Welcome Gabe...

Gabe Thomas arrived today healthy and handsome...Jamie did a great job and had an amazingly fast labor...you go girl! I got to visit them and hold little Gabe today and he weighed within 3 ounces of Riley's birth weight, but I just don't remember her being that small. He is precious and we just love having new babies to play with! Congrats Jamie and Seth!

CEREAL TIME!!!

Riley went for her four month check up last Friday and weighed in at 15 pounds 12 ounces...the same weight from the week before when she was sick...still 90th percentile in height and weight so she is definitely a healthy little girl. She had to get three shots again, but did really well and cried much less than I anticipated. We got the go ahead from the doc to start feeding her cereal so Monday night was her first go at it and she loved it and we had a lot of fun...here are some pics!


"Mom...I got this...I am in control!"

Girls Weekend...

This past weekend Riley had a total girl's weekend and LOVED every minute of it. Jason and I spent our first night together without Riley and we went to El Dorado for a wedding and had a great time. Riley went to spend the night with DiDi and Aunt Gaby while those boys went camping so it was all girls including Cookie. Riley did great and they had lots of fun...Desiree said she even had to wake her up Sunday morning at 7:15 to go to church! When mom and dad got back in town Riley went to dinner with mom and all her girlfriends...us girls had gone to see Baby Mama before dinner and it was hilarious...I recommend it...many very random parts, but funny nonetheless!

All packed and ready to go...boy did mom and dad miss you!

Hangin' with the girls...Jennifer and Laurie...and Chandler too snuggled up in his mommy's belly!

Our trip to Atlanta was to celebrate as Riley's Great-Grandpa Joe turned 85...he is VERY active for his age and that is what has kept him in good shape. He and Glennis ballroom dance several times a week, they sing with the senior center, and they probably have a busier social schedule than most Americans...his cake said Happy Birthday Joe...still dancing! This was his first time to meet Riley and he loved making funny noises for her!

This is Riley's Great-Uncle Lance...need I say more!

Our first day in Atlanta we kicked the boys out to do some fishing and the girls went shopping and had lunch...we all did some damage at Ann Taylor Loft...who can resist? Desiree even tried stealing some items...just kidding. They did forget to remove one of the sensors which therefore triggered the alarm as we were leaving and Gabi said "Did my mom really steal something?"...Aunt Barbara responded with "Let's run!" Poor Gabi didn't know what to think!

Riley also got to meet her Great-Aunt Michelle for the first time!

While Riley was held almost 24/7 while we were there, she did manage to get some playtime on the floor and Christopher was getting some HUGE smiles out of her...she loves her aunt and uncle!

Riley even helped us set up for the party...about 30 minutes after this picture she was zonked out in the carrier with all her limbs hanging limp...it was so cute!

Here's the Aunt picture...Aunt Maria and Aunt Gabi!

A LoRusso party is not a party without the Cincotta clan from Brooklyn...we have attended several of their parties and it was great to have them come for Joe's party. There is never a dull moment when this big Italian family comes together!

Family pic in Lance and Barbara's front yard...picturesque!

Some other highlights of our trip include a late dinner at Pappasito's after we arrived...Einstein's bagels every morning for breakfast...family work day to get Lance and Barbara's house ready for the big party...a big family brunch before we all parted ways...a visit to Lance's new law practice...cuddling with Riley the entire plane ride home! We had a great time and always love our visits to see Lance and Barbara and their two labs Scout and Boo!

4 Months Old!!!

Riley is 4 months old today and in some ways it seems like time has flown, but in other ways it seems like it has been 4 months. Either way, we have LOVED every minute of having Riley in our lives...she is truly a gift from above.

Here are some things that Riley is doing at 4 months:

• Sleeping 8-10 hours a night


• Grabbing for all of her toys on her own with both hands and bringing them to her mouth


• Rolling over to her side


• Still on the verge of an oh-so-cute giggle


• Holding her head up all the time
• Noticing her feet and getting them closer to her face


• And last but not least...trying to hold her bottle all by herself and being successful at times!
  Here is video proof of Riley's bottle holding skills!

Riley has now successully taken her 2nd airplane ride and she did great! We fed her on the way up and she stayed awake the entire flight just playing away. She did manage to have a blowout diaper so we had a wardrobe change, but it was not a huge fiasco and we survived just fine! I guess that altitude can jumble up a little girl's tummy!

We are in Atlanta celebrating Grandpa Joe's 85th birthday...today the boys went fishing and caught lots of fish and the girls went shopping...a fun day! I will update with more pics soon!

