Who can resist this face???

Riley's 1...and here comes Santa Claus!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I'll try to post some pics of it at some point, but we've been having some picture difficulties. We had Riley's birthday party with the fam, and it was fun. Riley was kind of tired, but she managed.

Yesterday was her actual birthday. I honestly can't believe she's already one. We went to her well visit today, and it wasn't the most fun I've had in a while. She got four shots! Yikes! She cried forever, so I think it actually did hurt. Here are her stats though. She and Maggie were very similar at their 1 year appointment. I think that's funny considering how far Riley had to catch up!

Weight 21 lbs. 1 oz. 50%
Length 29 1/4 in. 55%
Head 18 1/8 in.

Now on to Santa....

Angela and I went to see the awesome Santa at Northpark. He is amazing. I was hoping that Maggie would be okay, but it really didn't happen that way. She wanted NOTHING to do with him. I did get a picture of him with Riley though. It's cute. Hopefully next year everyone will love Santa. A mom can only hope!

It's Halloween time!

Well, I can't really say that I've been that busy. I just haven't been keeping up with the blog. October has been really fun...except for all the rain. I've been so irritated that so many of the activities in which I wanted to partake just couldn't seem to happen. We did manage to get out and do some things though. Without further ado, here are the pics....

Here we all ready to go to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. Maggie was NOT in a super cooperative mood, and we were only there about 45 minutes. It took us longer to get there than we stayed. *Sigh!*



Maggie goes to a great Mommy and Me class. They had a fun little Halloween party. This year Maggie was a ballerina, and Riley was a bee.



Since the first pumpkin patch outing wasn't too successful, we tried again. It was much better. However, you can tell that Maggie is NOT a Star Wars fan. I just couldn't resist this picture. I really wanted to get it for Aaron since he is a Star Wars fan, but Maggie was terrified of Chewy!





We went over to a friend's house for trick or treating. It was a lot of fun. Riley didn't think it was so great, but Maggie was in candy heaven. I am so happy that we have a family photo. We seem to so rarely take those!



Hope you all had a happy Halloween! Now on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Aaron ran a 5K! and other things....

Today was the beginning of Addison Oktoberfest, and Aaron decided to do their 5K. He did so great. I was really proud of him. Maggie wanted to run it too. She's so funny. Maybe she will be a runner like her dad and like that sort of thing. Well, that would be great. He and Maggie can go and run, and Riley and I can wait at the finish line. Works for me!

Riley is starting to look so grown up. I can't believe in less than 3 months she will be one. She is still army crawling which I think is hilarious. Aaron tried to army crawl like her yesterday, and he was exhausted after that. It's funny how she's doing something all the time that is such much harder than regular crawling. She likes to clap a lot and REALLY likes music. I'm kind of hoping that she'll take after me that way. Maggie likes to sing, but it seems to be really calming to Riley. She listens intently and even seems to try to mimic some of my singing.

Maggie is just something else. You can't say anything without her repeating it and throwing it up in your face at interesting moments. Two of her favorite sayings are "Calm down, _____" and "You're driving me crazy!" I might say the second one, but the first one is from Aaron. Her verbal skills are really incredible. I am constantly amazed at how many words/sayings/phrases she picks up. Kids really are sponges.

Aaron and I have been trying to take some nights out to ourselves. It has been really nice. Tonight will be another one of those times. Hooray!!!

Ummm...this is Maggie dancing. Notice the lips. She didn't get this from me!


Usual Maggie face.... She REFUSES to smile for the camera about 99.9% of the time. She's still pretty!


Usual Riley face.... She is so smiley!

Kelli, this one is for you!!!

Flamingo’s Like DVDs Too

I LOVE peopleofwalmart.com!!!!!

Riley is 9 months old!!!!!

Riley had a doctor's appointment for her 9 month check-up. Before I know it, she will be one!! It's crazy to think about. Here are her stats...

Weight 18 lbs. 2 oz. 39%
Length 28 in. 75%
Head 17 5/8...not sure on percentile

She also had one shot, and they pricked her finger to check her iron levels which were great apparently. She got so mad at that nurse. It's so funny to watch her get really mad because Riley doesn't do anything halfway. She's either really happy or really angry. There's just not a lot of inbetween. As far as her stats go, she and Maggie were exactly the same on length. Riley's head is a teeny bit smaller, and her weight is a bit over a pound less. I think they would have been exactly the same if Riley didn't have that trouble gaining weight at the beginning. They're starting to look more alike to me now. We'll see how they turn out.

Am I crazy or just optimistic??

So we've been potty training for a while. It's been going well...so well, in fact, that I decided to have her stop wearing a diaper for naps and at night. Naps have been good so far. She's stayed clean and dry. 2 out of 3 of the last nights she has been dry too, but then there's last night. At some point she wet the bed, but she DIDN'T GET UP. Who knows when it happened? It could have been right before she got up or at any point between about 10:30-6. Ugh! She just slept in her pee. Now this was NOT the reaction that I was looking for. I thought she'd freak out and then get up. *sigh* I'm going to continue with just panties mostly because she's done so well, but I'm starting to wonder if we'll still be working on this until we're 5 or something. I know that I'm being overly dramatic. I'm just wondering when you're totally and completely DONE with it...not just during the day but forever.

