Kelly's Korner: SUYL Singles Link-Up (Michelle)

It has been 4 months - FOUR LONG MONTHS - since I posted my last blog entry. And I know that is TOTALLY unacceptable, and I absolutely deserve the award for "World's Worst Blogger", and I have SO much to catch you all up on in relation to life lately and my growing babies, BUT... all of that will have to wait for another day (hopefully... I really, really, REALLY do want to get back into blogging regularly). Today, I am not here to post anything about me. Today, I am here to write about my sweet friend, Michelle.

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is currently hosting her fifth "Show Us Your Life: Singles" link-up, and after much thought/consideration and discussion with Michelle, I couldn't resist sharing a little bit about her. You just never know how God may choose to lead someone to the person He has chosen for them to spend their life with. (And considering the fact that five couples have met and gotten married as a result of Kelly's SUYL link-ups, I'd say it's worth a shot.) So, without further ado, meet Michelle:

The first and most important thing you should know about Michelle is that she is a devout Christian. She was raised in a Christian home and accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior at a young age. She seeks daily to follow God's will for her life, and her heart's deepest desire is to find a Godly man to share her life with and raise a family.

Some of Michelle's interests include aviation (she LOVES going to air shows), photography, meteorology, nature, organizing, reading, and traveling. She describes herself as a "country/western girl, but not completely country". She drives a truck and loves camo and boots, but she admits that she has never been fishing, hunting, or mud riding (although she is open to trying all of these activities). She is also an animal lover. She has two dogs, a cat, and a pet rabbit.

Michelle and one of her dogs, Belle

Michelle is praying for God to lead her to a man who seeks daily to exemplify the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). She understands that no one is perfect (and never will be), but she simply desires to find a man who strives to live for Christ and be the spiritual leader of his family.

Michelle is currently living in south Alabama, but would be willing to move if/when a strong relationship is developed and a future is clear. If you or someone you know would be interested in getting to know Michelle better, please leave a comment on this post, and I would be happy to pass the information on to her. God bless!

The Pioneer Woman's Banana Bread

I have never been a fan of bananas. I might be able to bring myself to eat a bite or two of one every now and then, but I REALLY have to be in the mood for it. Other than that, I'd prefer to have nothing to do with bananas... except when it comes to banana bread. I may not like bananas, but I love banana bread (no nuts, though, please). Go figure.
A week or so ago, my sweet husband brought home two bunches of bananas from the grocery store... and then proceeded to leave them on the kitchen counter and NOT eat them (he DOES like bananas... so does Rylee). A couple days ago, I walked into the kitchen to get something out of the fridge, and as I passed the counter where the bananas were sitting, neglected and still uneaten, I noticed they were covered in those telltale brown spots, as if to say, "If you don't eat me or do something with me soon, I'm going to go bad." I fed one to Rylee later that day, but since I knew there was no way she and Jordan would eat 12 bananas in the next day or two, I decided it'd be best if I just went ahead and made some banana bread.
The Pioneer Woman has a great recipe for banana bread that I've made once before, so I pulled it out again, gathered all the necessary ingredients, and got to baking. Here's the recipe:


Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups + 2tbls. sugar
3 whole eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
4 cups + 2tbls. flour
1tsp. baking soda
1 1/2tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Preparation/Baking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour bundt pan.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Add mashed bananas and beat.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add dry ingredients and sour cream alternately to the mixing bowl. Beat well until all combined.
Pour into bundt pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Invert on a cooling rack and allow cake to cool slightly before slicing and serving.


Since I had 12 bananas I needed to use up, I ended up making this recipe THREE times. I made two batches in a bundt pan as the recipe instructs, but I decided to divide the last batch into an 8-slot mini-loaf pan, baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. It was enough to make 16 mini-loaves. I added chocolate chips to half of them. I haven't tried banana bread with chocolate chips before, but I've heard it's extra yummy, so we'll see how they turned out. Anyway, my house now smells like banana bread (which I don't mind at all), and my family and I will be eating on banana bread for a while, but that's okay, too, because... well... it's yummy. I'm also going to take some to church tomorrow morning to share with our Sunday school class... cause I'm just that sweet.
Anyway, that's all I have for now. I know I still have a TON of backtracking/updating to do, but I'll try to get back to that another day. Until next time...

