The Baby had a great Christmas

Riley had a great Christmas. She got more toys and clothes than she knows what to do with. (Check out the bed head!) It was a very long day for her but she did great. Riley wasn't really into the gifts. She didn't even care about the paper. She did have fun playing with the toys once they were opened. I suppose she can't be bothered with the details of tearing through the paper. Why not let Mommy and Daddy do that and then had her a toy that is primed and ready for serious fun? Dave and I were very excited to have our very first Christmas morning with our daughter. We woke up early so that we were ready to start the day before she got up. We spent some time opening gifts at home from Santa and then headed to Grammy and Papa's house (my parents house). Riley had the largest stocking at Grammy and Papa's house that I had ever seen. We had a yummy breakfast and opened tons of presents. We went to Grandma and Papa's house (Dave's parents house) and opened more gifts and had lunch. Riley watched Telletubbies most of the time. She got a new Telletubbies video from Santa that Dave and I are super excited to watch.......at least that's what we're telling her. We finished the day off eating some turkey at my mom's and taking the rest of our gifts home. We spent as much time as we could handle playing with gifts at home before Riley had to crash. Overall, it was a great day for the Brozenic family. Every year will get more and more fun. We can't wait!

Lazy dogs

These two would never move from this spot if possible. This is, by far, the greatest invention Brown and Cal have ever used. They sleep here for hours when the fireplace is on.

Look Janae!! I'm using the fireplace!

Baby playing with her puppy

Brown and Baby play really good together. I always love the opportunity to show how good my dogs are with Riley. She will pick up one of their toys and follow them all over the living room trying to get them to play with her. Every once in a while Brown will entertain the offer.

Look at all the teeth!

Riley looks so different with all her teeth. Here's a good shot of the top two. She has another two on top coming in, but they aren't as visible yet. She is also emptying Mommy's wallet which is a fun pastime for her. Not so fun for Mommy.

Merry Christmas!

I am sorry to say that I won't have any pictures of Riley with Santa this year. We went to see him at Metro North Mall (yes, we actually went there) and as soon as we managed to find the end of the ridiculously long line there was a sign cutting off the line because apparently Santa needs a lunch break. Whatever Santa! Luckily, Riley could care less at this age so we had no melt down. My sister, Leslie, was not so lucky. She had to return the following day and wait 2 1/2 hours. Dave and I decided we would pick that tradition back up next year.
The Brozenic family would like to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. We love you all and can't wait to see what 2009 brings all our families!

And now.......OMG!

I wouldn't normally use OMG, but there isn't any other way to describe this. This is the first video we took of Riley walking. She can actually walk across the room now, but I thought the first video was the most important to share. She took a few steps at Grammy and Papa's house on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon she was strolling like she'd been doing it for weeks. She still has a bit of a wobble, but who cares! She's the best walking baby I've ever seen. She looks so grown up. This is, by far, her biggest accomplishment. Dave and I couldn't be more excited. Although, now I am really going to have to keep an eye on her. No more lying on the couch for hours eating bon bons and watching soaps.

A little dancing.....

Cute hair!

Grammy put Riley's hair in pigtails. We LOVED it. She looks like such a big girl!

BIG NEWS TO FOLLOW!

Dancing Queen

Many you have had the pleasure of witnessing Riley dance. I think her dancing skills are proof that rhythm is in your blood! She starting grooving when she first learned to sit up. Dave insisted it wasn't possible, but then he saw it for himself. Anytime she hears music she dances. The beat takes over and she looses control. She gets that from her Mommy. Sometimes the music is only in her head and she has no choice but to go with the rhythm. I can't wait to get her into dance classes. I was so worried she wouldn't be a dancer. Luckily I didn't have to wait long to see if she could move!

Bouncing Baby

Here is the exersaucer that Grandad and Mimi got Riley for Christmas last year. It was such a life saver for a long time. She would bounce in that thing for 20 minutes which made all the difference in the world when you had a baby that didn't want to be put down! It was so funny watching her in it. I was suprised she didn't fling herself out of it. She still sits in it occassionally when one of us needs to shower and the other isn't home.

An old video

I finally figured out how to get videos on here. Get ready to see more of them!! This is Riley when she first started making sounds. You can't hear them but you can see her first attempts at communicating. It was such an amazing time. I believe she was 4 months here.