I do have to say though that I'm really proud of her. It really hasn't been as awful as I was expecting, and we don't have very many accidents at all. I just have to stick with it, but a teeny part of me is just hoping that Riley will train herself when that time comes. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I swore to myself that I'd never post this kind of thing on here, but really...what better things do I have to think/talk about in the middle of the day??! I'll try to come up with something better soon!

So What Now???

Well, I'm now officially a stay at home mom. It's the first day for teachers around here to go back to school, and I'm at home. I'm not exactly sure I can express exactly how I feel about that. I'm excited to be home with my babies, but.... My job does give me some identity. I love what I do. I can honestly say that I made a difference when I went to work. I felt like I was pretty good at it. I enjoyed the excitement that was always there at the beginning of each year. I loved fixing up my room. I LOVED meeting my kids and their families. I had a lot of really good teacher friends. So now I'm in a funk. I'll stay busy and meet other mommies and their kids. I'll take the kiddos to fun places and teach them lots of things. I'll be more sure later, but I'm worried that I made the wrong choice for me. *sigh* I'm just really sad today. Any advice out there? I know that I should feel grateful that staying home is even an option for me, but I'm just antsy already.... All you teachers out there love on your students for me. I miss it....

Fun in the sun and sand

We decided to take a family trip to Destin, Florida this year. We were there for a week with my parents, my sister and her fam, my cousin and her fam and my aunt. Yep, there were 9 adults and 6 kids in one huge house. Actually it was two big houses, and my parents and my aunt stayed in the 2nd house. It was wild and crazy but so fun. Now I have been to the beach before. I've been to beaches in Florida, California, Mexico and even a couple abroad. But I just wasn't prepared for how pretty the beach was. The sand was a beautiful white color. The water was so clear that you could see right down to your feet. It was lovely. It was kind of hard for Aaron and I to maneuver between the two kids on different nap schedules. Plus, Riley wasn't the biggest fan of the sand and ocean. I'm hoping that it will be better next year as we are planning to make it a yearly trip. I'm already looking forward to next year!!!

Fun in Destin!

Click here to view these pictures larger

I can't believe how high he throws her. She LOVES it! Next year it will be Riley's turn too!

Doctor's appointment

Isn't she a happy baby??!

Maggie's daddy makes her a "tent" in the house, and they play and have lots of fun!

I had the pleasure of taking Riley to the cardiologist yesterday for a checkup of the little holes in her heart. She last went at 1 month, so it's been a while. Riley was a great patient. They checked her oxygen level...at 99% which is great(anything above 95 apparently is fine). Then she had an EKG. She didn't love this but didn't fuss at all. Then they did a heart echo thing. This takes a while. She has to lay down, and they use a sono wand to check everything out. It turns out the holes are still there. One is now too small to measure, and the other is 2 mm. We have another and hopefully our last checkup in another year. She'll be 19 months then. That may be a very different visit! Anyway, her heart is fine and working well. These holes will not limit her, and they totally expect them to be gone by the next visit. The doctor couldn't even hear the murmur anymore. So, all in all it was a great visit. A big thanks to my parents for keeping Maggie while I went to the appointment! It sure it easier to only have one of them to cart around. Hopefully I'll be a better blogger!

Riley Faith is 6 months old!

We went to the doctor for Riley's 6 month well visit. It wasn't bad at all. Riley is really a lot better at this than Maggie was at this age. She didn't scream at all for anything until her second shot. Even then, she seemed more angry than hurt. Overall she's doing just great and has been extremely healthy. I feel so blessed having two wonderful girls!

Weight: 15 lbs. 9 1/2 oz. right under the 50%
Length: 26 1/2 in. 75%
Head: no idea but they said it was in the 50-75%

The only downside was that we were there almost 2!!!! hours. I honestly couldn't believe that both girls held it together for that long. They were awesome!

Lovin' a giveaway!!!

First up is a fun blog I just found out about a.
Her stuff is sooo cute. I'm loving the little dresses and the birthday plates!

Click on the link to go to Fancy Schmancy's site and have fun browsing. Then enter to win a personalized adorable cake polka dot plate.

I'm really getting into this whole giveaway thing. It sure would be nice to win!

Maggie stats

I just realized that I never posted Maggie's stats for her 2 year old visit. I had to go to that one, and it was not super fun. Maggie is not that fond of strangers in general, and our doctor was no exception. She hated every minute of it and pretty much screamed the whole time. Oh well. I wasn't that worried about it. She only had one shot, so that was good. Here are her stats...

Weight 27 lbs.
Height 35 inches

I'm not sure about the percentiles on those, and I can't find her sheet. Goodness knows what I did with it. We sure do love our moody, crazy 2 year old!

