Who's a Daddy's Girl?

Oh forget it-I'm done fighting this. She loves her dad! What can I say? I am the one who picks her up from daycare, feeds her, bathes her, reads to her, loves on her, plays with her, puts her to bed and it is still Daddy who gets the squeals when he comes home. Maybe because she rarely sees him these days so when she does she is super siked? But here is hoping Leah is a mommy's girl-cause I need some loving too!

Back to reality!

We got back from the beach Sunday evening, come Monday morning-we all looked this-bags under our eyes, hair all disheveled, cranky! Now, for Ryan, it also happened to be her first day of her new daycare class after being "moved up" to hang with the big kids. No more napping when you want, eating when want, tormenting the newborn babies....Nope, everything changes now! She has a schedule and curriculum to follow, a very strict nap time and a sharing policy you would think would be easy to abide by. Between recovering from vacation, playing hard on the playground, painting a bear, getting bit (and subsequently biting back) and being forced to listen to her teacher, she fell a sleep like 15 minutes after getting home! :) And so did Mommy!

Little Leah or (L.L. Coolbug)

I feel just awful that I havent really mentioned much regarding Leah! Not that there is that much to say, but maybe announcing her name would be a start! So her name is Leah Nicole Newsome (Daddy's pick with Mommy's middle name). Right now as of today, she is just over a pound and is 25 weeks old! As you can see from her ultasound picture (to really see it you have to close your right eye, squint out of your left and tilt you head ever so slightly) her sucking her thumb! You can also see that she is already just as cute a Ryan and takes cues better-we were never able to get this shot of Ryan no matter how hard we tried! :)

But so far she is perfectly healthy and for me, December seems like a lifetime away!

A Visual Preamble...

I knew it was going to be hard to pick which beach pictures to put on my blog so here are a few to get you started.....also, for my close friends (you know who you are) and family, here is the link to my Photobucket page, so you may enjoy them all!! http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii276/jnewsome33/?start=0

My Malibu Tomboy

She can look cute in a suit, but isn't afraid to get dirty! There are many things to possibly dread when taking a 15 month old on her first beach trip-the fear of her hating the sand, and/or the water, the dread of lugging everything out to the beach only to have to lug it back in 30 minutes (flashbacks from Tybee with Rachael when she was 3 months), the fear of sunburn (applying sunscreen literally every 10 minutes) and the then there is the "wont sleep through the night" fear! All these things could lead to a disastrous week, but None-I repeat, NONE of those things occurred! We initially were a bit bummed due to our condo being on the second floor-but quickly realized that Ryan upon entering the condo for the first time ran straight to the balcony and started playing her favorite new game of open/close door (each time waving and saying Bye-bye as she closed the french doors). Now had we been on the ground floor, there would have been no way to contain her-so this turned out to be a happy accident. The first night, there happened to be a band playing across the street, so we walked over and let Ryan work the crowd like the rock star she is, dancing and making friends everywhere! On the way home she encounters a gaggle of ducks, which she thought was cool at first-then they started "chasing her"-not cool...but we had a week to make them our friends (and did-with bagels).

From the next morning on, (after grandma arrived) we got into a great routine, beach in the morning, lunch/naps/pool, then St. Augustine in the evenings. I have to mention how amazing Ryan was at the beach-like she had been going to the beach everyday her entire little life. She got out her sand toys (only stopping to eat the sand a handful of times and a handful at a time), she followed daddy to the ocean, and if we had let her, she would have been half way to the sandbar before we could blink, she collected sea shells with grandma, and took strolls to the pier and back. All these things are very important because, well, I am happy to see her enjoying the beach so much, but mainly it allowed me to chill in the sun without chasing, yelling, or getting up even!

She never got scared, never got burnt, never pitched a fit, never woke up in the middle of the night, basically allowed us to have the best beach vacation you could possibly have with a 15 month old and being 6 months pregnant! One quick story I have to tell, and yes, I am afraid it may be one of those stories you had to see for yourself, but since I am using this blog as her baby book, I have to tell it. On her "walks", she would take off by herself, and all three of us would say, "Where ya goin?". Everytime, she would turn around, wave and say "Bye-Bye!", walk a few feet, turn, wave and say, "Bye-Bye!".....I think you can tell from the first picture above just how cute that could have been!

I do have to give Jamey big hugs for being our pack mule this trip and to grandma for her eagle eye that I never appreciated growing up-but counted on several times this trip!

St. Augustine Beach!

Just a few random beachy images for ya! I will spend the rest of my life trying to get Jamey a gig on the coast! As much as I adore my mountains-I just LOVE the BEACH!! (And apparently so does Ryan)!

4th of July!!!

