Leaving on a jet plane...if the snow doesn't stop us!

This week we are hastily preparing for our upcoming trip to Tennessee. We are heading to Denver Friday right after school (to hopefully beat what they say could be another round of snow) and then flying to Nashville Saturday afternoon. From Nashville we will rent a car and make the three-hour drive to Knoxville. It will be a long day but well worth it. Rylan hasn't seen her Mimi and Auntie Paige since she was 3 months old! It's hard to comprehend all of the changes she's gone through since then. I'll just let the pics below from their visit last June speak for what a different little girl she was then. Shaun is looking forward to BBQ and I can't wait to go shopping. It will also be fun for Rylan to meet her other Tennessee relatives and for us all to meet our friend Brad's girlfriend. Just writing about it makes me anxious. Children's Place Outlet here I come!

Sharon and Paige at my parents' land-poor Sharon didn't like the heights!


Paige got to see Devil's Tower for the 1st time!


Auntie Paige helping Rylan sit up



What we did for a lot of their trip west-played with Rylan in the living room



Mimi and Ry outside in cool Wyoming weather. They enjoyed the break from humidity!

Blizzard of '09

Well, we have finally recovered from the blizzard we had at the start of this week. I had to actually go back to work today after being off for three days--it was not easy!! I felt sort of out it all day-but at least it's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday! My students said they missed being at school so they were ready to back in the swing of things. I missed being there, too, actually. Spending time with Rylan and Shaun was a blast-but I would rather do it in June when the weather is nice! I think we will be in now until June 4th. Boo hoo.

So, our three days weren't terribly exciting but that's how snow days are supposed to be, right? The school district has a phone system that calls us now-only I have yet to get a phone call and no one is sure why. My friend Lindsay from school called at the same time I heard the radio announce the cancellation Monday morning. We lounged around the house for the morning and dealt with a cranky Rylan. She started running a fever on Sunday and kept it until Wednesday. Hopefully it was just teeth, as she never had any other symptoms. As long as she had Tylenol or Ibuprofen in her system she seemed to be fine, but when it wore off, watch out! Shaun made breakfast (steak and eggs-mmmm) for us and Tucker, who had just returned from being out on his snowmobile. He claims that riding his Harley on Saturday when it was in the 70s and then being on the snowmobile on Monday in the middle of a blizzard was heaven. I strongly disagree, but to each his own.


Tucker and Rylan-and her dog-taking a morning nap


The deck starting to get drifts


View from our front office window down the street


View across the street


Titus after being outside for ten minutes!


That afternoon we took a long nap which, of course, was great! I also did some reading of the third book in the Twilight series which I'm addicted to right now. After our naps we trekked across the street to Tucker's house for the evening. My snow boots were in a great place-school-so I had to wear a pair of Shaun's. That, along with the uh, fairly obvious drifts and Rylan on my hip, made for an adventurous walk across the street! Tucker and I worked on a song we are going to do at church someday and then he and Shaun played with the electric guitars. Rylan entertained herself by chasing the cat all over the house. She still thinks Foxy says "woof" like her dog Titus! After dinner and visiting we came back home, knowing that there would be no school or work for anyone again on Tuesday.

Oh, wait, Rylan didn't know that school was cancelled and she got up at 6:30 Tuesday morning! Way too early even for a normal school day. We had a good breakfast again and then got to work on the house. I actually got all of the laundry done! That hasn't happened for a while. About noon Shaun made his way outside to start shoveling us out. The sun was out and lots of the neighborhood guys were out and about getting stuff done. Shaun was aided in his quest to dig out our driveway using Tucker's snowblower, but a good chunk of it he did by himself. He was pretty sore that evening! I took Ry out to see daddy while he shoveled and she was pretty ticked the entire time. She truly is a girl after my own heart. We will not be doing any snow activities in this family if I can help it! After naps that afternoon we ventured out in the truck. I did not enjoy this little trip. The roads had barely been touched by plows and the drifts were higher than the truck in many areas. We went by school and then looped back around to visit mom and dad. Rylan had a great time in the truck and visiting her Mema and Papa. While we were there Lindsay called to say they had cancelled school for Wednesday. I was ticked at first, but I had just seen how bad school was still covered so it made sense. They wanted to give the city and county workers time to unearth life again.

