We give thanks...

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of food, naps, football, and reflection on all the blessings in our lives!

We are thankful for...

• Our wonderful God and the ability to worship Him and receive His blessings


• Jason's continued safety and that he will be home SOON!


• Family and friends


• Pain free travels..woohoo!


• Perfect afternoons to nap...I should be napping now...Riley has been sleeping for over 2 hours now...she ate good and the triptophan is definitely working on her!

We got to hear from Jason on our way home from lunch and he had a good Thanksgiving as well...the third country nationals prepared a very nice buffet complete with ice sculptures, watermelon displays, and a model of the Mayflower ship made with cardboard and macaroni noodles...he said it was GREAT! He had to go back to work after eating turkey instead of napping, but he should be sleeping now and is planning to wake up at 4 am to watch the Aggie game with some of his Aggie buddies and t.u. rivals...that's dedication!

Riley has a special Thanksgiving message to share with everyone...this is her just blabbing away...so cute...let me know if you know what she's saying!

We had a great lunch at the Georgian club...it's at the very top of a building by the Galleria in Atlanta and we enjoyed a great view while we stuffed our bellies full of scrumptous goodies! Riley had turkey, dressing, carrots, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes...and a few snitches of her momma's chocolate mousse!

The club is completey surrounded by floor to ceiling windows and Riley LOVED standing up and enjoying the view!

Happy Birthday CJ

Christopher turned 12 yesterday and we had a late night celebration after everyone got into town...we celebrated with none other than a Carvel's ice cream cake...yummy!

Riley and I had a GREAT trip getting to Atlanta...no one in line at the Delta ticketing counter...no one in line at security...and a non-full flight allowing me to bring the carrier on the plane...thanks poor economy!

We were met by the three stooges (Frank, Lance, and CJ) and we waited for Aunt Michelle to get in town and we all rode the MARTA back to Marietta...it was fun and Riley managed to stay awake for half of the trip and then finally gave in to slumber...I assumed she was out for the night since it was 10 pm but she knew a party was waiting at the house and she didn't want to miss out so she took a power nap and woke up when we arrived at Lance and Barbara's to celebrate with Christopher!

Here's Joe and Glennis managing to not be party poopers even late into the night!

And finally my little partier pooped...at 12 am...geez! She had a lot of fun! We are so glad to be here!

Weeknight fun...

This week has not been super busy for me and Riley and it has been nice...we have had lots of fun playing in the evenings. I have noticed how exhausted she is after "school" all day...apparently Riley just plays as hard as she can every moment she's awake...her newest tricks are pulling up on the cribs and tapping her friends on the head while they are sleeping so they will wake up and play with her...she also likes to steal her friends shoes from their crib...she's having lots of fun which can mean she is a little more cranky than usual in the evenings...nevertheless, we have had lots of fun together having dinner, bathtime, and playing!

Here's just some of the fun we had tonight...we started off with a trip to Walmart and Riley just conked out...I noticed she was falling asleep sitting up and we were almost done but she couldn't even stay awake while I checked out...so I laid her down on her soft floppy seat and she went right to sleep...

She's just like her daddy...she can sleep anywhere!

Yummy dinnertime...Riley loves her yogurt!

Riley tries to brush her hair...

Gotta love a binky smile...

And last but not least Riley loves to play with doors...opening them and closing them...tonight she played peek a boo with me from behind the bathroom door!

Hope ya'll are having a good week too!

11 Months Old...

Riley is 11 months old today...she has learned a lot of new things in the past month and every day just gets more fun! She's still our baby and I even rocked her to sleep last night...how great that was! Here's what little Riley is up to these days...

• Still sleeping well...she has woken up in the middle of the night more in the past month than usual...I think it's a combination of teeth making their debut and her ability to pull up in the crib...she's quickly back to sleep and still sleeps 10-12 hours...her bedtime is usually anywhere between 7:15 and 8:30 depending on how her day went.

• Talking more and more...her most noticed word is "doggy"...watch the video below to see! She says "dada" a lot and "nana" when she wants her momma! She has many conversations throughout the day...I wish I knew what she was saying!

• Recognizing her daddy...every night we are home Riley watches a DVD of Jason reading a bedtime story to her...he has sent us 2 DVDs so we have a selection of 8 stories...we also see Jason every Sunday on the webcam. When Jason left his biggest fear was that when he came off the plane to come home she wouldn't know who he was...here's proof that he has nothing to worry about...this little girl knows who her daddy is and she can't wait for him to be tangible and not just on the computer screen!

• Crawling like a pro, pulling up, and at church yesterday she stood on her own for about 10 seconds...she is very fast and into EVERYTHING! I wonder why we worry about getting her all these toys when all she wants to do is open the kitchen cabinets, play with tupperware, and rip up my magazines! It's so fun to see her mind intrigued! Here's the little munchkin attacking the kitchen!

