The many faces of nuggy

Who could say no to this face?

Uh, I could... she looks exactly like me when I wake up. Hair a mess, toothbrush in hand, droopy eyed, and a half hearted smile.

I love her!

"Baby"

One of Ryann's favorite toys in her Baby. It is one of the few words she says and as you can see she loves it so much we often let her eat with her baby. (well, only on the nights she is screaming if we try to take it away) It is pretty funny because she will feed her baby by shoving food in its mouth and then leaving it there. Eventually Ryann finds it again and then eats it herself.

As you can see this is also after a fun day of coloring because Ryann once again colored her leg.

Perfect Sippy Cup

Rich and I believe that we have found the perfect sippy cup. Rich thinks this because it has SuperMan on it. I think it is perfect because it doesn't leak, is insulated, and has a straw. Who has the better argument? It doesn't really matter because I do the shopping anyway.

Just in case you were wondering... Yes...those are Mr Potato Head's eyes

Flash Back Friday

No, this isn't Rich. This is one of Rich's best friends (Joel) who dropped his parents mercedes key at the bottom of lake powell last year. This is the only mask he could find to try and dive down and find it. Needless to say it was lost in the abyss.

Who wants to share anyway

So Ryann is getting to the point where she doesn't like to share. I was hoping since she had been so easy going that it wouldn't turn into little "scream fests" whenever her friends come over and play. But since her friend Owen is older and quieter she decided to take advantage of it. By the end of the playdate Owen had mostly figured out how to keep his pacifier away from Ryann, but anything else he had she would take... Women. Owen and Ryann in their PJs

Finally a little help

It has taken me over 16 months but I think I finally have Nugs trained to start cleaning up after herself!

But not really.

"Sneaks"

Ryann was recently nicknamed "sneaks" by our good friend Natalie. This was largely in part by Ryann sneaking around the house oh so quietly... doing her own thing... and then when you say her name she jumps and gets startled very easily. She acts as if she was just caught doing something very bad and sneaky. Well, normally she is minding her own business, but occasionally we find her doing something she knows she shouldn't. Like today:

Sneaks was caught in the action trying to turn off the computer.

Pretty Toes

Since I haven't been going to get pedicures lately I decided to paint my toenails. Well, I only have one color of nail polish and this Red is it. Ryann liked mine so much that I painted hers. Now almost every day she points to her toes and smiles. So much fun! I love her.

Church... Once again

So Rich and I were talking today about how when you have a toddler, church can be a chore! You go, sit with a whining toddler for 1 hour while shoving snacks in her mouth so she doesn't scream while someone is talking.

Then hour 2 comes. She isn't old enough to play with the big kids in nursery, so I try to contain her in a classroom with 15 other people and I try to learn. But I don't. I get excited if I even get the gist of the lesson. (today it was on Alma and being a missionary! YES!) But this I learned while running in and out of the classroom and chasing nuggy up and down the hall.

Hour 3 doesn't come soon enough. She is tired so she will snuggle for just a little bit. But then we loose the beloved "silky" somewhere at church (second one we lost this week) and snuggle time is gone without the silky. So back to the drinking fountain we go so that she can once again get water all down her dress and on her face (never in her mouth).

Then if Rich is available and doesn't have to play the piano I get a much needed break of about 15 minutes before church is over. And then it is over.

What did I learn today? Patience.

FlashBack Friday!

Look at these pretty baby blues. I love that she still has them and they didn't change colors!

Washing the Car

Even though it is hot here in Phoenix, as a starving student I just can't bring myself to take my car to the carwash... Now when I have a job then I plan on not ever washing my own car again... but that is another story.

Ryann likes to help wash the car. I promise I was helping, but she was so cute I had to take some pictures:

Coloring

"I'm not doing anything wrong!"

We attempted coloring this week. Washable markers are a very easy clean up on tile, but not so much on mouth! We had a lot of fun and she sent the pictures off to some of Ryann's Aunties. She is so cute and fun, but I am nervous for the day she finds the markers and I am not around... uh oh!

One more crazy hairstyle

Here is what happens when Ryann pulls out her pony tail:

Enjoy!

Communication?

So when do toddlers learn to really communicate with their parents? Ryann doesn't talk to us or try to communicate at all with us... this has been very frusterating in the past because I never know when she is hungry, thirsty, wet, poopy, tired, bored, annoyed, etc. I have slowly learned over time when she is tired because she will occasionally rub her eyes. But she is such an easy baby that I guess she has never really felt the need to communicate with us.

Until today!

Today Ryann was pulling all the DVDs out of the cabinet like normal, and all of the sudden she comes running to me holding one in her hand. It is Tarzan! I look at her and say, "really? you want to watch Tarzan?" She smiles so I put it on.

Seconds later this is what I find:

Ryann watched Tarzan and made monkey and elephant noises for the next 30 minutes. It was so cute and so hilarious!

I am so proud, Ryann is finally trying to communicate with her parents. :)

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to the Love of my Life

I know I am a little biased, but I do believe that my husband is the most amazing father ever! This is only his second fathers day but he seems to have the fatherhood thing down. I know we only have one baby (who is extremely easy) but he does a great job with her. I know that Rich wishes he could be a stay at home dad and hopefully someday that will be possible.

I used to think that when Rich watched Ryann it was him playing guitar hero while she walked around the house running like crazy. Well, there still might be some of that going on, but now I know better. Rich loves to spend time with Ryann. He gets down there on the floor and he plays with her. He knows all of her favorite games, from "wrestle the hippo" to spinning around like crazy until she can't walk straight anymore.

Often times when Ryann hurts herself she runs to daddy instead of mommy. She also cries every day when he puts on his shoes to go to work. She has even found ways to keep him home longer: she wipes her messy breakfast hands on his shirt so he has to change right as he is walking out the door!

I love this handsome man that I have in my life. I know that he is patient and kind and I love that he is such a wonderful father. Happy Father's Day RICH!

16 Months!

Wow, 16 months old... that means only 2 more months until NURSERY!

Now here is the picture of the day:

We aren't quite sure what to call this hairstyle. Maybe the fountain? Palm tree? But basically it is just there to try and make it look like she doesn't have a mullet.

We are afraid that if we don't do something she might look kind of like this guy:

Flashback Friday

Last year at this time... Remember when Nugs would lay still and let us do these weird things to her? Now she makes us sit still so she can poke our teeth or our "eyes" (a new word... yes!)

Sonic... YUMMY

A favorite afternoon treat for the entire family is 1/2 price drinks at Sonic from 2-4pm. Nugs loves any drink with a straw.

Garage Sales

Basically since we only have one tiny little income right now... on top of the enormous student loans... we have started going to garage sales to get anything that we think we need. Well obviously we didn't need the above pictured rocking horse, but how can we say no to Nugs when she gets on it all by herself before we even buy it? Killer deal: $2

Enter the land of Blog

So here I am.... I was trying to wait for a good time to start a blog. Well, missed it when Ryann was born... so maybe I will start a blog when she learns to crawl... how about when she turns one? Maybe I'll start one when she walks? gets a tooth?, picks her nose for the first time?

Basically I missed all the good and "blogworthy" times to start this family blog, but I am doing it now... All I have to do is get the word out to the family and friends and we are in business.