CHRISTmas!

Well this Christmas was a great one...it's just so fun getting to experience this with Riley!

It wasn't too early of a morning...we heard the kids bustling around a little before 7 and I remember Jason nudging me and asking if I wanted to get up...uh no. Not 30 seconds later and Riley started crying so we got up. We had to move Riley in our room with all the company and let's just say she didn't sleep that well so we were tired...however all of the excitement got us out of bed and we were ready to see if Santa had come!

It looks like there were some letters left from Santa!

and he ate a fair share of the cookies!
Riley wanted to help hand out all of the presents!

But then she realized that opening up was much more fun!

CJ and Gaby had fun opening presents too and they sure got some good loot!

Riley had a few meltdowns in the midst of the Christmas morning festivities...she was tired and overwhelmed but she still had a blast and got lots of new toys and clothes...she's one loved little girl!

Here's our Christmas morning family picture...Jason had to run around with Riley and get her to laugh right before this picture...the things we do!

My dad got an A&M Snuggie...hahahaha!

We actually played a trick on him because he DESPISES snuggies and actually asked that we shoot him if we ever found him in one...I think he may retract that statement soon!

He looks pretty happy in that snuggie...don't you think?

After all the presents, some eating, and showering the girls headed to the kitchen in their new aprons that I made all of them!

Here's Miss Riley in her new apron...perfect to play with in her new kitchen! I will have one to match her but I was so busy making everyone else's that mine didn't get made yet!

While my mom got our Christmas meal going Aunti Ri, Gaby, Riley, and I worked on a gingerbread house! I had this expectation that it would be terribly messy and difficult but it wasn't so bad!

I love how Riley is looking into the bowl with such wonder...she knows icing when she sees it!

Of course she got the honor of licking the beaters from this terribly sweet icing!

My dad approved the structural soundness of our gingerbread house although it was difficult as Riley was trying to eat up the icing as I was putting it on the house to hold it together!

We finally got her a bowl of yogurt to eat / play with and I would add icing to it every so often or she would have eaten WAY too much sugar!

Here's the finished product!

After we enjoyed a delicious Christmas meal...fried turkey, mashed potatoes, squash casserole, salad, and rolls...we headed outside for a fun surprise!

My parents decided we would do Christmas Texas style complete with a pinata!

It was so much fun and everyone had fun taking a whack at it!

Riley was so cute and we laughed at the concept of constantly teaching her not to hit and then yelling at her to "hit it hard" when it came time for the pinata...talk about confusing a kid!

Once the big kid (a.k.a. Jason) took a few nice hits to the poor pinata it was time for the fun...candy, glow sticks, and lottery tickets came pouring out!

Riley didn't quite know what to do so we had to grab some loot for her as she was preoccupied with eating skittles from the grass!

Here's a pic of me and my girl...couldn't distract her away from the pinata loot! As if the pinata wasn't enough fun we then headed to the firepit for smores!

It was pretty chilly outside although it was a beautiful day so standing by the fire felt so good!

Nani especially loved the smores and I love this picture of her and Riley sharing a moment by eating their yummy smores!

Nani's face captures it all!

Riley hadn't quite had enough fun yet so she spent much of the evening luring anyone in sight to play this cool game where she demanded you go in the pantry and she would close the door and leave you in there in the dark...at one point we had 7 people in the pantry...she can be slightly bossy at times.

In our defense, the belly laugh and giggle that came from that little girl when she opened the door in awe was worth every minute...she's so much fun!

We hope you all had a great Christmas...we sure had one filled with lots of family, love, and laughter...a great way to reflect on the precious gift of Jesus...the reason we all celebrate!

Christmas Eve

Wednesday night the LoRusso's arrived and Riley was screaming with glee...she absolutely adores her aunt and uncle...Bubba and Gabby (used to be Babby but she can say the "G" now)!

We all hugged...well let's face it...Jason and I got hugs AFTER Riley got all the first hugs...just how it should be!

Jason made his famous minestrone and fancy grilled cheeses sandwiches and we all shared a great meal together and then Riley ate up all the attention from CJ and Gaby!

DiDi got in lots of hugs from Riley and read her a book before bed!

On Christmas Eve we had a relaxing day for the most part...Riley and Gaby did lots of playing together!

Riley had lots of people to catch up on the phone with!

There was drawing to do...

and of course a couple of tunes needed to be played on the piano!

Here's Jason and I...happy to be together for such a special time with our families!

