1 year old

Happy first birthday Rylee girl!  This year has been one of the most fulfilling of our lives.  We couldn't be happier that you chose to join our family.  The absolute joy and love we feel for you is unlike any other.  We love you in a way that only a parent can love their child.  We love you, Ry Ry!

At one year Rylee,

-is walking all over the place!  The last thing she needs to really learn is how to stand up without pulling herself up on something first.  She walks with her hands up in the air and is still a little wobbly, but she can walk from the kitchen to the bathroom, takes a little break, and then takes off towards the living room.  Girl is determined to keep going and going and going...  She usually has a toy, kitchen utensil, a sock, or a combo of all of them in her hand as she walks around.  It is the cutest, funniest thing!

-loves walking around and around the ottoman in the front room.  She babbles and "talks" while she goes around (usually counter-clockwise) and continues to do it long enough for mama to get the dishwasher loaded or get dinner started.  She'll stop every so often to clap without holding on, laugh at herself, and then continue on while babbling and talking.

-loves putting food into your mouth.  Especially when she's done eating a certain item at dinner and then she'll start feeding it to you.  Clever girl.

-has recently discovered metal bowls, pots, pans, and tupperware in the kitchen!  It's a magical thing for her to be handed a wooden spoon and a metal pot to bang on.  Best entertainment EVER.

-is getting a little more picky with what she eats.   One week she'll eat peas, the next she shakes her head "no" and will spit it out if it gets in her mouth.  Then the next week she's all about peas again.  Silly girl!  She'll almost always eat the following: Bananas, waffles, pancakes, yogurt, applesauce, veggie straws, Cheerios, and butternut squash mac and cheese.

-gets the cutest smile on her face when someone she recognizes walks through the door and frantically starts waving at them.

-raises her arms for when she wants to be picked up (mainly when she wakes up in the morning and wants to get in the tub).  It's one of Daddy's most favorite things she does.

-speaking of the bathtub, Rylee still LOVES baths!  Daddy will start the water going in the tub and once Rylee hears the water, she'll book it to the bathroom, pull herself up next to the tub, and put her hands up for Daddy to put her in the tub.  Hilarious.

-has 6 teefies with a couple more on the way!

-stands on her tiptoes to reach something that's just out of reach.

-still mauls her stuffed animals and nuzzles her head into them.

-is in full on tantrum mode.  She flails around, arches her back, and pounds her feet into the ground while full on crying and screaming.  We've learned to just put her on the carpet where she won't hurt herself and let her finish it out.  It usually doesn't last long and she gets over it fairly quickly.

-hates shoes.  Perhaps she gets this from her Great Grandma Billings?

-will nap in the car again.  But has stipulations on when she'll fall asleep!  She'll only fall asleep if she's in the car during her afternoon nap.  But hey, we'll take it!  She did a 6 hour car ride to Boise just fine with only a couple of stops and one nap and she stayed happy the entire time!  That's our girl!

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

a conglomeration of a birthday, spring break, conference, and IKEA

It's Spring break this week.  

And it has been greatly needed.  Getting enough sleep and being able to finally give into my nesting urges has done wonders for this baby mama this week.  

T, of course, was included in the baby plans as usual.  We made our last IKEA run today and setup the last of the baby room.  With the exception of a changing pad and the crib mattress, Baby Girl's nursery is finito!  Finally.  

We're hoping to that we'll can cover the last costs of the essentials (i.e. the carseat and stroller and crib mattress) with what we get from our Baby Showers next week.

We're kinda excited.

AND I went shopping for baby quilt material with my buddy Dana who's making the baby quilt for us.  She kinda rocks and I'm super excited about what she's doing for it.  It's going to be awesome!

{soft serve ice cream at IKEA for $1 total?  Yes, please!}

I also celebrated a birthday last week.  It was a hard week, which made for an ornery and emotional Jamie on her birthday.  But I had my awesome colleagues take me out for some Cafe Rio and make me a neat-o sign in front of my classroom door.  

T also made me a sign at home, bought me yummy mini Cocoa Bean Cafe cupcakes, AND a fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements.

Can you tell I'm pregnant and really just wanted some good food for my birthday?

He even made me crepes Saturday morning with toppings galore.  I pigged out and probably gained a couple pounds.  

T got to go to the Priesthood Session with his Dad and brothers.  He loved it.  They don't get to hang out very often with the four of them.

 {Papa Kris and Kole}

{Nanner and T}

My favorite thing this Spring Break so far, though?  Visiting one of my favorite people and heroes.  My Grandpa has had a tough couple of months and is definitely making some improvements and getting more optimistic.  

This is the man who took me on some of my very first fishing trips, taught me how to have a close relationship without even needing to talk to the person sitting in the boat next to you, and taught me pure, unselfish love.