Across the street Tuesday morning-Tucker's car is buried!


Down the street



Five of the guys from the neighborhood chatting it up in the middle of the street


Rylan-sitting on the deck where the snow had not piled up. Rockers barely visible in the background


Ry and daddy sitting on a drift in front of the house


Not thrilled to be on her own!


So Wednesday morning all of the roads were opened and we decided to head to town for a Walmart and Starbucks trip. Town wasn't too busy and produce was cheap! The rest of the day we worked on more home projects-Shaun started packing for our Tennessee trip (he is REALLY ready for the trip after the snow we experienced this week) and I cleaned out my closet. Our new bedroom furniture will supposedly be here next week so we are getting rid of junk and old clothes. It's been nice to downsize a bit. I finished my book and then made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. I needed to give those to mom and dad since they barely beat us in Biggest Loser this week. I heard the bag I gave them has already been polished off, so hopefully that works in our favor on Monday!

And now Shaun is waiting for me to watch The Office. He can't play it while I'm typing because I need to concentrate on laughing! These last pics were taken by one of our secretaries who lives right across the street from school. My classroom has already sprung leaks from the snow that melted yesterday-so when spring shows up again we will have a real mess on our hands!

The front of the building


Parking lot


Side of the building-most of those drifts are still standing and blocking the hall windows.


We are over the snow and ready for spring to come back. Hurry warm weather-we miss you!

Rylan Renee' Turns One!

Well, she really turned one over a week ago, but life has been crazy since then!! I am in the middle of PAWS testing at school, and when I wasn't consumed with how miserable that is going I was busy planning a Women's Tea for church. It was an exhausting week. But thankfully the Tea went well and the coming week holds no testing. I feel like I have a load lifted from my shoulders!

It is amazing to me how much Rylan really does seem like a toddler now and not our baby. The week she turned one she decided she wanted to walk. She has been taking steps her and there for over a month, but never more than one or two at a time. Now if she has nothing in her way she will make her way across the room. It's pretty cute to see her moving upright. I had been selfishly wanting her to be walking by the time we go to Tennessee and I think we will be okay. The idea of putting her down on the floor to crawl at an airport grosses me out.

On Rylan's birthday she and Shaun came to school at lunch. My teaching friends are awesome; when Rylan comes they greet her like they see her every day, and she loves the attention they give her. She pulled out all of her tricks and was quite the little show off. My boss has heard me say how difficult she can be sometimes, but he said after seeing her be so cute he won't ever believe that she's not always an angel. After lunch we went to my classroom and Rylan shared some brownie bites with my students. She got very shy when they sang Happy Birthday and buried her head in daddy's chest. But man , did she love getting some chocolate. She also fell in love with some stuffed animals on my girls passed down to her. And she is enjoying using the crocheted doll blanket another student gave her. They were tickled to present her with gifts and we had a fun time!

So happy to be eating chocolate!

That evening we had a house full of people for the party. Later I did hear that I'm not much of a host; sorry for that, folks. Most of our crowd was family-and the friends that were present I consider family. In other words, you know where stuff is and you can get it yourself! We had eighteen people (including children) over throughout the night and it was good to see everyone. We didn't get started on presents until after seven and Rylan was getting really grouchy. She was definitely not into presents like she was at Christmas. She did, though, get some great toys that she has been having a blast with! Then we tortured her and made her sit in her high chair to go after cake. By that time she was really over all of the people and events. She was shy during people singing again and dipped just her fingers into her frosting. She did stick her lips right on it once. And about ten minutes after trying to get her eat cake she was asleep in bed! The rest of the evening found people visiting in one room and playing Wii in the other. I think there were people up in the house until around 1 am! Oh, my favorite thing from that night was the "Happy Birthday" plate everyone signed for Rylan. I think we will get it out each year and put her cake on it. The messages everyone wrote will be fun to look at in the future.

Watching Auntie Daunee' play with Aiden

"Am I okay, Aiden?"

Trying to decide which of the Nebelsick Triplets to play with first!

Playing catch with Uncle Tucker

Elizabeth and I and the kiddos-I just can't call them babies anymore!

"Please don't sing to me again!"

"I'll just use my fingers."

