The last Mama Diaries I posted she was a lovely 18 months and already so much has changed! Rj is pretty much speaking in full sentences now and is such a cute little chatter box. She is definitely hitting the “terrible” two’s stage, but isn’t so terrible. She responds very well to time outs (thank you Jesus) and when she decided to throw her full on tantrums, I just place her in her room and tell her that when she is ready to finish crying for no reason she is more than welcome to come out. She will cry for a bit, but then comes out shortly and says, “Sorry Mamma”, it is the sweetest.
My biggest challenge is being outside of the house with her in an eating environment or the store. She loves to wander! I am pretty sure last week at camp she was labeled the “wanderer”. She eats and then wants out of her high chair to explore and is always on the go and hates being in the shopping cart. I am pretty sure I walk like 15,000 steps a day chasing her around all day. I know it is crucial for me and Hubby to be on the same page with discipline as well as being consistent with RJ in this season of her life. This is our season of teaching her about disappointment as well as who is in charge. The power of wills will be FUN adventure I am sure 
This girl loves being outdoors , but boy does she LOVE watching Mickey Mouse Club House on TV! I never had the TV on much when she was younger or even up until she was about 18 months, but all of a sudden she has become addicted! Every time she wakes up or get’s up from her nap, the first thing she says is, “Mickey Mouse”. I have told hubby that I am about to chuck the TV out the door, because I don’t like her to sit in front of the TV for more than 20-30 minutes (oh and she would). It is getting easier to pull her away though and this summer has been so busy that she doesn’t have much time for it. If we didn’t watch sports on TV, we so would be a non TV household. I am not saying there is anything wrong with having a television in your house, just right now she is fixated on watching it every second of every day and throws silly tantrums over it.
Such a little fishy! This summer she has grown to love the water even more than last and even loves the SAND! When we went to Hawaii she hated it and now she can’t get enough. We haven’t been to the local beaches here this summer yet, but I am hoping to go soon. I have found that the water is truly her happy place!
We are blessed to have only gone through a few short seasons of RJ not sleeping. For the most part she has always been a great sleeper and when she wasn’t it was because she was teething or not feeling well. We pushed her bed time back this summer to 8:30pm and she now sleeps in till about 8am. She also has this awesome Toddler Sleep Sack that I swear has helped! It is made with organic cotton and I kinda want one myself! It makes it a lot less hectic in the evenings and we have so many fun events planned that go past 7:30pm that she now isn’t super grumpy because she is out way past her bed time. Naps are also getting a lot better (she fought those for months). We now are down to one nap a day. We lay her down in her crib around 1:30-2pm ish and she will sleep for about an hour and a half, sometimes longer. Friends the nap routine took consistency and a whole lot of patience. But when she naps, she eats better, sleeps at night better, and is overall just a more happy baby!
RJ is a bird when it comes to eating. She eats all three meals, but some are bigger than others. She loves to snack on things like, Cliff Bars, string cheese, Pirate’s Bootie, and fruit through out the day. She is finally eating Broccoli (with butter of course) and carrots! Her favorite foods are avocado and RICE!! You should hear her say guacamole, it’s the cutest. One baby step at a time with those veggies! I am excited to see what she loves to eat when she get’s older, I feel like her tasted buds are continuously changing.
I can’t believe she will be two in just two short months! I fought the Mickey Mouse theme for her birthday party, but I lost the battle. We are gonna go with a “Vintage” Mickey theme at the park. We are gonna have a gourmet hotdog buffet with kettle chips and watermelon. Trying to keep it as simple as possible, but I am realizing I just can’t keep birthdays simple…I LOVE CELEBRATING!!!
Question: Any great books or blogs out there about the toddler stage??Â
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She also has a few temper tantrums that this Mama was not prepared for. It’s been a month of learning, but also one of the best! RJ is getting so much spunk and a really funny personality. I can’t believe is a year and a half already!
She is talking a ton!! Here are a list (because I need to document them) of all the fun things and sentences she can say..ok never mind she can say so many, because she is a little PARROT! She copies everything we say, it is so cute. But a few of the words that she says that I love are:
1. I love (wuv) you
2. More (Mo) Please (pease)
3. Water (wa wa)
4. Baby (be be)
5. Matt (yep she says Matt’s name)
6. No Thank You
7. Shoes (choose)
8. Socks
9. Choo Choo
10. Minnie Mouse (Yep she learned it)
11. Sorry (Saw We)
12. Cheers (Chairs)
I love communicating with her and seeing her learn new things everyday. It’s amazing what these little ones can absorb! Since my last post where she had started walking, now she is truly RUNNING! So much so that she has a few bumps and bruises to prove for it. I am getting why they call toddlers, toddlers! They toddle!
