Category Archives: family

Ry’s Photo Shoot Slideshow!

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Whitney (from Bliss Studio) and I were fianlly able to meet up to look at all the photos from Rylee’s photo shoot! They were all so cute, I had a hard time not spending a ton of money. I went up there with strict orders from Andy to spend NO money! With that in mind, I made sure not to go too crazy. :) Anyway, Whit has this new thing where she puts together a fun slideshow to music. I have included a link to it. All you have to do is click HERE and it will take you to Whitney’s Bliss Studio blog so you can watch it.

Easter Goodness

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I love to cook. I grew up baking holiday cookies, family birthday cakes, etc. Then in middle & high school, my mom had me start cooking dinner once a week for the whole family (6 of us!). I’m pretty sure I hated it then, but I LOVE it now! On the weekends, I plan out the following week’s dinners then go to the grocery store and buy everything I’ll need for that week. I learned my grocery shopping habits from my father who did all the grocery shopping for the family growing up. This means that I scour the ads, use coupons and buy extra of stuff when it’s on sale. Take chicken (boneless, skinless only!) for example…when it’s on sales for  $1.99/pound or less, I buy at least 10 pounds of it then freeze it in 2-packs. I used to make fun of my dad for his frugality, but now I can’t wait to get my receipt to see how much I’ve saved. It’s almost like a mini-orgasm when I save more than I spend (too graphic?). For weeknight dinners, I try and make things as easy and fast as possible. Nothing fancy, sometimes even hotdogs. And no, not even the all turkey good better for you kind. I’m talking the BarS .70 per pack, chicken, pork, maybe beef combo hotdogs! I love ’em. 
Anyway, I digress…since I do things so simply on weeknights, I typically try and pull out all the stops on weekends and holidays…especially holidays. I hosted Easter for our families this year.  There were 12 of us, including Monster. I told everyone that dinner was at 2:00 and…(drumroll please)…we sat down to eat at 2:05 PM! Dinner was fantastic and everyone had a good time. I wish we would have taken photos of the final dinner product because it was just that good. I am in no way taking all the credit for this entire from scratch dinner, my sis was a HUGE help, my mom brought the rolls and my MIL brought some homemade mac-n-cheese.
Our Appitizer Menu:
  • Bacon and Cheese Quiche
  • Mushroom Tart
  • Tomato Tart
Dinner Menu:
  • Champagne Ham
  • Mashed Red Potatoes
  • Deviled Eggs
  • Broiled Asparagus
  • Rolls
  • Green Salad
  • Mac-n-cheese
  • Jello salad
Dessert: Homemade strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream!
This one of Andy seriously cracks me up. Mostly because his “are you freaking kidding me?” face genuinely shows how he feels about all the pictures my sisters and I take!

Easter Egg Dying Video!

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Here is the first family egg coloring experience. Ry totally loved it…as you can see. Note to self: next year, more than 8 eggs! Another note to self: next year, don’t fill the mugs up so much!!

Taking a lap to the other end of the pool for a minute…

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Rylee is getting to the “not a baby” age anymore and people are starting to notice. And, since people have started taking note of Ry’s not-so-baby-isms, the questions have started. “Is Rylee going to be a big sister anytime soon?” “Are you guys planning on having any more kids?” “How long are you guys going to wait until you have another?” and my personal favorite…”Have you guys started trying again?” To which I like to reply: “Not yet, we’re still just practicing!” (actual conversation)

It seems like lately everyone is pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, or just had a kid. And, to tell you the truth…I’m a teency-weency bit jealous. I want another baby so bad that my uterus about starts to ache everytime I see a cute baby. If things would have “gone to plan” I would be popping out a kidlett within the next couple of weeks. Cleary, that plan didn’t happen. And, since hind-sight is 20-20, it’s a very good thing it didn’t. We stopped “trying” right after we got the gut-punch of a lifetime (metaphorical, of course). After the gut-punch, we re-evaluated our lives/finances/etc and decided it would be best to wait another year before we started trying again. “That’s not that bad,” I thought to myself. Then a couple of months after that decision, after further evaluation, we decided it would be best to wait yet another year after that. That will make the kids 4 years apart. “That’s not that bad” turned into, “It’s the smart thing to do”. And “it’s the smart thing” is killing me inside.

This must be one of God’s funny-jokey ways of teaching me patience (I knew I never should have prayed for that!).  On the bright side, I will get 4 years of un-interrupted Rylee time and considering how much I completely adore that little girl (I have a goofy smile on my face/tears in my eyes just thinking about her right now) it could be worse. She makes me more happy than words can describe.

How can you not adore this?

Summary #1: Sometimes it really sucks being responsible.
Summary #2: If I somehow end up preggers in the next year before we officially start trying again, it will be an accident and even though we will more than likely be completely stressed out about money and such, I will secretly be super happy.
Summary #3: My little monster rocks my socks off!

I Married a Super Dad!

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Now, notice I wrote “a” super dad. I know mine’s not the only one. There’s an elite band of Wonder-Daddies all over the world. I just happened to be lucky blessed enough to bag one of them.

I should have had an inkling going into our marriage that Andy was going to be a Super Dad. He’s always been good with kids…he worked in an athletic club daycare center for 10 years! I knew he’d be a good dad, but I am constantly reminded just how blessed I am.

Case in Point:

  • When I went back to work 3 weeks after Rylee was born, Andy was home with her for the next 3 months…and he was excited about it.
  • He has tons of patience with Ry…much more than I have in fact. There have been days I get so fed up with my kid, the moment he walks in the door I pass her off. He’s never done that.
  • Fridays are his days with her and he is not happy when he has to give that up.
  • He gets consistently PISSED OFF when he is out and about with Ry and strangers say “Oh, you’re babysitting today.” He typically responds with “No, dumb ass, It’s not considered babysitting when it’s your own kid!”
  • He tries to put pony tails in Ry’s hair when she asks for them…even though they turn out horrible.
  • He shares his bananas with her.
  • He will read books with her for hours even though he hates reading.
  • Even when his back is hurting (long story) he bends down to pick Ry up…even though he probably shouldn’t.
  • He gets upset with me when I don’t wake him up in the middle of the night if Rylee wakes up crying.
  • We have actually got into little arguments over who gets to put her to bed at night…now we let her choose.
  • He’d rather stay at home with the little monster than go meet Zac Brown with me.
The night Rylee was born.