Couple more pics from Van's photo session

I'm melting....

Riley wouldn't miss a chance to have her picture taken too!

What a precious little girl!

Van turns 1!

Best birthday gift EVER! My Mom had Van's picture taken (without me knowing) for his first birthday by a friend, Jamie Taylor-Harris, who is a photographer. She did a great job and Van clearly had a blast. What a handsome baby boy I have! Those blue eyes will forever be my weakness!

Finally putting some pictures of the kids from Halloween. I wish I was able to keep up with this blog, but we'll have to settle for occassional pictures with a short comment for now.

I hope everyone had a great halloween. My babies sure had fun!

Family Photos

One happy family....

Playing in the grass

Riley is 3 and Van is 10 months in these pictures.

End of Summer....

These pictures make me smile. This was one of those days that you weren't expecting to be nice that surprised you. We took the kids to the Plaza and just enjoyed being outdoors.

These kids are pretty cute....so we'll keep them.

I am so stinkin' proud of these babies! They aer both the best kids we could ask for. Van is so much fun right now and Riley is getting to be so wise. Dance class has started for Riley and she loves it! Oh, I'm so happy. America's Favorite Dancer: Season 2025 here we come! She needs a little work on focusing and her form, but we'll get there. Van has finally rolled over! So what if it took almost a year? Who really needs to be able to roll over anyway? He has two teeth barely poking through, so he'll be on soft food for the rest of his life, but with that face, I'll mash his food 'til he's 16 if I have to.

What a great family I have! After thinking it over, we've decided to keep them both for good!

Vicious or not?

NOT! Brown, please! You might look at this pup and think she is a vicious, wild beast. You would be absolutely and completely WRONG! This is Brown when she is scared, in trouble, tired, cranky, lonely, happy, sad......anything but mad. It's mostly a way to know that she has done something wrong. However, try to explain that to unknowing people walking down the street who bend down to pet a cute little brown dog. GRRRRR....

Pool Time

As expected, Van loved the pool. Just like Riley he is not scared of the water at all. He kicks and splashes as fast as he can. Riley has come a long way with swimming. She was, by far, the worst swimmer in her class, but we found that with her floaties and a little direction she is going to be just fine. She LOVES jumping in the water and is getting more comfortable doing without her raft or floaties. Papa took them to the pool during the week and occasionally we went on the weekends. The pool is closed and another summer is behind us. Now back to driving past the pool twice a day and explaining to Riley 10 times why we can't go and how long she has to wait to go again. Fun!

Van and Declan

Here's some pictures of Van and his..............not sure what to call him. This is his friend, Declan, who is his cousin Taylor's little brother. They are 5 weeks apart. We look forward to them growing up together!

Can't forget Mrs. Brown

Deep in conversation.

Sweet Brown kisses.

Brown in action.

Refusing to smile.

Refusing to smile again.


There's nothing like a Brown Dog. Charlie Brown is such a unique puppy. What Callie doesn't have, Brown makes up for. She is the cutest puppy I've ever seen and by far the sweetest. She can snuggle like no other and, as many of you have seen, she smiles. She refuses to allow it to be photographed or video taped. She is not interested in stardom, which it would surely bring if captured on film. She doesn't like people coming around and prefers other dogs to stay away, but isn't confrontational. She would just prefer it be her and the family. She LOVES Van. Has since day one. She likes to sit right by him and will let him pet her. Van is much more gentle than Riley and I think Brown senses that. Plus, she actually fetched a ball a few times! She really did! We are considering calling her a real dog now. But just considering.......

Absolutely Stunning!

I know what you're thinking...."Is that dog for real?" Yes, she is and she is actually even more stunning in person. Callie has a whole new world open to her now that Riley can throw her ball with a launcher that helps it go far. She and Riley will throw the ball all night and even some of the neighborhood girls come over to play too. Cal loves it! She doesn't notice if another dog walks by, she doesn't care if you're mowing or people are playing with other dogs at neighboring homes. All she cares about is the ball. That's it. Nothing changes with her. She can still go for hours (although she does squeeze in a rest every now and then) and loves the exercise. I am thrilled to have her out front playing and burning off some of her endless energy. Plus, it's gives the neighbors and people who drive by a chance to revel in her beauty. It's truly is amazing. And she's the smartest dog ever!

So, it's been a while......

These pictures are from the end of spring and early summer. Of course, a lot has changed, but at this time we were just getting to start to enjoy the outside. Weather was getting better and Van and Riley love being outdoors! Van was sitting up at this time, but still hadn't rolled over and no sign of any teeth. Riley was well into gymnastics and loving it! She followed instructions really well and absolutely loved the class. It also started helping her understand and notice the different days of the week. She started asking lots of questions about where she went each day and why she she to get up earlier on some days. Of course, in true Riley fashion, she asks 5000 times a day "Where am I going tomorrow?" and then "Where am I going the other tomorrow?" Eventually, we just followed up with "I don't know. Where are you going tomorrow?" She answered her own question every time. I'd love to say that she only did that for a few months, but that would be a lie. She still does it 100's of times a days. Van refused to roll over, won't grow teeth, but was sitting up really well on his own late this last spring. He was eating baby food on a regular basis and loved all of it. We also discovered that he wants to try everything. EVERYTHING. He will try and food you give him (soft food only). He loves beans and real veggies and fruit. We are hoping this will help guide him towards being a better eater.

We have all been doing great! It's nothing but crazy around here and I don't get much time for anything other than running the house and working, but I hear it's all worth it in the end. I'm holding thought on to that for dear life!

P.S. Riley still loves Justin Beiber and has requested to change her name to Riley Beiber. Van has a lamby that he can't live without and sometimes he get embarrassed when other boys see he needs it to sleep or calm down.