Derek 22 Month Update
Derek is our happy, sweet, thoughtful boy, who gives spontaneous hugs!! We LOVE you Derek and you bring us such joy. We are thankful God chose us to be your parents. Currently, his favorite books are I'm a Big Brother, Good Night Moon and Otis. His favorite TV shows are Bob the Builder ("Bob-oh") and Thomas the Train ("Ta-Ta"). I am so thankful for the long afternoon naps that Derek takes. He is pretty consistent with taking a 3 hour nap. This has been a life saver as I am adjusting to life with 2 kids. Here are a few things I have noticed about him this month. 

Derek LOVES his Padres hat! For 3 days in a row Derek wore his Padres hat all the time. He took naps with it on and went to bed with it on. We could only get him to take it off for a bath. It was pretty cute, but then we missed seeing his eyes!  

Derek LOVES pushing his dump truck down the slide at the park

 Derek LOVES being read to! Way to go Daddy for multi-tasking!

Derek LOVES building towers and knocking them down!

 Derek is a real physical kid and LOVES to run around. One afternoon Derek and I built an obstacle course of pillows. It was hours of fun!

YAY! All done!!

Derek LOVES his trucks!

Derek LOVES to get water from our fridge and now drinks primarily from a big boy cup.

Derek LOVES play dates with his best bud Zack!

Derek LOVES to help - even with cleaning.

 Derek LOVES to play outside!

Brotherly Love
I LOVE this series of pictures of Derek and Rylie. It just melts my heart. 

Rylie's Nursery 
Here are a few pictures of Rylie's nursery. I LOVE the way it turned out. 

I painted Rylie's letters lime green, put sparkles on them and outlined them with rhinestones.

This mobile was Matt's when he was a baby. Great Grandma D made it. We also hung it in Derek's nursery too.

 Final picture in Rylie's nursery the morning she was born (3-9-12).

Rylie 1 Month Update

I can't believe that Rylie is already 1 month old. This month has gone by so quickly. I feel like we were just bringing her home from the hospital. We are so grateful for all the help we've had this past month from family and friends as we adjust to life with 2 kids! Rylie continues to be a sweet and easy going baby. She sleeps just about anywhere and has naturally followed a schedule of feeding just about every 3 hours during the day. The last 2 nights she has even had a couple 4 hour stretches! Rylie has gone many places that Derek never went his first month, due to an active 21 month old. She has been to the zoo, swim lessons, park, play dates and grocery store multiple times this month. Rylie LOVES her soothie pacifier (Derek wouldn't take a pacifier) and this has been a great help for me when I am out with both kids.
Her 1 month well check stats are 9 lbs 1 oz (44%) and 21" (48%). From her 2 week well check to her 1 month well check she gained 26 oz!!! We just LOVE her chubby cheeks and she is beginning to smile at us too.
Rylie has gotten LOTS of love from her Big Brother! Derek just adores her. He gives her kisses all the time and makes sure that we bring her with us when we go somewhere. It just melts my heart to see how gentle he is with her. We just LOVE our sweet baby girl!

Easter Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa spent Easter weekend with us and met baby Rylie for the first time. It was great to have them visit. Derek LOVED playing with them. On Saturday before Easter, we walked to the elementary school at the end of our street for an Easter egg hunt. Derek had a great time picking up the eggs. This was his first Easter egg hunt and he caught on real fast! On the way there he thought it would be funny to wear his basket like a hat.

    

 

Later that day, Derek dyed eggs with Grandma.
 

On Easter morning we had another egg hunt on our backyard. Matt hid some plastic eggs and the eggs Derek had dyed. 

 

 Rylie got in on the action watching her big brother open his eggs! In each egg was money that Derek got to put in his bank.

 Derek got a scooter for Easter and was off to the races!

 Sweet baby Rylie in her Easter dress!
 

Easter photo with Grandma and Grandpa and Derek and Rylie
 

Rylie's Newborn Pictures