Santa Party!

We went to a party at the Hay's house this past weekend, and Santa paid us a visit! The kids went outside, sang "jingle bells", and rang their bells... sure enough, Santa heard them and came around the corner to their delight! Then, he came inside and read the children "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and then let each child sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas.  We all had a fabulous time, and Riley did SO well with Santa.  He was a little skeptical, but there were no tears!

With my buddy Sawyer, waiting for Santa outside

Here he comes!

Twas the night before Christmas...

Riley listened to the story very well!

Hilarious

His favorite part of the night was the light up dancing Minnie mouse

A little skeptical...

Attempt at a family pic

We got to spend time with our good friends the Rachavongs at the party. Sawyer wasn't a big fan of Santa!

We were party animals this particular evening, and headed to Richardson for Steve Loeffler's 30th Surprise Birthday party after the Santa party. Riley was SUCH a trooper, and was exhausted after all of the fun and excitement!



Trains, Trees, and... Toilet Paper?

Well, you could say that Riley is into EVERYTHING these days. He certainly keeps us laughing and on our toes at all times.

Riley likes touching the tree needles with Daddy

And then we usually have to sit and train-watch for a considerable amount of time

Oops, someone knocked the train over. Who was it, Riley?

Who me? Couldn't be!

On to the bathroom!

Wait a second, got distracted by my new dru... I mean, waste basket

Got ahold of it this time, yum yummmmm

You caught me!!



Baby it's cold outside!

But that didn't stop us from going for a walk last weekend. Riley loved bundling up, and going for a ride in the stroller! We had to walk off all those Christmas cookies we made (and tasted) for our coworkers and teachers!

Back to school and lovin' it!

Riley got a clean bill of heath from the doctor (no more breathing treatments, yayyy!!) so he was back at school and playing in full swing.  He is such a goof ball playing with plastic bowls with his friend Jamie. They are so silly!!

Enjoying snack time with his other girlfriend, Sophia. Notice, the two are pinned against the wall so they don't hop their chairs across the room. They know him too well!!

AHHH CHUUU!

Since Riley, Matt, and I all had the sniffles recently there were plenty of tissue boxes sitting around.  Riley was able to stand up, grab the tissue box off the end table, and went to town! 

First, he used the box as a seat, clever...

Let's give it a little taste

Wow, that was delicious!!

Um... Riley, you have a little something on your chin

Oh what FUN these tissue boxes can be!!

Spoiled

My birthday was last weekend, and it was probably the best one I’ve ever had… thanks to my sweet husband, son, and then family the following day! Matt let me sleep in, and then made delicious sweet potato pancakes & eggs for breakfast.  We all enjoyed the breakfast… including Riley! Then, the boys scheduled a surprise massage for me at noon, and I had one of the most relaxing massages ever! Auntie Lib came over that afternoon to watch Riley, and let Matt & I head out on a date.  We had an amazing sushi dinner, and then went to the movies at the ipic theater.  This theater is INCREDIBLE… we had our own reserved oversized recliners with pillows, blankets, popcorn, and beer/wine! Lib and Matt surprised me with cupcakes when we returned from the movie that evening (smashed from being flung around in Lib’s car, wouldn’t be right if she brought them unscathed!).  The following day my parents and siblings took us to out to dinner at one of my favorite seafood restaurants, and then it was back to their house for brownies and peppermint ice cream… my fav!! I also got some wonderful gifts from everyone… so, I am one spoiled 29 year old (one more year, ahhh!).  Thank you to everyone for making my birthday so wonderful, I feel so blessed.

Matt enjoying the ipic

Ready for the movie to start!

What do we do when we are home sick from school?

We play in the cupboards...

Must get Splenda packets out....

Caught ya!

Eat breakfast at Grandma's

And cheer on the Hokies!!!

