Okay let me start by saying I may have gone a little overboard. But if you know me, you know I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. And I choose ALL. Let's start with the decor (big thanks to my parents for sending me all this stuff, and to Mark's mom for helping me set it all up!). Hello haunted house and ghosts in my window... And yes that is a very large spider hanging from the curtain rod. And I had the best of intentions with these pumpkin balloons you see below... but then they were upside down when we hung them. Oops, didn't really think that one through. But oh look at the little Halloween details!! I had lots of fun baking, that's for sure. And the costumes! Here's Riley BUG. And her friend Sophie the fairy (she's about 4 weeks younger than Riley)! Sija (pronounced See-yah) the ballerina, Sophie and Riley. Sija says hi. Riley and her BFF Ashley the kitty cat (both these costumes courtesy of my Aunt Kalyn!). Some other cuties... Amelia the pirate and Taylor the skeleton! See that little bundle of cuteness above? That's who I'm going to be watching twice a week starting in January! He's super cute. Okay and a few more precious pictures to end with... Get me outta this outfit mommy!!!!!! This one's a little grainy because it is super zoomed in for maximum pouty lip effect. She was a trooper and did so well at the party today, and she even let a stranger hold her for more than 10 seconds without crying! AND, she fell asleep, ON HER OWN, twice today. Amazing. Overall, this Halloween was the best one we've had in a long time!!
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Dear Riley,
6 months ago today, your Aunt Katherine (my youngest sister and your namesake) died. 6 months. It seems like just yesterday I was hopping on a plane, very pregnant with you, flying across the world for her funeral. That trip was impossibly sad, and heartbreaking, and confusing, but it was also bittersweet. And the only reason it could even be remotely sweet was because of you, baby bug. See, amongst all the sadness, you brought a little bit of joy. You made your Aunt Jennie soo happy when she got to feel you kick against my belly. You made your grandma and grandpa smile when they got to see your precious face on the 3D ultrasound. You were able to keep me calm in a time of such great sadness. You allowed people to rejoice in a new life amidst the loss of such an important one to all of us. You did all of that before you were even born. At the time, I felt the pain of the loss of my baby sister, but I couldn't fully understand what it would be like to lose a child. I wasn't yet a mother. And while I still can't fully understand the feeling, and hopefully will never have to, I now know what it's like to love a child so much your heart feels like it could burst. How just the thought of anything ever happening to you makes my heart ache. Even to hear you cry makes me want to scoop you up and hold you close and tell you how much I love you. Because I love you so, so much. And I will tell you that every single day, and even then, it wouldn't be enough. We decided to name you (middle name) after your Aunt Katherine. It was an easy decision for us. And I can't wait until you are older and I can tell you all about her. How amazing a person she was, how she was my best friend, how we teased each other (as sisters do), played with each other, loved each other. I'll show you all her favorite Disney movies (and you can learn to recite the lines, as she did). And I hope to someday be able to give you a little sister so you can feel that same kind of love and friendship that I had with Katherine. It's magic. It really is. It's funny, sometimes I look at you with your huge blue eyes and bald little head, and I can't help but think about Katherine. She was the baldest little babe with huge baby blues, just like you. I wouldn't say you look like her per se, but there are definitely some similarities. Did you know we used to call her Doodle Bug? And I used to call her buggy? And before you were born, she called you little Ducky. She was excited to meet you, and I wish I could have seen her reaction when she got to hold you for the first time. But I know she's watching over you, keeping an eye on you from above. And probably laughing hysterically every time you poop on me. I miss my baby sister more than words can express. But don't you worry, little one. When you are a little older, you will get to