Happy Halloween!

Halloween at the Richardson house did not go as easily as it did last year.  Sadly, Ryleigh was not a fan of wearing her costume.  We first started off the month by trying to be Nemo.  She refused to put on the costume.  After much thought, we decided to return the costume and went with a much more convincing costume.  Minnie Mouse.  It's just a dress, should be easy to get her to wear it, right?  Wrong.  She threw a full blown fit when it came time to put that thing on tonight.  She threw her pumpkin tub on the floor, which means she means business because Ryleigh loves pumpkins.  Eventually we were able to persuade (force) her to put on her Minnie costume and she did turn that frown upside-down once she saw Lucy wearing her own silly get-up.  In the end, we did end up having a fun evening.  Enjoy some pictures from the day.

Daddy carving pumpkins in preparation for Halloween

he enjoyed gutting them

Mommy hard at work stenciling a design

clearly Ryleigh was very interested in the pumpkin carving

Mommy's Minnie Mouse pumpkin

Daddy's Detroit pumpkin

Ryleigh with all of her friends at daycare getting ready for their costume parade

so excited to be in the wagon

Ryleigh and Lucy ready to go Trick-Or-Treating.

the ONLY picture we have of Ryleigh in her full Minnie Mouse costume

Daddy & Ryleigh

Mommy & Ryleigh

Ryleigh & Lucy ready to call it a night

enjoying the fruits of her labor : )

And in non-Halloween related news, we had our 4-D ultrasound of baby Cooper done today as well.  Here are the photos from that session.  Only 10 more weeks to go!  EEK!



Officially a Toddler

I know that she has technically been considered a toddler for a while now, but something about the age of 2 really just screams it.  It's hard to believe that she has been in our lives for two whole years now...but at the same time it's so hard to remember what life was like without her in it.  These past two years have been the most rewarding, challenging, entertaining, and stressful years of my life and I only imagine that every year from here on out will seem that way as well.

Our little Ryleigh has grown into such an independent little girl this past year.  She started daycare soon after turning one and she LOVES spending her days there with her friends (even though certain ones have biting problems) and teachers.  Her vocabulary is huge and everyday I am amazed at the new things she learns to say.  I love listening to her try to sound out words.  She has a crazy memory and is able to learn new songs and dances in minutes it seems.  Listening to her sing along to the radio is by far one of the cutest things I have ever experienced.  It really does make driving around & running errands with her enjoyable.  She is very particular and a little OCD (I wonder where she gets that from?).  Every toy has it's specific spot and do not try to put it elsewhere or else she will have fit.  She loves being a helper for Mommy & Daddy which looks like it could bode well for us once Baby Cooper arrives ; )  Ryleigh is a polite, happy (majority of the time), stubborn, funny, energetic, chatty, loving, adventurous 2 year old and I wouldn't change one thing about her.  We are so blessed to have her and everyday I thank God for bringing her into our lives.  Everyday is an adventure and we can't wait to see what the next ones bring!!

Here are some pictures we never shared from the past couple of months:

loves walking in those high heels

all smiles at breakfast with Mommy

zonked out in her big girl bed

spaghetti night

bubble face!

singing along with the Bubble Guppies

she loves her Nemo Fishy

being a creeper and watching the kids next door play

Ryleigh & Lucy watching cartoons while Mommy gets ready for work

Now some pictures from her birthday celebration.  We didn't have a big party or anything like last year.  Just a quiet night at home with Mommy, Daddy & Lucy.  We did however get all of our facetiming in with Yaya, Poppi, Gammy, Grandad, Aunt Cristin, Tyler, Kylie, Aunt Bekah and Baby Olivia.  She had already gotten her birthday gifts from Yaya and Poppi, but she got to open her gifts from Mommy & Daddy and Gammy & Grandad.  She also got a special gift from the ladies & Doctors at Yaya's work who love facetiming with Ryleigh on occasion as well.  It was an exciting evening and we are so happy Ryleigh got to spend a little time with those who love her most : )

Ryleigh's birthday cupcake...she chose the flavor and frosting

apparently using her hands was not an option

gifts from Mommy & Daddy

Ryleigh got plenty of new Olivia books

all the gifts from Mommy & Daddy and Gammy & Grandad

Ryleigh's new Minnie Mouse bike from the ladies & Doctors at Yaya's work

A Little California R & R

To cap off our eventful summer, we ended the season with a trip to California to visit Yaya and Poppi.  The last time Ryleigh graced the west coast with her presence she was a mere six months old.  You would think traveling with an almost two year old now would seem like a breeze compared to that...I mean, she had her own seat this time, right?  Well, yes she did, but with that came a carseat to lug around the airport.  And I didn't have to bring formula with me this time, but little Miss demanding sure is picky about her beverage of choice and let me tell you, milk isn't that much easier to travel with!  Instead of my carry-on filled with magazines and books and movies, it was filled with coloring books, crayons, episodes of Bubble Guppies and books that make sounds.  I guess no matter how you look at it, traveling with a child, no matter what age makes the whole experience ten times more exhausting.

