Sliding Baby!

Thanks for the slide, Santa! We have no idea how you knew to get that for her since Riley can't write a letter yet and we didn't take her to see you this year. Man, you're good!

Christmas 2009

Standing on her table and chairs from Grandma and Papa Brozenic

Santa also brought Riley a tri-cycle to Grami and Papa McLean's house.

This was on Christmas Eve.

As expected, Riley had a wonderful Christmas! She got more than she could ever ask for. We all did! Christmas Eve started off a little shaky because of the weather. We had to cancel our annual Christmas Eve dinner with the McLean family. We ended up spending the evening at home waiting for Santa. I tried to get cute pictures of Riley in front of the tree and fireplace but she wouldn't sit still. We ended up with some cute pictures of her throwing a fit! We woke her up early on Christmas morning and, of course, she was in a great mood. I would say that Riley was a bit shocked when she saw her slide. She just stared at it as if it couldn't possibly be real. Once she realized it was really for her she went up and down the slide as many times as her little feet would let her. We did get her to open her presents from us and from Grandad and Mimi, which she enjoyed, but continued to squeeze in a trip down the slide between gifts. We packed it up shortly after that and headed to Grami and Papa McLean's house. The weather was pretty bad so it was nerve racking (for me) to drive over there. Riley got a tri-cycle from Santa there and TONS of other gifts. She got everything you could imagine! Clothes, shoes, toys, hair accessories.....the works! Dave and I also got some pretty great gifts from Santa. A new printer, luggage, and a TV for Dave's office (yes, he thinks he needs a TV in his office) along with lots of other great gifts. After several hours there we headed to Grandma and Papa Brozenic's house. Riley got toys to leave and Grandma and Papa's house and a new table a chair set for home. She loved the table and chairs! That will get a lot of use in our house. We had a wonderful meal while Riley napped (perfect timing) and then played the Twilight "Scene It" game which i should have won, but our nephew, Baline, took that victory. We got home around 5 and relaxed for the rest of the evening. It was a great day! Riley was in good spirits all day and had a great time with her grandparents and cousins. Another Christmas done! Thank you to all our family for everything you shared with us over this holiday. We feel like the luckiest people in the world to have so much family very close to us. We love you all and can't wait to do it all again next year! Thanks, also, to our family in Texas (Grandad and Mimi) and Oklahoma (The McFaddens) who sent great gifts for us! We miss you all and love you!

2nd Birthday Party

Riley had a wonderful birthday party and we want to thank everyone for all the great gifts! Riley had so much fun at her party that she slept for 3 1/2 hours after everyone left! That gave me a chance to put some of her toys together and clean up. Riley got a bunch of great toys and clothes. She even got a little cash to put towards her college fund. All in all, she cleaned up! Thanks to our WONDERFUL family for sharing the special day with us. We love you all so much!

Guess Who's Two?

Riley turned 2 on November 23rd. It's so hard to believe that I have a two year old! She has grown so much over the last few months. She knows the sound every animal makes. She is starting to count and she knows most colors. We had a small celebration on her birthday and then had a family birthday party for her the following Sunday. She actually opened the presents herself and seemed pretty excited about her toys. Especially if it was Barney or Dora. Here is a little video of her enjoying a cupcake her Aunt Leslie brought her on her birthday.

Happy Halloween!

Still had the puppy nose on while picking out bday presents. Daddy pulling Riley in the wagon

Taylor and Riley before trick or treating

Avery, Riley and Blaine

As you can see Riley was an adorable puppy for Halloween this year. She went Trick or Treating for the first time. I think she had a great time being pulled around in her wagon and seeing all the other kids. We worked on saying "Trick or Treat" but when the time came she was too excited and just said "Candy! Candy!". She always said thank you and even only took one piece of candy when she was given the option of picking her own. The weather was great so we didn't have to bundle her up. We even let her have a few pieces of candy when we got home. She LOVES candy! She has asked for candy about 50 times a day since then. It must be in her blood to crave it! Even though we don't ever let her have it she knows it yummy. Hopefully all our Halloween's will be this fun!