He's always been one of my favorites.  Always.  I feel like we have similar personalities at times when I just like to listen to the conversations going on rather than have to contribute to them.  We're both listeners.  We both love a good joke and we looooove chocolate.  

I've always had a special bond with this man and it's no big secret that we're each others favorites.  Who else would've gotten this guy to go on a walk outside for the first time in months (okay, so maybe my mother had a great deal of influence on that too...)? 

It was a great day talking with him about my Aunt Carey's birth (he says there's not much to tell since he wasn't allowed in the delivery room back then, BUT the doctor didn't show up until after Carey was born.  Someone else had to deliver her), watching parts of a basketball game, talking about fishing, eating chocolate shakes (compliments of my mother who makes one for him every. single. day.), and enjoying the sunshine. 

If you've never met this man and don't get to hang out with him, you've led a sad, sad life...

Happy Spring Break... it's not over yet!

Oh, and Danie and Dustin left this week.  I still don't like to talk about it.  It makes me cry and pregnancy hormones really kick in.

Cali is lucky to have them.  Provo sucks without them now.

December 11, 2013 {T Turns a Whopping 27 Years Old}

T's birthday was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  I was finally into our 2nd trimester of pregnancy which meant that we could actually go OUT and do something.  The thought of food didn't make me want to cry.  Which, was a huge improvement at the time.

His birthday started out with the breakfast of his choosing-homemade pumpkin pie oatmeal (recipe found here) with toast.  And yes, I did actually get out of bed early and make him breakfast.  A rare treat in the Kussee household during a weekday.  That's how much I love T.  More than I love my sleep.  

I also made him put a birthday hat on his head and pose under our new birthday banner.  You can barely see the hat on his head and I made him bend down so his head was hitting the birthday banner.

Needless to say, it's a cute awkward birthday picture that he put up with because his wife is obsessed with birthdays.

T had a lovely time at work and went out for a birthday lunch with his colleagues.  He felt pretty special all day.

The thing I love about T is that he is all about trying to things and going different places for his birthday.  Me?  I always chose the same homemade dinner I wanted my mom to make me and the same dessert for my birthday.  T always chooses a different restaurant to go to every year for the night of his birthday.  This year he chose Tucano's (because who doesn't love using their birthday coupons?!).  

Our server was being trained the night we were there and we had a grand old time getting to know him and telling him he was doing a great job.  We even made him take a picture of us at our table.  This was also before we started trying as many of the brazilian lemonades as we could muster.  It helps that they are in fact, bottomless.  The flavor we ended up enjoying the most (surprisingly) was the pineapple lemonade.  Guava, strawberry, and raspberry came in as close seconds.

And then the meat came.

Oh glorious meat.  2 weeks ago, I never thought I'd say those words again.  But I gave T a run for his birthday money and packed away some serious meat.  Apparently, this baby is out of it's all-I-want-is-fruit phase and it's transitioned into the give-me-meat-and-get-some-iron-pumping-in-my-blood phase.  Cooked well-done, of course.  We don't want to give this baby any unnecessary bacteria or diseases.

T loved him some of the sausage they had going around and we loooooooooved the grilled pineapple.  Loved it.  As always.

{Birthday Boy and His Pregnant Wife}

{Ready to tear into our endless meal}

After dinner, we walked around the Riverwoods for a while and looked at the lights.  We stopped into Blickenstaff's toy store and got a hoot out of some of the toys being sold this year.  Then w reminisced over old-fashioned candy and what candy we used to eat when we were younger.

{T and the ginormo white tree}

{Trying not to freeze to death}

After the Riverwoods, we headed home to what Tyler thought would be a small, simple birthday party with close family and maybe a few friends.

We had close family come and maybe a bit more than just a few friends (to T's pleasant surprise)!  You see, I've always thought that T has always wanted a birthday party where he's surrounded by lots of friends and family and can socialize and talk until he's good and ready to be done.  The problem has always been that we haven't necessarily had a ton of close friends around.  We usually do more with family.  Well, this year, we started making more friends in our neighborhood and trying to get to know our neighbors.  Surprisingly enough, we've made some awesome friends that we love to hang around with.

So this year, I wanted T's birthday to be a little different.  This boy was getting what I think he's always wanted.  A party with friends and family coming and going and T being surrounded by the people he loves.  

And so he was.  We had a great turnout of family and friends for T's pretty casual birthday party.  I grabbed cupcakes from the CocoaBean and mini ice cream drumsticks for our party guests to munch away on.  It was relaxing and fun.  We had people coming and going for hours all night!  Once someone left, another small group showed up (which was perfect, because there was no way our small apartment would have fit everyone all at once!).