After the July 3rd debacle at Tybee, we decided to stick close to home! We started out going to the water park and the more and more we go, the more and more Ryan falls in love with it. She is really starting to exhibit no fear and just runs and jumps and dives in-to my dismay! It is one thing to be fearless in my living room, and another around water! But she has so much fun, the chase and vigilance is worth it. After a few hours, we went home to a much needed nap, then head to dinner. There are not many things about Statesboro worth mentioning, but they do have a wonderful park. It is a sports complex really, with a water park inside that is really nice for the kids! We went there for their 4th activities and fireworks. We got there and realized that once again, we forgot bug spray (a MUST in south Georgia) so Jamey had to walk to the store (sorry again Jamey). They had big inflatable bouncers for the kids and even though she wasnt big enough to jump in them, she had fun running around on the playground. Sadly our stupidity reigns again, we put our stuff and blanket down on/near an ant hill...so needless to say we got eaten alive again (those hurt). My main fear was how Ryan was going to handle the noise of the fireworks, especially once they got started and I realized we were very close (closest i have ever been). But she seemed fascinated and just walked from person to person to have us hold her to watch them. Actually one of the best firework displays I have seen! Ryan crashed on the way home and all in all a pretty successful 4th!

Comedy of Errors-3rd of July @ Tybee Island

So I should have known this day was going to be a comedy of errors from the get go! It started out with mom bringing fireworks for us. Which sounds fun, until they are in Jamey's hands. At about 2:00pm on a day that was 102 degrees outside Jamey decided he wanted to "test" one of the firecrackers. Ok...seems reasonable enough. A little background info to help put this bad idea into better context; it has been unusually hot and dry lately, and the grass was just mowed a week prior with the cuttings not being swept up-so essentially hay was left. Thinking he was going to do this in the driveway, I told him where the lighter is (my fault I know). So instead of doing this experiment in the driveway, he goes out back, lights the firecracker and tosses it into the yard, where you guessed it it set the lawn on fire! In typical Jamey fashion, he comes in all casual, no sense of urgency and says to me and my mom, "I think I may need some help, the grass is on fire." We jump up to run into the kitchen to find him slowly filling up a pan with water. We all make it outside to find a 4 ft by 4ft square of grass on fire..which he did get out with the pan of water...my first thought should have been, "Why did you throw it in the yard?" but instead I could only think, "Why didnt you grab the hose right over there?" Either way, we look like 4th of July amateurs and it is only the 3rd!

The lack of brains and preparation continues as we head to Tybee Island for beach fireworks. We eat dinner in Savannah, which was nice, it was a glorious night outside and the town was hopin! After dinner we headed to Tybee where the debacle begins. I did a little researchwhere I find out if we headed to the north side of the island we could see both Tybee's show and Hilton Heads-this was not true (or it is possible we left before Hilton Head's started). We walked down the boardwalk to the beach and Ryan is already in full steam. It should be said that I am the worst mother-I didnt bring several staple items if one is going to the beach-bathing suit, extra outfit, swimmers, towels, bug spray..etc..Now in my defense, I hadnt planned on going into the ocean-AT ALL; maybe our feet, but thats it. I did not anticipate our Ryanbug being a waterbug. You can see the series of events from the pictures above. Here is how it went (in literally minutes):

Walk to ocean (more of a tippy tumbles into the ocean).

Feet in, pants get wet.

Roll up pants, she walks in further, mom, grandma and Jamey are now soaked as well.

Strip down to diaper and let her sit in the water (sand covering everything)

This isnt good enough, now Jamey fully dressed takes her way out-waist level...DONE

Now even though we all had to suffer through getting eaten alive by bugs, sit in wet clothes watching fireworks we could barely see, poorly attempting to keep bottles out of the sand, we all had a fairly good time watching Ryan have a blast!

Now here is where things get really miserable-there were no showers to rinse her off, we had to change her in a dirty sink and put her in the car seat in a diaper only. Meanwhile Jamey and I changed into bathing suits we happen to have in the car just to get home...if it sounds backwards you are right. All of us are exhausted, dirty, itchy and still have 1 1/2 hour drive! Happy 3rd!

Fathers Day!

Poor daddy had to share his Fathers Day with his Birthday this year-neither of which was anything spectacular! We did however decide to go out to dinner to celebrate, but in usual Jamey fashion, he did most of the work anyway-they really should come up with a day to honor the amazing dads who...wait...what....oh...that is what this weekend was supposed to be...oooppppss. Sorry daddy-we'll get you next year!

As you can see from above, Ryan has gotten into a pretty clear routine when getting ready. She gets dressed (which BTW, how adorable is that dress Aunt Judy got her?) then she immediately knows to put on her shoes next. Usually she backs into me and sits on my lap for me to put them on, but on this day she wanted to make daddy proud by putting them on herself...futile..but I loved the effort. Then once she is ready (VERY much like me) she is ready to go and everyone in house better be ready too! Sadly, even though it was supposed to be Jamey's night, Ryan was irritated that he wasnt ready yet-see her looking upstairs for him?! Once he came down, she ran to the window as if showing us she wants to go outside, then ran to daddy to pick her up to go...I guess it is now Ryans world and we just live in it....not only that, but I got a small glimpse of what it feels to have someone rush you to leave...hey-I only asked to picked up that once...but there is no excuse for yelling up the stairs and running to the window...sorry Jamey!