Our schedule during the day hasn’t changed too much, she is consistently taking about 1.5 hour nap between 11:30 and 2pm. Oh what I would do for a 1-4 nap time! Oh and her hair is growing like a weed! I can finally put pigtails in it I need to quickly learn how to braid!
It also hit me a few weeks ago that we are raising a tiny human! Ok, I mean I have always known this, but it hit me that we are going to have to teach her right from wrong and all the things of the world and not of this world. PARENTING IS A BIG FUN, AMAZING AND CRAZY JOB! I am excited to teach her about these things and I will not get overwhelmed (ok maybe a little) because I know no matter what we are going to do our best and that is all we can do.
For the past two weeks RJ’s molars have been coming in and she has been fighting sleep! OH TEETHING are you done yet?! We have been laying with her in the crib until she falls asleep and then climbing out. But then an hour later she is wide awake screaming her head off. I always said I wouldn’t let me children sleep in bed with me, but when your tired things happen. So I bring her in bed with us and then I sleep horrible. This is becoming a pattern that I am not thrilled with. But you know what I know it’s a season and she is only little once. I was reading a lot about sleep progression at 18 months and it sounds exactly what RJ is going through.
Eating is a whole other story! I remember thinking RJ is gonna eat veggies, no matter what (ha ha funny Bobbi). I really do try and continue to give her veggies where I can, but she really is such a meat, carb and fruit girl! She eat’s just like her dad. She does love my green smoothies and veggie sticks (those totally count ). The veggies she will eat are soft carrots and peas. I will keep trying and trying, this war isn’t over!
We are traveling with RJ to Hawaii this month for a little family/birthday vacation! I am so excited to get away as a family, but I also know traveling with a toddler to our very favorite place will be a little different. I have no doubt we will have a blast and I know that RJ is going to LOVE the beach and the hikes! Can’t wait to share with you all about our travels!
HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY RJ!
Question: Any tips for traveling with a toddler?!Â
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I haven’t been so great at these motherhood types of posts, but they are some of my favorite to write. I plan on writing one a month. I guess I like sharing about all the fun and growing points that motherhood has brought to my life. Whether a mother or not, raising a tiny human is exhausting yet rewarding all at the same time.
RJ is 17 months and is almost RUNNING! She started walking about two weeks ago and life hasn’t been the same since. HER WORLD has gotten so much bigger and she is has such a sweet and OUTGOING personality. I honestly didn’t know when she would walk, because she never really crawled just bootie scooted. But the day she decided to walk, it was as if she knew had to do it all her life. Â She says HI to everyone and blows them sweet kisses, my heart skips a beat every time I see that hand leave her lips. She is also quite the talker, can say over 3o words and signs, please, thank you, love, milk, and thank you. She never really picked up on signing, because she learned the word first. Were currently going through a hard time of eating, thinking it may be teething or some new picky-ness that I am not fond of. I am sure it will pass as so many things have, but she is drinking milk three times a day. ALSO look at all that HAIR?!
We are in a very nice rhythm and these day’s this little Toddler’s schedule looks a bit like this.
But of course just when you think you have nailed it, something changes I am giving my self GRACE daily and rolling with it!
Since cutting the morning nap time, it has allowed for a little more play time in the morning and a consistent 2-21/2 hour nap in the afternoon leaving this stay at home working mama a bit more time to catch up on work. Now let’s be real RJ doesn’t go down with out a fight sometimes for a nap. Some times I have to let her cry it out a bit and then she finally falls asleep. I know her cry enough now, that I can tell if it’s an over tired cry or a need you mama cry. It is not always easy that is for sure.
We also don’t go out to dinner these days, hello the high chair is a nightmare for RJ! I don’t blame her, I would hate to be confined from all the fun things the adults are doing. I am ok with the time at home, it slows this busy girl down and makes meal time together around the table so much sweeter. Also our trips to Target and other fun shopping places are just as limited and we tend to get in and out a whole lot quicker now!
Now that she is a toddler, she is a sponge and is learning something new and exciting daily. I got a little carried away on Pinterest pinning fun learning activities for her (the teacher in me came out) , then I stepped away from the computer took a few deep breaths in and decided that I can pin all day, but I need to listen to my gut and spend some time on the floor exploring with her. Let her be a kid and encourage her curiosity. Learning will come and it will be fun for sure, but for now we play and blow bubbles.
