Happy Birthday Daddy!

8 years ago I spent the first birthday with my then boyfriend. I can still remember what a big deal it was to be invited along on the family dinner to celebrate with them. You see it was the first time I had seen him in several months because he and I had a whirlwind summer romance that turned into a very long distance relationship.

That's another story for another blog my friends, but I do know these things. That summer romance became a love story where God blessed me with a man who is beyond amazing in so many ways. He is thoughtful, and funny, he is kind and charming, and most importantly he loves children and they love him. If I had a dollar for everytime that someone told me how lucky I was to have him I'd be exceedingly rich.

Speaking of children that love him, this year he gave me the best gift I could possibly ask for in the form of our free spirited, happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl. If it's possible for anyone to love him more than I do, it's definitely his daughter who is Daddy's girl. So Daddy, Riley and I want to tell you that you're our # 1, we are so thankful for you and that we love you very much.

Happy Birthday!

11 months and a ho ho ho

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! It's a double delight for us since it's Riley's very first Christmas Eve and her 11 month "birthday". We're with Gigi, Papa and Lolo this week to celebrate the holiday and we are most certainly enjoying our very long break from work to spend lots of time with our princess.

At 11 months Miss Riley is...

Walking, very well.
Babbling and communicating with us! She's started pointing to things she wants, mostly food. She also started saying "oh oh" for uh oh and we can get her to mimic us by saying "oh oh oh" for Santa's ho ho ho.
She loves climbing things, although she doesn't so much love toppling off of things.
Sleeping through the night again...pretty consistently.

The princess did develop a cold on Monday so she's slightly under the weather for her first Christmas, but she's not letting it slow her down one bit. She's enjoying the quadruple amounts of space for her to roam here at Gigi and Papa's house and she's gobbling up all the extra attention.

I'll post photos and videos galore when I return but for now this mother of one couldn't remember to pack the downloading cord for her dig cam. What can you do? At least I got the essentials. :)

Merry Christmas Everyone! We love you all!!!

Godspeed Little Girl

Sorry followers this post isn't too exciting, no pictures and no funny stories. Nope, this time around it's just a memory that I want to preserve for my R Boo which is why I started this blog in the first place.

She used to let me rock her a bit before nap and bedtime, but she doesn't so much anymore. She's a big girl after all and she just wants me to lay her down in her bed nest of pacis so she can switch them out several times before passing out. Today however she let me rock her a bit which I thoroughly enjoyed, so much so that I didn't want to put her down.

My favorite part of rocking her is singing to her and I always sing the Dixie Chicks song, Godspeed that I've personalized for her. I've made up LOTS of songs for her, but this particular one I have sung since the day she was born almost 11 long months ago. The best part is that as she got a bit older she started to coo along with me, paci in mouth of course, as I sang the song to her. She did that again today and my heart just ached with how very much I love her.

Riley, here's the song that Mommy made up for you and sang for you each night. Love you princess!

Wonder Pets and some Barney on the side
Pirates sail and lost girls fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed Riley girl,
Sweet dreams baby girl
All my love will fly to you each night
On angels' wings
Godspeed, sweet dreams

Lucky horse is all tuckered out
Mickey Mouse is in pajamas on the couch
Bedtime bear will find the mouse
And I love you

God bless Mommy and my family that's far
God bless Daddy and thanks for the stars
God hears our amen wherever we are
And I love you

Why don't you let her walk?

I had a surreal moment today. My little family was at the local grocery store. My adorable hubby was carrying the basket and I was carrying the princess. About halfway through the store I was tuckered from carrying her, even though she was holding perfectly still she's a big girl now and my arms were tired. Hubby looked at me and said, "Why don't you let her walk?"

Truthfully, the thought never occurred to me. Honestly, it never occurred to me because I'm still getting used to the idea of the princess being a big girl. Seriously, she can walk very well now. So I put her down...and watched her toddle her way throughout the store gleefully enjoying her new found independence.

I walked a pace behind to make sure she didn't topple on the hard floor or take out a display, but she didn't need me to. It was then that I realized that she will need me a little less every day and that I'll have to let go a little more every day.

