Wordless Wednesday: Laundry Helpers

Backyard Fun

Welcome to summer in Florida.  Here it lasts 9 months out of the year, and from May through October it is especially HOT HOT HOT!  I used to loathe our summers.  I really just wanted to stay inside where it was cool.  But now, I think I'm actually happy that summer is here!

Why?  Because on the weekends we can get up in the morning, throw our bathing suits on and spend the day in the backyard.  I don't have to put makeup on and do my hair, and best of all, we don't have to spend half the morning packing up the diaper bag with all the essentials that we need during the day.  Between the swing set and the pool, the kids stay entertained all day.  Our friends pretty much know that if we don't answer the door to just come in the back gate.

Here it is...the new swing set.



And here is Rylie's little cottage.  She loves to call Papa on the phone!



It has a rock climbing wall on one side, and two different ladders on the other.  Rylie has no problems getting up them.



She loves to have snack time on the picnic table.



I swear they could swing for hours!









And then after we got too hot swinging, it is time for swimming!



Sometimes we have a snack first.







I love summer fun!

McFatty Monday - Week 13

Sigh. I gained a pound since last Monday. It doesn’t surprise me. I haven’t been eating right and have been eating way too much junk food. I usually do pretty well during the week, but then I forget all about dieting on the weekends.

I need to get back to better eating habits again. That, I know. It is just hard. Waaaaaaaaaah.

Sunday Funnies And Other News

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  We didn't really have too many "funnies" this past week.  In fact, I can only think of one thing and it really isn't even THAT funny.

Brian helps me load the kids in the car in the mornings.  We were all in the car and getting ready to pull out and Rylie started calling for Daddy.  I rolled down the window and told him and he came back over to the car.  He opened the door and asked her what she needed and she said "Daddy, get to work!"  It was amusing to us.

It was a rough week with daycare drop offs, and there is nothing amusing about that.  Hopefully next week will be a little better and I'll have more funnies to share.

And in other news...

This is my 200th post!  Awesome!

Bryce is starting to pull himself up.  He was sitting on the top step in the pool yesterday and he just kind of turned around, held on to the side and pulled himself up.  He's really getting the hang of cruising too.  Still no forward crawling, though.

I guess I better get back to the never ending piles of laundry.  Seriously, they just keep piling up with no end in sight!  Bryce is napping and Rylie and Daddy are *still* in the pool, so I better get some stuff done while I can.  These weekends go by way too fast!

Saturday Playdate - Life With Rylie

I love Saturdays! We get to sleep in (well, as much as you can with a toddler and a baby), we don't have to go to work and we have all kinds of fun! We usually have some kind of playdate planned, whether it is a birthday party, playing at the park or a cookout with friends.

The only downside to Saturdays is that my blog gets ignored. I don't usually have time to get online. So I have decided to host "playdates" here! Every Saturday you will get the pleasure of meeting a new blogger. I have some wonderful ladies lined up to come play over here!

My first playdate is with Torie from Life with Rylie.  I first came across her blog when I saw her post on another blog I read.  The name of her blog caught my eye.  Imagine that.  So of course I had to go say hi.  Torie is a SAHM to a beautiful little girl named Rylie, who is almost 8 months old.  It turns out that they don't live too far from us, and I think I see a "real" playdate in our future.  She also makes adorable baby bows and other accessories for little girls that she sells at her Etsy shop, On Top Baby Bows.  She recently started making head bands for big girls too.  Make sure you stop by her blog sometime and say hi!

And now for our playdate!  Who brought the snacks?

---

Thanks to LeeAnn for letting me be the first to have a “play date” on her blog today! And while we are on the topic of play dates I want to say how much I love them. I mean I really do love them. Now that my Rylie is getting more mobile and able to “play” with other babies (which means squealing and grabbing them) I jump on the opportunity to have one. When you spend 24/7 with someone who can’t talk, needs their butt wiped, and plays in a puddle of their own spit up, you find that any time spent with an adult is precious. Because I am a stay at home mom.

Now before you start throwing things at me or calling me names under your breath, I did not choose to be a SAHM. All my life I have dreamed of being one, but I ended up here unintentionally. See, I worked for a very small, family owned business that didn’t offer maternity leave. I took a couple of weeks off (unpaid) after having Rylie. Upon returning I found out that I had to be cut back to part-time. After about a month working part-time from home, I was laid off. So to make a long story short (I could go into more detail) I had no choice, but to become a stay at home mom.

