Summer Fun

Jeff and I have really enjoyed having this summer off together. I cant believe that in 2 more weeks, I'll have to return to work. But i do feel blessed to be able to return for only 3 days a week (tuesday, wed, and thursday). And that for the first 2 weeks, she'll still be at home with Daddy. After that, (hopefully) she'll be staying with my cousin Tracy. I cant think of ANYONE I'd rather keep my baby. It'll be hard enough leaving this sweet face.
Last Friday, Rhyan and I enjoyed a night out with the girls while Jeff played softball. Rhyan didnt make the all girl pic (she was asleep anyways). Macaroni Grill+lifelong friends=good times!Ok, so i'm terrible at getting good pics of memorable days. But this pic of Jeff and his baby girl was our token fathers day pic. For fathers day I got jeff some krispy kremes for bfast and then cooked dinner (pork chops, not quite finished baked potato's :-(, mac and cheese and greenbeans followed by banana pudding for dessert!). We had Jeff's brother and Liz over for dinner. Jeff's parent were out of town so we'll celebrate with them this coming weekend. The only sad thing from the day is that i very much miss my daddy... and really wish he could have been a part of Rhyan's life. But overall, it was great celebrating with Jeff his first fathers day. He has become such a great daddy!

This has GOT to be my fav pic of alltime of her (so far). Her little fro is just perfect, her eyes are beautiful, her cheeks are chubby and that smile is presh! Gosh, I love her!!!And the final pic... Jeff and I got a jacuzzi a couple of weeks ago off of craigslist for a steal and have been working to get it up and running. Monday evening, after Rhyan was tucked in for the night, we took a soak. It was so nice! We still had some cleaning to do on the cover but it was basically ready to use. So yesterday, i went out to clean the cover and found this "little" 5 foot long or so guy hanging out between the tub and the house. He slithered under the jacuzzi and then stuck his head out. YUCK! Jeff tried to coax him out so he could kill him (even though he says he's harmless and not to worry... i say the only good snake is a DEAD snake) but the fella retreated never to be found again. Jeff says the snake is probably long gone. I dont believe it and am forever weary. Shivers down my spine!

I am so grateful for the timing of Rhyan's birth. The opportunity for the 3 of us to be at home together this summer has been incredible. Jeff and i were worried about getting on each others nerves, but we've been so busy that we've really just made a great team and gotten stuff done.

Well, we've got a wedding and a family get together this weekend so i'll try to get a few good pics and post again next week!

The pictures are ready!!!

When Rhyan was 4 weeks old, our friend and photographer, Terilynn, did a complementary photo session for us. The pics are now ready to be viewed. Let me just first say that she did a TWO hour session with Rhyan and while I was afraid that she would sleep through the whole thing or fuss, she did neither. She slept for the first 2 or 3 minutes, woke up and wanted to eat and then stayed awake for the ENTIRE shoot. Towards the end, she got fussy (she was ready for a nap), but i think overall she did FANTASTIC.

Click the link below to see our favorites. If you want to see all (400) of the pics, once you are in the favorites page, you can click on "view gallery".

http://hcl.digitaleventpics.com/SC/index.cfm?fuseaction=FavoritesList&favid=587FC797&eid=9158276&fn=OrpheusandAphroditeMusicandPhotography478

Let me know what you think!!

Upload Drama

Jeff and I were watching the video's today of Rhyan's first bath and the one we recorded last night (to prove to her that she didnt forever scream at bath time... she enjoys it now!). I have to say, i'm so glad we got a camcorder before we had her. I'm sure we dont use it right half the time, and we forget to use it for most fun/important things... but hey, we're new at all of this. I tried to upload the video's today, but after waiting over 30 minutes, i gave it up. So you'll have to settle for some new pics, instead.

This first one is the night of our date. We went to target and got a sling... she likes it, you think?

Safe and fast asleep in Daddy's arms...

Getting jiggy with it... while she stares at the fan (the object of her affection)

And here are some pics from today. After daddy woke her up to eat... STRETCH!!!!After she ate... spending more time being amused by the fan :-)
And tuckered out from all her hard work. Jeff told me she had fell asleep "with her crotch hanging out"... and this is what i found when i went to check. LOL.

We are still trying to implement the principles of babywise (eat/play/sleep... in that sequence). Its supposed to help her distinguish day from night better and get her to sleeping through the night faster. For that purpose, we have found success. She slept last night for 5.5 hours between feeds. What we are finding, though, is that she doesnt really like napping in the day, which her Dr. says not to worry about as long as she is sleeping that well at night, and to count our blessings (in other words, quit griping!). Our pastor and his wife did babywise w/ all three of their little angels... seriously, they have fantastic kids, and so i called them today to ask their advice. Ken said maybe Rhyan just likes more "wake time" and to try letting her stay up longer and take shorter naps. I dont know if it was a fluke, but it worked for this time. She stayed awake and up with us for an hour and a half and I laid her down (swaddled by daddy) awake. She grunted a bit and looked around for about 20 minutes and then fell asleep till her next feeding. No crying. Halleujah. So maybe we'll try that for a bit and see if more wake time is what she needs. She really is a good baby... I'd love to have her up with us more!!!

Ok, so thats a day in the life of. Hope you enjoyed. If not, Rhyan has a knuckle sandwich for you!

Date Night

...was a success. Jeff and i dropped Rhyan off at his parents at about 6pm. We stayed and chatted for just a bit and then headed off to Chili's to eat (thanks to the Kunis's who gave us a giftcard when Rhyan was born!). There wasn't a line (thank you terrible economy and faining popularity of the resturant) so we were seated promptly. We enjoyed split 2 dinners for the purpose of variety, talked a while about plans for the summer, what a good baby Rhyan is, etc... and headed off to target to pick up a couple of things. Mainly, I wanted to get a jelly bean sling. I've been eyeing them and decided that while I'm not a fan of slings for everyday purposes (ie: holding her in it while she naps) I do like the idea of having it for when she has wake time and I want to walk around the yard with her or when we go to church and she is going to be napping during that time already (but I'm not quite ready to send her off to the nursery). Anyhoo, I love it... and so does she!

So we got back to Gran and Grandad's about 7:45. We were only away from her for a little more than an hour. We didn't intentionally rush back... it just didn't take us long to go on our date. But it was a nice time. Ronni said that Rhyan woke up to eat just a few minutes early but then downed her entire 4 ounces ( i figured she'd be hungry as she hadn't taken a great feeding at 4pm). When we got there, she was awake and in her little car seat, sitting by her Gran while they ate dinner. What a great baby :-)

Oh, and Ronni commented on how great Rhyan is when you change her diaper. I've noticed this and mentioned it to Jeff, as well. When we first brought her home she'd cry with each change... now, she just looks around and enjoys having her tooshie cleaned... i mean, who wouldn't? haha!