Baby Ry--Our Blond Cutie Pie

Lemonade Anyone?

2011-05-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

When Ryan gets an itch, you'd better get out of her way!!...
For Easter she had Cory put up a sign and hang it on the mantle for all to see: "Easter is coming and we need more Easter decorations!" She then commenced to have him braid some pastel material and hang it from the stairs. Next she got an 18 holder egg carton, colored it and displayed it on the mantle. Finally she found some wrapping paper, cut a huge piece, turned it to the white side and drew a gigantic easter bunny complete with basket and eggs in hand--colored, made me write "hoppy easter" on it and taped it to the wall...you get the picture.

For Graf and Dad's birthday she decided there were not enough decorations that morning. She demanded we go get more or they would not have a good birthday. We promptly went to Party City where she picked out some balloons, party hats, noise makers, and dangly Happy Birthday signs. Done!

LEMONADE ANYONE? Want a VHS tape to go with it? With a permanent wave, smile, and pointing gesture toward the table, she was able to make $15.00 in one hour...what a girl!

2011-05-10T17:37:00.001-07:00

Ryan turns 5!!

Ryan is 5!!! Lorin woke up first on Ryan's birthday and had a special breakfast prepared for the birthday girl complete with her favorite bowl of cereal and a happy b-day note...so sweet!

We partied like there was no tomorrow. Queen Ryan got to hide eggs for her guests. They found them and then had to do what the note said--basically entertain the queen in some really funny ways. It was a good 'ol time. By the end of the day (after Chuck E Cheese) she was exhausted!

Some fun tidbits about Ryan: She says things like "Yes, Izzy is a little more distracted than I am" when I asked why she was the only one with her pj's on like I requested. She also catches lizards and HUGE spiders and tells them how cute they are while petting and manipulating. She's a one of a kind. We love her!!

4 Years Old!

2010-03-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ryan is so excited to be a big sister (and don't you dare call her little) in another month. I, on the other hand, wish she'd stay small forever! She has been a great mix of spunk and cuddle. She prefers to be at home pretending, building, coloring, cutting, pasting, dressing up--but she also finds a way to make life fun grocery shopping, at the gym, at doctor appointments, and helping me work. The job that she's best at is putting the silverware away. But if you ask her to clean her room--she'll basically let Izzy do it all unless she hears you coming then she'll quickly stop playing and act busy (obviously I've caught her in the act a few times).

Sample Ryan Prayer (picture a pretty good lisp on "s" sounds--I love it!): "Please bless Dad on his mission and Grandma on her trip...please help us not to say bad words like stupid and dumb and kill...please bless Dad to look both ways when he crosses the street...please bless the baby in Mom's tummy...I have a testimony of Jesus..."

I'd say her absolute favorite time of the day is early morning or after school--whenever sisters are around! Presently I hear her yelling "I beg for mercy, Lorin! . . . come on Izzy, we've got to run!"

"Dammits," Super Fluff Bunny, and Manipulation

2010-01-26T06:50:00.001-08:00

So I was reminded by Kelli the other day that her favorite memory from our Christmas in Colorado was when Ryan called the other kids "dammits." Yes, angry. Yes, knew it was a name she shouldn't be calling kids. No, I have no idea where she heard it.

Ryan headed out of nursery and into primary this month. The first thing her teacher told me after the first day was "Ryan is very smart...and...very manipulative." I cringed a little knowing full well what she meant, but hoping Ryan hadn't given her too hard of a time. I guess Ryan had been using key phrases that she knew would work to get more Coco Roo snacks from the teacher like "I'm getting tired...I think I want to go to my mom." Then at the end when volunteers were asked for to say the prayer, she simply told the other kids "I'm the one that raised my hand, so I guess I get to say the prayer." And she did.
Meanwhile, every day is a new costume. When super batman is at library storytime, it's a big deal! And when Super Fluff Bunny is pushing her own small cart at the grocery store and saying things like "that looks disgusting...I would never eat that," people listen!

