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

The meaning behind the name

Rylie Elizabeth Buman

Matt and I like names with meanings. In choosing a name for our baby girl we wanted something that she would live into, just like with Derek's name (meaning is gifted leader). Early on in our name picking I had suggested the name Rylie. It wasn't Matt's top choice, so we put it aside and continued looking for other names, but we kept coming back to the name. Finally, I looked up the meaning of the name Rylie and then we both knew that this was the perfect name for our baby girl.

Rylie means valiant and courageous. We are thrilled God has blessed us with a baby girl to raise up to know and love God. We will strive to help her live into her name, as one who is brave and shows courage and determination, standing up for what is right and good.

Elizabeth is the middle name we chose because we both liked that name. We did not want it to be her first name because we did not like any of the nicknames that came with it. After deciding on it as her middle name we asked our families for a list of female family names and sure enough Elizabeth was a family name on both sides. My Great Aunt Constance's middle name was Elizabeth and a relative on Matt's side of the family also had Elizabeth as a middle name. This was just a confirmation from God that we had chosen the right name for our girl.

We are grateful for Rylie Elizabeth and excited to see what God has in store for her life!

Rylie's 2nd Week
At Rylie's 2 week weight check she weighed 7 lbs 7 oz meaning she gained 9 oz in 1 week! I am so thankful that breastfeeding this time around has been a breeze!! She has been sleeping 2 - 3 hour stretches at night and for that I am grateful. She seems to have a few fussy hours each night around 7:30 (thankfully just after Derek goes to bed). We have been swaddling her and rocking her to calm her down. I am looking forward to when this stage passes, but glad that Matt is home at this time to hold her so I can get a break. For the most part she is a very content baby and will sleep through anything! She sleeps in the Pack 'n Play, bouncer and car seat most often during the day and has been sleeping in her crib at night since her 3rd day home from the hospital. We love our baby girl!!

Rylie got her first bath!

Cute toes & feet after being in the Ergo

Pops holding Rylie for the first time!

Hugs and kisses from Mommy!

 Hanging out in the gym together!

Adjusting to Life with 2 kids
I know that Rylie is only 2.5 weeks old, but it sure is hard to get the timing of things together to get both kids out the door. I am used to picking up at a moments notice and going somewhere with Derek (without much in the diaper bag). Its hard to get used to a new way of doing things. It seems like it takes hours to just to get both kids into the car. I am ready to get out of the house and back to our normal routine, but it is challenging and most of the time overwhelming to think about all that needs to be done before we can leave. I know that it will get easier as time goes on and I will get a routine but right now that seems way down the road.

This afternoon we tried to head to Target to run a quick errand. I got Rylie in her car seat and Matt was getting Derek ready when Rylie burped and spit up. Then she needed to be fed...which meant at least 40 minutes before we could leave the house. At this point it was too late to go to Target because we wouldn't be home in time for dinner and that would create chaos for the entire evening. So...we scraped Target, I nursed Rylie, and Matt and Derek walked to the mailbox to get the mail. I was disappointed because I had wanted to get out of the house. At that moment it seemed like getting out of the house was impossible!! I know things will get easier, but I was just frustrated. Instead of going to Target we ate an early and relaxing dinner outside as a family. And to top it off a hot air balloon passed right over our house. Derek was so excited to see the hot air balloon. He loves "hah bahs" as he calls hot air balloons. I am grateful that God blessed us with a wonderful evening as a family.

On another note, this week Derek's afternoon nap has coincided with one of Rylie's nap too! Since we've had help for the past 3 weeks, I have been able to take a 1 hour nap each day too! For this I am grateful.

Thanks Pops!
Pops came to spend a week with us after Grammy and Auntie K left. We were very happy to have him as Matt traveled to D.C. for a conference. It was nice to have some help while he was gone. We are so thankful for all the help we have had. Derek had so much fun with "Pa" (as he calls him). It was so cute to watch them play together.

Pops and his grandkids