The gift of friendship that everyone showed T that night was the perfect birthday gift for him.  It's those situations that I see my husband truly shine.  He is a definite people person and what a perfect ending to his birthday!

Joshua helped Tyler open his presents (can I just tell ya that this kid has made Tyler even more excited to become a father?  I'm pretty sure Tyler would have spent the rest of the night playing with Joshua if he could have).  T celebrated his birthday with my side of the family the Sunday before and received most of his presents then.  But, he did get some pretty awesome gifts on his birthday too!

 {Ripping them open like real men}

 {Too cute for his own good}

 {new sweater to match his brown suit}

{slouchy hat and Superman comic book}

We had to capture photos of everyone at his party (I missed a few, dang it all!) to remember the fun times we had.  

 {Danie, T, Dustin}

 {T, Jana, Joshua, Dustin}

 {...because every friend needs a good blackmail picture. And this is a classic Jana picture.}

 {Stuart, Talya, Tyler}

 {Toad, Brain, Tyler, Daniel, Taly}

Not pictured... the mama and the Perez's who stopped by throughout the night, too!

Happy birthday, T-Bear!  You're my best friend, my partner, my confidant, my eternal companion, my lover, and my everything.  

I hope your 27th year is the best yet and that it brings lots of new adventures and lots of learning experiences with a new baby!  Next year's birthday is going to look a lot different!

Happy birthday, T!

the Toad's birthday, fall, and hot cocoa.

It was the Toad's birthday today.  We got to party hard by heading up to Daniel's Summit with the mama and enjoying the incredible, bright fall colors.

Seriously.  Incredible.

We used to go up to Daniel's Summit every winter in our teenage years and grab a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of deep-fried mushrooms.

Which meant that we were both looking forward a mug of cocoa all week.

We even made the mama get a picture with her cocoa.

The usual picture with my cup of hot cocoa.

Satisfied.

After slowly sipping our deliciousness, we ordered three appetizers to share between us. 

1.  Deep-fried mushrooms

2.  Cheese fries

3.  Dutch oven cheese cheese pot

Oh man.  We chowed down and enjoyed every. last. bite.

And somewhere in between dipping our fries in fry sauce and breaking bread over our cheese pot, we took a few photos for memories.

Because lets be honest, the three of us don't usually get out altogether.  Although we did miss the other two missing sisters.  They're kinda important to us.

We also sat at the table closest to the fireplace possible.  It was a just a tad chilly up in the mountains and we needed some major heat.

We also had the best waitress ever.  She suggested some fabulous appetizers for us and when she heard it was the Toad's birthday and we didn't order dessert, she brought out a yummy slice of cheesecake with a candle.

Now THAT'S exactly what you want from a waitress when you tell her that it's someones birthday.

You can say she got a nice little big tip from us.

After lunch at Daniel's Summit, we took the short drive up to Strawberry Resevoir and checked to see if the Kokanee were there for the Kokanee run yet.  

I should really say that the mama left us wimps in the car while she ran to the river to see if the fish were there.  We finally bucked up when she waved us over to come see the Kokanee.

See?  Cold.

Kokanee!  I haven't seen them since I was little.  The Toad was a little perturbed when we started talking about how after Kokanee spawn, they die.

Sad day.  

But insanely beautiful fish.  

Happy birthday, Toad!  You will always be my Toady.  Always.  You're one of my best friends and thank you for always being there to talk to.  I know we talked each other ears off when we were little and I love thinking about bunk beds and storytime by Codi.  I even happily look back on the days of being dressed up in all of my winter clothes in the middle of the summer.

We had some good times and I look forward to future good times.  I hope we always stay close.

Happy day of birth!

another day. another hike. another birthday.

My sister Misty is a pretty special person.  She's one of the best sisters and is always taking care of everyone else.  She is one of the hardest workers I've ever known and is consistently and constantly doing everything needed to make the charter school she works at to succeed.  Her abilities at working with people and being patient with them long enough to not strangle them amazes me.

I used to go down to her room and sprawl out on her bed and we'd talk for hours about life, the gospel, and eat lots of chocolate she stashed under her bed for me.  During the summer we'd choose a night to stay up all night long on the pull-out couch and play old school Nintendo into the wee hours of the night until we conquered every level.

She was also on her mission the day T and I were married.  I cried over the fact that she wouldn't be there with us.  She wrote both of us separate letters explaining how proud of us she was for being sealed in the temple and how badly she wanted to be with us.  But, she was doing the Lord's work and He needed her in Guatemala.

She's pretty special.

Today is her birthday.  We decided to spend the day with all the girls and start off by hiking the "Y."  

I forgot how steep those switchbacks are.  Good thing the Toad and I have been working out or my legs would have been dead.

{Me, Myst, Toad}

The mama went with us too!

