Our Little Girl is Growing Up

So it's official....after adopting Rylyn I pretty much dropped off the face of the planet with our adoption blog. So here is my update, 2 years late. Our baby girl just turned 5. That's crazy to type. She is seriously the sweetest, most generous, thoughtful five year old I have ever met in my life. When I sit down and reflect I can't believe how incredibly blessed we are to have her in our lives. She made us parents. I often tell her how thankful I am that she made me a mommy. She, without a doubt, corrects me every time saying, "No, God made you a Mommy." She is wise beyond her years and I can't imagine our family without her in it.

I can't believe our baby just turned 3!

After talking with a sweet, dear friend of mine who is considering adopting, I'm flooded with emotions. How incredible God is, how much he blesses his children, how faithful he is. All I want to do is give him thanks.

Rylyn's Update

It's hard to believe Rylyn will be 1 year old in two weeks. She has learned a bunch. Two weeks ago she conquered the sippy cup. Today she learned how to clap. She is crawling, scooting and babbling all over the place. She can say, "hey, dada and mama." She has slowly gotten a lot more hair. It's turning into a slight mullet in the back. She is very musical. Her favorite toys are any remote control, daddy's guitar, the paper trash she find in the office trash can and anything that makes noise. She is the happiest baby ever as long as you are giving her attention. She will eat just about anything (but it yet to put ANYTHING in her mouth) It's a blessing and a curse. Her favorite things are still swimming, taking a bath, stroller rides, looking at things and getting attention. We are thankful to be parents although it's some HARD work. Less than 90 days and we will have 2! Craziness!!

Rylyn's Favorites

I know it's been a couple of weeks since i updated the blog. I wanted to let everyone know that Rylyn is doing very well. This past week daddy taught her how to wave. She mostly likes waving to herself and cracking herself up but on the rare occasion she will wave to others as well. She loves any and all food (not quite enough to put it in her mouth all by herself) but she is very interested in what everyone is eating. She has tried lasagna, tacos, hamburger, bread, carrots, peas, green beans, peaches, mangos, bananas, pears, oatmeal, tomatoes, cheese, pickles, olives, pasta, mushrooms, watermelon, turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, apples, etc. She actually doesn't like plain yogurt but, who does? She is a little over 10 months old now and weighs about 17lbs. She loves, loves, loves any and all water. Baths and the pool are her favorite. We just got a new pool float that she thinks is great. She is the fastest crawler ever. Every time I look up she is somewhere new. She is pulling herself up on any and everything. She enjoys chasing Poggy around the house and pulling his hair out. Pog tried to avoid her whenever possible. Her favorite things to do besides swimming are smiling, stroller rides, being around others, crawling, standing, looking at books, short car rides and making babbling noises. Her least favorite things are not getting enough attention, getting her diaper changed, putting clothes on and going to bed. We are very blessed that she is progressing so well and have such a happy and healthy daughter!

Rylyn progress

Just a quick update, Rylyn is eating all sorts of things. She loves pickles and sweet potatoes best. She is almost 17 pounds and she's crawling all over the place. She is a very determined child. She wants very much to walk and is on her way. I would say within the month, she will be walking. She is sleeping VERY well. She's the happiest baby I've ever met (excluding putting clothes on, if you don't feed her fast enough, or if she isn't getting quite enough attention.)

Rylyn's Going to be a Big Sister

We have been home about two weeks now and are adjusting well. Rylyn is now off Taiwan time and is sleeping well. We put her down around 9pm and she wakes up around 8am. Yay! We also found out that Rylyn is going to be a big sister. I am due October 14th. We find out in 3 weeks if it's a boy or a girl. The Darley household has turned upside down in the past two weeks. It has been a huge learning experience. Being a parent is wonderful but it's hard work! ; ) We are so glad to have our baby girl home.

We are home!

Just wanted to let you all know we are back HOME!!! Thank you so much for praying! I doubt it would have happened else wise. It is so good to be home! Rylyn did pretty well on the long flight home. She slept about 6 of the 16 hours on the flight from Hong Kong to JFK. After about 30 hours of total travel time she was wide awake by night time. We arrived home the 13th around 11:30pm our time (11:30am her time) and she was ready to play. It was nice having my parents and Greg's dad here to help. Rylyn is adjusting slowly. Her schedule is thrown off but we are working hard on getting her back and the sync of things. She went to the Foothills doctor today and did pretty well. She broke out in a big rash on the long plane ride which we thought was due to food allergies but it turned out to be bad dry skin. Rylyn can't wait to meet you! Bev (the woman who runs the orphanage) says she should be a movie star when she gets older because she is all drama. She is just precious. (Even when she keeps mommy and daddy up from 1-6am because she wants to play). ; )

Thank you all again!!

-betsey, greg and rylyn