Riley's new Adventures!

It's Time for the JUMP-A-ROO!!

I've been trying to re-organize things and make space and I had totally forgotten about the old Jump-a-Roo that was stashed away in the girls closet! I dusted it off (not really, but thought it'd add some effect), and put Riley on in! She had a great time, as you can see by that cute little smile she so kindly graced the camera with! She's also growing up too quickly for my liking, but I'm thoroughly enjoying her babyhood! She's been so easy so far.....hmmmmm, I wonder what the toddler years have in store for me! We'll soon find out! Until then... isn't she so adorable!

To Eat? OR... not to Eat?

Riley seemed to be very interested whenever I'd eat something. I was thinking maybe she's ready for solids. So we tried rice cereal and she was more excited about her new teething toy......the spoon, than the cereal. After a couple bites she gagged and wouldn't open her mouth. I tried the next day and she gagged again. After her well visit the doc told me I could try Oatmeal....NOPE, she gagged with that too. I opted for some bananas but she spit them out! No luck with the food thing, she's just not too thrilled about eating yet! Oh well, we'll try again next month! She's not acting extra hungry with just breast milk and she sure doesn't LOOK like she's deprived in any way, just ask her rolls!

Pizza Night

We had My sister and her family over to make homemade pizza. The kids had so much fun putting their own together!

Here they are just waiting impatiently for them to be done so they could eat! I couldn't believe I caught this picture, it's totally not staged! Classic! What a fun night!

Girly Girl!

This is what I have to clean up EVERY DAY when Maddie tries to decide what she wants to wear for the day! She'll put something on and then decide she doesn't want to wear that and then try something else on!! I can't believe the "Girly-ness" has started this early!!! I think I'll be in over my head once Riley is her age..... TWO GIRLS....AHHHHH! Soon, I'll be hearing the same bickering that my sister and I used to do when we argued over stealing each others clothes! Oh no! I'm so scared!

"Posing Pretty" in her new Princess dress up clothes that she got for "Chrippy" (Christmas)!

When we got our huge snow storm we were all getting a little stir crazy. Maddie asked if she could paint her own nails. I thought I was a little crazy for letting her, but I found a designated area where it wouldn't matter if a little spilled so I could just wipe it clean with nail polish remover. (That spot just happened to be in Daddy's office on his plastic floor mat, but shhhh, don't tell!) She went to town!! She used Blue and Bright Pink and kept painting the same toe...her big toe! It was packed with nail polish and looked "SO Pretty!!"

Maddie is growing up too fast for my liking, but it's so fun to capture these fun moments of her being a total GIRL!

From the Mouth of Maddie

So Funny!! As I was putting Maddie to bed tonight we were talking about this and that...Maddie is always especially chatty when bed time rolls around (of course, because she's totally stalling). She told me, "I want a Brodda, mom!" (a brother) and I said "You DO?" and she replied, "Yeah, and a girl one, too!" I told her, "You have a "girl one", we have Riley?" she then said, "Yeah, I want one more girl one, and a boy one and that's IT! NO more Babies mommy!"

I guess she feels entitled to let us know how many kids we should have! Ahh, kids say the darndest things! :) Hey, at least she's honest, right?

Healthy Kids!

I was able to get the girls in for a wellness visit. Maddie is doing great, in the 50th percentile for height and weight (who made up the whole percentile thing anyway, kinda dumb if you ask me, just another thing you can use to brag or compare children against) whatever, If you asked me, I'd of already told you I think my daughter is perfect! (wink, wink, not trying to brag or anything). N-E-Way, so then it was Riley's turn, I was already thinking she's big, maybe 15 or 16 pounds. Nope....she's 18 pounds! She's huge! She's bigger than most 6 month olds and some 9 month olds! Need I remind you she's only a little over 4 months! I just couldn't believe it! They asked me if I just breastfeed and I told them yes! They gave me this funny look... What's that about? What can I say... she's very healthy! She was so happy during the whole exam and everyone was so surprised, not me... she's just a "pocket full of sunshine"! (chuckle)

I'm just glad there is nothing seriously wrong with them...We'll deal with Riley's obesity if it becomes a real problem! Just kidding that sounds kind of bad. She'll grow out of her cute chubs just like Maddie did! For now I thoroughly enjoy kissing every little roll! So glad for good health!

The How's and the Why's

So Maddie is almost 3, I can't believe it! With this age has come some extra fun experiences in the last few weeks. She LOVES when Glen and I make up stories for her and sing made up songs. She has, and pretty much always has had, a great sense of independence and tends to be a little on the stubborn side (the twos have added to that a bit). She's also been especially curious lately, asking a TON of questions, which has been fun for me and makes me realize how truly fascinating the little things can be! So with all of these traits in mind I'd like to share a funny little moment. The following story may be a little, well, too personal for some, but I just had to share. So if your not privy to stories about poop, then read no further! :) If your a mom or don't mind the word poop, then you should have no problem and find it quite amusing.

