Merry First Christmas Shuler Girls (and everyone else)!!!

This year Christmas was so much fun!!! Not only did we have all the usual Christmas eve festivities and Christmas day dinners (THREE for me personally, I am still stuffed), but this was Ryan, Olivia and Addisyn's first Christmas!!! They were so cute, all dressed in cute clothes and hats and "opening" presents and all the fun stuff. We spent Christmas eve at Rhett's, Christmas day at our place and lunch at Papa's and Uncle Joe's, finishing out the day with dinner at the Longfellow house. Livie and Ry worked so hard to get their presents open and I am sure they had plenty of help. Addisyn, she just let everyone do the work for her, it is hard just being cute ya know. Enjoy all the girl's pics! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

All things considered...

Here fishie fishie...

She must be feeling better...

We really are doin' just fine...I think we have finally figured out the source of Ry's cough...its about time since it has lasted almost THREE MONTHS!!!...For the first 4 appointments, we were told it was just a "common cold" that is normal and she would have to "let it run its course"...I have heard those phrases so many times that they should be given US patents, hence the quotation marks...We have been in and out of the doc's office and urgent care and all we have ever heard is "common cold, let it run its course, etc."...I am sick of it...

So, we started the month of December off at the doctor's office and we were told she had bronchitis and since she is so young there were no remidies other than vaporizers, saline drops, steam showers yada yada yada...Well, we have been doing that since October and the common cold is still living with us...So, we were back Dec. 12 b/c a wheezing breath had set in...FINALLY, the doctor gave us something for her...Now, I am not an advocate for pushing meds on my innocent baby but I'll tell you, she needs something for a three month old cough!!!...In the end she was given antibiotics for an ear infection and a nebulizer for breathing treatments 3 times a day...Thankfully a week into the new meds have been great for her, the wheezing is gone and she is getting so much better!...I am very thankful that she is getting better and hopefully she will be in full party mode for Christmas Eve...

Playing Catch-up...

It is so pitiful how dependent I am on technology, what little knowledge I have of it anyway. Jaren has had our wireless computer for the past couple weeks while hers is out of commission and I have neglected to post b/c all my pictures are on the wireless computer. My other computer is older and slower so its not as easy to post pictures. And, no one wants to read a blog about Ryan without seeing pictures, so even though its not a great excuse, its my excuse and my blog so there...

Well, thanksgiving has come and gone and Ry is growing everyday! We went to Rhett's and Papa's and back to the Longfellow's for Thanksgiving, she was such a trooper being carted around all day. Needless to say, I am still full from Thanksgiving but making room for Christmas. We started December at Kylia's making Christmas candy and starting Ryan on rice cereal. She is liking it more and more but still has to figure out how to use her tongue to keep the cereal in her mouth. She is also waving "bye" now. Grandma started that and it does take some persuasion, but she will do it. Jaren, Joe, Kylia and myself have seen it done on more than one occasion.

Joe and I also made the decision along with Leah and Matt to pierce the girl's ears. Last Saturday we all took Ryan and Amelia to Claire's boutique in the mall and the mommies held the girls while they got their ears pierced. No pics of that b/c it was like getting a shot but again, my girl is tough so she was done crying before Amelia even sat in the chair. We had to go first b/c I might've chickened out otherwise.

Finally, Ry has been sick off and on since October with cough, congestion and the like. We have taken her to the doctor at least FIVE times to figure out what is going on and we went again this past Friday and got somewhat of a resolution. Ry has bronchitis and while that stinks, thankfully that is the worst of it. I was worried b/c I thought if she kept up with all this coughing and stuff she could develop pneumonia. She had a chest x-ray and things came back clear. All we can do is what we've been doing to get her better which is keep up with vaporizers, saline spray, suctioning boogers (gross) and getting plenty of sleep (for RYAN, not mom and dad of course). So that what we've been doing, hopefully she'll be getting better shortly. She really is working on the resting part. I stayed home from church with her today and she has been sleeping since 9:30 am. I've been told that resting helps her heal so sleep on my baby girl!!!

So, that should cover all the high points and that should catch me up for this month so far. Happy blogging!!!

Another day, another drawing...

Can you read this JAREN? YOU are the WINNER!!!

I told y'all last week about Ryan and how busy she has been since winning the Halloween quick takes...She has certain obligations and helping her fulfill them is very tiresome.

Today we had to choose a winner for the Pampered Chef party for all the participants who ordered a minimum of $50 in products...Of course Ryan was designated to choose the winner from the list of lucky recipients...This helps because she is totally nonpartisan and considers everyone who is in the running a winner...Gosh doesn't that sound just like her speech, get a new speech, speech writer!!!...The prize includes an eight piece place setting which includes the fall pattern napkins, napkin rings and a table runner, perfect for any Thanksgiving dinner!...So, without further adue, the winner of the Pampered Chef giveaway is...drum roll please......

JAREN VASS!!!! Congratulations Jaren, you may pick up your prize at your earliest convenience!!!

Puttin' up the Christmas Tree...

Where do we start?


