Rylee's first Rice Meal

I never thought I would be one of those mom's who take pictures of everything and post them everywhere, but until you have kids of your own, you don't realize how funny things are.
Rylee is 4 months old now and her Dr said to go ahead and give her rice cereal to get her ready for solid food, so we got her all set in her seat with her bib on and braced ourselves. She first looked at us like we were nuts, but actually has done really well adjusting to eating the rice. So I took pictures of course to torment her with when she is in high school.

Baby's 1st Christmas

In my family our tradition to have our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve in honor of my grandfather who passed away on Christmas Eve about 15 years ago. My family is a big part of my life, and we are all very involved with each other. My grandmother actually lives with my parents and has her own floor of the house and we are so blessed to have her around.

My sister and her husband, and their three kids were unfortunately forced to move out of their apartment into my parents home due to severe flooding in their apartment, the apartment is unlivable and had to move. In order to try and relieve some stress for my poor parents I cooked enough seasoned potatoes and bacon wrapped chicken to feed an army and somehow found time to make cupcakes for the little ones. We all gathered around and ate till we couldn't walk and then started to enjoy the kids sitting down to open their presents. So with the big group all together we had the kids open their presents first. They had a blast and there was no tears, even when the kids got clothes instead of toys.

Christmas Day it is our tradition to get up early and head to Bill's parents house in Puyallup, it is so much fun. This year was special because we were able to bring Rylee along and have her experience Christmas. I cant wait till next year, she will be so big by then. We started opening presents around 7am and then settled in for the morning nap, luckily Rylee slept then played with grandma while Bill and I took a nap. It started to snow and since our drive is about 50 minutes back home, we had to cut the day early since it was getting much worse it Kirkland. When we got home we let the dogs out and settled in for the cold rest of the day. It was nice to be with our families, then have our own family time at home.

Baby's 1st Thanksgiving

Rylee was dressed in her best for Thanksgiving, we ate way too much at my parents house, but enjoyed the company of my parents, brother and his two kids, and my sister, her husband and three kids.

Baby's first Halloween

Rylee was born with a lot of hair on her arms and back, and since she was born I have always called her "My little Monkey" and this has stuck as her little nick-name. So it was only fitting to dress her as this for Halloween. Our little Ghoul didn't make it very far into the night, but she looked darn cute while doing it.

Rylee Fritz

Rylee Fritz was born September 4, 2007, she decided she needed to arrive about 3 weeks early.

We checked into the hospital on Sunday Sept 2nd and upon leaving our house Bill asked if we should grab the baby bags, I told him we would probably be back home in about an hour or so, so for him not to worry about it. I was having a horrible migraine and assumed that I would just be checked out like previous and sent home. I couldn't have been more wrong. Our Dr at the time decided that I needed to be induced because I was showing signs of toxemia. So we waited a night and the next day a second Dr agreed we should go ahead and let Rylee have her day! We had a day to try and persuade her to grace us with her presence, but we ended up in the operating room the following morning.

So... on Tuesday September 4, 2007 at 8:32am we welcomed a 8lb 11oz, 20.5inches long baby girl. She is just the best, she takes long naps, sleeps 10 hours in a row, and has a full head of dark hair! She looks so much like her daddy but has my nose!

We had a bit of trouble after we got home, I had to be readmitted to the hospital with an enlarged heart and about 60lbs of fluid on my body. I had a hard time breathing and got to the point of not being able to even bend my legs due to the swelling. Bill and I went to the ER and I was admitted to the ICU for a couple days in order to stabilize, luckily Rylee was able to be admitted too, a few rooms down but at least I was able to be with her. Rylee was born with jaundice and needed light treatments anyway, so it at least made a horrible situation a little more bearable. Recovery was tough and a long process, and to make the situation a little more interesting, about 3 weeks after that I had a gall bladder attack and ended up in surgery again.

Time for a Blog.

We have had so many changes in the past year I decided it might be nice to create a blog and keep everyone updated on Bill and I, and of course the new little one.

We are living in Kirkland with our two crazy dogs and our little one, I work in Woodinville at my families cabinet company, and Bill is working for the University of Washington in Tacoma.