While my arms were most happy for the break, it was a little emotional (it is me after all) and after 10 months of carrying her I didn't quite know what to do with empty arms. Should I fold them across my chest? Should I stick my hands in my pockets? Should I hold them up under my chin ala Ricky Bobby? Luckily, Riley saved me from myself and she grabbed onto my hand as we were leaving and we walked hand in hand out of the store side by side. :)

Not Me Monday!

I'm NOT a broken record, but I think I must sound like one. Is it seriously Monday again? I'm becoming keenly aware what parents mean when they say that their children age in a blink of an eye and before you know it they are 18. I guess the days really do fly by when you're having fun and believe me Riley and I are having fun. To that end, it's time for brutal, gut wrenching honesty again friends and away we go!

I hopefully will NOT fall off schedule with Angie's memorization schedule of Psalm 139. I hope that I will be able to have it memorized in its entirety by January 1 and I hope that I can post it from memory as my first post of 2009 as a reminder of how I want to live my life. Please do visit her blog if you want to join in on the memorizing fun.

I did not purposely set up this photo with the intention of preserving how adorable my little girl's baby fat legs are. I most certainly did not draw her attention to the button in the middle of the flat screen to get her to face away from me like that. No not me, because our flat screen is off limits to a little princess and most certainly is NOT occasionally covered in slimy baby prints.

My baby does not sometimes make such scary faces like this! If I were MckMama this would be a great photo caption contest photo, however I do not have 1 million+ followers like she does. I simply call this "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M ON THE NAUGHTY LIST???"
My grandmother did not send the most beautifully made hand knitted baby booties for my little girl (as she has done for EVERY generation of our family) to have her wear them for one hour before she destroyed the fluffy ball on top! She is not a mini destroyer, and did not yank at all the yarn while riding in her car seat to the grocery store.That's me and my mini me who is not growing by leaps and bounds every second! In the background you can see our Christmas tree and I'm not still pouting (just a little bit) because I wanted a real tree this year. Pouting is for babies and I'm a grown up still a kid at heart who loves the smell of a fresh tree. Lastly, I am NOT sending out our family holiday cards before Christmas because it is my tradition inability to not be able to get those things out on time for 4 years running. I AM just going to go with the flow though and send them out post Christmas and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all the same. In fact I AM going to adopt post Christmas mailing as our tradition starting now!

Daddy's Girl 3

What is it about a little girl and their Daddy's shoes? I had a thing for playing with my Daddy's and it seems Riley does too.

The discovery of Daddy's sneakers left unattended.

Maybe he won't mind if I play with just one??

Realizing that she has a captive audience watching her.

Making the cutest getaway that I've ever seen.

Smacky McSmackerton

Riley has a really adorable way of letting us know that she's hungry or wants a bite of whatever we're eating. Just words or a pic wouldn't do the cute factor of it all justice, only a video of our little princess will do! **Make sure you scroll ALL the way to the bottom of the page to stop the Christmas music before you watch, sound is a must for this one!**

A Superb Saturday

It was bitter cold here today, but we enjoyed the chilly temperatures as an opportunity to spend some time together as a family. These days between swim coaching and work we don't get many chances for all 3 of us to be together for longer than 15 minutes or so. As a matter of fact, for most of the week hubby and I are like ships passing in the night only seeing each other long enough to hand over the princess as the other dashes out the door.

So what did we do with ourselves, besides staying warm???


Riley helped me with the laundry removed all of her clean laundry from the basket several times.

Riley helped me in the kitchen emptied out the pantry several times.



Riley walked...A LOT!

Fotos Only Friday

Is it possible to be mocked by a 10 month old??

It's daily bathtime and princess is sitting in a tub full of soothing vapor bubbles (LOVE THESE) surrounded by foam letters, 2 duckies, 1 blue hippo, and one empty shampoo bottle. Daddy is leading bath time tonight and spelling her delightful phrases with her foam letters. She thinks that she is invincible now that she can walk and she wants to stand up in the tub.



