Ryland and I have been spending a lot of time at home lately while Champ is at work. Being in the third trimester of pregnancy can make it hard to leave the house without help :) Luckily, Ryland and I find some pretty fun things to do at home...mainly "playing".

But, she also usually helps me clean up the house (as much as she can tolerate) and loves to wash dishes. We also usually watch a couple morning cartoons during breakfast. A few of her favorites are: Barney, My Little Pony, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Cat in the Hat. Although we love the activities we do everyday, we are just waiting patiently for the weather to warm up so we can spend most of the day outside (with our new baby girl).

I'm trying to cherish these last few days with just Ryland. It's hard to believe that in 12 weeks we will have a whole new person joining our family. Pretty amazing.

Snow day!

The other day we actually got some snow. Ryland was very excited to go out in it since she thought it was going to snow on Christmas. As soon as we realized the snow was sticking we decided to head outside for a "snow walk". Ryland caught snowflakes on her tongue and talked constantly about making a "snow pony" (which is her version of a snow angel). She really does love the snow...and I can't imagine who she got that from ;) I could instantly see the sadness in her eyes when it stopped, which reminded me of myself. Although short lived, it was very fun!

Nightly routine

Ryland's nighttime routine has changed a lot throughout her life. Most recently, she has become obsessed with reading books. We usually check out a lot of books from the library and then end up reading them over and over again. I think Ryland would let us read to her for hours if we could stay up long enough. She loves trying to read herself, and tries sounding out letters/words.

Of course, before we read in the bed...Ryland puts on her pj's and brushes her teeth. Then after that, we all play a round of an old Care Bears card game that used to be Champ's when he was little. This is the first game we've played with her that she follows all the rules. I can only foresee how many games we will play in the future...

Christmas Time

It's that time of year again, my absolute favorite...Christmas!  So far this year we have decorated the house (inside and out) and put up our tree.  Our hunt for a Christmas tree was on a beautiful day, and Ryland enjoyed walking through the tree farm.  It's always a difficult task for me to find just the right tree, but we found it!

 

Bringing the tree home and decorating is one of the best things when you have children.  Ryland loved sifting through and hanging up the ornaments.  She is quite good at decorating, if I do say so myself.  She loves to just lay under the tree and examine it.  I'm really suprised she hasn't removed a lot of the ornaments to play with them...since many are Disney related. 

 

We have also been watching quite a few Christmas movies, one of them being The Santa Clause.  Ryland loved it, but when the movie was over she became very upset at the realization that Santa was going to make his appearance while she was sleeping.  She really loves Santa, and wants him to come while she is still awake.  Poor girl had a pretty big cry over this.  She even asked for us to take her to the North Pole so we could see Santa.  I guess we are going to have to make another trip to the mall... 

 

 

Waiting to find out...

If baby is a boy or a girl?!?

Well, on Friday I had my 20 week anatomy scan....finally! Part of me feels like this pregnancy is flying by, while on the other hand it feels like it is dragging on and on. I think Ryland, Champ and I are just really anxious to meet the newest member of our family...our baby GIRL! Yes, we found out that Ryland's wish to have a baby sister came true. Baby girl is perfect, and is growing right on schedule. In just another 20 weeks, we will be holding her in our arms :) I cannot wait to see the smile on Ryland's face when she gets to meet her baby sister. Priceless.

Mama's birthday

This past weekend was my 29th birthday. And as you may know, having a 3 year old can make it pretty difficult to find the time for birthday shopping. So, as a family Champ, Ryland and I all headed out to Target (I obviously separated from them while they picked up a few birthday surprises.) Of course, the second we met back up in the store, Ryland insisted that I see the presents they picked out. She did not want to wait one more day for me to see them. In fact, she could barely wait one more second. So, as funny as it may seem...I spent the car ride home looking at my newly bought birthday presents. Ryland even showed me the unsigned cards she and Champ had picked out. It was a pretty cute moment. Ryland was so happy.

A special birthday memory I will never forget.

Halloween

I can't believe that last night was Ryland's fourth Halloween. Last year she was excited, but this year she was even more ready to take on the neighborhood. Infact, she walked so far last night that she is bound to be a little sore this morning. But hey, she's only 3, so maybe not.
So to each house we went, knocking on doors, and quietly saying "trick or treat". Most people smiled and dropped a few pieces of candy into Ryland's pail. However, every now and then we would come across a house where they would tell Ryland to pick the candy she wanted. And, if you know Ryland...that means we could stand on this person's doorstep all night contemplating which candy to pick. She kept telling Champ and I "I'm having trouble picking the candy I want". Luckily by the end of the night, Ryland had gotten way more candy than she could ever eat.
Ryland also told me and Champ "this is the best night of trick or treating ever". She's always been good with words. Our little Tinkerbell.