But in all honesty, she did great.  MUCH better than our impromptu trip to Michigan a month ago, THANK GOD!  The time difference threw her off a little bit, but the excitement of being with her Yaya & Poppi and being in a new place helped get her through those confusing and sleepy times.  It was only a matter of days and she was on her own little schedule.  We had a blast while we were out there and you better believe Yaya had each and every day packed with things to keep us occupied!  And what a better way to talk about our trip than through pictures?

Our first few days were spent hanging around the house.  We didn't want to venture out too far because we weren't sure what Ryleigh's sleep schedule was going to be like.  Also, Daddy had to stay down in San Diego for a couple days for a work conference and we didn't want him to miss out on fun stuff.  We kept busy locally, which was enough to wear out Ryleigh and Mommy.

Since Ryleigh had her own seat on this flight, we needed to bring along her carseat.  Instead of carting around the carseat plus a stroller, Mommy strapped her carseat to a luggage carrier so all we had to do was wheel her around.  It worked out pretty nice and Ryleigh enjoyed her new mode of transportation.

Riding the Carosel at the Irvine Spectrum

Ryleigh's first time on a Ferris Wheel.  She was not a fan.  She kept saying "No more sky"

The splashpad at the Spectrum

Day Two of our vacation we spent a little bit of time at the Petting Zoo.  We got to see, pet and feed guinea pigs, bunnies, goats, horses and zedonks.  Ryleigh also got to do a little mining where she sifted through sand for rocks and stones.  But her favorite part was the big pit of corn she got to play in with Yaya.  After a much needed nap, Ryleigh got to splash around in the "little" pool in the backyard, then she went swimming in the big pool with Yaya.  Our little fish had so much fun!  Curse those eartubes, because if she was allowed to dunk her head, I'm pretty sure we'd have a swimmer already!!

corn pit with Yaya

feeding the Zedonks

she was not pleased when his lips touched her hands

the first of many train rides with Yaya

all smiles...such a little ham : )

we had to get out and move to the big pool because Ryleigh was getting a little cold

The next day we drove down to San Diego to pick up Daddy.  Sadly, he was still working, so we had to spend our morning at the San Diego Zoo without him.  Even though he missed it, we still had lots of fun!  We made sure we saw each of Ryleigh's favorite animals.  That evening Daddy & Poppi went to Angels vs. Tigers game while the girls went to dinner at one of Mommy's favorite places in California.

For Daddy's first day of official vacation we all drove down to one of his favorite places, Laguna Beach.  We ate breakfast at Ruby'a Diner, right on the ocean, then headed up to Top of the World to play at the park....a park with million dollar views, might I add.  That night, Yaya and Poppi invited some friends over for dinner and swimming.  Ryleigh got to to play with some other kids and Mommy and Daddy got to catch up with some old friends.

Yaya was teach Ryleigh to swing on her own.  She did pretty good!

These views! 

Sunday was a very relaxng day for everyone.  We went to church in the morning, where Yaya got to introduce many people to her grand-daughter.  Poppi had to leave that day for Las Vegas for work for a couple of days, so Mommy and Daddy gave Yaya Ryleigh while they went out on a date. 

a little IPad time before church

The next day we spent most of the day at the beach.  Ryleigh was not a fan of the waves and much like her Mother refused to get into the ocean.  But she did get her feet wet and we did get to see a seal swimming around.  She enjoyed playing in the sand with Daddy and of course, playing in the park with Yaya.  Mommy spent the day lounging and reading...and getting a little sunburn.  Later that night we all went to play put-put...although Ryleigh didn't seem to catch on.  But she did find a train for her and Yaya to ride on!

Mommy at 23 Weeks

Our final full day of vacation was spent at the happiest place on Earth....Disneyland!  It was so much fun to watch Ryleigh have so much fun there.  She won't remember it, but we will : )  She really like riding the It's A Small World ride and singing along to the song.  She also enjoyed the teacups and chose to ride in the purple one.  We also got to spend a little bit of time at California Adventure where she had a blast on the Tow-Mater ride (which Daddy refered to as Hillbilly Teacups).  She was such a good girl the whole day with barely any little tantrums!  She patiently waited in lines and didn't fuss once when we had to get off of a ride.  She politely said "bye bye" to whatever ride we were getting off of and moved on to the next!  I was such a proud Mommy this day : )



We had so much fun on our California vacation!  We are beyond grateful to have loving, wonderful parents who live in such an awesome part of the country for us to visit : )  Can't wait to go back and introduce Baby Cooper to the west coast!!!