I'm a blog stalker

I love reading other peoples blogs and not just people I know! Isn't that strange?? Well, in reading Lindsley's blog this morning I realized I got blog tagged and because the princess is sleeping (and even though I should be napping) I decided to play along! I'm supposed to tell you 6 quirks, and my first thought was, only 6?!?! I have like a million, but I will try to pick the 6 best or perhaps most odd...

1. I love ketchup, but only Heinz 57. In college my roommate and I used to collect the bottles to see how many we could eat. In one semester it was something like 45 bottles between the two of us. Some weird things I must have ketchup for are eggs, pizza, mac and cheese and rice, but I've been known to try it on some pretty strange things like watermelon. I even used to eat ketchup sandwiches which consisted of two pieces of bread with ketchup in between and nothing else.

2. I am messy, but I'm the kind of messy where I'll let it accumulate for a few days and then all of a sudden everything must be clean and I'll go crazy! By crazy I mean everything must be in its place and dusted and vaccumed and scrubbed with clorox wipes. For about a day I'm like the clean police and I get annoyed if it's messed up but 24 hours later and it starts to accumulate again.

3. I have SSB even though I've been married 4 years now. If you're a Sex and the City watcher you might know what that means. It means I have Secret Single Behavior - the grooming stuff you do and you don't want your man to see. Ala Charlotte, I love to sit in bed all toasty and examine my pores in a mirror. Weird, but true.

4. I watch kid/tween shows. I LOVE Gilmore Girls. I know this is completely immature for someone who is 27 and I'll admit I watch a whole lot less of it now that I'm a busy Mommy. But I'll still TIVO my favorite episodes. There is just something so darn comforting about that strange mom and her beautiful daughter.

5. I'm a celebrity gossip follower, the mags, online, TMZ, you name it I've seen it. I'm sad to admit I'm more up to date on the celebrity happenings than the political and national news. Ask me about the debates and I can't tell you a thing (shameful I know), ask me about Brangelina and I can tell you where they are in the world at this exact moment.

6. There are days where I would sleep all day if I could. I just love being snug in my bed, what can I say? And I don't feel the least bit guilty about not getting anything done. Okay, there you have it. I could go on about my quirks for days, but for those of you who could care less about me and are asking yourself where are the Riley pics I came here to see?!?!?! Here you go, some oldies but goodies!

P.S. You might want to check back this evening too because we're going pumpkin picking today!!!

Back to the drawing board

It has been a rough couple of nights for us and we don't know what has happened! She has never been the best sleeper, but she's done okay. In my own time I managed to sleep train her my way and at about 6 1/2 months she started sleeping solidly through the night 12 hours without so much as a peep. I was over my monitor insomnia and feeling revived again until the COLD. Now, as I've already blogged the week of the COLD = NO SLEEP for anyone. She was completely off schedule and everyone was dragging. Once we were over it she did start to sleep better, however, she's back to where she was before 6 months!!! This means she's waking up every couple hours after we put her down and then she's waking up somewhere between 2-3 am WIDE AWAKE. This was less bothersome in the summer when we could all sleep in, but 6 am comes early and it's hard to be sleepy with Kindergarteners waiting for you. Sigh...I'm perplexed and searching for the solution. Please pray for more restful nights for us!!!

On a positive note, she's just so darn cute it's almost okay that we're not sleeping. Today was the first really chilly day of fall here and after bath time we got our first little lip tremble and shivering sounds. *No we are not neglectful parents!!* We quickly wrapped her up in a bigger towel, but she was so darn cute doing it that we couldn't help but giggle. I'm going to wrap this up and get to bed and hopefully sleep, I'll leave you with some pics of Riley and her best buddy Z from their playdate this week.

Playing with Mommy's sneaker.
She was surrounded by Z's toys and somehow a sneaker and a bag of papertowels were the most entertaining. Yes I have ginormous feet, and she has inherited them, don't worry they are good swimming paddles.
Heeeeeey, what are you up to?
Don't they look like they're plotting to take over the world?
Hi Linds! They enjoyed playing at Z's activity table together.
A great teeth shot! Maybe the upper teeth are on their way??!?!

Fall Cleaning

This weekend we were all busy actually. For weeks (okay months maybe?) we have had bags of clothes, literally 5 huge Nordstrom bags of clothes sitting on her floor waiting to be put away. No, we are not shopaholics, but we are the very lucky recipients of some awesome hand me downs. I was waiting for the weather change to get it done and an hour of uninterrupted time. We all know the second half of the conditions was what was really holding me up. How many moms can find an hour of uninterrupted time???? Anyway, this weekend Matt and I did a complete overhaul of her closets and drawers, and separated them into keep, donate, and consign piles. It's finally finished, no pics yet but I'll post them when I get them. Why would you want to see a pic of Riley's closet??? Because my friends it's a thing of beauty and I need it documented before I destroy it.