Sick Baby

Riley has been one sick little guy for the last several weeks.  It all started with a fever the weekend before Thanksgiving, but luckily that cleared up in time for Thanksgiving Day.  Then, he broke out in a head-to-toe rash the Saturday after Thanksgiving and got another high fever.  On Monday, the doc said that he had a “viral rash” and to let it run it’s course and to treat the fevers with Tylenol/Advil.  Riley didn’t improve throughout the week, so he was back to the doctor last Friday where they informed me that he had RSV (a scary respiratory virus that babies get), Bronchitis, a touch of Pneumonia, and a double ear infection!!  Unfortunately, this was just a few hours before Matt left for Charlotte for the VT game (luckily, he was back on Sunday morning), so I packed up and headed to my parents for the weekend for moral support!  We were instructed to do 20 minute breathing treatments to open his airways every 4 hours, and Riley did NOT like them! We will be doing breathing treatments for 2 weeks, and now he is a pro! THEN… we found out yesterday that Riley is allergic to Penicillin.  He broke out in terrible hives, so we were able to switch his antibiotic and get them under control.  Poor little guy!!! Sorry for being MIA… but now you know why. J Glad our little man is on the mend now!

Reese Abigail Loeffler

Sweet baby Reese was born on November 20th to our dear friends Kelly, Steve, and their 3 year old daughter Caroline! She is adorable, and we can't wait to meet her!  We haven't had a chance to see her because Riley has been sick (more to come) and we didn't want to share our germs with her.  I can't wait to get her in my arms, though! :)

Reese in her pettiromper that we got her from Princess of Tides (Kerry's fab store!)

9 Month Update

It’s official, Riley is 9 months old! It feels like yesterday he was a newborn, and now he’s into everything!! He continues to enjoy the weekdays at school.  As soon as I pull the stroller up in front of the classroom Riley begins smiling, laughing, and kicking his legs with excitement to go play with his friends.  It’s almost embarrassing when I go pick him up at the end of the day because most children are beyond thrilled to see their parents while my child sees me and darts for the toy box to get a few more minutes of play time in! Riley is certainly “speed crawling” these days, and his favorite thing to go after is the dog water bowl.  The second he realizes the laundry room door is open and the bowl is free reign, he takes off and I can barely catch those two little hind legs in time before he dumps it over.  This also goes for attempting to dart out the dog door, pulling DirectTV boxes off the entertainment center…etc…etc… He certainly keeps us on our toes, but we are loving every single exciting second of it! The other new “trick” is pulling up to a standing position on everything in sight.  We bought Riley a push cart (like a mini lawn mower) that he pulls up on and WALKS across the room! He is walking slowly these days, but I’m afraid it’s only a matter of days before he’s walking without any support… Lord help us! We’ve also had to move the video monitor off of the side of the crib because that has also been a new discovery, and we’ve spent numerous evenings keeled over laughing as we check the monitor only to see 2 little nostrils and a pacifier smashed up against the camera.  Riley did so well at his 9 month doctors appointment (a finger prick and a shot and no tears!), and here are the big boy’s stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 6 oz – 60% percentile

Height: 31.25 inches – 99% percentile

We have one tall dude on our hands!! Happy 9 months Big Boy!!

Heading outside to play - he's been upgraded to the back of the buggy! Gettin' chilly!

Riley's teachers have to "wedge" him up to the table for snack because he manages to push back from the table and hop his chair around the room with those long legs.  Silly boy!

Excuse me, Mom, but I'm trying to play and you are interrupting me!

Redskins

Riley, how are the Redskins doing in their game today?

TERRIBLE!!!

Well, we'll keep cheering.... win or lose!

First Lifetouch School Pictures

Riley had his first Lifetouch school pictures the other day. Brings back memories!! Ignore the glare.. I tried taking a picture of the proofs. We are still trying to figure out which ones to buy considering 3 sheets = almost $40! How can you resist that face, though?

Matt calls this his "copier salesman" headshot

Here's the class picture. I said "Ms. Stephanie, your eyes are closed!".  Truth be told, Mr. Riley kept crawling off to play with his toys so she was looking down to make sure he didn't leave the picture... he's too busy for school pictures!!

New CEO @ JCP

We have a new CEO at JCPenney, and he started his first day by treating the Home Office Associates to beer, wine, margaritas, and popcorn outside on the company lawn while he gave an extremely motivational and inspiring speech.  Ron Johnson worked with Steve Jobs at Apple as his right hand man before coming to JCP, and was instrumental in Target’s transformation prior to his time at Apple.  We are all excited about the good things ahead for JCP… and, in the meantime, enjoyed our afternoon happy hour at work. J