Decisions, decisions

What about this one?


Are these too big?

Just worn out!!

I am so glad Christmas is getting close, I know its not even Thanksgiving yet but I haven't put up a tree for the last three years so this year is a big deal. And Ryan just makes it all the more awesome, so I let her help out in deciding ornaments for the christmas tree. Here are some pictures of Ryan "helping" us put up the Christmas tree. You can see that she likes to examine each piece of merchandise to determine just the right fit. You can see she gravitates towards the bigger ornaments!!! She has such great taste but you can see that it wears her out where all she wants to do is vegg out in front of the tv!!!

Busy bee...(I know, Halloween is over)...

I haven't posted in so long, I don't even know where to start. Ryan stays so busy and keeps me so busy, lots of different posts go through my head and never make it to the blog. Therefore, I will do my best to keep up with my blog and all Ryan has going on.

Recently, we have done everything from put up the Christmas tree, get Mommy through strep throat and Ryan through her first "real" cold (thanks to the 3 different on-call nurses that we kept in business), win a competition (thanks to all the fans!!!), start rolling over (almost there), host a party and start making Christmas candy!!! Whew, I'm tired just from thinking about all that stuff. I'm sure I could've posted a blog for each occasion but these pics are so cute, you'll feel just like you were there for each event!

I really think Ryan is about to roll all the way over, she really is working so hard. Right now she mostly works as the supervisor for all the different events that go on here. She sits at her perch in her bumbo chair on the highest counter in the kitchen and delegates the various responsibilities to me, Jaren, Kylia, Terah, Joe, whoever will hear her. She even likes to do some taste testing of the products from the kitchen. I'll tell you, that candy cane is wrapped but Joe had a fit when I told him it wasn't! To see the look on his face, priceless. This is plenty for this post, I have another post coming where I will show her "helping" Jaren and I put the Christmas tree up!

May I have the envelope please...

Isn't it beautiful :)

The suspense is nail biting!!!

Did they just call MY name!?!

Dressing for the occasion...

And the winner is........

The winner of the Halloween Quick Takes photo shoot goes to Ryan Longfellow, aka the "ladybug"!!!

Ryan says..."Oh my goodness, I am so suprised and I appreciate this so much. I didn't even prepare a speech but there are so many people I need to thank. Dee Corry for all your hard work in getting my picture, I know its not easy getting the perfect shot of a four month old, but you got it! Grandma Jamie for the precioius ladybug costume! Mommy, I want to thank you and Daddy for your support and hard work, I love you both. I want to thank my manager and of course my attorney for handling all the press and publicity (oops, I just thanked Mommy and Daddy) To all the nominees in this category, Dee is right, we are ALL WINNERS! Last but not least, I wouldn't have made it to this point if it weren't for my fans, who voted tirelessly for me, day after day, I wouldn't be here without you, thank you all so much!!! I love you all!!! Kisses!!!"

ROCK THE VOTE!!!

ROCK THE VOTE!!! The official picture of Ryan is up on Dee's blog and is ready to get your vote!!! You can vote once per computer per day so vote once at your home computer and once at your work computer or any other computer you have access to. Teachers, I know you have more than one computer in your classroom so vote once per day from every computer in your room, get your students to vote, encourage them to participate in this very important election and get them excited about voting!!! VOTE FOR RYAN, LADYBUG!!! Go back and vote every day until next Tuesday night!!! Don't forget to vote, the presidential election may end today but voting for Dee's blog has just begun and will run until next Tuesday.

"My friends" (hehe, how many times have we heard that this election campaign) send this page to your family, friends, co-workers and rock the vote for RYAN LONGFELLOW, LADYBUG!!! She is option "B" and is the most worthy of your vote!!! Leslie, if you read this, share this link with the paul gentry blog bunch b/c I know there are plenty of votes to be given from them!!!

Here is the link to Dee's page if you need it:
http://photobydee.blogspot.com/

Remember, ROCK THE VOTE!!! VOTE FOR RYAN LONGFELLOW, LADYBUG!!!

(I'm Meris Longfellow, mother of Ryan Longfellow, Ladybug, and I approved this message.)

They come out at night...

Bad biker chicks aka Leslie and KyersLittle Ladybugs aka Ryan and Meris

Super heroines (Olivia)

and of course, there is always a Monster(Addisyn)!!!

One last pic of my ladybug (Daddy and Ryan)!!!

You can just imagine all the ghouls and goblins that came out this year at halloween! Everyone from superheros to fairys to everything in between, it was just a blast! Halloween was so much fun this year!!! My little ladybug was so cute and all her buddies that
came to play were just awesome. We had lots of fun walking around at the "Trunk of Treat" in Bristol and looking at all the trunks that were decorated but I know I was pooped by the end of the night. The next day we had Helaman's birthday and I started putting up my christmas tree (darn you Jaren and Kylia, y'all have had yours up since October!!!) That didn't last long b/c I was complaining of a sore throat that turned into strep throat!!! Thank goodness Halloween went so well, I can only imagine what the rest of the holiday season has in store!!! Can't wait for it!!!