hear all about her. Then you will understand why you got to be named after such a special person. I love love love love love you. In case I don't say it enough. p.s. your aunt Ducky had big ole baby cheeks... I see you following in her footsteps verrrrry soon... (below: Ducky, I think a couple months old?) Hmm that hair (or lack thereof) and those blue eyes look familiar.. I've said this before, but let me say it again. Riley powers through diapers like it's her job. Like, we still probably go through 10 diapers a day. You think I'm kidding. We got back from the US exactly 6 weeks ago. With us, we brought diapers. About 400 diapers. And I just used the last one. So I was forced to go buy my very first package of diapers today. I bought the biggest pack they had... 48 diapers. Ummmmm, if I calculate correctly, that will last, uhhh, 5 days. $28 for 5 days??? Oh crap. I'm about to spend a fortune on diapers. So if any of you were wondering, for Christmas this year, Riley wants diapers. Or a college fund. She doesn't even like toys anyway... But seriously... I need to find a cheaper/better place to buy diapers. Otherwise, we're talking over $150 a month on diapers. Makes me re-evaluate my stance on cloth diapers... hmmmmm. On a more positive note. Only two more days until Halloween (and our Halloween party!) My mom sent Riley this bib (which is perfect since she is a drool monster lately), but it just reminded me why I never put bibs on her. Must... get... bib... in... mouth... right... now! I would literally pull the bib, down, step back to take a picture, and it was already headed straight back into her mouth. She's fast, that baby. You can tell by how blurry her hands are in some of those pics! This was one of the best ones I could get (aside from the first one up top). And in the interest of making new bloggy friends, I'm linking up with Friend Finding Fridays!
1. You put the cereal box away in the refrigerator.
2. AFTER pouring orange juice in your cereal bowl instead of milk. 3. You empty the contents from the dryer WITHOUT actually running the dryer, yet don't even notice until you go to fold them. 4. The following day, you put the laundry from the washer into the dryer without ever running the washer... and again, didn't notice until right before running the dryer that hmmm, weird, those clothes aren't wet... 5. You cannot remember what time you went to bed, what time the baby woke up, and if you've already fed her or not. 6. You wake up from a nap with a wide awake baby in your arms. How long she's been awake, nobody knows... 7. You run the dishwasher twice in a row, without ever unloading a single dish. 8. You have no problem taking all 4 naps with the baby during the day. 9. 8:30pm actually sounds like a reasonable bed time, And 6am is a sleep-in. 10. All you wanted for your birthday was a decent nap. I think we've reached a point where sleep training is inevitable. I am totally dreading it. But between 7pm and 6:30am, Riley woke up EIGHT times last night. Eight. Siiiiigghhhhhhhh. The theme over at I Heart Faces is Pink Week (in honor of breast cancer awareness month). I never, ever thought I would come to own so many things PINK. But then, of course, we had a baby girl, and our house became sort of inundated with pink. So many options! I was all set to deck her out in pink, but I liked this idea better. This is baby Riley's Riley Bear. A friend bought it for her since they share the same name, and proceeds went to support breast cancer research. See? It really is called Riley Bear. Now head on over to iheartfaces to see some awesome pink week photos!! Some of them are really awesome. Today, Riley Bug turned 4 months old! 1/3 of a year old. Wow. I must say, I think she gets more and more fun each day. I've said this before, but the first 10-ish weeks of her life were pretty much a piece of cake. Around 12 weeks/when we returned from our trip to the US, she got quite challenging. So from about 12 weeks to 16 weeks things were a bit tough. And while she's still a bit high maintenance, she is getting better each day it seems, and is starting to be so interactive and fun! And we LOVE it. 4 month accomplishments include:
The outtakes from our photo shoot... Mwah. Apparently I'm funny. Initially I put her in this outfit from her godparents (her godfather is Irish and this little number came straight from Ireland).... But, uh, she kept doing this... Silly baby. Happy 4 months to her!!
