I'm on a roll today! Can you tell I had a little extra free time from taking a vacation day?! I even got the majority of my "to do" list done too! Mass producing as my friend Courtney would say!
This video captures a day in the life. These days it's more Riley making this same trek with one of our shoes in his hands or something, but you get the jist. He's a BUSY little boy! All day! Every day! No wonder he sleeps through the night!!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Go Steelers!
My main men in their Steelers jersey's. This is Riley's 1st jersey. We bought it while we were in Pittsburgh at the San Diego game.
Demolition Man
These are just a few of the shots we have captured of the damage demolition man can do in the blink of an eye!
I think the kid needs a few more toys, huh? I'm almost embarrassed by this picture! This is a little ridiculous!! I mean - how does he even decide what he wants to play with!! We're definitely going to be donating, lending out, gifting a lot of this soon. And I think Santa is going to have a "toy limit" that must be adhered to! It's usually a little more organized than this, but STILL!
Yes...he's sitting on our coffee table banging a puzzle piece. So glad we invested in new furniture right before a kid! Smart move! At least we have the leather warranty on the sofa! If he decides to "mark his territory" or take scissors to it - that's covered!
What he can do with a napkin if you lose sight of him for 2 seconds!!
His favorite drawers...and the "clean them out" game he plays! Now he's actually progressed to putting things back in them too. Just not the things that came out of them!
His 2nd favorite place - Tupperware City!! Oh...I have many more pics! They are just on the other camera that I haven't uploaded yet!
I think the kid needs a few more toys, huh? I'm almost embarrassed by this picture! This is a little ridiculous!! I mean - how does he even decide what he wants to play with!! We're definitely going to be donating, lending out, gifting a lot of this soon. And I think Santa is going to have a "toy limit" that must be adhered to! It's usually a little more organized than this, but STILL!
Yes...he's sitting on our coffee table banging a puzzle piece. So glad we invested in new furniture right before a kid! Smart move! At least we have the leather warranty on the sofa! If he decides to "mark his territory" or take scissors to it - that's covered!
What he can do with a napkin if you lose sight of him for 2 seconds!!
His favorite drawers...and the "clean them out" game he plays! Now he's actually progressed to putting things back in them too. Just not the things that came out of them!
His 2nd favorite place - Tupperware City!! Oh...I have many more pics! They are just on the other camera that I haven't uploaded yet!
The favorite part of my day!
I've been meaning to post this one for a while! This picture is actually from August! But this is the favorite part of my day! Riley can hear the garage door open, so he knows that it's me getting home. And he'll walk/crawl as fast as he can to the gate to greet me!
How can you not forget about whatever stress you had during the day when this is your greeting as soon as you walk in the door! It's the best thing EVER!!! What you can't see in the picture is the squeals and screams that come along with it as well!!
How can you not forget about whatever stress you had during the day when this is your greeting as soon as you walk in the door! It's the best thing EVER!!! What you can't see in the picture is the squeals and screams that come along with it as well!!
Another one of the greatest inventions ever!
The battery operated nasal aspirator!! OMG! I LOVE it! And Riley does too! Could you ask for anything more! Ours plays music, so as soon as Riley hears the music - he literally sticks his nose out and opens his mouth so you can suck his nose! It's AWESOME! And this is totally gross, but I get gratification by being able to see exactly what I sucked out! I know! Yuck!! I shouldn't admit that!
If you know someone having a baby - get it! They'll thank you for it later!!
If you know someone having a baby - get it! They'll thank you for it later!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Another Week in the Life of Riley
What Riley's up to these days....this weekend he's been fighting yet another cold! Ugh! No fever, but he's got a constant runny nose and cough. I keep thinking he's going to wake up each night sick, but he hasn't yet. I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow, so I hope he doesn't end up ill on our day off together! Right now with all the illness he's had in the last month, I can't imagine day care being much worse! It seems like every time he gets over something, the next thing moves in! I guess it's just a right of passage.
