Having fun with Dad! :)

Notice the quick, "Turn the cammera off before this ugly" look that Kyle gives me at the end. LOL, classic.

I have holes in my pockets thanks to Ikea

I have money left from Christmas. I spent some on post-pregnancy clothes, but I am holding on to the last part. Mostly because I don't know when the next time I'll have money that I can spend, guilt-free, on myself and partly because I don't know what to buy. Tonight I had some free time and decided to do some Internet shopping (browsing) so I went to Ikeas website. I would really like to buy many things from there, but low-and-be-hold, they don't sell hardly anything over the Internet. You have to go to the store. Well, if I could only just jet out and run to Ikea for a few things that would be oh so lovely, but with a 3 month old any shopping trip is an ordeal. So, I guess there my money will sit, burning a hole in my pocket.

New Noises

Pain

Today has not been good. This morning I woke up in really bad pain at 6:45am. My stomach was cramping and I could barley stand up. This happened to me once before when Ryland was 8 weeks old. I was doubled over in pain so Kyle came home and to me to my doctor. They did blood work and a sonogram and found nothing. Later that day I was totally fine. This morning was the same pain. So, we went to the doctor and this time he had his stenographer take a look and she found that I am having a kidney stone. Yug... two kidney stones within 3 months of giving birth, not fun. But, the Lord still amazes me in every way. I came home from the doctor still in pain and wanted to sleep and Ryland slept with me. We slept from 11am to after 2pm! That is by far the longest nap she has ever taken and after waking up I feel much better. Hopefully there is not a next time for this, but if there is I now have some good drugs to take instead of just laying on the bathroom floor. :)

Is it Christmas time?

So, when Ryland is crying or is just fussy I try everything to get her to calm down. Sometimes that means I sing to her, well, I usually hum to her because I don't know the words to many songs. And, apparently I don't know to many lullabies either because I usually end up humming Christmas carols to her. Funny thing cause I know like 100 carols and they kind of sound like lullabies. Kyle's mom even gave me a tape of her singing lullabies for Kyle and Keisha when they were little to help me learn the words and it hasn't helped... the only songs that pop into my head when I am desperate for one is something like Silver Bells (which is what I hummed to her all last night). I guess she will like Christmas carols a lot latter on in life.

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Just wanted to let you know that I convinced my sister to start a blog! :) Check it out: http://talithahope.blogspot.com

She has so much to say!

The Dallas Arboretum

She loves to stand now, what a big girl!
She loves her Daddy!

I think the hat is a little too small. She was blessed with a Basom head! :)

New Albums!!!

OK, I finally broke down and spent about an hour (literally) downloading the pictures. I also rearranged the albums so that the pictures were in the correct age group. The two major highlights are in month 2 we traveled all the way to Albuquerque where Ryland got to meet her great and great-great grandparents. We also spent two weeks with Grammy and Paparino. Not nearly enough time, but it was so great! Ryland and I were completely spoiled and it was such a nice break for me. Hopefully we will be going back this summer (please Kyle)!

In month 3 we discovered that Ryland can lift her head really high when she is on her tummy. Tummy-time is something I should have done more of, but she protested to bad so I didn't do it for a long time. Then all of a sudden, Kyle put her on her stomach and she could lift her head all the way up!

Real quick here are Ryland's top ten things she likes:

1. Going on walks in the stroller (sometimes we go twice a day just to get good naps in)
2. Her puppy-play-mat
3. She still loves her bouncer, takes at least one nap in it a day
4. Riding in the car
5. Watching TV, the Noggin channel is her favorite
6. When Daddy comes home, biggest smile of the day
7. Biting on my finger
8. Sitting up and doing exercises (we do baby yoga everyday)
9. Looking at herself in the mirror
10. Walking around looking at everything in the house (thanks to Paparino) :)

Ten things she does not like:

