Comparison

My sister, Lindsay, puts comparisons of all her kids at the same age on her blog. So when Jacob (the baby) turned 8 months, she put up pictures of Noah and Macie at 8 months. It's a great idea and I might steal it for next month, but I'm doing it for the same outfit. Rylee wore this dress in August of 2007 when she was 10 months old. Ashlyn is wearing it in August of 2009 when she is 8 months old. The skirt is a little big for Ashlyn, but the shirt fits just perfect. And then the rest are just cute pictures from our "photo shoot" today.

School starts tomorrow- I'm stressing out! But I'm more ready than I've ever been on a first day, so I should be ok!

Matt's Owies

Here are pictures of Matt's staples and where the chest tube was- pretty gross! I feel pain just looking at it so I'm sure it's much worse for him!

Matt's Home

Matt was released from the hospital yesterday. He got home around 7 PM. He was very ready to get out of there! He said he had had enough TV, but guess what he did when he got home!! I guess he needs to get a hobby for the next couple of months! Any suggestions? But he's moving around and doing pretty well. I haven't had to help him do much. He's just taking it easy. I worry about what will happen when he's alone all day. I took a picture of his staples in his side last night, but I haven't put them onto my computer yet. They're pretty gross! And then he took off his bandage from where the chest tube was. It looks pretty bad! But maybe I'll put the pictures on later- I'm sure you're dying to see!

8 Months Old

Already?!? I can't believe she's 8 months old- where has the time gone? She's crawling a little more each day. She sure loves Rylee- she's a lot of fun to play with. It's funny to see and hear Rylee with Ashlyn. She wanted to hold Ashlyn at church on Sunday and she rocked her and sang "We are a Happy Family." I think that's her favorite song. I sing it a lot and I just found out that Oma sings it at her house too- so she can't help but have it in her head all the time! And then today Ashlyn was getting fussy at the hospital and she bent down to her in the stroller and said, "You're OK," and then gave her a kiss on the head. It was so cute! Rylee is so good with babies.

Well, I'm pretty much ready for school on Monday. But no matter how ready I am, I always get so nervous on the first day. I go in tomorrow to finish some little things and plan with the other first-grade teachers. Hopefully Matt gets out this weekend- before Monday. He said today has been his worst day- he's been feeling nauseated. The nurse said it was probably from the pain medication and gave him something to help before we left. Hopefully he's feeling better.

Another Matt Update

Matt is doing very well. They moved him out of the ICU. He still has his chest tube in, but they should be taking that out tomorrow. He has been walking around with the physical therapist and he said based on just Matt's strength, he could go home. But he'll be in for a few more days. He says he can already feel a difference in his back. He doesn't feel any pain there. We have really appreciated all of your prayers for him.

Grapes!

On my sister, Lindsay's, blog a week or so ago she said she bought a ton of grapes and her family and my other sister surprisingly ate them all. Well the love for grapes must run in the family. Rylee loves them and I gave her a bunch on Sunday. Ashlyn was sitting on the floor by Rylee and grabbed those grapes before Rylee could. And she shoved them in her mouth! She did eat a few- well she sucked for a few minutes and then spit it out. But it was just funny seeing this little baby with a whole bunch of grapes! Ashlyn loves to eat anything- she wants to try it all.

"I'm Rylee"

Rylee tells everyone her name. Whenever someone at the store or anywhere else (like today in the hospital elevator) talks to her she says, "I'm Rylee." She says it kind of fast and I usually have to interpret for people. It's kind of funny. So when I was writing my school kids' names on their nametags, I made Rylee one. She can kind of spell her name- she still needs help with the e's. But she says R-Y-L all by herself.

Surgery update

Matt is doing well after his surgery- better than I expected! I took him in at 7 to get him ready and at 8:30, they took him to the holding room or something to get even more ready and I left him then. I'm not sure exactly when they started. I kept calling and checking on him, but they kept saying he was still in surgery. So my mom (thanks, Mom!) and I went to school and got my classroom ready. And then I went to the hospital just before 2 and I guess he was still in surgery. I'm not sure when it was over. Then the doctor came out around 3:30 and he said he would be going to the ICU so I should go to the other waiting room. So around 5 I got a call from a nurse telling me he was on his way to his room in the ICU and they would call when I could see him. So I finally got to see him around 5:30 or so. What a long day!! But the nurses were all saying how well he was doing after- which is what I was worried about. This morning before surgery the anesthesiologist (don't know how to spell that- long word!) kind of scared us both by telling us he would be in a lot of pain afterward and it would hurt to breathe. Matt has a very low tolerance for pain, so he wasn't too happy hearing that! But he is doing very well- the girls even went to see him. But we're finally at home and we will see him in the morning. Thanks for all of your prayers in his behalf- but keep them coming- he has a long recovery ahead of him I think.

