The Romney's

Tannen's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-07T09:19:00.001-08:00

Tannen must have been a very good boy this year because he got two birthdays cakes. We decided to have his birthday party on a weekend (which was also Easter weekend) but as his real birthday rolled around, I felt guilty for not singing to him and letting him blow out his candles on his real birthday, so I made him a cake for just our family to sing to him. Not just a simple cake either. He wanted Buzz, so I made him a Buzz Lightyear birthday cake. It only took me over an hour to decorate!

All that time I spent on decorating it, for Tannen to cut Buzz's face apart.

His Big Toy Story cake for his Birthday party.

Since it was Easter as well as Tannen's birthday party, we decided to have an Easter egg hunt as well. The kids had a great time.

Tannen and his Easter egg findings.

Pricesses on Ice

2011-11-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

In March Elizabeth, Kauti, and I took our girls to see 'Disney's Pricesses on Ice'. We all had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the show.

Sara was really nice to share her beautiful princess dresses with Lorelli and Rylee.

February

2011-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures of a few cute kids.

Rylee's dance class

2011-11-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Rylee started dance class in January. Her and Sara Darby were so excited the first day. After getting them ready in their dance clothes, they would spin in circles, like little ballerinas. So cute!

Tannen admiring his older sister during one of her dance classes.

Tannen's Christmas joy ride

2011-11-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

Tannen riding to the park on his motorized 4 wheeler he got for Christmas. He got the steering down really quickly. Now he a pro at it.

Christmas Day

2011-01-25T13:13:00.002-08:00

Tannen and his 'Buzz and Woody toys he got for Christmas. We got him a small Buzz toy and a big Woody toy only to see his friend Sam's Big Buzz and wishing for that instead.

Rylee and Tannen with all their Christmas presents.

Rylee's class at Halloween

2011-01-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Rylee's class for their halloween party dressed up as

scarecrows for the day. Aren't they so cute?

Rylee's 4th Birthday!!!

2011-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

We decided not to have a big party with friends because she had one last year. Like me growing up we only had a bigger party every-other year. One year friends, the next year family, so we decided to do that for our kids as well. Anyway, Rylee decided she wanted a princess birthday cake. I figured I would just buy one at the store, (even though I hate store bought cakes), because at least it would look like a princess cake,whereas one that I made probably would not. Well, I took her to school and Tannen and I went to the store to buy the cake. And believe it or not, they didn't have any princess cakes at two different stores. So I decided to make one. Let's just say I am very glad that it was a family birthday,so nobody saw it but us and the Lassen's (they are pretty much family to us). Rylee didn't seem to be bothered by it. It's a good thing she is still young and a birthday cake is a birthday cake no matter what it looks like.

Rylee's first day of school

2011-01-10T18:06:00.001-08:00

Rylee is now in preschool!!! Her teacher is Mrs. Litt and she couldn't be more excited about starting school. She is even excited about riding a bus home from school. Only a little girl who has never rode a bus before get excited about that.

Here she is as cute as ever on her first day of school.

And can't be a real picture without Tannen involved. He loves being in pictures!

Dad's softball games

2011-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Rylee's and Tannen's favorite thing to do is to go watch their dad's softball games. I would enjoy it too if I could actually watch the games. But instead I have to watch my two kids, who would rather run around playing in the dirt or rocks or playing on the playground or swings. When do I get a break to sit and watch a softball game? Better yet, when do I get to play in a softball game while Brian watches the kids?

The only time Rylee pays attention to a game is when...

it's over, so she can run around the bases!!!

Tannen, doing what boys do best...playing in the dirt.

...and dancing in the rain...while

Rylee, Max, and Sara hide under the umberella.

Our Bathroom

2011-01-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

So we are getting ready to sell our house. We have remodeled every room in the house except for the bathroom, which probably needed it the most. So finally we got around to doing it. It only took us three and a half years of saying that it needed to be done before actually doing it. It looks so much better. I really wish we did this years ago, so I could actually have a nice bathroom.

Before

After

Family Pictures

2011-01-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

While we were in Utah we just had to get family pictures. The last ones we had with my family were before Chad left for his mission and Brian's family's last ones were before we were married, about 8 years ago. So I think is was overdue for these pictures.

DeMill Family

Romney Family

Utah Summer!

2010-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

Last summer, like most, we spent it in Utah with our families. We had a great 7 weeks there. I guess when you only visit once a year, you better make it a long one, (which we did) and we had so much fun. We spent some time up in the mountains, went camping, swimming, 4 wheeling, meeting my two cute niece and nephew. and a lot of relaxing. I forget how nice it is to have family so close that they can watch the kids while I go shopping or even on a date with my husband. Let me tell you, that doesn't happen very often.

Rylee and Uncle Steve up at the Cook's cabin for my parent's ward dinner.

My niece, Avery. Isn't she so cute!

Rylee holding Avery,while Tannen just wants to be in the picture.

We went bowling with Brian's family, and guess who had the highest score?

ME!!!

Rylee did pretty good as well. Look how much air she gave that ball!

What Tannen did while we were bowling. Standing on all the scoring tables.

We also went to Park City with Brian's family and went down the Alpine Slides. Rylee liked it so much she went down twice with her Aunti Em.

Seth and Brian at the parade on the 24th of July in Fairview acting more like kids than our kids do, and collecting more candy too. They say they were only helping their kids get the candy but we know the truth. You can never take the kids out of these two.