To be honest, I love being a stay at home mom. I love that I never miss a moment with her and I know she is in good hands every single day. I get a lot of good moments caught on camera, I know exactly when she poops, eats, and naps, and I get to play all day long. But all this comes with sacrifice. Perhaps the biggest sacrifice is living off of one income. We use to eat out at least once a week, maybe catch a movie, or if we wanted something (with in reason) we would pick it up. Those days are long gone.

The other sacrifice is adult interaction. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with her more than anything, but there are some days I would like to get up, go to work and talk to grown ups. There are some days where I would prefer not to sing silly songs, change poopy diapers, or redirect her away from the dogs bowls for the 50th time. But when I really sit down and think about it, the rewards greatly out weigh the sacrifices. I guess what I am trying to say is that it takes a lot out of you, but as soon as I hear her giggle, smile, or say “dada” I am so glad to be there in that moment with her. There is no other job in the world that I would rather have (when my kids are older I might be singing a different tune).

If you are a working mom I give you many props. It must be hard to be away from your little one(s). If you are a stay at home mom I give you props as well. It is hard to tend to a little person 24/7. But no matter what you do, it all comes down to love for our kids. We all do what we do because we love them. A love that will always remain.

Weekend Review - Brugo Mug ***Giveaway***

Welcome to the Weekend Review with The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too!, The Florida Hogans, and Angelica's Awesome Adventures! We would love for you to link up your reviews at the bottom and let everyone know about your favorite products! Reviews with or without giveaways are welcome!



I love coffee. And when I get a cup ready, I don't want to have to wait to drink it. I can't tell you how many times I have burned my tongue because I was too impatient. Well I no longer have to worry about that.

I would like to introduce you to the Brugo Mug. This mug allows you to drink your coffee right away, by getting it into the "Perfect Temperature Zone" immediately. You just tip, and sip.



My husband and I both used the Brugo Mug twice each this past week and I have to say that we were really impressed with the whole "tip and sip" thing. It takes a little getting used to, but once you figure out the perfect tip, it works really well. It cooled our coffee down with each sip, but kept the rest of it piping hot.

The top of the mug has a 3-Function Dial.



In the "Lock" position, the mug is sealed and spill proof. Use the "Tip & Cool" position when you first pour your coffee. And once your coffee has cooled to a palatable temperature, switch it to the "Sip" position to sip it directly.

I also think the mug is a great looking mug! It has a stainless steel finish, a no-slip bottom and it comes in many different colors. I received the Seaglass mug to test.



To learn more about the Brugo Mug, and exactly how it all works, check out the video...



The only thing I really didn't like about this mug is the fact that it is very narrow inside. It makes it difficult to hand wash since I can't fit my entire hand down in it. A bottle brush fixed that, though. My husband didn't really care for the fact that the part that you drink out of is stainless steel, but that didn't bother me.  If you're like him, though, you could opt for a mug from the Sport Collection to get away from the stainless steel top.

All in all, I think this is a great coffee mug! You can buy the Brugo Mug for $19.95.  The Sport Collection is also available for $14.95.  You will receive 25% off when you purchase two or more mugs. You also get free standard shipping on all purchases of $50 or more.

***One of my readers is going to win a Brugo Mug!!!***

To enter to win: Go check out the Brugo Mug, and come back and tell me what color is your favorite.

Would you like extra entries? After you make the mandatory first entry above, you can get one extra entry for each of the following (please leave a separate comment for each):

* Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (left sidebar)
* Follow @thelifeofrylie on Twitter
* Follow @brugomug on Twitter
* Tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting this tweet and leaving me the link: I want to #win a Brugo Mug from @thelifeofrylie! http://bit.ly/clxZd9 #giveaway @brugomug You can tweet every day for an extra entry each day!

Giveaway will end on July 8th at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen by random.org. I will announce the winner on July 9th. I will also email the winner and you will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received within that time frame, I will pick another winner. Please leave your email address or make sure it is in your profile so I will have a way to contact you. This giveaway is open to US residents.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Disclaimer: This opinion is my own. I received a Brugo Mug at no cost for the purpose of this review, and I was not compensated in any other way. Thank you Brugo Mug for providing the giveaway prize.


Do you have a product you would like to let everyone know about? Link it up below! Please link to the actual product review and not your blog’s main page. Thank you for joining us!

Five Question Friday - June 25th

Happy Friday everyone! If this is your first time checking out my blog, welcome! And whether you are here for the first time or are one of my regular readers (thank you all, BTW), please leave a comment and let me know you stopped by. If you follow, I will usually follow you back!

