Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas with the family

Last night, we went to Birmingham to visit that side of the family.  I've been blessed to be able to spend a lot of time with my sister and nieces and nephew as of late, so we just made a quick stop to drop presents off to them.  I couldn't wait to watch them open them!  I LOVE watching them open their gifts.  Their little faces light up and all the thought I put into each one suddenly seems SO worthwhile!  It thought it was funny how much they loved their socks! :)  I got Autumn Hannah Montana socks, Shelby got Princess socks and Hayden got Justice League socks.  I got them real presents too...I just threw the socks in there for fun, but they loved them!  Ha Ha!  They all got their Ashlyn hugs for Christmas...except Bonnie who wasn't feeling top notch.  I hate that we didn't get pictures.  We stopped by my Dad's house and watched Top Chef for a little while and visited with them.  My Dad's Dupeytren's Contracture is getting so bad.  It makes me sad to see the hands that were once so incredibly creative and inventive with this terrible disease.  He said he would talk to the doctor about the new medicine they have come out with that could help him avoid surgery.  I hope he does.  I tried to clean the house a little when I got home...our house is a disaster area right now!  I am SO looking forward to sleeping a little late tomorrow and cleaning the house.  I have GOT to get the laundry done and I haven't even pulled out the luggage to pack for our Oklahoma trip.  Happy Christmas Eve Eve to everyone!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Card

We are thoroughly enjoying Ashlyn's first Christmas season!  Honestly, I've been living off of 4-5 hours of sleep a night for the last week trying to get everything done, but it has been so worth it!  The tree is up and mostly decorated.  I think Bones truly believes we put a big huge toy in the living room solely for his enjoyment.  I woke up the other morning to an entire strand of Christmas lights strewn out that apparently he had been working on all night.  Christmas cards have been mailed.  We are almost done Christmas shopping - only two gifts left to buy and they are gift cards!  Gifts for co-workers and Ashlyn's teachers have been given and we have Christmas with my Dad's family tonight.  One more day of work after today and then it will be Christmas Break!  Can I just mention how lucky I am to work for the University...I don't have to teach and I still get at least a week off for Christmas and Spring Break each!  I LOVE it!  Too bad we don't get Summers off.  =)  I am SOOOO very blessed to have such a wonderful hubby too!  He has helped so much and been so involved this year!  There is no way I could have done even half as much if he hadn't helped me SO VERY much!  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We kicked off our "Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas" this past Saturday with fresh baked cookies, hot chocolate with marshmallows and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  We had a great time!  Ashlyn was asleep before the movie even started and David was asleep before it ended...I was pretty close behind him. 

Yesterday evening we ventured out to the mall for Ashlyn to meet Santa Clause.  She did SO WELL!!!  Not a tear in sight.  She looked at him a little funny at first...I think she was trying to figure out the beard.  I think she looks a tiny bit like an elf with her little santa hat on.  She is so cute!
Afterwards, we trooped through the mall to find our annual Family Christmas Ornament.  I found this year's at Things Remembered.  When David and I first started dating, we got our first ornament - It said "Our First Christmas".  When we got married, I couldn't help myself, I got another "Our First Christmas" ornament.  Last night, David saw this beautiful ornament and the front of it says, "Our First Christmas".  I thought it was fitting.  We had it engraved with "Welcome Ashlyn Marianne Ryan August 23, 2010" and we will put her first Christmas picture in the spot available.  
Speaking of Ashlyn's first Christmas picture, we did manage to get two usable pictures and I finally narrowed all the options down to one Christmas Card!  I am so excited!  They are ordered and will hopefully be arriving soon.  I can't wait to mail them out this year!!!  David agreed to lug the Christmas storage boxes out of the attic tonight.  We are running a little behind, but we'll eventually get decorated and festive looking around the house!  :o)  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Ryan Household!!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thanksgiving Weekend

I have to say we had one of the most relaxing holidays in a very long time.  I had a very long list of things I wanted to try to get done, but I just put the list up and we had some quality family time.  I have so much to be Thankful for this year.  I have such a wonderful, loving, thoughtful, handsome husband.  I have the most amazing daughter I could have ever asked for.  David's businesses are running successfully.  I have a great job.  We have a roof over our heads, well-running cars and yummy food on the table (at least when David cooks it's yummy, Ha Ha!).  I thank God for all of these blessings since He is the one who provides them.  Here are some pictures of our weekend.

 Ashlyn spent the vast majority of her first Thanksgiving sleeping...

 and sleeping...

 and sleeping some more.

She finally woke up and did some playing...

and grinning and giggling and cooing.  She is so ADORABLE!!!

 Our gracious hosts...A.K.A - GrandMary and Papa Chuck.

 Gotta have a First Thanksgiving Family Picture :)  David looks so happy to be taking this picture...and I totally just woke up from the traditional Thanksgiving Day...someone else is watching your child...enjoy uninterupted sleep for a couple hours...nap.

 I embraced David's family rule of "No Christmas stuff until Thanksgiving is over" this year.  I even made a wreath for the door.