I only got to see Laura for a second while we took this picture. Sorry Laura, but we got to spend most of the day with Seth, Lindsay and their cute little girl Adalyn. We had fun with them at the demolition derby, which I haven't been to in years.

We went camping at Palisade Lake with my family, which was a lot of fun just to sit around and relax. Rylee got to go swimming with her cousins, Tylee and Hallie and Aunt Valerie. She talks about her cousins all the time and how much she misses them.

Give Tannen an old golf club to play with and he is happy for hours.

Rylee and Grandpa riding on the 4 wheeler.

Tannen and Grandpa riding on the 4 wheeler. This was Tannen's favorite part of the whole trip. every time Grandpa would come home from work, the first thing Tanned would do is give grandpa a hug then point to the 4 wheeler telling Grandpa, he wants to ride.

Just the two of us.

2010-12-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

It's nice when your kids are close enough in age that they can play together. And let me tell you, they do everything together. Rylee has been such a great big sister to Tannen. She helps him with so many things, and it makes my life so much easier. Tannen just adores his big sister.

4th of July Moroni style

2010-12-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

This last summer we were able to spend the forth of July with my family in Moroni, UT. Moroni always has a great celebration. Starting off with the firemen's breakfast, then a parade (which is still a candy throwing parade), a children's carnival, and the fireworks show. There is more to do, but that's all the things we participated in. We had a great time, as we always do, buy Rylee is now at an age where it makes everything more fun.

Rylee, Tylee, and Hallie waiting for the parade to start.

Tannen, drinking Grandpa's Coke. What a nice Grandpa!

The girls waiting in line for the big water slide at the carnival.

Rylee and her terrified face going down the slide.

3 cute, wet girls

Family Pictures

2010-05-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

We finally got some family pictures taken. These would be the first since we had Tannen. Sarah Lassen took our family pictures this Spring at the Cincinnati Zoo on Tulip Day and they turned out great! Thank you so much Sarah, you did a wonderful job.

10 Things I've learned about being a mom

2010-05-09T17:10:00.001-07:00

1. That crayons, when put into a drier, only melts and sticks to silk. (A whole load of white clothes, and Rylee's red crayon is only found all over my silk G's and nothing else).

2. That breastfeeding hurts sooooo bad. How come nobody mentions that when your pregnant? They tell you how bad labor is, why not breastfeeding?

3. That each room in my house will never be clean at the same time. By the time I get one room clean and move onto the next, the room I just cleaned is a mess.

4. When Brian and I were pregnant with Rylee we would talk about how athletic our kids are going to be, and how great it will be to put them in sports. Now, we have two energetic kids who keep us on our toes, and now we are thinking, 'why did we want kids who are athletic again?'

5. That most toys sink when put into the toilet. This has been Tannen's experiment with most of his toys.

6. That my kids favorite person to talk to, is themselves, but it is hilarious to listen to them when they think one one else is.

7. That my body will never be the way it use to be before I had kids. I'm not one of those few lucky people who will never experience a stretch mark.

8. That peace and quiet no longer exists. Even when I lock the door I still get kids banging on the door or crying outside the door for you to hurry up.

9. That you really do need to watch what you say and what you watch on TV around your kids. When Rylee was a year and a half, I was watching, 'So You Think You Can Dance' (a harmless show, right?) and there was a passionate kiss involved in one of the routines and Rylee picked up on that so quick. She turned to me and gave me a big open mouth kiss, it was gross. (Lucky I had my mouth closed).

10. How blessed I am for having the two most wonderful kids. Sure, it's been rough sometimes, but I wouldn't change anything. I love them both so much and don't know where I would be without them.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's!

Tannen's amazing moment

2010-04-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Tannen's favorite thing to play with is cords. He knows he can always find a cord to play with in my bedroom on the far side of the room, which is my charger for my phone. I now need two because he takes them out and hides them who know where. I've tried looking all over for them with no sucess, but somehow it shows up the next day because he knows where he hides them. Well last night I was looking for Tannen and heard him behind my bed, playing with my charger. I had the camera with me so I thought I would take a picture of him without him even knowing I was there, to get in the action of him playing with the cord. I popped around the corner and took a picture of him. Anyway, he thought it was hilarious, so I thought I would amuse hime and do it some more, because every mom knows, you can't have too many pictures of your kids. Besides, you can delete any if you don'r like them. But who would delete this picture.....

Yes, that is vomit coming out of his mouth. I saw that he had thrown-up and I threw the camera aside, but I didn't realize that I had captured that moment until the next day when I was uploading all my pictures. I laughted so hard and thought that I needed to show off this picture, because how often do you capture your child vomit in mid air? That's what I thought... NEVER

Tannen's 1st Birthday

2010-04-20T10:19:00.001-07:00

Tannen's firstday turned out really great. We had the Lassen's and Sarah's mom, who was visiting from England (known by Rylee as my Grandma from England) over for pizza (Tannen's favorite food). Then had Tannen dig onto his cake. He did so much better than Rylee did on her first birthday. She ended up picking off the sprinkles one by one and eating them, making no mess at all. Tannen on the other hand got right in and got his face and hands dirty. Must be a boy thing. He wasn't too interested in his presents, although Rylee and Max were. They were fighting over who got to open the next present. Once they would open the present they would just throw it aside and want to open another.

Tannen wondering what is going on.

"I don't get it, what do you want me to do?"

First taste, thinking it's pretty good.

