February

I really should be studying for my occlusion class that I have an exam in tomorrow, but I thought I would just post a few things since I haven't in a while. I am amazed at some people that they can put together these long orchestrated posts together (i.e. Tad's blog). I usually just give the update on how Rylee is doing and call it good. We have had a busy month but I don't have as many pictures this time. I think we just got busy and I get tired of taking pictures inside of our apartment at night because everything has a yellow glare to it. Anyway, we got a car a couple of weeks ago to replace the car that I had before. Heather and I are still getting used to the fact that we can go to different places at the same time. My friend that I carpooled with over the first semester moved and we figured that we needed to do something different. We ended up getting a good deal on a Honda Accord and hope that it will last us forever.

Before I move on to the pictures, you have to check this video out of a baseball prank. I thought it was funny.

Another big thing that happened was that I officially joined the US Air Force and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. I will serve for three years after I finish dental school. We are excited about the opportunity.

The commissioning part...

...and pinning on my gold bars. Rylee thinks they are cool.

Now for Rylee. She is showing her personality more and more now. It's tough for others to understand because she gets shy around people. She likes playing with her friends and likes to watch her select movies. Currently they are Clifford ("Red Dog"), Shrek ("Shrek"), and High School Musical 2 ("Kids"). In a way, she reminds me of my sister Amy because I can remember a little bit of how she acted at this age. Rylee also looks a little like Amy did with her brown eyes. I took this video of her today that I hope you like. She is just acting like Rylee.

Pretty Girl

I thought I would add a few more pictures of Rylee getting dressed up. We think she is pretty cute. She likes being the center of attention, but I still have to run around in circles trying to get a somewhat decent picture of her.

Hanging out in her dress after church.

She is playing with Little Mermaid dress up kit.

And talking on one of her many dead cellphones.

Crayola Factory

During our time in Pennsylvania over the break, we stopped off at the Crayola Factory/National Canal Museum in Easton, PA. The Crayola Factory had tons of different activities for kids to do. Just imagine a giant room with all of the crayons and markers that you can think of. Rylee only wanted to draw for a bit though, as expected. I enjoyed the canal museum more though because it explained how canals worked and had hands-on activities built into it. So if you are ever in Easton you should check it out.

Rylee liked getting into the water with her canal boat.

I'm pretty sure that this was Rylee's favorite part of the trip. We stopped off at the gift shop to look around and Rylee spotted this shopping cart and loaded it with stuffed crayons. She kept going around the store loading and unloading more items in her cart seemingly knowing exactly what she was up to. It was funny to watch.

Merry Christmas...finally

So it has been a while since Christmas, but I have been slacking on the blog posts. We had a lot of fun down in Pennsylvania at Heather's parents' house. Rylee enjoyed seeing her relatives and still believes that Brian, Dalene, and Josh are in their cars coming to visit her. Rylee also had a fun time opening her presents. She would stand by her presents with such anticipation and wanting to play with each one before the next present was unwrapped. We brought presents down from Buffalo with us and managed to fit everything Santa and other family members gave her in our Corolla on the way back.

Rylee loves her big lion and her Radio Flyer car. The one downside is that she has to have keys in her hand before she will sit down at the wheel.

She started to understand the concept of tearing wrapping paper, but she got tired by the end.

Rylee loved spending time with her Uncle Brian.

We dressed Rylee up in one of the outfits her Grandma Davis (and Amy) picked out for her. She actually keeps her cupcake hat on her head. She also enjoys carrying around purses so this one was great. We routinely find surprises hiding out inside.

Fun in the Snow

Rylee got her first real experience out in the snow today. Heather dressed her up with so many layers that she could barely move. The second picture is of Rylee on the snow and she can't roll or get up. Well, at least she stayed warm.

Cold Weather

Winter has finally hit Buffalo. Most of the big storms are hitting south of us so far but it is getting pretty cold with strong winds. I didn't intend this to be a weather report because you can check that on your own if you like. I wanted to post a few more pictures on here. I actually brought my camera with me lately (and took pictures) so I have more to share.

Rylee sporting a hat and mittens

Rylee making sugar cookies before Thanksgiving. We only found one cookie cutter so we had to settle with hearts.

Rylee helping her Grandma Olson with cooking

We enjoyed the warm weather right before Thanksgiving down in Pennsylvania

Almost 200

So we went bowling yesterday for a dental school activity. I got really lucky and bowled 5 strikes in a row and ended up with a 196. It was my highest score ever but I rolled a lousy 1 on my last ball after a spare in the tenth. I could have easily passed 200. Anyway, Rylee thought it was a blast to push a ball down the lane. She got an 80 with bumpers...not bad.