Florida Part 3: Christmas Eve and more!

Christmas Eve was different then what I'm used to. Only in the sense that we spent it on the beach, and not in snow! It was a good change! We went to lunch with Chaseys dad at step mom on the beach, and then took Rylee down to play in the sand and water. She was a little confused at first, but after a minute she loved it. She loved the sand. She would put it in her hands and watch it fall out. Then eventually the sand made it into her mouth! We put her feet in the water. It was pretty funny. When the water would hit her feet she would do her little snort laugh, and then would watch her feet sink into the sand. I think she would do okay being a beach baby! It was a beautiful day, but still too cold to get all the way in. there were some brave kids swimming, but I thin I'll wait until August to get in! I did put Ry by the water in her diaper. She didn't really like it. Like I said It was kind of cold! We only stayed a little bit, and then went home to take naps! We ended up going back down that night before going to Chaseys moms house. We took some nice pictures as the sun was setting. Once again Ry loved it! Everyone we passed made some comment about how cute Ry was, or how big her flower in her "hair" was! She loves the attention, so she would just smile a them! We had to be out at the farm house for dinner so we had to hurry. I wish we lived by the beach... I would be there everyday! We spent Christmas Eve with Jennifer and the girls. It was fun. Jen made Chili, and Lo made some cornbread. Chaseys family is alot of fun! That night ALL Chaseys friends came over. Its funny to see them all together, and hear all their stroies. I know Chase enjoyed seeing them all. After that we just kind of hung out with the family. We stayed up late talking and laughing. We tried watching a Christmas movie, but we couldn't get everyone in the same room at one time. We did open Christmas Jamas. They were all really cute!! The 3 girls jamas were like spandex, so when they put them on we were all laughing hysterical. Mine were super cute too, but the top was a tank top, so my garments were hanging out. We got a good laugh out of everyone!

Christmas Morning we woke up to Rylee rolling off the bed.... thud.... screaming.... not good! I'm glad it wasn't that high up. Aftera minute of hugging her she was all smiles again! Lindsey and Chasey made fresh orange juice for us.. mmmm! Then we opened presents. We all got so spoiled- ecspecially Ry! Her aunts LOVE her!!!! It was a good morning with everyone. We headed out to go To Chaseys dads house for lunch and gifts. We both have divorced parents, so holidays are always CRAZY!!! Its one house to the next all day. Sometimes I think the parents should have to come to us. Let us stay in one spot all day and relax! Christmas with Pat and dina was just as fun. WE got some family pictures, ate, opened gifts,a nd took naps! We got alot of nice things from everyone. One more stop... Grandpa and Grandma Jones'. Once again the whole family headed over to open more gifts and visit. We thought we were done visiting people for the day... nope. One of Chaseys friends was over at Aunt Melindas house, so off we went. I couldn't believe how well Ry did all day. Even at 9 at night she was all smiles for everyone! Chasey hung out with Bowen and Brad, and I got caught up with Shae. Rylee coldn't get enough of Mason. She never stopped screaming at him. poor kid. She was doing it out of love! After that stop we went home and we all fell asleep within minutes!!!

It was a great Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve lunch with Grandpa Oz

Grandma Dina and Ry

First time on the beach!

She was so happy

Trying to figure out what the sand was

Getting changed out of a wet sandy diaper

Christmas Eve Night

Daddy and Rylee

Mommy and Rylee

Christmas Eve at Jens

Rylee with Chaseys FriendsThe Boys

Group Shot

Mama B. Rylee had just woken up!

(These pictures are out of order)

Rylee at Grandpa Oz's house

Squeezing the oranges

Linds and Chase Christmas Morning

Mason and Rylee

Christmas Night at Melindas house

Christmas Day at Pat and Dinas

Great Grandpa Jones playing with Ry

Christmas Morning at Jens.

Linds gave her the cute swimsuit, and Lo gave her the bunny slippers! She looked so dang cute in both of them!

All tired out from opening gifts

Christmas Day

Chase and Lo

Christmas Morning

Chase, his sisters, and mom

Lindsey, Hailey, Jen, Lauren, Ry, Chase, Me

Pat and Dina's backyard

Family Picture by the orange tree

Linds sporting the Christmas bow

Grandma and Rylee opening presents

Christmas Dinner

It was fun to eat outside in the sun on Christmas Day. Something I have never done before.

Saying Goodbye!

We did not want to leave Florida at all. It was hard to leave the family and the weather! We had such a great time with everyone. Rylee loved all the attention she got from her grandparents and aunts. It was a little break for me and Chasey too. Someone always wanted to bathe her, change her, feed her, dress her, hold her, anything... it was so nice! We has an awesoem trip, and can't wait until August to go back!

Rylee in Grandpa Jones front yard right before we left

I love her face in this picture

Our last day

Rylee did so good flying home. She slept for about an hour, and then was up the rest of the time. She was so happy though! We jsut read her books, played patty cake, and loved on her! She is a good baby,so it made traveling with her a piece of cake! We layed her blankets across the tray tables and let her lay on her stomach and play. It worked nice until she figured she could roll off. My mom gave her a doll for Christmas that ended up being a life savor. If she was crying we gave her that and she would quit! Everyone on the plane commented on what a good baby she was, and how cute she was. We got a picture with her and the pilots as we were getting off. They were nice enough to let me take it!

We LOVED our time in Florida. It was a fantastic trip!!!

Family Pictures/ 6 months

Christmas pictures, Family pictures, and Ry's 6 months all rolled into one. these are just a few of them. I liked them for the most part. Sometimes photographers have you do such stupid poses. By the end Rylee would just stare at the girl who was waving around pom poms and screaming like a drunk cheerleader, trying to get her to smile. Even Rylee knew it wasn't funny- it was sad! She did good though, and we got some cute pictures!

Our Pre Florida Christmas

Instead of going to visit both sets of parents before we left for Florida. We had them over to our house for some appetizers and gifts. I stole the idea from my sister. Her family has the tradition of doing appetizers on Christmas Eve. It was really good, and really easy. We will probably do that every year now! I was glad that we could get together and see them before we left.

The Food!

We had spinach dip, salsa, cheese ball, little weinies wrapped in bacon and brown sugar, pie, shrimp, buffalo wings, and apple cider..... YUM!!! My mom kept giving Ry cherry pie- she was in heaven!

Opening gifts with the grandparents. They spoiled Ry and us!

We did our own Christmas after everyone left.

Santa brought a sled, a stroller, everyone new sweatshirts, a temple picture, and filled Ry's stocking with books, socks, beanie, mittens, and headbands. Chase and I gave her some movies, books, a Cabbage Patch Kid ( which she is scared of), clothes, and Jamas. She was so tired by the time we started opening them that it wasn't even fun. I had this whole thing pictured how it was going to go. We would take a cute picture in front of all her gifts in her new jamas. She would smile, and it would be so cute. then she would LOVE her Cabbage Patch Kid and laugh, and want to play with it. Then we would get a cute family pictures in our new Christmas Jamas by all our gifts and it would be PERFECT!!!!! Reality- Rylee hadn't napped all day so she was done by 8 that night. She screamed when I put her jamas on her. She hated her Cabbage Patch, she screamed then too. We didn't get a family picture, and the only picture of her is one with her eyes all red cause she had been screaming! There is always next year right!

We had a pretty smal Christmas this year, but it was a good one.