 That being said...the day after Thanksgiving, Ashlyn was in her very first Christmas outfit.

 I love the little reindeer feet!

 Ashlyn watched the Iron Bowl with her GrandMary and Papa Chuck.  It was very cold so we bundled up to head over to their house.

 David and I bundled up and headed out to Bryant Denny to watch Alabama beat Auburn...that's what we were hoping anyway...but that SO DIDN'T happen.



This was while we were ahead...by a lot...too bad it didn't last. Roll Tide anyway!!!

Saturday I went to Birmingham with Little Miss Ashlyn to see her Aunt Bonnie.  I didn't get any pictures, but we had a fun time!  I love spending time with Bonnie and her family.  My nieces and nephew are growing up so fast!!!  They are so special to me!  I am looking forward to Ashlyn being able to run around and play with her cousins.  I had so much fun playing with my cousins growing up!

Sunday, my friend Stephanie came over to get a quick picture of Ashlyn for our 2010 Christmas Card...so we thought...three hours and one very sleepy, fussy baby later we THINK we have one.  Ashlyn was SO not in the mood to do the modeling thing.  Hopefully the picture will turn out ok and I can get the Christmas cards ordered so I can get them mailed.  We'll see.

Now it's back to real life.  Gotta get caught up before the end of the year!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Family Pictures 2010

Yeah!!! We have our family pictures back!  My friend Stephanie Whiting saved the day...the picture day that is.  Long story short...we won't ever be using Sears Portrait Studio again!  Stephanie did such a great job...as usual and I love these!  Here are a few I wanted to share:






There are so many great pictures, I can't pick just one to frame!  I am so looking forward to watching us grow up as a family through the years!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Shutterfly

Shutterfly is running a really cool holiday promotion. You can view the promotion here. If you participate, you can receive 50 free cards!!!  I can't wait to make our Christmas cards this year!  My good friend is going to take pictures of Ashlyn this weekend.  I have the perfect red Christmas dress and I am so excited!  I can't decide which card I like the best.  This one is definitely in the running!  I'm really liking this one too!  Shutterfly has tons of other great products too. They have hard and soft cover picture books that are gorgeous! You can load your pictures into their templates and they print it as a book and mail it to you. I think it is such a pretty way to save space and show off your pictures at the same time.  They make great gifts too.  I am planning to make one....one day....when I can find one of those free seconds that are so hard to come by.  Eventually - hopefully in the next couple days, I plan to make baby announcements too since Ashlyn is THREE MONTHS tomorrow.  Time flies by so fast!  I feel like just yesterday we brought her home!  Anyway, Shutterfly has a ton great announcement designs and the service is so easy to use.  I'm going to be spending a fortune on stamps this year : )  Visit www.shutterfly.com too see all the great stuff they have to offer.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Roll Tide!

David and I attended the Alabama Vs. Georgia State game last night...well most of it anyway.  We left after I watched the half time show.  The score was 42 to 7...we were pretty sure who was going to win.  GrandMary kept squirmy worm for the evening.  David and I had a great time.  I'm glad we got to go to at least one game together this year...you know considering we actually have season tickets and never get to use them.  Update on the doctor's appointment:  the doctor thinks its blood pressure/dehydration related.  Lots of water and stand up slowly.  Hopefully that will fix me right up. :)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I don't want to pass out...

I have a doctor's appointment today to try to figure out why I fainted earlier in the year and almost passed out last month.  Hopefully it will just be something silly and simple.  I'm terrified that I'm going to faint while I'm holding my daughter, otherwise, I would just let it drop...but I'm going to look a little further into it.  Please send lots of prayers up for me that the doctors will listen carefully and be smart enough to figure it out quick. :)  I was thinking about it earlier and I believe I have had more doctor's appointments this year (counting pre-natal) than I have had cumulatively over the last 5 years.  I'm so tired of doctor's offices!!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Hello World



I love the band "Lady Antebellum"! This is one of their new songs and it really touched my heart and made me stop and think. In addition to this song, I recently found out that a couple I knew way back in the day...like 10-15 years ago... got selected to be on Extreme Home Makeover, so I Googled it and found out that they had a son a couple years ago who was born prematurely and had severe complications. He beat the odds and survived when all the doctors said he wouldn't. I love that God reminds me all the time that I'm not promised tomorrow and I should live today to it's fullest. These two things remind me today to cherish the time I have with my family. David and Ashlyn are God's greatest gifts to me and I am SO thankful for them! I can't describe how deep that love is...and I can't imagine God's love for us...knowing that it is deeper than what I feel for my family.