Mommy: peeking in the door and lecturing "Riley careful, sit down please"
Riley: looks directly at me "Blah Blah Blah Blah - Oh Mom you worry too much" followed by hysterical laughter.
Daddy: Hysterical laughter "She's mocking you!"
Mommy: 2 minutes later peeking in again from folding her laundry "Okay miss cutie, you're too funny but seriously no standing in the tub!"
Riley: "Ba blah ba blah blah blah! - Silly Mommy I do what I want!" more hysterical laughter


Just fast forward this 16 years....
Mom: Riley, no you may not go out to the movies tonight because you have homework to do and school tomorrow.
Riley: "Silly Mommy I do what I want!" - blah blah blah blah Mom"

A Not Me Monday

When I go to do this post I always find myself surprised that it is Monday again, but in a positive way. I very rarely have a "case of the Mondays" these days! Of course that is partly because I don't even know what day it is, but it's also because I love my morning job and don't mind going and I love my afternoon "job" and can't wait to start it! So here it is again, a Monday and I'm raring and ready to go with my NOT MES! Deep breath, and let the honesty flow....

I did not let my little princess get her first minor injury on my watch. We have carefully proofed our house for anything that might be able to injure her....except for the "night stand" in our room. Sigh, no I didn't let my poor baby get hurt so bad she screamed bloody murder, not me, I'm up for mother of the year, month, day, (okay maybe just the hour) didn't you hear?

I do not have a 10 month old that is walking more than she is crawling these days. How could that be? No not me because my little baby is a sweet tiny newborn needing me less and less everyday big girl.

My Christmas list is NOT still fully intact because that would mean I still have that "W" family gene that means I'm going to be in the mall on Christmas Eve day again.

I do NOT get all teary and choked up whenever I hear Silent Night on the radio and I do not get queasy when I think about how I'm probably going to cry in front of everyone at Christmas Eve service when we sing that song. I am also not getting a little emotional just thinking about that song at this moment.

I have not assembled a Christmas list of ideas for my little girl to then watch her take absolute glee in wrestling with the empty Pampers box last night. I did not contemplate just putting empty boxes under the tree for her because I believe that she will be far more delighted with that than anything we can think of getting her.

I did not consider sending the video of her wrestling the Pampers box in nothing but her shirt and diaper to the advertising people at Pampers to show them that my little girl is far cuter and funnier wrestling their box than the little boy wrestling the teddy bear in their commercial.

Oh wait I did, but I have no idea how to contact the advertising people.

What have you NOT been doing this week? (And no I did NOT just shamelessly try to get you to leave me comments because I secretly get so excited when people comment on my blog.) :)

Walking Video

UPDATE! Facebook lets me embed! YAY! Here's the best clip. I made a video of a couple clips but I'm still working on it. Shes up to 10 independent steps and we're hoping she'll be walking by Christmas! :)

Okay I'm a mom and I can barely remember my name these days much less to NOT turn the camera vertically when I am videotaping her! So the video of her walking is posted on my facebook if you want to see it. Why facebook? It's the only place where I can rotate it vertically so you don't have to tilt your head to watch it.

Not my facebook friend and really want to see it? Leave me a comment and I'll send you the horizontal vid. :)

Since it's Christmas time...

While I love blogging about Riley and all of her achievements, I equally enjoy reading other people's blogs. One of my favorite's is a lady named MckMama, whose blog I found through another favorite of mine, Bring The Rain.

Mckmama is hosting a holiday raffle with a seriously awesome Canon Rebel prize package this Christmas. All you have to do is buy a raffle ticket for $10 and all proceeds go to three amazing charities, String of Pearls, No Hands But Ours, and The Elison Project.

What better time to give to others than Christmas time? You can purchase a ticket for yourself or as a gift for a friend! To purchase a raffle ticket click on the "Rebel (Without) For A Cause" button on the top right hand of my page.

How many months she have?

Riley went back to the pediatrician for her anemia follow up and her second round of the flu shot today. Good news is that her hemoglobin levels were in the normal range this time and we just have to continue the iron supplements until her 12 month check up. She was a brave little baby and didn't even flinch when they pricked her finger. She was, creepily so, fascinated with her blood though! She kept trying to pull her little finger from the nurse to put it in her mouth and she protested with several "ENHS!" everytime the nurse would pull it back. She was even more so fascinated by the band aid and kept biting it and looking at me with a most quizzical look on her face.

Now on with the real purpose of this post...

Usually I hate waiting in the doctor's office to be called back. I'm always on time and they are NEVER on time which annoys me. However, today it was pretty crowded and there were several other little tots in the "well baby" section where we were sitting to keep Riley entertained. Amongst the crowd were two Hispanic ladies with an adorable little girl. Due to several years of Spanish in high school I could roughly tell what they were talking about and the conversation went like this...