"I have a better idea!"

"What chocolate Cake?"

Rylee with 'her Grandma from England' (Sarah's mom)

Matt helping Tannen, I mean Sam open Tannen's present.

Max with a yummy cupcake.

Sarah and Tannen with his first John Deere truck

Tannen's cakes before they got destroyed.

Zoo trip

2010-04-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Brian and I took the kids to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was also their tulip day, so we went up with a few friends and had Sarah Lassen take some photos of the family. We figured it would be a great place for photos and a fun place for the kids. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was there. I was going there expecting lots of tulips but not nearly as many as they had. Everywhere you looked there were tulips. We spent the first part of the morning taking pictures. Rylee was getting pretty impatient because she wanted to see the animals and go on the train that had past us several times while waiting for our pictures. Tannen just wanted to be out walking anywhere but where we needed him. (Typical one year old). After the pictures we walked around and got to see a lot of the animals they had there. Tannen was quite the trooper without his morning nap, but once two o'clock hit he fell asleep in the stroller. He woke up about 45 minutes later, and got a little fussy, so we decided to go home, so he could go back to sleep on the hour and a half home. Rylee ended up sleeping the whole way home, but not Tannen. He stayed awake the whole time just talking and making noises the whole way. But we had a great time. Thank you Sarah for taking out pictures, which I'll post later.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

My Dad with Tannen and Rylee

My parents came out to visit us this Easter and we had a great time. They flew in Tuesday evening and left early Easter Sunday. Tuesday night we celebrated my dad's birthday, which was a few days before they came out. We had a nice BBQ dinner, cake, and presents to open. On Wednesday we had a picnic at the duck park and then a BBQ birthday dinner at another park for a few of Rylee's friends, Max and Matthew. On Thursday we went to UK arboretum and out to dinner. Friday we went to the Keeneland Horse races and watched a few races, but it was so crowded we had to leave early. Saturday we watched conference then had the Lassen's come over for lunch and a Easter egg hunt for the kids. We were so busy this whole week that I forgot to pull out my camera until the last day, so I didn't get any pictures of my mom with the kids and only a few with my dad. But we did have a great time with them and Rylee was so sad to see them leave.

Princess's on Ice

2010-04-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

On March 27th I took Rylee to the Rupp Arena to see Disney's Princess's on Ice. She was super excited to go and I have to admit, I was really excited as well. I had never been to an Ice skating performance, and it was great! We both loved it. It was about two and a half hours long, but kept Rylee entertained the whole time. It just told a short version of seven different princess's and their happy endings. The costumes they had were unbelievable. My favorite was the Beast from 'Beauty and the Beast'. He looked just like in the animated movie. Here are a few pictures we took there. Sorry that some are a little fuzzy and out of focus. It's hard when they are moving nonstop.

Rylee eating her popcorn and watching with much interest.

Beauty and the Beast

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

Aladin

The Little Mermaid

Mulan

Mickey and Minnie

All the Disney Princess's with their Prince's

Watch what you say

2010-03-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I need to start writing down some of the cute and not so cute and funny things my kids do and say. I am terrible at keeping a journal but it would be fun for my kids to look back and read some things they did as children.

Some other mothers and I took our kids out to lunch at a Chick fil a so they could play after. There were so many people there at the time and Rylee was in the play place playing. I looked up and Sarah (a mom in our group) pointed to the bathrooms telling me that Rylee went on her own. I went it the bathroom and called Rylee's name in a panic hoping she made it through the big crowd and into the right bathroom. I guess she heard the panic in my voice because this was her answer, "I know, I know, there could be strangers, but don't worry mom, I'm in no danger".

Then I was in the kitchen cleaning up the other day and Rylee was on the floor coloring a picture when Tannen came in from the living room. Automatically he starts crawling to Rylee to play with her. She didn't want him there because he would ruin her picture, so while she was pushing him away she says, " Tannen, go bother your dad!" I guess I might say that a little more that I think.

One thing that Rylee says all the time and it drives me crazy, is when I get her food from the microwave and it's still hot and she wants me to blow on it she says, "Mom, will you blow on this, because you are the biggest girl I have ever seen." Yes, it makes me feel like a huge elephant, even though to her its a compliment.

The last thing I'll write down happened a few days ago while I was cooking dinner. I burned myself on the stove and ended you dropping something on the floor. The first thing I said was "damnit". Rylee comes running to me saying, "damnit what mom". I guess I really need to start watching what I say.

Tannen's walking

2010-03-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast kids grow up. About a week ago Tannen could stand up on his own but that was about it. He tried taking steps but would fall trying that first step. A few days after that it was a few steps. The next day it was a few more. Now he is honestly walking about 50% of the time. That all just happened way too quickly. He will be 11 months this week. My parents are coming to visit the end of this month and they are really going to be surprised by how grown up he is. Not to mention that the last they saw him was when he was 3 months old. We are looking forward to their visit.

Our Christmas

2009-12-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was pretty interesting. My two kids were sick. A few days before Christmas I took Tannen to the Doctor because his little cold was no longer a little cold. It turned into a bad cough with 101 degree temperature. It turned out that he had RSV and we had to (and still are) doing breathing (Nebuliser) treatments to him every 4 hours. Pour little guy was quite the trooper and stayed calm throughout the treatments. Since then he is slowly getting better and sleeps whenever and wherever. Example: the picture below, when he fell asleep while watching football with Brian, holding the remote (which is his favorite thing to play with, so it was pretty surprising.