One of his new things this week is finger pointing. He's constantly pointing and jabbering like you understand what he's saying. If there's a lack of an object to point at, he just points to the sky and jabbers along. I can now anticipate the phase of him becoming frustrated that he can't communication what he wants/needs to you. There's already a hint of it.
His 1st sign and most frequently used is the sign for milk, and now it is becoming the "go to" sign. If he's excited about something - sign for milk. If he's drinking his milk, he'll be making the sign for milk with his other hand. If he's "all done", he'll make the sign for milk...then it will slowly transition into the "all done" sign. It's like he knows we understand that sign, so he wants to use it for everything! We need to start working on more signs now that he's more receptive. I was teaching him to point at the yogurt bites then give me the sign for "more" the other day, and he got that pretty quickly. But I don't know if he would do it again on his own.
Walking Walking & More Walking...now that he's taken those first 2 steps...that's all he does. He just walks around and around our house - lugging our shoes, his balls, a book - whatever. But he'll continuously do laps around our kitchen bar. It never gets old.
He's also started to learn how to get off the sofa. I showed him how to back off by putting his feet down, and to my surprise - I caught him getting one of his balls off the sofa and "backing" off of it. But if he's focused on something else - he'll still just walk right off it you don't watch him!
He's also started mimicking us more and more this week. If he picks up my iPhone, he puts it to the back of his head and starts jabbering as if he's talking on it. The other night I was fixing his hair, and he picked up his comb and started combing his hair. And he's all about drinking out of whatever "big person" glass you are drinking out of. He'll walk up and smack his lips, lick them then open his mouth for a drink.
I can't remember what he did the other morning, but I remember saying to him - you may be a little OCD after all. We'll have to train your Daddy to be like us! ha! ;) Then 2 days later Emily told me that he was exhibiting the same behavior at her house. She said she noticed him shutting her pantry doors, so she went behind him and opened one of them - and he circled right back behind her and closed it. Then he was in Rowan & Camden's room, and he closed their closet door and pushed some of their drawers closed too. It's probably just more of his mimicking us, but it's cute! And it gives me hope, he'll be trainable! ha! Just kidding! I was telling Kelly we need to start letting him be part of picking up his toys each night. Right now we just pick them all up after he goes to bed, so our house is "straightened up" from about 8pm to 9am every day. The rest of the time, it looks like a 15 month old child lives here. I'm all about it being his domain and him having the freedom to explore and do what he wants within reason. It's his house too! We just try to make it as child friendly as possible.
One of his new things this week is finger pointing. He's constantly pointing and jabbering like you understand what he's saying. If there's a lack of an object to point at, he just points to the sky and jabbers along. I can now anticipate the phase of him becoming frustrated that he can't communication what he wants/needs to you. There's already a hint of it.
His 1st sign and most frequently used is the sign for milk, and now it is becoming the "go to" sign. If he's excited about something - sign for milk. If he's drinking his milk, he'll be making the sign for milk with his other hand. If he's "all done", he'll make the sign for milk...then it will slowly transition into the "all done" sign. It's like he knows we understand that sign, so he wants to use it for everything! We need to start working on more signs now that he's more receptive. I was teaching him to point at the yogurt bites then give me the sign for "more" the other day, and he got that pretty quickly. But I don't know if he would do it again on his own.
Walking Walking & More Walking...now that he's taken those first 2 steps...that's all he does. He just walks around and around our house - lugging our shoes, his balls, a book - whatever. But he'll continuously do laps around our kitchen bar. It never gets old.
He's also started to learn how to get off the sofa. I showed him how to back off by putting his feet down, and to my surprise - I caught him getting one of his balls off the sofa and "backing" off of it. But if he's focused on something else - he'll still just walk right off it you don't watch him!