The boys did their manly thing and fried turkeys all afternoon.

We had some SUPER cold weather blow in and yesterday was one windy and cold day which put a damper on my dad's plans to fry turkeys in the backyard so he improvised and it was a success!

Here's the whole gang before Christmas Eve dinner!

We had our own Christmas service...we read the Christmas story and sang a few songs!

After dinner the kiddos got to open one present each...I think Gaby was slightly excited!

CJ bought Riley a bathtub for her babies with his own money...such a sweet boy!

Riley gave him a kiss and I captured the cutest pic...she sure loves her Bubba!

After the presents we got cookies and milk out for Santa and wrote him a letter. Honestly I didn't think Riley would quite know what was going on but she got the hang and kept talking about Santa!

She even signed the letter herself!

We were explaining how he would come down the chimney!

And to all a goodnight!

Getting ready for Christmas...

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas around here...lots of shopping, wrapping, baking, and eating of course!

My parents also pulled out some very fun things that my grandfather made for me...a cradle and highchair for Riley's babies...
and this rocking horse that she LOVES to play on!

We have also been playing Wii...my parents bought it and Jason hooked it all up and we are having fun!

Riley is so stinkin' smart...she wanted to play too so she used the nunchuck but soon realized that it wasn't actually the real deal!

We also had a visit from Megan and Dave and it was so much fun!

Riley loved having more people to play with her and Megan is always looking for a good time!

Here's my mom with us girls!

I checked out of work for a bit and we all went to enjoy the most glorious BBQ on the face of this earth...Coopers...no words can express the taste!

After lunch Megan worked her magic and took some really great pics!

Here's Dave and Jason on the dock...it's a rough life after all!

I love this one of Riley...naked baby in one hand and fishing pole in the other...love this girl!

While I finished up some work everyone else went on a boat ride and Megan came back exclaiming it was like seeing a kid have the best day of their life and these pictures prove it!

Love this smile!

This picture is just too cool...skydiving on the boat!

After Riley took a nap (along with Megan and Dave)...she did what she does best...steal cute purses!

Thanks for spending the day with us Megan and Dave...it was so fun hanging out with you two!

After the Witte's left we all relaxed on the dock realizing it was going to be our last night of mild weather...I got to snuggle with Riley while she watched Caillou on my iPhone!

Just to be ready for all of the LoRusso clan's arrival Riley got a bath and strutted her stuff down the stairs...love how the garland is perfectly placed in this pic!

So I suppose we are ready for Christmas...now it is just time for everyone to arrive!

One PROUD Daddy

I think this past Monday was one of Jason's proudest days as a Daddy!

Riley had received a very nice gift card from Uncle Jim so Jason and my dad decided to get her all set up with a Tinkerbell fishing pole at Bass Pro Shop and they showed it to her Monday morning.

She loved it from the minute she saw it and just kept saying "Daddy...feeeeshing....Daddy...feeeshing"

She ran straight to the back door and wanted to go fishing right away but I convinced her to at least get dressed first while Jason went to get minnows and worms!

Once she was dressed it was time for her first experience fishing and she loved it and actually got the hang of it!
She reeled in and cast her cute fishing pole and even begged the feeeshies to "Eat eat eat their food"...those are the words from one of her songs from school that reinforces her use of sign language...it was so cute!

She was just in awe of her Daddy and loved sharing this with him...but I know his heart was about as full as it could get considering she was having so much fun fishing with him!

She even helped with the minnows although she wasn't ready to touch one yet!

And if fishing got a tad boring she would just blow some bubbles for a break and then go back to fishing!

She would have fished all day but we convinced her to take a nap and when she woke up she was still talking about fishing.

She took an afternoon boat ride with Daddy and JoePa...

and she captained the boat this time...hold on guys!

Later that evening it was time for night fishing!

First we have to put out some fish food...

and then we try and catch them! My parents have this cool underwater light that comes on every evening and helps for fishing...she was enamored with that!

Riley hasn't caught her first fish yet but we don't think it will be long and surely that will only make her love for fishing even greater with that thrill!

After a full day of fishing this little girl was just plain worn out!

Here's to many more years of fishing with her Daddy!

Birthday Girl Round Two

Riley has mastered celebrating her birthday over numerous occasions and there is NOTHING wrong with that!

Saturday after spending a few hours with Jason the girls headed to Houston for my work party and the boys headed to San Antonio for a Robert Earl Keen concert!