Then on Christmas Eve, Rylee started getting that same bad cough and she too had a temperature of 102 degrees. She had a very hard time sleeping that night, and Brian and I had a hard time keeping her out of the living room (because Santa had already came :) That morning she had mixed feelings. She was so excited that it was Christmas and that Santa had come and brought her presents, but she was so fevered and phsyically tired, but not tired enough to open her's, Tannen's, Brian's, and my presents. After opening her presents she wanted to play "Dora Saves the Chrystal Kingdom" (a game she got from Santa) on the Wii. About 10 minutes or so Brian and I came in to watch her play. She was swinging her arm like she was suppose to only she was so tired. We asked her if she wanted to stop and play again later when she felt a little better. She said yes and sat down on the couch to watch Brian play the Wii and fell asleep minutes later. Poor girl. After her nap and a little medicine she was feeling a lot better. But all sickness aside, we had a great Christmas. We had some friends come over later on that day for Christmas dinner. We had such a great time!

Present Time!

Just a few cute pictures of the kids.

Rylee got a few princess outfits to wear and she sure is putting them to good use.

Kids Pictures

2009-12-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

We finally had our kids pictures taken. We really needed to because we only had pictures of Rylee up in the house and it didn't look as if Tannen were part of the family. Thanks to Sarah Lassen who took their pictures even in the cold weather. She did a great job

Tarr Fort weekend

2009-10-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we were invited to stay at the Hamilton cabin in Tarr Fort, KY with some friends and their families. Tarr Fort is in eastern Kentucky, (in the back woods). We had an awesome time, but probably ended up more tired than rested at the end of the trip, with all the talking and playing cards until about 3 in the morning. The kids played well together. Tannen was a good boy and didn't cry the entire time we were there. We played alot of cards and corn hole. It rained the first day we were there, but that didn't matter to the kids. They went outside and played anyway. Thank you Jay and Brooke for inviting us. We had a great time.

All the kids right before bedtime

Rylee, Tannen, Sara, Ava, Chloe, Ali, Asha, and LuLu

Rylee's turns 3!!!

2009-10-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

On September 30th Rylee turned 3 years old. I can't believe I have a 3 year old. I am really getting old. Weeks before her birthday, we asked her what she wanted. She said, "a princess bike, a princess cake, and lots of friends." Talk about being spoiled, she got it all, the bike, the cake, and the friends. She had such a great time.

Tannen's first haircut

2009-09-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

Tannen has always had quite a bit of hair. He is now 5 months old and it was growing over his ears. Some might say that that is not long at all, but I'm a girl who likes a clean cut on boys all the time. So on Saturday we decided it was time for Tannen to get his first haircut. We sat him in his Bumbo chair and took the clippers to his hair. It was the quickest haircut I have ever given. It was a whole three minutes long. The first two minutes he was as happy as could be. I last minute, not so much. I told Brian to get the camera and take some pictures. The first two minutes he took pictures with his phone. Then started taking pictures with my camera the last minute while he was crying and sceaming his little head off.

Tannen with Brian's phone (the first two minutes)

Tannen with my camera (the last minute)

Our Trip to Utah

2009-08-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun on our trip back to Utah. Although we missed Brian. He stayed in Kentucky to study for his boards for dental school, which by the way, he passed!!! The flight there was a little crazy. We flew out of Cincinatti, which is an hour and a half drive from where we live. We did this so I wouldn't have to have any layovers with my two kids. I was really greatful for that. Brian took me as far as the security checking. When we left him, Rylee started crying because she wanted him to come and Tannen was just screaming the whole time until the plane took off. Thankfully he slept the whole way there. Rylee was good because I had presents for her. If she was good, every half hour or so I would let her open a present. Then she would play with it for the next half hour. This worked great!

The night before the 4th of July my parents had a BBQ in there back yard. I was able to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was great to see them all. Rylee had a blast with them all as well.

My brother Chad putting up a tent with all the kids trying to help.

Tannen with my Grandpa and Grandma Kochevar.

On the 4th of July we got up for the Fireman's breakfast, and like always, it was great food and fun times. Then we went to the parade. Rylee remember from last year, picking up candy off the road, so she was really looking forward to it.

Hallie, Tylee and Rylee at Moroni's 4th of July parade waiting for the helicopter to drop ping pong balls.

After the parade we hit the carnival. We let Rylee do the races and she won out of all the 2 year old kids. Luckily she inherited her dads speed. She had a lot of fun there, but wore herself out. The firework show that night got cancelled, due to the lightning storm, and we were all a little disappointed. What's the 4th of July without fireworks?

Rylee swinging at the carnival.

Rylee and I met up with some of my friends and there kids and went swimming at the Manti pool. It was a very nice pool and the kids really enjoyed it. Rylee and Alivia got along really well there. I just wish we lived close to them so they could play together more often. Then later that night a bunch of my friends met at my parents house for dinner. It was fun catching up and finally being able to see their kids. They are all adorable!

After that fist week, we spent the next week with Brian's family. Rylee had a great time playing with Spencer and Emily, and baking a cake with Sara. Both my kids were spoiled with attention while they were there. One of the days, Spencer, Emily, Rylee, and I went to 7 peaks. It was a lot of fun. Rylee was brave enough to go down some of the slide, with me of coarse. Her favorite part was the wave pool, but only without a tube. She liked to be knocked down by the waves, which scared to to death. Tannen stayed at home and played with grandma and I'm sure they had a great time. We were also able to go to some Spencer's State baseball games and cheer him on.

