Fun stuff!

Here's Ryan enjoying her first "real bath", not her usual wipe-down, can you say bye-bye belly button! I remember Kella crying the whole time, but Ryan seemed to enjoy the pampering.

Happy Thanksgiving! Ryan made her first road trip to Oak-kah-koma (as Kella says). We planned our strategy and fed everyone before we left, but unfortunately leaving Dallas at

4 o' clock on a friday set our schedule back by almost 2 hours. Ugh! It made for a funny story, here goes.... We stopped at our usual spot in Atoka for potty breaks and red bull. I discovered that Kella had wet herself when we made it to the bathroom. This was after I carried her in and my arm was now wet! Back in the car, I stripped her down and found the nearest pair of pants & new panties, not matching, of course. Kipp graciously offered 2 of his t-shirts for her to now sit on in her wet car seat. I sent him in after a bag from the convenient store to put the wet clothes in, he had to explain to the clerk what it was for when she wanted to double bag our goodies after his request. The guy behind him said, "road trip, huh?" Kipp - "yeah, my daughter peed in her car seat while she was asleep" (Note to self - pack pull-ups for long distance driving where sleeping is involved.) He said, "yeah, us too. Our dog has already thrown up 3 times!" We had parked next to each other and had a good laugh when the boys returned to the car. By this time Ryan was awake and HUN-GRY, so we spent the next 20 min people watching the fine citizens of Atoka! Good times!

II am fortunate enough to have a husband who, I think, loves Christmas more than I do. We both anxiously wait to put up the lights when it seem like our neighbors won't think we're too eager. We came home early from Sallisaw just to do our decorating. It has been so fun this year to see Christmas through Kella's eyes. Last year she would get excited, but didn't really get it, but this year has been such a joy and its only Dec. 4th!!!! We decorated "her" tree and she still gets excited every time we walk in her room. "It's christmas tree lights! Sooo spark-ah-lee!" If I can figure out how to add a video on this thing, her rendition of "Jwingle Bewls" is pretty spectacular!

Toot-Toot!!!

We visited the trains at Northpark mall. Here we are in New York, New York!
Mount Rushmore

Ryan was the best traveler. This is what she does ALL DAY!!!

Can you say bless-ing!!!

We made our way all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Whew! What a day!

Can I get someone to look this way. hehehe

Oldies but goodies!

I ran across these pics that mom took this summer. Such a sweet girl!

This stork was rented by our friends Tal & Casey. Kella got such a kick out of it. Her "big sister" star is now hanging in her room. Our neighbors enjoyed it just as much when their kids asked "why do they have a bird in their yard?" Ahhhh, kids!

Here's just a taste..... of sweetness!!!!!

I recently went throught a bible study with my dear friend Cheryl Scruggs. Most of you know she and her husband, Jeff, have played significant roles in mine & Kipp's relationship. They were also part of our wedding ceremony in Mexico, that's how much they mean to us. Cheryl & her friend, Mona, led a women's bible study where we read Jen Hatmaker's book "A Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study", if you struggle with how to read/study the bible, I highly recommend this book. I met some amazing girls in this study, one of which is Avery. She is an amazing photographer and offered to shoot maternity pics to add to her portfolio. Due to the insane amount of rain we received in October, we got rained out for most of the times we set. Since Ryan's arrival came before we shooting, she offered to do a newborn setting here at the house. She was sweet enough to capture a few of Kella (she got to jump on the bed for this, which is a big no-no in our house..... remember the monkey's?!?!?!)

Visit her blog for a few more AMAZING pics of the girls! Did I mention she is amazing???

www.photographybyavery.com

Today was "observation day" at Kella's dance class. I have had to miss the past 2 weeks of class as I recovered from Ryan, and was more than ready to get back and see my little dancer in action. We also got fitted for our costumes for our upcoming recital in May. So, so fun! We are in such a great class with the best little girls (and mom's!) We both love the new friends we've made!

Making our mark!

We had Ryan's 10 day visit a week ago, here is a pic of the hallway upstairs at the Birth Center. I love that these walls, door frames and windows are covered with little footprints of all those born here! I am excited to be a part of such an amazing place!

We found Kella's footprints in, what is now, an upstairs office. What memories! I still remember the day we brought her in for her 10 day visit. As a tradition they stamp any siblings under the previous child. I love to read all the names of each child.


Here is Cherie (our midwife) stamping Ryan's feet!

It's official!!!!!

Little beauty!!!!!