Our summer stuff :)

Before school got out my mom told me that I was going to have a great time this summer with Riley. He's at a great age to do all kinds of things...not exactly her words, but I knew what she meant. So far this summer Riley and I have managed to walk most mornings at the Bog Garden. Just me and my baby...who isn't really a baby anymore...sometimes Andrea or my dad comes with us.

When it's too hot to play outside, we play inside, eat and take naps. Sometimes I can sneak in a nap too! Here are some of the sleep positions you may find in our house:
                                    
                                           The classic "tuck arms in" sleep position:

                                       

                                        Or the "curl up in a ball" cat sleep position:

Riley loves to play with his beach ball and will hand me the ball so I can throw it across the room, only for him to run and get it and hand it back to me. All the while giggling and shooting me his lady-killer smile! He is also a bookworm. He loves to sit quietly and flip through his books. His favorite is one that I bought him at our book fair at work for his first birthday.

One evening Riley was being very silly playing with Steve the cat. He was "talking" to him and trying to pick him up!


                                  


                                                            Funny boy!

                                                         



                                                            Probably reading...

Looking outside is another one of Riley's favorite things to do. I was showing Riley this yellow bird that has been coming around our feeder recently. He banged on the window and it flew away but at least I got a good picture of it!

Here is Riley at his Nana and Papa's house playing in his pool. It looks like Nana's car was about to hit him! I promise it wasn't :)

 He really wasn't too sure about the pool but definitely took some time to swing in his swing with Papa.

I love these summer days with my little guy. He never ceases to amaze me. He's getting into everything. Any drawers, cabinets and doors are fair game. He's on the move all the time and loves to be outside. I've been working with him on staying on the sidewalk instead of trying to run into the road. He has been learning how to jump on the trampoline at Tumblebees and can hold onto the preschool bar and jump at the same time. He likes to walk across the balance beams and loves to climb anything I'll let him!

He is teething again which has made him a little cranky and bedtime has become interesting...speaking of bedtime, we FINALLY have him on a good bedtime routine. (Thanks to my friends for helping me). depending on his nap and if he's teething, we try and get Riley to bed around 8:30 starting with a bath, then a bottle, read a few books, turn on his CD player and put him in his crib. The first night he cried for 2 minutes and then went to sleep. Every night since then, he has barely cried at all and puts himself to sleep. It has been awesome!

Well, that's pretty much what has been going on here, more to come later :)

Early Summer

Right now Riley is 14 months old. He is super-duper active and loves to be outside. We have been able to go to the Bog Garden several times and search for ducks! Today we saw a bunch of Mallard ducks and their babies, not to mention the geese and the Blue Heron (which I finally got on camera!). We also saw a mystery bird. I'll have to post the picture on facebook and see if anyone knows what kind of bird it is.
Here is a picture of Riley at the Bog Garden on June 22nd.

Riley is working on trying to "talk" to us. He has several different tones when he talks. Sometimes he has very high-pitched squeals and other times he has a low voice. His favorite thing to say is "oooh a dood". Not really sure what that means but he says it when he sees different animals; ducks, cats, dogs. He also says "ti ti ti ti" when he looks at a ceiling fan. He also uses that when he is excited about something.

We think he may be trying to say bird because he says "bu-d" sometimes. He also says dadadadada and mamamamama, of course :)

Even though he isn't using real words, he understands what we are asking or telling him. He knows bottle, cat, dog, bird, clock, fan, chicken and come on.

Riley still loves to open and close doors, cabinets and closets. He can play independently for a while which is really nice when I just need a minute or two to myself. He'll play with his blocks or push his lion toy around. He is such a sweet and well-behaved little boy with a smiley face and a cute laugh :)

Cascade Park with friends

This morning Riley and I got to meet up with our friends from Tumblebees! I was so excited because it was the first time I would meet mister Jeffrey!

                                             Aftynne and Mackenzy -- Denise and Jeffrey



We had a great time! Before Denise, her mom and Jeffrey got there, Riley and Mackenzy checked out the swings. Riley is still not very sure about swings but at least he didn't cry this time.

What could be more fun than chasing your friend around the park?

I am so glad we got the opportunity to meet and play at the park. I wish Denise lived closer so we could see each other more often, but Aftynne and Mackenzy live close so I know this summer we will see each other a lot. It's cool seeing us all grown up with kids of our own. Our Tumblebees days are over, but our friendship still goes on :) The weather turned out great and all three kids seemed happy to see each other and play, even though Jeffrey can't get down and run yet I think he had a great time. He even caught a nap on his grandma.

                      Here we have ms. playful, mr. grumpy, and mr. happy after a fun day of playing!

13 months old!

Hey there "little little"!

Here we are at 13 months!

Riley has become a much better eater now that he can feed himself. He likes to eat mandarin oranges, cheese, apple pieces, pears, peaches and blueberries.

