New Words

It's always so fun the hear Rylan say new words, and it seems his vocabulary has just sprouted over the last week. It surprises me every time when he says a new word out of the blue. He loves to watch Curious George (which I find myself chuckling at little George sometimes...he really is cute!). One day he just started pointing at the t.v. and saying "moomy" (movie). Of course, I thought it was so cute I had to let him watch t.v.! Now he will occassionally say "watch" but it's still usually "moomy".

Let me sidetrack here, and then I will get back to the new words. Ok, so for quite some time, Rylan didn't watch t.v. As a baby he never liked the Baby Einstein movies and as he's grown up, I've just kept him away from the t.v. Kevin and I don't watch t.v. until Rylan is in bed, which means I stopped watching Ellen (I think she is HILARIOUS!), The View, Good Things Utah, whatever. Okay, wait...Rylan and I do watch Wheel of Fortune while we are eating lunch, but that was the only t.v. on during the day. So, one day I was trying to get dinner finished as Kevin came home from work. Kevin had some things he had to do but Rylan was really wanting some attention. So what did we do? Yep, we sat Rylan down in front of the t.v. to watch some Curious George. It was great! Rylan was happy, I got to finish dinner without carrying Ry on my hip, and Kevin was able to do his stuff. In fact, it worked out so well that for the next week or so, that was just what we did. I made dinner, Rylan watched CG and Kevin did his own thing. Bad habit. Rylan started asking for "monkey" (another word he started saying recently and it's so dang cute to hear him say "monkey") throughout the day. Occasionally I'd give in, cause hey, I get the chance to get things done! Well, the other day, I get him out of bed, we go downstairs to get some breakfast, and the first thing he says is "moomy" in a whiny voice. I tried to distract him with some other options, telling him he could help me make breakfast, but I could tell he was about to lose it. Before the meltdown, I figured I'd rather let him watch t.v. while I made breakfast, and then I wouldn't have a tantrum to deal with. I'm ashamed to say, that the television was on for about an hour and a half before I could distract Rylan and get him to do something else!! And then still, the rest of the day he was asking for his "moomy". What makes it even worse is that when the show or movie is over, once he sees those credits rolling he goes into panic mode and starts crying....like his life has just ended. He's a nut! So yesterday I decided it was a no t.v. day...and he made it! In fact, Rylan only asked once to watch a moomy but I quickly brought out some toys. And again today, he's only asked once to watch t.v. but that was when I was on the phone so I just ended the conversation and gave Ry the attention he soooo needs! So how do you all keep your kids television watching limited? I feel like if I was to let Rylan watch one episode of CG, he'd want the tv on the rest of the day. It just seems better to keep the tv off all day (even though that means I don't get to sit down and read or do my Sudoku puzzle!).

Ok, back to the vocabulary expansion. Rylan is really into circles. He says circle for any shape and tries to draw a circle in the air with his hand (which started after I was trying to explain a circle to him one day...the things kids catch on!). Just today Rylan and I were playing on my bed. He leaned up against the wall and said "wall"...he's never said that before! And then he caressed my face with his little hand and said "face"...it was so clear and easy to understand. It was sweet! Well, not all his words have been so clear. So, about a week ago we were in the house and Ry kept say "dah-duh" and I could NOT figure out what he was trying to say. He repeated it over and over, and finally gave up when I couldn't figure it out. I forgot about it until yesterday. We were playing outside (yes, I'm thrilled to finally be able to go outside again. We need this spring weather and the sunshine) and Rylan stopped and said "dah-duh". Uh oh, here it goes again. But then Ry pointed up in the sky at an airplane and said "dah-duh". I said "ry, that's an airplane" and he pointed again and said "dah-duh". I have no clue how he gets "dah-duh" out of airplane, but boy am I glad to know what he's talking about when he says "dah-duh"!! I told this story to Kevin and not long after, Rylan said to Kev "dah-duh" and they continued a conversation about airplanes. Kevin was so glad I told him that "dah-duh" somehow means "airplane".

So now I can't remember all of Rylan's new words, but his favorite is "okay" but he draws it out and says "ohhhhhhkaaaaaaaaaay". And I realized how often I say "okay"...and not just in response to a question. I'll be unloading the dishwasher and when I finish, I'll say "ohhhhkaaay". I was hanging up clothes in Rylan's closet and finished by saying "ohhhkaaay". I guess we all know where Rylan gets it from! We put Ry to bed last night and we could hear him saying "ohhhhkaaaay" until he finally fell asleep. This little boy makes me laugh :)