Back Surgery

Matt is having back surgery tomorrow at 9 AM. He will be in the hospital for a week. Please keep him in your prayers.

Ashlyn is Crawling!

She's crawling forward! She's been so close for a few weeks, but she has finally done it. She doesn't crawl very far at one time, but she gets around.

Ashlyn Crawling and Swinging

Ashlyn crawled backwards and got herself stuck under the coffee table. She was able to smile for a few pictures, but then started crying! She is getting closer the crawling forwards, but not quite there yet. She can move one knee forward and then stops.

Oma gave us this swing for our swingset. Ashlyn loves it! She could probably swing for hours. And the higher the better. Rylee always liked to go high too- and still does.

Well I think we're ready to go back to school. We had a wonderful summer- I think we all enjoyed it. I probably enjoyed it the most. Rylee and Ashlyn (especially Rylee) are ready to go back to play at Oma's and Grandma's. We did a lot this summer and had a really good time being together. It sure is nice not to have to be ready and out the door by 8 in the morning. But I think we're ready to get back into a regular routine. And hopefully we'll get into a bedtime routine that doesn't make me crazy! Ashlyn has been waking up at least 4 times a night for a few weeks. I can handle once or twice (not very well, but I can handle it!), but more than that is too much for me! So hopefully once we get back into the swing of things, that will get better too.
I will really miss the girls during the day, but I know they are always well taken care of by their grandmas! So I go back Monday to set up my classroom and get things ready. Then school starts on August 31. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I hope you have a happy birthday! Rylee is very excited- she loves when somebody she knows has a birthday. Thanks for being a great mom an grandma. Your birthday is kind of sad, though, because it means that summer is ending soon. But I hope you have a wonderful day. We look forward to celebrating with you. We love you!

Bald Eagles and Elk

Here are some other animals we saw.

Bald eagles

Tons of buffalo here- you can't tell, but all the dots are buffalo.
They were everywhere!

Yellowstone

We went to Yellowstone Saturday for the last free day of the season. We had a great time. It was a little cool and it rained while we were at Old Faithful, but it was fun anyway. We saw tons of buffalo, some elk, and a couple of bald eagles. Rylee liked the "volcanos." We got to Old Faithful late- around 6:10. And we just barely missed it, so we had to wait another hour. We walked around to a few geysers and went to the Old Faithful Inn. Matt didn't bring a jacket, so he just wrapped a blanket around him and then at the Inn, he bought ice cream- I know, he's crazy! But Ashlyn loved the huckleberry ice cream too! When it was time to go see Old Faithful, Rylee didn't want to go. She wanted to stay and sit by the fire that they just started- I don't blame her! It didn't start raining until we sat down- then Rylee said "Let's go inside." But we stayed and saw Old Faithful- I think she liked it. So in the middle of August, we were freezing. Our car said 48 degrees- brrr! Rylee liked seeing the animals. It was a long day, but it was worth it.

I drove for a little bit and we came to this buffalo walking down the street. I thought he was going to just run us over- he got very close, but he just walked along the van. I hurried and rolled up my window- Matt wanted me to take a picture, but I was too scared. I could have reached out and touched him- that's how close he was!

Matt and Rylee waiting too see Old Faithful-

I think this is before it started raining.

Tautphaus Park

We can't get enough of Tautphaus Park lately- today we went to Funland and the Zoo. It brought back memories of when I went to Funland as a kid. It seemed a lot bigger back then. And there were more people. Today we had our own personal ride operator. He went to whatever ride we wanted to ride. Rylee rode on the plane and train by herself, Matt rode the ferris wheel with her, and I rode the merry-go-round with her. She had so much fun. Then we went to the zoo- and Rylee loved that too. Ashlyn just loved being outside. We had a great day at Tautphaus Park!

Funland

Zoo

That's My Girl!

I was playing the piano (which I don't get the opportunity to do very often) and I started playing Disney music. I played a few notes from Chim Chim Cheree and asked Rylee what the song was from and she knew it was Mary Poppins. I was impressed. She has a very good memory. She remembers a lot of words from songs she hears. She can sing some words from "Popular" from Wicked and "Hakuna Matata" and other Disney songs. We were in Walmart the other day and I was holding her while Matt was pushing Ashlyn in the cart. She was singing something and I thought I recognized some words. I asked her what she was singing and she said, "Happy Family" (I love mother, she loves me . . .). She has also been "singing" hymns in church for a long time. She loves music!

