Happy Birthday Ryleigh

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEIGH!
I just can't believe she is three.  She has been patiently awaiting her birthday for weeks.  So, when we heard that Daddy would be delayed from his trip we had to celebrate without him.  It was bitter sweet!
Ryleigh was so cute.  She was a princess all day long!  She loved her princess cake.  She chose the cake and the colors and all three kids waited and watched patiently as I finished the last bit of decorating.  As hard as it was to do with three kids surrounding me it was fun to hear all their suggestions and encoraging remaks.  Fun kids!

A few of the cute things Ryleligh says:

I want a "mink".  She has not figured out the asking part.

ssss...nake. She says the s sound   for what the snake says and then leaves it off the word snake.  It is so cute!

Ryleigh loves to dress up.  She has worn this new Aroura nightgown more in the last week then any other clothes.  She easily changes her clothing 5 to sometimes 10 times a day.

Ryleigh is a BIT dramatic.  She can cry at the drop of the hat.  But she loves just intensely.  She loves to pat her Daddy's checks and tell him he is "poky".  This is her dramatic excitement over the Cinderella doll and princess hat from Grandma.  I love her thirst and excitement for life!

Inspector Gadget

Kyle has been going through boxes of his childhood.  I didn't know he was a hat collector, but he was.  This was one of his contributions to Connor's dress-up  or costumes.   Pretty cool, huh?  The glasses were bought for him by Brennan.  I love his imagination.

Ryleigh's First Haircut

Another first!  Ryleigh had been asking me for weeks to cut her hair.  I knew I needed to get it done before she took matters into her own hands.  She was such a big girl.  She loved the attention and was adorable. We really just trimmed it a little in case you can't see the miraculous change, but she felt beautiful and it showed in her beautiful, confident smile!

Picking Strawberries

For a few great months we got to enjoy the Echiveria family.  Connor and their little boy Carson became best friends very quickly and Ryleigh was closing age with Asher.  We were sad to say good-bye but I wanted to preserve the memories we made one sunny afternoon.

Picking strawberries is a lot messier than I thought, but the kids had a blast!  I gave them all their own bucket and soon realized that was a mistake.  They picked a ton of strawberries!  Luckily, Mom taught me how to make jam last year.  It wasn't nearly as much fun making it without her here though.
Thanks for a fun day, Echiveria Family

Connor's Preschool Graduation

Connor is the preschool expert.  He has attended three different ones!
For the graduation program they sang several songs.  I had heard many of them because Connor loves to sing.  My favorite was the months of the year maca raina!

I can't believe Connor will be gong to school.  ALL DAY!  I could just cry thinking about it.  I keep asking him to stop growing up, but he says " He has to get big and strong"

Connor's Blanket

When Connor was born I decided to change a few parenting tactics.  I was against pacifiers and attachments to blankets with Brennan.  I had that "Perfect Parent Syndrome"!  You know, the "my kid will never...."   By the second child I had learned that making things a little easier was a better tactic.  So we did both the blanket and the pacifier!
Connor's blanket is a soft and silky blue blanket.  He loved it, almost too much!  When he started walking the blanket was too big to drag around and he was tripping on it.  I thought I would make him a smaller, easy to carry blanket.  I had seen a few store bought ones but couldn't find a baby blue one like his so I began what might have been my first sewing project since I was 15 yrs old.  I thought it was a great replica but for Connor it just wouldn't do!
Connor was so attached that I realized we needed a backup blanket. I found one too.  The right color, the same material, it was exact!  I took it home washed it several times and gave it to him.  The idea was to trade the two out.  Somehow though he just had two blankets!
We soon realized one night when one blanket was missing that the two blankets were not of equal quality!  One was softer than the other (according to Connor)!  Of course the favored soft blanket was missing that night.  And so the story continues.  We are often looking for the soft blanket.
Tonight once again Connor came to me.  "Have you seen soft blankie?" I didn't know he had named them.  And such "creative" names too. "I have rough blankie, but not soft blankie" he said.
Despite the many night of searching for that blanket, I love watching him cuddled up with it.  I know he feels secure and loved with it and that's all that matters. 
Now Ryleigh has many soft silky blankets.  I think she has five.  She can't decide which color she likes best!  Different kid different story.  Parenthood is never boring.

Ryleigh

Things to remember...
Ryleigh has a scratch on the palm of her hand.  Today in church, she said to me, "Jesus has an owie on his hand like me.  Mine is getting better, but His is not."  Then a few minutes later she said to Daddy, "Jesus will come home and I will visit Him.  And I will see Him."  I love the simple and pure testimony she bore.  From the mouths of babes.
My favorite is how she refers to Jesus.  She says, "My Jesus"  I hope she will always think of Him this way.