He loves chicken, pancakes, dried cherries, Gerber cereal bars, Gerber cheese puffs and their apple puffs. He likes pasta, green beans, potatoes (sometimes), sweet potato fries, hash browns, and chicken nuggets.

He has tried eggs, steak, garbanzo beans and avocado! Apple juice and milk are his drinks of choice.

Riley loves to play. He loves to open and close doors. When he went to the Natural Science Center with my parents, they said he was acting a little worried because there was a doorway and no door! He also loves to push toys and chairs around, as well as pushing buttons and listening to music. Chasing friends, mommy, daddy, cats and dogs is also a favorite pasttime. His favorite toys include his beloved stuffed animals; a llama, a chick, 3 beanie baby cats, a German Shepherd, a horse and his green Scout doggie that helps him go to sleep sometimes.

He takes a bath each night and goes to bed most nights around 9. I'd love to try to get that to around 8:30, but we'll see. I'm still rocking him to sleep most of the time, which I do love, but I wish I could just put him in his crib and walk out of the room.

Summer is coming up and I'll be at home with him each day. I can't wait to see what kind of mess we will get in :)

We are one!

Yay! We made it to one! April 14th at 10:02 a.m., Riley was officially a one year old!! I am so happy to have this little guy in my life and I know Josh is too. Not to mention all of our family and friends who have helped us and love Riley so much!

This time last year I was a scared new mom with no sleep and just a little bit of experience with newborns. I still have a lot to learn, but I feel so much more confident in my parenting abilities now. I also wish that there was a way that I could reach out to other people who have had trouble conceiving and give them hope. I want to hug them and tell them that no matter what, just keep trying until you have a baby in your arms, either biologically or through adoption.

**Riley, momma loves you so much, little boy. I love watching you learn and grow. I can't wait until you can talk (although, I still will want some quiet moments), I can't wait to teach you how to ride a bike and pump your legs to swing. I can't wait to take you fishing at the beach and rock climbing at daddy's work. You're my everything, little railroad :)

I've always wondered...

A couple of times when I've looked at Riley's first ultrasound picture - his 7 week and 3 day picture -  before we even knew that Riley was Riley, I've seen a little something and I'm wondering if you'll see it too. Look to the right of where Riley is and you'll see a little curve that looks like a smaller version of the little sac where he is nestled inside of me.

Is that/was that a place where another little baby was? Riley's twin??! Was I supposed to have twins? Did one just not have what it took to form into a baby? I had 4 well-developed egg follicles the last time the doctor did an ultrasound before the IUI. Would that explain the bleeding I had a few days before I found out I was pregnant? Maybe it was God's way of showing me that my tiny frame couldn't have supported twins. It's probably nothing, just a fluke on the ultrasound screen, just a little extra fluid or something...

But what if it wasn't?

Hooray for Grandparents!

We are so thankful that we live within a few minutes of each of our parents. That means Riley gets to see his grandma, grandpa, nana and papa a lot! Not only does Riley get to stay with my mom or Josh's mom while we are at work, but on Wednesdays my dad comes over for some extra special Riley and grandpa time! This means a lot to me because Riley absolutely loves my dad. You see, from about the age of eleven to around sixteen, my dad and I butted heads often (we are both stubborn and like to have things OUR way) so having Riley go totally goofy around my dad makes me happy.

Grandpa and Riley in April :)



Grandpa and Riley in February :)

My mom is special because she came over the first night Riley was home from the hospital and stayed with us through the night. We weren't able to get him to sleep at all so she held him while we slept. My mom also sang "I've been workin' on the railroad" to Riley when he was a newborn and now it is his favorite song! Riley loves to give his grandma big hugs, too.  Before Riley was even born she came over and helped me clean when I had morning sickness and didn't feel like moving and when I was super-big preggo and couldn't move like I could when I wasn't pregnant.

Grandma and Riley after his first bath!



Josh's mom means a lot to us too. We have awesome conversations all the time and she is always giving me useful advice on babies. She rubbed my back  when I was having back labor and held my hands when I got the epidural. She watched Riley come into this world and I wouldn't have had it any other way. She always brings a smile to Riley's face when she talks to him. She taught him the words light, fan, clock and doggie. He can point to those things most times if you ask him. We can count on her to get all of the different holiday bibs for Riley, too! One night near Christmas I sent her a text that said, "Riley misses you". Not even 30 minutes later there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door she said, "You don't have to tell me twice!". Riley and I were so excited that she came over to play!

Riley and his nana :)

Riley's papa works out of town a lot but comes home most weekends that he can. When he does come home, he doesn't put him down. When Josh and I come over, his dad is waiting by the door. He always comes outside and takes Riley from us. Riley and his papa play together and he even helps feed him. His papa "flies" him around the house too.  We love it when we can go out to eat on Saturday nights when papa is home so he can get more of a chance to see him.

Riley and his papa!