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.

New pics!

Pink is my signature color....
Packed up and ready to go
Sweet Riley being held by Tiffani
How could anyone resist this face??!

Twinkies!

The first picture is Maggie at about a month. The second is Riley. Sure, Riley is a lot skinnier in that picture, but I know that I see the resemblance. Anyone else??

A lot going on....

It's been a while since I've posted. It's just been crazy around here. First Aaron's mother was here. Then his dad and stepmom were here. It's always so fun to have family around, but it stressful at the same time. Anyway, now Aaron has gone back to work, and it's just me.

About Riley: Many of you know that she had some issues with gaining weight. Those issues are no more, and she's around 8 lbs. at a month old. Sure, it's not big, but it's a gain of about 2 lbs. We go for her cardiologist appointment tomorrow to check on her VSD. I'll post when I know more.

About Maggie: She's doing really well with Riley. She's not gentle, but she really wants to love on her. She also seems to be very concerned about us leaving her alone at home. Crazy girl! There are LOTS of questions about where "Baby Riley" is and what is "Baby Riley" doing. I tend to think that she's kind of bored here at home with just her momma, so we may look into daycare for February instead of her staying home when the next set of relatives are here.

I'll try to do better on posting. I do have SOME time here and there around taking care of the 2 kiddos and trying to keep a nice house. Ha ha!

Merry Christmas II!!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!!!!!!!

We are home...

We wanted to let all know we are home and doing great. I must say that it has been quite a change having two ladies around the house instead of one.

The doctors discovered a heart murmur in Riley on Wednesday. She had a series of test run and has a ventricular septal defect (VSD). In short, she has a small hole in her septum between her two ventricles. A cardiologist came by Wednesday afternoon and stated that she won't die, have a heart attack, etc. from this defect. The hole won't get bigger and should heal on its own. In month the same test will be completed, so please pray that her heart has healed itself by then.

Maggie had a great time with her grandparents and is loving being home with her new baby sister. She has shared tons of kisses, went and got diapers, blankets and more. They are going to be best of friends.

Mommy and Riley update...

Yeah for sleep. As much as I miss my bed I must say that I love being in the hospital with so many caring people looking after us. Mommy, Riley and I were able to get a fair amount of sleep last night. Becky was able to eat some solids and is on her way to a full recovery. Below are some additional pictures, including one with Mommy and Maggie who was enjoying the automatic bed.

Riley Faith Hood is here...

The surgery was a success and mom is doing great. Riley was born at 7:59 AM is 19 1/2 inches long, weights 7.58 pounds and has a full head of hair (no this isn't her hair in the picture). We are all safe and happy in the room and will post more later. Thank you all for your prayers.

Tomorrow's the big day....

Miss Riley will be making her grand appearance tomorrow morning. I'll post when I can....

First broken bone

On Friday I had a workshop to go to in a different town. About 10:30 I got a call from daycare.....NEVER a good thing. I listened to my messages. It seems that some other child managed to pull down a shelf, and it landed on Maggie's foot. It bruised and was swelling. They applied ice for a little bit, but she seemed(in the beginning) to be okay. Then she started limping around on it a bit. The daycare was in touch with Aaron, and he was planning to come and get her after nap time. So he got a doctor's appointment and went and got her. It didn't look so great, so they sent her to a sports doctor where they could do x-rays and then give her a cast if necessary. Well, it was necessary, so our sweet baby now has a lovely pink cast. She has a fracture on the top of her foot. Normally they probably wouldn't have put a cast on it, but it's not like she'd leave on one of those boot things. I felt so terrible that I wasn't in town even though it ultimately wouldn't have mad a difference. Thank goodness that Aaron was able to leave, get her an appointment and get it taken care of. If not, it would not have been a fun weekend. She's walking around on it, and she's getting faster and faster. In two weeks they'll take it off and check it out. Here's some pics......Yes, she's eating guacamole in the last picture. Gross!

Here a link for some pics....

Shutterfly pictures

Almost 19 months!

Well, we finally go around to taking Maggie in for her 18 months well check. She's almost 19 months, but whatever.... Her daddy took her in, and that made me happy. She only had to get one shot though, so I probably would have been okay. Here are her stats....

Weight 25 lbs. 3 oz. 55%
Height 32 3/4 in. 75%

I guess they don't do head circumference anymore. That's just another thing that means that my baby is growing up. We should have some new pics next week as Halloween is right around the corner.Isn't that lovely??!!

Where does the time go???

I'd like to say that I've just been super busy, but that's really not true. This year has been going okay. I like my kids. I'm excited about having Miss Riley in December. Maggie is doing great and growing so much. Everything is just fine. However, nothing out of the ordinary is much going on. Aaron has started getting Maggie's new room ready. It's going to look great. He's such a worker. Once he decides on a time frame for something, it gets done. I wish that I was more like that. He won't let me help at all. That's nice, but it's not really necessary. I can help in well-ventilated areas. I secretly figure he thinks he'll just get it done faster. :o) I'm perfectly okay with that. Now on to some pics.... We went to a wedding in Georgia in early August. That's some of the pics. The others are just from here and there.....

First day of daycare
Oma came to visit
Our happy family!!!!

Go Team Pink!!!

We found out today that we are having another girl. Yay!! Two girls and we'll have our complete family of four(plus Puck, of course). We're excited, and everything seemed fine. She weighs about 8 oz. right now. She was so wiggly too. It was fun.