Happy Birthday Mom

We have started a tradition, the girls and I, to bake cookies for my mom's birthday and "surprise" her at work to give them to her. I guess it's not much of a surprise if she knows we are coming but the girls like to think we are being sneaky, plus my mom loves to show off her grandbabies to her friends at work. So we woke up early to bake some yummy peanut butter cookies and decorate pictures, then headed to see her. We had a great time visiting and meeting everyone, then took her to lunch. We ended up going over to my parents house later for dinner, dessert and presents.

I love my mom so much and appreciate her more than she will ever know. She is the best mother and friend to me and the most amazing grandma to my girls. They absolutely adore their Grandma Ryall!!! We are so thankful that we got to share her special day with her and hope it was as wonderful as she is to all of us!

Growing Girls...well kind of

We took Joleigh and Jaelyn last week for there well checks at the doctor. A few weeks ago i was at a play date with some friends and they started talking about their daughters 4 year check up and how their girls reacted to the shots. As I was listening I realized that I completely forgot to bring Joleigh for hers. Since she turned 4 in April, I immediately called the doctor to get her in and had to reschedule Jaelyn's 4 month appointment to get them in together. So both girls were overdue for their check-ups but we got them nonetheless.

Joleigh went first and was actually excited to see her doctor, Dr. Kennedy. She weighed in at 33.2 lbs. (29th percentile) and 39.5 in. (36th percentile), so she is our little lady. She had fun getting her eyes checked, by telling them all the pictures on the wall and even willingly went with the male nurse to get her hearing checked, and she passed both exams, which was good. Then came time for her shots. She was really brave. The nurse told her that it was going to pinch a little, so she now calls her shots her "little pinches." She did great only crying a little, while Daddy held her and then calmed down when they offered her a lollipop. She reassured us all that her "little pinches" would feel all better tomorrow. She's so great!

Noelle was so funny, because she had to do everything that Joleigh did. She was weighed, measured, the doctor gave her a quick look in her ears and mouth, and then wanted band-aids on her legs and a lollipop. I'm sure she was relieved not to have the actual shots.

The doctor then examined Jaelyn. We found out what we already knew, that we have a very tall and very skinny little baby. She is 25.5 in. long (77th percentile), but only 13 lbs. (20th percentile). This concerned the doctor a little, because she has always measured long but dropped from the 50th down to the 20th percentile. I am still nursing her every three hours, so I need to continue this. I just hope I am producing enough for her, but she is never fussy and sleeps really well, so I think that I am. I also must start her on foods right away. This is new for us, not having to implement food for the two older girls until closer to 6 months.

So we started Jaelyn on rice cereal right away, unfortunately she wants nothing to do with it, but sure looks adorable trying. Hopefully she will catch on soon and put on some weight before her next check-up. Here's our sweet Jaelyn trying her rice cereal for the first time. She is so cute!!!

Our 4th of July

For the most part our 4th of July was pretty uneventful. Just a typical Saturday at home. Joe had to work, so the girls and I got dressed up in our red, white and blue and headed to church to meet him for dinner. We got there a little early and it was so HOT, so Joleigh, Noelle and I treated ourselves to a yummy smoothie to cool off. Then we had cheeseburgers, chips and watermelon for dinner.







After church we headed to our usual fireworks spot. We have been going there for the past few years, ever since we lived in the apartments off of 71st and Bell. There is a great spot to set up chairs and watch the fireworks from from the Peoria Sports Complex, but the best part is avoiding traffic afterwards. We loaded up our drinks, snacks and spray bottles to stay cool. Joe's brothers, Josh and Justin, his sister, Jeri and Jeri's fiance, Mike met us there. We weren't sure how the girls were going to react. In years past Joleigh has been scared of the fireworks, mainly the noise, and we waited only to be in the van during the actual fireworks show. But we were excited to see their reactions, plus it was Jaelyn's first 4th of July, so we had to go. We had so much fun while we waited playing with glow sticks, spraying each other with water bottles and just enjoying our family. When they started the girls were in their own seats, but Joleigh quickly moved to Daddy's lap and Noelle chose to sit with Mike and then later Uncle Joshy.





Some direct quotes: Joleigh-"Daddy they are so large and big." and "You're right, Dad, they do sound like popcorn." Noelle-"They're beautiful." "And sparkly." And then she repeated every color as they exploded.





We had so much fun and created some great memories. Jaelyn was such a trooper and stayed up way past bedtime. We are still adjusting today from getting to bed too late, but it was so worth it, when they woke up this morning asking to go to fireworks again tonight.

Children's Museum

I took the girls, by MYSELF, to the Children's Museum this week. Last time we were there we had such a wonderful time that we decided to get the annual membership. I was looking forward to going back, but was a little nervous to take all three girls without Joe's help. But I decided I should try it. The girls were GREAT!!! They listened so well and we were really able to enjoy our time there. We arrived at 10:00 am, played for an hour and half, then ate the picnic lunch we brought, then finished our time in the arts and crafts area and finally banged on the drums and rode bikes, leaving at 1:00 pm. When it was time to leave they said, "Ok Mom." I was so pleasantly surprised and proud that I could manage all of them so easily. So now I am brave and we plan to go back again very soon.