** Riley is cruising and taking a few wobbly steps mixed in with turbo crawling. She notices the little girl and goes next to her at the table and starts banging her hand on it and blabbering as loud as her little voice can go at the little girl who can only stare wide eyed mouth agape***
Lady: Ohhhh...she no walking yet? 18 months is late for no walking.
Me: I'm sorry? (because I was monitoring to make sure Riley didn't start banging her fist on the little girl instead of the table)
Lady: How many months she have, 18 right? She same size as Atiana.
Me: Oh no...She just turned 10 months old. So she's actually starting to walk early.
Lady: Ohhhhh. (nice smile)
Then she turns to her friend and in Spanish, but I'll translate for you... Oh my, only 10 months old! Look at her she's the same size as Atiana. I wonder what she eats. That's a big baby - really only 10 months old? more spanish that I couldn't catch partly because Riley was inching dangerously closer to 18 month old but same size as her Atiana.

Now here's the thing, I don't really like to embarass people, and I could have just acted like I had no idea what they were saying, but come on she was talking about my kid! And even more annoying is that Riley really isn't that big - she is quite tall and she does have the most adorable buddha belly but they were acting like she was a giant! Though I know I shouldn't have, I couldn't let the opportunity to embarass them a little pass me by and the nurse couldn't have had better timing...

Me: Looking right at them pointedly...Oh yes, I know she's big isn't she? Most people assume that she's at least a year old by now...though I very rarely get a guess that she's 18 months old.
Lady: She realizes that I understood at least part of their conversation...Mouth agape and eyes wide open very similar to the way her daughter is still looking at my "giant" of a child.
Nurse: Riley?
Me: That would be us! Hopefully we won't break the scales before you get back there! Nice to meet you!

It's pathetic, but it was one of very few bright moments in my day and as I swooped her up to take her back Riley giggled and I just had to chuckle with her.

Not Me Monday

It's that time again and although I've been neglectful (BUSY OR WITH A SICK BABY) the past few Mondays I couldn't help but join in on the MckMama created fun (therapy) again this week.

I am NOT blogging while my baby sleeps when I should be (you can pick from the list) dusting, vacuuming, washing dishes, doing laundry, doing school work, making dinner, making the bed, putting away laundry, putting away empty Christmas decor boxes, writing out bills, working on our Christmas cards, cleaning the windows, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning my dogs...

I did NOT miss the 10 month birthday post! Even further, I am NOT in denial that I have a 10 month old that can:

Wave hi and bye almost 100% of the time now, Take about 4-5 steps before collapsing to the floor, Feed herself yogurt with a spoon, Say Dada, but not Mama, Calls me Dada and not Mama, Understand no but not follow it all the time, Stand up all by herself, Say "WO" when she hears the cell phones ring, and Wiggle like the wiggliest worm everytime we try to change her diaper!

I have NOT been procrastinating on Christmas gifts and my list is NOT still completely intact with all the gifts I need to get.

I did NOT send all my friends to Snapfish and still NOT receive my BOOK YET WHEN EVERYONE ELSE I KNOW HAS THEIR BOOKS!!!!

Lastly, my Steelers did NOT ---- oh wait scratch that OH YES THEY DID beat the pants off the Patriots last night! Woohoo! But I did NOT scare my poor baby about 10 times by yelling at the TV...whoops.

Fotos Only Friday

It just can't be, can it?

This weekend we hit a HUGE milestone in our house....

Riley took her first unassisted steps.

If your mouth is hanging open right now then you look exactly like Matt and I did when we watched her do it on Friday evening. If you have a tear in your eye then you just look like me.

About two weeks ago she figured out that she could sort of manipulate her learning walker to walk a little ways. By this Thursday she was zooming it all over the house by herself as she finally figured out how to control the speed and keep up with it. Then Friday night we were up in our bedroom and she was standing up ALONE, yes that's right she can stand now unassisted for 1-2 minutes at a time. She saw me sitting nearby, giggled, and just took two little totters into my arms. We were shocked to say the least.

As the weekend has gone on she has become more and more confident and has gone from tottering towards us a few little steps to tottering towards the couch from the ottoman and to the dogs from the couch. She thinks it's hilarious and I'm sure it heightens the entertainment value for her that Matt and I just squeal and sputter everytime she does it and takes just one more step than she was before.

