catching up :: june 2011 :: rylie's 1st birthday.

note: this entry was written in july 2012, in an effort to finally update this little blog on the missing year or two of our lives, while i was so busy starting my new teaching career. :)

time flies when you're having fun! :) we couldn't believe our sweet rylie was already one... we had a fun day celebrating our baby girl.

we woke up and had a fun day at home, and then went to chick-fil-a for dinner. our neighborhood chick-fil-a does super fun family nights throughout the summer. rylie's 1st birthday fell on a tuesday, so it happened to be free ice cream and face painting night! :) we took emma's bff haley with us, and the girls had lots of fun.

birthday cupcake bears from nonna & grampa

sweet birthday girl

"it's my party and i'll cry if i want to!"

face painting at chick-fil-a

yummy chick-fil-a for the birthday girl & daddy

beautiful butterfly princess

our friend haley, getting her face painted, too

i think she likes it. :)

emma & haley :: sweet friends

haley & emma :: silly friends 

haley & emma :: love these girls

loving some ice cream. :)

"ice dream" buddies

the birthday girl loves her french fries

what a great daddy! he got his face painted, too! :)

emma just thinks this is so great...

a princess & her superhero

just because they're so cute... trying to remember them this small. :)
{emma-4, rylie-1 :: june 2011}

rylie's birthday party was at our house last year. it was held on july 2nd so jason's parents could be back in town from their vacation and be there. we had SO many good friends and family show up, which was great, but our tiny house was packed full. it also happened to be probably the hottest day of the summer at that point, and although our air conditioner worked overtime to keep up, it just wasn't strong enough. so, needless to say, it was much less than comfortable in our living room (i think with about 30 adults in kids in one room, the temperature didn't get under 80 the entire time... maybe even as high as 88!!). even so, it was a fun day, and i had a blast with the fun little details. :) jason has more pics on his computer, so i'll have to post more later... these are more of the decorations and such. :)

sign on the table at ry's party

pinwheels & sunshine for rylie's first-day-of-summer birthday :)

pinwheels for rylie's party

pinwheels for rylie's party

working on rylie's 1st birthday shirt

pinwheels & lemon{ade}s :)

table decorations {framed party invitation}

table decorations

invitation to rylie's 1st birthday party
"sunshine & lemonade and twirly whirly fun...
come help celebrate, our rylie is turning ONE!"

catching up :: june 2011 :: father's day.

note: this entry was written in july 2012, in an effort to finally update this little blog on the missing year or two of our lives, while i was so busy starting my new teaching career. :)

father's day 2011 was actually rylie's first father's day! i labored with her all day father's day 2010, but she wasn't born until 7:10 the next morning. :)

to celebrate two of the very special men in our lives (the girls' daddy & papa), we cooked a barbecue dinner at home. i made a cherry glaze for BBQ chicken on the grill (and other things i don't remember). but then i also made these amazing "irish car bomb" cupcakes. there is beer in the batter and bailey's irish creme in the frosting! (i mean. yum.)

irish car bomb cupcakes - yummo!

love these cupcake toppers :: "TIE-riffic DAD!" :)

emma's daddy is #1 :)

daddy & his girls
{emma-4, rylie-1}

emma kate & papa

father's day tie banner

i had lots of fun decorating the house for our daddies' special day.

i also made these collage prints for jason's father's day gift... i actually made them for FREE at walgreens.com! :) FREE is the best kind of gift, right?

a year in pictures :: 2010-2011

love this family :: 2010-2011

emma's note to daddy: "Love you, Daddy!"
june 2011 - 4 years old

wow! praise the LORD.

