Baby's first plane ride

Riley went on her very first plane ride on September 13th. She did very well and seemed to like it. She got a little fussy at times, but that was to be expected. Of course, once I told her we were headed to the "happiest place on earth where all your dreams come true" she cheered up a bit. We were also on a straight flight to Orlando and surrounded by a ton of fussy kids. Only they were much older and clearly BIG babies. My child won't be like that, right?? We went to Disney World for 7 days and she had a great time. She won't remember any of it.....but, that's OK. I took 1,000 pictures to remember the event. More of those to follow soon.

Go Chiefs!

Daddy would not be happy unless his little girl supported his team. So, she now has Chiefs gear to support her "favorite" team.

Riley has made more milestone accomplishments. She is pulling herself up into a standing position and rolling over from laying down and taking off. Up until now she has been stuck on her back when we lay her down because who would want to willing roll onto their stomach? Not this baby. She has gone to great lengths to avoid her belly. However, now she has found a new way to get away from Mommy and get into everything she possibly can by rolling from her back to her belly and crawling to her desired destination. She is also pulling her self up into a standing position. She is trying to climb the stairs too. It's mass ciaos at our house!! All hell has broken loose!

10 months old!

I can't believe it! She is 10 months old and clearly wearing the pants in the family. She's wearing them in the wrong place, but none the less, she the one in charge.

Brown at work

Dirty ears are NOT acceptable in our house. Charlie Brown cleans Callie's ears every day. It's pretty disgusting! Callie used to be shy about it and would shake Brown off once we caught her getting a cleaning. Now she basically could care less who sees. It feels too good to her and she no longer gets ear infections. You can almost see the smile on Cal's face. Now, if she would only return the favor to Brown maybe her ear infections would go away. However, Callie refuses to even consider it. As you can see from above, Riley gets an ear inspection several times a day from Brown. Can't be to careful!

Being adorable is hard work

This NEVER happens! Riley is getting really good about going to sleep in her crib by herself, but NEVER just on her own sitting in a high chair. It is clearly very difficult keeping up with her schedule of crawling, smiling, squealing, and getting into everything she can get her hands on. Sometimes she has to crash.

Mommy and baby

Here is a rare picture of Riley and myself. I can't stand to have my picture taken anymore, so it's not that often that you'll see this. I actually don't hate this one. I used to be just like Riley....a picture junkie. I loved being in pictures. No more! I don't know what happen, but now I can't stand to be in the picture.

Bath time is a PARTY!

Riley loves bath time! Nothing makes her happy like playin' in the tub. She could stay in there all night. We usually let her play until the water gets cold or until she shrivels up like a prune.

Riley and Grady BFF's

Here is Riley with her new BFF, Grady. We sat them right next to each other on the couch and Riley immediately began pumping her arms in excitement which was wacking Grady in the head! That about gave me (and I'm sure Grady's Mom, Emily) a heart attack, so we moved them apart and snapped some photos. We all really look forward to thes two becoming good friends over the years. Who wouldn't want to be Riley's friend? I mean, look at her! She's too cool!

Riley's First Road Trip

Riley went on her first road trip over Labor Day weekend to visit Chris and Emily Stahl and their new baby, Grady. Chris is Riley's Godfather and hadn't seen her in a few months. Chris adores Riley and they both were very excited to see her. We were very excited to meet Grady. This was big for Riley because Grady could potentially be Riley's future husband. She was a bit nervous but relaxed once she saw how small he was. She knew then she could be the boss. When you're little the boss is determined by a size scale. The bigger kid is the boss.....everyone knows that!
Dave and I were super nervous about taking Riley on a very long car ride, but she did great! She took long naps and as long as I was in the back seat with her she was fine. We played and talked and then played some more. I can be pretty entertaining when needed. The only problem we ran into was a diaper explosion on the way home. It was bad. Real bad!! We went into a Panerato get some dinner when we realized that the back of her outfit was wet and brown (not to be confused with Brown Dog) and VERY stinky. Actually, stinky is an understatement. It was horrific! I took her to the bathroom to change her clothes and pants and they had no changing station. No changing station!! What kind of world to we live in where I can't change my daughter's horribly soiled pants in a public establishment that severs food??? We had to take her back out to the car and change her in the car. Did I mention we were in Columbia, a big college town, and there were plenty of people around to witness and smell this smelly event? Anyway, we got her changed and cleaned up and had a nice dinner at Panera. All was well until we got back in the car and I realized it had soaked into the car seat. Nothing kills a relaxing car ride like the constant stench of poo. Riley didn't mind it at all, however, I haven't been able to get away from the smell since. Every where I go I small poopy diapers. It's hard to live this way. Trust me, it is.

Can you guess what I'm doing???

Riley's face is red becasue ________.

Riley is offically mobile

She finally did it! Riley is crawling. Her first crawl was on Tuesday morning and I was VERY shocked. I frantically ran around the house trying to find a camera, video camera, paper and pencil to sketch the event but couldn't find anything. It's pretty funny to watch her crawl. Her little legs sometimes get confused as to what they are supposed to do and she gets mad. She has already gotten pretty fast. If Callie has a ball anywhere in the room Riley is on it in a matter of seconds!

Now about me......I don't whether to laugh or cry about the crawling. I am so happy for Riley to have made this accomplishment, but part of me wants her to stop growing so fast. It is all coming too quickly. She looks so grown up crawling, and frankly, I don't like it. Well, I like her crawling because it's cute, but I don't like her growing up. It's just not necessary.

2nd Anniversary

Dave and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on August 26th, 2008. It has been 2 wonderful years and we couldn't be happier. Dave couldn't be luckier! Here's to many more!!!

Best birthday present EVER!

This year I had my 31st birthday in July. I know it's hard to see me as anything past 25, but it's true. I really am 31. My husband, Dave, made me the best gift a girl could ever ask for. I personally think he had no idea what to get me and in a last minute panic he decided a shoe wall would be a good idea. Little did he know it would take an entire week working everyday and all weekend to finish it! However, when it was finished we were both pretty darn impressed. It's amazing! I never, in a million years, thought I would fill it, but as you can see it's full. Dave even had to add three extra shelves and I had to throw away about 15 pairs of shoes to make it work (for now). Plus, I had to promise to let Dave have two shelves. I suppose that was only fair. This is such a great gift and will go down in my bday history as the BEST one I have ever gotten! Well, until he builds me the second one to go on the other side of our changing room....