Great Grandmas house!

As a kid I always adored going to Grandmas House. Maybe it was because it was usually for Christmas, or the fact that I got to see snow, but my memories of this house are very fond ones!

So despite the circumstances surrounding this visit, I was fairly excited to take Ryan to visit her Great grandma. I think it is important to note that my grandmas house looks like an antique store, one you normally would NOT take a year old child into for fear of them grabbing and breaking everything in sight. I think Ryan had a blast, but for us it hours of running after her saying no and taking stuff out of her hands. After the first day we just about got everything out of sight, only to have my poor restless grandma put everything back in its place after we left, so we had repeat the routine every visit. Then on top of that we had Uncle Scott playing the instigator, bring her old antique chairs, toys and dolls (I swear the ugliest and scariest doll I have ever seen).

Also, on this visit she finally got to meet Aunt Judy (yes, the phantom aunt who sends her the best presents!), Uncle Jeb and Cousin Jamie. Jamie at one point had Ryan in stitches...I'm not sure what she did to get her to laugh, but it was the sweetest moment of the trip. She just loved Jamie!

Then she got to meet dads sisters, Fran and Sue, Frans son Michael, his wife Jessica, and their children Ellie and Ben. Ryan was a little skeptical at first (Ellie is her age) but once they broke out the toys-she was fine. Although I had to remind her more than once that that was NOT daycare and those toys are Ellie's-I hope she learns sharing soon-that was embarrassing. The funny part was, Ryan and Ellie had identical whines, so anytime either one of them pitched a fit, Jessica and I would look around to make sure it wasn't ours!

I think now Ryan has met her entire family at least once. Whew-that only took a year!

Travel Bug!

You will notice no pictures were taken from inside the car on our 25 (really only 12) hour one way drive-no one needs to see the melt down of two grown adults and a 14 month old! Lets just say it was ugly. I am probably exaggerating slightly (no-not me!) we actually split the trip to Ohio from Georgia up by stopping at our "home" in Asheville. We were able to visit with our buddies and basically "get the hell out of that freakin car"-as I am sure Ryan would put it if she could talk. The following day we wanted to leave late so Ryan would sleep most of the trip-this is good in theory, the execution left a lot to be desired. We ended up getting in to the hotel room at 12:30am and the girl was suddenly wide awake. You HAVE to love the naive, idealistic notion we had in our heads of picking her up asleep out of her car seat, straight to the ready made crib in our room. Kinda cute for those experienced moms right? No such luck, however, we did have to unpack our lives, so she might as well have been awake. With the aversion to riding in the car aside, she became quite the experienced traveler on this trip-enjoying all the amenities the hotel had to offer-the pool of coarse, the continental breakfast, the extra rolls of toilet paper under the sink, the super soft cozy comforter that appealed to her much better than the crib, the vending machines..all of it. I think I even caught her calling downstairs for room service and helping out by walking up and down the hall providing wake up calls to all around us. Next thing you know it was time for us to load up and check out. Have you ever had the feeling of dying to get home, but dreading getting there...I wont go into details, but lets say it involved a major highway closing, a 3 hour detour, a monsoon through crazy traffic, a screaming child and suddenly a 8 hour drive turned in to 12. Yup-good times!

By the way-the first picture is the two of them, in their church clothes after my dads service, eating Wendy's on the hotel bed-soooo classy!

Splash in the Boro'

Children are a great way to distract you from life's truly saddest moments. Just after my fathers passing I decided that Ryan seemed depressed and needed a day of fun. Ok, so probably pretty improbable for a 14 month old to be depressed and, ok, maybe it was I who was needing a distracting day of fun....soooooo....WATER PARK DAY-SPLASH IN THE BORO! Thats right cats and kittens, pack your bathing suits, sunblock, hats, towels, bottles...geez..whew....gone are the days of running out in your suit and grabbing a towel on your way out the door. Now actual planning goes into a day like this, packing, scheduling nap times and lunches-not exactly spontaneous. We planned to get to the park as soon as it opened-10:00am-we strolled in with our luggage at 1:00 and feeling pretty good about ourselves. Here is the good news and what made the day worthwhile-Ryan had a ball, she loved it, she loved the water, the pools, the lazy river (well, who doesnt really?). She had an incredible time and I was so thankful because sometimes in times of sadness like this and extreme sorrow, the bad can seem really bad. The flip side of this is in this highly emotionally charged state-the good is that much better-and this day was a good one!