Love Hurts

We had the privilege to have Charlee come and stay with us for a few days at the end on March. Ryah was so excited to have her cousin have a slumber party with her. The first night Ryah was so excited she was waving her arms and gasping. Charlee told me that baby Ryah was being too loud and she could not go to sleep. So, Ryah had to come into my room until she fell asleep. At 6 months she is already the one keeping everyone awake at the party.

We had a lot of fun we colored Easter eggs, had a tea party, watched movies and of course went to Glade's for a milkshake.




The girls love each other. Although, clearly love hurts sometimes. I love the picture of Charlee trying to lift Ryah. It all comes around though, because Ryah pulled Charlee's hair. Charlee's Reply, "Ouch! Aunt Tiffany you need to teach your baby some manners". That girl says some funny things.

Speaking of love, Ryah has started to give kisses. The first time that she really did this was with Bailee (pictured below). She attacked Bailee's cheeks for about 3 minutes straight. I would have helped Bailee if I could have stopped laughing long enough. So instead I decided to take a picture. Ryah sure loves her cousins.

The rest of the pictures show Ryah's new skills. She can roll on to her stomach and we found her face down in her bed one morning. She also learned how to pull the bananas on her bouncer to make the music come on. She loves to cuddle and we are soaking in every minute of that before she becomes more mobile.

Happy Wed-a- Birthday

In December we took Ryah on her first car trip to Idaho Falls for Tate and Todd's wedding. It was a whirlwind of a trip we left Friday and came back on Sunday. She was such a good sport. She slept almost the entire ride only waking up to eat 20 minutes before we got there. That little tidbit in and of itself is blog worthy because I am pretty sure this will not always be the case. I bought Ryah this dress for the wedding before she was born. I could not resist, it was Tate's wedding color and on clearance. Two indisputable reasons why this dress had to belong to her. I think Ryah agreed because she was gracious enough to come a month early so she would be 3 months to fit in the size 3 month dress. As Tate said, no girl wants to wear a bigger dress size then she really is.
We had a lot of fun. On Saturday we went to the wedding and the reception. Tate looked beautiful and it was so fun to see her happily married. We even got Todd to hold Ryah against his will, but he did it. After the wedding we came back and celebrated the Eve of my birth with my parents.
We ended the trip by taking Ryah to meet my Grandma and Grandpa Foreman. Ryah and Charlee were the hit at the assisted living center. There was a line of walker and Jazzies to get a peek at the cute little ones. I love the pictures of them holding Ryah. I have a similar picture of my Grandpa holding me at the same age.

November Happenings

I can't believe that our little girl is two months old already. It seems like just yesterday that she was in the hospital, our tiny 4lb baby. Now she is approaching 9 lbs and is starting to become more interactive. She gives us those rewarding smiles that melt my heart. The ones that make being sleep deprived so worth it. She is becoming more aware of the world around her every day.

Max is struggling with a little sibling rivalry. He has been very busy carefully selecting things to get my attention. He will dangle the prize from his mouth and tries to lure me into a game of keep away. For example in one day I rescued my phone twice, my slippers, burp rags and various other things. It is a fun game. All things considered they are getting along quite well. Ryah hates tummy time so Max will keep her company. Adam has also discovered that Max will lay in the shape of a Boppy. A perfect place to lay Ryah when she is cold.

We feel very blessed that she is home, happy and healthy.

The Black Marshmellow - Part V

Today, Charlie has a difficult time getting around, as he suffers from hip displacia. (Imagine both of your hip bones acting like a rickety rocking chair as you walk.) Nonetheless, he still has the same heart of that little puppy we brought home from the pound 11 years ago. When I come home to visit, he will make the trip out to see me, and still wag his tail the same way he always has. When I was 15 I had a void, and didn't know it. Charlie filled that void. He was just about the only constant I had as I went from adolescnece into adulthood.

The Black Marshmellow - Part IV

Charlie was a an enigma. I wondered sometimes if a three toed sloth had actually gotten mixed up with a litter of puppies. He would spend most of his time rolled up in a ball on the basement floor, where it was nice and cool. That is why we called him "The Black Marshmellow". Charlie was the biggest softy you have ever seen. If another dog got aggressive with him, he would just shrug it off, and next thing you know they would be friends.

This is the enigmatic part: Charlie was hyperactive when he was anywhere in nature. Bring him on a camping trip, and he run around and peruse the forrest, zig zagging his way around the mountain side. As we hiked he would bolt back and forth across the trail like sewing machine running a pattern. We would find tufts of fur around the front yard - the presumed remains of an innocent bunny rabbit.

Charlie was probably the most stellar sight around water. Whenever we would go to the lake, he was the first one in. While we were all carefully stepping in, and going to the "male halfway mark", Charlie, (possibly because he had his male halfway mark removed surgically), was crashing into the water head first. We would grab on, with our arms around his chest, as he would pull us to shore.

The Black Marshmellow - Part III

Two weeks later we were still trying to figure his name. My older brother wanted to name him "Elwood" after the infamous Blues Brother. We tried it out for about a day, but it just wasn't working. A few days later, my little brother and I were with the dog upstairs, when I spun around and blurted, "Charlie!". It was perfect! I don't know where it came from, was it devine inspiration? All I know was that my little brother quickly responded, "Yeah! Charlie!". Our little dog even responded with perky ears so as to say, "Sheesh you dopes! It's about time! I've been waiting for two weeks!"

The Black Marshmellow - Part II

The first couple of days were tough for this new, fuzzy little puppy. In fact, we first set him down on the carpet, he lifted up his chin and howled at the ceiling. Poor guy. That was the first time I noticed the white tuft on his chin, and the white streak going down his chest to match. It made him look like he was wearing a little tuxedo.

Our little friend really warmed up the first time he discovered Doritos. It was on a Saturday morning, and I was just watching the cartoons, and eating my typical teenage breakfast, "Cheesy Nacho" Doritos. Our little puppy waddled over to me, and politely sat down on his haunches. He studied me carefully as I drew one chip at a time from the crinkly bag and put it in my mouth. This is the first time I had the little guy's interest; before this it was all about hiding and sleeping for him. I sadistically found it a little bit amusing to see this new little guy crave something. After a little while of doing this, after I lost interest in my sick little game, I decided to give him a chip. He immediately scarfed it down, and I saw his little tail wag a little bit. I gave him another, and his tail wagged even more. I gave him a third chip, and his little tail went into a full frenzy. A friendship had formed.