Playing in the Pool

I set up the pool for Rylee to play in probably for the last time this summer. She played in it for a little while and then we came inside for a few hours. By the time we went out again, it had warmed up. So Rylee started playing in it again and then I thought maybe Ashlyn would like to put her feet in the pool. She loved it- she started bouncing around. She was going crazy and I was having a hard time holding onto her, so I just sat her in it- in her clothes and all. And she had a blast. It was just like a big bathtub. She soaked herself splashing around so much! Now we have two little swimmers in the family! (Which they don't get from me!)

Fun at the Park

We went to Tautphaus Park for family home evening. It was a lot of fun- Rylee especially enjoyed it.

Picking Berries

Rylee picked raspberries last night at Great-Grandma Blatter's. Matt's cousin, Madison, helped her. They would go out and pick the berries and bring them in to share with everybody. Then Rylee would say, "I need more berries." So they'd go out again and pick more and we'd eat them- they did this a few times until Madison had to go home. I think she liked picking them more than eating them though. Rylee had so much fun- Madison is always so nice to play with Rylee. She's eight years old and Rylee loves her so much. She is always happy to see Madison at church too. These pictures were taken when we got home- the first one shows how much she loves getting her picture taken! When he thought she was done playing with them, Matt ate them all. Rylee noticed they were gone and wasn't very happy. She just talked to Daddy on the phone today and yelled at him for eating all her berries last night! We'll have to get our own raspberries next year and she can pick them all she wants.

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

Happy Birthday! How does it feel to be 27? 27 is the best number, so I'm sure it'll be a great year. This picture was taken 2 years ago on your birthday (I guess I took a lot of pictures that year!). I tried to find something more recent, but I thought you looked good in it and that chocolate cake looks really good!! I wish we were having it today. Maybe you should drive all night to get here again and Myrt will make you a cake that we can all enjoy! It would be easier with Erin to help you! I guess we should have gone there. Are you going to Disneyland? I hope you have a wonderful birthday- I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! We love you!

Almost Crawling

Ashlyn is so close to crawling. She gets in position and tries for a few minutes, but then just falls on her tummy. She can scoot backwards though and has just started scooting a little bit forward. She gets around when she wants. She also loves to stand up. I hold both of her hands when she's sitting and she will pull herself up and even walk a few steps. Ashlyn loves sticking out her tongue and laughing at Rylee doing her silly tricks. They are both so much fun!

The Dreaded Letter

I received the dreaded back-to-school letter from the superintendent today. I knew it was coming, but it is still sad to get it. I really do love my job, but it's always hard to go back. I start thinking about all the work I have to do before the first day. But on the bright side I still have 2 more weeks to enjoy with the girls. I just hope they go by very slowly! And it's always fun when Mom, Dad, and Cory come help me. Mom is so good at deciding what my bulletin boards should be and where they should go (which I hate). Dad is good at actually putting up the bulletin boards- everything centered and perfect. And Cory is good at everything else I make him do- like punching out shapes and cutting laminated stuff. They are such a huge help before school . I love them all so very much and I'm hoping that they do it again for me this year!!!

These pictures were taken when I was getting ready for school two years ago. I couldn't find any of last year. Probably because I had moved classrooms and it was such a mess and too overwhelming to stop and take pictures!

Dad was in Kuwait this year, so I had to do his job.
(It wasn't as perfect as he would have done it.)

I even had the little kids helping.
(Rylee and her cousin, Macie)

Cory's taking a break from all the fun.

Lindsay was also there to help that year-
now Cory gets to do what she did and he loves it!
(Right, Cory?!?)

Maybe I worked everybody a little too hard?
This is my nephew, Noah, resting after a hard day.
Poor kid!

Ready for bed?

So here is what it's like at 10:30 PM at our house. The girls are wide awake and as happy as can be. Bedtime is party time! Meanwhile, I am exhausted and ready for bed. 10:30 isn't late for most people, but it is for me. And this is just 10:30 so they will actually go to bed around 11 or 11:15. They definitely get their night owl side from their father. Summer has really messed up our schedule. (But we still love summer and wish it would last longer!) So it is now time to get them retrained to going to bed earlier. I did this with Rylee last year at this time. She was going to bed around 11 last summer, but after a couple of weeks of training she was going to bed at 8:30- it was so perfect! So it's that time again- but I'm afraid it's going to be a lot harder with two stubborn night owls instead of just one. I'm just praying for a miracle!

Here it is!

I finally decided to start a blog. I know that I am probably the last person in the world to have one, but better late than never, right?! Thanks to Heidi for helping me get started. I haven't decided to just start with today or go back and blog about our summer. So I guess we'll just see what happens! School starts in just a few weeks, so I hope I can keep up with this, kids, and school. Wish me luck!