16 mini-loaves of banana bread

one of the two batches of banana bread I made in the bundt pan

I Got a Haircut

Last week, I got a haircut. Might not be a big deal to you, but it was to me. I have been wearing my hair long for years. Back in middle school (I think), I decided to grow my bangs out to be the same length as my hair, and I've had it that way ever since. Of course I've gotten trims periodically over the years, and I've usually had layers cut into it as well, but overall, it's been the same style for years. When I was pregnant with Rylee, I decided to get my hair cut a medium length and get long, side-swept bangs. I pretty much hated it. I have never been good about knowing how to style my hair, and the long bangs drove me crazy. I told myself I would never do that again. Well, it's been a couple of years, my bangs had grown out with the rest of my hair, and I was ready for a change again. As a mom of two little ones, I wanted something that wouldn't be so "in the way" all the time. My hair was so long that, any time I would lean over to pick up the baby, I couldn't even see him because my hair was all in my face. (Before you say it, I know what you're thinking... "Why not just pull it back in a ponytail?" Well... I don't always think of that. And even when I do, the baby just grabs a fist-full of hair and pulls it right out. So it's pointless.) So anyway, I decided I wanted to get my hair cut. And I mean really cut. I started looking online for pictures of medium-length hairstyles with bangs. Not those annoying, long, side-swept bangs again. No sir. I mean legit, straight-across-the-forehead bangs. I ended up finding this picture and fell in love (NOT with the girl... with her hair):

That's actress Emily Deschanel, big sister to actress Zooey Deschanel. I didn't know Zooey had a big sister, but anyway, I found this picture of her, and her hairstyle was exactly what I had in mind for myself. And how perfect is it that her name is Emily, too? It was like a sign or something, right? (Totally kidding.) So anyway, I took this picture with me to show my hairstylist, and I did it... I got my hair cut. Five inches - gone.
It's VERY different from what I've been used to all these years (especially the bangs), but I think I like it so far. I still don't have the first idea of how to style it to actually make it look like Emily Deschanel's (I need a hair straightener to do that... too bad I don't own one or even know how to use one...), but it feels a lot better, and it's nice to have a change. I've gotten several compliments on it, and people have told me I look like a more "mature" mom now, so I guess it's gone over well so far. So anyway, without further ado, here's what I look like now:

Ryan's 4-Month Check-Up

It has been almost a full month since my last post, and that really saddens/bothers me. I miss blogging, and I am SO behind on posting about life lately, but I tell ya... it's REALLY hard to find free time with two little ones to take care of. I only have about a two-hour window during the day when they are both down for a nap at the same time, but then I have a whole house full of things that need to be done, like dishes and laundry and vacuuming... the list just goes on and on. It's a day after day, never-ending cycle, and needless to say, it unfortunately doesn't leave much time for blogging (or reading, which is another passion of mine that I'm trying to pick back up). I realize I probably won't ever get caught up on all of the things I've wanted to post about the past several months, but I figure I've got to try to start somewhere. So, with that said, I wanted to attempt to post an update from Ryan's 4-month check-up at the pediatrician's office on Monday.
I don't even remember how old Ryan was when I last posted an update on him, but I really can't believe he's already 4 months old. He is such a sweet, happy baby. He is always smiling and laughing. He loves to reach for my face and try to pull me to him so he can give me big, wet "kisses". He can roll over from his back to his stomach. He sucks his thumb, just like his big sister. And boy oh boy, is he teething! I don't remember Rylee ever being very fussy while she was teething, and she didn't finally cut her first tooth until she was 10 months old (if I remember correctly), but Ryan has been pretty fussy the past week or so, and his hands are CONSTANTLY in his mouth, so it'll be interesting to see when he cuts his first tooth. Considering the fact that I'm nursing him, I'm in no rush for it to happen.
ANYWAY, on Monday of this week, it was time for me to take Ryan to the doctor for his 4-month check-up. The visit went well, and Dr. Trumbull was very pleased with how he's doing. He now weighs 17 pounds, 8 ounces, putting him in the 90th percentile of weight among other babies his age, and he is 26 3/4 inches long, putting him in the 97th percentile of length among other babies his age. He is a big, healthy baby, and I couldn't be more thankful. (He's currently wearing 6-month sized clothes, but based on his weight and height, it's time to move him up to 9-month clothes! Crazy!) Dr. Trumbull told me we can take Ryan off of his Zantac medicine soon, which I was happy to hear, and he discussed the importance of having him on a schedule, which I've already been working on with him for about two months. He's been sleeping through the night for about a month now (praise the Lord!), and he's doing really well going down for his naps every day. Dr. Trumbull told me to start him on infant cereal in about a month, and a couple weeks after that, we'll start vegetables and fruits. My baby is growing up fast! At the end of the appointment, Ryan had to get three shots and an oral vaccination (which I think is just as hard - if not harder - on me than it is on him), so he was pretty pitiful the rest of the day. Overall, though, he's doing great, and I'm so thankful for such a precious blessing from the Lord. Here are some pictures I snapped of Ryan at the pediatrician's office while we were waiting for the doctor to come in:

