Helping Hallie Golf Tournament

When we planned our trip to Grandma and Papa's house, we made our plans so we could help with Hallie's golf tournament. Hallie is a friend of the family and she and Rylee are "practically sisters" as they informed me yesterday! Hallie has many medical problems and the golf tournament was a fund raiser for her and her expenses, and we had a great time. Grandma, Papa, Uncle Travis, and Daddy played in the golf tournament and won the golf tournament, while the kids played and I helped set things up and get things ready. The kids had so much fun running around and playing together. Nolan had some friends his age to play with and Rylee and Hallie had the best time together. These two girls are so fun together and cute, you would never know that it had been months since they had seen each other, it is as though they play every day!! We are glad we were able to make it to the tournament, it was a blast.

** For more information on Hallie please click on the Helping Hallie link on the side of my blog.

Hallie and Rylee

Valeria, aka Grammy, with a cart full of kids

Nolan sound asleep

The winning golf group

Peeking around the post to say hi!

Having A Snack

The other day we were upstairs putting away laundry and Rylee told me she was going to go down and get a snack, so I let her go. Nolan followed her down and since I didn't not hear screaming I was not too worried. I finished what I was doing and came down stairs a few minutes later to find them enjoying their "snack!" She had gotten the ice cream out of the freezer and three spoons out of the drawer, one for her, Nolan and me! I love this silly girl.

Visiting Baby Brady

Last night we went to visit Brady and Rylee is still fascinated by him. She wanted to hold him and love on him all night. She was really good with him and luckily Aunt Brooke was patient with her holding Brady. Nolan was not as interested in Brady this time, he just wanted to explore what he could climb and jump off of at Brooke's house.

The Zoo With Bryson and Travis

Before we took Travis and Bryson to the airport the other day, we spent the morning at the zoo. It was a beautiful day and perfect for looking at the animals and walking around. They loved all the animals and running around together. We did everything at the zoo this time, even the reptile exhibits, I typically skip these because they are so stinky and they give me the creeps. We ended the day with the carousel and the train. Everyone had a great time on the rides, and even Nolan liked the carousel this time. We are so excited that we are going to California next week because we miss our cousins.

All ready to go see the animals

My climber

Going for a ride

Looking at the elephants

Bryson in his new Mario shirt

Going on the Carousel

One more picture before we head to the airport

Cousin Bryson Came To Visit

As far as Rylee is concerned the world stopped for four days while Bryson was here. She and Bryson have such a great relationship and have so much fun together, it was really fun having them come to Rylee's party. Yes they still fight here and there, but it is just like a brother and sister sort of argument nothing too serious. For the most part the biggest struggle we had all weekend was they were having so much fun together and Nolan just felt a little left out. For me it meant a lot that they were here, because we are the only family that does not live by each other in California, so I love being able to share things with my family and have our kids be close friends. The kids had a blast watching movies together, playing at the golf course, going to the zoo and the aquarium, and of course at Rylee's birthday party. I have already heard about all the fun they are going to have in two weeks when we are out there visiting, I just don't know if Bryson is ready for all the things Rylee has planned for the two of them!

Sharing Rylee's blanket and watching a show

At the Splash Park for Rylee's party

Riding in the golf cart with Grandma while the

Daddies and Papa golfed

Rylee's Birthday Party

For over a year Rylee has had her birthday party planned at the water park. If someone asked her when her birthday was, she replied, "June 28th at the water park!" So, it was easy for me to come up with what to do :)! We had pizza, fruit, drinks and cake at the splash park and just let the kids play in the water, it was really fun. The best part for Rylee about this entire party was that Uncle Travis and Cousin Bryson came into town just for her party, it was really special for Rye. Everyone was playing and having a great time, but sadly an hour into the party Rylee tripped and cut her nose and lip, giving herself a fat lip. The accident kind of ended the playing part of the party for Rylee and she just sat on Papa's lap and snuggled him. She would not eat a piece of cake because it hurt, but she did perk up to open presents and then straight back to Papa's lap. She had a lot of fun with all of her friends, and we are so grateful to everyone who came.