He's also started mimicking us more and more this week. If he picks up my iPhone, he puts it to the back of his head and starts jabbering as if he's talking on it. The other night I was fixing his hair, and he picked up his comb and started combing his hair. And he's all about drinking out of whatever "big person" glass you are drinking out of. He'll walk up and smack his lips, lick them then open his mouth for a drink.
I can't remember what he did the other morning, but I remember saying to him - you may be a little OCD after all. We'll have to train your Daddy to be like us! ha! ;) Then 2 days later Emily told me that he was exhibiting the same behavior at her house. She said she noticed him shutting her pantry doors, so she went behind him and opened one of them - and he circled right back behind her and closed it. Then he was in Rowan & Camden's room, and he closed their closet door and pushed some of their drawers closed too. It's probably just more of his mimicking us, but it's cute! And it gives me hope, he'll be trainable! ha! Just kidding! I was telling Kelly we need to start letting him be part of picking up his toys each night. Right now we just pick them all up after he goes to bed, so our house is "straightened up" from about 8pm to 9am every day. The rest of the time, it looks like a 15 month old child lives here. I'm all about it being his domain and him having the freedom to explore and do what he wants within reason. It's his house too! We just try to make it as child friendly as possible.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Green Lantern Squared
Riley was still a little too young to really enjoy Halloween, but we took him trick or treating with Ethan anyway. It's our 2 year old tradition to go trick or treating in their neighborhood with them. Ethan is 3 and a half, so he was WAY into it this year! It was so cute! Even Ms. Emily (8 weeks old) dressed up like a little bunny! But she pretty much slept through all the excitement!
Me, Riley aka Green Lantern & Ethan aka "ROARRRR Dinasour" ready to go!!
Had to get a pic of him standing up! His little muscles are so cute!!
Speaking of - I think I paid $20 for the costume in August, and we spend almost $70 having it tailored to fit him! Nice!! Maybe it'll fit him next year too! Yeah right!!
I'm thinking he may not like this dressing up stuff like his Mom! But SHHHH! Don't tell his Dad!
Riley's 1st house EVER for Trick or Treating.
His 2nd house EVER! I just love how he's looking up!
Nancy & Ms. Emily-look at her cute bunny tail!!
Dad carried Riley 1st.
My Dad, Shelia & Ms. Emily. Yes! That's my Dad pushing a stroller! And yes! That's a real baby in it!! :) I have photographic evidence now! As you can see, Ms. Emily was over the trick or treating pretty quickly!
Then Josh carried Riley.
Then it was Mommy's turn!
Then he was DONE!! I think his muscles are going to choke him!!
Anyone that knows Kelly knows Halloween is his FAVORITE holiday (is it even a holiday?!, but you know what I mean)! So my Dad and Shelia came to the rescue this year! They came to town earlier in the afternoon, so they could go trick or treating with us then watch Riley so Kelly and I could go out. We did the "Boo" package at the Gaylord Texan resort that included admission to the club there - Glass Cactus, and brunch the following day. Could new parents ask for a better gift? A night out on the town AND getting to sleep in!! Throw in an extra hour with the time change, and you couldn't ask for anything more!! WooHoo!! Getting to sleep in makes ALL the difference in the world on how much fun you can really have! LOL!
We tried to make it as easy as possible for my Dad and Shelia, so we wouldn't feel like we were leaving them high and dry! We checked into our hotel in the afternoon, and we all had an early dinner there. Then we went trick or treating, and Kelly and I put Riley to bed, then went out. That way they didn't have to struggle getting him to go to bed. They could just get up with him in the morning and feed him breakfast and lunch before his nap. And PLAY PLAY PLAY! Because the mornings are prime time play time around here!
I forgot about this until I was uploading my pics - this is a REAL person! He was at the Gaylord when we ate dinner there. Pretty cool!!
