Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Here we go again!

We finally had our 20-week ultrasound this week! While the anticipation wasn't quite as nerve-racking this time around, I was very anxious to see our new baby and make sure everything was going well. To be honest, Josilyn keeps me so busy most days that I hardly have a chance to think about being pregnant, much less take the time to enjoy all the little kicks & flutters.

Thankfully baby passed with flying colors and is already proving to follow along in their big sisters footprints. Baby is currently positioned nicely across my belly in a horizontal fashion, with feet actually folded back up and over it's head. The heart rate was lower than Josilyn's ever was, at 144, but was just as active, if not more! Baby actually never stopped moving making it almost impossible to get a good profile picture. All of this has lead Ryan and I to both believe we're having a boy this time around (Josilyn was such a ham for the camera she had to be a girl). Baby also measured roughly a week ahead of schedule, so the odds of mom making it to the State Fair are looking pretty slim; guess Ryan will have to bring some greasy goodness home :)

Some other fun facts about this baby:
* I felt first flutters around16.5 weeks
* Ryan felt first kick at 18 weeks
* Baby seems to be becoming more and more active everyday
* At 20 weeks I am pretty sure my belly has popped and baby is starting to grow like a weed

Other news from the Tooley home, our house is still on the market and the showings keep flooding in! Now if only we could find the right person to walk through those doors and give us an offer. I am hoping to make it through the last couple weeks of this skating session, hopefully my balance can stay in check for a little longer.

The nicer weather has finally gotten us back outdoors and reuniting with all our old neighborhood friends, parks, and of course the ducks! So hopefully Mother Nature can figure things out and pick a (warm) season soon.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Where are you sun?

That is exactly what Josilyn asked this morning as we opened her blinds to a flurry of snowflakes. Not to mention a comment later in the afternoon regarding Santa.

Seriously Mother Nature, I don't know what we did to deserve all this snow and cold this year, but I hope the end result is an absolutely gorgeous spring and summer!

To distract our minds from the less than ideal weather and the annoying head colds we both seem to have, Josilyn and I decided to make the best of it by throwing a pool party/picnic this morning! Complete with swimsuits in the tub, pictures of sunshine and rainbows taped up on the windows, wearing our sunglasses and sandals around the house and a picnic in the living room with all her "guys". We will ignore the fact that I had to pull out one of the space heaters to keep us warm in our summer gear.

I think overall our attempt at summer was a success . . . Now it is time to clean up all the fun we had before my little beach-babe wakes up :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Up up and away . . . .

Leading up to our trip to Scottsdale I have been a ball of nerves. With Josilyn on medication for a double ear infection and Ryan and I both coming down with some sort of sinus cold I wasn't expecting an easy flight. Pile on to that Josilyn's recent transition into the "I want I want I want" stage and my anxiousness with flying in general and you can see why I was stressed.

Once again though, Josilyn proved Ryan and I wrong. She was pretty excited to go on the plane and handled the take off like a pro. Then like magic about forty minutes not the flight she asked for bunny & tags and laid down for a nap! And what a nap she took. She woke up thirty minutes before we landed, just as the pilot was announcing our desend. Seriously, this girl amazes me more and more everyday.

The best part is we didn't even have to break into the bag of new books, toys, movies and snacks I packed. Here's to hoping our flight home is just as easy.

And to the man a few rows ahead of us who told Josilyn he would give her a quarter if she was quiet for the entire flight; I don't know whether to thank you or be offended!

*** In case anyone was curious of just how Minnesotan we really are, Josilyn was out in the pool by 9:30 this morning. Air temp of 53 degrees, but you'd think it was 80. People were walking around in coats and pants while we sat outside in shorts and t shirts. Ahh sunshine!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

You just can't make this stuff up

Seriously! We all know that kids can be hilarious at times, and anyone with kids themselves probably thinks their kid is the funniest thing out there (as we should). Well this week seemed to be an exceptionally funny one with Miss Josilyn so I thought I'd share some of the highlights:

* while playing with toys before bed I was attempting to reiterate this importance of not only saying please and thank you but that you need to say it to the persons face. About ten minutes later Ryan came up with Josilyn's bedtime water. She ran over to grab it from him then ran back towards her room shouting "thank you to your face daddy!"

* playing before dinner one night Josilyn started yelling "I have a wigger, I have a wigger, help". After a split second of Ryan and I looking at one another trying to figure out what she was talking about while not laughing (seriously you had to be there) we figured out that she had a WEDGIE! After a few more "wigger" demands and holding back the tears of laughter we were successfully able to teach her to call wedgies a "wedger"

* leaving the store the sales clerk offered Josilyn a sticker for sitting so nicely (not true by the way). Josilyn stopped, looked at her and said "no thanks you little girl"

They say it's important to laugh everyday. If you haven't laughed yet today, find a toddler and have a quick chat with them. Odds are something hilarious will come from it!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The art of bribery

We ventured out of the house for the first time yesterday without a diaper or pull-up on! Granted we weren't gone for too long, but long enough to get all of our errands done and play out in the snow. My bribery tactic . . . Chocolate chip cookies and a big glass of milk. It worked like a charm. We kept our undies dry all day long! I think we may finally be getting this potty training thing figured out.