Make sure you check out my "Current Giveaways" section in the right sidebar. If you're here before 9AM EST, check back after 9 for our Weekend Review and a new giveaway!

Wanna join in on 5QF? Head over to My Little Life and link up. It is always so much fun!


1. Do you know how to play a musical instrument?  Well, I used to.  I could actually probably still play the piano, but it certainly wouldn't be any Bach or Mozart.  My mom put me in piano lessons when I was two and I did that for a while.  I also played the flute and clarinet in middle school.  I'm sure I could play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on the recorder if you really wanted some entertainment.

2. What is your pet peeve while driving?  When there is a line of cars backed up in a particular lane to turn, get off on an exit, or whatever, I absolutely cannot stand those jerks that drive all the way up in the next lane over and cut in, so they don't have to wait.  The main reason the line is there in the first place is because of people like that!  I deal with this every single morning.  It is probably a good idea I don't carry a gun in my car!

3. Would you rather have a housekeeper or unlimited spa services?  A housekeeper!  What good is getting a manicure when you're just going to ruin your nails scrubbing your shower?  And why bother getting a massage when you're just going to kill your back bending over and scrubbing those tubs?  No thanks.  I hate cleaning.

4. Is there a song that you hear that will take you back to the moment, like a junior high or high school dance?  Oh there are plenty!  The first one that came to mind is "Expression" by Salt N Pepa.  My friends and I actually went through and split up the lines and we each sang the different parts.  Hilarious.

5. What song best represents your life right now?  Is there a song out there that says "I stay up way too late blogging and then I wonder why I'm so tired all the time"?  Or one about a messy house?  (Yeah, since I can't think of a song, I am making a pitiful attempt at being funny.)

Have a great weekend!

The CT Was Normal!

Bryce had to get a CT scan of his head earlier this week.  You can read what started it all in the big head post.  I am so relieved that the results came back normal!  I guess he just has to have a big head for all of the brains he has already.  :-D

I am just going to think that his 6 month measurement was probably off.  I honestly don't think his head is THAT big, but it certainly didn't grow like the measurements showed.  It has always been the same size.

I am also happy to report that Bryce did not have ANY baby food today!  He ate school breakfast (waffles and peaches) and lunch (fruits and veggies) and had spaghetti for dinner.  Yes, we eat a lot of spaghetti around here since it is Rylie's favorite.  Although she calls it "macaroni" because we use the corkscrew pasta instead of regular spaghetti.  She ate more than I did tonight!!!  Now Bryce just needs to get a few more teeth so he can really chow down.  I have a feeling he is going to be an eater.

Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers, comments and emails over the past week.  It all really helped.

Wordless Wednesday: Spaghetti Feast

Our Wedding Day

I have decided to play along in a blog hop about weddings! If you would like to join in, head over to Cole's First Blog and link up your post about your special day!

April 21, 2007 was one of the best days of my life.  Brian and I had been together for 7 1/2 years and we finally became Mr. and Mrs!

It was so hard for me to pick just a few pictures of our special day to share, but I did it.  If anyone really wants to see more, there are 500 here.  Our "main" pictures were on good old fashioned film, and at the moment I cannot find the file where we had them converted to digital images, or I would have even more!

Our wedding and reception were at a hotel in Celebration, FL.  The ceremony was beautiful and was everything I could have dreamed of, and the reception was an awesome party!  I may be biased, but I think that was the most fun wedding I have ever been to!

Here is my dad, the first man in my life.  I couldn't look at him while we walked down the aisle because I would have cried.



Here we are saying our vows.



We had a "sand ceremony" where you pour the two different colored sands into one vase...because they can't be separated.  The candle you see was in remembrance of my grandmother, and it said that on it.



I now pronounce you husband and wife.





Here we are with my parents and my "little" brother.



All of our parents.



The entire wedding party.



A fun picture of us with our friends.



Here are some of the details from the reception.  The tables were so pretty.  The picture doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea.





The cake.  We also had a groom's cake in the shape of the Corvette C6 Logo, since that was Brian's baby before we had real babies.  Unfortunately, that picture is in the missing film-to-digital file that I can't find at the moment.



We even had our names and the date printed on M&Ms.



Here we are coming into the reception.  Yes, I'm a nut.  The song that was playing was "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims.  That's just how we roll.  Our first dance song was "I Could Not Ask For More" by Sara Evans.



