A Charleston Kind of New Year

Once she went mobile, it didn't take Rylee long to figure out she could pull up on things, stand, and bonk her head on any and everything. Never a dull moment for sure.

A few days after Christmas, we headed to Charleston, SC to ring in the New Year with the Millers and the Steiners. What a way to say goodbye to the year of Rylee's birth and hello to the year of her first birthday (scary!)

Having all 3 Steiner babies under one roof was quite an experience. Rylee had a great time hanging with her cousins Mason and Avery and getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. She learned some new tricks and had fun showing off her new skills. She also got to go down her first slide, swing on her first swing, and see her first fireworks! Avery teaching Rylee how to use the big kid toys

By the end of the week Avery had finally gotten used to sharing with not one but two babies. Said sharing is pictured here, as she generously piled every toy she owns in front of Rylee, who didn't quite know where to start

Pulling up and standing are all the rage

Steiner cousins! Woop, woop!

Grandma didn't quite want to let us go home

Soundtrack brought to you by the musical genius of Avery and Grandpa

Inspecting Mason... she gave him the seal of approval

Mason outweighs and outlengths Rylee already and he is 7 weeks younger. Here is Uncle Sean, building up his biceps.

This supercool toy made Rylee want to take up permanent residence in the Palmetto State. She has already requested one for her first birthday.

Weeeeeee!

Swinging with Mommy

Fortunately, she is still young enough to appreciate Grandpa's jokes

Crawlin' Around the Christmas Tree

Rylee officially started crawling about 10 days before her first Christmas, so the holiday season was a lot of fun for everyone, including Mommy, who spends a lot of her time chasing her around now. It didn't take long for us to realize we needed baby gates and we needed them like yesterday. The tree only lasted about 24 hours before we installed a fortress around it to protect not only Rylee, but the tree and ornaments as well.

We stayed in Louisville this year and spent Christmas with the Hobens. We were very happy to have all 3 kiddos at home with us for this very special first Christmas. Here are some of our merriest moments for you to share: Getting the hang of this unwrapping thing

Before the fortress went up around the tree..

Santa brought Rylee her very first kitchen, so she can start training to be Mommy's sous chef

Christmas sprouts

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Our 3 favorite gifts

Waiting in line to see Santa... and waiting... and waiting...

All bundled up and on the hunt for the perfect tree!!

Our Butterball

Rylee's 6 month visit to the pediatrician came right before our trip to VA for Thanksgiving. She weighed in at 14 lbs., 11.5 ozs. (about as big as our Thanksgiving turkey) and was 25 inches long (Over 2 feet! She'll be taller than Mommy before you know it!) She got another round of shots, which she is still not a fan of, but she seemed to be less traumatized this time around. She must be getting used to being poked and prodded... after all, she does have two big brothers.

Here are some highlights from our trip to VA for Turkey Day:

"Gobble gobble"

"What do you mean Mason and Avery aren't gonna be here??"

Pausing for an obligatory Baby's First Thanksgiving pic




"I don't know what that thing is, but I wanna touch it."

Sharing Piglet with cousin Hannah (and she doesn't share Piglet with just anyone)

Taste testing the local rattles

All bundled up for the VA cold

"Then what happened, Uncle Todd?!"

"This is the way the lady rides..."

Bad hair days can happen to anyone

What A Long Strange Trip(s) It's Been...

Hello World!!! So nice to see you again! Now that the litigation with blogger.com is over we can once again regale you with the tales of Rylee!

For starters, Rylee is now quite the world traveller. Her many trips started not so much with a trip but with visitors back home in Kentucky (1). Grandma and Grandpa made the trek to spend time with their granddaughter (and by default also their daughter and son-in-law, but really just for Rylee). Besides posing for nice pics, Rylee also learned a thing or two about card playing, a Steiner must, and received a lollipop bigger than her head.

"I don't think you know much about clubs, Grandpa"

Where to start...

After the fun with Grandma and Grandpa, things couldn't get much better or more exciting than that right? Well, here comes well-travelled Rylee. Mommy and Rylee took a little trip east to see Aunt Alison and cousins Avery and Mason. Along the way Rylee got to see Michigan (2) via Detroit's airport. After that fun adventure in which Rylee also learned sthat Delta is the worst airline EVER, they finally made it to Charleston, South Carolina (3).

"Hi Cuz! Mind if I join you?"

I believe this picture only required about 30-40 retakes to get everyone on the same page.

