Giving Thanks and Gearing up for Christmas...

We have had a busy but great week!

We had a blast going to Sacramento last Sunday evening to shop for Miss Riley and we ended the fun with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...we HAD to have the Pumpkin Cheesecake and we HAD to eat if fast so Riley didn't eat it all!

The week seemed to fly by with Thanksgiving and all...I had a girls night Monday with my Beth Moore girls...we just sat around a bunch of yummy food and gabbed the night away! Tuesday Riley and I went to a paint studio so she could work on some Christmas gifts and then we had a great dinner with friends.

Then it was time for the baking to begin...I was in charge of all of the desserts...my favorite!

On the menu was a Pumpkin Roll, Apple Streusel Tarts, and a Chocolate Pecan Pie!

The Pumpkin Roll didn't last long and was definitely the favorite!

The tarts and pie were great too and I have leftovers of each of those...although if we eat on them the way we did today they shouldn't last long!

Jason and Paul were the turkey cookers for the big day...Jason fried a turkey and Paul roasted a turkey...they were both AWESOME and we have lots of great leftovers!

While all the food and good times are some of my favorite things about the Holidays, it's always good to reflect on the meaning behind why we celebrate...in this case thankfulness!

I am just as guilty as the next person for getting caught up in the day to day swing of life that I often don't stand still long enough to really be thankful for the big and small things. This year I am thankful for so many things...thankful for the opportunity to be the mom of my sweet little girl, thankful that Jason was home with us and able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, thankful for our amazing families although we missed them, thankful for great friends and the provision God has had for us even in our move this year, thankful for how blessed we are, and the list could go on and on.

I was also thankful that Riley offered to clean up the house while all the prep work was being done for our big Thanksgiving feast...what would we have done without her?

Riley was thankful for all the cool toys at Paul and Jenn's house, but sad that Cooper wasn't there to play with her!

She LOVES this zebra that Cooper has and gets quite crazy when she rides it!

We share this Thanksgiving with some great friends...the Camerons, the Habbestads, the Buckleys, and the Shalleys!

Amanda and Maddie

Jason and I geared up for the Aggie game...they played rather well even though we didn't win! After all the eating it was nice to get in comfy clothes and relax and watch some good football!

Jenn and I...she just found out she's having a baby girl...woohoo!

Jacob and Hayley...more Aggies!

Me and Riley...she is so hard to get a picture with sometimes...always on the move!

Riley gave a kiss to Cooper via a picture of him...she really did miss him and kept asking for him. Cooper is visiting his grandparents in Texas...yay for them, boo for us.

After the food and the football I sent Riley and Jason home to bed and it was time for the girls to go shopping! I have never done crazy Black Friday shopping and really had nothing in particular that I needed but we have good outlet malls here and many of the stores opened at midnight so I was excited to try it out! I am much better staying up late than getting up at the wee hours of the morning! Carter's and Osh-Kosh had their entire stores at 60% off so it was hard to not pass up some good deals! I was home by 1:30 so it wasn't too late and I had a lot of fun!

Even thought I got home at 1:30 I didn't actually get to sleep until around 3 because I was so wound up so getting up at 7 for work this morning was rough...thank goodness it just required rolling out of bed! I got off a little early and Jason and I took naps while Riley was still napping...we awoke to LOUD thunder and cracks of lightning...sounds we have not heard since we moved here and it was perfect napping weather!

Tonight we got our house all decorated for Christmas...minus a big tree because we aren't going to be here long enough to make it worth it. This is the first year we will be away from home for Christmas since we've been married and I am so excited about our plans but it's a little weird at the same time to not have a tree!

Riley has a tree in her room, however, and we had so much fun decorating it tonight!

She also has new super cute Christmas PJ's courtesy of the sales last night..haha...I'm a sucker for tutus!

We both had on our pj's...actually I'm going to be honest and let you know that I never even got out of my pj's all day...it was great! I also got new pj's courtesy of the sales last night and they are super comfy!

Riley really got the hang of putting the ornaments on her tree and would shout with glee after each one was dangling in the tree!

I would put the ornament hangers on each one and Riley put them on the tree all by herself!

Daddy helped too!

So serious...

The finished product...it's perfect for Miss Riley!