Cow says Moo

Pumpkim Patch

This was Riley's first reaction to the animals. She was terrified!

Still scared...

We took Riley to the Red Barn Pumpkin Patch this last weekend and overall she had a great time. She freaked out at first when she heard a rooster and latched on to Daddy as tight as she could. She wouldn't let go of him or let him or let him put her down. It took her about 30 minutes to warm up to the animals and then she enjoyed seeing them. She didn't want to pet them or get close to them, but she pointed each one out and especially liked the cow. She ran around the pumpkins and picked a few small ones out to take home. Hopefully next year she will be a bit more brave and get close to the animals.

Star Quality?

I think so!

Ready for winter

I can't believe we already have to bundle up to go outside! We went to the mall yesterday and it was FREEZING outside. Baby had to get all covered up! She went on a merry-go-round for the first time and didn't care for it. She kept saying "All done?" over and over until I finally took her off the horse. We'll try again when she gets a little older.

Thank goodness we have dogs.

This gets really old.....

Yummy!

Riley really enjoys pudding. She likes eating it almost as much as she likes playing with it. What a mess!

Time at the Park

Since I have been "off work" (unemployed) I have been enjoying lots of time with the Baby. We have been to the park several times and Riley loves it. She hasn't always been a fan of the park. She would just stand and stare at everyone, but now she runs from toy to toy to play. However, we still have an issue....of course! Riley will NOT share! She threw a fit every time another kid got on the slide. She would sit in the middle of the slide and not let any one else go. It was kind of embarrassing for Mommy. She would even get mad if she saw another kid get on a slide or swing she wasn't currently on. Apparently, no one is to touch anything that she has had contact with. I have quite a job ahead of me teaching her to share. When no one else was messing with her stuff she had a lot of fun playing. I really enjoyed watching her. And we'll keep practicing the sharing.

For those of you who don't know.....I have quit me job at the Bank. I do have jobs lined up and will be employed soon, but I am enjoying some time at home with Riley. I feel very lucky to have this time with her. She is so much fun and we are having a blast! Of course, I still think she would rather be at Grandma and Papa's house. She is handling being stuck with me very well.

Wedding Baby

Dancing Baby

Ivan Brozenic and Baby

Riley had a great time at Scott and Ashley Poyser's wedding, but she had to leave before the dancing began. I was heart broken that no one got to her her in action. She LOVES to dance and I was really looking forward to seeing if she would be shy or not. She got fussy around 8 o'clock and I knew we would going into dangerous territory every minute that we stayed. Since that's pretty close to Papa's bed time also he took her back to the room so she could sleep. Mommy was happy to make up for Riley when it came to the dancing!!

Grown ups

Nick and Janae Morales

Dave and Lisa

Janae Morales, Cheryl Brozenic

Here are some pictres of us at the wedding. It's fun to actually post pictures of us being grown ups....

"Go swimming?"

The Baby had a great time at a wedding that we went to in Minnesota. Dave's cousin, Ashley, got got married August 29th and we went to celebrate with the family. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, which has a really cool indoor pool. Our original room overlooked the pool and we had to switch with Dave's parents (Grandma and Papa) because Riley would not take no for an answer when she asked to "Go swimming?" a 1000 times. She actually asks if she can "Go swimming?" and it is so cute to hear the words. Her little voice is so cute! Sometimes she gets confused and says "Go swim go?". We knew it would be a nightmare if we were staring at the pool all weekend. She had a wonderful time running in the water and playing with her cousins, Avery and Blaine when we finally did go swimming. I prefer these kinds of pools because I am not forced to get into a swimsuit myself. I can stand in my clothes and chase after her with minimal water damage to my clothing.

Bust a move....

Here's a little glimpse of the Baby bustin' a move. It's difficult to get my camera quick enough without interrupting her and catch her when she is really workin' it. I'll keep trying to get a better video so you can really see her talent!

