WHAT???!!

The picture says it all. And i laugh every time i see it. Who knows what this look was for.

Sacrifices

Whelp... Jeff is now part of the sprained ankle club. He plays softball with a church league and in a desperate attempt to help the team get first place, he lunged to get to 3rd and beat the ball but failed. He was "OUT" and has this fat ankle to show for his efforts.

The good news is: their team still won 1st place in the league. I guess his sacrifice inspired the team :-)

Ps. can i just say that my sacrifice was marrying a man with such icky feet? i adore jeff, just not his TOES! :-)

My big girl!

Who IS this guy?

Tummy Time!

Rhyan and I
Studying the toy...

Supergirl!

3 months old!!!! My baby will be 3 months old in 2 days!

I LOVE her little personality and all she has accomplished in this last month. Rhyan is now:

-splashing in the tub (and loving bath time!)

-in size 2 diapers

-in 0-3 month clothes (i think this will end shortly though...)

-drooling :-) (babies get saliva at around 3 months... she got it at 11 weeks!)

-sleeping from after her 8pm bottle till 7am when we wake her

-not swaddled for naps or bedtime anymore (big girl!!!)

-doing great with tummy time. in jeffs words "you could hang a picture from her neck"

-going through her 3 month growth spurt! Eating more!!!

-going down for (most) naps and bedtime without even a whimper

-SMILING!!!!! alot :-)

-tracking toys and people with her eyes really well!

-sitting in her bumbo seat for a while

-trying out her exersaucer, although her feet dont reach yet so its only for a couple of minutes each day

-waking up happy :-), cooing and smiling
-talking (cooing) alot!!!

I have successfully made it through 2 weeks of work. I have to admit, i didnt cry... i like my job! And i only work tues, wed and thurs. So its a nice get-away. It makes me a better mom, for sure. Jeff starts back to work this week and so Rhyan will start staying with my cousin Tracy. Have i mentioned how grateful i am that the Lord totally worked that out?!

I'm thinking this isnt great... rhyan's already watching T.V. with Daddy :-(

Quick update...

The orthopedist said Rhyan's back looks fine and that he'll check her in a year when she has more trunk control but that he expects it all to be just fine. He also (roughly) handled her neck to check her torticollis and said she's doing great there as well!

Praise the Lord!!! and thanks for the prayers :-)

My, how time flys!

I know i say it all the time, but I really cant belive its been 11 weeks since I gave birth to our baby. What was my life like before her? She is pure joy to my life. God is SO good.

Often, this is how we find her after naps. She's quite the "scooter" and scoots down (at night) sometimes up to 2 feet!!!! For this reason, she's not swaddled at night anymore.

Loving her swing!

The sweet baby I will be leaving tomorrow to go back to work :-(
HAPPY BABY!!! Lord, how i'm gonna miss seeing this face all day long...

Progress!!!

We've had a busy week. Monday, my Mama kept Rhyan for a few hours so Jeff and I could sneak out for some yum-o breakfast at the Red Barn and a movie (transformers). Then Wednesday she stayed with my cousin Tracy (who will be keeping Rhyan when we both go back to work) so we could head out for Lake Lanier water park. We had a great time and Rhyan did great with Tracy (i knew she would) and it makes me so much more comfortable about having to leave her with someone. I have to tell you, Lake lanier has not changed and Jeff and I felt like a couple of (fatter) teenagers! We had a blast!!!

On Friday we took Rhyan for a physical therapy evaluation appointment at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta (in duluth). She has a condition of her neck called torticollis which means a muscle in her neck is tight (and has been since birth b/c of the way she was positioned in utero) and she cant turn her head very well to one side (the left). Therefore, she is getting some head shaping that is not ideal on the right. We've been working w/ her at home prior to this visit to try to loosen the muscles and she's made progress, but we've not been successful in getting her to sleep with her head turned to the left, which is the only way the molding can correct on its own (w/o having to go into a helmet).

The therapist was super nice and said her torticollis is moderate to severe and she thinks she'll do well with therapy but that worse case senario, they could do surgery to "release" the muscle. Ok... so we're gonna work REALLY hard with her at home to avoid this, obviously. Part of what keeps her from turning left is that since her head is already flat on the right, her head naturally falls that way. So hopefully that will begin to correct itself, as well.

The therapist also said she's a little behind on her neck strength and needs tummy time during every wake time for as long as she will tolerate it. This, combined w/ all the stretches and exercises and massage of her neck, takes up most of her wake time for now and makes her fussy (which i hate... i much prefer to lay and talk to her and sing to her and have her smile and talk back rather than work so hard... hopefully this will get better w/ time!).

Last thing, and this is what i want to ask our friends to pray about. The therapist noticed some curving of her back which concerned her a little and wants us to see an orthapedist for an xray to see if she might have some structural scoliosis. This worries me a good bit b/c my cousin had severe scoliosis that required surgery to place a rod on each side of her spine to keep it from worsening. Thats pretty extreme, i know. But, of course, when its your child you fear the worse case. So PLEASE, would you pray with us that this is simply a case of her muscles being stronger on one side than the other (which she said is also possible). Again, my worry is b/c we 've had several people in the family with back issues and I dont want Rhyan added to the list.

But really, we are LOVING being Rhyan's parents. I cant believe how much she's changed already...

4th of july, weddings and a dr appt

We have had so much fun the last few weeks! Rhyan has turned 2 months old. She started sleeping through the night (from her "dreamfeed" at 10:30-11 till 7am) at 8.5 weeks!!!! We are so proud and excited!

She had her 2 month check up recently and got 3 shots :-( She cried SO hard for a minute, then we gave her a bottle (it was time, anyways) and she calmed down. She wasnt fussy afterwords or anything. We gave her tylenol just in case and we felt sure that she wouldnt s.t.t.n. that night, but she did! She didnt get up till 7 like always! What a little trooper!

We spent last weekend at cousin Jenny's wedding in madison. It was the first time that the great aunts and uncles, as well as 2nd cousins had gotten to see her. How fun!

And last but not least, we spent the 4th at Mommies for a family cookout. I snagged this cute bathingsuit at gymboree this week and so we let her try out the pool for the first time. She was a little unsure at first and cried a second, then enjoyed it for over half an hour (well into her normal naptime). She didnt get fussy, even though she was awake a long time and then napped like a champ while we ate... great timing.

Ok, well, enjoy the pics!

Rhyan and her Grandmother

Chillin on the blanket
Check out that hat! Adorable!

I love the fat rolls!

Tummy Time!

Daddy feeding her after her shots. Check out the bandaids. Sad.

A family pic on her 2 month bday!

With Gran and Grandad at Jenny's wedding

Chowing down with Uncle Jason and Liz

Rhyan and Daddy playing in her gym... umm... Daddy's a little too big! But its so fun that he likes to see things from her point of view! What a great Dad!

In other news... this is my last week before returning to work. The thought terrifies me slightly.