Riley has also dealt with her first bug...and she's a trooper! Tuesday afternoon daycare called and said she hadn't been acting herself and was running a 100.6 fever. I asked for an explanation of "not acting herself" and they said she wasn't fussy at all she just wasn't smiling as much. She was eating fine and touching her ears didn't seem to bother her so the doc said to cure the fever with Tylenol and bring her in the next day just to check since we were about to travel. Jason took her in and they said she had a bug of some sort...her throat was really red. They said it would run its course and it has and she hasn't fussed one bit. I think she will be one of those kids that is REALLY sick before we even know it...tough little girl. She is already on the downside of the bug because she hasn't had fever in 24 hours and she hasn't been acting any different!

Crazy Week

Well we had a great dinner Friday night celebrating Jason's birthday...my flight travels went well and I was just beaming when I got off that plane and could NOT wait to see my little girl. She and her dad were waiting at the bottom of the escalator and he had her waiving to me...it was precious! We then hurried off to meet everyone at Saddle Creek for a good steak dinner...the Burns family joined us as did Jason's family and we had an entire room to ourselves which was very nice. We also celebrated Tara's birthday since it was on the 10th!

The two cute munchkins...they are getting so big!

Kaleb reaching out and touching Riley's hand...what a sweet boy!

Family Pic...how great it is to be back home...I truly don't know how Jason does it when he has to go away for weeks at a time.

We had a great weekend...finally some nice weather. Saturday Christopher came over to earn some money by doing massive amounts of yardwork...he did a great job! Then we cooked Carne Guisada and fajitas and had the entire LoRusso clan over for dinner. Christopher took a break to read some books to Riley and it was so cute...she was so intrigued and love her Uncle CJ and her Aunt Gaby!

Gaby was pooped out after a sleepover with her friend Abby, a soccer game, and playing with Riley!

Well this week is crazy because we leave Wednesday night for Atlanta to celebrate Grandpa Joe's 85th Birthday Celebration...what a party it shall be! We have already been warned to get ready to eat...like we have a problem with that! Ha! It will be the first time for all of this family to meet Riley so we are very excited and can't wait to share her with them.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Well Riley and I want to wish Jason a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I have been in Charlotte, NC since Tuesday and am about to fly home so Jason has been taking care of Riley and he has done great and they have had a good time together. Jason was able to take the day off work today so I was telling Riley last night to sleep in for him as his birthday present and boy did she listen to her mama...he put her to bed at 10 last night and she didn't wake up until 8:20 this morning...what a sweet girl!

Sorry there are no pictures to this post...due to me being out of town I can't upload pics, but I will add some this weekend! I have had a good trip and learned a lot which was the point, but boy have I missed that little girl. Jason has been sending me pictures and last night she was just a talking on the phone so we got to catch up!

Believe it or not Arkansas was under the gun with tornado possibilities yet again yesterday...TWICE IN ONE WEEK! The Today Show had been talking about this storm ever since I got up here so I knew to watch...luckily yesterday we were doing some computer based training so I constantly had the weather channel up on my computer tracking the storm and it was just tornado watches. When I went to lunch I checked the weather on my phone and it said tornado warning and it was expected to reach Jacksonville at 11:35 which is where Riley's daycare is...I called Jason and got no answer, called the daycare and they said the were moving the kids into the hallway...still not feeling good. Luckily Jason called me back shortly after and said that when he saw it was coming he went and picked Riley up and had her on base with him, but I could hear the sirens and the base lost power shortly after that. Luckily there were no touchdowns, but can we be done with the tornadoes for awhile....PLEASE?

Pics to come soon, but...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JASON!

We've got power yes we do...We've got power how 'bout you?

Well it has been an eventful few days...we had the priviledge of dealing with our first "near tornado" experience! Thursday night Little Rock had some major storm systems come through and cause major devastation for many people. We were very fortunate that we scraped by the destruction. The storm began in the SW portion of Little Rock and after a tornado touched down I was sure the storm would dissipate because that's what usually happens, but not this storm. It had a mind of it's own and touched down several spots in Little Rock and made it's way up to Cabot where we live. The news said that the storm would be in Cabot at 10:26 and then the sirens started going off so while Jason stayed cool, calm, and collected...I was a basketcase! I snatched Riley out of her bed and laid in the bathtub with her while Jason kept checking the news...finally he joined us in the bathroom and then the lights flickered and then we lost all power and then it was silent and dark...and then we heard the storm come and we could hear the swirling gusting winds and we waited until it passed, but we had no power for over 24 hours so needless to say it was a long night, but you'll be happy to know that Riley slept through the entire event...surprise surprise!