First Family Trip to the Zoo

A couple weeks ago, back on March 29th, some of our sweet friends from church, Heath and Brittany, invited us to join them and their precious baby girl, Addisyn, in a trip to the local zoo. We hadn't been to the zoo since before Rylee was born, so we were excited to visit it again and see how Rylee would react to seeing all the different animals for the first time. She has a few animal books here at home that she loves looking through, so I was hoping she would recognize several of them at the zoo based on their pictures in her books.
When we got there, we decided to go ahead and buy a one-year zoo membership so we can visit as many times as we want to for free throughout the next year. We also bought the train pass so we can ride the train as many times as we want to while we're there.
Between walking around to look at all of the animals, stopping to eat a picnic lunch, riding the train, and playing on the playground, we ended up spending about five hours there. Rylee seemed to really enjoy it, which makes me anxious to go back with her again soon. Ryan was asleep in his stroller basically the whole time we were there, but considering he's only three months old, that was to be expected. I know he'll enjoy the zoo a lot more as he gets older and becomes more aware of his surroundings.
Anyway, we had a great time enjoying God's amazing creations and making special memories with our friends and our little family. Below are some pictures from our day at the zoo. They're out of order, which totally drives me crazy, but believe it or not, I don't feel like trying to fix them.

riding the train

our friends: Heath, Brittany, and Addisyn (and Rylee looking at the monkeys)

my pretty girl, ready for her first trip to the zoo

swinging on the playground

swinging on the playground

swinging on the playground

swinging on the playground

swinging on the playground

Chicken and Dumpling Bake Casserole

Hello, Blog. I know I'm supposed to be trying to catch up on certain posts like our recent trip to the zoo and Easter this past weekend, but instead, I'm just checking in to share another recipe. Surprise, surprise. I promise I'm not turning this blog into a recipe blog... I just can't help but share this stuff since this has become part of my life (trying to cook more/experiment with new recipes). So anyway, please don't be mad at me... I will try to update on what's been going on with our little family lately very soon, but for now, you'll thank me for sharing this recipe. Trust me. It's called Chicken and Dumpling Bake Casserole. I found it on Pinterest. (Where else?) It's been sitting in my "Recipes I Wanna Try" pin board for several weeks now, and I finally decided to try it for dinner tonight. To be honest, I actually didn't have very high expectations for it. I mean, I like chicken and dumplings, but it's not my favorite meal in the world, and there was nothing to this recipe that really made me think, "Oh yeah... this is gonna be GOOD." Nevertheless, I knew I wanted to try it, and it seemed easy enough to be worth my time. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally tasted it. It was actually really yummy. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say it's one of my favorite recipes from Pinterest that I've tried so far. Jordan also really liked it, so I'll definitely be making it again. This is one to try, folks. You're welcome.
Here's the recipe:


Chicken and Dumpling Bake Casserole

Ingredients: 
3-4 cups cooked chicken (I didn't actually measure... I just used four nice-sized chicken breasts, cut up.) 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 
1 cup self-rising flour 
1 cup milk 
2 cups chicken broth 
1 can cream of chicken soup

Preparation/Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Shred chicken, and spread it on top of the butter.
In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and flour, and slowly pour it over the chicken, taking care not to disturb the chicken too much. Do not stir.
Whisk together chicken broth and cream of chicken soup, and slowly pour over the flour and milk mixture. Do not stir.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes until top is light golden brown.

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Cups

I'm back with another quick recipe from Pinterest for you. (You're welcome.) It's called Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Cups. I've always been a fan of chicken pot pie (especially Stouffer's chicken pot pie), so I was anxious to see how these would turn out, especially with the cheesy twist. Jordan and I both liked them. Again, they weren't anything that necessarily "wowed" us, but they were good. I'm sure I'll make them again at some point. Here's the recipe:


Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Cups

Ingredients:
1 can biscuits (I used an 8-count can of Pillsbury Butter Tastin' Flaky biscuits.)
1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (I used a peas, carrots, corn, and green beans mixture.)
1tsp. dried parsley flakes
1tsp. onion powder