I'm happy to report that when she puts her arms around my neck and says "I like you mommy...and I love you too" and then gives me a nicely sucioned kiss on the lips, I don't give in to everything she wants every time :)

I love my Mummy

2009-11-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

She has a shirt with this phrase on it and she loved repeating it...she's been wanting to be a scary mummy for a month now. Hallelujah it finally came!

Scared of a Puppet?

2009-10-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

Ode to the Texas State Fair! What a riot!

Well, among a fabulous, giraffe-included petting zoo, a professional dog show, a $5.00 a piece amusement ride, and fried cheesecake, Ryan was picked out of the audience at the puppet show. She was raising that hand as high as she could, standing on my legs. Then she got picked...uh oh!! Basically I walked her down there as she whimpered and sat her on the step by the other two volunteers. Her face was priceless and she got a lot of "oooo's". She looked terrified. Each time she shied away from the honestly creepy looking Wizard of Oz characters, the audience gave her more attention. On the way back to her seat she was saying "that was so awesome!" So I guess I'm, once again, not too mean after all.

Good times!

Swimming and Stitching the Summer away

2009-08-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

Ryan has gobbled this summer up at her bouncy, fun age. At 3 years old she is swimming like a Texas fish. She is also keeping up with sisters, Utah aunts, and Idaho cousins. I'd say about the only thing she hasn't been up for is 4th of July fire works (don't have any pics of her burying her head in my armpit trying to escape the next bang). Here are some shots of her highlights:

Cooking with her oldest cousin and fellow blondie, Justine.

Playing at the campout with Carter--just 3 weeks age diff.
Quite the great story of Ryan bashing her head open after falling off the back of the couch in Grandma Kofoed's house. Just a routine riot with the cousins that ended painfully (it's amazing more don't really). To make a long story short, she won the nurse and doctor over so thoroughly that they gave me my own staple puller (well, actually a stapler too to practice with). "I think this pink looks kind of really beautiful on me."Cousin Sam taught her all she needed to know about chicken catching and dunking!You should have seen her rolling and braiding her own bread dough at the French Culinary doll party.

And yeah, this happened a lot too :)

2009-06-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Ryan: Mom, can I PLEASE have a waffle with apple sauce and syrup!

Me: Oh man, I forgot didn't I? (I told her I would a bit ago)

~She leaves and comes back to find me doing dishes.

Ryan: Mom, can I have a skinkin' waffle!!

Me: Yes, it just popped up (Ego), now I will make it.

Ryan: Oh my gosh! You are so rediculous!

~Needless to say the girly's got spunk! Luckily she makes up for it plenty with all the love she passes out too!

We had to take this shot. If she can't get her "stinkin' shirt" off, it's a big to-do on a regular basis!

Some of that love I was talking about. Unfortunately her good friend, Evan Baird, moved away recently :(

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2009-04-04T17:30:00.001-07:00

So my baby is 3!! We got to celebrate Ryan's birthday with some Idaho cousins--Lindsay, Tyler, and Alli. As you can see with this cheesy smile, she felt like the queen for a day. She has been telling people for a month or two now when they ask her age..."2...and March 27th."

Something I've been getting a kick out of lately is Ryan's night-time potty routine. She usually gets up twice a night and has me go with her to go potty. A few nights ago I heard her scream in frustration, so I went up and said "I think you need to go potty." Her response: "I totally do...I was screamin' like the dickins!" All other nights she just chats my ear off while I'm pulling her pants down, lifting her up, leaning her forward so as not to have any upward projectile, etc. I hear "That's amazing...I'm still potty trained." And "I love thunder, it's nice." (btw: she hates thunder, it scares her.) And "orange juice is so yummy...slurp!" Be it 3 a.m., I still have to smile.

Note the Little Mermaid doll next to her. All other gifts were thrust to the side upon receiving this doll--we promptly went swimming after the b-day and Ariel was a big hit at the pool.
Ryan weighed in at 27.6 lbs (25th percentile) and 34 inches (5th percentile). For such a little squirt she's got a lot to say and do all the time. One of her favorites is puzzles. She can put a 25 peice puzzle together in about 2 minutes--we get a kick out of seeing her all focused and persistent.
This JCPenney photo shoot came out with much better pictures than it felt like we were going to get. She is in the squinty eyes / fake smile stage as well as she got bored of the whole thing really fast.