She was up to 4 steps tonight before bedtime so she's not fully mobile yet, but could it be another 2 weeks before we're chasing her all over this house???

Here's some video of her using her learning walker that I was really excited about and took too long to publish since now she's trying it on her own!

Riley with her learning walker

It's beginning to look a lot like

CHRISTMAS!

I know I'm a week and a pinch too early, but I just don't care. I've caught the Christmas fever and even though I'm usually all about giving Thanksgiving it's due, this year I just can't help myself. I think it's because I have this sweet baby Princess to share all the wonderful Christmas things with!

The Christmas take over began slowly a few weeks ago when I bought Riley her first Christmas ornament. Then I started listening to a few Christmas songs in the car (the radio stations are playing them already!). I perused the $1 section at Target full of Christmas junk that you don't need, but just have to have (but I AVOIDED THE FULL ON CHRISTMAS SECTION AT THE BACK OF THE STORE) Finally this week, hubby got me a wreath that I liked so much to help cheer up his sick ladies....and then the spirit of Christmas snowballed!

Instead of singing Riley her usual lullaby I sang her Jingle Bell Rock and Silent Night. She only stared at me with confusion for a moment before snuggling in.

I switched my plug ins to evergreen tree and the delightful smell of Christmas tree permeated the house.

I hung my beautiful Target wreath up on the front door!

We bought our little elf some adorable Christmas outfits to wear this month - we're still on the hunt for cute Christmas socks for toddlers. Leave me a comment if you know where we can find them!

And then the coup de grace for all things fall and Thanksgiving...I had Matt bring up the Christmas decor boxes. I squealed with delight as he carried them up from the garage with only the slightest grumbling and mumbling. Riley and I spent part of the afternoon decorating our mini tree with Pooh ornaments Gammy has been buying me for over 10 years. It was a pretty special moment to be showing my daughter the ornaments my mother has been collecting for me since I was a kid. Here's the princess checking out the tree.

We had a good time and it's finished! I promise I'll post pictures when I can get our little wormy to hold still by the tree for one second...oh and to stop trying to eat the ornaments.

COACH

"That confirms it...we're old!"

As if we don't have enough on our plates these days, a week ago I agreed to be the assistant coach for a local high school swim team. It's been two very interesting weeks and by interesting I mean eye opening. Not to date myself, but I realized today that it's been 10 YEARS since I graduated high school and to tell you the truth, not much has changed. They still listen to the same music, they still have their own language (did you know they don't say dis they say fry now???), and they still gossip about the same old stuff.

Here are the strangest things for me so far:
1. I am the shortest person on the team and I have to stand up on the bleachers so they can see and hear me. As a kindergarten teacher who towers over everyone I am just not used to that. AND I used to be one of the taller girls in high school - is it possible I am shrinking with old age???
2. It takes me 10 seconds to react when someone is yelling Coach at me because I still think I'm one of the athletes.
3. Instead of being in the pool groaning and mumbling under my breath about the sets, I'm doling them out and thinking to myself "suck it up you pansies".
4. Speedo came out with much cooler, much bigger and PINK practice bags.
5. They practice pretty darn late at night! 8:30-9:30 two of the nights a week! Even worse I'm so old that I'm exhausted and lamenting that 9:30 is past my bedtime and they are all wired and raring to go!

It has been fun to be involved in swimming again and a little nostalgic for me because my high school swimming days were pretty enjoyable. The kids are nice and entertaining. By entertaining I mean they say things like....

Boy Swimmer: Coach, are you ever going to get in and show us some drills, turns and stuff?
ME: (10 second delay until I realize I'm the coach) Umm that would be a no.
Boy Swimmer: Why not? Didn't you swim a long time?
ME: Yes, but I just had a baby...(and I'm in horrible shape, and gravity is working against me these days)
Boy Swimmer: So?
ME: You know what happens to women when they have babies right? It's just unflattering.
Boy Swimmer: OH.

Ahhh to be on the giving end of a life lesson for a group of teenage boys. Who knows I might suck it up (and by suck it up mean try and lose 20 pounds) before the end of the season and get in with them and show them what's up. Til then you can just call me Coach V.