{Mama, Myst}

We all made it to the top and the bottom of the hike!  Hallelujah!  We even saw some older men who were running up to the Y and back.  Seriously?!  Maybe I'll be that in shape one day.

One day.

After being healthy and hiking, we grabbed some Wendy's Kid Meals for lunch.  We even got some rockin' toys!  Grandma treated us all to lunch.

Deliciousness.

Junior Cheeseburgers with a frosty and fries are the perfect combo.  Perfect size for this little girl.

Happy birthday, Myst!  

a friend and a birthday.

I find myself fortunate to have many "best friends."  I have besties from high school, from college, and now from the workplace. 

 I'm lucky enough to work with a seasoned colleague who teaches similarly to my own style and is willing to share materials with me and learn right alongside me.  We can literally talk about anything and our friendship is relaxing and comfortable.  It's a friendship where you can talk about strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures without judgment and always with support and joy.

Susan is my rock in my career.  She's the peanut butter to my jelly.  She gets me through a lot of hard times and is always there to say the right thing to get me motivated and start all over again the next day.  She's an incredible woman that is selfless and kind to everyone.  

Susan goes to the great lengths to educate her students. She has been known to spend countless hours and her own resources to make sure one student learns at the highest level of learning they can.

Although this school year has been an absolute blast and I love all of the students in my class, it's been a tough year keeping up with 32 students and 32 sets of parents.  It's exhausting.  Susan has been there to scrape me off the pavement when the going gets rough and offer encouragement.  We wallow together and then support each other in our endeavors to further our careers and make sure we're alive at the end of the school year.  

She's pretty amazing like that.

So here's the an incredible woman who I'm proud to say is my teammate and even more so, my friend.  

{Susan loves this stuff.  I made sure she got enough to stock up for the rest of the school year.}

You can't have a birthday without a birthday sign!

I'm so glad I get to work with this woman.  I think she's made me a better teacher.  I think through my lessons and analyze them more thoroughly because of Susan.  She has taught me that creativity is fun, but to also make sure my students are learning while we're having fun.

Happy birthday to a dear friend!  

contrary to popular belief...

I am not turning 16.  Or 17.  Or any number than has the ending "teen."  

I happen to be a ripe 24 years old today.

I woke up to a handsome husband kissing me goodbye on his way to work with a freshly shaven face.   Now THAT is what I call an awesome birthday present.  Sleeping in during Spring Break is one of my very favorite things.  So is having a husband with a smooth face.

He also made me a rockin' birthday sign.  And got me some cereal Oh's for breakfast.  

After a day spent reading in bed, going to Barnes and Noble, and enjoying yet another picnic up the canyon, Tyler gave me my birthday presents.

Bright orange pans and new headphones for running.

We ended the night with cupcakes from the Cocoa Bean and a bright orange candle to blow out.  

T also let me be the one to step on the walnut shell we found while we were out walking and massaged  my aching back.

24 is going to be a good year.  

Picture Perfect

T's Mom had a birthday a couple of weeks ago.

She's really awesome.

She knows all of the up to date songs, watches funny chick flicks, and paints her nails with nail polish that changes colors in the sun.

She's pretty hip.

Which is why she wanted to go to Gardner Village's Friday Night Fever on her birthday.

Best. Idea. Ever.

The fact that she can pull of earrings the size of a large kiwi and a classic disco move is pretty sweet.

That's my mother-in-law.

You wish she was yours.

My father-in-law is pretty terrific too.

 Morgan is the coolest little sis ever.  

I always wanted a little sister growing up.

Now I've got one to bug and tease and boss around.

 In one of the shops they gave us a sparkly star stamp on our cheek when we walked in.  The boys had decided to sit this store out and keep some of their manly pride while walking around a village of cutesy stores.

When we walked out I decided Papa Kris needed some glitz on his cheek like I did.

So I stuck my cheek on his and VOILA!  He had his own sparkly star.

T wanted to document our sparkles.

Problem.

Our stars were on opposing cheeks which meant we had to face each other to get a picture.

Papa Kris came up with the grand idea to face each other with our hands over our mouths so we didn't get too close during the picture...

I couldn't stop giggling during the entire thing. 

The sad thing of it all is that you can't even see the stars.  

If you look close enough you can see the slightest glimmer of shimmer on our cheeks.

At least we had fun doing it.

T was being the camera man all night so we had to get a legit picture that he was there.

The green disco glasses were pretty attractive.

Sort of.

T had been working on his amateur photography lately.

Isn't this a pretty picture at Gardner Village?!

He's doing really well on getting the aperture (the only photography lingo I know) and whatnot looking pretty dang good.

He does the manual thing.

I like the point and shoot automatic setting.

This post is mainly to show that I do have a life outside of teaching and I can write about something other than my students.