Other cute things going on right now:
* Josilyn has been really into giving hugs lately and saying things like, "thanks for coming over today." usually to Ryan at the end of the day. Or "thanks for playing with me." to me. It just melts your heart.
* Josilyn loves to sing, all sorts of nursery rhymes, Josilyn songs (from her CD), abc's, and the theme songs to some of her favorite PBS shows.
* Josilyn loves to watch herself on "TV". I recorded her playing on my phone a couple times and now she will wake up in the morning asking for "Josilyn shows"

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Winter wonderland ... if we had only stayed home!

Did anyone else notice the snow this weekend!? Wow. As a true MN girl there is nothing I love more in the winter than to enjoy a good snowfall/blizzard. What I wasn't expecting was to venture out in one of the strongest winter storms we've had in awhile, just to visit Santa!

Ryan's company has a huge holiday party every year for families with tons of fun activities for kids, costumed characters, entertainment and of course Santa and Mrs. Claus. After building up our visit all week, Ryan and I knew we had to follow through. What we didn't plan on were the massive amounts of snow. Being that Ryan's work is only 15 minutes away, we thought we could brave the blizzard conditions .... Um 45 minutes later we were only half way there and had already gotten stuck once. At this point though there was no turning back. Somehow Josilyn must have sensed the weather situation as it was the first time EVER that she was silent in the car.

We finally made it and were quite impressed by the number of other families willing to brave the snow. Josilyn had a blast making crafts, watching a magician, dancing, decorating a cookie - then quickly eating it and of course visiting with Santa. When asked what she wanted all she said was "A ball.". Hmm. Easy enough I guess. I'm thinking Santa shouldn't have any trouble granting that wish!

The only character she wouldn't go near was the Grinch. Smart girl I guess!

Hoping that the storm would have settled by the time we left was again wishful thinking. J and I waited inside for a half hour while Ryan dug our car out of the snowdrifts that had buried the car. Finally a good Samaritan came to our rescue and pulled him out. It took us close to 2hrs to get home and then we got stuck again just feet from our alley. I trucked through the snow with an exhausted daughter while Ryan and some way too nice neighbors dug us out again!

All in all it was a fun day for Josilyn, stressful day for Mom and exhausting day for Ry since he spent the rest of the evening digging out 6 of our neighbors. Oh how I really do love winter and MN nice!!!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Dancing, dancing and a trip to the doc

What a fun weekend we had; we were able to attend our first wedding as a family of 3! Well I guess I should say we were all able to attend the reception since the ceremony fell right in the middle of Josilyn's nap.

My brother's best friend, Darren, got married to his perfect girl, Mandy. The ceremony was beautiful. I love weddings. Cake aside it's always a nice reminder to reflect back to your own wedding and to be thankful you too found that perfect person :) Thankfully everything was pretty close to Apple Valley so I was able to pick up Josilyn and Ryan after the ceremony and head to the reception.

There is nothing cuter than little girls in fancy dresses. I could just melt. Ryan did a great job of getting Josilyn ready ... I just needed to do the finishing touch. The hair. Josilyn did great during dinner. She devoured her chicken nuggets, french fries and bucket of ketchup. I think this might have been one of the first meals we were able to all eat when it was still HOT. Oh and the cake ... was ... amazing. Thank goodness they put an extra piece on our table so that I could eat mine, part of Josilyn's and the spare. Yum.

True to Tooley fashion, our girl loved the dance floor. The lights. The music. The ten other little girls all movin' and grovin'. We finally had to peel her away at around 10:15. Oh and the tears came a running. We thought for sure she'd fall asleep before we left the parking lot, but she made it almost the whole way home. Then woke up and proceeded to talk to her "guys" in bed for another ten minutes. We're thinking she had an excellent time.

Sunday we all got to sleep in a little. Again thank you Darren and Mandy for all the dancing! Then we had a fun-filled playdate with cousin Finley where the girls danced to the Elmo slide multiple times. Adorable.

To wrap it all up, this morning Josilyn and I headed to see Dr. Allen for her 2-yr check-up. Being the increasingly independent girl she chose to wear her blue/white striped leggings with a navy blue frog t-shirt, pink sparkle princess shoes, her baseball cap and her purple tu-tu. What a sight we were walking in. She was so proud, how could I do anything but smile right along with her. The visit went great, 3 shots, a couple tears and a cookie waiting in the car with Ernie and we were on our way home.

Here are her stats:
Height: 34" Weight: 30 lbs. 8 oz. Head: 19 3/4" (off the charts ... that's a Tooley head for you)

Doc Allen said she is doing wonderfully and reminded me that the attitude of a toddler is similar to that of a teenager, oh boy, that sounds a little scary!