Rylee's 2!

Rylee turned 2 on November, 11 2012. The terrible 2s have been both terrible and fun so far. Rylee was excited for Bennett's arrival, though she had no idea her world would be turned upside down! Since he was born, she has discovered her Mom's time is taken up by this kid. We have also learned she loves him, and she could quite possibly love him to death! It's interesting to see the things she does for attention now, such as wanting to swing in the baby swing, using a binky (which she never took as a baby), and "sharing" blankets with Bennett. Overall, I would say she is a GREAT big sister! 

Rylee is quite entertaining. I wish we had done a video of this photo shoot. I was sure we weren't going to get any good pictures, due to her talking, playing, running, and showing off for the photographer. But, she is a child who shy's away from the camera. 

Lately, Ry is obsessed with monsters, thanks to the Cookie Monster, and Avatars, which she pronounces "Abby-tar". She LOVES to talk on her pretend phone and walks around the house with it on her shoulder. I have no idea where she learned that. She frequently has lengthy conversations with just about anybody, including Avatar and Santa Clause on her phone. She's very imaginative. She enjoys playing in her play kitchen, she got for Christmas. She absolutely loved Christmas this year. Her Mom went a little overboard with gifts. It's too easy to shop like crazy when you're stuck at home, pregnant, shopping from your phone. She sings, dances, and will show off for anyone. Her favorite songs are "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. We're trying to add additional songs to her playlist, but she's been pretty stubborn about it.

We took her sledding for the 1st time yesterday. She's already wanting to go again. She doesn't seem to mind the cold of the snow. She must take after her Dad!

She says the most adorable prayers at night. She continues to bless Grandpa Mortensen and seems to miss him. She did great on the 12+ hour (each way) trip to Colorado for his funeral. We couldn't have asked for more well behaved kids.

Ry is a pure joy and we love her! Looking forward to what this next year will bring. 

Remembering My Daddy

Ardith R Mortensen 9/7/38-1/4/13

Mom & Dad

 Grandpa & Bennett

 Grandpa & Rylee

Dad & Arnold

 My Good Lookin' Dad

 Grandpa & Ryan

 Uncle Lloyd, Mom & Dad

 Dad & Mom

 Christmas 2005

Merry Christmas!

It was a good Christmas! Rylee had fun wearing our bows. She also wore her cousin Blair's Christmas pajamas.












We did our annual tradition of The Night Under the Christmas Tree. We stayed at Lisa's and had a good time. We each got to open one present. Chris got the Cabela's Dangerous Hunt 2011 Wii Game. He's already killed a grizzly, elk, crocs, cougars, and lions. He's quite the hunter.

We had tons of fun with Rylee for her 1st Christmas. We're looking forward to next year when she will open her own gifts.

Chubby Cheeks

Our baby is getting bigger! She's gained 2 lbs now. Her cheeks are getting chubby, and we LOVE it! Chris carries her like she's his little football.


Merry Christmas to our little elf.

Don't worry...I'll lose the baby weight. :)

Leno!

Chris and I went to California for a few days before my Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim. I got tickets to The Jay Leno Show. You can watch the episode we were in at http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/episodes/#vid=1183083/?__source=recent-eps-module. I'm wearing an orange sweater and Chris is in a military-green jacket. We got to stand up and shake his hand when he entered, then we sat on the 3rd row. If I wasn't so short, you could see me. It's easy to see Chris and his blond hair though. If only our tickets were for this Thursday, we could've seen Matt Damon!

We had such a good time. We went to the L.A. Auto Show, stopped by Disneyland, saw their Christmas parade and the fireworks. For my 1st time in California, it was a great time! I've never seen so many adults in Disney apparel. It was almost freaky. As you can tell by the Tower of Terror photo, I don't do well on free-fall rides! I was terrified!! Chris is lucky I didn't kill him for putting me on a ride like that.