It is the conclusion to Rylee-Joy’s adoption story. We share this with you all for one reason and on reason only, it is to give hope where hope is needed. We have struggled with infertility for over three years now and know the pain that so many others are going through or have gone through. However, we also know the ‘joy’ of adoption and how it has brought us hope and peace like no other.
We have always wanted to adopt, but just didn’t know the plans that God had for us would be to adopt first. Will we ever “birth” biological children… only God know, but we share with you today, in hopes that you will see God’s grace and perfect plan in the journey that He has blessed us with.
Grab a cup of Joe and let us unfold God’s story…
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Thursday, September 5, 2013: We received a phone call that started to prepare us for parenthood.
I received a phone call from our social worker about a sibling set that was ready to be placed for adoption. Now, there were some unique circumstances in this case that we canâ€
t talk about, but nevertheless, they called to ask if we would want to be ‘consider†for this sibling set.
Now, letâ€s stop here for a moment. In the adoption process with the County of San Bernardino, we were told that we would ONLY be called if we had been ‘selected†as the parents for a child or sibling set, but this time we were called to see if we wanted to be ‘considered†for this unique situation. Of course we said YES! and were told that we would know the following day (Friday) if we were or werenâ€t selected.
Through the evening, Hubs was being super cute. He stayed up all night researching about the different age groups because if we were selected, we would be parents that Friday!
It started to feel weird. It is hard to explain. The situation wasnâ€t how we expected it to feel like.
Something was… off.
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Friday, September 6, 2013: We received a phone call from our social worker saying we were NOT selected.
There were lots of emotions that hit us all at once, however, we were encouraged that since we had only been officially in the system for 4+ weeks and already had our profile viewed, that it was a good sign for us.
A good sign indeed.
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That upcoming week, we had a big camping trip that had been planned for months with over 20 adults and children (like the one we just got home from) at a beautiful campsite near Bishop, CA. It was a Wednesday thru Sunday outing in a location with NO CELL SERVICE!
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Monday September 9, 2013: Hubs took off work.
We just wanted to get away and do things that we might not be able to do for awhile if we get another ‘callâ€. So we hit up Disneyland and a Dodgers game.
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Tuesday, September 10, 2013: The day we will remember forever!
We received a call from our social worker saying “You have been selected to be the parents of a beautiful baby girl who was safely surrendered.†She was only days old and was currently at a foster home. We were asked to come into the Victorville office the next day (Wednesday) for a ‘presentation.’
Now see, if they had called us a day later, we would not of received this miracle phone call as we would of been camping out of cell phone service! Crazy, right?!?
It was Godâ€s perfect timing.
When we got this call, I was minutes away from going grocery shopping for our camping trip! Needless to say, we ended up not going camping
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Wednesday September 11, 2013: We had to wait until late afternoon to meet with the county officials for a formal presentation.
Being that our social worker gave us all of the information on Tuesday night over the phone, this presentation didnâ€t really give us more details. With a safely surrendered baby, there is very little information about the birth mother (or family for that matter) and little-to-no health information.
We were given a couple of photos of “Amber” (a name given to her by the hospital nurses), but photos didnâ€t do her justice!
We wanted to take her home that day, but because she was currently at a foster home, we were told that we needed to take 24 hours to decide. Blah! We knew that she was ours, but since they wouldnâ€t let us take her home that day, we went power shopping! Target, Baby-R-Us, Costco… you name it! And because we had an age range of newborn to 2-years-old that we were open to, we havenâ€t been able to purchase many things until we knew the age. Car seats, clothing, strollers, etc.
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Thursday, September 12, 2013:Â The day we first got to meet Rylee-Joy and also bring her home!
Through the entire year we had weekly visits from our social worker and became her legal guardians after 6 months. Then we waited.
And as you could tell by the lack of a changed blog design that didn’t include Rylee for 368 days, we were told that there was still certain things that we were not allowed to post, design or even say about her case. And so here in the next weeks and months, this website will change and be updated with more current looks of our family!
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Monday, September 15, 2014: Fast forward to exactly one year and three days after Rylee came home.
With loved ones with us in the court room (and some even joining us via FaceTime), we got to legally and permanently call Rylee-Joy McCormick our daughter!
(Some family and friends that have walked with us through the journey)Â
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What an incredible journey that the Lord has had us on. Excited to get to see our little RJ grow into the beautiful and brave women that God has created her to be!
Every child and every adoption is very unique and there is no norm! I love answering questions about adoption, so e-mail me away!
… and of course we had to spend the rest of the day celebrating at the happiest place on earth, AKA Disneyland!
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