Yummy cake

The next morning we got up way too early to head to Rapid and get Rylan's pictures done at JcPenneys. We've tried Sears and JcPenneys and have liked what they did with poses and prices better. This time, though, our daughter just wanted to be on the move and not sit still for anything! I was shocked that we got any decent poses to choose from. Thank goodness we won't have to do them again for a while. I get very stressed out when I don't think things are going well!

Monday Shaun took Rylan to the doctor for her one-year check-up and shots. She weighed in at 20 pounds, 4 ounces and is 28 inches long. She is our petite princess!! We are grateful that she made it over the twenty pound mark so she can turn around in her carseat now. We think it will make a difference for her to be able to see us and the world in front of her. Anyone who rode in a vehicle with us for the first year of Rylan's life was subjected to some pretty awful crying at times, not making for enjoyable rides anywhere!

Let's see...what other things is Rylan doing? She loves, I mean loves her cousins. She and Ella don't always get along--they spend their time fighting over Mema and the small rocking chair from my childhood days. Anything Aiden does Rylan is enthralled with. I am looking forward to watching them grow up together. I have no doubt that Aiden won't let any boys near Ella or Rylan as they get older!

Rylan also loves seeing her friends at church. She uses worship as her own personal "pass me around" time. This past Sunday she made her way from me to her Papa, Mema, Auntie Echo, Uncle Paul, back down the row to Uncle Tucker, then spent time with Gary, Kenna, Ben and Teddie Rose. She was very busy!! As I've said before, she is a huge blessing in our lives and we are so thankful to have her. Each day she does something to make us laugh and enjoy each and every moment. I can't wait to watch her grow and change over the next year!!

Showing off one of the blocks from the Downeys and her new pigtail look!

Reflections!

In just an hour and a half Rylan Renee' will turn one-year old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It's hard to believe that we have been parents to such an awesome little girl for a year. It hasn't always been easy, but God has been faithful to see us through every moment and we are grateful that He chose to bless us with her. I just found a journal entry tonight from October of 2006 where I was asking God if He was ever going to let be a mom. That he is graceful enough to see past my selfish pleadings is overwhelming. He clearly had a plan all along and shame on me for doubting. Shaun and I are going to try and do a John Waller song on Sunday called While I'm Waiting. It was used in the movie Fireproof and the words perfectly describe the journey we have been on. While I did have times of weakness and heartache, above all we sought to glorify God in our wait for a child. And in June of 2007 when Dr. Marshall told me that the clomid had not worked and I would need to see a specialist, I was at peace. We still hadn't received an answer about what to do (see the specialist, give up, look into adoption, etc) when my mom told me she thought I was pregnant. She was right! I love to look at Rylan and let my mind drift back to that morning I saw the words "pregnant" on my first of six pregnancy tests. All there was to do was fall on my hands and knees and cry out "Thank you!" over and over to my most gracious Lord. He is so good to us and we are blessed beyond measure. And now on to pictures of a year ago today and some of my favorite pics since I waited so long to start a blog!

My sisters visiting me while I was in labor. I'm sorry girls-and mom--and Shaun-for being such a poop head! I was mean to everyone and they will probably not be present at another birth!

My first time holding my precious daughter. I still could not believe she had arrived!

I love this picture-I'm cuddling with my daughter and looking young!

Miss Rylan has always adored her daddy!

Rylan's first big trip to the North Shore with my family-June '08

Standing: Daunee', Damion, Shaun & Ry, Kenzie, Echo & Ella, Paul

Crouching: Aiden and Mom, Dad


Rylan sporting her daddy's hat at Hills Alive-July '08

Rylan's Dedication-August '08. We were thankful to have lots of family present!

First Christmas present!!

Last Sunday before church-she's not doing so well at looking at the camera anymore!

We are so excited that we get to celebrate Rylan's first birthday with family and friends tomorrow night (or tonight here in a few moments)! The decorations are all set out and ready to be put up, the cake is waiting in Uncle Tucker's fridge, and the fixings for calzones and salad are waiting in our fridge. Yum! My students have begged and pleaded for me to let Rylan come to school so they can sing Happy Birthday to her. They even offered to have their moms bring treats! I think Shaun is going to bring lunch in for us and then we will have some brownies with my students. They will be thrilled, I'm sure. And all because we love you so much, Rylan Renee'!! Happy Birthday!!

One year ago today....

