Halloween, 7 months, and more!

Well, a lot has happened in the last month...

Jolie got a month older and is now 7 months old!

She gets really messy when she eats.

She thinks that her dad's funny when he plays, cover Jolie with "Wells Fargo" balls!

She also loves to play with her cousin Jack.

Her "tummy time" is a little different than most babies her age.

Of course Grandma came to visit!

Jo had her 2nd surgery and got her 2nd cast (purple). She gets it off, hopefully for good, on November 23!

Sometimes she plays too hard!

Jo met a new friend.

He made her a little uneasy.

Went to Sawyer's blessing. (Sawyer is Brandon's daughter. Marcus and Brandon grew up together.)

Auntie Shannon also came to visit!

Jolie now eats bananas and grapes, so far, in this little net sucky thing that Auntie Shannon got her.

The day before Halloween, Jolie's babysitter Tessa who we LOVE, dressed her up in her duck costume and brought her to school for the Halloween parade. She was a hit!

That night we went to our single's ward Halloween activity!

Marcus was 'Deron Williams' from his favorite basketball team, the Utah Jazz. I was a cowgirl/U.S Marshall.

And of course Jolie was the cutest duck you've ever seen!

Sometimes her hood would fall down over her face, but we wouldn't know because she wouldn't whine or anything. Who knows how long she would let herself be like this. It was so funny.

She got a hold of her first snickers...

and she LOVED it! It still had the wrapper on it so I'm wondering what she loved about it so much? Maybe it had a hole?

She kept her eyes peeled for more.

They had face painting at our activity, so I got my "noble steed" painted on my cheek. It's always fun hanging out with the singles. We love our ward!

On Halloween night we went to Papa and Gigi's in Salt Lake and went trick or treating.

Jack was a very sleepy spider.

Mitchell the cowboy, and Papa the pirate came with us.

Kenzie the nerd (she didn't dress up this year... JK) and Peyton the scary cat came too! She told me she was not a nice cat.

We used Jolie to get free candy. Having kids does have many perks!

We had a group of 13. We all dressed up and there were only 3 trick or treaters. They needed group support.

Taylor was a scary witch and her dad TJ, who I never got a photo of, was even scarier! He was soooooo red neck/white trash with snaggle teeth and a mullet and all! It was great!

Jolie's 1st Halloween was a BIG success!

We also found out that Jolie can do some amazing tricks!

This stunt was performed with adult supervision. Don't try this at home, or if you don't have a full body cast.

She's a little unsure about what she's doing up on that pole. Again, kids have perks... entertainment is one of them.

Marcus took Jolie outside during stake conference (church) because she was being really loud. I decided to go out and see what they were doing.

I found little Humpty Dumpty having a good time!

It was a challenging month, but we found time for some fun!

Trying

I'm trying to "Find Joy in the Journey" while my 7 month old has a full body cast and I have Swine Flu... but it is hard.

Seis Meses!

Happy 6 months Jolie Ryan! (September 25)

She now eats baby cereal and vegetables. (We haven't introduced fruit because we're too afraid she'll never go back to veggies.)

She loves her veggies, but cereal is her least favorite. She still eats it though... because duh, it's food.

Her reaction to her first meal that wasn't pure liquid. She was indifferent and confused.

She's a BIG girl! She sits on her potty (because it's the only chair thing that she fits in because she is so WIDE now) and plays with her entertainment center.

She spends more time than I like laying on the Monster Sak watching Baby Einstein. It's hard to find things she can do in her cast. She loves it though! She gets a HUGE smile when it comes on, so that makes me feel better.

She's such a happy girl! I can't believe how well she handles everything that happens to her. Way stronger than her mom!

She LOVES animals!

Especially small, little ones that let her touch them!

Best 6 months of my life!

Famous!

Preface: For those of you who don't know, I stopped teaching and I only work 8 - 11 AM ish everyday. I'm still at my old school. I now just help with the students who struggle with reading. I provide reading interventions that will hopefully help them catch up. I do this for all of the grades.

Now to the story...

You know those days when you're running late and you have time to do very little? Well, I had a day like that last week. The perplexing question on my mind was, "Eat or get cute?" Well of course I chose to eat! I mean I work with young kids who couldn't care less how I look as long as they get their well deserved Gummy Bear by the end. So, since I decided to eat, my greasy hair had to go back into a pony tail and my face remained sunken in and make up less. Sadly it was not my best look, as you can imagine.

I dropped Jolie off at the sitter's and got to school, but there was a welcoming group waiting for me. My principal, a woman from the newspaper, and a man with a very large camera who also worked for the newspaper were waiting for me in my room. (My room is now a little cave like thing that I use while I am there in the mornings. Now that I am not a "real" teacher I get to teach in a closet with no windows and it's right next to the bathrooms. So while I do my reading interventions I compete with the loud sound that a public school toilet makes when it gets flushed over and over again. Good times.) To my surprise our school has been doing shockingly well so the newspaper decided to do a story on us. They chose to take pictures of me doing my reading interventions with my students. GREAT! What a perfect day to get your picture on THE FRONT PAGE! Yes you heard me correctly.... it ended up being on the FRONT PAGE. Of all the days... what luck!

