Oh Good Grief...Just Put the Camera Down!

I'm through apologizing for the thousands of photos I take of this girl...well except to her of coarse (I think her expression in the first photo shows her true feelings on this subject). I am well aware I've gone overboard, and frankly I dont care! I can promise that once we get though the holidays it should slow down dramatically. Now, after that preamble, on to Ryans "1st of 3 of her very First Christmas". Huh? It breaks down like this...this blessed child gets not one, not two, but THREE Christmas' (is that proper for plural Christmas?) Anyway, Nana and Papa Joe Newsome came to town and they could have used a sleigh to carry all the presents they had for this child. She may look like me to some and more like Jamey to others, she may roll her eyes like me, and laugh like me and be stubborn like me, but her patience she got from Jamey! She was in no hurry to rip open these presents....of coarse it helps she doesn't know what presents are and what is underneath the paper and ribbon....but still..her precision was familiar. But once all the paper was torn and ribbons were eaten..by either her or my cat Moe, it was play time and she had a blasty! She adored all of her new toys and didn't really know what to play with first. I think I made a comment that we were going to have to move just to hold all her toys (and that is not all that far off from the truth...sadly)! But it was a wonderful day, and despite having a KILLER stomach virus (that story has no place here) she had an awesome day! Many many thanks to the Newsomes!!! They braved the bug and came anyway-keeping my fingers crossed they don't get sick!
Here are a few videos from the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tt_ZLUsxx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZerfI7LMHCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNhhH4o01k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLPCMwW9Ls4

Videos, videos and more videos!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyLUqupwilw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeYbzeGfdUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Dxs6DFOCw

A little bit about these videos (I always feel like i have to defend myself for some reason):
The first one is of her trying to crawl...she doesn't, so if you were expecting to watch 5 minutes and 30 seconds for her to heroically crawl at the end-you would be wrong. But she does rest her head on the ground in exhaustion! Riveting!

The second one is just her giggling at Steve. I keep this video around for evidence as to why we dont get rid of Steve when people ask (and they do ask). Just when we are on the verge of throwing him out the door into the cold we watch this video. The fact is, she loves this dog....it sucks for us!

The last one I really have no defense. I shot this and never even noticed that the branch of the tree kept poking her in the eye. Not real sure how that slipped past me. So which is worse, being aware and kept shooting because it is funny, or not even noticing at all??? I didn't know until I watched the video myself....this poor child! So while you are watching this and keep asking yourself, "why doesn't she put down the camera and move poor Ryan away from the tree?" I DIDN'T KNOW!

The Insane Pressure of the 1st Christmas Card...

Who would have thought the process of picking a picture for Christmas cards would be so unbearable. Actually, Jamey probably had a clue this wouldn't be easy for me, and maybe Rachael had an inkling. But for most people this process should be fun, easy, and memorable! But there is so much pressure I have placed on this stupid card that I am tempted not to send one at all, take that family, though it really isn't their fault that I am making this so difficult!
And it really isn't a bad problem to have, I have about 10 cute shots, of which I cannot decide between. Then there is the issue of the card itself, what color, how many photos to use, what to write, who to send them to....ARGGGGG. But what I need to remember, and what Jamey and everyone else who is normal and reasonable keeps telling me, is 1: it is just a Christmas card-people will LOVE it just because Ryan is on it and 2: IT IS JUST A CARD! Ahhh, nothing like a little perspective!
I just wanted to publicly say for all those who are trying to help me, I hear ya.... I'm listening and just give me a few more weeks to look these pictures over and then decide to go in a different direction entirely!

The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

I feel like I am obligated to tell Ryan's first Thanksgiving story, for historical purposes only. Thankfully, it was a fairly uneventful trip and this should go quickly! We started the week prior kind of rough-Steve needed his vaccines in order to board, which caused a reaction, and a subsequent night spent getting fluids, the next day he was fine...Whew! Then on Tuesday we get a call from her daycare informing us to come get her she has a fever of 102.5, again. What??? So after a phone conversation with her doctor, it is determined that she has a cold...Whew again! Now we are packing-which I thought I hated packing before having Ryan, it has now become my nightmare-the bane of my existence if you will. It is Sucky Suckerson (forget it-too long to explain). Needless to say, we have to pack the entire house for an 18 pound little baby. And no matter how great my efforts are to pack "only what I need" the effort is futile. I ALWAYS over pack, and now, not only am I over packing for myself, but now my daughter has 25 outfit for a 3 day trip for crying out loud. Somehow we jammed it all in, the Jeep is loaded and we are ready to go, and only 1 hour behind schedule-not that we really have one of those anymore. The drive was fine, with the exception of Ryan developing a cough that kept waking her up and the anticipated traffic on Hwy 77 out of Charlotte. But we got there safe and sound, if only a few hours later than we thought (5 hour trip took 7). Now on to the main event (which I will explain in pictures-I don't have to write that much, you wont have to read that much and lets face it, they are prettier to look at!)

Thanksgiving Day! Some of Jamey's family members have met Ryan before (of coarse she was only a few months old then and WASN'T wearing her fancy new dress) so I was excited for them to see her all grown up (hee hee-the girl can't eat real food, or walk/talk, but she is grown up). Anyway, the day was perfect! I couldn't have scripted it better if I wanted to, she was STELLAR!!!!! She cooed on command, smiled when directed, ate ALL her dinner (which I will get into later), laughed when it was appropriate (which is unusual-she normally laughs inappropriately), rubbed her eyes when she was tired all cute like, napped when needed, woke smiley and basically charmed the hell out of the entire family! But enough of her-the best part-the food. Besides the peas (sorry-had to through that in there Nana) everything was wonderful (from the turkey to the broccoli casserole to the cheese muffins to the stuffing) and I ate my weight in it all-way more than I should have (which is normal right?) and Ryan followed suit: she had pureed turkey and gravy, sweet potatos, green beans AND applesauce for dessert. The best part is, she ate it all...not real sure where she put it!! But I guess she wanted to be just like mommy-fat and happy and SLEEPY!

It was a lovely day all around and soooo nice to see everyone again! Thanks so much to Nana and Papa Joe for the yummy treats and always feeding us so well!! We love you!

It is normally very pretty in NC during Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. The best part about these pictures is the back stories. In the first one, the pile of leaves was too enticing to pass up, however, I did not anticipate her sinking so quickly to the bottom and almost being swallowed up by the monster pile! And in the last picture, what you dont see and something we also failed to recognize was just how wet and dirty the bottom of the pile would be. Once we picked her up, her tights were filthy and her feet were all wet! Not to mention that she picked up a leaf with an enormous stem and immediately put it up her nose and that ended the photo session pretty fast!!!

Ahhh.....PEACE. Nothing brought her more happiness than her newest present from Nana-Pat the Puppy...or Patty the Puppy (whichever you feel like saying).