Spring is in the air. Sort of. It's still weird to me to have Halloween be in the spring, flowers blossoming and all. But I must say, it's about time we had some decent weather around here. It has been cold and rainy for far too long. And even though the sun is finally starting to show its face, the temperature is still pretty chilly. And the worst part is the wind. Because even when it's warm-ish outside, there's usually a pretty strong wind, and Riley HATES the wind. She gasps for air and shakes her head side-to-side and whines until we're sheltered. And then she makes this face... I can't wait until we can go outside and have a picnic and wear short sleeves! Someday. Soon, I hope. Until then, we'll continue to practice sitting up inside! She likes to sit in the bumbo chair as long as someone is close by to play with her. In the past few days she's started doing this new thing with her lips, this picture only sort of shows it (ok who am I kidding, you can barely tell, but I swear she WAS doing it)... she sort of bites/gums/sucks on her bottom lip all the time! After practicing sitting in the bumbo seat, we practiced sitting without the bumbo seat. We have a ways to go... :) Timmmmmberrrrrrr! But she's trying so so hard to sit up, that it seems like she is constantly doing crunches. She does not like to be lying down, not even when I'm trying to get her to sleep. And speaking of sleep... this little one is one smart cookie. She knows that going into her room and sitting on the rocking chair means nap time, and if she doesn't think she's ready for a nap, she is sure to let me know with some LOUD protests. But you know what can always make her calm? The ipad. Seriously. There is an app called "I hear ewe" that has a bunch of animals and you touch them and they make the animal sounds... she LOVES it. And when I put it away, she screams in protest. In fact, she screams so loud that it's almost not worth bringing it out in the first place. Sheesh. This baby knows what she wants, that's for sure. Stay tuned, tomorrow the baby bug turns FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!
Ok here's the deal. When I started this blog, I sort of arbitrarily chose weebly over blogger or any of those other ones. And I love weebly. It rules. BUT. I was seriously disappointed that weebly could not use google friend connect. So I couldn't have any followers. Sad, I know. But my husband is a whiz on the computer apparently, because HE GOT IT TO WORK. All caps, that's how excited I am. Only thing is, you are called a member rather than a follower, or something weird like that. But same thing. Point is, I now have two followers/members... me, and my husband. Haha. So in order to make me feel a little better about myself, become a follower!! Please? You know you want to! (And because then I'll feel better about making Mark spend SOO long trying to get it to work). Otherwise, Riley will yell at you. And you don't want that. Trust me. K thanks! Oh and obviously if you have a blog, I'd be happy to follow yours, of course. :) Ooh AND we have a button finally!! See sidebar...
Ya know, since Friday in the US is Saturday in New Zealand... anyway. Seeing how Halloween is getting closer, I felt this was quite appropriate. Oh hello there totally awesome costumes. I was tinkerbell, in case you can't tell. And the matching trick-or-treat pumpkins? My kids are totally getting those (ya know, when I have multiple kids and when they can trick-or-treat). I'm guessing I was... 5 years old in this picture? Ooh Halloween was so fun with my sisters, and we'd spend the next month fighting over who stole whose candy. And it was usually always me. Makes me sad that NZ doesn't do Halloween, they are missing out big time!! But just you wait for our party, Mark has something crazy up his sleeve, we'll see if it works.
We had a visit today from Riley's buddy Hugo today, and he was kind enough to lend her his bumbo seat that he used to use when he was little. This was Hugo over a year ago, a couple months older than Riley is now. And apparently with a lot more hair... She seemed to like it quite a bit... Like all things with Riley, she gives it about 3 minutes before she decides she's had enough. But for some reason, she loves this little Fisher Price lamb something-or-other chair... it just lets her sit slightly inclined and check out the world, which she loves. So that's probably why you see the same background/headrest in so many pictures... We gave tummy time another go today... and remember what I said about the 3 things she does during tummy time?? Proof... Mmmm hands, nom nom nom. Seriously, the hands are constantly in her mouth. Like, ALL the time. Maybe she's getting teeth. Or she has delicious hands. Who knows. This baby is a mystery sometimes. One thing we do know- she thinks her daddy is craaaaazy. But I kinda like him. :) And thank goodness for the weekend!!
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