...was my last day of work before Rylan came into the world! We knew that Rylan was already around 8 pounds so Dr. Marshall wanted me to be induced on Wednesday the 12th. My gestional diabetes and high blood pressure were making it so that I had to get hooked up to monitors twice a week to check Rylan's heart rate and make sure she was doing okay. I also had to give myself a shot of insulin in the belly every night and check my blood sugars after every meal. After two months of that I was ready to enjoy a "real" coffee or coke or pizza again. And we were most certainly anxious to meet our miracle baby and see if God was going to bless us with a little boy or girl!

Friday evening we went to the hospital because I had a killer headache, which I got frequently throughout my pregnancy. I had experienced one a week prior and the doctor was upset that I hadn't let Shaun bring me in. I can be stubborn sometimes! So I was hooked up to the monitors again but all was okay and I got to enjoy a few days of rest and last minute projects. While we were at the hospital Friday I had the nurse that was with me through delivery the next week. I can't remember her name now but if I ever get to have another baby I want her to be around!! She was awesome. Anyway, here are some pics of a year ago and today!

My last day at school. I was really ticked at Cheryl for making us take a pic-it even made into the yearbook. Rylan was one of eight babies born to a Conestoga staff member during the 2007-08 school year!




The last ultrasound pic of Rylan. I think this was the Tuesday before she was born.



Our little pea pie today! We are so very blessed to have her. I can't believe that she will celebrate her 1st birthday in one short week!!

Busy times!

Well, it's been two weeks and I have yet to find time to post a new blog. We have been busy! It started with Rylan getting sick. She started running a fever on Monday the 16th so we took her in to the doctor Tuesday. It had been 103 steadily. Every few hours after tylenol or ibuprofen it went back up. They found no ear infection, so they did a strep test which was also negative. Then we got to go to the hospital for a lovely chest x-ray and rsv test. Rylan screamed bloody murder when I was holding her down for the x-ray. It was miserable. My worst moment as a mom thus far. Anyway, those tests also showed nothing. So Wednesday she got to have blood drawn to check for any kind of infection. On Thursday at another doctor appointment we still did not know what was wrong. Finally on Friday morning Shaun sent me a text that said Rylan had broke out in a rash all over her upper body. Another call to the doc revealed that she had roseola! The symptoms pointed to that all along, but without the rash who knew?? I am sooooo very thankful that we have mom to take care of Rylan. She kept her Monday and Tuesday and Shaun was home the rest of the week with her on his days off. I was able to stay at work, which was a hard choice to make but I don't have much time off. I used a few sick days in January when Ry was last sick and am down to 3ish. It's still a long 3 months until school is out so I'm trying to preserve them. I felt like a terrible mom but I am blessed with wonderful support! The high point of all the doctor appointments was Thursday when Rylan showed Dr. Amari her speaking skills. For a while she has had some two-word phrases and recently added a three -word phrase! She says "What's that?", "Who's that?" and now "Look at that!" So while the doc was talking, Rylan pointed at her and said, "Who's that?" Dr. Amari kept talking and just interrupted to say, "Dr. Linda, honey." Then she stopped and looked at Rylan when she then pointed at a poster on the door and said, "Look at that!" The doctor was a bit shocked. Probably not a great sign that she is talking so soon. I can just hear the other teachers at school having to tell me about motor mouth Rylan in class. Not good.

This pic isn't great, but demonstrates a bit of the rash she had.



We are thankful to have her back to her old self again. She lost about 14 ounces being sick and she is already petite. Hopefully she gains the weight back quickly!

Shaun was so busy taking care of Rylan and working his wacky schedule that he still hasn't had much time to mess with the Wii. One night when Tucker (or Uncle Tucker as we call him around here-our neighbor and good friend) stopped by after work Shaun convinced him to try it out. They had a good time and Rylan and I enjoyed watching. Shaun and I have not yet found time to play together. I'm chicken. I stink at video games and am very competitive. Not a good combination.



The next day Rylan was clearly feeling better! My cousin Kaeleigh came to baby-sit while I was at a Women's thing for church and Shaun was painting our bedroom (I will post pics and words about both those things at another time)!