We're Febrile

There's only one reason I'm not a posting fiend and there's only one reason I'm away from blogging this long...if you've been following me for a while you know this only happens when the princess is sick.

And sick she definitely is. We're down and out with a fever wreaking havoc on our little home. Miss Riley scared us to death on Friday night with the highest fever she's ever had (seriously she felt like a baked potato all over) and while we thought she was on the mend, that fever creeped right back in last night.

Good news is that so far it seems to just be a virus and that the fever means our princess is trying her best to fight it off. Bad news is that it's been a month and a half now since she's been UNSICK and we're OVER doctors poking and prodding, listening to and touching us. In fact, since a not so gentle doctor slammed a strep swab down her throat on Saturday the sight of anyone medical makes her shriek and reach for Mama.

Say prayers for her return to good health and Matt's and my mental state, half jokingly. We'll be back when she's on the mend.

Free Photo Books

**UPDATE!! The coupon can only be used until tonight, but you have until Sunday at 11:59 pm to make and order your books! Cash in those coupons tonight, just click on this link and sign up for or log in to your snapfish. **

A friend of mine at work sent me a link from yesterday's Oprah show. Snapfish which is an online photo website kind of like shutterfly or kodak is giving away free photo books! Only catch is your coupon is only good until midnight tomorrow night, but if you've got a ton of photos stored up like me you can make one in a jiffy. You can design your own or just use their pre- made layout, either way you'll get a gorgeous hardback photo book of whatever you choose. This isn't just for baby books either - you can use it for engagement photos, wedding photos, friend photos or get it as a gift for your Mom or grandma or significant other.

As for me, any guesses on who will be featured in my book???? DUH. :) HAPPY BOOK MAKING!

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081029_tows_messyhouse/7
****DON'T BE CONFUSED BY THE LINK! It goes to the Oprah page and they used this idea to show what poor clutter moms could do with their kids art work. You don't have to use art work, you can use photos! Just click the highlighted link on her page that says Get your free book!****

WORRY

Ask just about anyone close to me in my life and they'll tell you, I'm a champion worrier. It's my least desirable trait, and I wish it wasn't so. Count yourself lucky if you've never had to be my seatmate on a plane or the sounding board for my questions about the safety and health of our daughter. Bless you if you've ever had the patience to help me sort through my worries about jobs, money, houses, or the unknown just around the corner.

My mother tries to help me by reminding me that it is a sin to worry, but of course that only compounds the issue and makes me worry that I'm sinning constantly because I worry constantly. In my prayers each day I ask God to help me turn my fears, concerns, stresses, bothers, and problems over to Him. Somedays I do better than others and it is a constant struggle for me.

A friend at work whom I often discuss these things with was kind enough to share this Bible passage with me and I wanted to post it here for anyone else out there who might be a fellow worrier. Even bigger than that I wanted to post it here so that someday when my sweet Riley is reading this blog she'll know that her Mommy wants her to remember: Don't worry your life away my love, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:22-34
[22] Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. [23] Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. [24] Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! [25] Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? [26] Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? [27] "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. [28] If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! [29] And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. [30] For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. [31] But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. [32] "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. [33] Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

SWISI

Miss Riley Roo has been keeping us on our toes lately. She is a mover and a shaker and is not at all content to do anything that would involve sitting quietly. We suspect that at times she finds us boring. At the very least we know we pale in comparison to the fun she has in the mornings with her daycare buddies. So we've been scrambling to find ways to entertain her and this morning with a laundry basket and computer charging cord a new game was formed! Sledding WIthout Snow Indoors or SWISI consists of Matt and I taking turns dragging the princess in her "sled" around the first floor of our house. Don't let the pictures fool you, she quite enjoyed herself!

She started out sitting upright and then assumed full relaxation pose after the 10th time around.

"Protesting" because the puller got dizzy from too many turns around the island and paused for a millisecond break to regain her composure.

Ahhh content again as long as we kept it moving. Next time I'm going to attach our floor cleaner to the bottom and tackle two jobs at once; clean floors and entertain baby.

Riley Hearts Spaghetti

Tonight was Riley's first spaghetti experience. She started out a bit unsure, but then took to eating with great gusto. The pictures say it all...RILEY HEARTS SPAGHETTI!

Say it ain't so

Can you believe that this sweet 9 month old baby already knows how to throw a shrieking, tears involved, terrible twos style temper tantrum?