In more exciting news, here's what the princess was up to while we were working....


She got a new house! This is a hand me down toy that is so much fun. It's got a working door, porch light, mailbox, doorbell and more. She loves crawling back and forth through the door.
Can you tell Daddy dressed her? She's in her little Penn State tee again, this time with the comfiest long sleeve pink onesie that he got her.
Dahntay made it on the blog by sleeping on top of this big puppy she got. Pretty cute. Poor dogs have had a hard time understanding the difference between her toys and theirs.

Practicing her new pulling up and standing skills. She is so proud of herself when she stands.
Shortly after she toppled over and Mommy and Daddy laughed hysterically (okay crazily) so she wouldn't cry. That works about 80% of the time. :)
Our little Minnie Mouse! We had fun in the Disney Store! Daddy really is wrapped around her finger! He bought her two things here because she grabbed them and wouldn't let go.
Trying to eat Mickey. Don't worry Mickey, that means she likes you!

Surrounded by her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Friends! We only let her watch that show and she just loves it. We can't wait to take her to Disney World one day.

Pretty in Pink

There is no need for explanation, these photos are just too cute not to post. P.S. Told you she'd be wearing bows soon! P.P.S. Yes, she was standing on her own pretty much except for leaning her buns back on the couch.

Daddy One Upper

Daddy saw my bubble hawk photos and said he could do better. Here's his pics from bath time tonight. I think his is pretty impressive, especially considering she was pretty fussy by this point.

On a side note, this is our Friday entertainment....and I'm starting to think we might need to get out more.

Tiny Bubbles

Last Sunday, I gave Riley a soothing vapor bath to help ease her nasal congestion. We actually put a bit of this in there every night, but on this particular bath night she got a whole bunch to help her little nose! Instead of just having a few bubbles here and there the tub was full and overflowing with them. She really got a kick out of it and I did too.

Enjoying the luxurious bubble bath! She had a fun time watching her toys pop up from the depths.
Oh Pooh, there you are! Her hair is getting longer and longer, just a little more and I'll be able to put bows in! I gave her a bubble hawk.
Caught red handed! She LOVES for us to spray water on her with the sprayer and it's so cute to watch her stick her hand in the spray and open and close her little fingers with her little face twisted into a "What the heck is going on here" expression.
Chewing on her Pooh tub thermometer, he's dual purpose safe and fun! Rocking her glamorous bubble updo!

The Happiest 8 Months

It's 9/24 my dear readers, which you know by now means that it's another month birthday for our little princess. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but every month we fall even more in love with her. Matt and I were happy when it was just the two of us, but her laughter can light up a room, her sweet smiles force our own mouths into an upturn, and her snuggles and kisses melt our hearts. Each stage has been so very different, but so much fun and while we're certainly not asking time to move any faster (hello it's been 8 months already?!?!?!?!) we are so excited for the many new things to come.

So, in her eighth month she started creeping and then crawling, getting into a sitting position on her own, babbling a LOT more, and heaven help us...pulling up, standing, and climbing the stairs. She DEFINITELY knows who Mommy and Daddy are and we are always rewarded with smiles and shrieks of recognition. She started waving hi and bye at the beginning of this month and is getting more consistent with it. She also started really solidly sleeping through the night, save the week known as THE COLD. :) She's nursing less, but eating more big kid food adding baby meats, yogurt, and finger food puffs to her very easy to please palate. So far she still only dislikes peas, although she wasn't a huge fan of chicken noodle baby food tonight either. Also on the nursing front we had our first strike for three days, don't know why, but she returned to it. She's started biting Mommy now too, and HARD, so we'll see how long that lasts. She has learned what No means, and she's pretty good at responding. She listens better to Daddy, go figure, but it's hard not to laugh or smile at her because she gives us a knowing grin, as if to say, "Okay, I'll listen...for now". Finally, she LOVES cause and effect; banging things to make sound, splashing the water, and knocking blocks over. I'll end this blog with pictures of her playing her favorite c&e game of "Where's Riley?" tonight after her bath. But before I go, a message for our girl...Happy 8 Months Princess! Thank you for all the love, laughter and happiness you have brought to our lives. We love you forever and always.