this literally was THE hardest year of my entire life. i guess that's obvious by the fact that i haven't posted at ALL since right before school started. :)

there is so much to share and catch up on... i'm home with the girls this summer, and really enjoying just being mommy and wife for awhile. something i've never really been able to do. i'm hoping to get to post a bit each day to share some highlights of the year, (the whole first year of sweet rylie's life!), and to share our summer fun. :)

on a creative note, i am LOVING a free online photo editing site i've discovered - www.fotoflexer.com. i used it to create my new blog header, and also the pretty little ditty proclaiming the arrival of summer (and freedom), above. :)

check it out.

super fun. :)

dedicated.

i can't believe it has been nearly 6 months since i last posted. poor rylie doesn't really even exist according to this blog!! i cannot WAIT until june, when i have much more freedom and can finally begin to share on this blog again!

needless to say, this has been a ridiculous year full of struggles, but also lots of joy. :)

one of those joys is our sweet, precious baby girl, who almost isn't a baby anymore! rylie is 10 months old already! we can't believe how quickly time has flown! she has made the craziness of our past year seem that much sweeter. :)

and, on mother's day this sunday, we will be dedicating our sweet rylie elizabeth to Christ before our friends and family.

i made this invitation to keep for her scrapbook. a digital version will be going out to friends and family.

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

happy new year!!

Happy 2011 New Year's

Holiday cards personalized with your favorite photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

emma words.

a few days ago, emma was in her bathroom by herself. it got very quiet.

when jason called her name wondering what was going on, she came out of the bathroom very quickly and warned:

"daddy, don't see the mirror.... don't EVEN see the mirror!"

{needless to say, daddy promptly when into the bathroom to "see the mirror." fortunately, it was just very wet. there are much worse things that have been all over that bathroom mirror than water.}

we are still laughing about it. :)

pumpkin fills.

i was emptying out the camera today in an attempt to finally update the ol' blog-a-roo, and i came across some really precious gems - one of which being this video. :)

this was filmed only about 2 weeks after emma kate's 3rd birthday. we were making jack-o-lanterns. her first ever, in fact. i was about half-way through my last semester of college at TWU, and i was also about 6 weeks pregnant with our sweet rylie.

my, what a difference 10 months makes - especially in the growing-up of my "baby" girl!! i was shocked as i watched, how young emma looks and sounds in this video. her voice sounds so baby-ish and although she's always be very advanced verbally, i couldn't believe she sounded this young so recently. her vocabulary and sentence structure is so "toddler-ish!" it seems like a lifetime ago... and its only been a few months.

anyway, enjoy this little peek into a sweet family memory. i'm so thankful i found this!

{aren't you a bit ready for fall, now?} ;)

summer fun.

since i am now the mommy of a 3-and-a-half year old AND a newborn, i'm sensing the need to be equipped with some fun things to do to keep my oldest little princess entertained and feeling special this summer. rylie is still at an age where it will be pretty easy for her to tag along to most things we do, so these activities will be perfect to do with emma. i'm hoping we can hit up some of them with daddy, too, to make it a full-family affair! :)

i found the following summer activities on a mom's website called "around town kids." (click here for more information and lots more activities!)

::: summer movie programs :::

cinemark's summer movie clubhouse :: click here for more info

schedule for the cinemark movies 14 theatre in mckinney:

schedule for the cinemark legacy theatre in plano:

schedule for the cinemark west plano theatre (used to be tinseltown):

studio movie grill's 2010 summer children's series :: click here for more info
tickets for these 11:00am showtimes are $1/child and $2/adult

"planet 51" (6/28-7/1) (PG)
"kung fu panda" (7/5-7/8) (PG)
"madagascar 2" (7/12-7/15) (PG)
"monsters vs aliens" (7/19-7/23) (PG)
"ice age 3" (7/26-7/29) (PG)
"rugrats in paris" (8/2-8/5) (G)
"cloudy with a chance of meatballs" (8/9-8/12) (PG)
"muppets from space" (8/16-8/19) (G)

the village at fairview's free family movie night :: click here for more info

the new village at fairview shopping center in allen, texas (at stacy & 75) is hosting a free family movie night on the first saturday of each month.