She's still our little blonde cutie pie--we can't let her grow up :).

Poopin' on the Pot (and More)

2009-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

So I've decided potty training is harder than labor! Having said that, Ryan started a rigorous potty-training regiment...we're talking boot-camp...on December 26th and was fully potty-trained (including night time) by the morning of January 1. Happy Birthday to Me!!

She started out brilliantly and then decided to "hold it" until nap/night time when I'd put on her pull-ups. She's old enough and smart enough (not to mention she showed me she knew how at first) that I knew she was aware of her tactics. We're talking 2 hours of me sitting by her reading books, letting her watch a movie while sitting on her port-o-potty after 3 sippies full of orange juice. Nothing. Lorin and Izzy even came in with their dollies and practiced grunting noises with Ryan. Nothing. Anyway, a few pooping accidents about put me over the edge. But she finally decided Mom was not going to give up and, like I said, figured it out a few days later.
We went to the lake about 10 min away on Dec. 31--can you believe it was nice enough to strip down? I didn't come prepared for swimming--pull-ups and socks will do :)
I posted Christmas stuff on the family blog, but here's one of Ryan getting what she asked Santa for.

Zoo and Stripping Down

2008-11-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

All the animals were out...including mine :) We had a great time and soon had to strip our sweaters off in the November heat (go Texas).

Ryan has really enjoyed taking her clothes off everywhere we go lately. Today I finished chatting to a friend and then followed her into the bathroom stall. I remembered hearing her say she had to go to the bathroom after which I told her to go in her diaper. I found her completely naked in that 10 seconds I gave her.

"Then I won't be beautiful!"

2008-10-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

Ryan wears a princess dress on a regular basis these days. Usually it is a size 6 Cinderella dress that she has to pull up to her forehead to walk in. On her Joy School party day I convinced her Sleeping Beauty was the way to go. As she admired herself in the mirror she said "Now all my friends will look at me." Oh the vanity. But when I finally force her out of the dress (rules for no dress: Going places, eating, and sleeping) she says "Then I won't be beautiful anymore." I'd like to say that I then remind her of her inner-beauty, but no I remind her that she's still got pretty blue eyes and beautiful blond hair even without the dress.

She particularly liked her pink legs and said "I think pink is my favorite color."

All I had to say was "show me your pretty makeup..."

Texas Baby!

2008-08-26T14:42:00.001-07:00

Ryan is loving Texas! She tries hard to stay cool as you can see :) When we got here I moved her out of the crib and into her very first big girl bed in a pink room with Izzy. Though she now has the liberty to get out of bed 495 times a night, she has done a pretty good job with the transition.Now this is the face that when (FUNNY STORY coming on) she looked at me after eating everybody's dished-up mandarine oranges (unbeknownst to the rest of us working on the spaghetti) and said "It's ok, I'm on steroids!" I just laughed and gave her a big hug. Cory would say I spoil her, hmmm.

Goes and goes and keeps up with Lorin and Izzy all day. Every once in a while....

3 Months of Idaho and Utah

2008-08-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ryan's Grandpa Kofoed passed away on July 10, 2008. I wish so badly that she could have spent more time in this life with my hero, my daddy.
Ryan soaks life up--drinks it all in. I adore this cutie pie.
Bunsies is what we call these :)

Bear Lake Baby loved to play in the "pee ponds" and dig in the sand.

The Dreaded Schoolbus

2008-04-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Ryan has decided she's afraid of school buses and if Lorin tells her the bus is going to get her she screams "no, I don't want to." Well today she faced her fears!

