes good....sometimes bad) & character!

Ok, so I'm not real sure what this 'move' is, but she sure knows how to make it cute :)

Big Girl Bed!

So, we finally did it --- we ditched the crib & upgraded to a toddler bed!!! It all started Saturday night, when I returned from St. Louis, Rylee was running a fever. She seemed to have a chest cold, she was a little wheezy & clingy. So, of course, I had to have her sleep in our bed with me. I was afraid the wheezing & shallow breathing would worsen & I wouldn't hear it if she was in her room. She wasn't much better by Sunday or Monday, so I kept her home with me on Monday.....which also meant that she was still sleeping with me. I knew this would be a hard habit to break her out of once she started to feel better. We started her on breathing treatments Monday & her fever broke later that night. I took her to the Dr. Tuesday morning & got her on antibiotics. Well, even after she began to feel better, at bedtime, she continued to plea, 'Sleep in Mommy's bed....ppllleeeaassee.' (the girl knows how to play me, that's for sure!) So, I decided today that maybe if we got her her own 'big girl bed,' she would be more interested in sleeping in that. Well, so far...it's worked. She has yet to sleep in it, but right now she is laying in it watching a movie.......I will let you know tomorrow how the night goes!?!?!

Here she is showing 'Penguin' their new bed :)

UPDATE: It's 9:26 p.m. & Rylee is asleep in her own bed!! :)...for now.

Cubs vs. Cardinals

This past weekend, my Mom, Mary, Kara & I had the privilege of attending a St. Louis Cardinal's game! We had AWESOME seats (5th row behind the dugout)!! And even though the Cardinal's didn't win, we had a fantastic time! I have to admit that the road trip on the way down was the best part. I cannot remember the last time that I laughed so hard, for so long! It was just really nice to get away with the girls and do our own thing. We spent the night Friday night & of course, shopped all day Saturday! And what trip to STL is complete without a stop @ The Cheesecake Factory?!! My fav!!

We had decided that this was our first annual 'AMI Girl's Weekend' & it will happen once a year from here on out!! I work with the best people -- it's always.....well...interesting -- there's never a dull moment :) It sure makes going to work everyday seem not so bad!

I think someone has a crush..................... :)

My Point Exactly

If you read the post before this one, you know what I'm saying. This just reiterates the fact that Rylee is a tomboy & a 'natural born hunter.' The girl can't get enough of anything that has to do with ducks, fish, turkeys, deer, or geese!! Here she is practicing (or should I say, perfecting) her duck call with Dad :) And I must admit, she's very good. I've tried to do it myself a couple of times & let's just say it sounds more like a 'sick duck.' She's a natural!