Smarty Pants

Cade just keeps getting smarter everyday. Some of the stuff he says just amazes us. He makes connections all the time. We are constantly cracking up at the things he says. He is very aware of the everyday things that go on. Since I am in the kitchen a lot making food, his new favorite thing is helping me cook or bake. He is always bringing me a bowl and saying, "Lets make something." We made cookies tonight and after he put his finger in the sugar he announced, "Sugar is soooo yummy!" But I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out!

Here is a picture of Cade playing at my feet while I made dinner. He was "making" cars.

                                                                   
He is also quite savvy with musical lyrics. This is a picture of Cade singing (he knows every word) to "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch of a local ball game.

However, he hasn't quite got the concept of Hide and Go Seek yet, or at least the hiding part. Here is what Cole found when he went in to find Cade "hiding."

He also loves to talk with family on the video phone. He is very aware/curious of who is there, when they leave, and where they are going. Whenever we call Shan on the phone, Cade says, "Matthews not there. Matthew is working." Here is a picture of Rylee, Cade, and Matthew when he stopped by for a quick visit. Thanks for coming Matthew!!

A Milestone Reached

Since having Rylee, I have slowly gotten back into doing some of our normal activities, but learning to do it with a second child. I have been really nervous to do this since I have this envision of me in a public place with Cade throwing his shoes in the trash, running quickly away, making a royal mess of the place as he knocks large stacks of things to the ground, Rylee screaming at the top of her lungs, poop smeared all up her back, me standing there not know what to do next, and a crowd of people gathering thinking, "Why on Earth can't this mother handle her children!" Maybe a little dramatic but not entirely impossible. As I have slowly gone on different outings-to the library, park, playgroups, a short errand run- I have added it to my list of things I can do. This has slowly built up my confidence in completed the one I have been dreading the most. But today  I did it!

I successfully completed a trip to the grocery store with both kids by myself! 
Not just a run-in-and-grab-a-few-things trip. Like a I-have-a-whole-list-and-this-could-take-an-hour trip.

This may sound funny to some but it totally felt like an accomplishment to me. I have totally been avoiding going to the store. I have been making sure either Cole is home with the kids or he is with me at the store. I am not sure why this has made me so nervous but it has. Some of my concerns: Rylee screaming nonstop, Cade knocking Rylee's car seat off the cart, Cade throwing food out of the cart faster than I can put it in, Cade not wanting to sit in the cart with food piled all around him, Cade jumping out of the cart, Cade walking by the cart and all of the sudden running away (yes-his running is a problem), Cade opening all the food I put into the cart, Cade throwing eggs at people one by one, you get the idea. But everything went so smoothly. Cade was a champ and Rylee slept the whole time! I know it probably won't go as smooth each time but I definitely feel like I could do it again.

I know I will probably look back on this in several years when I am doing way more with more than 2 kids and laugh at myself but hey, you have to start somewhere and I enjoy rejoicing in little accomplishments. :)

 Because I hate to post without a picture, here are the kids being festive. This was the best I got. Rylee was a little less than pleased the whole time.

Lego Face

Background: At our house, this is referred to as Lego fingers.



Cade loves his sister so much he is always wanting to include her in everything. While Cade was playing with his Legos he wanted Rylee to play too. He carefully arranged the Legos around Rylee and then announced  "Lego face!"

I am so looking forward to when they will interact and play together. I know it won't always be blissful sibling interactions but I am excited to watch them grow up together.

Rylee Photo Shoot

One of Cole's school mates offered to take photos of Rylee. That has got to be one of the best baby gifts you can give. Something that will last a lifetime and something you for sure are going to love. Usually when taking pictures of newborns you are bound to get some of them sleeping since they fall asleep so fast and so often. Not Rylee. She was wide eyed and awake the whole time.It was a plus because we can get pictures with her eyes open, but it also makes it difficult because they can't just be manuvered however you desire. So several meltdowns, poopy blankets, and spit up clothes later we got some good ones. We are loving our sweet little girl.

June Update

A month just went by and we have posted nothing!! We have not been terribly busy but adding another child to the family definetly fills any gaps of time I might of had to quickly post something. For me, June has mostly been trying to adjust to 2 kids and finding what I can call "normal" now. At times I have felt like I am totally up for the task and then at other times I am like, "how can anyone deal with two kids at once and stay sane!!" But for the most part things have gone smooth. Rylee is a sweet little girl and a relatively good baby. She likes to eat every 2 hours which makes the nights difflicult. Cade loves being a big brother and loves to help out with anything that has to do with Rylee. He also can't be in the same room as her without smothering her with tones of kisses. He is very affecionate with her.

Also in June I turned 25! Cole took me on a birthday trip to Dallas to see Wicked! I have been wanting to see it for so long and it was totally worth it! Cole is not a big musical fan but he loved it and it was fun to share the experience together.

Right before blowing out candles on a Cold Stone ice cream cake. Best. Cake. Ever.

 It was also fun to spend time with my family and to show off Rylee.Cade loves going to Mimi's house. He has so much fun there with all the new toys and other people to play with. Both kids did fairly well in the car (excpet when we lost AC. Quite the miserable experience. But it got fixed under warrenty-woo hoo!)

Here, we are all playing duck duck goose. As you can tell, he loves it. Whenever we are with other people Cade wants to play this. 

And the winner is...

Rylee!!!

Rylee (or Rylie) Michelle Ratcliffe

We woke up this morning not expecting the day we experienced. As of 11:00am, we had NO intentions of having a baby today. Our precious little girl arrived at 3:53pm this afternoon, weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and measuring 18 1/2 inches long.

Jenna checked-in to her 38 week appointment this morning at 11:00am. We got right in and the doctor checked to see if Jenna had advanced from her 3 cm dilation from last week. Initially, the doctor said: "Yeah I think you are still a 3." Followed by: "Wait. No. You are actually a 4, maybe 5." After further examination (how far the had baby dropped, discussion of Jenna's history, etc.), she asked "do you want to have this baby today?"

We hadn't planned to have the baby early and intended on waiting until the baby came on her own. The doctor informed us we could certainly do that, however, we may not have much time to get to the hospital once labor started. She suggested Jenna was essentially in "latent labor" and that she would continue to contract until they became steady or her water broke-and when that happened there was a good chance we wouldn't make it to the hospital (let alone have an epidural) before the baby came. Her recommendation was that me went to the hospital shortly after we left her office.

We arrived at the hospital around 12:15pm. They broke Jenna's water at 12:40, quickly administered the epidural, and by shortly after 3:00pm, Jenna had dilated to a 10. Jenna held off with the serious pushing until the doctor arrived. Three decent pushes and our daughter was in our arms. Three and a half hours from check-in to baby isn't too bad (for those of you who haven't experienced childbirth, it was short, but far from painless). We prayed that labor and delivery would go smoothly with little complications. We are grateful the Lord has answered our prayers and blessed us with a healthy beautiful mom and daughter. We (Jenna, Cole, & Cade) are ecstatic about our new addition. Here are just a handful of pictures:














In case your wondering, we're still deciding on a spelling preference. Any suggestions? We've ruled out Riley-and anything with a "leigh"-let us know what you think!