Rylee with her aunt Emily watching her uncle Spencer play baseball.

Tannen and Grandma Romney.

Tannen and Grandpa Romney.

The last week we went back to my parents house. Rylee had so much fun with her two cousins Tylee and Hallie. They had about 5 water balloon fight while we were there, and jumped on the tramp with the spinckler under it quite a few times. She had fun going on 4-wheeler rides with grandpa and also pick peas from the garden with grandpa. We went swimming almost everyday we were there, from swimming in Palisade Lake, to the Manti pool again, and at Flo's. Both my kids got so much attention here as well, and I got spoiled as well because I didn't have to worry about my kids for once. The last day we were there we went to 7 peaks again. This time Tannen went with us, along with my whole family. Tannen even got in the water and loved it. We were all sad to go back home to Kentucky, but happy to finally see Brian. We can't wait to be able to go back next year. We just hope that Brian will be able to make to trip with us then.

Rylee and the Lamb Day parade (yes, we went to two parades while we were there.)

Swimming with Aunt Valerie and her cousins.

Rylee with Aunt Stacy.

Tannen's Blessing day

2009-07-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

My family came out here for a visit and while they where here we decided to bless Tannen. During his blessing Rylee started throwing a tantrum because she wanted to join in and help bless him. I tried to keep her quite but couldn't and before i knew it the blessing was done and I hadn't heard a word of it. Come to find out, Tannen was doing the same thing as Rylee, crying. I was very greatful when a friend of mine handed me a slip of paper after the blessing. It was some notes that she took for me shorthanding some of the words of the blessing. Thanks JoAnna!

After church we had some friends over for a luncheon. It was a lot of fun. I was glad that we were able to have some of our family there.

My family after the blessing.

Tannen's 2 month check-up

2009-06-21T20:34:00.001-07:00

When I took Tannen in for his check-up he weighed 12 lbs. 8 oz. and was 23 inches long. He was in the 75 percentile with everything. He has already grow so much. I figured he would be a big boy by how much he eats, which is probably normal for most babies, but I am just use to Rylee who ate hardly anything.

He is getting over his colic which is a relief for me. He is still working on sleeping through the night. He wakes up only once, sometimes twice during the night, but will fall right to sleep as soon as he eats.

Rylee is so cute with him and hardly ever gets jealous of him anymore. We have to remind her all the time that he is just a baby and that he can't eat the candy she is so willing to share with him. She is too impatient waiting for him to grow up so he can play back.

Tannen smile

2009-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

So Tannen figured out how to smile and now he does it all the time. I even got him to laugh once, but can't make him do it again. His smile is so cute, I just can't get enough of it.

Rylee's best friend is...

2009-06-14T16:14:00.001-07:00

If you ask Rylee who her best friend is, it's Max. Her and Max play together all the time, and they get along so well. Maybe it's the fact that they have known each other since she was 10 months old and he was 4 months old. I am greatful that she has a friend like Max to play with all the time. He has made her life (and mine) a lot better. Thanks Max!

Rylee is now a big girl!

2009-06-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's official! Rylee is potty trained!! YEAH!!!

I learned that it took more work from me that it did for her, which is why it took so long for her to be potty trained. I tried many different things to get her trained. The first thing was doing the method of the "potty training in one day." I read the book and gave it a try and it failed me. I made her a big girl potty chart, where she gets to put a sticker on everytime she uses the bathroom. A treat everytime she uses the bathroom and even bribed her with toys to try and do the job. She would use the toilet every once in awhile, but not all the time. And a few weeks later that failed me too. Then I talked to my mom (and trust me, moms know best, whether you like what they have to say or not) She told me to just put her in panties all day long, everyday. I hated thinking of all the messes I would have to clean up, but I did it anyway. About three accidents later she learned. Now not only does she use the toilet at our house but whenever we go out, she lets us know when she has to use the bathroom. And even better, the last two nights she has been dry when she woke up:) I am just glad to get that over with and only have one set of diapers to change instead of two.

Rylee's comment

2009-05-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

So a few days after coming home from the hospital with Tannen, Brian had put Tannen on the floor for Rylee to see him and get a better look at him. Rylee starts poking at him then stops and looks at Brian and says, "I don't want a baby brother anymore." Brian said, "you don't?" and then she said, "not this one anyway." I think the whole time I was pregnant with Tannen, we would tell her that she was getting a little brother to play with. So in her mind she was expecting a brother that would be able to play with her right away. So needless to say that she was a little disappointed, but we thought her comment was really funny. Rylee is loving her brother more and more everyday and now every once in a while I catch her patting his head or rubbing his cheek saying, "Oh baby Tannen, your so cute." It feels great to know that Rylee is already starting to be a good big sister. Although there is still some jealousy every once in awhile, I know she'll get over it soon. She is quite the trooper.

Rylee and Tannen pictures

2009-05-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

Rylee being the loving big sister we knew she would be.

What Tannen does best (sleep)

Tennen's first real bath. He loved it!

Isn't Rylee such a girl!

My cute Rylee and me

Tannen's way of sleeping comfortably.

Hydrating herself after running around with her friends at one of Brian's softball games.

Just another cute pucture of Rylee.

Tannen Eli Romney is here!