It was very nice to have my Dad and Shelia here. I think they really enjoyed it too. And this was something my Dad never really took part in when we were little because he was working, so now he gets the chance to experience it all with Riley which is cool. He's said to me recently that he's sorry for missing out on things with us girls when we were growing up, but I realized long ago that he was of the generation that thought his job as the man of the house was to work and provide for us. I don't want him to have guilt over that - I just want him to take the time to enjoy those things with Riley. It's more important to me now that Riley have involved Grandparents than anything I may have missed growing up. Both sides of my Grandparents were very involved in my life as I was growing up. My Dad's parents literally lived 800 yards across the pasture from us. Yes! I said pasture! That's what is was!! And I just have such fond memories of spending every Saturday night at MemMaw & PawPaw's with MemMaw scratching our backs and running her nails through our hair (my PawPaw had to time each of us so one wouldn't get more "time" than the other), getting to have a REAL coke float, watching Love Boat, sleeping on a pallet in their floor, and getting up to have "coffee" with them in the mornings! It was really just milk with a dash of coffee and some sugar,but we thought we were totally grown up! Then during the summer us staying with MemMaw every day, and she'd ring the dinner bell for us to come to lunch when were were off in the back pasture on our horses. At my Mom's Mom's house I remember things like watching Willie Nelson on tv, and sitting in Granny's recliner with her and eating cucumbers soaked in vinegar with salt and pepper...random memory....but something I still love today!! We also always played music instruments there b/c most of my Mom's family is musically inclined. And my Grandpa Garland taking us to town for gum, always buying us rabbits to my Mom's dismay and driving fast over the hill so your stomach would feel like you were on a rollercoaster ride! Those are some of my fondest memories! And I want Riley to have those too! I'm sure it's just as enjoyable for Grandparents to have grandchildren they can break all the rules with b/c they can send them home too! :)
Okay...I digress! This is a Halloween post!!
Here are some pictures I snapped of BIG and little Green Lantern! No! Kelly didn't dress up to take Riley trick or treating - as you can tell from the pics above! I took the pictures real quick when we got home before we got Riley ready for bed.
Green Lantern Squared!
Green Lantern & Mini Me Lantern - I think Riley's muscles are bigger than his Dad's! j/k!!
This one makes my heart melt of the 2 of them looking at each other! Although I think Riley was trying to make sure that was still his Daddy behind the mask!
As for our night out, let's just say we both had A LOT of fun! So much fun that I had an iPhone casualty!! It's a long story, but let's just say iPhones and vanilla vodka and diet coke don't mix very well! I dropped my phone in my drink. To be honest, I still have NO idea how it even happened! I thought Kelly or Scott had tossed it in there from afar! LOL! Then I found out Apple won't replace your phone if it has "liquid damage". Luckily for me, honesty is the best policy, and by the time I got an appointment with a "Genius" to pay them $$ to replace my phone - I guess it had dried out b/c they covered the replacement at no cost to me! Yippee!! That was $200 I didn't care to spend right before the holidays! And I think everyone should know that I survived 4ish FULL days WITHOUT MY PHONE!!! With the launch of our new platform being so new, it caused me to have nightmares that work couldn't get in touch with me and the site was down! SAD! Obviously, I need a vacation!! Being constantly in touch via email, etc is a double edged sword for sure! It feels like a ball and chain some days! So when I didn't have it for a few days...I must admit that it became a little liberating! And I haven't been constantly checking my phone as much since!
Kelly, Scott & Dewain
That's Kelly's old Harlem Globetrotter costume Dewain is wearing. It's even autographed by a real Globetrotter we saw out the year Kelly wore it. He said it was an honor to have people dress up as them! Pretty cool. Kelly's "anti store bought" costume, so they always have to be authentic! Yet, another conversation I can hear Riley having with him one day! I just want a store bought costume like everyone else! Not a homemade one!! LOL! Kelly actually made his mask, and even crazy glued his own glasses lenses into it! He's so creative like that! Definitely the parent that will be helping with "art" projects!!
We had to have a picture of Dewain with the "Blind Refs"!