And here is Brian's best friend Spencer giving his toast.  As usual, I found him quite hilarious.



Father/daughter dance.  My dad was so proud.  We danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland.  He learned the words and sang to me the whole time.  I will always be Daddy's little girl.



The cake cutting.  We were nice.



By the time the bouquet and the garter stuff rolled around, the party had gotten pretty wild.  I told our fabulous DJ that he could play whatever people requested for the first two hours, but I wanted the last two hours to be like a night club.  And it was.



We danced.  And drank.  And some of us drank more than others.  Take my husband, for example.  This picture was during our last dance.  He didn't make it much past that.



What a night!  I am smiling a huge smile right now because I remember how awesome it all was.  Our families and friends made our wedding a night I will never forget!

And how could we forget?  We got the best wedding gift we could have asked for...our precious Rylie was born 9 months later.

Cruisin

I just got a comment on Facebook from Bryce's teacher that he was cruising around the shelf in the middle of the classroom today!  Yay!

He actually started cruising around to different sides of his activity table over the weekend, but I never saw him do it.  I would set him down and go do something and then when I looked again he would be on a different side.  Here is a picture my friend took, and it looks like he is getting ready to go.  Again, I wasn't around to see it.



So yeah, maybe he's just going to skip crawling all together.  Fine by me!  Walking is much cleaner.  :-)

Rylie's First Pedicure!

Last night I had to run over to the pedicure place to get my toenails fixed.  (I messed them up after my pedicure Sunday.)  When I was getting ready to leave Rylie was in the midst of a meltdown because she wanted to play outside longer, but her dad was about to pass out from heat exhaustion.  So I asked her if she wanted to go with me and she could get her toenails painted too.  She got so excited and grabbed her flip flops!

She sat in my lap while my toes got fixed and then it was her turn.  The lady put cotton in between her toes to spread them apart a little bit and I was surprised that she didn't mind that at all.  It took the woman like 30 minutes to paint Rylie's tiny little toenails, and I have no idea why.  They really don't even look that good.  But Rylie was grinning from ear to ear and she loves her pink toenails, so that is all that matters!



I was thinking about trying to find some of that polish made for little girls.  Has anyone ever used that stuff?  I know I'm going to have to use regular nail polish remover to take the current polish off (yeah, like she will EVER let me do that) and I hate the thought of putting those harsh chemicals on her skin.

I can't believe I ever said I wanted two boys! You certainly can't do that with a boy.  We are going to have so much fun together!!!

And Now We Wait

Bryce had his CT scan this morning.  Brian took him since he is a "short timer" and it is easier for him to miss work at the moment.  He didn't have to be sedated, so I am really relieved about that.  Brian said they swaddled him up but he managed to get a hand out within 5 seconds so he just held his hand and he did really well.  He said it was over by the time he started to get really agitated.

So now we wait.  The paper from the pediatrician said to contact them if we haven't heard back within a week, but there is no way I'll be waiting that long.  I will be calling them Friday if we haven't heard back by then.

I have good news on the ENT front!  Both kids had a follow up with the ENT yesterday and they are both doing great.  Bryce had a hearing test that he passed with flying colors.  Rylie's tubes are still in place, so they won't do another hearing test on her until they come out.  They were so good while we were there.  Bryce doesn't seem to have the white coat syndrome like Rylie did (even after all he has been through) and I think Rylie actually had fun.  She saw the guy that does the checkout when we went in and immediately asked for a lollipop, because she knows that is what she gets from him.  Too funny!

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, comments, etc. regarding Bryce!  It really means a lot to me.

McFatty Monday - Week 12

I gained about a half of a pound since last Monday. Boo. But honestly, I’m not discouraged.

Wanna know why?

Because I am now wearing ALL of my pre-Bryce clothes! I’m so excited! I put on some short-ish shorts and a tank top this weekend and I didn’t look all that disgusting! And I wore my bathing suit in front of friends and they didn’t shield their eyes or run away screaming! Now I just need to get some color on these pasty white legs of mine.

There is a downside to all of this, though. A couple months ago I got sick of not being able to wear my engagement/wedding rings, so I had them sized up. I honestly didn’t think I would lose weight so quickly and I just really wanted to wear my rings. My rings are palladium, so it was like $200 to get them sized. Not only that, but it was such a hassle too because of the material. Apparently they have to be welded with a special welder that only certain jewelers have. Yeah, so much for trying a new material. Well guess what? They are now getting too big. Ugh. Another 5 pounds and they’ll be falling off. I’m going to wait as long as I can, but I would be devastated if I lost these rings, so they’ll be getting sized (yet, again) soon.