OK so, we were driving to my sister's house and Maddie had "dropped a load" just before we got in the car and WOULD NOT let me change it (the stubbornness I had mentioned earlier) and insisted that I change it when we got to Aunt Jessica's. I hate arguing with her about EVERYTHING and said, "You just want to sit in it?" and she said "Yep!" so I said "Fine, that's gross, but, they're your buns not mine!" So, we were on our way. As we got closer to my sister's house Maddie asked, "Why people poop, mommy?" (the curiousness I had mentioned). I kind of laughed, embarrassed for a moment, and thought about how I was going to explain this one. I then thought what a great question that was! I went on to explain why, making it very interesting for her. I won't bore you with my explanation, as I'm sure you already know. As I had also mentioned before, she loves when Glen and I make up stories and asks us to repeat them over and over. So from about half way from our house to my sister's house Maddie kept saying, "Mommy, tell me dat doy(story) again!" In a matter of four minutes I had told her why people poop 4 times! It was definitely the most interesting car ride to Jessica's house yet!

That night as I lay with Maddie I thought about her question and thought about how amazing our bodies really are and how neat it is to be able to really think about things the way a child does and to know the answers and be able to explain them to her. It made me feel grateful for so many other things. It's not everyday we think about our bodies like that, in fact, I think most of us take our bodies and how truly remarkable they are, for granted. I believe kids are here to help us put things into perspective and to be more grateful for the little things that they find fascinating and not so little!

Hmmm, how neat it is to be a parent.

Is it a Miracle?

Holy Cow! I can't believe this! Maddie has been asking to eat.................VEGETABLES!!!! I try to put some kind of veggie on Maddie's plate for dinner (not every time, because I don't always have the energy for the fight to come). She rarely eats them and tells me "I don't wike dat!" with a sour look on her face. I'll try to get her to eat at least a couple bites, but it doesn't always go so well. So, the other night we had a normal dinner of chicken, potatoes and some green beans. Maddie went right to the green beans first and..... ate them ALL! Then she asked for more green beans, and ate all of those and asked for MORE! I was in total shock, but of course didn't want her to know that. She ate all her dinner and after her bath she asked for green beans as a snack! I felt like the heavens had opened up and the Angels were singing (haaaaaaaa)! I was happy with just that until the night before last when she opened the fridge and asked for CORN! Then, we were at my sister's house for dinner and we had broccoli and Maddie ate all of her broccoli and some of mine! To me... this is truly a miracle! My advice to anyone trying to get their kids to eat their veggies, never give up! Always try to present a veggie with dinner and maybe one day, just maybe, they'll pick it up and love it!

Happy New Year!

We'd like to wish all of our friends and family a wonderful New Year! We hope that you are able to accomplish all of your goals set for 2009 and that you stay happy and healthy! We love you all and feel so blessed to have such great people in our lives who help us strive to be the best we can be! Thank you for loving us and always being there for us!

Riley and Alexus

My niece Alexus has taken on a special liking to her new cousin, Riley. She just adores her and wants to hold her all the time. Riley, in turn, loves her big cousin and rewards her with lots of smiles, giggles and grins!

I haven't posted any pictures of my sweet niece yet, and feel kind of bad because she's been such a huge part of my life! I love this girl! She's been through a lot in the last couple years which has kind of forced her to grow up a little, with splitting time between both her parents, to the new step- dad and the arrival of her baby brother Hunter. She started kindergarten, and is now in 1st grade! All the while she's been able to maintain her sweet, witty, strong, beautiful, sassy, intuitive, smart, funny, silly self! (I could make the list longer with all her strengths but I wouldn't have anywhere to put them all, the list would be too long!). She's a great reader and jumps at the chance to read her latest book assignment to me. She is so full of life and personality. Alexus is an all around wonderful little girl with a whole lot going for her and I feel so blessed to have her as my niece! She'll always be my favorite! Love you girly!

Christmas Day

These were the only pictures we got during present opening time at my parents...mainly because it got a little chaotic. We had a great Christmas with both of our families. We first opened presents at our house at 8am, got ready and went to Glen's parent's house at 9am, ate a nice breakfast with them, (we forgot the camera in our scramble to get there on time as they had somewhere else to be later that day), than we came home, got the girls down for naps, caught up on some rest ourselves, and then ventured out into the dreary weather yet again to spend the rest of the late afternoon and evening with my family, where we had a lovely dinner and enjoyed being together! It seems like a lot but the rest period in between made it all run smoothly. Christmas just came and went all too quickly. There's so much hype leading up to it and then it's all over in the matter of a day! It's kind of a bummer!

Christmas Morning

If you notice the look in Maddie's eyes, this was her favorite gift (the Biggest Littlest Pet Shop). When she opened it she whispered, "Oh wow, mommy, Holy Caow!" Later that day, when she was playing with it she said, "I like this mommy, Hanta's a good guy!" It was so cute.

Riley just bein' Riley...she could really care less about all the stuff going on around her. She just watched us open stuff, sucked on her fingers, and smiled all the while!

Maddie got her cwamey (camera) that she'd been asking for since the beginning of the summer. When she got it out she'd look at stuff and say, "Say cheese...oop dat not a good one, let take it again, agghhh!" Than she'd pretend to take another one and say, "oh yeah, dat a good one, we'll keep it!"

She also got a "baccuume like mommy's!" Actually like mommy's old one, my old one bit the dust over the summer and Daddy replaced it with a snazzy Dyson, we couldn't afford to by her a Dyson like mommy's, but this works just the same!