Nolan all wrapped in Rye's towel, the water was cold

Grammy and Rye Rye

Grammy feeding Nolan cake

Rye Rye's best friend, Maddi

The Campbell Family

Grandpa snuggling Rylee after her fall

Papa, Maddi and Rylee

Rylee is wearing her new jammies Maddi got her and

snuggling her new kitty cat from Maddi too.

Opening her present, a new Tinkerbell plate and bowl

Rylee's Tinkerbell birthday cake

Grandma snuggling Nolan

Rylee and Daddy, see her fat lip

Baby Brady

The other day we got to go to the hospital and meet Aunt Brooke's baby, Brady. Nolan was fascinated, but Rylee was truly in love with the little guy. All she wanted to do was hold his hand, rub his hair and stare at him. We stayed a little longer than we planned simply because Rylee did not want to leave yet, she was still looking. We are happy that both Mommy and Brady are doing great, and we are excited to see them again soon.

Baby Brady

Rylee holding Brady's hands

Grandma's Purse

Who knew that Grandma's purse was the most fun toy we had in our entire house, but both of the kids love playing and going through Grandma's purse. If Grandma is in the house and Nolan sees her he just starts pointing towards her purse and and yelling so that he can play, it is so cute. The other day they were playing purse and I found the two of them like this, silly Nolan and Grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa's Present

The first thing we did when Grandma and Grandpa got here on Wednesday was open Rylee's birthday present from them. She was so excited to have another present to open! Grandma and Grandpa got her the Tag reading system and four books. The reading system has already been a hit, and I think it will definitely make our drive to their house in two weeks even easier. Thank you for such a great present Grandma and Papa.

Waiting to open the present

Just after opening it

A Tinkerbell Book

Thanking her Papa

Rylee's 4th Birthday

That's right, Rylee is 4 years old today. This day could not come fast enough for Rylee, because she has been talking about turning 4 since the day after she turned 3 last year. She woke up bright and early, just like every day, and wanted to open her presents right away. We waited for Nolan to wake up a few minutes later, and then headed downstairs. She had lots of presents to open today, and she loved them all. She started with her present from Nolan, the Barbie Doll from Toy Story 3. Then she opened her present from Granna and Double G, and new baby doll and a diaper bag for her babies. Then onto her present from Grandma and Papa Rick, a new matching game and her favorite new book, Underwear. Then she opened her presents from us. We got her lots of little things this year instead of one big present. She got a new night gown, some new flip flops, new underwear, new soccer clothes, some puzzles, and a new size 3 soccer ball. She was SO excited about everything she got, and all she did all morning was play with her toys. Her baby doll and diaper bag were a huge hit, and she carried them around all morning. After playing around the house in the morning, we actually had to go to the school district for speech therapy testing.
The testing took about an hour and then it took about 30 minutes for the tester to score the test and then explain it to us. We are excited that she did test into the speech therapy program, because we have been worried about her speech so this is a little stress reliever. One thing the examiner did mention was that Rylee speaks very nasally, and it can be cause by a hole in her soft pallet. So, we get to go to our ENT and have the evaluated this week and see if there is a problem, if not the therapist said they will work on that and fix it too.
After the testing we came home to get Nolan and run a few errands, but when we got home there was one more present on our front porch from Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari. They got her some card games, Slap Jack and Go Fish, because they taught Rye how to play them while we were int Texas. We then went and ran our errands after Rylee talked to Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari. We then played outside with some friends until Daddy got home from work, then it was time for cake and bed!
She had a terrific day and we are having her birthday party at the water park on Saturday. (She has had the location of her party planned since last year too.)

A little bit about Rylee at 4:
- We are currently learning more and more about her hearing loss and what we can do about it. She still has a 30% loss in each ear after putting her tubes in, so we are waiting to do more tests to see what the next step is.
- She loves to play outside and be outside.
- The other night she rode her bike all the way around the block for the first time.
- She is a terrific big sister 90% of the time. (we all fight with siblings sometimes)
- She loves to play soccer and wear her soccer clothes around.
- She thinks "underwear" is the most hilarious word in the English language
- Playing babies is her favorite thing to do around the house.
- She thinks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the best show on Television
- She loves all things Tinkerbell
- She loves flip flops and sunglasses
- When playing outside she is the most hesitant kid to get dirty, but within an a little bit she is as filthy as all the other kids.
- She can climb up any slide and thinks it is "cool"
- She loves the Splash Pad and Swimming
- She can still spin in circles for longer than anyone I have ever seen without falling over
- She is working on writing her name without help and can do letters R, l and e, just needs to get y.
- When she sleeps she still sleeps with her blankie, baby, bear and sucks her thumb.