2009-04-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

How odd is it to have two kids who were both born on their due dates. Well both Rylee and Tannen decided to come on their given dates. Tannen was born at 11:06 p.m. on April 19th. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. My labor and delivery happened so fast. About 7:00 that night I started having contractions. Not hard onces but consistant, about 15 to 20 minutes apart. Around 8:00 they were still light, but about 4 to 5 minutes apart. I remembered them feeling a lot worse with Rylee's pregnancy so I decided to wait a little while before going to the hospital. They started getting closer, so finally I decided to just go to the hospital. It wasn't until in the car with Brian driving that I experienced my first hard contraction. Once I got to the hospital they were really hard contractions and 2 to 3 minutes apart. My nurse can in and started asked the usual questions to be admitted into the hospital. The first question she asked is if I had any questions for her. I asked her, "when can I get an epidural!" We all just laughed including me even though I meant it. As she was continuing on with the paper work I threw up because of the pain. That's when the nurse realized this baby wasn't going to wait for the paper work to get done. When she checked me, I was dilated 7 cm so she hurried to go find an anestheseologist. Luckily the one on call just finished a c-section as was available. He came right in and gave me an epidural. Five minutes after he left my doctor came in and broke my water. As soon as my doctor broke my water I was ready to start pushing. Unfortunately for me the epidural just started working and wasn't very strong while pushing. It was very painful but six minutes later there he was, and the pain forgotten. Total time of hard labor was 2 and a half hours. It was great!

Easter Pictures

2009-04-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

After finding all her Easter eggs, Rylee buried them in her sandbox.

Rylee with her basket of eggs.

Rylee and her cute Easter dress that she got from Grandpa and Grandma.

Looking for her Easter eggs in the back yard.

Rylee's Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

So today Brian and I took Rylee to the city Easter egg hunt held here in Nicholasville. We thought it would be fun for her to do. More of a competition against other kids her age. Last week we hid some eggs out in the back yard for her to find, but it wasn't the same because she would have them all to herself. Anyway, when we get there it has crowded with people. They had three different age groups, and three different fields. The first (which was Rylee's) was from walking to age two; the second, age three to five; and the last, age six to ten. Well anyway, when we pulled up we saw this bigger field full of eggs. I mean, like an egg every two feet or so. When it came time to do the egg hunt they explained that Rylee's age group would go first and that it was the fields behind this building at the park. We were expecting something the size of the field we saw as we were coming in. It ended up being about a forth of the size. When they told everyone to go it was crazy! I was expecting all the little kids to be walking themselves and picking up there own eggs and putting them in there own baskets. But boy was I wrong. The parents of babies (like six months old) were racing to get the Easter eggs that their babies can't even eat. Rylee went to pick up an egg and was two inches away from it when this lady grabbed it before her and put it in her boys basket. Don't worry, I got mad at the lady, but she just walked away. Rylee ended up with about five Easter eggs at an Easter hunt that laterally lasted about a minute. Brian and I couldn't believe how inconsiderate people were. I mean, I thought that Easter egg hunts were for little kids, not for the parents of the little kids. But needless to say that Rylee was happy with it. She was a little upset that it ended so quickly, but she got to see the Easter bunny, hunt some eggs as well as get some candy, so she was satisfied with that. I'm glad that she had fun, but I don't think we will do it next year.

Ice Storm Damage

2009-02-13T11:46:00.001-08:00

Rylee's New Room

2009-02-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

So I finally got going on Rylee's bedroom, (now that I'm 7 months pregnant) and she absolutely loves it, (and so do I). Okay so I'm not all the way finished with it. I still have her bedspread to make (which is why most of the pictures don't show her bed) but at least it's a start. It gave me motivation to hurry with the bedsread though, but it's a work in progress. Now if I could come up with an idea for a boys room. Any ideas?

Before

After

The proud owner of the room.

Her new night light that she loves and now can't sleep without.

Nicholasville Ice Storm

2009-01-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

So the last few days we have been having a ice storm. It actually looks really cool everywhere, but let me tell you, its not as fun as it may seem, being stuck in your house all day. The roads are covered in a sheet of ice and only the main roads get plowed. Not to mention everything is covered in a big sheet on ice. In order to get into our car, it took Brian about 20 minutes of chipping the ice away to even get inside. Every branch on every tree is frozen in ice, so you can imagine what a tree covered in heavy ice will do. Many trees in our neighborhood have already snapped in several places that the owners have just cut then down. Our poor pine tree in our back yard has broke in a few places as well. We are just hoping that it survives this ice storm, otherwise we will be cutting it down as well.

Not only are the trees frozen, but also the the power lines, so you can imagine how many homes here have had power outages. We are part of the lucky ones so far (keep my fingers crossed) that haven't had our power go out. It's still going on right now, so I guess anything could happen still. But schools have been cancelled so Brian has been at home with Rylee and me. Hopefully this will end soon and we can get back to normal life. Besides, I need to go shopping and I can't in this weather.

Happy Anniversary

2008-12-19T19:17:00.001-08:00

Five years ago today Brian and I were married in the Manti Temple for eternity. WOW, I can't even believe how the time flies. We have experienced so much together these past five years that it overwhelms me to think of that little girl who married Brian Romney on December 19, 2003. We have both grown so much, and I have grown more and more in love with the man I married. I have to say that we have had many great times together and many rough times, but after moving across the country to New York (for Brian's schooling) with no family around for 3 thousand miles, moving to Kentucky (for Brian's schooling), me working two jobs for awhile (to get Brian through schooling), one adorable little girl and a baby boy on the way, and did I mention Brian's never ending schooling? I couldn't be happier with the man I chose to marry. I can't wait to see what the next five years brings us.

