McKinney Ave Street Cars

Ryland's Grammy and Paparino (Pop-Pop-Pop-Papa-Rino as he calls himself, and Ryland smiles EVERY time) came into town for a short weekend trip. Sunday we went on the McKinney Street Cars, free and so much fun, ate at a great Tex-Mex restaurant in Uptown and then had to-die-for Italian Gelato. What a great day and Ryland couldn't have been more perfect! I love you mom and dad... come again soon!

For Today...

Another blog idea... these are so much fun! :) Click the above picture to visit this site, it is very inspirational to me and my quest to being a homemaker.

FOR TODAY...

Outside My Window... It's warm, but there is a hint of coolness in the breeze. It makes me wish it was feeling more like fall and less like Dallas.

I am thinking... sleeping babies are oh-so-nice, as well as, what the heck will I cook for dinner?

I am thankful for... my sweet husband and all the hard work he puts in to give me the life of my dreams.

From the kitchen... dirty dishes piled high and no inspiration to do them quite yet.

I am wearing... a great pair of jeans, an old brown and peach striped tee and brown flip-flops (I wear only flip-flops until its below 65*).

I am creating... not a thing right now... I need to dust off that crafty bone I have and put it to use!

I am going... to be a better housekeeper and wife... one of these days!

I am reading... "What's the difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible" John Piper

I am hoping... that Ryland sleeps through the night tonight.

I am hearing... silence... nothing is on in the house right now and all my babies are sleeping (Ry, the dog and the cat).

Around the house... recovering from wonderful company (my parents) this weekend so my motivation to do anything is slim to none.

One of my favorite things... a tall glass of lemonade would be great right now.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: birthday parties and wedding showers this weekend, so this week will entail shopping... yeah!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Not Me! Monday

Another great site I am following does this "Not me! Monday" thing and I really like it. You can click the picture to visit her site and pray for her family. Feel free to have your own "Not Me! Monday" and enjoy reading some honesty about me...

I would never nurse Ryland at night, every time she wakes up, even though she should not be nursing at night anymore. Not me! Sometimes in the middle of the night, its not about the right thing to do... its about doing what works!

I would never waist money on washing a load of laundry because I forgot to take it out of the washer from two days ago.... and I would never do this like every week. Not me!

I would never shove my cat into the garage every night because I refuse to be woken up by her in the middle of the night. Not me!

I would never hope that my husband would play on his Xbox so that I could blog or read other peoples blogs and then actually make him feel guilty for not spending time with me (sorry kyle). Not me!

I would never be the wife that refused to take the trash to the garbage can and actually take it for the first time to our garbage can just a few weeks ago. Not me!


See you next Monday for some more things that are so Not Me!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Happy Birthday (yesterday) Mom! We are SO glad we got to share your day with you here in Dallas!!! We love you so much and miss you all the time! Thanks for having a birthday so that we could find Ziziki's (fabulous Greek food)!!!

too many cookies...

Mom had a good point. The other day I made all those wonderful, warm cookies and that was the night that Ryland would not sleep. It couldn't have had anything to do with the 10 or 12 cookies I ate, could it!?! :) Come one, can you blame me.... I have to test them when they first come out to make sure they are all right, and no one can have just one. And then I've got to have a couple after lunch and then I join Kyle in have a few after dinner and then I better sneak one or three just before bed.... oh sweet girl, I gave up coffee for you, but now you want me to give up fresh, homemade, chocolate chip cookies!?!?! Oh the sacrifices we make! :)

I posted too soon....

So, although yesterday was a really good day and I thought Ryland was feeling a lot better, last night proved to be extremely different! She went to sleep fine and we didn't hear a peep from her until 1am. And little did we know how our night would not be the same after that little peep. We tried EVERYTHING! We feed her, rocked her, changed her diaper, walked around the house, let her cry it out, patted her back while she lay in her crib with her eyes wide open, brought her to bed with us, feed her again, let her cry it out again, gave her some Tylenol, took a long drive around the lake, rocked her some more, and finally at 4:45am she fell back to sleep! Rough night. But this morning at about 10am she woke up just fine and happy, like nothing happened last night but maybe a few bad dreams!

Next time we won't wait until 1am to go to bed, that way if this happens again we will have at least a few hours of sleep before having to be awake for 4 hours in the middle of the night!

How we are spending our days.

Hang out watching Dad play softball on Thursday nights!
Playing with her new toy. She spent the day with Aunt Tal on Saturday because I had a tire blow on the highway and needed to get a new one from Walmart, so she was so good for her Aunt Tal and we brought this toy home for her being such a good girl! :)
She would rather get into her basket full of toys then play with the toys that are in it.
I don't know if you can tell from this pic, but we have both come down with the sneezes and runny noses, so this is us getting fresh air and letting the snot just run wild! :) We are better today.

Yummy cookies!

Yummy chocolate chip cookies (Nestle Toll House Recipe)

Yields - 60
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 375° F.COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy! We are, I think I've already eaten 5! :)

For Shelley...

Ryland's sweet friend Harper came to visit her and brought her sweet mommy too. They came for only one day... way too short... and Harper did circles around Ryland. They are only 3 months apart, but oh what a difference 3 months make! It was so good to see them and I hope we can see them sooner next time and for much longer! I have a feeling these girls will be chatting up a storm and getting each other into so much trouble! :) I love you sweet friend and I miss the heck out of you!

Not much to write

Dad, your silly, my shorts don't go there!
Eating on the go.
Girl after my heart, she found Dad's wallet and took out the debit card!
Ryland friend Dakota, he's 5 weeks young then Ry. :)
Ahhh, now this is the way I like to watch TV! (don't worry, I don't let her stay that close, just long enough for a picture) :)

Standing up like a big girl!

This is how I found Ryland when I went to get her from her nap this morning! Standing all on her own and so proud of herself! :) She is also sitting from a crawling position all the time now, just started 3 days ago. Man, she is just growing up right before our eyes!

funny! :)

1950's us - Kyle really looks like his grandpa, Glen. :)

Late 60's eaerly 70's us. LOL - Too funny! :)

Crawling or Swimming???