Here are some pictures of the havoc this storm caused in Cabot less than a mile from our house...we were very lucky and we just pray for those that had damage.

So originally Entergy claimed that our power would be back up by Friday evening at 8 pm so I worked for a few hours and then cleaned as much as was possible without electricity and then Riley and I took a nap. We woke up about 6:30 to find out that Entergy now said our power would be up by 8 pm SATURDAY...uuggghhh! Jason started 14 hour days Friday morning and he had to stay close to base and work all weekend so he stayed at Mitchell's house and Riley and I headed to DiDi and PaPa's house for a slumber party...but first we met the Burns family for dinner so Riley and Kaleb could hang out...Kaleb decided to pick up the tab this time...what a stellar guy!

After dinner we went to have our slumber party and Riley got to spend some quality time with the LoRusso's and she slept great too! PaPa fed her her last bottle and Gaby sang and played with her whenever she was awake...she is such a good aunt!

We found out that our power had finally come back on so Riley and I headed back home for a fun filled afternoon! Riley had her friend Haylie come over and play this afternoon. Haylie's dad is currently overseas protecting our freedom and her mom wanted to go get a much deserved pedicure so Riley, Haylie, and I played for a couple of hours and the girls were so cute together. Haylie is a few months older than Riley and she can sit up all by herself so I propped Riley up so they could look at each other and they would just smile and tell all kinds of girly secrets to each other...it was precious. We read books, played with toys, and then both of them were exhausted so they napped while the moms chatted...a successful playdate!

After an afternoon of playing Riley got to see Megan and Dave who stopped by and had dinner with us!

Well sorry for the long post, but let's just say it has been a crazy and fun last couple of days! It is nice to be at home and I feel like electricity is a luxury at this point...I decided I could not funtion without electricity...just couldn't do it!

What's new...

Well we have had a good week so far and have been up to lots of fun lately! Last week Riley went and hung out with the girls for our monthly bunko night and she did great. She was passed around, she showed off her vocal skills, and she definitely showed off her drooling skills as well. She was completely intrigued with the dice as you can see in the picture...I suppose the contrast and them being on the red mat made it very fun for her to check out! She is now going to head up Baby Bunko for all the babies to come!


Riley in her jogging suit...gotta keep up her figure for Kaleb!

We had a great visit with Grammy and JoePa and they received a much deserved sabatical from their furry of moving! Friday we all had lunch together, I got to leave work early, and we stayed in and watched Wild Hogs. Saturday Grammy and JoePa took Riley duty all morning and Jason and I slept in until 9:30...it was WONDERFUL! We were supposed to take family pics at Garvan Gardens, but the weather did not cooperate at all so we spent Saturday afternoon at the mall shopping! Jason bought this little puppy dog hat for Riley and he now puts it on her every evening because it's just so stinkin' cute!

Saturday evening Jason and I had our first "Date Night" since Riley came into our lives. We knew that we needed to spend some time just the two of us, but the only reason we haven't stressed this so far is because Riley is such a good baby and we never feel like we need a break from her. We had a great time and started out at a surprise b-day party for Tom and then we went and had dinner at Loca Luna...I haven't felt that stuffed since I was pregnant and my stomach was smushed up in my ribs...needless to say we had our fill. It was great to just be the two of us! We still haven't decided who babysitted who that night because when we got home JoePa was in bed and Riley was still awake...hmmm!

On Sunday Riley went to her first movie!!! We went and saw 21 with my parents and some friends and it was a really good movie! Riley started out asleep and then the sound came on really loud and we were afraid it would scare her, but she was enthralled and just stared at the screen. My parents joked that when we got home she would say "Dad...our TV just isn't big enough!" HaHa! She did great and even took a nap and didn't get upset until right before the movie was over...all in all she was GREAT and it was fun! I wondered what people would think of us bringing a baby to a movie, but there was an even younger baby right behind us so we were the norm! Grammy and JoePa left Sunday evening and we miss them already...thanks for the great weekend!

Riley is becoming more and more vocal each and every day and lately her talking sounds like a lion roaring...it is very cute! As I blog, it is 10:40 pm and she was asleep, but now she is just in her crib talking to herself and eventually she will put herself back to sleep...she really likes to hear herself and that's understandable. We have gotten a few chuckles out of her the past few nights with intense tickling and it is just adorable...we can't wait until it isn't so forced and comes more naturally for her. Tomorrow is her last day at Pulaski Heights Baptist Dayschool and Thursday she starts at Kareer Kids...we're hoping the transition goes well and we will miss the great caregivers that she's had thus far.