Preparation/Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Separate biscuits and place each one in a cup of a lightly-greased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing the dough up the sides to the edge of the cup.
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen vegetables, cheese, parsley, and onion powder. Mix well.
Evenly spoon chicken mixture into prepared biscuit cups.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken and Cream Cheese Mac & Cheese

A few weeks ago, I decided to be REALLY ambitious and try TWO new recipes for one meal. Once again, I credit Pinterest for introducing me to these two recipes. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Pinterest? Yes? I thought so.) Anyway, the first recipe is for Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken, and the second recipe is for Cream Cheese Macaroni and Cheese. The chicken was so quick and easy to make, and it was absolutely DELICIOUS! I will definitely be making it again. The macaroni and cheese was good overall, but the recipe calls for nutmeg, and I wish I had left it out, or at least cut the amount it called for in half. When I was preparing to make it, I didn't know/couldn't remember if I've ever had anything with nutmeg in it and if I liked it, so I decided to just go ahead and put it in, because I read that it really compliments creamy dishes. Well, in my opinion, the nutmeg gave the macaroni and cheese an earthy/peppery taste, and if you know me, you know I DON'T like pepper (the original recipe actually calls for pepper, too, but I omitted it). So anyway, if/when I make this particular macaroni and cheese recipe again, I will definitely be omitting the nutmeg. Otherwise, though, it was another successful day of recipe-trying. Here are the recipes:


Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
1/2tsp. garlic powder
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preparation/Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix cheese, dressing mix, and garlic powder together in a bowl.
Moisten chicken breasts with water, coat with the cheese mixture, and then place in a shallow, greased baking dish.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.


Cream Cheese Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
3/4lb. elbow macaroni
olive oil, for drizzling
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2tbls. salt
1 1/2 cups (4oz.) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups (4oz.) shredded Colby Jack cheese
1 1/2 cups (4oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Preparation/Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook macaroni for 3 minutes (don't worry... it'll still be very chewy). Drain macaroni, and return to the pot. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, and toss well.
Grease a large baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk the heavy cream with the half-and-half, milk, eggs, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in the cheeses and the macaroni. Spread the mac and cheese in the prepared baking dish, and scatter the cream cheese cubes on top.
Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and spread the melted cream cheese cubes evenly over the surface of the macaroni. Place dish back in oven, and bake for 40 more minutes, until bubbling.
Remove the baking dish from the oven, and preheat the broiler. Broil the mac and cheese about 3 inches from the heat source until richly browned, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 10 to 20 minutes before serving.

Enchilada Stuffed Shells

I can't believe I'm actually back here already to write another quick post. Two days in a row - go me! I still have several posts I want/need to write soon to update on life lately and share some recipes I've tried recently, but for now, I wanted to go ahead and share the recipe I made for dinner tonight. It's called Enchilada Stuffed Shells. As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of all things enchilada, so I was looking forward to trying these. They turned out pretty good... nothing that made me jump out of my seat, but I'm sure I'll probably make them again at some point (especially considering the fact that I still have half a box of uncooked jumbo pasta shells in my pantry). Anyway, here's the recipe:


Enchilada Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
15 jumbo pasta shells
1lb. ground beef
2 (10oz.) cans mild enchilada sauce
1/4tsp. onion powder
1/4tsp. dried oregano
1/4tsp. dried basil
1/4tsp. ground cumin
1/2 cup refried beans
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

Preparation/Baking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain any excess fat.
Stir in onion powder, oregano, basil, and cumin.
Stir in 1 can of enchilada sauce.
Stir in refried beans.
Coat an 11x7-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, and pour half of the remaining can of enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom.
Fill each cooked pasta shell with the beef/refried bean mixture, and place into the bottom of the coated baking dish.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the shells.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, uncover, and sprinkle the tops of the shells with Colby Jack cheese.
Put the dish back in the oven, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Girls' Night Out, March 16th

