Ryleigh meets Santa

Yesterday (12-18-10) we took Ryleigh to the Grey Gables here in Summerfield to meet the one and only, Santa Claus.  She did very well, didn't even cry once while waiting in line (for 45 mintues) or while Santa was holding her (for 5 seconds).  Totally worth it : )

Patiently, and happily waiting her turn to see the big guy

Daddy did a good job keeping her company while waiting

With Santa (and his Elves, who don't really look too happy)

Santa needs to work on holding babies, but we got the photo regardless

Ryleigh is Two Months!

Ryleigh at 2 months old (December 15, 2010)

Well another 30 days has passed and Ryleigh is now 2 months old.  60 whole days on this Earth!  I always laughed when parents told me to "cherish every moment, they grow so fast", well they really do!  It seems like just yesterday I was laying in my bed debating if whether or not the pain I was feeling was a contraction.  Sigh.  Now my little munchkin is 12lbs. 13oz. and is 23 3/4 inches!!
 
Month two has been a very exciting one:  Ryleigh started out the month by smiling her first real smile on November 17th.  I know it was a real smile and not just a gas smile because I made silly faces while speaking in a very high pitched voice multiple times, and each time she smiled at me.  Needless to say, it didn't take Daddy long to perfect the high pitched silly voice : )  We then celebrated Thanksgiving and Mommy's 25th birthday and got to meet Mamaw, Papaw, Aunt Cristin, Uncle Dave, Tyler, Kylie, Aunt Shert and Heidi!  Ryleigh and I also spent some quality time bonding for a week while Daddy was in Sweden for work.  That week I truly gained a new level of respect for single Moms.  Ryleigh also got to meet and spend some time with her Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Loudermilk, we like to call them g-g-ma and g-g-pa for short.  After that, she played the part of baby Jesus (fabulously) in the Christmas drama at church. 

Here's hoping Month three is just as exciting and full of firsts!!!  Now...enjoy some of our favorite pictures of Ryleigh from this month : )

cheering on Jimmie Johnson as he 'drives for five'

 one of Ryleigh's first intentional smiles : )

 First time eating with a spoon

 Snuggling with g-g-pa

 watching The Price is Right with g-g-ma and g-g-pa

 sitting up...well, sort of

Our little baby Jesus

We are so proud of our little Ryleigh.  Not even two months into her life and she already nabbed a role in a play.  Every year, our church, Friendly Avenue Church of Christ puts on a Christmas drama for the congregation and the community.  This year, Ryleigh was cast to play baby Jesus.  Now, we are fully aware that the acting skills for this part are the equivalent of doll, but still...Mommy got a little teary eyed.  Steve was able to fight back the tears, but I'm sure the sight of me sneaking around the audience with my camera snapping pictures and trying to find the best spot to shoot a video of my precious baby in her starring role helped him a little bit : )

The good news is that she was a perfect baby Jesus (no pun intended).  Although I'm pretty sure baby Jesus didn't need a binkie, but hey, ya do whatchya gotta do!  Kudos to Ryleigh's stage Mommy and Daddy, Chelsea and Luis, they did a great job with her!  And to everyone else involved in the show, it really was great! Here are some photos and a few videos from the show:

So proud...she made it into the program!

'Mary's Song', sung by the amazing Miss Chelsea

it's not the complete song though, my giant finger pushed the stop button accidently : (

Ryleigh's first scene!

Ryleigh's last scene of the show

Some pictures from the show:

 Taking her bow

 With her stage Mom...Mary, aka Chelsea

Proud parents with our little star : )

Christmas is coming...continued

After exchanging my faulty net lights for those that work, then rearranging the nets so that they can plug into eachother, then rerouting the plugs and extension cords so they all can light up using a timer...I have finally finished decorating the outside of our house!  With no help from a crazy downpour of snow, might I add!!  I can't wait until the after Christmas sales so I can buy all those obnoxious light up deer and other gadgets for next year.  But until then, this will do : )

During the snow that caused me to stop decorating mid-way. By the end of

this storm, we couldn't see the grass.  I had to wait 2 days to finish decorating.

The house, completed, and in the daylight

 The front porch.

 The sign next to the front door.

The matching trees I got for $29 then doecorated with poinsettias & ornaments

I couldn't figure out what to hang from these hooks, then I found

these "kissing balls" which I decorated with the poinsettias.

The whole house at night

Christmas is coming

I can't believe it's already December!!  And in true Leanne form, our house is already decorated for the season.  I firmly believe in decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, because you only get one month to enjoy all those decorations!  And in our house, even less, since we travel up to Michigan and usually spend 10 days there.  The outside decor of our house is still under construction...I purchased some faulty net lights without my knowledge and now my bushes are lopsided!  So we need to fix that stat!  But here are some pictures of the inside of our house this holiday season.

 Our Lucy hiding under the Christmas Tree

 The Foyer with my Poinsettias and snow

 One of my "centerpieces".  This one is in our breakfast nook.

 The Breakfast Nook

 The Dining Room centerpiece

Ryleigh's Ornament from Gammy.  It matches Mommy & Daddy's.

 Ryleigh's First Christmas Ornament from Yaya and Poppi

 Ryleigh's First Christmas Ornament from Gammy and Grandad

 Steve's Mom's ornament to us for our first year as parents

My stocking holders

 The Mantle

Last, but not least, the Christmas Tree!!