OMG! This guy was the BEST!! He's dead on for Alan in the movie Hang Over! I swear he was even in character too! I heard him yelling at his friend that they had been looking for him all night! Which was pretty much the premise of Hang Over! LOL! He totally would have won the $1000 costume contest, but he didn't even know there was a contest! Hello!!
This guy was pretty good too! The contacts were FREAKY! Kelly...always posing! lol! The Hulk doesn't know he's supposed to "be in character".
I'm glad to report when we got home the following day my Dad and Shelia survived their day with Demolition Man! And had a great time too! They actually thanked me for asking them to babysit!! I was like I'm the one that's supposed to be thanking you!!
Much to my Dad's delight, Riley called my Dad "PawPaw" while he was here, so he pretty much sealed the deal on my Dad & Shelia babysitting again by working them over with his charm! :)
Me, Riley aka Green Lantern & Ethan aka "ROARRRR Dinasour" ready to go!!
Had to get a pic of him standing up! His little muscles are so cute!!
Speaking of - I think I paid $20 for the costume in August, and we spend almost $70 having it tailored to fit him! Nice!! Maybe it'll fit him next year too! Yeah right!!
I'm thinking he may not like this dressing up stuff like his Mom! But SHHHH! Don't tell his Dad!
Riley's 1st house EVER for Trick or Treating.
His 2nd house EVER! I just love how he's looking up!
Nancy & Ms. Emily-look at her cute bunny tail!!
Dad carried Riley 1st.
My Dad, Shelia & Ms. Emily. Yes! That's my Dad pushing a stroller! And yes! That's a real baby in it!! :) I have photographic evidence now! As you can see, Ms. Emily was over the trick or treating pretty quickly!
Then Josh carried Riley.
Then it was Mommy's turn!
Then he was DONE!! I think his muscles are going to choke him!!
Anyone that knows Kelly knows Halloween is his FAVORITE holiday (is it even a holiday?!, but you know what I mean)! So my Dad and Shelia came to the rescue this year! They came to town earlier in the afternoon, so they could go trick or treating with us then watch Riley so Kelly and I could go out. We did the "Boo" package at the Gaylord Texan resort that included admission to the club there - Glass Cactus, and brunch the following day. Could new parents ask for a better gift? A night out on the town AND getting to sleep in!! Throw in an extra hour with the time change, and you couldn't ask for anything more!! WooHoo!! Getting to sleep in makes ALL the difference in the world on how much fun you can really have! LOL!
We tried to make it as easy as possible for my Dad and Shelia, so we wouldn't feel like we were leaving them high and dry! We checked into our hotel in the afternoon, and we all had an early dinner there. Then we went trick or treating, and Kelly and I put Riley to bed, then went out. That way they didn't have to struggle getting him to go to bed. They could just get up with him in the morning and feed him breakfast and lunch before his nap. And PLAY PLAY PLAY! Because the mornings are prime time play time around here!
I forgot about this until I was uploading my pics - this is a REAL person! He was at the Gaylord when we ate dinner there. Pretty cool!!
It was very nice to have my Dad and Shelia here. I think they really enjoyed it too. And this was something my Dad never really took part in when we were little because he was working, so now he gets the chance to experience it all with Riley which is cool. He's said to me recently that he's sorry for missing out on things with us girls when we were growing up, but I realized long ago that he was of the generation that thought his job as the man of the house was to work and provide for us. I don't want him to have guilt over that - I just want him to take the time to enjoy those things with Riley. It's more important to me now that Riley have involved Grandparents than anything I may have missed growing up. Both sides of my Grandparents were very involved in my life as I was growing up. My Dad's parents literally lived 800 yards across the pasture from us. Yes! I said pasture! That's what is was!! And I just have such fond memories of spending every Saturday night at MemMaw & PawPaw's with MemMaw scratching our backs and running her nails through our hair (my PawPaw had to time each of us so one wouldn't get more "time" than the other), getting to have a REAL coke float, watching Love Boat, sleeping on a pallet in their floor, and getting up to have "coffee" with them in the mornings! It was really just milk with a dash of coffee and some sugar,but we thought we were totally grown up! Then during the summer us staying with MemMaw every day, and she'd ring the dinner bell for us to come to lunch when were were off in the back pasture on our horses. At my Mom's Mom's house I remember things like watching Willie Nelson on tv, and sitting in Granny's recliner with her and eating cucumbers soaked in vinegar with salt and pepper...random memory....but something I still love today!! We also always played music instruments there b/c most of my Mom's family is musically inclined. And my Grandpa Garland taking us to town for gum, always buying us rabbits to my Mom's dismay and driving fast over the hill so your stomach would feel like you were on a rollercoaster ride! Those are some of my fondest memories! And I want Riley to have those too! I'm sure it's just as enjoyable for Grandparents to have grandchildren they can break all the rules with b/c they can send them home too! :)
Okay...I digress! This is a Halloween post!!
