December is finally here and what a busy month it has been so far! We started off the month by taking Rylee to visit Santa. That did not go so well as you can see from the photo. Josh and I both thought it was pretty funny. Maybe we'll have a scrapbook full of screaming Santa photos!

Then we went to Maryville to see Jordan play his clairnet at his Christmas Concert. We laughed at ourselves for driving over 5 hours with Rylee (who was cutting a molar at the time) for about 40 minutes of music but it was definitely worth it! We are both amazed at how quickly Jordan is learning to play instruments (clarinet and piano) and how great he sounds! He definitely comes from a family full of musician's! We are looking forward to his spring concert at the end of the school year but this time we might stay overnight. I couldn't get a good picture of him playing though, they all turned out fuzzy b/c of the zooming. Hopefully he shows up good on the dvd! We also woke up to a dusting of snow covering the ground that stayed for the whole day! I was SOOOO excited about it, I just love how pretty snow can be when if first falls. I hate how cold it is in Illinois but I do miss the snow. I just can't imagine growing up as a child without going outside and playing in the snow for hours with your friends having snowball fights, making snow angels, making snow forts, and sledding. Then coming inside with frozen snow chunks in your hair, it taking 10 minutes to peel off all the layers of clothes you have on, and finally gaining feeling back in your nose! I'm happy we get some snow because I really want Rylee to be able to have those memories.

So after our big snowy day Rylee started saying 4 new words. Pear, tree, booboo, and shoe. She is trying to repeat things now all the time. It's amazing how all of a sudden something just clicks and now she has 4 new words. So far she can say:

Mama

Dada

Papa

Bubba (what she calls J.T.)

Cracker/div>

Shoe

Tree

Pear

booboo

We also got our Christmas tree last week, Rylee loved it. We put the lights and decorations on while she was taking her nap and when it got dark out we turned it on and her jaw literally dropped. She's a big fan of the tree and all the presents under it. Between her and the cat I'll be lucky if there are any bows left on them on Christmas day. That's about all I can think of for now. Here are some random November pictures that I never put up b/c I am awful at blogging!

Halloween

Rylee was a Garden Gnome for Halloween. After seeing the costume at Wal-Mart I couldn't resist it, the best 18.00 I have ever spent! She was the cutest. After putting her outside in it she really looked like a real little Garden Gnome walking around.

Nothing too exciting going on otherwise. I was thinking today that there are not really too many more Auburn games left and realized how close we are to the year being over. Thanksgiving is almost here and then it seems right after that is Christmas. Ry sure has had a wonderful year. I'm almost afraid to say this but she hasn't had a single issue yet. She is currently (still) getting in her top molars and another tooth on the top which has been giving her some trouble but we have been so lucky otherwise. Thank You God! She has recently been playing with her babies more. She puts them in their blankies and carries them around with her. She has also started to carry around her purse with Josh's old blackberry in it and an old wallet of mine. It's so sweet, she walks up to us with this big purse over her shoulder and one of my shoes on her foot and she just wants to make sure we know she's a big girl. I love that she is starting to pretend. I'm just so thankful I have the chance to be here to watch her grow. Here are just some more random pictures.

Fall Fun!

O.k. so I know it has been a little over a week but

I am doing better than I thought! We have had a pretty busy

week. It started off with me having a night out while

Papa and Uncle Chris watched Rylee. All the girls

went to a painting party. It was so much fun!

Art was probably my favorite part of school and I really haven't

had the chance to do to much drawing or painting in the past few years at all.

I love it, it is such a great outlet and so fun. Here is a picture of

our finished product:

After that Rylee and I just did our usual "hanging out" I guess you
could call it. Though I guess it's a little more than that. I'm not sure if it's from

all the ECE classes or working at daycare's for so long but I can't stand

not having structure during the day. We have art time, circle time, outside time..

and all sorts of things. Some may think this approach is a little crazy I'm sure.

So here are some pictures of Ry during outside time. I raked her up a little leaf pile.

Amazingly she went right into the leaf pile, she is getting so big.
It seems not long ago that she was afraid of grass.

Touchdown Auburn!

Rylee & Ernie. Her beloved Da got this for her.

Clapping for herself

Rylee has discovered the Ritz peanut butter crackers and absolutly LOVES them. She has even started saying cracker now because of her love for them.

I will soon post pictures of Rylee in her Halloween costume, she looks soooo stinking cute in it. We sure are looking forward to this week. Josh will be home all week we hope, I can't wait. I miss him so very much. He has been having to travel so much lately. I thank God he has such a great job because I know many of my friends and family are struggling with work right now. I try not to be selfish about it but I miss hanging out with him! And of course Rylee misses him tons too! What do they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder? It definitely has taught me to appreciate how important he is to me and how much I love having him in my life. I couldn't imagine it otherwise. We also have some exciting news I can't wait to share with everyone... but I need to get permission first since this goes out to a bigger crowd then just immediate family!

Mood= Blessed

Catching Up...

Well I know, once again, it has been a long time since I've posted pictures. Finally I have them all uploaded on to the computer and will start trying to once again post pictures on a weekly basis. We have been so busy, well Josh has been so busy which I guess makes me feel busier since I'm the one taking care of the house and the dog while he's gone. He was away for a little over two months every week, which is great for getting free tickets for travel, but of course we miss
having him here. Especially on garbage day!

Rylee has been doing great as usual. We are really sooooo lucky. She is such a great baby. Every time we get close to a new developmental stage I always get nervous about how she'll react and how she will do. She has always been great, and easy. Whether it's drinking from a cup, going to bed on her own, or starting to feed herself she always does such a great job. The best part of it all is how proud she is of herself for accomplishing these things. It's so amazing how much these little ones accomplish in their first year, probably more than anyone does in any other year of their life. Josh and I would love to take all of the credit for her but really it's just her general disposition. There are many nights after she goes to bed that we just sit there talking about how smart and cool she is, and how lucky we are to have her in our lives.

Daddy's Little Angel

Houser & Rylee

Me & My Shadow

New Rylee Pictures!!!!!

New Pics...

I just wanted to post some new pictures of Rylee for everyone to see. Rylee is doing great as usual, she is climbing up the stairs like crazy, climbing into the bathtub which is a new one, and loving all of her new toys!

Rylee with Grandma at Clarkson Covered Bridge












This picture is so adorable, I think we need to send it to Radio Flyer.
Rylee LOVES her wagon, she's so darn cute in it.

As Promised...

Rylee had a great 1st Birthday. We just had a little get together at night and gave her some birthday cake (her first time having sweets). I made her cake for her which I was so proud of especially since the first one didn't turn out at all. My brother drove up my mom from his house in S. Alabama and got to see Rylee on her birthday which was great especially since he will be moving bases and will now be further away. We were all so happy to be able to get to spend more time with him and of course that grandma finally got to come visit.
Otherwise nothing to new, just hanging out with grandma and enjoying all of Rylee's new fun toys!!! Here are some pictures as promised: