11 months.

This time last year I was scrambling to finish sub plans for my 2nd grade class, finding the perfect dresser to use as Rylee's changing table, and T and I were into the third week of our 6-week prenatal class (procrastinators!).  And now we have this sweet little girl who has captured our hearts and wrapped us around her little finger.  Rylee has changed our lives and made us "mama" and "dada."  Life has become better and so much more pleasurable with our little Ry-Ry.

1 month from today we'll have a 1 YEAR-OLD! Say what?!

at 11 months Rylee...

- can say and KNOWS what "mama," "dada," and "nana" (banana) mean.

- still eats everything in sight.  Everything.  She loves graham crackers, guacamole, peas, cheese sticks, Cheerios, roasted carrots, pumpkin pancakes, and eggs.  We still have yet to find something she won't eat.  Oh.  And Pickles!  Girl loves her a good pickle spear!

- still nurses up to three times a day, but oh how she loves her solid food! 

- refuses binkies and bottles (ever since her top front teeth came in!) and it hasn't made much of a difference.  She sleeps just fine and is almost ready to be weaned to cow's milk anyways.  Knowing we won't have to wean her from a binky is peace of mind for her mama and daddy!

- loves getting raspberries blown on her stomach and an attack of kisses all over.  Though she still refuses to give actual kisses.  We're working on it. 

- does the following "tricks": waves goodbye, can sign "please" when she wants more food, can make the touchdown sign, blows kisses, knows what an elephant says, claps her hands, and knows most of the patty-cake song.

- dances to music (especially "Daniel Tiger" opening credits and "All About That Bass" songs.  Girl gets down when she hears either one!)

- tries to "sing" (sounds like humming) when we sing.

- has grasped the meaning of "no" and has gotten good and stopping from doing something when we firmly say "No!" to her.  Though there are those times she stops what she's doing then goes right back to doing it a second later.  It's a work in progress.

- loves bathtime and all of her bath toys.  Until she tries to stand up in the tub and we say no.  Then it's a full on tantrum until she's out of the tub.  

- the aforementioned tantrum?  Yeah.  They're starting to happen outside of the bathtub too.  

- still gurgles with her spit in the back of her mouth when she's happy.  Sounds like a little piece of heaven when she does it. 

- has been in Nevada, California, and Idaho (and obviously Utah...).

- still loves going on walks to the park and swinging and going down slides.  Such a happy girl when she's outside.

- has 6 teeth!  Her front teeth gave us a run for our money when they were coming in- a traumatic week for both Rylee and mama and daddy.  But ever since they broke through, her other teeth haven't given us any trouble except for a little fussiness.  Thank goodness.  

- gets a new bruise on her head at least once a week.  Girl loves exploring and figuring things out.  Which means a few bonks here and there!

- is so over crawling and wants so badly to walk on her own.  Some of her happiest giggles and smiles come during her nightly "walking" practice going in between mama and daddy.  She's up to taking 7 steps on her own!  Girl doesn't just walk either, she runs!  So so cute.

- loves putting a blanket over her head and playing peek-a-boo.  Repeatedly.  

- makes the cutest elephant noise when you ask her the question "What does the elephant say?"

- has retained the nicknames: peanut, Ry-Ry, Rylee girl, otter pop 

10 months.

As much as I love seeing this little girl of ours grow and develop, I feel a little denial creeping into the back of my mind when I think of my baby girl turning one in exactly 2 months.  Miss Rylee is no longer my helpless little infant and is looking more and more like a "big girl" every day!

At 10 months Rylee...

- is crawling!  No more scooting around on her head and the heels of her feet (which I kinda miss... it was HILARIOUS when she did it).

- pulls herself up onto everything.  Did I say everything?  Because I mean ev-ery-THING!  Kitchen chairs, the kitchen table, couches, beanbags, bookshelves, end tables, bed frames, cedar chest, cribs, drawers... anything that her long little fingers can reach with the help of her tiny little toes on their very tippy toes.  Baby-proofing is going on at the Kussee home like nobody's business.

- is in the process of growing and popping out her top two teefies!  Teething is not for the faint-hearted.  Good thing this girl is made of tough stuff!  She's only had one rough night of being up because of those vicious-bony-enameled-white-daggers torturing her gums.  Poor thing.

- on a similar note, is loving anything cold and hard to gnaw on.  Frozen waffles, frozen peas, frozen bananas, frozen otter pops (to just gnaw on, not to eat) are among the many things we've tried.  The waffles are a life-saver at the moment.  It might help that Ry-Ry loves any new textures too, which means waffles are her new love!  Maybe a trip to Waffluv is needed in the near future (for Ry-Ry and her parents...).

- In addition to frozen foods, she loves cheese quesadillas, scrambled eggs, Cheerios, peas, bananas, chicken, cheese sticks, baby puffs, yogurt bites, apples, cubed sweet potatoes, graham crackers, homemade whole wheat bread (her favorite!), and whatever is on Mama and Daddy's plate at dinnertime.  Girl loves her food.  Just like her mama and daddy.

- waves bye-bye!  It started out as a backward wave (waving to herself) and has slowly evolved into the right waving technique of curling her fingers and waving her whole arm.  It's adorable.  And has melted many a visitor in the Kussee home.

- eats everything in sight (except for honey, strawberries, citrus, and nuts- per doctors orders about waiting until she's 12 months for those).  She's also become a stink about feeding herself!  Finger foods to the rescue.  I feel like we need a drop cloth at every mealtime.  Here's to keeping the broom handy!

- smacks her lips when she likes something she's eating and wants more.  Cutest little thing!

- still loves her Mr. Bear.  All stuffed animals really.  When she's happy to see them she grabs them, bends in half, and nuzzles her face into them and laughs.  One of the cutest baby things I've ever witnessed.  The girl loves animals- stuffed and alive!

- loves smiling.  When she grins, it's a full on wrinkle-your-nose-and-crinkle-your-eyes smile.

- loves when Daddy comes home!  She listens for every sound at the door around the time he usually gets home.  No matter what she's doing when he gets home she has a special smile for her Daddy!

- loves going on walks in her stroller and being outside.  This girl loves so many things already- it's going to be so fun to see what she ends up liking as she gets older!

- splashes during bath time and thinks the rubber ducky song is the greatest!  Especially when we sing it in Kermit the Frog's voice.

- nuzzles and cuddles into our chests  which gets her just about anything she wants.  Is it just me or are baby cuddles on of the best feelings in the world?

- babbles all day long saying mama, dada, nana, baba.

- took her first two steps on March 7th!  I can barely handle how fast she's been growing up this past month.

- loves loves loves to R-U-N.  She loves holding onto our fingers and running all over the place.  Her little legs really get going and it's hilarious to watch how fast she gets going.  I have a feeling that once she really gets a handle on walking by herself she'll skip right to running.

- is learning the meaning of "no."  In so many different ways.  Especially when it comes to not going near the toilet or the garbage in the bathroom.

- is a little attached to her mama.  But not so much that we can't leave her with a babysitter to go on a date every week or so.  With all of this teething and daylight savings going on, the girl gets what she wants.  She does great with a babysitter, until they try to give her a bottle.  She'll still go down to sleep pretty easily for a babysitter and she does just fine eating solid food for them.  So she doesn't starve to death until she gets fed the following morning....

- has kept the nicknames: Ry-Ry, Rylee Girl, Peanut

9 months.

At 9 months Rylee...

- has her 2 bottom teefies!  The top ones keep playing tricks on us and going up and down like a pair of Oompa Loompa's on crack.

- eats EVERYTHING in sight. Winter Squash, peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, string beans, avocados, carrots, applesauce, pears, peaches, mangoes, bananas and the bits of yumminess off our plates every so often. Girl loves her food!

- eats her food like her daddy.  Takes the biggest bite, chews (if needed) the least amount of times possible, and swallows.  She’s her Daddy’s little girl.

- likes to be swaddled again when she goes down to sleep. With a blanket over her eyes. With her binky (which she ends up spitting out when she’s good and asleep).  She’ll also fall asleep in our arms during church while nuzzled on one of our chests.  Which is still the best feeling in the world.

- speaking of binkies, she still doesn’t care for them much unless she’s bonked her head or if she’s going down for a nap.  Which is absolutely fine with me!  It will make weaning her from it a breeze in the future.

- likes long walks to the duck pond and hearing the ducks quack and flap their wings.

- has a new found love for swinging. Swinging in swings, swinging from our hands, just plain swinging. Swinging OUTSIDE is always the preferred method.

- loves looking at her reflection in mirrors, the oven door, windows, anything that shows the cute baby on the other side that wants to play with her! Girl has narcissistic tendencies. And we love it! I how she always gets excited and loves how she looks when she sees her reflection.

- loves playing with toys. Anything soft and cuddly or that makes noise and she's all over it. And I mean ALL over it. She lovingly mauls her teddy bear every time she sees him.

- loves the silicone whisks and brushes in the kitchen.

- has a knack for picking up her yogurt melts, baby puffs, and peas with efficient ease that makes them disappear within seconds of getting on her tray.

- scrunched up her nose and full on SNORTS when she's extremely happy about something. Which usually means she's doing her vertical "clapping" at the same time. Just about kills us!

-s till scoots around on heels of her feet and the back of her head.  She is, however, teetering on the edge of a traditional crawl.  She’ll get in the right hand and knees position, rock back and forth, and move her hands forward.  She’s still attempting getting her legs to move at the same time.  I’m really in no hurry for her to start crawling.  I fear that once she starts it’s officially the end of her “baby era” and she’ll move into toddler stage.  Eek!

- needs her sleep.  If she’s had her 12 hours of sleep at night and a couple of good naps during the day, she’s a happy and incredibly energetic little gal.  If she DOESN’T get her naps (which mostly happens on sundays) then she can be a bit of a drama queen and clings to mama and daddy.

- shamelessly flirts with every baby/child/adult in the grocery store.  Shamelessly.

- loves grocery carts and her stroller.  Maybe it will extend to anything with wheels in the future.  She loves to be moving and grooving with people around her.  Such a social butterfly already!

- loves playing the “pat pat” game.  She pats everything from the floor, to her toys, to giving people fives.  Anything that has substance to, she pats.

- loves the "Rubber Ducky" song when she takes a bath.  Over and over and over again.  We're more than happy to appease her with it!

- has started waving.  She bends her little fingers and waves at herself constantly.  Which usually turns into a yelling session at her hand numerous times during the day.  We catch her holding her hands in the air and screaming while she looks at them and moves her little baby fingers.  It always makes us crack up laughing no matter what we’re doing.

- Though she knows “mama,” “dada,” “baba” and other baby babbles, her go to these days is “dada.”  We tell her to say “mama” all of the time and she’ll just smile, shake her head, and say “dada” again.

-still gets called Ry-Ry, little one, baby girl, otter pop, Rylee girl, and peanut.

8 month update.

at 8 months our Rylee Girl...

- is such a good sleeper!  She loves to sleep and usually gets 11-12 hours of sleep at night and another 2 naps (each 1-2 hours long) in during the day!  We've been lucky with this kid.  She came to us as a good sleeper.  Don't ask us the secret to a baby who sleeps well.  You'll have to ask Rylee that question!

- loves to splash in the bathtub and has started getting some serious distance on her splashing!  Tyler or I usually ends up with an arm that gets soaked by the end of the first "Rubber Ducky" song.  

- is slowly starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees and is revving up to get crawling!  She still loves to scoot around on her back using the back of her head and her heels to propel her backwards towards the object of her affection at that time (usually her stuffed bear or stuffed seal).  

- has started making little wheezing sounds to get someone's attention if you're ignoring her.  Especially her Great Grandma Kussee.  She couldn't get enough of Great Grandma during our last Sunday dinner.  She'd wheeze and then giggle and laugh when Grandma would turn and look at her!

- is still a pro at eating.  Everything.  Her favorites are still sweet potatoes, green beans, and applesauce, but she downs everything else she's given.  Girl loves her food!

- has started to get a little clingy to her mama and daddy.  She's started throwing a fit when I'm not in the same room or if she can't see me.  However, she still does just fine when her aunties, uncles, or grandparents come over to babysit while we go out for a couple of hours.  Funny goose.  The doc says it should just be a "phase," so I'm crossing my finger sand hoping she does grow out of it eventually.  For now, it's a little flattering and secretly makes her parents smile (unless the laundry is screaming to be folded and she's screaming to not be left alone)...

- babbles day in and day out.  Her stand-by favorites are "babababa," "mamamamamamama," "dadadadada," and a couple of "wawawawa's."

- loves to snuggle.  Props to our little Ry-Ry for being the cutest little snuggler on earth.  

- has started reaching for people when she wants to go to them.  She usually reaches for mama or daddy, but has been known to go to an uncle or auntie.

- loves gnawing on anything soft that soaks up her drool.  Her cloth headbands, washcloths, her stuffed animals tags, flippers, and ears.  She improvises and makes her own teething toys...

- has the cutest squeals and laughs!  We can't help but laugh whenever she does.  It also leads to numerous tickle torture sessions every day.  I can't help myself.

- loves electronics.  She loves the opening song of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" and thinks it's so funny when we talk on the phone.  She loves listening to her grandparents and daddy on the speaker phone.  It must be because we rarely let her watch T.V. and play on our phones.  But, when needed, Daniel Tiger does sing to her a few times a day and she giggles and claps.

- has created her own way to clap (as our instagram friends have witnessed).  Rather than clapping with her hand coming together horizontally, this girl claps vertically by slapping her palm and back of her hand together.  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.

nicknames: Smiley Rylee, Ry-Ry (most used), Otter Pop, Peanut

 (this is such a Ry-Ry picture.  Behind all of those laughs and giggles she is our analytical and serious baby when she's figuring things out.)

7 month update.

at seven months Rylee...

-has tried copious amounts of pureed food including butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, green beans, peas, bananas, applesauce, pear sauce, mango, carrots, and avocado.  She has literally started inhaling said foods with a new abandonment! 

-is eating snacks!  She snarfs down little baby puffs and freeze-dried yogurt bites like no one's business.

-still loves playing with Mr. Bear and her Awkward Seal.  She squeals with laughter every time they come into her sight and she gets to gnaw on them.  

-has finally mastered rolling over both ways.  

-has become accustomed to scooting around on the backside of her head while laying down and propelling the rest of her body with her arms and legs.  She created her own way of getting from Point A to Point B and is sticking to her own ways.  She has no interest in crawling (which I'm perfectly fine with until after Christmas when the tree comes down!) or being on her stomach anymore!

-wakes up and immediately begins talking to herself and making her cooing sounds in the morning.  More often than not, she's one happy girl in the morning (definitely gets that from her Daddy!)

-is ticklish under her chin, behind her neck, under her armpits, and up and down her belly and back.  It's quite the sight to see when she gets into a laughing fit- hands down the cutest thing and makes us laugh just as hard along with her!

-loves all animals that walk on four legs.  She's entranced by them and stares them down.  She's gotten good at doing her "pat, pat, pat" game instead of pulling on their fur (though puppies little ears make her lose all sense and she just HAS to tug them).

-is starting to reach out when she wants mommy or daddy.  Melt my heart goodness.  The fact that she realizes that we're her favorites makes us secretly smile behind our hands.  

-loves the Christmas tree and the Christmas lights in the house.  A tree AND lights in the house?!  It's Rylee's dream come true!  She spends a good portion of her playtime under the tree swatting at branches and the toys we hang from the lower branches.  

-had a week span of waking up in the middle of the night, but went right back to her regular schedule of going to sleep around 8 and not waking up until 8 the following morning.  Ry-Ry is a gem of a baby- we've almost always had a good 8 hours of sleep since the day she was born.  Oh beautiful, beautiful sleep.

-loves, loves, LOVES drinking out of cups.  She does a decent job of it too!  She starts gulping down water and stares us down if we ever get a cup or water bottle anywhere near our mouths.  Hilarious.

-takes at least two, 1-2 hour long naps during the day.  

-loves interacting and playing with anyone in the general vicinity, but also values her own independent play time.  

-has a favorite trick!  Rylee collects and saves up the spit in the her mouth and lets it go to the back of her mouth where she gurgles it and makes the cutest sounds with it.  We call them her "happy sounds" and love listening to her smile and laugh as she does them.  It takes serious skill.

-has a TOOTH!  It broke ground last weekend and has only brought about a stuffy, runny nose with it.  Yay for little teefies!

-is loved by everyone who comes in contact with her.  She has blessed our lives so much- more than we could have ever comprehended.  She is our spunky go-getter baby and we have loved every minute we've spent with her.  Many people say they wish they would have spent more time loving and enjoying the first few months of their baby's life- I can honestly say that we have embraced and completely enjoyed every moment we could have squeezed out of Rylee's first 7 months.  We have no regrets and we appreciate the past we've had, completely immerse ourselves in the present with her, and look forward to the future.  Oh how we love our little Rylee Girl!

Rylee 6 Months.

At 6 months little miss Rylee...

-babbles "mamamamamama" and "babababababa" amongst other unintelligible baby chatter

- has tried butternut squash, green beans, avocado, applesauce, pear sauce, and bananas (along with a taste of ice cream and jawdawgs sauce because Daddy couldn't contain himself...)

-loves drinking out of cups and does a decent job getting water in her mouth, though much of it runs down her shirt too!

-sits up like she's been doing it her entire life

-grabs for things like her spoon when she's eating and for things that she wants (like mommy's hair, her teddy bear, and blankets)

-smiles, laughs, and giggles constantly throughout the day

-loves the grocery store store lights and colorful objects on all of the shelves.  Seriously.  She looks at other babies who are crying and gets a concerned and almost irritated look on her face.  She definitely enjoys being outside our basement apartment...

-scoots on her back around the living room floor constantly.  She's just now getting a bald spot on her head due to the scooting (she's never been bald from moving her head back and forth in the crib).  She loves to drag her teddy bear and blanket around the room with her and babbles the entire time they go on their little "field trip" around the living room

-enjoys the bathtub, but ONLY if she gets to chew on the wet washcloth in the tub while we lather her up.  Otherwise, things get a little ugly at bath time 

-has started gnawing on her thumb and everything else around (but no teefies yet!)

-plays with her keys, rattle, Sophie the giraffe, and wooden toys

-giggles like it's nobody's business after she wakes up from her naps.  She's a happy girl after she's had some sleep

-loves scooting around on mommy and daddy's bed.  She attacks the blanket at the end of the bed and gets her whole face under it and waits for someone to lift it up and say, "hi!"  

-gets the biggest kick out of the "blanket game."  She lays on the floor and waits for us to float a blanket down on top of her and then she flails her arms and legs to get it off while we ask, "Where's Ry-Ry?"  Once she gets the blanket off she squeals and loves it when we have wide eyes and open mouths

-loves her stuffed animals.  Especially her Awkward Seal and her Teddy Bear.  She squeals and grabs for them and chatters on and on and on when she's playing with them.  It's a magical thing to watch her interact with her toys

-is so far ticklish under her chin, under her armpits, and on her belly.  She gets a pretty regular dose of tickle sessions daily by both parents and occasionally her aunts and uncles

-gives some pretty cute open-mouthed kisses

-still loves to cuddle and snuggle.  This girl had some seriously delicious cuddles that melts her parents completely.

south fork and fall leaves

After seeing the gorgeous fall colors on the mountain, we decided to go for a little picnic  lunch up to South Fork with Codi last week.  Rylee loved her trees again- she just can't get enough of the leaves on the trees!  She definitely loves being outside and I couldn't love having a little hiking buddy more.    

She also loved the running water sounds and fell asleep for a little nap in her carrier while we hiked around.  When we stopped for lunch and put her on the picnic blanket, she squealed as she watched the leaves fall down from the trees up above.  Her whole body got into her excitement!  

She's also developed quite a pterodactyl scream lately.  It's high-pitched and she throws in a few raspberries here and there to mix it up every once in a while.  Toad and I couldn't stop laughing at Rylee's antics!

Aunt Misty also made the cutest pair of boots for Ry-Ry.  Adorable.  This girl is so spoiled by her aunties.  It's ridiculous. 

4 months

Our little Rylee Ann is 4 months old today.  How is that even possible?!

at 4 months Rylee...

- still loves loves loves snuggling.  Seeing her snuggled up on Daddy's chest during church is one of my favorite sights.  She nuzzles right up to him and falls straight to sleep for her afternoon nap.  

- has started playing with toys!  She loves her key rings and whips those keys around like nobody's business.  She also loves her Sophie Giraffe, her taggie owl, her taggie socks, and her Sqwish toy.  Lucky for us, she learned how to "play" with toys right before our San Diego trip and entertained herself during the long drive.

- is still sleeping 9+ hours straight at night.  Now if we could just get her bedtime to before midnight.

- loves to stand!  She loves grabbing onto someone's hands while standing and wiggling her little hips back and forth.

- still loves blowing bubbles.  Except they have gone from a little stream to a full on river down her chin landing in a puddle on the front of whatever she's wearing.  

- laughs and SQUEALS.  She can now be found randomly squealing and screaming with pleasure during the day.  

- enjoys sucking not on just two or even three, but four fingers these days.  Which she quite regularly shoves down her throat.

- loves it when Daddy comes home.  She searches for his voice and gives him a full on smile when she sees him home.

- enjoys gnawing on a slice of a peach or watermelon here and there.  And maybe a taste of ice cream that Daddy sneaks in when Mama isn't watching.  

- might be starting the road to teething.  She sucks on her fist, hands, toes, and frozen binkies whenever she's cranky (which isn't all that often).

- has finally warmed up to the idea of taking a bath.  She squeals and kicks at the water and her rubber duck every time now.  She's a big fan of the water and loves watching it come out of the faucet.

- is still a looooong, petite little girl.  She's finally developed a roll or two on each of her thighs, but that's it.  I'm not sure this little gal will ever be a chunk.  

- has obtained the nickname "Drooly" due to the amounts of drool that dribble down her mouth all day long.

- is an old pro at holding her head up and rolling over.  Seriously.  She's had both tricks down for months (most likely due to the small amounts of chunk she has).

- loves it when her Grandpa growls at her.  She laughs rather than cries unlike most kids he does it to.

- loves tangling her hands in hair.  Especially in Aunt Talya and Morgan's long hair.  

- thinks that both sets of grandparents are pretty funny people.  They could quite possibly be her favorite people.

- has discovered mirrors and loves looking in them.

- still loves looking up at trees when we go on walks.  Her entire body gets into the excitement of seeing the light through the leaves.

- has hair that is slowly becoming lighter.  With tints of strawberry blonde coming through.

- keeps her parents guessing on the color of her eyes.  Perhaps she'll have color-changing eyes like Aunt Toadie?

-nicknames: Smiley Rylee, Ry-Ry, Drooly, Peanut, Little Britches

 [^ ^Ry Ry has also taken a liking to the crocheted blanket Aunt Misty made her.  She loves sticking her fingers through the holes.  I love that Aunt Misty even embroidered Ry-Ry's name into her blanket. ^ ^]

 [^ ^ That smile kills me. ^ ^ ]

[^ ^ little miss did this pose all on her own.  I turned around to grab the camera and she'd fallen into this position. ^ ^] 

[ ^ ^ our precious little girl ^ ^ ]

I don't think we could have gotten any more lucky with such a perfect little baby.  She has her learning moments, but is overall such a delightful little one.  I think often of how the phrase "our pride and joy" doesn't come close to how we feel about Rylee Girl.  

Happy 4 months Ry-Ry.

san diego 2014.

When Danie and Dustin moved away to San Diego this past Spring, my heart broke a little.  Call it raging pregnancy hormones or lack of sleep, but I would randomly shed some tears over it for a week straight.  I was convinced we wouldn't see them until they moved back to Utah.  It was a painful thing to say goodbye.  And although Danie and Dustin assured us that there was a queen-sized bed waiting for us to come visit them, I was convinced we wouldn't actually be able to survive a road trip with a 3-month-old baby.

Thank goodness I was wrong!

Despite my apprehensions about making the 11 hour car ride to San Diego, we couldn't turn down a trip to San Diego when Danie reminded us we were supposed to come visit.  I also enjoyed my new found freedom of not having to write sub plans in order to take a vacation day!  

Running on a little faith and prayer that Rylee Girl would enjoy spending so much time in her carseat, we planned a trip to sunny California for the end of August.  After an early departure at 4 o'clock in the morning, we made our way to our first stop to St. George and then onto Vegas to visit with some Kussee family members and let Rylee Girl out to stretch and eat after sleeping for 6 hours in the car- score one for leaving early!

