Thanksgiving... a little late

The weekend before Thanksgiving was the Tankersley family Thanksgiving get together. We typically gather at Uncle Wayne and aunt Cathy's home in beautiful Madison and keeping with tradition we enjoyed this years festivities there, as well. The land they live on is just to die for and so it made for a beautiful background for our family pics :-)

In other news, Rhyan got pink eye the week of thanksgiving. So for all the family who checks this thing and who cuddled up w/ Rhyan that weekend, be ware. Luckily, Jeff was off that week and could be home with her. So, anyone want to fess up to a recent case of pinkeye so i'll know who to blame it on?! Haha... Her little eye was so pitiful!

She has also had a cold since the start of november, I think, with it reaching its alltime grossness this week. Her little nose is runny (and getting raw) and she's coughing but no fever. She's also about to break through her second tooth which is bothering her some. She is such a trooper, though. She still naps great and sleeps through the night like a champ. We'll hear her coughing sometimes in the middle of the night (4ish or something) and feel so bad for her. But one night i thought it'd be nice of me to get her up, change her, clean out her nose and then just let her sleep on my chest in the rocker so she'd be on an incline. Well, the girl associates ONLY the bed with sleep, i guess. The whole time i held her she looked at me (in the dark) and touched my face and looked at me like "what are we doing?". I put her back down and she got herself back to sleep. I tell you what, doing babywise with Rhyan has made her some more independent! Its bittersweet. I'm proud of her but miss cuddling with her (not that she's ever been real cuddly, but i take what i can get).

In other news, After 2 rounds of antibiotics i still have a sore throat and pressure in my sinuses. The Christmas musical is this coming weekend so it'd be nice to get well so that i dont sound like a dying frog on my solo :-) I think all in attendance would appreciate that.

Ok, on to turkey day related pics.
Jenny's dog and Rhyan loved each other!

Aunt Cathy and her sweet Mama

The Tankersley Kids (jeff's mom and aunt and uncles)

Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cathy's family

Uncle Brian and Aunt Becky's family

Ronni and Andy (the out-laws... i mean, in-laws!)

Jeff and I... Rhyan was taking a nap in all of these pics :-(

The whole Tank. Family. Not sure how the tall ones ended up on the hill.

And this one's just for fun so we can all be jealous of Rhyans thighs :-)

Sorry Guys!

Sorry I've not posted well, lately. Unfortunately, that trend will continue :-( Like most of you this time of year, I am absolutely overwhelmed with way too much to do and far too little time.

In case any of you care, one of the biggest things going on right now is the start of the discipleship ministry at our church. I am the chairperson of a previously non-existent team. Staff positions have done in the past what our team is currently attempting to accomplish after over a year and a half of the ministry being leaderless. Its a huge task, but one well worth the effort.

Our plan is to implement classes (6-7 classes for adults, 2-3 for youth, 2-3 for kids) for all ages on Sunday nights starting mid January. We are hand picking facilitators to lead these classes, attempting to choose material, have a training class for all "leaders", make a brochure for the winter semester, have a "kickoff" lunch after church one sunday to push the ministry, start registration that day, order materials for those who register and then give them classes to meet in and let it roll! Its VERY exciting b/c we have a fairly spiritually immature church who I think will be moved by learning to dig deep into Gods Word. In fact, our team is clinging to the promise that Gods Word "does not return void"!

Jeff and I, because our marriage is the example for all to follow (insert chuckle here), will be leading a married couples class. We are currently deciding on material but may lean towards a combo of the 5 love languages and For men/women only. These 2 resources would combine to make for a 12 week semester. The other possibility is some material called "Making love last forever". We're still praying about what to do and trying to read through the material. Jeff has promised that if I lead the class (b/c he already teaches a sunday school class) that he'll be the sex appeal that draws the masses to our class :-). I know, gag. Haha.

I've also said "yes" to teaching some extra days. I'll be at Collins Hill tomorrow AND Monday meaning I'll only get a 2 day weekend like "regular" folks. I dont see how you "regular" folks do it :-). I'm exhausted.

And the Christmas musical is on the 13th... in which I have a solo that I have yet to learn (i'm such a good steward, huh?) and a trio I have yet to practice in.

