Lots of Leah

I realize that Ry tends to be the star of the majority of my posts.  I am sure that you don't tire of it because who am I kidding, she is hilarious.  Today is going to be dedicated to my tiny "Beast Mode." 

Leah is presently 21 months old.  She went from speaking a few words, to making small sentences in a week span!  She is a very impressive and intelligent toddler.  I love her to bits.  As mentioned before, she is a bit of a bully.  She has picked up on the fact that Dad is constantly terrorizing Uncle T.  Now when she sees him she gets in a few punches after her hugs.  When she gets hurt she will come to you and say, "Ouchy," and present the wounded part.  She tricked me by coming with an open had, when i got close to kiss it, she made a fist and got my face.  She thought it was hilarious. 

Right now she loves to watch "Wow, Wow Wubbzy," "Yo Gabba Gabba," and "Team Umi Zoomi."  Leah loves dinosaurs, and pretending to be a puppy.  She crawls, sniffs, and even occasionally licks.  Her favorite shirt has a puppy wearing a bow.  She even found it herself at Kohl's!  This week, she found the shirt in her laundry bin and asked me to put it on her.  When I told her it was dirty she had a very small (for Leah) fit, and carried it around for a few hours.  It was almost like Linus and his blanket. 

 

Gold Star

Each child is different.  I really have no idea how many times I have heard or said it.  Although, it is a terribly overused statement, it does not change that it is so very true.  My girls are as different as they can possibly be.  Leah is independent, rough, and not always very friendly.  She loves pretending to be a puppy, and eats her dinner without any begging!

Ryenn, however, is my shy princess.  She sticks close to mommy everywhere we go.  Even if it is the home of a family friend, she is still hesitant to wander by herself.  She plays dress up, but doesn't like doing it alone, and getting her to eat solid foods is like trying to move a mountain.

In August we discovered that Ryenn wouldn't meet the cut off date for kindergarten.  She would have to be 5 by August 31st.  Unfortunately, her birthday is in September so she misses the date by two weeks.  They do, however, test 4 year olds into school.  I have decided that it is our best option.  It would be detrimental to her social skills if she spent another year alone with mom.  There aren't a great deal of activities that a mom can do with her young children in the area.  We had already tried dance, but she was intimidated by all of the kids. 

I knew that she had to be enrolled in preschool, but I was really nervous that things would not go well.  When her first day arrived I didn't know what to do.  I was excited, scared, and sad all at once.  Daddy loaded up the car, and we headed to school.  We walked into the room, and with the smallest hugs Ry says, "Bye," and runs into the group of kids.  I was sure that I was going to make it home, and the teacher would be calling to tell me that I needed to pick up my hysterical child.  After 30 minutes, I was a bit shocked, but I continued by wait.  An hour went by, and then another, soon it was time to get her!  I was so proud when she skipped over to me and declared that she had so much fun!

Here we are a semester later, and she is still so excited to go to school every morning.  We were given her first progress report, and it was a special moment.  She scored all "U's," the highest marks possible!  This is what her teacher had to say about her:

"Ryenn is such an amazing little girl.  She is super smart and probably the most polite girl I've ever met.  She is excellent at making friends and helping others feel included."

When it rains

I really don't know what has gotten into our belongings!?!? I have even started questioning the existence of an electronic breaking, super angsty, punk-rock loving, purple-haired fairy dressed in static crashing about our house destroying everything in her wake.

The backlight in our computer monitor has burnt out. It sits mockingly working, but not revealing it's secrets.....unless you turn out all the lights and hold a flashlight to it. So, a few of the blogs I had planned will just have to wait until we replace it. At least I finally found an app for my phone :-).

We also had an incident at our home today. The bedrooms in the house all have sliding glass mirrors. We have had some small problems keeping them on the tracks, but we are all really good at using the doors safely. Ryenn has even learned to be cautious while around them. Today, our niece was visiting, and for some reason she is drawn to the mirrors like me to brownies. After the umpteenth time of telling her to be careful, I hear a loud crash.

Now these mirrors have fallen on several occasions, but there has never been any real damage. I was not so lucky today. Imagine tiny, sparkling glass shards littering the floor and furniture of a child's room. On chairs, the bed, and on toys. I don't think she is going to be able to play in there for days!

This Little Piggy

Ryenn is a girl with many obsessions.  She flutters from one thing to the next and back again with such an extreme passion for a four year old.  Her interests vary a great deal.  She loves Lady Gaga, assassins, Orca whales, flowers, and all things princess.  I may or may not have mentioned that on of her new favorite things are piggy banks.  She found her first during our trip to California.  She carries it around the house with her, and not surprisingly she has lost the cork that keeps the coins safe inside.  (she also found a very expensive one in a fashionable boutique in downtown Ventura, but that was not purchased)

Leah and I made our usual trip to Walmart after dropping Ry off at preschool.  We were rushing past the jewelry section (making our second trip to the opposite side of the store...i always forget something) and out of the corner of my eye I saw it!  A piggy bank all dressed up with a tutu and tiara!  I couldn't help myself.  Before I even knew I was doing it, my phone was out, and I was placing the call to John.  (yeah, i call and make sure i can spend money on random items)  He is such a sucker when it comes to making his little girls happy, and he quickly agreed.  I bought one for Leah too.

