If you follow me on Instagram (which if you don’t, you totally should 😉 – shameless plug :P) then you know that Rick & Michelle (my in-laws) took Rylie with them to Texas for Aaron’s cousin’s wedding. We wanted to attend ourselves but we couldn’t make it work so when Rick & Michelle asked if they could take Rylie with them, we agreed and it actually was extremely helpful since we are packing and staging our home to sell. After all, Rylie’s #1 job in life right now is to act like every toy she didn’t even know existed that I put in the giveaway box is her absolute favorite, unpacking everything we pack and making new messes as we’re trying to clean an old one.
It also gave us the most alone time we’ve had with Emmaline since she came home from the hospital 9 months ago which was a lot of fun!
Because there was so much going on in both areas, here’s a rundown based on where each child was.
RYLIE – Texas
Michelle picked Rylie up Friday (1.18.19) afternoon and they drove to meet Rick at his job before heading out to Texas. She took a short nap but when Papa entered the car she was wide awake and ready for a road trip!
Rylie did phenomenal in the car and loved looking at books and singing her favorite songs like “Wheels on the Bus” and any made up version Papa came up with on the spot.
She did ask where Emmaline was a few times so we FaceTimed to reassure her where Sister was.
They arrived late and Rylie was up for a couple hours before falling asleep. Saturday (1.19.19) was wedding day so she enjoyed the festivities. The bride was bummed Aaron and I wouldn’t be coming because she really wanted Rylie to attend, so it brought a huge smile to her face when she saw the little toddler walk around the corner. “Awesome! That’s our wedding gift to them.” Aaron and I said over the phone when we heard the story.
Apparently, Rylie took Papa’s phone and was showing everyone in sight photos of Emmaline and the pigs. Holds the phone up with picture and says, “Emma-nine.” Walks to another person, hold the phone up and say, “Emma-nine.” Takes the phone back, scrolls, hold the phone up and says, “Papa’s pigs.” hahaha
And of course, friendly Rylie made friends with the Flower Girl who kindly requested that Rylie come over to her house to play sometime. 🙂
They left late-Sunday and on the way back home, they stopped in every redneck’s TV obsession. Monroe, LA.
That’s right folks – Duck Dynasty territory. I may not classify myself as a redneck, but even I was jealous.
Rick & Michelle shared a variety of pictures and videos through our group text that made my heart about fall out of my chest. Seriously though, who do we contact about modeling for Duck Commander merchandise?
EMMALINE
I came home from work on Friday to a quiet house… it was odd. Emmaline was playing in the living room and Aaron had just changed into some messy clothes to do yard work.
Because Rick and Michelle were out of town, that meant we were on farm duty. So we packed for the night and headed that direction around dinnertime.
With the recent and unexpected line of events that resulted in us needing to stage our home to sell, we made a pit-stop on the way to the farm to Hobby Lobby! We got a few things there and honestly felt weird walking in with only one child. We laughed at how we constantly felt like we were forgetting something.
After we got what we needed, we headed to the farm to put Little Love down for bed (2 hours later than normal… whooo partyyy!!! haha). Aaron and I were not far behind her.
We got to sleep in a little before Aaron got up to care of the animals and I was up with Emmaline and we got ready for the day. We went to prayer at our church and asked people what was missing. “Wait, where is Rylie!?!?!?!”
Afterward, we headed to the thrift store to get a couple things to help stage our house. Can I also say that we got everything we needed to stage our house at the thrift store for less than $100 😉 AND we actually like it so we plan to use the decor at our new house.
From there we went to our place and purged, packed, cleaned and staged. We got quite a bit done and Emmaline did a mix of playing, napping and sitting in her high chair eating Cheerios.
We headed back to the farm in time for dinner and we all went to bed shortly after. Which was good because I woke up at 2:30 am for no reason and could not fall back asleep. Emmaline woke up at 4:30 am and Aaron left to get the church ready at 6 am so our whole family was up early. Since Emmaline was awake and I wasn’t waiting on another child to wake up, I decided to take her to 8 am service so we got church in before heading back to our house to purge, pack and clean some more while Aaron stayed at church to serve.
Emmaline loved crawling around the floor of Rylie’s room (which I completely packed and staged) and played in the Living Room for a brief time while I did a couple things there too.
When it came to the kitchen, she enjoyed the highchair as long as there were Cheerios (the girl ate SOOOOOO many Cheerios!) and I washed, folded and put away multiple loads of laundry.
After a very long and productive day, I put Emmaline down for bed and was up for just a couple hours more before I fell asleep as well.
||
Rylie got back Monday (1.21.19) a little after 6 pm. She was so excited to see Daddy who greeted her in the driveway. “HEY MAMA!” she said when she entered the house but when she saw Emmaline right next to me sitting in her highchair, I was old news and she was far more interested in greeting, kissing and talking to her sister.
We got a quick story-download which we enjoyed before the grandparents headed home to get some laundry done before going to work the next morning.
Rylie, Aaron and I played together for a little bit before we read some books and put Rylie to bed.
||
I am so glad that she had such a wonderful time and was able to celebrate Jacob and McKenzie! And even though we got a lot done without her around, we are so glad that Rylie is home!