We stayed with the Roebucks, the sweet parents of my college roommate Dana, and had so much fun catching up with them.

Riley especially loved all of the fun Christmas decorations that Mrs. Roebuck had out to play with!

While the Roebucks, my mom, and Riley went out to dinner I headed to my work party with my lovely date Jenn!

The FramesDirect.com party was a lot of fun and I went home with a Borders giftcard so I plan to get a few books that I have been eyeing. We stayed out pretty late and when Jenn dropped me back off at the Roebucks I came in to find Riley awake!

She had gone to bed at 8 but woke up at 10:45 looking for mommy and just couldn't go back to sleep...so she played a little and watched some tv until I got home. Once I got there she acted a little like a crazy girl and then I was able to get her back down...until she heard me and my mom talking...so she slept with me...and I loved every minute of it!

Sunday morning we decided to have a little birthday bash for Cooper and Riley since they share such close birthdays and were both two and we were all in town together...so Chuck E Cheese it was!

Riley was so excited to see Cooper...they have been in TX since before Thanksgiving so it was a reunion for these two!

Cooper was not quite as excited and pretty much remained mellow the entire party...until Riley started playing with a game he wanted...and vice versa. These two are a riot...they would each play with something and move on but if the other one went to play with whatever they had just finished with...they were peeved and it was the "mine" game!


Here's Coops making his daddy proud as he wanted to ride the airplane!

Riley was pretty good at bopping!

She had a little chat with Bob the Builder!

And they both rode the Barney ride together and had fun!

Serious game player!

Cake Time!

This picture tells it all...Riley is blowing her candle out and Cooper is trying to touch the fire on his candle! Silly boys!

Riley got a baby doll at her party and she was so excited about it...she's quite the little mama!

Grammie, Riley, and Me...the party was over and we had two tired but wired kiddos on our hands!

I fully expected Riley to conk out in the car and she did...but only for 40 minutes! I was SO tired from the Friday night late drive to pick up Jason and the late night at my work party so Grammie took over the wheel and I tried to sleep with Riley in the back...not much luck. She honked my nose, patted my cheeks, and pointed out every facial feature of mine making it impossible to sleep. When I would lay down away from her she would put the blanket on me, pat (a.k.a. slap) my back, and then squeal, laugh, and sing songs. She was non-stop! I think I have learned that sugar now affects her...we must keep it to a minimum!

We finally made it back to the lake and the boys had a great dinner cooked for us. As an added perk we made it back just in time for the sunset...one of the BEST parts about being at the lake!

Riley was so excited to see Daddy again and play with him...you would have never known she only slept 40 minutes all day!

Daddy's Girl!

We ate dinner and I fell asleep on the couch at 8:00...Jason sweetly tucked me in bed and I slept until 7:00 this morning...it was some much needed sleep and I felt like a new woman!

Don't worry...Riley still has more birthday celebrations to come!

Birthday Girl Round One!

Well it was inevitable...my sweet baby girl turned 2!

It's official even though she has referred to herself as being 2 for the past several months if anyone asked her how old she was!

It's not that I'm not excited for her because I truly am...it's just that I want her to stop growing up so fast!

I don't even know where to begin to express my deep love for this little thang...she is such a blessing to her Daddy and I and we just can't get enough of her...even after we put her to bed we often reflect on moments of that day that we just fell more in love with her or were so tickled by her!

Happy Birthday Sweet Riley!

I'm not sure if she understood it was her birthday but she sang "Happy Birthday" all day long and I think she enjoyed the endless presents...who wouldn't?

She was certainly tickled by this Mickey Mouse card!

She had fun unwrapping presents and we had fun watching her method...she would tear one tiny piece off, wad it all up, and hand it to JoePa for the trash...one little piece at a time!

Her first present of the day was this cute piano...she can play it or it will just play music for her...a win win situation for all!

I loved watching her intently play the piano..

and then break out in a crazy dance!

After her first round of presents she got to dive into the yummy Pumpkin pancakes Grammie made her...that's my girl!

Later on in the morning Riley played with Sadie for a straight hour...putting the blanket on her and putting her to bed and even adding hair accessories to her...Sadie was such a good sport!

I thought I'd give Sadie a break and let Riley open a new present...a microphone...so we had our own little concert!

And after that there was one more big present...a tricycle from Grammie and JoePa that she can keep here to play with when we visit!

Even with an adjustable seat and pedal extenders she still can't quite reach the pedals so she needed some assistance!