Hello, Dear Blog. Remember me? Oh you poor, forsaken thing. I know it's been far too long since my last post, but I fear that is probably how it will be from now until... oh... FOREVER. Who knew that adding another baby to the mix would take up every last little bit of "free time" I used to think I had? (Yes, yes, I see you, all you parents of multiple children who are waving your hands in the air.) I know, I know. Really, though, I am sad I don't have time to blog the way I would like to anymore. There are several more recipes from Pinterest that I've tried lately that I want to share on here, and I'm so behind on updating about life in general. I'll do my best to get caught up over the next several days (do NOT hold me to that, though, because you more than likely will end up disappointed...), but for now, I wanted to post about the Girls' Night Out that the ladies from my Sunday school class had a few weeks ago.
We decided to meet at Olive Garden for dinner and fellowship. I LOVE Olive Garden, and I was definitely up for a little grown-up girl time. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home and take care of my babies every day, but sometimes, I NEED to get out of the house and have a little adult interaction.
Jordan got home from work that Friday evening and took over Daddy-duty, and I headed out the door to the restaurant. It was my first time out by myself since Ryan was born. It felt a little weird not having him with me, but I knew he was in good hands at home.
I got to the restaurant and joined two of the girls from our Sunday school class who were already waiting to be seated. Right after I walked in the door, a waitress escorted the three of us to our reserved table. Shortly after that, the rest of the ladies arrived. There were nine of us there altogether that evening. I'd say it was a pretty good turnout for our first Girls' Night Out.
I think I speak for everyone when I say we had a really enjoyable night. The food was really yummy (duh... we were at Olive Garden), and it felt so good to just sit around a table with other women going through some of the same challenges I am as a wife and mom and just talk and laugh about life. I think we were there for about two hours before we finally wrapped things up for the evening. I ended up running across the street to Target with my friend, Brittany (one of the girls in the Sunday school class with me) to grab a potato masher, since I was planning to try the Pioneer Woman's recipe for creamy mashed potatoes the next day (this is one of the recipes I'm planning to post about if/when I ever have the time). After that, we parted ways and headed home.
We're planning to have another Girls' Night Out later this month, and I can't wait. We don't have set plans for what we'll be doing yet, but I'm sure that, whatever we end up doing, I'll enjoy it. I'm so blessed to have a loving church family - and specifically a Sunday school class that focuses on the stage of life I'm currently in as a "young adult", and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to fellowship with each other every now and then for support and encouragement.
I took my camera with me that evening in case we had our waitress snap a picture of all of us at dinner, but of course that didn't happen (which is fine). I did have Jordan take a few pictures of me with my babies before I left the house, though, so I figure I'll share those instead...

Until next time...

(LONG OVERDUE) Update on My Babies

I've been meaning to do an update post on Rylee and Ryan for FOREVER now, but I just haven't gotten around to it. (I know, I know... I'm failing miserably at my motherly duty of documenting every second of their lives. Believe me, I'm not happy about it either.) They are both growing SO fast. It's pretty ridiculous, actually.
First, I'll attempt to catch you all up on how Rylee is doing these days. I say "attempt", because she has grown so much in so many ways the past few months that it would be impossible for me to mention it all. I'll do my best to include as much as I can think of, but it'll probably be a bit all over the place as things pop into my mind, so just buckle up and hold on for the ride. Okay... here we go...

As of four days ago, Rylee is now 21 months old. That means in just three short months, we'll be celebrating her second birthday. How is that even possible? I seriously can't believe it. I only thought the first year of her life went by quickly - and it did. But this second year... holy cow. It feels like we just celebrated her first birthday a few weeks ago. It CAN'T already almost be time for her to blow out candles again.
Rylee has grown and changed SO much in this past year. I was just telling my mom the other day that I have recently realized she's not even in her "toddler" stage anymore (*insert sad face here*). She is a little girl now. (I know it might sound a little silly for me to say it like that, but I don't know how else to put it. What "stage" comes after the toddler stage?)
She is very smart and spirited and independent.
She is learning more and more every day how to communicate with us, and she is comprehending things that I really didn't think she'd be able to understand for another year or two. She just blows my mind. Her vocabulary has sky-rocketed the past couple of months. I've lost count of how many words - and a few phrases - she can say, and she's to the point now where she can try to pronounce anything we ask her to say. It's also a good reminder to us that we really have to be careful what we say around her now (no, we don't cuss... I'm simply referring to more personal, "adult" conversation), because she may very well repeat it back to us - or worse, someone else - at some point.
She loves to read and sing and dance and play with her toys.
She loves watching game shows (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that in a post about her before).
She loves her baby brother, though she is often jealous of him (which I know is to be expected at this age, when he is demanding so much of my attention). She likes to help me burp him after he eats, and she will ask to hold him every now and then (which is quite a sight, since he is already almost as big as her). She pronounces his name "Ry-ee", and I think it's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. (You'd think she was actually saying her own name, based on that pronunciation, but she actually pronounces her name as "Ly-lee". I don't know why she makes the "R" sound for Ryan's name, but not her own.)
She loves her mommy, but she is a TOTAL daddy's girl - she has him wrapped around all ten of her fingers, and she knows it (and Jordan wouldn't have it any other way, either). Anytime we ask her "Rylee, who do you love?", she replies with "Daddy!" every single time. He has ruined her. (That was a joke... sorta...)