may 1 - september 4 at dusk :: the grand commons stage at the village fountain

upcoming movies:

june 5 :: where the wild things are

july 3 :: cloudy with a chance of meatballs

august 7 :: monsters vs aliens

september 4 :: up

::: summer reading programs :::

half price books :: click here for more info
all kids 14 and younger can earn a FREE $3 gift card each week by reading for 15 minutes a day.

reading with ringling :: click here for more info

kids can earn a FREE circus ticket to any dallas/fort worth ringling bros. performance in july & august by simply doing their library reading! enroll with the librarian to get started. frisco, mkinney & plano libraries are participating, plus many more in the area.

local library

most libraries have summer reading programs and weekly storytimes for younger children. check with your local library for details.

**both barnes & noble and borders books have summer reading programs going on, but they are for grade-school aged children. since emma doesn't fit into that age-group, i didn't include them, but if your child is at least in first grade, i would say totally check them out!**

::: family fun & learning :::  

frisco fire safety town :: click here for more info 
safety town family nights :: friday nights are FREE :: 5-8pm during june - august

::: farms & orchards :::

:: to buy or pick your own fresh fruits, veggies & flowers ::

dallas farmer's market :: 1010 south pearl street :: open daily 7am-6pm
frisco farmer's market :: every saturday 8am-1pm :: frisco square
mckinney farmer's market @ chestnut square :: saturdays 8am-noon or @ adriatica :: thurs & sun 1-5pm
plano farmer's market @ fairview farms :: daily tues-sun (closed mondays) 8am-9pm :: 3314 north central expressway, suite 100 

arlington:
gnismer farms :: pick your own berries :: 817-469-8704

balch springs: 
the merry berry farm :: pick your own blackberries :: mon & thurs 5-8pm :: sat 8am-12pm :: 971-286-2287


roanoke:
henrietta creek farms :: pick your own apples, peaches & veggies :: open daily from july-october :: 9am-4pm :: 817-439-3202


farmersville:
rjr farms :: pick your own veggies :: open sat, sun, mon 11am-8pm :: 214-542-7866


gainesville:
red river peach orchard :: pick your own peaches starting june 17th :: open 8am-1pm thurs, fri & sat :: $1.50/lb :: pack a lunch for a picnic :: they provide free lemonade :: 940-612-6200


lavender ridge farms :: pick your own veggies :: open fri-sun 9am-5pm :: 940-665-6938


sanger:
duck creek blackberry farm :: pick your own blackberries :: $15/gallon :: open tues 6-8pm & sat 7am-noon :: 940-458-3217


sadler: (north of gainesville, south of oklahoma)
the berry patch :: pick your own berries :: they'll provide a gallon container for you to use while you pick :: 903-564-6228

i'm hoping to hit up some of these fun things this summer with our girls... hopefully you'll find some fun things to do, too! :)

happy summer!

mostest.

rylie is here! and things have been a little busy, to say the least. and through it all, i have been so concerned with making sure emma gets enough time, love & attention to ensure she does not feel replaced at all by her new baby sister. really, it's a self-inflicted anxiety. i have actually been missing emma over the last few days. i'm just craving time with her, and feeling a little wistful for the way things "used to be," although that is so entangled with joy for "the way things have become." emma is actually dealing wonderfully with this "little" transition. the love she has already for her sister is overwhelming. we are so thankful for it.

i will post, soon, about rylie's arrival and all that has happened over the last week, but i wanted to share this sweet moment. so i don't forget it. :)

this afternoon, i got to take a shower... my first since we've been home. {i know, it's gross, but it's the reality of being the mommy of a 5-day-old.} as i was finishing up, emma came in, just waking up from her nap and asked if she could join me. usually, this would be almost a burden for me, since i am admittedly a bit selfish of my shower time... it's one of the only blocks of time i get that belong solely to ME. but, today, i saw it as an opportunity to steal some one-on-one moments with my emma-girl.

and i'm so glad i did, because this precious conversation took place:

me: {kissing emma on the forehead} i love you, emma-bear.
emma: i love you too, mommy!
me: emma, do you know how much i love you?
emma: yes... i do.
me: you do? how much do i love you?
emma: mommy, you love me the mostest.
me: {tearing up beacause i'm so relieved she knows this & because i gave birth 5 days ago} that's right! i do love you the mostest! do you know why i love you the mostest?
emma: because you do, mommy. because you love me. because i'm your baby. and you always love me.

then she smiled at me the sweetest, most confident smile, gave me a big kiss, and went back to playing with her "ariel" doll in the water.

and that's all i can ask for. that she is sure of my love for her.

and it seems like she's got it down. :)

blessed.

we were so blessed last night to have beth of beth moore photography take some incredible family and maternity pictures for us! she is such a sweet heart, and obviously so talented.

these 6 pictures are just a sneak peek of what's to come... i am in LOVE!

this was emma's "excited face." classic.

could she BE any cuter?
by far my favorite picture of emma. 

ever.

baby rylie belly.

i heart this one.

j + s = baby r

our family of 4!

what do you think??

the best part is, beth is coming back within the first 10 days of little rylie's life to do a newborn session! i cannot wait... it'll be so neat to look back on these pictures - rylie is IN MY BELLY. 

and so soon, she'll be in my arms. 

:)

baby face.

again, i've been horrible about keeping up with this. i have so many blog posts rolling around in my head that i mean to write but then i never do because something else becomes a priority.

and i feel awful that the last several have had nothing to do with emma... she can't take the backseat already!!! rylie's not even HERE yet! :(

so, i'm really going to try and be better about blogging - however rylie will be gracing us with her presence within the next 2 weeks, so i may go on a bit of a hiatus for awhile... you know how those newborn days go... and if you don't know from experience, well... just trust me. ;)

so once again, here are some sonogram pics of our sweet rylie-girl. these pictures are absolutely amazing because you actually can see her face. i mean her real face. they are regular sono pics... it's just amazing!

the following pictures are from our sonogram on 05.05.10 - 33 weeks:

here, she was suckling and sticking out her tongue a lot... we caught her in mid-tongue-sticking! :)
(it does look a little like something from a horror movie; as if her jaw were unhinging...)

her cutie little foot - looks so much like emma's feet - long & wide :)

rylie's profile - looks like she has mommy's nose! :) and cute pouty lips...

our first look at her face. literally her face. we can see her eyelids, nose, chunky cheeks, beautiful lips and little heart-shaped chin. she looks like a little baby doll!

another look at her face... can you see her eyelashes? isn't that wild???

another profile picture - definitely mommy's nose. and apparently angelina jolie's lips... goodnight, baby girl!

i could look at her sweet face all day (soon, i'll be able to)! :) she has the fullest lips ever - daddy is SO in trouble!

this is one of my very favorite pictures... it's two different shots of her lips. you can see almost up her nose. in the left picture, you can see her eyes a bit too, in the shadows...
how gorgeous are her lips???



these next pictures were taken at my last sonogram on 05.26.10 - 36 weeks:

sweet profile - sucking her thumb!

another shot of her face

angel face

another profile.



that was probably our last look at our baby girl until she blesses us with her presence in this part of the world. we can't believe that's in only 2 weeks!!!

we think rylie will be just as big and strong as her sister - at 36 weeks they "measured" rylie to be around 6 lbs. 9 oz., which is exactly what they measured emma to be at 36 weeks!

emma was 7 lbs. 12 oz., which i know is almost 8 lbs.... but she was also 21.75 inches, which is SO long - so she was pretty long and skinny... so i'm not worried about having a big baby. :) i know i can do it!

we can't wait to meet our rylie-girl and introduce her to her big sister... who is going to be the best big sister ever, i'm sure! :)