• Intentionally dropping things...now that Riley can pull up she loves to stand up holding onto something and find a toy to intentionally drop and pick it up...OVER and OVER again...she is already testing the "practice makes perfect" cliche!

• Riley has four teeth now and two more on the way...she has her two bottom middle teeth and her two top middle teeth...her smile gets cuter and cuter each day! She has two more top ones on the way in

• Eating like a champ...as you've seen in previous posts this little girl likes to eat...I am lucky because I have no issues with getting her to eat or her being picky...she'll pretty much eat anything and eat it all! She's on solid foods all the time and only a few more weeks until she will start real milk...hopefully that's a good transition!

• Riley's favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider and I always do the hand motions when I sing it and now Riley is trying to do the hand motions with me...she's pretty good and has the jist of what to do!

• Riley is now taking baths in the tub like a big girl...no bath seat or anything! She does pretty well...sometimes she attempts to crawl around or pull up to get something...it's hard to manhandle a wet slipper baby but I manage to show her that she has to stay on her bottom! She loves to play in the bath and gets upset EVERY time I take her out of the bath tub...she would play all night if I let her!

Our little girl is growing like a weed...my next monthly update will be on her first birthday! We love you Riley!

My little straw sipper!

After all of the shower celebrations we were able to spend the evening with friends and it was great to see the Yaz fam and Baby Stella...what a cutie!

We all went to dinner and I accidentally left Riley's sippy cup at the Woods home...I discovered this when I went to make her sippy cup after she had finished eating at the restaurant...knowing she would be asleep the moment we got in the car I really wanted her to get her last round of formula before we left the restaurant but I had NO sippy cup...so I tossed around the idea of getting a child's cup and seeing if she could drink through a straw...my biggest fear was that she wouldn't be able to and she would get upset in her frustration...but I gave it a shot anyways and SHE DID IT! When I first gave it to her she just played around with the straw so I put it in my mouth and attempted to show her what to do without accidentally drinking her formula...as soon as I showed her she did it and drank the whole thing with the straw...I was shocked, but it was so neat to see her learn something...I will stick with sippy cups for a bit but at least I know she can do it!

And here's my fuzzy bunny after a long night of straw sipping...it's really cold so she's all bundled up and soundly sleeping!

Showering Amy...

We held Amy's baby shower this past weekend and it turned out great...we had some last minute shuffling due to the flu rearing its ugly head but it all went off without a hitch...we just missed Ashley!

It was a storybook theme because Amy is a writer and loves to read...it was very fitting. Each table was decorated for a different nursery rhyme and everyone gave Baby Owen a book instead of a card!

For our hostess gifts Amy made us all these beautiful scarves...a hidden talent of hers! They are perfect as it is getting pretty chilly these days!

What a fun day...

I had off work for Veteran's day so Riley and I spent the day playing! We went to lunch with DiDi and I shared my pasta with Riley...

She could not get it in her mouth fast enough...it was hilarious!

We also had some apple crips for desert and she would start to fuss if we didn't get more to her fast enough...we did make her stop fussing before she got to savor the sweetness...she's her mother's daughter!

After lunch we went shopping with DiDi for Riley's Christmas and birthday gifts...I just CAN'T believe her birthday is just around the corner! At this age it was ok for her to be present while her presents were bought...she had no idea. She also got a toy to play with before all the presents come out because she is seriously deprived...she loves her Noah's Ark!

After shopping we met Tara and Kaleb at The Wonderplace...this cool place to play with little kiddos...they have all kinds of fun stuff there! Riley and Kaleb really enjoyed the water table and it was a good thing they provide little rain jackets because they would have been drenched otherwise!

Riley got to do all sorts of new stuff...we slid down slides, climbed stairs, and played the piano!

After we slid down the slide she did the appropriate thing and attempted to go up the slide...not too successful but she had a lot of fun trying!

Riley was a stair climbing fool...she had never climbed stairs before and even in her boots she managed to do pretty well...her attempts at getting down the stairs were not so graceful but we'll keep working on that!

Once we climbed the stairs there was a fun piano so Riley decided to strike a tune...

After the piano we climbed some more stairs to the very top of this treehouse where there was a house to play with and little wooden people to behead...I guess they were pretty yummy!

It was such a fun day and Riley was a pooped little girl when we got home! I think I should take every Tuesday off!

5 Weeks to Go...

We are so ready for Jason to be home...I hope that these last few weeks are filled with lots of things so they will not linger! Happy Veterans Day to all who have served and are currently serving...we appreciate all you do!