Rylee and Daddy, Feb. 28th

She is still wearing size 18-month clothes, but I'm expecting to move her up to size 24-month/2T clothes around her birthday. We'll just have to see how much she grows between now and then. She's tall and lean like her daddy. According to our bathroom scale, she weighs about 25 pounds right now, give or take a few ounces.
She looks almost spitting-image of how I did when I was her age. It's a weird feeling for me, because every time I look at her, I feel like I'm looking into the past at myself.

This is me when I was around Rylee's age.

She still sucks her thumb. I have a feeling she's not going to be letting that habit go any time soon.
Her facial expressions crack me up. She is so expressive.
She has it in her mind that my cell phone is HERS, and there are scratches and teeth marks all over it to prove it. I'm ordering a new cell phone later this week (we're due for our upgrade), and I'm determined to keep it away from her. We'll see how long that lasts...
She has really started coming into a "little helper" stage. She loves helping us throw trash in the dumpster or put dirty clothes in the washing machine. I'm embracing this time, because I know she is learning how to do different household responsibilities without "realizing" it yet, and therefore complaining about it. (I know that day is coming...)
I can't remember if I've mentioned this in a previous post, but she has officially learned how to climb over the chair wall Jordan "built" to keep her contained in our living room when she first became mobile (i.e. started crawling). That was a sad, sad day for me. I now constantly have to chase her all over the house, which is not always that fun/easy when I'm in the middle of nursing Ryan or something. I can't remember when she first figured out how to climb over the chairs, but I think it's actually been a month or two now (maybe even longer than that... I really don't remember), and since then, she has actually figured out she's strong enough to just move them/pull them away from the wall so she can just walk around them. So either way, we can no longer keep her contained in the living room.
There are still a million more things to mention, but I feel like if I keep going, I'll never get around to updating about Ryan, so for now, I'm just going to stop here on Rylee. On to Ryan...

The boy is big. Very big. I took Ryan to his 2-month check-up with his pediatrician on March 5th. He weighed 15lbs. 3oz. and he was 24 3/4 inches long. Both measurements put him in the upper-90th percentiles on the growth chart. Apparently I've got some rich breast milk.

waiting for the doctor

It cracks me up when he goes cross-eyed.

double-chin grin

lady-killer

He will be 11 weeks old tomorrow, and he is already wearing sizes 3-6 months and 6-month clothes. (As you can imagine, the OCD in me is having a fit over this. I mean, it is just NOT right for a baby to be wearing 6-month clothes if he is not actually 6 months old yet.)

This photo was taken on March 9th. He's wearing a size 3-months onesie and size 0-3 months jeans. As you can see, they were too small/tight on him.

I've been trying for the past two or three weeks to get Ryan on a schedule. It's going so-so. He still wakes up at least once a night for a feeding (usually around 3am), even though he's technically (according to the schedule outline from the doctor) supposed to be sleeping through the night by now. Oh, how I wish that were actually the case... (I will say that he has slept through the night once, which was actually the very first time we put him in his crib in his room. I couldn't believe it. I thought we were finally getting somewhere... but it only lasted that one night. Not sure what that was about, but hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon.)
He is such a SWEET baby. I just love him to death. When he smiles, his eyes - with those beautiful, long eyelashes - just light up, and it melts my heart.

March 16, 2012

He loves getting kisses from Mommy (or at least I think he does...).
He has been cooing/babbling/gurgling at us for a few weeks now, and I love it. He always gets the hiccups a few minutes after he "talks" to us, though. Never fails. I guess it's because he sucks in air when he does it...?
We are still giving him 1 milliliter of Zantac twice a day to help with his reflux. It seems to be helping better since we upgraded (per doctor's orders) the dosage from 0.8 milliliter twice a day.
When I lay him on his floor gym, he can wave his arms in the air and hit the ball on the monkey toy that hangs down from it, causing it to play music. Smart boy.
I am still swaddling him when he sleeps, but he is pretty strong and always seems to break out of it, no matter how tight I do it.
There are a million more things I know I could say about Ryan, too, but I've been working on this entry for several days now, and I'm just ready to post it. I'll try to do another update post on the kids soon. For now, though, I hope this is better than nothing. (Sorry the information in this post is so all over the place. I told you it would be.)