Fall Fair Fun

2 years ago, before Riley was even a star in the sky as my Dad would say, Matt and I randomly went to a little country fair and had a great time. Fall is one of our favorite seasons and we have so many things we want to do with her in the next few months and taking her there was up on our list. It's really the ideal little fair, way out in the country with VERY fresh air, bright blue skies, and that small town american feeling where everyone knows each other and waves hello. We were hoping she would be feeling better by Saturday and she was so we decided to go ahead and go.

Arriving at the fair, she was dressed for fall in a new Gigi and PaPa outfit and her baby consignment sale Nikes. :) Her shirt says Naturally Cute, in case you were distracted by her buddha belly.
The fair had an entire area just for kids. Most of it she was still too young for, and we're already looking forward to next year. Riley met her first farm animals, three little billy goats. She LOVED them, mostly because I think she thought they were big puppies. She kept grabbing their fur (fleece, hair??).
She got a balloon as we came into the kiddie area and she had fun trying to catch it as it floated in the wind.

She got to see some llamas too and thought they were very funny. Sorry this pic is kind of zoomed out I was taking them from the fair food line. :)
She had the most fun when we sat down to eat in the grass. I think this was the first time she has actually been able to sit down in a big patch of it and just wander about and she LOVED it. She was crawling all over the place.She would pause and take an occasional rest on her baby belly. I love this pic, with her little pants rolled up and her shirt riding up. She looks so relaxed.
Then she would go back to crawling and exploring. Her fingernails and toenails got pretty dirty, but we didn't mind.
We see this view a lot lately now that she has become mobile. She LOVES to crawl and scoot around and she squeals the entire time she's doing it.
What you can see is how happy she is in this picture, what you can't see is how blissfully happy her parents are watching our little baby discover her world.
On the way home she passed out as soon as her little head hit her car seat. I'm pretty sure her shirt didn't make it down past her belly at any point during the day, but doesn't she look comfy?? It was the perfect ending to a very fun day.

Cold, cold go away and come again...NEVER!

In talking to Riley's Gigi I had help realizing that it has been a week since I've blogged. I was up to about a blog a day until last Thursday when Riley had her first real illness. It all started on Tuesday when my daycare provider told me that her child had a runny nose. As a new mom, (with no knowledge of the evil about to invade my home), I shrugged it off and thought well how bad can a runny nose be??? Those not so new mothers out there are probably laughing at me as they read that and I'd laugh at myself if I wasn't so sleep deprived.

Fast forward to Thursday night when I put her down, I'm blissfully relaxing in bed getting ready to blog and I hear a cough on the monitor, followed by another cough and then screams. Let's just say that our girl was on a BEAUTIFUL sleep routine, going down very easily at 7 and sleeping through until about 7 each morning. Matt and I were over the moon with rest and we had become accustomed to the feeling of sleep again. So imagine my shock when that tiny little runny nose turned into the discovery that because her nose is so congested she can't breathe and suck the paci at the same time. Which means NO SLEEP for anyone. I spent the next several nights sleeping sitting with her propped up in my arms so that she could somewhat breathe. I was going to write about the doctor's prescribed treatment for a cold the P.I.M.A which is known as the nasal syringe, but that's a whole blog in itself so let's just not even get me started.

I'm happy to report that we didn't let that cold keep us down, although we did let it affect our household chores. The next three blogs will be about what we've been up to in the past week because there are too many pictures for each to do in just one lil blog. Good news is...she's well on her way to recovery and has slept much better the past two nights. Bad news for me...I just read somewhere kids get something like 6 colds a year?!?!?!

A natural born reader

I LOVE to read books, although I'll admit that I don't have the time lately to read the way I like. By that I mean that usually I'll start a book and if it's really good I'll go 3-4 hours straight until it's finished. I finished the last Harry Potter in a record 3 hours and 28 minutes. Then I read it again...and again. Of course that was pre-princess baby!

I am happy to report that it seems that Riley has my love for books. Today we were in her room and she was crawling around going from this toy to that and eventually she made her way over to her bookcase. Here's what happened next:

Making her first selection, she is pulling My Creation Bible off of the shelf. Notice she is doing it quite carefully.She's going back for book number two, she's looking closely at her options.She looked at her bible for a moment, but the one she's going for is a Gigi and PaPa gift. It's a Baby Einstein book that lights up and plays music. God is great, but the Bible doesn't stand a chance against a light up/sound book at this age.

She pulled it over onto her lap and gave me a look like, "Mom, read it to me please!"She actually sat still for the entire book and we listened to all the songs too.

Sitting in the aftermath, can you imagine when she's tall enough to reach the next shelf??