Here are some pictures I snapped of BIG and little Green Lantern! No! Kelly didn't dress up to take Riley trick or treating - as you can tell from the pics above! I took the pictures real quick when we got home before we got Riley ready for bed.
Green Lantern Squared!
Green Lantern & Mini Me Lantern - I think Riley's muscles are bigger than his Dad's! j/k!!
This one makes my heart melt of the 2 of them looking at each other! Although I think Riley was trying to make sure that was still his Daddy behind the mask!
As for our night out, let's just say we both had A LOT of fun! So much fun that I had an iPhone casualty!! It's a long story, but let's just say iPhones and vanilla vodka and diet coke don't mix very well! I dropped my phone in my drink. To be honest, I still have NO idea how it even happened! I thought Kelly or Scott had tossed it in there from afar! LOL! Then I found out Apple won't replace your phone if it has "liquid damage". Luckily for me, honesty is the best policy, and by the time I got an appointment with a "Genius" to pay them $$ to replace my phone - I guess it had dried out b/c they covered the replacement at no cost to me! Yippee!! That was $200 I didn't care to spend right before the holidays! And I think everyone should know that I survived 4ish FULL days WITHOUT MY PHONE!!! With the launch of our new platform being so new, it caused me to have nightmares that work couldn't get in touch with me and the site was down! SAD! Obviously, I need a vacation!! Being constantly in touch via email, etc is a double edged sword for sure! It feels like a ball and chain some days! So when I didn't have it for a few days...I must admit that it became a little liberating! And I haven't been constantly checking my phone as much since!
Kelly, Scott & Dewain
That's Kelly's old Harlem Globetrotter costume Dewain is wearing. It's even autographed by a real Globetrotter we saw out the year Kelly wore it. He said it was an honor to have people dress up as them! Pretty cool. Kelly's "anti store bought" costume, so they always have to be authentic! Yet, another conversation I can hear Riley having with him one day! I just want a store bought costume like everyone else! Not a homemade one!! LOL! Kelly actually made his mask, and even crazy glued his own glasses lenses into it! He's so creative like that! Definitely the parent that will be helping with "art" projects!!
We had to have a picture of Dewain with the "Blind Refs"!
OMG! This guy was the BEST!! He's dead on for Alan in the movie Hang Over! I swear he was even in character too! I heard him yelling at his friend that they had been looking for him all night! Which was pretty much the premise of Hang Over! LOL! He totally would have won the $1000 costume contest, but he didn't even know there was a contest! Hello!!
This guy was pretty good too! The contacts were FREAKY! Kelly...always posing! lol! The Hulk doesn't know he's supposed to "be in character".
I'm glad to report when we got home the following day my Dad and Shelia survived their day with Demolition Man! And had a great time too! They actually thanked me for asking them to babysit!! I was like I'm the one that's supposed to be thanking you!!
Much to my Dad's delight, Riley called my Dad "PawPaw" while he was here, so he pretty much sealed the deal on my Dad & Shelia babysitting again by working them over with his charm! :)
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