All in all, though, I am really happy about the weight that I have lost. This hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. I have a feeling, though, that the next 10 pounds will be a little more difficult. I really wish I had time to exercise, but these days I just don’t. So I am really going to have to stop cheating so much on the weekends, I guess. Sigh.

I would love to hear how everyone else is doing on their weight loss journeys! Have a great week everyone!

Sunday Funnies And Other News

Happy Father's Day to my awesome dad, my wonderful husband and all of the other dads out there! I hope all of you have a great day!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I have never really liked the hot Florida summers, but I think this one is going to be pretty enjoyable. Rylie wants to put her bathing suit on the second she gets up in the morning, and then we just play outside all day. Between the swing set and the pool, our backyard is pretty darn fun!

My first Sunday funny is about a friend. This is just too good not to post. But I'll be nice and not tell you who it is. :-) We met up with some friends the other day and my friend had on two different colored flip flops! She had put two different ones on to get her husband's opinion on which one looked better, and ended up leaving the house like that. And as funny as it is, it just goes to show what happens when you have kids in the house...you get sidetracked very easily!

Usually when we get home in the evenings, Brian comes out to help get the kids out of the car. He always asks Rylie how her day was and they chit chat for a few minutes. Sometimes, though, he is busy cooking dinner and can't get outside. So the other day he didn't get outside to help until we were almost in and then we sat right down to eat. A little later Rylie says "Daddy, ask me how my day was." I guess she realized that she never talked about her day with her dad. It was so cute.

Friday we went out to eat again after we picked the kids up from school. I think this may be turning into a little routine we have. We go to IHOP and have breakfast for dinner. I realize it isn't the fanciest restaurant, but Rylie loves the food, the servers know us now and are always great to the kids, and we don't have to worry about Rylie being silly and disrupting anyone's nice dinner. Friday night she had blueberry pancakes. And here is a crappy cell phone picture to prove how much she enjoyed them...



After dinner Rylie decided to belt out the ABC song for the enjoyment of all of the other diners. I was trying to get her to sing a little softer, but she wanted to make sure everyone heard her. After her performance, a couple of the other people clapped for her. One couple was leaving the same time we did and started talking to Rylie and telling her how good she sings. Then the lady said "are you and mommy going to be making a nice dinner for daddy on Father's Day?" Rylie said "no, daddy cooks and then we eat it." (Yes, I have an awesome husband.)

Sometimes I call Bryce "Boo Boos". I have no idea where that came from, but when he fusses I'll say "It's OK Boo Boos." He was fussing in the car the other day and Rylie said "It's OK Boo Boos. Your mommy will be here soon." I thought it was so sweet and it just made me laugh that she called him that.

And in other news...

Rylie has slept the past two nights with no diaper on! She has been waking up dry every morning, so we decided to try it. The only thing is that when she wakes up and says "Daddy, come get me" we jump up and run up there and get her so we can get her to the potty if need be. But even then, she hasn't been going until like a half hour after she wakes up. Awesome!

Bryce has been eating "real" food! He is pretty much over baby food any more. He had spaghetti the other night and loved it! He has had a lot of watermelon, papaya and mango this weekend, and he also had pancakes this morning. I promise to get some pictures of the spaghetti feast posted soon!

The swing set is up!  Rylie is having so much fun!  I promise to get pictures of that up soon!

Speaking of the pictures...I have been so busy lately and just haven't really had much time for anything.  I am going to try to make some time for Brian to sit down and get them off the camera today.

And speaking of my lack of time...I'm sorry to all of my blogger friends that I haven't been by your blogs lately.  I promise I will get by and get caught up this week!  So be prepared for all the comments!

But for now, a certain little two year old REALLY wants me to put my bathing suit on and get in the pool with her.  I'm sure her brother will be up soon and that is where we will probably be for the rest of the day!  My parents are coming over to celebrate Father's Day so we'll be firing up the grill later and having a good dinner!

Have a great week everyone!!!

Winner!

The winner of the 4moms Cleanwater Infant Tub from my very first giveaway is...



Congratulations jsc123!  The winning comment was...

jsc123 said...
I am following via Twitter as jlsc123.

Thank you all so much for entering my first giveaway!  It was so much fun!  Check out today's Weekend Review of The Vintage Pearl and enter for a chance to win there too!