 

 

Time: Harvest and Otherwise

I know that it is entirely cliche, but where did the time go?? I mean seriously. My little baby girl Leah is almost 2 years old, and Ryenn has become a teenage girl in the matter of a few years.  I remember the autumn season last year.  I was so glad that Leah could finally sit up.  I was looking forward to taking some pictures of my lovely girls with their pumpkins.  It really was something special.  Here we are again, and I almost didn't do it.  I hate to admit it, but I think I have finally reached the phase where I am more reluctant to pick up the camera.  So much of the girl's moments are going undocumented! :-/  What a horrible mommy I have become.  I didn't even carve pumpkins with the girls this year! SIGH!  Yes, I realize that I am ranting.....(back to the topic at hand)

Ryenn and Leah are exactly two and a half years apart, and John and I have been considering trying for a third baby Nutty Nunley.  We are now at the time of year where if we (ahem) get started, then Leah and B.N. #3 will be 2 1/2 years apart as well.  I am really at the point of wanting a baby, but without all the baby (for lack of a better word) stuff. We are finally sleeping more....ish. Leah isn't potty trained, but might be.....someday. Who am I kidding! We still have a baby. It would be nice if we could magically have a two year old. I guess between diaper changes and the late night bottle feedings I will continue to sleep on it.

Here are photos of the current Nutty Nunleys :-D

Latest Nutty Nunley Trend

I think it is safe to say that our newest family trend is breaking our electronics. We had a scare this week with our XBOX. I was sure that we were visited by the dreaded "Red Ring of Death." I fiddled with it for a few hours, and I came to the conclusion that it was unfixable. John came home and made one adjustment and voila! Magic! I will continue my defense of the Kirkwall Mages....lol.

As you know, our computer was broken, and we thought fixed. Sadly, this was not the case. Our motherboard shorted out again, but John was able to work his magic. So, here I am gracing you with my presence once again.

However, yup you guessed it, these things come in threes. Our camera has decided that it wants to be broken. During our lovely vacation to California we introduced it to sand. Not the best idea. John tried to work his magic, but the camera has thwarted him.....for now. He is not ready to admit defeat. (updates to follow) We were able to remove the pictures from the memory card, so without further adieu.

1) Mommy and Ryenn looking fashionable 2) Leah and her very dirty Cheeto 3) The Nutty Nunleys on the Ventura Beach!

1) Leah playing in the back yard 2) Ryenn striking a pose 3) Me and my Mommy!

1) Daddy keeping Ry's feet dry 2) Daddy keeping Ry warm 3) Ry trying to keep herself dry

1) Showing off her castle 2) Yes, she does have an endless supply of poses

1) Burying sister's foot 2) Joining in on the fun 3) There it is!

1) Grandma Lisa and Leah enjoying the view 2) One more time

Did you miss me?

Why of course you did!! I know that you have been quite desolate without me, and all of the nonsense that I bring. Well, it is your lucky day!! You are now discovering that John has, in fact, managed to fix our computer! It was a long process, that was made longer because of John's genius. He is too smart sometimes.

Anyhow, I am sure you are excited to hear all about our goings on, but I really have no idea how to sum up all that we have done. We spent a week in Ventura, California. It was wonderful. We did nothing but explore the beach, and eat some seriously awesome food. Leah loved the water, and spent way too much time sprinting towards it. Ryenn decided that it was her job to scare the birds and waves away. I don't think she was very successful with the waves, but she is an excellent bird chaser. I have plenty of pictures of this adventure, but I can't seem to find our camera. (a frequent occurrence)

The girls are both doing very well. Ryenn has started attending pre-school, and she enjoys it a great deal. She is making new friends, and losing her "stranger danger" mode. They have both been in for their well checks recently. It may, or may not, surprise you to hear that Leah weighs about 4 lbs. less than Ryenn. Someone forgot to tell her that Ryenn is the oldest.

As it has been a while, I will leave you with a large conversation that John, Ryenn, and I recently had with each other. Hope you enjoy.

October 1, 2011

As we drove past the mountains on the way to Apple Annie's Pumpkin and Produce Ryenn decided to educate us about bears. She decided that bears are scary, and wanted us to know just how terrified Grandma Ida and Grandma Lisa would be if John had to shoot two bears. John still has difficulty hearing everything that Ryenn says, as it sometimes sounds like a high pitched tiny dog howling at the moon. So at this particular time he was busy reassuring her that there was no need to be afraid. He didn't hear that he was to be battling multiple bears with a gun and grandmothers. The rest of the conversation went like this:

"I think if we are nice to bears they will be nice to us," Ry said.
"Daddy replied, "That's true, but you still shouldn't get too close to bears."
"Why not?"
"Well, bears don't always know that you don't want to hurt them."
"You have to remember that bears are animals, and they don't think like people do," said mommy.
"Well, we can just tell them," Ry replied.
"Bears don't speak English so they won't understand."
"We can tell them in Bear."
"Can you speak Bear, " asked dad.
"No, but they just say this, 'Aaarrr.'"