Leap Day

Back in the Day - when Daddy and Mommy weren't married, didn't own a house, have a little bug, and had much more free time on our hands - was the leap day Marathon. It had been discovered that in 2008 there would be an extra day during the year, which would allow Dan and some of his friends ONE EXTRA DAY before they turned 30.

 Dan, with my help created the "Leap Day Marathon" (and Half Marathon) with 26.2 events to complete over the course of the day/night.  Events included, Ice Skating, Flaming Shots, Messages in a Bottle, Group Pyramids, Egg Tosses and so many more.  My personal favorite was the Jell-o slip and slide - which required hours and days of making and storing Jell-o.  Stacy & I spent the entire week leading up to the event making Jell-o, and I don't know if our kitchens ever recovered.

This was probably one of our last "pre-baby" events with Dan's friends - nothing like going out with a bunch of random ridiculousness. 

I got it

Hey Mom and Dad - don't worry. I got this - I can feed myself. I love carrots. Love, Ry

Wanna Be

While AK took credit for my super cute idea and already posted this picture on FB, which caused her to be compared to both ET and Chucky - all poor Ryann wanted was to be more like her BFF Zoe.  Poor girl just wanted some hair. 

Big Smiles

I'm starting to think I take too many pictures of Ry. The last few times I have pulled out the camera she has become quite the little ham giving big "smiles" for it.  Oh, how I love this girl.

In other news some of my grosser (is that even a word) friends and family will enjoy hearing that Ry had another "first" today.  Today's first - her diaper smelled so bad Daddy decided he needed to spray air freshener.  My stinky little girl!!!

Play Date

Ry and I make an effort to hang out with the first friends she made at a breastfeeding support group I attended with Kimmy shortly after she was born.  While I wasn't an active guest at the group because of the hour-ish drive down, Kimmy & Zoe were nice enough to still let me be part of the "in" crowd on the chance I did go.  It is so nice to have other Mom's to visit and chat with, and it just so happens that all the babies are girls. 

With the exception of Leah & her mom Sharon, who was being punished for bad napping at daycare devoting a long to weekend to some important sleep training for naps- this past Monday we all met up again for a visit. 

Again, it's amazing how fast our little girls are growing up!

Baby Food

Way back when, before I was pregnant with Ryann, I had decided that when the time came to have children I would make my own baby food.  What prompted me to decide this I don't know, but I do know that I enjoy making Ry's food and knowing exactly what it is that I am putting inside her.

Baby food making takes a good 3-4 hours every 3-4 weeks for me.  Typically on a Sunday I pull out my super amazing CuisinArt food processor, and go to town blending up tons of fruits and veggies.

Ry has been introduced to: Avocado, Butternut Squash, Yams, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Bananas, Peas, and Pears.  Oh, and Brown Rice Cereal and Oatmeal too (which are store bought).

Vacation Planning

I am starting to get into "vacation mode".  I realize we aren't going on vacation for another month plus, but I'm a planner.  A huge planner.  I like to know where all the nearest restaurants are, review directions to the hotels, find activities, and new to my list is to figure out how to bring an 8 month old on a beach vacation.  Yesterday I was able to upgrade us from a standard hotel room to a 1 bedroom villa on the property for 20K points.  Score one for team Kobs.  This gives us a hotel room with a full kitchen, full bath, washer and dryer etc.  Two years ago, I would have been biting at the bit for a room at the brand new Marriott property less than a mile away, but now with Ry in tow, our priorities have shifted a bit.

I'm a HUGE fan of viewing "traveler photos" on TripAdvisor prior to booking any hotel room and this trip was no different.  Here are a few of the things we have to look forward to:

I spent a decent amount of time the last two days planning which types of sunblock I needed to get to prep Ry's fair little skin for her visit.  Who thought Sunblock for such a peanut would run a Momma $60 for a week???  OK, maybe I am bringing down too much, but if you have ever vacationed with Dan you know we constantly overpack in the sunblock department. I'm pretty sure I have decided to go with Blue Lizard sunblock.  Even though I realize the packaging refers to it as sunscreen, I assure you it is sunblock based on the active ingredients.  

Oh and why would she need sunblock without the super cutest bathing suits.  Yes, I keep looking at different options, but have yet to pull the trigger on any new bathingsuits, and beach accessories.  There are just way too many cute choices out there like this, or this.  

I have a feeling Dan and I will be packing in our carry-on size suitcases, while Ry will be toting 1+ full sized suitcases worth of things down for our 5 days of fun in the sun.

Onto thing I could not plan.  Labor.  Or delivery.  I keep meaning to write down Ryann's birth story, while I haven't done it yet, the only thing that went according to "plan" was that I was able to hold a happy, healthy baby girl in my arms.  I can still remember the shock-excitment-love-nervousness I was experiencing the first time I saw my beautiful girl. 

Late Valentine's Day

Well it's been a rough few days for Momma in the Kob's house.  As in missed two days of work, completely miserably sick, with an awful sinus infection, rough few days.  But after 7 days of antibiotics, I'm finally starting to feel a bit better.  Sorry Ry - your 6 month post is going to be very late this month.  Hopefully you will forgive me.  

In the mean time - for Valentine's day we gave you the VTech Move & Crawl Ball.  (However it was half the price in Target as it is on Amazon).  In return you gave us - the gift of SITTING!  After weeks of having no interest in sitting, I put the ball in front of you, and you just decided - it was time to sit.  What a big girl!!!

Tonight we take you to the eye doctor - both Momma and AK needed glasses as kids, so if you need them too, you can definitely blame your Momma's genes.  This one didn't come from Daddy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today we sent Ry off to celebrate her first Valentine's day at Daycare.  Ry and I spent time this weekend prepping for her party at school.  Daddy though we were crazy with all we were doing, and maybe we were, but... (1) I am my mother's daughter, and she was just as "crazy" as I am with this stuff and (2) I feel like in some way I do all this because it gives me (another) reason to be happy she is in daycare so I CAN do fun things like this!

We made Crayons, from an idea found on pinterest.   Those fat fingers that need a big fat rock on them are Auntie Kacey's.  After my 3rd try making these I read a review that suggested dipping the crayons in water to help peel them.  So very much easier than how I had been previously doing it (slicing the wrapper with a knife), and also a lot more kid friendly, if you were doing the project with someone older than 6 months.

Next up was cake pops.  They didn't come out super round or have as pretty as the one's at Ry's friend Berkleigh's B-day party.  They were pretty tasty though, and I think I have figured out how to make them rounder next time.  Care Bears were the theme for the actual Valentine cards. 

And of course my sweet happy girl whom I had to wake up to take to day care today. 

Shopping

Ry had a new shopping adventure yesterday.  She got to ride in the shopping cart.  While she was probably strong enough to do this a month or two ago lugging her out of her car seat in the cold just didn't seem like the best idea.  I had a few things I needed to grab at the market the other morning, so we tried it out.  Ry LOVED it.  She couldn't stopping looking around.