Ryan graduated from Ross Kids today (Dean Dolan shaking her hand). We got some cute shots of her on the grounds of the Michigan Union Building. Then we went to Lorin's school to celebrate her last day there...hence the school bus shot :)

2 Year Check Up

2008-04-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Ryan weighed in at 23.6 lbs today and is in the 12th percentile. Her height is 37%. And her head is 85% which is funny--all that hair must cover it up good ;) Then she got a shot in her leg and really didn't like it much. We were also chastised for not making her drink more milk. So, tonight for dinner I made chocolate-chip pancakes and would only allow milk as the beverage. When Ryan got ticked and spilled it on her tray Cory told her she'd have to get more shots if she didn't drink the milk. Not kidding...we filled that glass up again and she guzzled it like a champ!! HILLARIOUS!

These are shots from Myra Klarman at Izzy's Make-A-Wish photo shoot. Can't help but grab a couple of this adorable one too :)

EASTER

2008-03-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan absolutely loved the Easter festivities! I guess it's only Santa that she's afraid of (hillarious!).
The dipping was actually less frequent then the cracking and eating :)
The girl didn't need any help at all getting in with the big kids finding the hidden eggs. Notice the snow at the end of March...thank you Michigan!

Friday Night / Saturday Morning the Easter Bunny came and hid our shoes (a long-time Kofoed tradition) and each girl's treasure hunt notes and dropped off some candy.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2008-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

We continue to try and party as much as possible with Ann Arbor friends and used Ryan's HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY as an excuse this time. We spent Thursday night in a 3-room suite at an indoor waterpark in Ohio with the Maynors and the Ingmires. We had such a fun time!
Ryan is such a happy-go-lucky kid that she brings a constant smile to the on-lookers. She loved walking around the hotel room playing make-believe with Willa's new penguin. She also continues to tell people about the bug show at Disney World..."Hey, member dat bug show?!" Then she talks about the water (acid from the bug) dripping on her. When she gets tired she just wants to put her face right in to my neck and lay her head on my shoulder--I absolutely adore the snuggling from her.

I never want to forget Ryan as a brand new 2 year old.

Disney World: Wishes Do Came True

2008-03-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing trip to Disney World this last week. Thanks to everybody who helped us get excited about and ready for the trip--UM Stars, Disney bucks, Disney toys, Make-a-wish, Give Kids the World and the amusement parks. Ryan has been stuck inside all winter and she is an out-doorsy type chick, so this was perfect for her.

Warning: Slew of pictures to follow.

Monday
We knew that we were in for a fantastic vacation when the limo showed up to pick us up in the morning and take us to the airport.

We spent the rest of the day at the Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) that was a mini Magic Kingdom where we stayed for the whole week.

(They had free ice cream at GKTW, and the shop was open from 7 AM to 9 PM. You can guess how many trips we made there.)

Tuesday
Tuesday we took the Magic Kingdom down to china town. They gave us a permanent fast pass to use on all of the attractions which was incredible, but it also made for a day of little breaks as we went from ride to ride to ride.

(Ryan rode around in our makeshift bed when she was tired--one day taking a 2 hour nap.)

(We had a sweet Florida rain storm hit us as we were heading to our car for the night--Yes, I was excited)

Wednesday
We spent another fun filled day at Disney World, specifically Animal Kingdom in the morning and then Magic Kingdom in the afternoon when the girls had their dinner with the Princesses.

Thursday
Thursday morning we spent some quality time with Mickie and Minnie and then headed to Sea World to hang with the dolphins and friends. Ryan wouldn't try feeding the sting rays and the dolphins, but she was intrigued. That night GKTW had a Christmas parade during which Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up.

(Dang I look good in this one. The girls were wearing me out.)

(Ryan absolutely loved the dressed up characters and wanted to keep touching them and giving them hugs constantly. She WOULD NOT sit on Santa's lap however--hmmm :)

Friday
We decided to take a day trip to the East Coast and let the girls get their first taste of the ocean and a little sunburn. That night the girls had a Princess party at GKTW.

Saturday
Our plane didn't leave until 7 PM so naturally we decided to spend some more quality time at Disney World after one last ride on the GKTW carousel. We rode on this carousel literally 5 times a day, every day of the week. I got close to puking a few times.

