Random Events

1. I was voted into our FRG as the new Vice-President. I am very excited about this new adventure in my life. Being able to help out other families makes me feel useful and I like the sense of belonging that comes from being a part of this organization. Also, it's kinda like having a job outside of being a mom that doesn't require me to a committed schedule.

2. We are preparing to become a single parent household again. Shawn will leave as Riley is crawling and will come back as Riley is walking. It's not so much the physical preparation of getting clothes washed and packed or making sure our power of attorney is current that is hard, but it's the emotional preparation that for the next couple of months you will be soley responsible for your household. No break from the kiddos!

3. Trying to keep up with Riley is trying these days. I thought I was fully transitioned into being a mom of two. I was sure that I had this job down, but then Riley started crawling and this new development has made having two kids a new experience. Riley is into EVERYTHING! Caleb doesn't want Riley in his room because he pulls up all of his train track. So Caleb is constantly yelling, "No Riley" "Mom come get Riley". I can't get anything done. If Caleb gets out a coloring book, Riley is right there to help pull out pages and crinkle the page that Caleb is working on. Sometimes I just want to scream! My house has become a circus of constant toddler yelling, baby climbing, laundry growing, gate enclosed arena.

4. Now to top off everything else....the boys have been sick!! They have been up every night for the last 3 days. Caleb has gone through several boxes of tissues and wants to be by my side (attached) at every moment. Riley has fluid dripping from each facet of his face. He's crying, his nose is running, he's coughing, and drooling! Every time I pick him up, I have to change my clothes. UGH! With the house being closed off by baby gates, the rain outside, the boys being sick, and the thought of Shawn leaving is giving me some anxiety.

Playdoh fun

I was so taken back to my childhood with this playdoh set. How many of you played with this set?? It hasn't changed much since I was like 7. I still LOVE IT!! Caleb had gotten it for Christmas and we've just gotten a chance to play with it. He had a lot of fun with it.

Does this guy not look like Mr. Noodle?? How funny!!, I was starting to think that maybe this playdoh set was sold by Sesame Street?

9 Months Old

Riley had his 9 month appointment today. He's perfect, of course. He is 29.13 inches and 21 lbs. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He is such an awesome baby!! Between Riley and Caleb, it's all smiles and laughs in this house.

Riley has this new face that he makes and it just gets me tickled everytime he does it. I LOVE IT!! I can not get enough of this face!! Is it not the funniest face you've ever seen?

He is developing so quickly. He has two teeth on the bottom and one on top with another one on the way. He loves to look at books and wrestle with Caleb. He loves eating solids and is ready to give up baby food. He enjoys macaroni and cheese and ham sandwhichs with mayo. (all basically pre-chewed...he's not like eating with a spoon or anything, yet). He loves working on some simple signs, like "more and "bottle". And he LOVES playing with all of Caleb's toys, especailly the "Deigo Truck".

And finally, he LOVES to crawl!

Yes, that's right. Riley is crawling! He's so cute when he crawls. He gets this big smile on his face and then waits for your response.

Play Date

On Sunday, Caleb had a play date with his best "girlfriend" Synclair. The two of them had so much fun playing "hide n' go seek", singing, chasing each other and pretending to be in a marching band.

Riley got in on the fun and started wrestling with the kids on the floor. Synclair thought it was fun until Riley pulled on one of her braids. And Caleb got a bit mad when Riley poked him in the eye. Riley thought it was all good and was laughing hysterically!

They had an awesome play date. Caleb really enjoys his time with Synclair. He flourishes on her personality. They really bring the best out in each other.

Twilight

Last night Shawn and I went to the movies to watch "Twilight". I was a bit disappointed in the acting of several of the characters, but it was fun to watch. Usually, the movie is nothing like the book and in this case, I think they replicated the book exactly. Another disappointment for me was, I had in my mind what the characters would look like based on my perception of the book and the characters in the movie looked nothing like I imagined...other than the main character, Bella. She was exactly as I had imagined, but her acting was terrible! I wonder if they will make movies out of the rest of the series.

I want to send out a big "THANK YOU" to Jen for watching the boys for us. We really enjoyed our time alone and Caleb had an awesome time playing with John.

Mischief brewing

There is mischief brewing in my house...

Riley's personality is starting to show and he is going to be the mischievous one. He loves to get into EVERYTHING!! And he's not technically crawling yet, but he is mobile enough to get where he wants so that he can get into what he wants.

He looks at you like, "what, I'm not doing anything..." Yeah, right. He pushed some sequence of buttons on my laptop and my whole display went vertical. I couldn't figure out how he did it. I had to go into the control panel to fix it. Oh my goodness... He's going to keep me busy.

I am so worried about him crawling. Caleb never messed with too much, maybe buttons on the t.v. or on the laptop, but he never got into cabinet doors. I remember buying all the infant door locksto be prepared and he never got into one. This child, I've had to move my plants off the ground and move any candles or glass in his reach. I'm not only going to need to child proof the house, but keep him in restraints. I can only assume that this kind of behavior must come from Shawn's side of the family...

Ladies night out

Oh yes, it was Friday night...ladies night....

My dear friend Marsha had a birthday and Amy and I couldn't let that go by without some kind of fun, so we decided to take Marsha out for some dinner. We went to this place called, "Won's" (we think that's what it may be called, we're not sure).

It's a beautiful restaurant. When you walk in, there are large walking stones embedded in small white gravel. You must remove your shoes and put them in a small locker that is provided.

We had our own little room and we sat on pillows. It was very quaint.

We had an awesome time!! And I tried some new foods. It was REALLY nice to get out without the boys, although I found myself talking about them often.

I'm very lucky to have such great people to spend time with. I love friends that I can laugh and cry with and all is considered a good time.