Guess Who's One!

Riley turned one on Sunday, November 23rd. I am still in shock that my baby is one year old. It has gone by so fast. I am not an emotional person, but it really tugs at my heart strings that she has already been in our lives for one whole year. It has truly been the best year of my life. Dave and I are so blessed to have Riley. She is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to either one of us. Every day I think how much my life has changed.....for the better. Riley brings so much joy and happiness to us that I honestly look forward to every day with her. I can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays. And I promise that I will let her pick her own birthday themes........in a few years.

Taylor and Riley

Riley is so lucky to have 3 cousins here in Kansas City that adore her. She'll have great examples to learn from.

3 more days.....

Until this baby turns 1!!!

To clean or not to clean

No one told me that every day my house would look like a tornado had torn through it once I had children. There's no stopping the mess that our little tot makes every day. Her new favorite thing is to find something full of something and empty it. Riley empties my jewelry armoire every morning and my Tupperware cabinets every night......several times a night. I have found that it's pointless to pick up after her until she goes to sleep because she does it all over again. It's actually very enjoyable to watch her at work, but not nearly as much fun cleaning it up. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I don't pick it up for a day or two. I was never a great housekeeper to begin with and this has completely destroyed any chance of me winning any kind of a "Good Housekeeping" award. Good thing we love the baby more than a clean house!

Count down to Riley's birthday

Riley insists on getting older. I have pleaded and begged for her to stop it. I even offered bribes, but she refuses. As you can see she is texting and moving furniture all by herself. My little baby will be 1 year old in a week and a half! It has all happened too fast. She was just a little, tiny, sweet baby and now she's this big girl that hardly needs me anymore. It's awful.....and wonderful.

Big Ball!

The baby (who shall now be referred to occasionally as "the tot") loves playing with balls. We gave her one of her cousin Taylor's big balls and it was very exciting for her to see such a large round object. She loves this one and the big globe we have in our living room. That one spins which is even more fun than she could imagine!

My sweet puppies.

We are so lucky to have these two dogs. Even though Brown is a bad dog and Callie is very high maintenance we just adore them. They are the perfect pets for Riley to grow up with. Of course, they will be big, fat puppies before long because Riley feeds them her Cheerios (or anything she can) constantly.

Ladybug

Riley was a ladybug for Halloween. Her she is with her cousins Blaine and Avery. They also looked great on Halloween.

Pumpkin Butt

My favorite sleeper.....that doesn't fit any more. I call Riley pumpkin butt all the time and had to have this sleeper when I saw it. We squeezed her into it on Halloween for the last time. It's way too small now.

So many teeth.......

Riley has four teeth coming in! She'll have two on the bottom and four on top. She was up last week all night a few nights in a row. She cried and cried and cried........and then cried some more. Now we know why. She had a ton of teeth coming in. She has a mouth full of teeth, drinks her bottle by herself, stands on her own. What's left for growing up???