Unfortunately the trip couldn't last forever and Rylee had to come back home but not before experiencing the Atlanta, Georgia (4) airport. After a very short stay at home, Mommy, Daddy, and Rylee were off on Rylee's first long road trip. She enjoyed the view from the backseat as she was driven through the windy mountains of West Virginia (5) on her way to Virginia (6). While in Virginia, Rylee got to spend some time with Aunties Amy and Meghan and new best bud Peyton.

After a fine Coastal Flats meal.

On Sunday Daddy headed to a wedding in Virginia (no kiddos), so Mommy and Rylee took the time to visit some more friends in Maryland (7). Rylee had a wonderful play date with William and Ava while Mommy hung out with Aunties Megan and Meg.

"Hey Ava, I can't wait to be big like you."

Back home and another visitor, this time Auntie Ashleigh came up from Nashville for a business trip. She had a little secret and she told Rylee first.

"Guess who is gonna have a new little friend to play with?"

So the end of October was fast approaching and we had no pumkins yet!!! Well then off to Huber's we go to pick some. Everyone piled into the car and headed for Indiana (8).

Enjoying the hayride on our way to pick a few pumpkins. Aidan did not lose his tooth on the ride.

Pumpkins in hand we headed home to get ready for yet another trip. This time Daddy had a meeting in Saint Louis, which is only 4 hours west. Once again, Mommy, Daddy, and Rylee piled into the car and made the drive west. Along the way Rylee experienced the thrill that is Central Time Zone, the dread that is driving through Indiana, and a brief stop in Illinois (9) for a feeding before finally arriving in Saint Louis, Missouri (10). While Daddy was sleeping in his meetings, Rylee was going up the Arch and getting free balloons.

That trip was rather short and so everyone headed back home for Halloween fun. After a month in which Rylee passed through or visited 10 states, it was time to settle down an unwind.

" Ready for pumpkin carving, Daddy."


"OK, Mommy, let's go get our hands on some candy!"

November came upon us pretty fast and Rylee has been very busy talking, rolling, and trying to crawl. She also has taken on some chores:

This laundry is clean, ready for the whites.

Roly Poly Rylee getting into all kinds of trouble rolling and twisting into some strange positions.

On Rylee's 6 month Birthday she decided it was time to try some food. Here she is creating art with butternut squash. Also on the list for this month, carrots, sweet potatos, and green beans.

The Sprout with a sprout.

This is what happens when you let Rylee (or Daddy) change her diaper.

A Big Couple Weeks for Rylee

Since last we posted on here Rylee has been quite active reaching milestones and doing all kinds of stuff. Aside from sleep (please see previous post) Rylee has been busy rolling, laughing, flying, and seeing the sites.

Two weeks ago Rylee had the pleasure of participating in her very first fantasy football draft. Besides showing a particular man-crush on her Bengals and trying to draft the whole team down to the secondary coach, she also showed off her new outfit. She also made a valiant effort not to laugh at daddy's jersey and team of choice (mommy failed at this completely).

Mommy also got to experience a new milestone, breastfeeding Rylee in a Hooter's. Sorry, no pics of that are forthcoming.

Around this same time Rylee took another big step towards being a big girl. She transitioned to her crib from her bassinet and did so quite well. She is now averaging 8 hours of sleep a night and mommy has trimmed the number of times she peeks in on her down to 10 a night.

The next exciting moment came about a week ago when Rylee decided to show off her new talent. Fitting one and sometimes two fists into her mouth!!!



Just kidding. While this is an exciting development, the real fun is shown in the video below.

And just last week daddy finally brought mommy and Rylee on a business trip. And, oh did the family go big on this one. Rylee got to fly on US Air and when she flashed her smile (and Daddy's silver status) she got to fly First Class on both flights!!! Something not quite right about Rylee getting a first class flight at 3 months and on her first plane trip when it took daddy and mommy 30+ years.

That was not the end of Rylee's adventures though. She also got to spend four nights in the Waldorf-Astoria, while daddy spent most of his time in traffic. The Waldorf was pretty darn cool and she definitely loved the bed as seen below. She also got to visit New Jersey, hung out in downtown Manhattan and saw Aunt Erin, and had her fill of tall buildings which never stopped providing her with entertainment. It was a fun trip and daddy was glad he could bring his two favorite girls with him!

Sleep is the Least of Rylee's Problems

Over the past three months Rylee has shown that she not only looks a lot like daddy, but she also shares another trait with him.... The ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, and through anything. Daddy once famously slept through a jackhammer on the other side of the wall in his parent's basement. Rylee seems heading down that path as well. Please enjoy the following pictures of Rylee demonstrating her ability to persevere and catch some ZZZs.