Squirmy Worm

We finally have a nickname for our baby!!! We've been trying out tons of them, but we introduced squirmy worm to her yesterday at lunch and she grinned from ear to ear. She likes it I think...we'll ask her again when she is 16 and we still occasionally call her Squirmy Worm. The name fits her to a "T". She is a squirmy little thing when you hold her or when you lay her down. My nickname was Scooter because I scooted down to the bottom of everything my parents sat me down or laid me down in. Ashlyn does the same thing, but it's less of a scoot and more of a squirm. I LOVE OUR SQUIRMY WORM!!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

2 1/2 Months

I can't believe two and a half months have already passed since our precious addition arrived! She is so wonderful and I LOVE being a Mom. She is the best baby ever...at least that's what I think. She really only cries when she needs something or when she is fighting sleep. She is growing so fast! I feel like if I blink too long she'll be off to college. At her two month check up, she weighed 13.5 lbs and was 23.5 inches long. That is in the 95th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. She is starting to stand up already...she gets so mad when we take her bottle away to burp her that she stands up. Half the time we are burping her while she is standing. She is smiling a lot now! I Love, Love, Love her smile!!!! It really does melt my heart every time I see it! I never get tired of seeing her cute, little smile. She is noticing her toys and occasionally bats at them, but doesn't try to grab them yet. We are trying to teach her to hold her bottle. She HATES tummy time. Ever since the first time we tried it...she's ok when we have tummy to tummy time with her, but if we lay her on her tummy on a flat surface she screams. She is such a pretty little girl! She is so incredibly sweet too! I love when she cuddles with me. She has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger already. He is in charge of bathtime and she laughs and coos with him as he splashes water on her. There is no way I could take care of her without his help! He is the most amazing Daddy! He is so attentive to her and she is so obviously in love with him. Can't say I blame her.

1st Family Vacation

I've been so busy...there has been no time to blog, but I love this blog as a way to document some of the big events so I have a couple catch up blogs...
1st Family Vacation

We took a short weekend trip to Gulf Shores for our first family vacation. We needed a change of scenery and a little alone time. We had a fantastic trip. Ashlyn put her feet in the sand for the first time and "swam" in the pool for the first time. She did so well on the trip down. She only got a little fussy when she was hungry. Getting up in the middle of the night for her feedings wasn't nearly as bad with the waves lapping as background "music". Ashlyn took most of her feedings out on the balcony. It was so peaceful and we all had a great time!

1st Halloween

1st Halloween
Ashlyn was a "Tootsie Roll" for her first Halloween. The costume lasted for about 10 minutes, then she proceeded to spit up all down the front of it, so we changed her into her plan B outfit which is what she is wearing in the family picture. The first picture is what she wore to "school" that day. David worked at the UCC trunk or treat, so Ashlyn and I packed up and headed out to see him and all the decorated "trunks". We didn't partake in the "treats" since Ashlyn doesn't exactly eat candy yet.







1st Pumpkin Patch

1st Pumpkin Patch
We took Ashlyn to her first "Pumpkin Patch". She slept almost the ENTIRE time. David and I really enjoyed seeing the animals and the hayride though. Ashlyn loves her little snugli carrier. It is so much better than lugging the car seat around and sometimes the stroller is just too much. It would have been too hard to push it around at this little farm.




Wednesday, September 8, 2010

16 days old!

I can't believe my baby girl is 16 days old already! Ashlyn had her 2 week old doctors appointment today. She is growing like CRAZY! She is up to 9 lbs. 12 oz. and she has grown 2 1/2 inches (so she's now 21 1/2 inches long). The nurse said she is in the 75th percentile. They had to do the PKU test for 2 weeks, but Ashlyn was so brave! Actually she screamed her head off and it broke my heart, but we made it through. We stopped by for our first trip to see Daddy at work after the doctors appointment. He was so happy to see us. :) Daddy has been working very hard the last few weeks and we are cherishing any time we get to spend with him. GrandMary watched Ashlyn while Mommy worked in the office for a couple hours. Got work to do, even on Maternity Leave. Tonight we gave Ashlyn her first bath - it was pretty much just a more wet sponge bath and we still avoided her belly button just in case. She did really well and now she smells so good! Now it's off to beddy by time after some snuggles.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Baby Girl Ryan has arrived!

Our precious baby girl has arrived! Ashlyn was born on Monday, August 23rd at 6:06pm by cesarean section. She was 8 lbs. 15.7 oz. (we're calling it an even 9 lbs) and 19 inches long. She is perfect! Thank God everything went very smoothly. At my 37 week appointment, the doctor diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia and said it would be best for us to schedule an induction. I hadn't progressed at all, so the doctor prepared us for the likelihood that this would turn into a c-section. We went to the hospital on Sunday the 22nd to start the induction process. They started a Pitocin drip on Monday morning at 7:30. At 4:30 pm I still had not dilated at all, so we called it a failed induction and prepared for a c-section. Shortly after, we were holding our baby girl in our arms and it has been so wonderful! We got home Thursday, the 26th around 3:30pm. We introduced Ashlyn to Gracie and Bones. It really was quite funny. They were less interested in the new addition and more interested in letting us know how mad they were that we hadn't been home in several days. They have been adjusting to sharing their space with Ashlyn very well. We are so blessed to have Ashlyn in our lives! We are so excited to watch her grow into the special person God made her to be.
37 weeks
38 weeks (last day of pregnancy)
Meeting my baby girl!
Our Family.
Gracie meeting Ashlyn.
Bones meeting Ashlyn.