Scared-ey Cat...

So I mentioned previously about a toy that we have that Ryan is scared of, this is a video of her being taunted by the said toy and her reaction to it. This is a jelly-type toy with lots of jelly legs and you can pick up a leg and kinda stretch it back and forth. It also lights up when you slap it on a hard surface, really cool but she is scared of it. She likes it from a distance but when it gets too close, she backs up. As bad as it is, we all like to dangle the toy in front of her and see how close she will get to it before retreating back. This is just one instance of us torturing Ryan with the jelly toy. She is slightly preoccupied by getting a ribbon out of her hair and then focuses on the toy when she completes the first task. It is so funny to watch her try to get away from this toy.

Once upon a time...

They think this is gonna be easy...thats their first mistake!

They are trying so hard, I am still winning.
I had the camera in my hand the WHOLE time!

I beat the crap out of people, boys and girls alike. Mostly it was my siblings and a select group of cousins, Curry Eikeland, Cliff Shuler, you get what I mean. I was a very strong girl, I still am as a matter of fact. And, from time to time, I get into situations where I have to remind people of how strong I continue to be. With that being said, I will admit that I not always victorious in my situations, as this most recent "situation" will show.

Last Saturday we had a few family members over to have lunch. Most of the bunch had eaten and left and those of us remaining (myself, Jaren, Terah, Duncan, Ryan and Addisyn) were playing and taking pictures of the babies and having a good time. Jaren was taking pictures and took a couple of me with the girls and there were some that I didn't like. I wanted to delete them from her camera and she didn't want me to but I felt that I needed to. Long story short, Jaren wanted her camera back and came after me to get it. Needless to say, I am still strong and Jaren had to call in reinforcements in the form of Duncan.

In the end, Jaren got her camera back but you can look and see that I am still strong. Yeah, so they got the camera back and I may not have won the battle but I totally will win the war.

**This post has nothing to do with Ryan, I just wanted to tell this story. No babies were harmed in any way in this story.**

Baby Einstein...

We have this toy that she loves to play with, but only from a distance. Don't let it touch her though.

Jaren and I went walking and Ryan was more tired than we were.
Ryan and Addisyn played "kissing cousins." Addisyn played "eat Ryan's nose"

The girls are learning to share, Ryan isn't too cool with that idea.

Granny J put Ry's hair in this pony tail. I can't believe she has that much hair.

is heaven sent, as is the exersaucer I bought at a yard sale a couple weekends ago. I can sit Ryan in it and let her watch the movie and talk to her about the movie while I wash dishes, cook dinner and even play on the computer!!! Now this doesn't always happen just like I like it but it still provides a little time for multi-tasking even in its smallest form. We are getting ready and doing some pre-planning for her first birthday and when I say pre-planning, I mean that we are just thinking about what to do in terms of theme, menu, location, etc. Lots to do, gotta make this a birthday to remember, for me at least because I know Ryan won't. Anyway, she's got FOUR teeth in and two more on the way, she has also said her first official word. Yep, even Granny J agrees that she has said the word and I believe Jaren, Kylia and possibly Terah have heard her say it so it definitely counts. The word is "hey", not "hi" but a real southern "hey", it is awesome and as soon as I can get her to say it on camera without diving at me for the camera I will post it. Stay tuned!!!

Swim, take 3

OK, the final video in the swim saga shows Ryan not only enjoying the pool but actually swimming!!! I couldn't believe it, I know she is cute and talented, but I wasn't ready for this level of intelligence. She not only swims forward, she swims backwards too!!! Y'all just watch this, she is gonna be a water baby for sure!

Swim, take 2

So, video #2 shows Ryan with a much better attitude. As you can see the jacket has been taken off and she is getting more used to the water, even playing and slapping the water like she does during her bath. See, the life jacket was the problem. All is well in the backyard pool, for this post at least :).

One blog...

just won't do justice to what we have been doing today. I know that I sometimes see pages who have posted more than one blog in a day and I just think..."what, you have nothing better to do than post to your blog? Come on!" But, now I will join the ranks of the 'super posters' today. We took Ryan swimming for the first time today at granny's house. It was an event, to say the least. We got her in her cute purple polka dot swimsuit and Joe and grandpa worked through her tears to put sunblock on her. Then we put on her brand new life jacket and headed to the pool. She was screaming LOTS in the beginning and eventually we realized the problem: it was the life jacket, duh. Why didn't we think of that before? She doesn't care about safety at this time, she knows that I am super over-protective and would do anything to keep her head above water, nothing is gonna happen to her. Nothing. It is nice and once she gets used to the water it will come in handy but today was not that day. I think she felt a little smothered by the puffiness of the vest and it was too much for her. Yeah, we took it off and had Joe just hold her in the pool and things settled down. Ryan even started swimming "on her own" in a manner of speaking.

I did video her crying and I just couldn't keep it and post it for the whole blog community to see, it was so pitiful that I just can't do that. The first reason is that I don't want y'all to think she was being tortured when clearly she wasn't and the second reason is that I do plan to take her swimming again and I know we will go through the same tearful routine so its not like you are missing out on anything.

I would like to post a total of about three videos but I don't know how many I can attach to one post. Therefore, I wil formally induct myself into the 'super posters' society. Here goes video #1, this is when she is trying to get used to the jacket and is not really crying, but still not really liking it. I would say ENJOY, but you can just judge for yourself.