Grandad and Mimi's House

Riley got to spend Grandad's (not quite sure how to spell that) 60th birthday with him on July 31st. She had a great time. She was much more relaxed this time and actually let someone else hold her. She got to meet her Aunt Lerin and Uncle Kevin. She also got to meet her soon-to-be Uncle Adam. My brother, Curtis, also brought a girlfriend. That's the first one I've ever met! My Dad builds elaborate pools for a living so, of course, he has a pretty nice one in his backyard. Riley loved the waterfalls. I didn't get to many pictures of her in the water because I had to be in with her (Daddy played golf the WHOLE weekend). We had a wonderful time and I wish I could spend more time with all my siblings! Thanks for putting up with us Grandad and Mimi! We love you so much!!

Coloring Baby

Riley has discovered how much she loves to color. She is getting very good at it. She is also getting very good at coloring on cabinets, furniture, floors, clothing and brown dogs.

One, two, three, JUMP!

Riley's new favorite game! She can say the number one and now anytime she wants you to count to three so she can jump she comes up to and says "One.........". Man, she's cute!!

Sneaking a Grape

In the previous post you'll see that there are grapes on Riley's highchair. Riley thinks it's hilarious to throw food at the dogs. Especially Callie who catches it. We usually put the dogs outside when she eats but occasionally weather doesn't permit that or we just forget. The previous pictures was taken (in the highchair) right after Daddy told Riley to quit throwing the grapes. That's why she was smiling the way she was. She always smiles like that with her fingers to her mouth in an effort to make us weak. It works. Daddy was busy taking her picture to send to me and he didn't notice Brown sneak off under a table. When he finally found her he snapped a picture of her too.

Update- We do know that grapes are very bad for dogs and will do our best to keep those away from the puppies. I know they've eaten a few because we sometimes don't see where the food has landed. Riley loves grapes so it's pretty rare that she shares them with the dogs.

20 Months Old!

Where did the time go??? Baby is 20 months old today. She has learned so many new things....it's really depressing for Mommy and Daddy. She says cheese, shoes, bubbles, ball, bye-bye, juice, night night, all done, Barney and many more words that I can't even think of right now. When she's hungry she stands by her highchair, when she's thirsty she helps her self to items in the fridge, when she feels like playing she yanks Brown's ears and when she's ready for bed she says "Go night night" and goes to her crib. It's all too much!!! Just this week she started walking down the steps facing forward like a normal little girl. What's that all about? I preferred her sliding down on her tummy. For one, it's much safer and two, she's just a baby!! I must say that even though it's hard to watch her growing so fast...she is so much fun right now. Our favorite thing to do is watch her when she doesn't know we are. She's so curious and inspects everything with great detail. She moves things all around and then back again. She dances and claps her hands to music (which is my favorite) and we will hide behind corners to watch her at work when she doesn't know we're there. I can understand why it takes a while to want another one once you've had your first child. It goes by so fast that you feel like you need another one so you can see it all over again.

Most Fun Day EVER!

Drinking out of a bottle like a big girl

Braving the elements

Following Taylor into the water

She did this every time she went under the sprayers

At the picnic

Riley probably had the best day she has ever had on Saturday! We went to a park in Northtown and had a picnic while Riley played in a little spray park. My Mom, my sister, Leslie, and Taylor all went with the Baby. She loved the picnic and spent most of the time pushing her stroller with her baby around the grass. After that we went to the Gladstone pool which was a Baby's dream land for Riley! She ran through all the sprayers and had a blast watching Taylor play in the water. There was a zero entry pool so she could walk around in the water all by herself. She had so much fun walking back and forth between Grammi and I in the shallow water. She liked to step up on the steps and jump off. She is not afraid at all of the water. She fell in the water several times and went completely under. She would just bounce right back up and keep playing. After about an hour she was brave enough to follow Taylor into the sprayers. She figured out that she could turn around and back into them and not get the water all in her face. She doesn't mind the water but she doesn't know to hold her breath yet so she came up with her own way to get under or in the water without getting her face sprayed too much. I was so proud of her! We stayed for over 2 hours before I started seeing the signs that it was time to call it a day. Needless to say, the Baby had no trouble going down for a nap!