Maggie is 2...and has been for a bit!

I realize that I never really posted about Maggie turning 2. It's just been pretty crazy around here. Some days I am pretty sure I'm taking crazy pills, but I'm sure it will get easier...some day...some year...whatever.

We didn't want to have Maggie's party at our house again mostly because it really always stresses me out, and I don't have a good time. I know it's ridiculous, but I'm constantly cleaning up, messing with food, etc. So we decided to have the party at The Little Gym. Maggie goes to class there every week and just LOVES it, so it was our first choice. We kind of slacked off getting around to firm up the date and ended up having the party the day before Easter. It was fine. We had cousins, friends, adult friends...all the gang. It seemed like everyone had a good time.

Here's what Maggie is up to these days... She knows TONS of words. I'm not even going to bother to count, but she has an incredible vocabulary. And boy, does she like to talk!!!! She can jump with both feet off the ground, drink out of a regular cup, feed herself with minimal messes, loves being outside, and loves her daddy more than anything in the world. She enjoys choosing her own clothes and shoes which drives me crazy since they don't always match. Her hair has some crazy corkscrew curls in it that we're pretty sure came from the mailman. She does not enjoy smiling for any cameras and can take a long time to warm up to strangers. We do so love her. I just can't imagine my life without her!

More pics.....

What a sweet baby!



The birthday party.... Maggie is 2!! So crazy to think about!

Fabulous!

Okay, I'm not one to really look at giveaways, but this beautiful stuff was too great to pass up. Check it out here...
makeroomforstyle.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-giveaway.html

So great!

4 months old!!!

Riley had 5!!! shots today. Poor baby! Aaron said she screamed her head off and then went to sleep. I guess that will work. Here are her stats... She's still a peanut, but we love her anyway. Where are my fat rolls??

Length: 24 1/2 inches 55%
Weight: 12 lbs. 10 oz. 25 %
Head: 16 1/2 inches

Well, her head is pretty big anyway!! Ha ha!

New Riley pics!

Today at church was our baby dedication. I had to turn in a picture for the slideshow and realized that I didn't have a lot of good ones. During spring break we had a lovely photo shoot. Riley was remarkably calm as I changed her hair and clothes like 4 times. Here's some of the ones I got....

Anyone care to guess which one is which??

Tonight I was looking back over some pictures. I came across these two. Can you tell which one is Riley and which is Maggie??? I'm sure they will have their differences, but there is a lot the same!!!I promise that they aren't of the same child!

Just some pictures....too tired for anything else.

Aren't the first two pictures lovely??! Yep, this is pretty common!

Oma came to visit. Maggie was loving all the attention.
My favorite picture so far of Riley....

Back to the Grind

I've been back at school over the last 3 weeks, and I've learned some things about myself..... Here they are in no particular order.

1. I crave routine. This is why I'm sure that it will be difficult at first to be a stay at home mom. I'm just going to have to figure out a routine for each day down to the exact time. We'll be going and doing most days, and I'm sure the kids will love it. I'll be frazzled, but it would be worse for me to just be at home all the time. I think I'd go crazy!

2. I have to know the date. I don't know why it matters, but it does. I like having the date written on the board at school. Then I never forget and don't have to think if I have to sign and date something or write a check or something like that.

3. I like to be around adults. I need adult conversation. That is why I'll have to have some moms to hang out with. I have a few in mind. Any other takers??? This will be starting June 2008!

4. I think it's important for Maggie to always be exposed to other children. I plan to do this by joining play groups, hanging out with my sister and her kiddos and by putting Maggie in "school" for probably two days a week once she is three. There are certain values that can only be learned when she is around other children. I simply can't provide everything.

5. I like to go and hang out with the girls. This is definitely something that I need. My friend Kelli has been planning some girl nights lately, and they are fun. Plus, I *might* be able to catch up on my movie-watching at some point! I also play bunco with the girls from school and plan to keep doing this even after I am not teaching anymore. That will help me still feel in the loop!

6. I feel absolutely so blessed to have not struggled to have children. I have some friends that I really love that are having some hard times with this. I pray for them every day...and every day I hope is the day they tell me they're pregnant!

So, there's my list for now...and here's some pics for your viewing pleasure!
Maggie had a tea party dressed like a princess (Thanks Howells!!)

You just can't catch Riley with a smile. They're gone in a second. This is pretty much her look most of the time. Look at those cheeks! Remind you of anyone??? Riley is finally starting to round out some....Sweet family picture...minus me, of course. Now if only we could get Maggie to smile on command. It just doesn't happen! She's so stubborn!
Maggie, Riley, and the cousins Briannah and Cadence. I can just see the excitement on Riley's face.
I totally forgot about Riley's 2 month stats. Here they are....

Weight 9 lbs. 14 oz. 10-25%
Length 23 in. 50-75%
Head 15 and ??? This wasn't written down, so we're not sure.