(Ryan did an amazing job keeping up with us all, but there were times when she just crashed out of the blue--this one was right after a hot-tub bubble bath.)
An Amazing Trip
After 24 carousel rides, 10 rounds of Buzz Lightyear's Coaster, 2 rides on It's a Small World, 1 ride on every spin in a circle and go up and down attraction, an African safari, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shamu, sting-rays, dolphins, a trip to the beach, 3 days at Disney World and one day at Sea-World our little Izzy's wish was fulfilled and our family has more strength to keep fighting.

Thanks again to everyone who made the trip a reality.

Detroit Auto Show

2008-01-27T10:52:00.001-08:00

Ryan loves the grass in the summer, the leaves in the fall, and the snow in the winter. She is a fresh-air girl. These pics are a little late getting posted, right now it is winter. Every trip we make to or from the car (if we're lucky it's not 20 below and we can actually take the time to play a bit) she has to have a handful of snow to suck on. Then she comes to me with hurting/frozen hands and wants me to rub them.

We went to the Detroit Auto Show. It was very hard to keep track of our almost-two-year-old as there were way too many people and she wanted to be down and running. She fell asleep on my shoulder for the last half hour.

In reference to last post where I said she talks way too much for her age. Some of the new things she has said are "I want to watch a movie with Izzy,"...yes that full sentence, mind you. And then today she said, "I tooted, Mommy, is that funny?"

Ryan: Providing 21 Months of Love and Laughter

2008-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

"Baby Ry" is one of the cutest, smartest and spunkiest kids I've ever met. She holds the attention of her Mom, Dad, and 2 sisters almost constantly.

Tags and her thumb are what soothe her--and of course Mommy is always the cherry on top. But she doesn't just like the tag on her blankie, she will take any tag--shirt tag, stuffed toy tag, hat tag. She finds one and cruises with it.

She talks way too much for a kid her age. Our favorite phrase from her (that we totally should not provoke but we do) is "what the heck?!" with the perfect voice rise on "heck." Recently she let Dad help her with her first family prayer. She understands so much that when Cory was having her repeat the names of each of us ("thankful for Lorin, Izzy....") and when he got to "Ryan" she just stopped and looked at him thinking he was saying her name to get her attention. Then at the end she articulated "Jesus Chist" (no "r") almost perfectly. Izzy and Lorin couldn't stop giggling the whole prayer because of how cute it was.

Other favorite phrases:
--"Dot Mom" (when fixing her hair while tyring to knock my hand away--learned from Lorin);
--"Help me out?" (instead of just "help"--so cute.)
--"no want to"
--"mo" (more) and "all done" with sign language thanks to Grandma Costley bootcamp this summer while she was in Utah with Lorin, I was here with Izzy and Cancer Center stuff, and Cory was in Dallas doing his internship. she also puts her blanket under her highchair automatically and no longer takes a bottle, and sleeps through the night--thank you Grandma Costley!
--screaming "no" at Cory when asked if he can squeeze her guts.

FUNNY STORY:
We had hamsters for a few months. Well, Lorin started putting them on Ryan's head (actually Cory started it I believe). At first she wasn't sure about it. Then she started putting them on her own head and preferring to keep them there. The problem was her arms couldn't quite reach them most of the time, but when she did snag one, her fine-motor skills weren't refined enough to convince me they weren't getting squished by those chubby little hands--eek! (of course she had already fallen and squished one of them when it was a tiny pink baby.)

More Baby-Ry:
She has become extremely independent with all this cancer business. When she's hungry she goes to the cupboard, finds a snack, finds a bowl, puts a few in it and vwala!

She loves helping. When Izzy isn't feeling well she will say "Ohhhhh" (with great voice inflection) while patting her. She pushes Izzy on the little Pooh Train. She loves saying "Izzy shot....ochie" (not owie like normal, more like awchie) referring to Izzy's blood-thinning shots.

Finally, she is a little diva. She requires her own room. Yes, she pushed Izzy and Lolo out of their rooms and onto the floor in our room. What can she say...light sleeper :) With her cute little face and flashy blond hair she walks through this world like a super star! We can't get enough of her!