Totally changing topics...Megan has more pics on her photography website...check them out here!

We are loved...

Jamie is a wonderful friend from college that I get to keep up with through the blog world and she loves our blog...so now it's time for me to share the love!

I've never done this before so here goes!

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Here are the Rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

2. Link the person from whom you received your award.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs

4. Put links of those blogs on yours, and

5. Leave a message on the blogs that you've nominated!

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I read A LOT of blogs....it can get addicting and I know many of you can relate but here are a few of my favorites:

Matt and Becky ...Becky is my best friend from college and she introduced me to the blog world so I owe this addiction to you Becky...thanks and love ya!

Megan...Megan is one of my best friends from high school and her blog is VERY entertaining...too bad you have to be invited to read it...sorry about that but you can check out her photography blog below instead!

Nicole...I met Nicole when I was in high school...she was a leader in our youth group and we had so much fun together...I miss her!

The Burns Family....these are some great friends from church...Tara and I were pregnant together and this is where you can see Kaleb growing up!

The Barnard Family...these are some more great friends from church and they keep us updated on Baby Deacon and have lots of great pics!

The Yazwinski Family...and again more great friends from church who moved a few hours away so it is great to see Stella growing up via the blog!

The Clark Family...these are some great friends from college who just had a beautiful little girl named Caroline...another Gator 2 baby girl!

Whew...that was hard to pick just 7...I have a lot more favorites but I guess I have to play by the rules so that's all for now!

Riley's newest milestones...

Well I am proud to announce Riley's newest accomplishment...picking her nose! I seriously didn't think that she would learn this one quite yet and the first time it happened I was sure it was just by chance but now that she has consistenly been doing it I am afraid it is an actual learned behavior!

Straight from the nose to the mouth...scrumptous!

On top of that accomplishment I also found her playing in the toilet water...seriously what happened to my little girly girl? Jason is VERY anxious to get home...he is wondering what is going on around here with Riley picking her nose and playing in the toilet...oh the joys of babies learning new things!

We have had a really great weekend...Saturday we just hung around the house, did a little shopping, and Andrea came over for dinner (I cooked Jason's famous minestrone...it was good but lacked his touch and Andrea made a butterscotch cake). After dinner Andrea and I "watched" a movie...now for a very long time I have had a horrible reputation of falling asleep watching a movie...like as soon as the beginning credits are done...it's bad...I need help! I really want to watch a movie but my body associates being comfy and lying down as time for sleep and I can not help it. Little did I know that Andrea shared this same problem so our attempt at watching a movie was really both of us sleeping...fun times!

Here's Riley playing with the gumdrop pillows I made for her room...they are great to pull up and walk around...she had a lot of fun!

Today we went to church and then Megan took Riley's Christmas pictures...you can see a few at http://www.meg-southernexposure.blogspot.com ...they are really cute and Megan finally started a blog to showcase her great work so check it out! We had a lot of fun and did all kinds of crazy things to get as many smiles out of this little girl as possible...the best part was when she picked her nose in the middle of the photo shoot...you know Megan captured this moment as well!

Here's Riley doing one of her favorite things...standing at the back door and saying her version of "doggy" which is actually pretty close...she loves the doggies. Hank just stands there with the ball in his mouth wondering if she's going to throw it for him...he's ADDICTED! Kadie just wants to lick all over Riley...it's a good thing the glass seperates them!

The rugrats take over...

Last Tuesday Kaleb came over to hang out with me and Riley...they were both super good and a lot of fun....but also a lot to keep up with since they are both moving all over the place! Sometimes they would travel together and other times they would start traveling totally opposite directions...that's when the fun began!

They both ate like champs...turkey sticks, ravioli, and bread..yum yum yum! I brought in the stroller and fed Riley in there while Kaleb ate in the high chair!

They played together and would laugh as they would crawl towards each other...

The both LOVED pulling up on the stroller and checking it out...
Follow the leader...

Watching Jason read stories...Riley is totally mezmorized and Kaleb would rather play with the bed...

Milk time...

Riley had a fun filled day at school and was asleep by 7:30 so Kaleb and I played together until his mommy and daddy came later...we had a lot of fun...come back soon Kaleb!

P.S. Riley's unmatching outfit is due to her amazing week of blowouts...she was in a different outfit compliments of school 4 out of 5 days last week...between poop and messy food she couldn't manage to keep her clothes clean...silly girl!

What Jason has been up to...

Jason sent us some recent pics of what he has been up to in Iraq...it's obvious he's definitely been up to working out!

They had a visit from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force...

They had a very random flood...

He is also managing to have some fun in the midst of his long days...

We are now 6 weeks away from Jason coming home...WE CAN'T WAIT!

Please pray for our country as we are upon this election day!