Finally some up-to-date pictures

2008-12-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

We took Rylee to get her pictures taken for the first time. I know, we are horable parents for never taking our daughter to a photographer for pictures until she was over two years old. But we finally did and she loved it. The only problem was that she loves to smile really cheesy. They took over 50 pictures of her and only about 20 of them were of her not cheesing it, but she loved to do all the posing.

It's a BOY!!!

2008-12-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

So I realize it has been awhile since I have updated my blog and I apologize for that, but I had to let you all know that we are having a little boy this April!!! We are so excited to be able to have one of each. Rylee and Brian are now over the fact that we are not going to have another girl. Rylee wanted a little sister and Brian wanted a girl because he knows how to deal with girls and he wonders now what to do with a boy. I guess we'll both learn. But we are all really excited!

Making Cookies!!!

2008-06-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Rylee loves watching me bake so I decided that she was now old enough to start helping me. She loves cookies (I know, what kid doesn't), so we decided to make peanut butter cookies. She would help me pour in the indredients, and helped me mix it up with the beaters. After mixing it up I let her lick a beater. I know they say that you shouldn't let your children eat cookie dough or batter because of the raw egg, but I did it all the time as a kid and I turned out fine. It turns out that Rylee really liked it. Once she licked all the dough off the beater, she would stick it back in the bowl and try to scoop out some more. She grew impatient waiting for the cookies to bake. she pressed her face against the window of the oven watching the cookies slowy bake. She helped me transfer the cookies to the cooling rack then grabed for a cookie. She quickly realized that they were still really hot and decided to blow on them. This solves all her problems when somthing is hot. She sees mom doing this all the time to cool down her food. After about ten seconds of blowing she decided they were cool enough and ended up eating 4 cookies! Dad's going to have a fun time working on her teeth!

Grandma, Emily, and Spencer's visit

2008-04-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

A Walk to the Park

The first few days of the visit the weather was really cold and rainy, so we ended up staying inside. But, like always, the weather warmed up really quickly. The first thing we did with Rylee was take her to the park. We live only a few blocks away from one, so we had a nice walk. I should mention that Rylee probably knows how to get there all on her own, (but honestly, do you think I would let her) All I have to do is turn my back for 10 seconds while we are outside and she already on her way. So this first picture is of Sandy ("Mama", as Rylee would call her) and me walking Rylee to the park. Or should I say, Rylee walking Sandy and me to the park. This second one is Rylee going down the big spiral slide. I think the thing she liked the most was being up so high and seeing Grandma, Emily, and Spencer down below. She loves going down slides and doing it all by herself. The third picture is of our way back from the park. Brian caught up with us on his motorcycle. And like always, Rylee was excited to see him pull up, especially on his motorcycle. While Sandy and I drug Rylee back home, Brian gave Emily and Spencer a ride on his motorcycle.

Our Trip to the ZOO

We took Rylee to the Zoo in Louisville and had a great time. I had taken Rylee to a Zoo before, but she was too little to know what was going on. This time she understood a little better and knew a few animals from watching Dora and Diego.

We caught up with Brook and her girls, Tylee and Hallie. The 3 girls had a great time together. We let them play on a playground they had there at the zoo for awhile, while we just sat and watched them. While there, Tylee wanted to swing so I found an open swing and started to push her. Then Hallie came up to me and said, "I want to swing" so I asked Tylee if Hallie could have a turn now because there were no other open swings. And Tylee, not wanting to get out said, "Just put her in back" and while saying this hitches her thumb and points to the back of her. It was a swing where two small kids can swing back to back. It was so cute. Then Rylee, seeing how much fun they were having wanted to join in. So we took Tylee out and put Rylee in. She had so much fun it was hard to get her out of that swing.

I had to put this next picture in because I thought it was so cute. I think anyone would agree with me. These girls just love being around each other.

Another Park Trip

We took Rylee to another park. This park was much bigger and had a lot more for her to do. The first thing she did was feed the ducks. She loves ducks and got frustrated that she couldn't touch them. She was a little confused at why they kept running away from her. But let me tell you, her throwing arm is great. The ducks didn't even need to come close because she threw the pieces of bread pretty far for an 18 month old girl. After that Rylee just ran around the park doing her own thing while Grandma was watching her, and Emily, Spencer and I were playing catch. While walking back to the car, Rylee wanted to swing, so I put her into the swing for awhile. She was so tired by this time that she had a hard time keeping her eyes open while swinging. By this time I knew it was time to take her home for a nap, but we didn't go without a fight from Rylee. No matter how tired she was, she did not want to go home. She is definitely an outdoors kind of girl.

Eating Out

So we decided to go eat out at this Mexican restaurant. We sat down and was served the usual chips and salsa. Well Rylee was in reach of the chips but we wouldn't let her have any salsa. So I guess she started feeling left out and got this great idea of dipping her chips in her water, since she couldn't have the salsa. It didn't seem to bother her at all because she kept doing over and over again. After eating we decided to take Rylee to the kids play place in the Mall. The Mall was connected to the restaurant, so it was a close walk. In this play place there are a lot of giant cushioned obstacles with a fence around the whole thing. We put Rylee in there and she was so excited she took off. There were about 25 other kids in there with her and she started playing on all the obstacles. After about a minute or so she started walking around looking at all the kids. She had a sad look on her face. I mentioned it to Brian and he said, "She's just looking for a kid she wants to play with." After about another minute I decided to go she what was wrong. I called out her name and she looked at me and ran to me and just broke down into tears saying, "Mommy". It was then that I realized she was lost and was walking around looking for us. It was the saddest face I have seen on her. Needless to say that she didn't let us out of her sight again and would drag around one of us eveywhere she went.