Me either, but oh boy can she!!! Now I'm pretty sure my "Baby Bible" What to Expect The First Year referred to this phase simply as a milestone achieved in which "baby might possibly be able to protest when you take something away that she wants". Protest you say? Not our baby, try INFORM AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS. On the upside, my "Bible" referred to babies with this "skill" as having "advanced maturity realizing at an early age that they are a separate entity from their mother".

Watch out world, she's only 9 months old yet keenly aware she's got a mind and opinions of her own and she isn't afraid to let you know about it. At least according to Gampy, she came by it honestly and is merely displaying eerie similarities to her fabulous Mommy at the same age. We also must take this moment to thank Gampy for being so supportive and stating this so delicately while on the phone with us tonight. Because for all of us who know BIG R. well, know that he's a straightshooter and what he was really thinking while laughing to himself was payback is a witch isn't it???? :)

Mish Mash Monday

It's been a few days since I've posted and so many things have been happening! I decided that in order to fill you all in I'm NOT going to do Not Me Monday today and instead will fill you in on all the details in one fabulously Mish Mashy blog post.

Friday was Halloween, whoop de doo! Okay, I'm just not a big Halloween person, never have been. Matt and I decided that since princess is too young to understand we might as well enjoy one last year of peace and quiet on this day before at least 12 years to come of costuming, trick or treating, and sugar comas. So we didn't dress her up in a costume, but she did have a cute little outfit courtesy of Gammy and instead of trick-or-treating, we brought her to the character parade at school and she had a great time. She was only slightly terrified by a child dressed up as a huge veiny eyeball, but I was too so I couldn't blame her.

For my die hard Halloweeners out there, don't worry I'm not a complete Scrooge! I always put a bowl full of yummy candy and prizes out on the front step for the kiddies! This year our bowl had only one visitor, a late night eater who had very specific tastes, Reeses Cups! Beware, if you see a sugar high squirrel on the loose it's because he partook in Halloween at our house. :)

Saturday I had the absolute PRIVILEGE of watching Zaden while my best Mommy friend moved to her new house. He was an absolute dream. ***Watch out those of you without children, one day with Z and you'll be wondering what all the hullabaloo about babies is about and you'll be hightailing it home to start a little family of your own!!! Simply put he's not a "BC" baby, but we'll lend you Riley who has KILLER separation anxiety these days if you'd like. :) ***

Matt and I had so much fun with Riley and Z the day just flew by. After a very relaxing morning, great naps and lunch, we took them for a walk at our favorite park and finished up with a ride on the swings. We were amused by all the perplexed people watching us with two babies that looked pretty close in age, but not at all twin like. A great day was had by all, though we will admit that simple math does apply and even 2 very easy babies means 2 times the work - big ups to all you moms of multiples out there!


We wrapped up our weekend with my used to be favorite "holiday", otherwise known as Daylight Savings Time. Pre.Princess.Riley. this day meant an extra hour for Matt and I to sleep, lounge, movie watch, etc. Excitement was replaced with nervous anxiety about what our sweet baby girl would do!

Very wisely we went to bed at the regular time on Saturday night because she was up at her usual wake up time of 645 which thanks to DST was actually 545. Luckily we managed to stretch the awake time before both her morning and afternoon nap by 30 minutes though and she was right back on schedule. Another parenting dilemma solved - go us! What did we do with our extra hour this year? We finally got around to carving one of our pumpkins. Riley was fascinated by the way it lit up and enjoyed standing up and banging on it's head.

WHEW! To wrap up the mish mash post, in the spirit of Not Me Monday here's a few not mes from our week....

I so did NOT actually worry about DST for a few days prior to have it all turn out okay. Absolutely NOT that would just be ridiculous and we all know I'm many things, but not the least bit ridiculous.

I did NOT obsessively check MckMama's post and most certainly did NOT cry when I read that God performed a miracle and baby Stellan diagnosed by doctors "with no chance of survival" was born perfectly healthy. Praise the Lord!

Lastly, I did NOT boohoo about my friend moving away because if anything I am so happy for her little family and their beautiful new home. I am definitely NOT acting like she moved out of state when she only moved 30 minutes away. And I will NOT let 25 extra minutes keep me away from my dearest friend and her sweet baby!