Sea World

Our new DOUBLE stroller! I've been doing some intense walking with my sister and a couple friends and at first I was carrying Riley in the wrap and pushing the stroller up these crazy hills. Then I decided to put Maddie in the bucket underneath the stoller, you know, the spot for storage but it was starting to break and it was really heavy. So... I FINALLY convinced Glen that I needed the double. We picked out a nice jogging stroller with these big wheels and it just glides, it's GREAT!!!

Shamu, Shamu!

Shark encounter!

Maddie wearin' Daddy's hat at the dolphin show. It actually started pouring rain during this show, it was pretty fun!

Playing at Elmo's Bay of Play

Double the fun (Double the trouble), and then.... Double the nap time!

Glen and I had been talking about going to San Diego since the beginning of the year, so we decided to go for Riley's birthday! We had soooo much fun! We stayed at an awesome hotel right in downtown San Diego and had fun walking around looking at all the shops and ate at a couple really good restaurants.

Both the girls had a great time at Sea World. Surprisingly enough Riley was very intrigued during all the shows. We had gone when Maddie was 18 months and she had a rather short fuse, but this time she had a BLAST!!! I said that I liked age two, but I'm liking three more and more especially when it comes to traveling. It's just much easier to go places with a 3 year old. Riley had a short fuse when we'd go out to eat....yeah that was a nightmare!!!

Anyway, we had so much fun. It was nice to get off the mountain and enjoy the cool beach weather!

Riley Turns 1!

Wow, has it really been a whole year since little Riley graced us with her presence? Yep, and what a fun year it's been!

Riley's birthday was on Saturday the 22nd but we had a little party for her on Wednesday with family.

We went for a butterfly theme and I just had too much fun. I made butterfly invitations and butterfly decorations and I bought butterfly wings for the girls to wear. Riley wore them all night!!! Maddie got filthy outside and had to get in the bath mid-party so she didn't last long as a butterfly!

There's the birthday girl. Doesn't she look so cute?!

Her and her little friend Bella are three weeks apart, Riley being a little older. I think they'll grow to be great friends!! Here they are playing with Riley's fun new toy.

MMMMM, yummy cake!

Grandma Denise and Heather made the cake! (This is the 3rd cake they've made for us, and they always do a great job!!)

Aunt Angie and Uncle Jason got this for her, she had the best reaction I've ever seen. She loves this Angel bear!!!

Riley is so great! She's happy almost all the time, she has a beautiful smile and loves to play. She's been walking for about a month and a half and is getting really fast! She loves to do everything her big sister does, for the most part Maddie likes her but not always(typical, right?). Riley is VERY active and loves to get into the cupboards and....the TOILET!!! I hate that, it's so gross,so Maddie has gotten really good at making sure the doors to the bathrooms stay closed or making sure all the lids are down. The lids being down won't work much longer though, as she's starting to figure out how to open them. Now I know why they make locks for EVERYTHING!!!! I never had to worry about the toilet thing with Maddie! Just recently Riley started shaking her head yes, but it's more of a whole body shake, it's really cute. She is really catching on to the whole communicating thing and is so stinkin' smart. Glen sings "Old McDonald" to her and she yells out "E-I"! Which is especially cute.

We've been blessed with two wonderful girls, I hate that time goes so quickly, I wish I could just freeze it!

From the mouth of Maddie

Maddie has been saying some really cute things the last few days that have had me chuckling.

Here's just a couple of things that she's said:





The other day she had seen a toy she'd wanted, I told her not today, maybe another time. She said, "Ok mommy, maybe you can get dis for my birt-day!" I said, "Maybe, what kind of birthday do you want next year?" She put her hands to her face and said, "Oh mom, let's just not talk about dat, I just don't wanna hink about dat wight now." (hmmmm, mini me in the making??)

Earlier this evening we were putting Riley to bed and we were trying to have her point out mommy, daddy, Maddie, and Riley and Maddie said, "I'm not Maddie, I hitty.(sissy)" and then she said, "Actuwee, I am wike a da (star) shinning bwight!" (for those of you who don't know, that's a primary song she sings at church.) How stinkin' cute is that??!!! I love this girl to pieces! She's DEFINITELY like a star shinning brightly!

There had to be at least one trip to the ER this summer!

Glen is out of town for a couple days to be with his grandpa, as his health is failing. So the girls and I stayed home to nurse colds and pink eye! (FUN) :)

Last night (Friday) I decided to go to my sister's house to get out for a bit and not have to be alone. All was fine, kids were playing and having fun and sister and I were enjoying the time by talking and catching up (we've been separated for a whole week because the kids were all sick and had pink eye, not normal for us). Riley was enjoying the giant YOGA ball with Alexus when all of the sudden she lost her balance and fell over, bonking her head on the floor. Alexus stood over her and thought she was trying to be silly with her hands clenched by her side (something Riley does when frustrated), I looked over and noticed something very wrong. She looked as though she were seizing, and I ran to her and she was! I started to panic and had sister call 911. The kids started crying and all was chaos. Riley was not responsive and her eyes looked like glass, she was twitching and couldn't catch her breath. I was screaming but also trying to figure out if there was anything I could do for her. Time is passing by and she begins to turn blue. As I'm panicking I'm hearing a calm voice telling me there IS nothing I can do but to stop panicking and to lay her down. (before the calmness I was holding her in my arms pretty much running in circles). Once I did calm down bubbles were coming out of her mouth, then I noticed her chest rising a little more normally and she started to breath again. She was very disoriented and was immobile, about another minute went by and she was coherent and her eyes changed from almost lifeless to lively and curious. She started looking at me and grabbing at my face as if she were seeing four of me, which she probably was. The medics got there shortly after she came to, asked lots of questions checked her vitals and suggested we go to Loma Linda for further evaluation. My entire family was by our side immediately. Maddie stayed with my mom and Jess's kids and had a "slumber party". I later found out that as the ambulance was leaving with Riley and I, Maddie, still very shaken up said, "My baby's gone, I miss my Wywee." When I heard that I had a huge lump in my throat and watery eyes. Glen's mom met us at the hospital and shortly after she arrived, my dad, sister, brother and sister in law were all there. It felt so good to be surrounded by our family and know that they are always there no matter what time of day or night.

After just looking at Riley the Dr.s were almost positive she had had an "impact seizure", which is exactly what it sounds like, she had fallen and hit a sweet spot which caused an "electrical charge" so to speak to be set off in the brain immediately after the bonk. They had her eat and drink to make sure she wasn't going to vomit, checked her body for any abnormalities. They opted not to give her a CAT scan 1) because everything on the outside looked normal and well and 2) because the radiation is very intense. They mentioned to come back if she had certain symptoms or if it happened again, and at that time more tests would be run and a scan would be done. After a little while they discharged her. The whole thing started at 8 pm and we were leaving the hospital by 11:30, not bad huh?! I was happy we were taking her home but worried at the same time that maybe she might have another one. She fell asleep right when we got in the car and slept the night away right next to me when we got to my parent's house. She woke up in good spirits and has been the same little Riley.

That, by far, was the scariest moment of my entire life up to this point. In that moment I really thought that we might lose her. I'm so grateful she's alright and her normal Riley self. I'm feeling extra appreciative to Heavenly Father that I'm able to be a mom to our two beautiful girls, but also realize that they are truly HIS children and I have no control over their destiny, which kind of scares me (maybe because I'm a little bitsy of a control freak, huh?) :)

So, the YOGA ball will be murdered later this evening and I will be following Riley around with a pillow to catch her falls for a few weeks!!! ;) I do not recommend this experience to anyone!!!!!!