Enjoy!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705330627/Orem-school-shows-NCLB-success.html

PS I'm really proud of my school!

The Tale of a Tough Baby...

This is a tale about a very tough baby whose name is Jolie.

She loved to sit. (unassisted)

And walk (with assistance)

Until one day she was taken to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City!

Where they poked her...

measured and weighed her (which is a sensitive subject)

and they made her wear these funny jammies.

She's bringing sexy back. (Or maybe she HAS a sexy back?)

They made her starve for at least 6 hours.

Daddy tried to keep her busy so she wouldn't think about being so famished. She had never been forced to skip a meal before... obviously. Then the anesthesiologist came and took her away. Everyone was very sad.

A few hours later, Jolie came out of surgery with her hot pink body cast. She was pretty out of it.

They put drugs (morphine) in her IV to calm her.

She's still so pretty...

but so sad.

Her cast is completely awkward and uncomfortable. Now she has this great BIG car seat and,

EVERYTHING is a challenge. Especially transportation. (This is how she was taken out of the hospital.)

But Jolie is doing really well. We are all trying to adapt to the new situation and Jo is the best at it. What a tough baby!

(Oh and we get to do it all over again when she gets her cast renewed on October 7th! Yay!)

I'll miss...

I'll miss these...

and this.

Jolie had her surgery today. It went well. We didn't have to stay overnight and they didn't need to cut her open... so that's good. She is sleeping a lot in her bright, hot pink cast. Thank you for all of your prayers.

5 months old and catchin' up!

I have so much to update, and I started working again so that doesn't help. (only part time) I'll just update you by sharing what...

Jolie loves:

to go to sold out, over crowded, truck driver infested, free, Salt Lake Bees Baseball games!

She fell asleep... but woke up for the most amazing firework show ever!

We had lots of fun! We all loved people watching, even Jo. The attendees were very interesting. So fun! Thanks for the free tix TJ!

Jolie loves: playing with her feet and pulling her socks off... and then playing with and eating those!

Utah cousins! (Sorry Taylor not pictured)

California Cousins (sorry Gage and Christian not pictured)

Playing and eating her hands... or her pacifier.. or anything really!

Swimming...

with Gage...

and of course Grandma watches and adores from warmer, and drier areas. (We went to California again after we got back from florida. I went alone with Jo this time. We had a blast but missed dad and home too.)

Jolie loves: splashing in the bath!

Jumping on tramps either at Papa and GiGi's in Utah, or with Reef and Oz in Florida!

Jolie: loves kids and babies! They make her laugh and smile. (especially Boz!)

Jolie loves: when dad is packing up the car to go to visit Papa and GiGi and he puts her in the tub of laundry to watch cartoons just until he is ready to put her in her seat. :) Hey it works.

Jolie loves: going to Papa and GiGi's house in Salt Lake and jumping on the tramp with the sprinklers on underneath the tramp.

It was so fun!

I seriously had more fun then anyone. Happy Pioneer Day!

(We also had Lynn and Cerise over for a BBQ, fireworks, and a sleepover to celebrate! Thanks Dave and Jan for letting us borrow your house while you were out of town!)

Jolie loves: to swing in her swing (and watch Baby Einstein if mom and dad need a break)!

Jolie loves: the new "Monster Sak" mom and dad bought when we moved to the bigger apartment that is cheaper but more ghetto... but way better. If that makes sense?

Jolie loves: to smile! (sometimes)

Jolie loves: Grandma! Especially when she plays with her and sings her songs like the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Jolie loves: Dad! He plays with her the BEST! She LOVES playing with him!

Jolie loves: 4th of July posts that are posted almost 2 months late!

After 8 years living in Provo, Utah I finally watched the parade! It was pretty good as far as parades go. Jo watched the whole thing and loved it!

We went to Sugarhouse Park that night and watched a really good firework show with Mitchell, Kenzie, and their friends Danica and Thomas.

Jolie loves: going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House and eating the handouts. What a beautiful temple and a very neat experience for our little family!

Jolie loves: dominating her toys! They start like this...

and seconds later they look like this!

Jolie loves: playing until she falls asleep. Can't let go of her toy though, someone may take it!

Jolies loves: to play and dance in the mirror! She is soooo into herself.

We have had the BEST summer ever! We love our little baby so so so much! She brings so much light and love into our lives! I can't imagine life without her! Her laugh and smile makes everything that is hard or sad a lot easier; and it's only been 5 months. Man, where has the time gone? We are SO blessed!