What a year!

Riley 5 weeks old

Riley 11 months

I have so much fun going back and looking at the early pictures of Riley. She has changed so much. Everyday she does something new. It's always so amazing! Yesterday she crawled all the way up the stairs, played for a while and then climbed all the way down them all by herself. I couldn't believe it. She is so big. I couldn't be more proud! I also think she is getting really close to saying more words. It's hilarious listening to her jabber in her own language. She is carrying on a very important conversation. At least it seems very important by her hand gestures and tone of voice. My sister, Leslie, said she took her first step by herself when she was babysitting last weekend. We all agree that she is very close to walking, but I haven't actually witnessed a step yet. I am sure it will happen any time now. And, just like that, everything changes again. I can't keep up!

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???

Riley's Baptism

Riley has FINALLY been Baptised. We really waited a long time for this. No good reason, of course. Just didn't get around to it. Riley had quite a wonderful day. She was the life of the party at church. Probably the loudest baby I have ever heard in church. She squealed and laughed and threw things. We thought it was pretty funny. She kept pointing to the ceiling and saying something that was very important to her. I guess it was her first conversation with you know who. We had a nice lunch after for her at our house. She even got gifts!

Peak-a-boo

Dave does this with Riley all the time. He peaks her around doors and corners and I think it's hilarious!

Riley's first word

Riley has officially uttered her first word! She says the word ball. It sounds more like ba.....ya, but it's the real thing. This sends Callie into a frenzy because Cal also loves the word ball. She flipped out last night while Riley was holding her ball and we we were encouraging her to say what it was but no one would get Callie's ball for her (it's an outside toy). Riley thinks it's hilarious when Callie cries! She screams as loud as she can at Callie and waits for her to cry some more. Oh, the fun we have at the Brozenic household.....

Oh, and she says mama, dada and most importantly she says papa. Papa's are her favorite.

Isn't this picture the cutest picture of a baby EVER taken????

Beach Baby

The baby LOVES the beach....and sand. Taylor had never been to the beach either. She really enjoyed playing in the sand. The water was a little scary for both of them. Riley got a little spooked when the water hit her feet and splashed up on her. She was much more comfortable with Daddy holding her and letting her watch the water. Taylor got knocked over by a big wave and that was enough for her and the water.

Funny hats.....and shoes

Dave and I didn't see a lot of sense in buying Riley a bunch of souvenirs while we were in Disney World since she won't remember ever going, so we decided to take pictures of her in tons of hats. It was a fun game we played the whole time we were there. We also plan on using this as evidence when she asks for crap at the store. We'll tell her about all the hats we bought her in Disney World (we have the pictures to prove it!) that she lost and that's why we don't buy her stuff she doesn't need. We figure it will come in handy once in a while. Is that mean? My Mom just said no and never had a reason. Riley had fun trying on all the hats. She is such an excellent model!

Just kidding about telling Riley bought her all these hats and that she lost them.......maybe.

Mom and her kids

It's not often that we all get to go on a vacation together. My brother celebrated his 36th bday on this trip. It was great that we all got to be there for it. So, here's a few bday pics of Mom, Leslie, Shane, and myself.

Mom and Don

My Mother did not bring a camera to Disney World!! My Mom and Don don't really own one. Unless you call getting one of the wind up disposable cameras "owning one". Thank goodness, I have a nice camera and so do all her other children. We took all the pictures for her.

Disney World

The Brozenic Family went to Disney World in September. We went with the McLean family, the Dyer/Boyce family, and the McFadden family. We had a great time. Riley won't remember a single bit of it. Of course, I took a TON of pictures so we would have solid proof that we did go. We stayed on the Disney resort and spent a whooping 7 whole days there! We did everything we could possibly do (some of it twice) and even went to the beach for a day. Riley loved the beach! She is a huge fan of sand....or the taste of it anyway. She ate her body weight in dirt and loved every minute of it! She enjoyed all the characters and licked their noses when she was given the opportunity. She took naps in her stroller and slept good every night. She was, by far, the most well behaved person on the trip. However, she did begin to master the art of throwing a temper tantrum. She flings herself back and kicks her legs and arms. It's hysterical!! We have to try not to laugh, but it's pretty hard.

I won't go into all the long details of the trip. The pictures tell the story. I'll just post lots of pictures for you all to enjoy.

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.