Kevin has been out of town for the last few days and I'm missing him in a big way. The day he left, I made a nice list of things I wanted to get done around the house while he was gone. Lots of organizing, cleaning out, etc. You know, the typical spring cleaning routine. Instead of getting started right away, I decided to just relax that first day and not have any worries. I mean, c'mon, I didn't have to make dinner that night! I didn't have to make my bed or even pick up the toys before he got home from work! But by 5:00, Rylan and I were both wishing Kevin would walk through that door and greet us with big hugs and kisses. I would have had a nice hot dinner waiting on the table if that would have brought my hubby home!
So, no organizing (or anything for that matter) was done that first day. The next day it was rainy and slushy outside which rained on my desire to do any sort of organizing. I did manage to clean up the house and make my bed, because I realized I, too, like a clean house!
Rylan and I have just been plugging along, watching too much t.v., and making unnecessary trips to the grocery store because we don't have anything better to do. I tried taking Ry to the mall to play in the kids area, but the kids toys were all removed for some MTV show taping. But the mall trip was successful for me because I bought myself a new skirt! Yippee!
I sure am glad that I have my little boy to keep me company, though. I've found myself keeping him up past his bed time so there is someone else around to make noise and make me laugh. Today we were driving along a road that had some road damage. Everytime we'd hit a bump Ry would say "whoa, whooooaa!" And this was a very damaged road so there were lots of "whoa"s coming from the back seat.
Kev will be home tomorrow and I can't wait. My life is just so much more exciting when he's around. I love my husband :)

Change

I know it's because I recently celebrated my birthday, I think this happens every year...a nice evaluation of my life. Everyone does this, right? First off, I love where I am in my life right now. I love being a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend. But what about the deeper part of my...what lies inside? I'll be the first to admit I don't have many talents I can showcase. I appreciate music, but I don't play any instruments, and my voice is bearable but definately no American Idol (which I'm excited about this year...after these first few weeks of nerves and uncomfortable moments, I think it will be GREAT!!). You all know how much I l.o.v.e. playing volleyball but I'm no star on the court. I'm not an artist. I'm not a writer. I'm not a collector. I'm not a chef or a baker. So, what am I?

Okay, so all of that has been well known to me for years and years. I have talents...we all have talents. And why am I talking about talents anyway? That's not what I'm here for. For several weeks I've realized how often I say the phrase "I wish I was _____". Here's just a few words I've inserted in the blank recently:

• a runner--I see people running and it looks so refreshing. I can just imagine that adrenaline and high that runners get...if only
• more thoughtful--I've had several instances in the past few weeks of people close to me, or even aquaintances, who could use a good phone call, letter, flowers, acts of service...and it's not until after I hear about all the thoughtful people who pulled them through the rough time that I think "oh yeah, I should have done that"
• outgoing--I've never been outgoing. I don't know that I'd necessarily call myself shy, but I don't approach people I don't know and make small talk. I have several brothers in law who are great examples of people who can talk to strangers and end as friends

So, last night I was with my mom and she said "If there was one thing about your character that you could change this week, what would it be?" And it was then that I realized I can change. Why do I always wonder...why don't I make the change. So this morning I woke up and promised myself I would call my dear friend M and check up on her. I don't know if I was lacking courage or words, but it took me several hours to make this call. But I did it, and it was such a great phone call. So maybe I can be more thoughtful! I have room to grow...lots of room. But it's all about baby steps, right? There's hope for me! And I can do it!

Who is ready for Spring? Me, me, me! I see the sun shining outside and I get so excited for that nice spring weather

Rylan in da House

I'm not sure if Rylan was cold or if he just felt cool (that sounds like I'm repeating myself...you know what I mean), but he ate his entire dinner with his hood on...he's a nut! I just love this little boy.

His 2 year birthday is going to sneak up on me if I don't start doing something about it. March 6 is the big day and I have a few fun things planned for the festivites. I know, he could care less, but he'll appreciate it when he's older and he gets to see the pictures of all the fun things we did for his birthday. Of course it's not going to be anything big. Just a family get together (cause we always love an excuse to get together and eat cake!). Any of you have some fun activities for a 2 year olds birthday party?

My Week Long Birthday Bash

I love my birthday! No, I love ALL birthdays :) But for some reason I feel the need to really celebrate when my birthday comes around. Instead of having a birthDAY, I am lucky enough to have a birthWEEK...and I love it! (Fun fact...my birthday is Kevin's half birthday and Kevin's bday is my half bday...he was born Aug 9th at 6:00pm and I was born Feb 9th at 6:00am...interesting, right?) My actual birthday was on Saturday, February 9th, so I did something fun everyday last week. I got my eyebrows done, a haircut, and a pedicure...I like to start the new year of my life all prettied up and fresh :)I went and saw Riverdance one night with some of my family while Kev stayed home to put Rylan to bed.


On Thursday night my mom stayed here at our house with Rylan, while Kevin and I went to Midway and stayed at a bed and breakfast. It was the first time for me to leave Rylan overnight and I was very nervous about it. I knew he would be fine and I knew my mom would be fine...it was myself I was worried about! I only cried a few times but I made it! It was a nice getaway but I was relieved to get home and see my little baby. I don't think I want to leave him again for a long time!
I invited my family over on Saturday night for pizza, cake, ice cream, and games. I loved it!

Also sharing the birthday month of February are: My father in law Dennis, my sisters in law Kim and Steph, and my cute little nephew Luke. Happy February to all!!

Now, onto the week of LoVe...