Hear Me ROAR!

Call it strange or funny, Ryleigh started growling this past week. It just comes from out of the blue and sometimes she'll keep on for several minutes. She'll growl at us if we get on to her about something...must be her "back talking". haha

Random Pics

Just some random pictures (old and new) I got off of Rance's camera...

Swimming....FINALLY!

We finally got a good weekend of swimming in last weekend. The water was just perfect and Ryleigh loved it! Tomorrow and Sunday are looking even better as the pool water has been in the 90's this week. Ryleigh gets to meet Jarred's Uncle Rusty tomorrow for the first time. We are looking forward to seeing him.

You can see Ryleigh's first tooth in this picture!

9 Months Old!

It's been a while since we've updated on everything that has been going on (my camera batteries have been dead for weeks) so I will try my best!
Ryleigh is 9 months old today! Soooo hard to believe! I spoke too soon about no teeth...she cut her first one on the bottom last weekend. (I'll post pics soon when I get some batteries!) Jarred is so upset that we don't have a "gummy smile" anymore. But I think the little tooth is just as cute! The tooth coming in didn't seem to bother her too much. She has just been drooling and gnawing on everything. I see 2 on the top under the gums getting ready to come in, but they aren't the 2 center teeth, they are the ones next to them. So we will see which ones come in first.
Ryleigh had her 9 month doctor visit today. Luckily she didn't have to have any shots. She didn't like it too much when the nurse wanted to lay her down to measure her and then when she tried to put the tape measure around her head and then get her temperature...she was screaming bloody murder. She warmed up though once she got used to the room and saw the mirror. She weighed 19 lbs 7 oz; 28 inches tall; and her head was 46.5 cm I think. (The nurse had to do it twice as Ryleigh was screaming her head off and turning it back and forth...haha) She was in the 75th percentile for her height and weight and in the 95th for her head size. The Dr said we can pretty much give her any table food we want with a few exceptions...woo hoo! And he predicted she would be walking before her 1st birthday!
Oh yea, she is EVERYWHERE! Crawling (FAST!), pulling up on any and everything, and is now cruising. She loves the stairs in our house. She goes up them one after the other. She gets so excited when she sees them and crawls over to them. I'll try to get a good video and post it.
Ryleigh's hair is starting to get longer now. She had a head full of hair when she was born, but lost a lot of it. It has finally started to grow, but it has lightened up and is now a light brown. Jarred had light brown/blonde hair when he was little, so she must be getting that from him! It will be interesting to see if it gets darker as she gets older.
I will post more pics and videos soon! Here are a few my parents took when they were in town last weekend.
Ryleigh loves pulling wipes out of the box as you can see!

Teeth or No Teeth

Ryleigh doesn't have any teeth yet, but we expect any day now! She is over 8 1/2 months and still no sign of a pearly white. This last week she has been chewing on her hands more and drooling like crazy, plus being fussy! Although we love her gummy smile, I'm sure a little tooth will be just as cute!
She loves her cold teething toys. The other day she had one in her mouth and would leave it there while she went about her business. In one of the pictures, the teething toy made it look like she had a full mouth of teeth and fangs! Kind of scary looking...haha!

Memorial Day

We tested the pool waters again on Memorial Day, but the temps weren't much better. But we did manage to get a little more pool time with Ryleigh. Once the water warms up, we think she is going to love it.
Here are some pics and video from Monday.

Kicking Off Swimming Season...Sort of

We kicked off swimming season this afternoon at Jarred's parents pool...well, sort of. The water was soo cold that we weren't in the pool for very long at all! Ryleigh got all suited up in her pink polka dot bathing suit with matching hat, had her sunscreen on, and her turtle floaty ready to go. Unfortunately the weather has not been picture perfect for their pool, but we gave it a go anyway. The water was a chilling 75 degrees...pretty much like swimming in ice water! We attempted for Ryleigh to get in her turtle floaty for a few minutes, but she wasn't up for the cold water either. Maybe tomorrow the water will be a little warmer since it was a pretty afternoon. If not, we'll try again next weekend! More pictures to come after we get a better day of swimming in.

Swingin'

What a task we had last weekend! Toys R Us had a swing set on sale a few weeks ago that we couldn't pass up for Ryleigh's birthday (yea, a little early, we know...). Bossier Toys R Us didn't have it, but Monroe had several in stock. My parents were nice enough to jet off to Monroe for us on the last day of the sale to get it...what won't grandparents do for their granddaughter?! :-) So my parents, Jarred's parents, MeMaw and us went in to get it for her. My parents came over to help as well as Jarred's dad. It took ALL day last Saturday. We started about 9am, took a short break for lunch, and didn't stop until after 7pm! And still didn't finish! We were missing 3 boards, but luckily they didn't prevent us from having to wait on them to continue on. We did all we could until we were all beat. There was a 60% chance of rain and thank goodness it didn't sprinkle until the very end of the day.
Jarred and I finished up the canopy after the boards came in on Thursday and finished up the picnic table part of the set we hadn't finished last Saturday.
After all said and done, Ryleigh loves swinging in her bucket swing and will hopefully get a lot of use out of it...one day.

Smart Baby

Ryleigh surprises us every day! She has caught on that if she is holding her bumbo tray and she lets go, that it will make a loud noise. Right before she lets go, she prepares herself for the loud noise. It's just too funny!

That Tickles Daddy

Ryleigh giggles and giggles when anyone tickles her belly. Her laugh just cracks us up and would make anyone smile!

Splish Splash, I Was Takin’ A Bath

Ryleigh loves taking baths, especially now that she has learned to splash in the water! She loves to pat her hands and kick her feet in the water...she gets a really good workout once she gets them going. The videos don't do it justice...she gets water everywhere! We think she is going to love the pool at Bear & Boo's in a few weeks!

Pulling Up

We had an eventful weekend with Ryleigh...from crawling to pulling up! She is everywhere and quite mobile now! She will be walking before we know it...what happened to our little baby?! :)

Sick Baby

Well, we have had a sick baby going on two weeks now! She was congested and coughing last week. She got better over the weekend, but relapsed and now has a runny nose and sneezing. We are praying this second go around does not last as long as the first...we don't like to see our baby sick!

Crawling...Officially

Ryleigh has officially started crawling!! This past weekend she went from her army crawl to crawling on her hands and knees. She has caught on very quick and can get to what she wants very fast! She is so interested in the cat, but now that Ryleigh is moving around a lot and can get to her, the cat does not like it too much! ha
Here is a short clip of her crawling towards the cat:

Verses of the Day

In light of some of the recent circumstances, here are some words of encouragement to me and others...No matter what, if you have faith and trust in Him, all things are possible.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34