A Worn Out Girl

We all had so much fun with Grandma Romney, Emily, and Spencer here. Rylee really liked having them here to play with and I know mom, (me) loved it as well because I actually got a little break from all of Rylee's active playing. By the time they left I think Rylee was worn right out. Isn't she cute when she sleeps?

Other Cute Pictures

Angie's business from home

2008-02-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

So I am starting my own business working from home. I am making decorative signs for poeples homes. You can put whatever you'ld like on them and put them just about anywhere. This is my first one I made for my little brother. He'll get it when he comes home from his mission. So Chad, it's for you to put above your mission plaque when you get home. I hope you like it.

Cute Girl

2008-01-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

Dad, Mom, and Rylee

2008-01-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

If looks could kill

2008-01-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Rylee started doing this mean face one day. She just woke up one day and wouldn't stop scowling. She thinks it's hilarious, and so do we. Now every time we ask her where her eyes are, she scowls at us, showing us that those are her eyes. If looks could kill, we'd all be dead by this one.

Another kitchen picture

2008-01-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

I had to add this picture of our kitchen at a different angle.

Our New Kitchen

2008-01-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

The first thing we did to the kitchen was take out the section of cabinet drawers by the fridge and put it on the other side of the cabinets. That way we were able to keep cabinets space and gain counter top space. Then we put in a dishwasher by the fridge. The next thing was the painting. It ended up being a bigger project than I thought. Not so much the walls, but the cabinets took forever. The walls we painted (and when I say we, I mean me [Angie]) the walls red and one wall tan. That only took a few days. The cabinets took so long because I had to take off all the doors, wash inside and outside the cabinets really well, prime the first coat, then two sometimes three coats of paint to make it all look smooth. The cabinets doors also took a lot of time because I couldn't paint them outside because of the weather (rain). So I painted them on newspaper on my kitchen table and what counter space I had left. The cabinets ended up taking me about two weeks to do, but it looks great. The next step was to screw in little magnets in the upper corner of each cabinet door, so they would all stay closed. They work great now. Then we put on the new knobs and handles to all the cabinets and drawers. Then, I had to wait a week or so, but eventually Brian and Matt (one of our friends out here who is also in dental school with Brian) put in the counter top. It also took longer than expected because our kitchen walls aren't quite straight, but needless to say, it got done. The last thing was putting in a new sink, and Brian and I did that in a few hours. Yes, you heard right, we did it all by ourselves. For the (After) pictures we added a cute center piece on the kitchen table and on the stove. How do you like our finished work?

Our new Kitchen

2008-01-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Before

After

Halloween 2007

2007-10-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

This was Rylee's second Halloween. She really loved wearing her chicken costume and hated when we took it off, and would try to put it back on herself. We went to a costume party so I dressed up as a Red Sox fan, and NO not just because they are in the world series but because Brian and are and have always been Red Sox Fans. My older sister Brook came down with her girls, Tylee and Hallie. Tylee was a Princess and Hallie was a ballerina. They were all so cute.

Our First House

2007-10-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Our First House we bought is in Nicholasville Kentucky. Just a small 3 bedroom started home, but it is great. We love it. We have a big kitchen (which is being remodeled at the moment) and a huge back yard. The yard still need a lot of work, but that's an interest of mine so it should be pretty fun. We moved in towards the end of July of 2007. It's just nice to finally have a place of our own.

Rylee's First Birthday Pictures

2007-10-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Rylee's First Birthday

2007-10-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

Starting off the day we (Brian and I) go into her bedroom singing Happy Birthday. Rylee, being the happy girl that she always is, was smiling. We gave her one present to open which was a new dress to wear that day to church. Boy did she look cute in her new dress. Later on that day we had a few of our friends over for dinner (tacos Mmmm). Then we opened her presents. Brian and I gave her a little princess chair so she could feel like a big girl with her own little chair. As she sat in her chair (only for a few minutes, because she was too excited about all the presents) she kind of opened her presents. I say kind of meaning that once one was opened she only wanted to play with that gift and forgot about all the others. As I opened the other gifts for her she was drop the gift she was holding and go for the gift that I had in my hands. If they were in a box, I would try to get them open for her, but she didn't have patience enough and would just take them form my hands.

After her birthday present opening we put her in her high chair for her cake. I made a double layered chocolate cake with white frosting. Brian went to the store earlier on and bought candy flowered sprinkles and an candle with the number "1" on it. We all sang Happy Birthday to her, and again all she could do was amile and wonder what is going on. Her mom helped her blow out her candle then put the cake in front of her to dig in. Little did we know that she would pick off the little flowered candies and eat them one by one. She's too much of a girl to get dirty.

Rylee's Blessing Day

2007-10-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

This was one of our first family pictures. It was Sunday October 8, 2006 on Rylee's baby blessing day eight days after she was born. The only reason we blessed her so quick was because her Grandpa and Grandma DeMill were there to visit.