We are excited for the next few months as we continue to help Rylee with her hearing and speech needs. We love our little girl and we cannot imagine or remember life without her.

Her Presents All Wrapped

Her present from Nolan

Her baby doll from Double G and Granna

Some Minnie Mouse undies

New Flip Flops

Her Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari present

Soccer Camping

A week and a half ago Rylee got to go to soccer camp, and I cannot even begin to explain how excited she was. We told her she was going to soccer camp, and she walked around the entire day before saying she was going soccer "camping". She had a grin from ear to ear all morning before camp and for the first bit of the camp. She was a little young for the camp, but my club's director said she could come for the day. She did a great job for the first hour and a half, but then I got a phone call saying she was pooped! When I picked her up she told me I did not send enough water, that she had fun, and that soccer was hard. That afternoon she took a four hour nap, I think it wore her out!

18 Months Old

18 Months Old

15 Months Old

1 Year Old

9 Months Old

6 Months Old

3 1/2 Months Old

1 Month Old

All I can say, is the top picture is "classic" Nolan. He always has his little "thinking/mischievous" tongue out with a cute smile like he is up to something. He likes to play with his shirt, and he is about to take off running a millisecond after the picture is taken. Can you believe he is more of a toddler than a baby? It seems like he was just born. Here is a little bit about Nolan at 18 months:
This little boy is non-stop all day and very full of energy. He loves to climb, jump, fall, run, kick, and he even knows how to pester his big sister already. One of his current favorite things to do is climb up on the couch, fall off on his head, turn over, laugh about it and then do it all over again. He loves to play paddy cake and to do all of the actions with you; however, he prefers that you actually throw him to the couch when you throw the cake in the oven, it is more fun to him. Nolan is obsessed with "shooting hoops!" We got him a basketball hoop a few weeks ago and he can sit there and shoot baskets all day long, and Rylee is his #1 fan. He is a climber, and can figure out how to climb anything. He has mastered all of the climbing things at the playground, which is quite impressive but scary because he is not big enough to be climbing to the top of those things yet. But don't tell him he is not, he will get mad at you. While he is only 18 months old he wants and thinks he can do everything Rylee can do, which is cute but frustrating at the same time for me. If she has a real cup he wants a real cup. He refuses anything but one, and that is just an example of one of many things that we deal with. (But it is not that big of a deal.) He loves to color/scribble! About a month ago he found a baseball in his closet and decided that he should take it to bed with him every night, so he does, and has ever since. Also, he definitely knows what he wants because sometimes he shakes his head 'no' so hard I think he is going to hurt himself!
It has been great to have our "sweet boy" back the past 6 weeks since he got his tubes in, he was a little grouchy prior, so he is back to himself now. Since the tubes he has really started trying to talk much more, and Rylee loves trying to help him learn new words. His current vocabulary is:
Rye-Rye
Dada
Mama
Papa
Tay-Tay
Ta-da! (when he does something impressive)
Uh-oh
Yeah

Shoe

Hi
Up
Uh-uh
He can sign:
Eat
Please
Thank you
More
(The four words that matter the most when he eats!)
We love our boy and are so grateful he is a part of our family!

18 Month and 4 Year Old Pictures

First of all it is weird to think either of these kiddo's are as old as they are already, really she is 4 already, it is still hard for me to grasp. Yesterday we went and got the kids hair cut to look nice for pictures, and then headed straight to the studio before anything could get messed up! I was so surprised at how amazing they both did. Rylee was a dream and kept asking to take more picture please. Nolan was well behaved, just sometimes he was a little to fast to escape from the position the photographer would put him in, but luckily we got a few cute ones before he ran away. Enjoy!