These are all GREAT things! I'm grateful for them all... but they seem to be piling on all in such a short time. So as soon as i get time, i'll try to upload some pics and such, but for now, bear with my blog slothfulness :-)

How we do things in these parts of town

Disclaimer: I do not condone this and try my best to not laugh when i see it happening. But Jeff says that this is just the way to do things right.

So sometimes Rhyan gets full before we think she should. So jeff does this:

Showing her butt...

We joke that Rhyan has always had "tude", but lately she's really been showing her butt! HAHA!

In other news, her tooth is really visible now but i cant catch a pic. :-( She's doing so much better w/ sitting up now that the zantac is working.
This was taken about a week and a half ago. Daddy was helping but now she can sit up all on her own for about a minute!

Well, i've been working alot lately and am seriously starting to get worn out so i'm taking advantage of Rhyans nap and going to take one for myself.

Tankersly family thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm VERY excited. And already hungry.

FYI

Rhyan cut her first tooth today, ate sweet potatos for the first time, and sat up un-assisted for maybe 10 seconds. Wow. What a day!

6 months! (summary and pics)

Rhyan turned 6 months old last week. and already, i cant remember my life without her. nor do i want to!! she is the sweetest, cutest thing i've ever seen. i love that she has some of both of us in her. some people claim she looks just like one or the other of us, but i love it when people say she looks like both :-). but even when someone says she looks like jeff, i grin. hey, he's a hottie! its certainly not the worst outcome...

Ok, so at 6 months she is:
-still sucking her fingers CONSTANTLY!
-diagnosed w/ reflux
-not sitting very well, because of the reflux :-(
-taking medicine to make that all better... and its working
-waking at 7am
-taking 2 two hour naps and one 1hour
-in bed by 7:45 each night
-eating cereal 2x's a day (um, this will change... tomorrow)
-eating 24 ounces of similac a day
-starting sweet potatos (homemade by me!) tomorrow
-eating prunes occasionally to help her "output"
-laughing at spud and jeff playing! love this!
-loves when you say "mamamamama" or "dadadadada" or "spud, spud, spud" over and over!
-touches my face when i'm feeding her bottle
-plays with my hair (gently!)
-sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and then pops it out to make a weird sound
-still loves her bath!
-grabs at anything she wants to hold :-)
-"tastes" everything
-loves, and i do mean LOVES her daddy (boo! jk)
-loves for me to sing to her
-favorite songs: the wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, head shoulders knees and toes, you are my sunshine, twinkle twinkle little star
-laughs if i say "oh little fly, why do you cry, stuck in a web, soon you will be EATEN!!!" (from the lord of the rings)
-snorts sometimes (yes, its a trait from me...)
-learning to blow raspberrys (occasionally)
-talks so loudly you cant hear the tv or people on the phone (no, shes not deaf)
-almost NEVER cries
-VERY stubborn and strong-willed
-fights physical therapy (she's very strong now!)
-is trying out a sippy cup each day and is doing pretty well!

Thats about it. i'm sure theres more, but i dont want to bore any of you (any more than you already are! haha). On to the good stuff. Her 6 month pics :-)

Rhyan's Head!

We went for Rhyan's head scan today and got some GREAT news! Her head has gone from 18.9mm difference (from one side to the other) to 12.2mm. This is EXCELLENT! They said she'd probably need to wear it another 6-8 weeks full time and then we could go to only at night for 2 months or so. Of course, this all depends on her growth in the next 6 weeks. Wearing it at night would be to make sure it doesnt get flat again. At around 10 months, they feel certain that her head would be hard enough that even if she continues sleeping w/ her head turned to the right, it'll stay round.
Her neck has hit somewhat of a standstill. She is not making it past 80 degrees and Courtney is concerned with that. She still struggles to get to 80 degrees. So Courtney encouraged us to work HARD on home therapy. It's SO hard to do that b/c she just cries (mostly out of frustration) and it's hard to get her to calm down afterwords. But we're going to have to do it, i guess, and see if that helps. Otherwise, she is concerned that her muscle could be getting fibrotic. Lets hope not. So please keep praying about her neck and that we would continue working with her. But for today, we are praising our Father for the great news about her head! Rhayn and I are both so happy! Theres a new post below from Halloween, too!