^ ^ ^ mornings are so not my thing ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ sleeping baby ^ ^ ^

After calculating that we'd be a tidbit early to San Diego before the Romrell's were off work, we decided to see some of the tourist stops on our way.  One of them was a national cemetery where we walked around and saw numerous gravesides of WWI, WWII, and other war veterans.  Then it was back in the car and onto our last stop!

 ^ ^ ^ first family road trip picture! ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ what a grump ^ ^ ^

After just one baby meltdown, a half-eaten bag of licorice, and 12 chapters into listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we heard the faithful GPS on Tyler's phone announce that we had "arrived at our destination."

Suffice it to say, I was quite happy to see Danie and Dustin.  Rylee was pretty stoked to finally meet Aunt "Nanie" and Uncle Dustin while we chowed down on pizza.  Then Dustin surprised us with the offer to go flying with him- an offer we just couldn't turn down.  We kissed Rylee Girl goodbye, left her in Danie's good care, and headed to the airport to ride in a little four-seater plane.  

Before takeoff, Dustin showed us all of the pre-flight checks and quizzed us on the airplane body and parts.  Then we hopped in and got ready for takeoff!  No matter what plane we go on, I always detest take-off.  I'd much rather feel like I weigh more than that I weigh less.  Once we were in the air, we flew up the coast over the San Diego temple and looked down across the bright city lights.  A pretty dang cool way to check out San Diego.  

 ^ ^ attractive man alert ^ ^ 

 ^ ^ ^ first timer excited for her first small plan ride ^ ^ ^ 

 ^ ^ view over San Diego ^ ^

After a safe landing we went home and hit the sack.

We spent the next morning at Coronado beach and introducing Rylee to the beach for the first time!  The seagulls also attacked our unopened bag of Bugels.  Word to the wise- don't trust those darn birds around any food.  Opened or otherwise.

Rylee Girl had the time of her L-I-F-E at the beach!  She loved the feel of the sand and kept getting her father's analytical face on trying to figure out what it was!  Surprisingly enough, she loved the cold Pacific ocean on her feet and would dig her toes into the cold sand when the water rushed up over her toes.  She looked legit in her little sun hat, onesie tank, and flip flops.  She just about killed us with how cute she looked.

Dustin took the pair of us out boogie boarding where I finally tried my hand at it and we got pretty good riding the waves up onto the beach.  It makes me wish we lived a little closer...

 ^ ^ figuring out the sand on her toes ^ ^

^ ^ Mama and Ry-Ry ^ ^

 ^ ^ Danie and Ry-Ry ^ ^

 ^ ^ Aunt Nanie!! ^ ^

 ^ ^ pure joy ^ ^

 ^ ^ family beach picture ^ ^

 ^ ^ first feel of the ocean surf and wet sand! ^ ^

 ^ ^ burying feet in the sand ^ ^

 ^ ^ baby toes ^ ^

^ ^ squishy kisses ^ ^

 ^ ^ baby flip flops ^ ^

^ ^ Mama and Ry-Ry ^ ^

After a full morning at the beach, we grabbed some quick showers and headed to see a lighthouse and grab some burgers in the city and watch the sunset over the ocean.

 ^ ^ looking up into the lighthouse ^ ^

^ ^ baby snuggles ^ ^

^ ^ some statue of a spanish guy who opened up the trade something-or-other and helped establish San Diego ^ ^

 ^ ^ poking at things with straws in the tide pools and trying to catch a crab ^ ^

^ ^ the crab we never caught... ^ ^

Then it was back to the house for Danie's traveling baby shower!  Since she couldn't come to a baby shower in Utah, we brought the baby shower to her!  Thanks to a lot of friends that made it successful and got them off to a small start on getting some of the fun things for a baby!

Sunday was spent eating good food, catching up and talking, and trying to pay attention during church while their body-building-organ-playing-bishop talked.  After a movie, we said our goodbyes and snoozed until leaving the next morning to head back to Utah...

 

^ ^ Daddy dressed little Batgirl for bed after we said goodbye ^ ^