After a long week of work for both Shaun and I, we had the opportunity to make a trip to Sheridan to see Daunee' and Damion and had a great time! I was really looking forward to a shopping trip in Billings on Saturday. So much so that I had a dream on Thursday night about shopping for Rylan. I was going through racks and falling in love with the adorable new clothes. Then I went by Children's Place-my fav place to shop for Rylan-and the gate was down but there were about ten women inside getting to preview a new line of clothes. I was ticked! And then the phone rang and Shaun woke me from bliss!!

The actual trip was almost put off by stupid snow. I am so sick of winter I could scream. I hate it that we have to plan out of town excursions around what is coming out of the sky. And living in Gillette makes one crave getting out of town! We did make it Friday just as planned. Shaun always worries how I will react if our plans change. I like things to always go the way I see them happening in my head! We had a good meal out at a new place in Sheridan that night and headed out bright and early Saturday morning to enjoy a fun day of shopping! Since dad was working, mom decided to ride along. Shaun and I really enjoyed a trip where we got to get cozy together in the backseat of Daunee's Yukon and play with Rylan while she was awake!



After a couple of hours of shopping we went to my Aunt Angie and Uncle Jim's house for lunch. They just retired and moved to Billings from Seattle in November. It's exciting to have some of mom's family closer and hopefully we will get up there to see them again soon! They have a gorgeous house and she fixed a yummy lunch. Food is always a highlight of any trip or moment in my life.

Aunt Angie playing with Rylan. She wouldn't give her up and helped feed her lunch and everything. That was fun.




Rylan and Auntie Nee' practicing walking. She still just takes a couple of steps at a time.




I have an incredible husband. He is so good with Rylan and an awesome daddy. Multiple times during the day he would take off with her so I could get some shopping done alone. I wasn't just shopping for fun and had some serious things to find! We are traveling to Tennessee to see family and friends in early April right before Easter. The weather in Wyoming will probably still require long sleeves but we are thinking TN weather will allow for some short sleeves and maybe capris. I wanted to get Rylan a new outfit or two before we left. And I always like finding cheap cute things that I can wear to school. It was a great day of finds and we ended it by having another great meal, this time at Olive Garden. Rylan had done so well all day. She waves at everyone she meets-even if they aren't looking and says, "Hi!" It's fun to watch people who were engaged elsewhere start smiling and talking to her. She made friends with a little girl who was also from Gillette and born the day before she was! The grandma had a bottle in her hand and Rylan kept signing "please" (instead of rubbing her hand on her chest she just smacks it!) over and over. It was hilarious. And speaking of signing, she does "please" all of the time and does "more" and "all done" as well. It can be a bit exhausting to figure out what she wants when she is saying please and you don't know what she wants. She combines it with "Uh, uh" repeatedly. I guess it is nice that she is telling us what she wants!

Meeting a new friend. Maybe someday they will go to school together!

It is getting a lot easier to be out and about with Rylan. Especially now that we can feed her table food pretty easily. She still prefers to snack more than eat a "normal" meal. She really enjoys getting sneaks of tasty things like cookies from her aunties and MeMa. I just turn away and don't watch!

Playing with Auntie Nee' who has an awesome toy chest with lots of fun things for Rylan to do!



We came home this morning so we could be home for church. Mom had Children's Church and Shaun hasn't been able to attend much with his work schedule. We were back early so Rylan got to mess around with the steering wheel. She thought that was just awesome.



After church we enjoyed a good lunch out with friends. Yep, we spent our life savings eating out this weekend. But every bite was well worth it! And the fellowship was great! We have a bit of a tradition to eat out when Tucker's work schedule allows him to make it to church. And he did buy which was much appreciated!

Rylan cuddling in with Uncle Tucker at lunch. She adores him. He is my saving grace in church when Shaun is gone and my family is busy with the other kiddos. She is always happy to escape my arms and hang out with him during worship. I don't know that he knew what he was in for when he became a part of our family and got the status of honorary Uncle!

This post has taken up most of my evening and I have to work tomorrow! I'm sad that the weekend has come to an end. Our family is starting a Biggest Loser Couples competition and that is supposed to start tomorrow. Good luck to you all but I plan on winning! My husband better be prepared to work his tail off!! And pray that I stay committed to it for real. I would like to eventually have this baby weight off. A year is too long. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

One more pic for you to enjoy...Rylan playing with her scooter thing. She can get on and off pretty easily now!