1. Getting tired
2. Waking up before she's ready
3. Dirty diapers
4. Loud noises that scare her
5. When mommy wants to do something besides play with me :)
6. Taking baths (she used to love them)
7. Her swing (I still try everyday)
8. Tummy time (although she likes it better now, she still only lasts about 5 mins)
9. Going to bed before 11 pm
10. Any pacifier besides the Soothies brand

A Few Pics

OK, so I'm at my sisters house and her computer works! So, we did a quick photo shoot. Here are some pics to hold you over. Enjoy! :)

In the works

OK, pictures are coming soon I promise. Our computer apparently has a virus and its really frustrating to try and upload anything. I haven't even touched the computer in the last week because I think I have "Computer Rage." It's a lot like 'Road Rage' but on the computer. You know, when something is not loading fast enough or the link that you want to open doesn't work, most normal people just get frustrated and move on. Well, not me. I get heated inside, throw the mouse down or click 50 times (as if that helps anything), mumble under my breath and then I usually just have to walk away. So, since we have a virus and it is incredibly hard for me, I just stay away (it's better for everyone that way).

One month and counting.

OK, so I have all of these great hopes to post everyday and really I do try and think about something cool to post and usually nothing comes up. Well, that's not really true. I have a 3 month old and I have an interesting life, but I am not a good writer. I want to be a good writer. I want to write something that just jumps off the page and captures the reader, but I get lazy. I convince myself that I don't have time to write anything or that no one really reads what I write anyway so then I end up not posting for a month.

So, lately I have been praying that God would reveal areas in my life that I need to work on. I have a tendency to get comfortable in life and just kind of coast through it. That really is no way to live. God can always be working on us and wants to continually mold us into His creation. I want to be moldable. I want to not live comfortably. I want to have deepness with the Lord. But, am I willing?

I have an easy time at pointing out what others need to change or do differently in their lives. It is so much easier to see things from the outside looking in. But the funny thing is that I can do nothing to change them. I can't point out to them what they are doing wrong because I have a plank sticking out of my own eye. How is it that the speck in their eye looks so much worse then my PLANK? So, in my times with the Lord I have been asking Him to first show me what it is that I need to remove from my eye and then how. This has been a long, hard process. I know that God just keeps loving telling me exactly what it is that I need to do, but I seem to have static on in my ears and can't or won't hear Him clearly. "God, please yell because I'm having a hard time hearing you."

So, over the past two weeks I have been in Albuquerque. Away from my comforts, away from my routine and also way from the static. I guess it is easier to hear God when things are quite. I have been reading through Proverbs for some time now and this week I noticed something that I think God has been pointing out all along. A lot of Proverbs talks about laziness. Today I read the very last chapter on being a wife of noble character and oh man... "OK, God I get it!" The wife that is talked about is always busy. Always doing the things she needs to do to take care of her family, her husband and bring honor to God. This is what God has been trying to tell me. I need to be focusing on being this kind of wife.

I find it easy to do the things that I like to do. I like to play with Ryland, I like to spend time with Kyle, I like to go on walks, I like to surf the net, and I can easily fill my day with those things, but is that being a wife of noble character? So, my prayer for right now is for God to reveal to me the things I need to change about my comfortable life so that I can honor the Lord and my husband through everything I do. (It's easy to write about it...)

Going to the mall

On Sat we got to spend some time with our friends at the Grapevine Mills Mall. It was fun, especially since we decided to spend some of our Christmas money on a few fun things (not all on bills)! Ryland loves riding along in her carrier (she hates the stroller) so we are happy to strap her on and stroll through the mall. I have gone several times to the mall on my own just for the exercise and an excuse to get out of the house. She usually is happy and looking around at everything for 10-15 mins and then she's out cold for a good two hours... it is very nice and makes for a good workout! She also likes her sling just as much, but she is getting a little big for it.

Right after I turned off the camera... sure

Hello World!

We figured out how to post video clips! Here is me shamelessly trying to get Ryland to smile... not happening. :)