Our little bike rider...she had fun helping Grammie put it all together and then riding up and down the driveway until it was time for a nap!

That evening we had her second annual red velvet cupcake to celebrate her 2nd birthday!

I iced the cupcake and did the sprinkles myself this time as to not have a super huge mess but when it came time to eat it she had total freedom!

We tried to get her birthday hat on again but she was not too thrilled about it!

Let's get on with cupcake time!

I think Riley had a great birthday and the celebrations will continue!

Friday I went to work in Austin for the day and missed my Riley so much. When I got home I pulled off my boots and this is what happened!

They are like full leggings on her...she's stylin'!

One Happy Girl

Riley has been one happy girl since we got to Texas and she's been SO.MUCH.FUN!

JoePa can't wait for her to wake up in the morning and a few times he's actually had to wake her up...

Riley wanted JoePa to have breakfast with her and they were making silly faces!
He worked on showing her how to show that she's 2 years old...tomorrow is her birthday and I just can't believe it!

She's getting the hang of it!

Monday after I was done working we took a ride on the boat...Riley had been talking about the boat since we landed in Austin...she LOVES being outside and she LOVES the boat!

So excited!

Love this grin!

Happy Girl!

She always gets to drive the boat with JoePa and honk the horn!

After the stressful job of driving the boat she decided to chill and have some milk!

After the boat ride we roasted marshmallows in the fire pit and it was so much fun!

Riley was in awe of the fire but didn't mess with it at all...she helped blow the marshmallows out!

She chowed down and was hesitant to share with anyone!

She was one busy girl running around in between eating marshmallows!

Riley ended up completely squishing her marshmallow in her hand holding it so tight in fear of anyone trying to steal it..she wouldn't even share with Sadie!

She was desperately in need of a bath after the fire...one sticky girl but she had so much fun!

Yesterday us girls headed to San Antonio for the night...my mom had several things to do and I just worked a half day so Riley and I ran a few errands and she was so well behaved...we were in and out of the car and in and out of shopping carts and she was just happy for it all!

We then headed to the Hanlons house to see Mad Dog Mama (Patrice), Whitney, and Pat...Riley took a 3 hour nap while I worked in the afternoon and then it was time to play!

She had fun checking out all the Christmas decorations, especially this little bitty tree that Patrice made!

She LOVED playing with Kasey's old doll house...the funniest part was when she tried to sit on the furniture and get in the car...she didn't quite realize that she was WAY too big!

Whitney, Riley, and I went to Alamo Cafe for dinner...had to get our fix and it was so yummy!

When we got home Riley demanded that Pat sit down and drink some milk before he went off to bed...I tell ya...little girls sure can get men to obey. Pat was saying goodnight and trying to get a hug from Riley and she just smacked her hand on the floor and said "sit down"...she can be a little bossy!

After Pat went to bed we had a girls party to celebrate my mom's birthday which was last week!

Patrice made a FABULOUS chocolate cake and we all partook...Riley had a one track mind once she saw that cake and that was to be the first to get a piece!

Smooches from Grammie!

We all "cackled" as Patrice gave my mom her gift which included a beautiful platter that had a disclaimer on the bottom "Do not use to serve food. Will poison food." Awesome!

Me and my mom...Happy Birthday Mom!

Today was a super fun day for Riley! Whitney wanted to decorate cookies with Riley so she baked them last night and this morning was time for decorations!

Whitney and I

Check out Riley's face as she realized she was going to get to sprinkle the cookies!

She had so much fun and made a huge mess...some of the sprinkles containers had very big holes so the sprinkles came out in abundance!

She made sure to do quality control and check her work before she put it on the plate..anyone want a cookie?

So the red sprinkles got slightly out of control and this is what Riley looked like!

Notice all the sprinles on the cookie sheet...can you even see the cookies under the sprinkles?

That picture is priceless...trust me there is no blood involved...haha!

She had a blast and didn't even nap today with the sugar high from all the cookie decorating. We headed back to the lake at what would normally be her nap time thinking she would snooze on the way...not so much! She was non-stop talking, singing, clapping, and a few times she even screamed at the top of her lungs! She was so happy and after we made the trip back she went to the grocery store with Grammie and behaved so well.

I am still astonished at how happy she was and that we had no meltdowns today with the lack of a nap but she was just having too much fun! She was ready for bed early and went down without a peep.

She has to get a good night's sleep so she can celebrate her birthday tomorrow...we can't wait!