So now for a potty update...Riley got a pretty pink potty at our trip to Toys R Us on Sunday and it has been a hit! She's pottied in it numerous times and we just offer it to her every couple hours if we're at home...sometimes she says yes and sometimes she says no, but she has been pretty consistent about using it when she feels the need to. It's a start and she's so cute about it!

Tomorrow we will have our own little birthday and Christmas celebration and the presents are all ready to go...don't you think she'll love her new toys?

Don't tell her what she got...she'll find out soon and I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to share!

My little Mama!

Well since the Bitty Babies have arrived our house has been full of baby gear...it's been so fun! I have to be honest...I'm not sure who is having more fun with the babies...me or Riley! HaHa! They just have the cutest little clothes and they are fun to play with.

Riley jumped right in and really started taking care of her babies. Tuesday she had lots of time to play with them because she played hookie from school...she just has a cold but her morning breathing and coughing were reminiscent of her pneumonia last year so we didn't waste any time getting her checked out but all was well and she was able to get her H1N1 vaccine in the process because the hospital has been hiding the fact that they have the vaccine but since we were already there she was able to get it!

Before it was time to go to the doctor though she got in lots of baby play time!

Changing a diaper...

Bitty Baby actually came with a diaper bag complete with a changing pad, wipes, baby powder and lotion...unfortunately Riley quickly figured out that the lotion and baby powder were pretend and she had a hard time dealing with at...this girl wants the real deal!

After both babies got their diaper changed it was time for a nap!

Riley decided to join them!

Look at those happy babies...they are now in their crib and all ready for bed!

Riley get to play with her babies in style complete with stroller and an infant carrier!

She has so much fun with her babies!

For some reason Riley was fascinated with pushing the crib all around the house...she eventually ended up in the kitchen, threw one of the babies on the ground, and decided she wanted a turn in the crib. I started snapping pictures because I thought it was cute and about 30 seconds after I took this pic the bottom fell out of the crib!

Luckily Riley survived the 6" fall and simply said "Uh Oh"...yeah. So I had to unscrew the crib, put the bottom back on, and screw it together again...it's as good as new but I think Riley learned through this experience that the crib is just for the babies!

Jason worked an off shift this week and didn't get home until really late at night so Riley and I filled our evenings playing with the babies...that is on the nights we didn't have plans...we are busy girls!

On Friday Riley's school invited the parents to have Thanksgiving lunch with the kids...of course we jumped on the invite and we had so much fun! Riley was stoked when we got there and just grinned from ear to ear...there were lots of other parents there too!

She washed her hands before it was time to eat!
Did I mention she was happy?
Here we are...sitting at Riley's table eating lunch with her!

The lunch was so good that Jason and I picked up our lunch on the way back home before I had to get back to work.

Friday afternoon ended up being a dreary cold rainy day...it was awesome!

When we got home from eating lunch with Riley we found Hank and Kadie all cuddled up by the door...so sweet!

Last night Riley and I got in some great cuddle time as I let her watch an episode of Noddy before bed...Jason got off early and came home to find us like this!

Today I made breakfast bagels and took Riley and the doggies on a walk while Jason napped. When it was time for Riley to nap I was out to run a ton of errands. It's amazing how much I can get done by myself.

The Holidays are quickly approaching and I wanted to get a head start. We are going to have our own little family Christmas and birthday next weekend because we will all be in Texas for the Holidays, but Jason leaves a few days after Thanksgiving for a course in NM and we won't see him until Christmas. We are getting Riley a few "big" gifts and didn't think it was necessary to ship them to TX only to ship them back here so she's going to get to open some really fun presents next weekend and I had to get things ready for that!

Once I got home we got ready for a night out...we took a few pics because Riley was looking ever so cute! I could just eat her up!Mom / Daughter pic...I was tickling her under her dress to get this smile!

Loving on her Daddy!

We all had a fun night...sort of a guys / girls night! Riley and I went to a PartyLite Candles party with the girls while Jason watched Fight Night with the guys!

Tomorrow we are going to head to Sacramento to get all of Riley's Christmas / Birthday gifts so that should be fun!

23 Months...

Riley is 23 months old today...just one month shy of her 2nd birthday!

She has quite a personality and is constantly hamming it up if she has an audience!

Here's what she's been up to these days:

• Eating great...her favorite is yogurt these days as I am pushing it daily to try and keep her healthy! She eats great with a spoon but if she's left too long in her high chair she will throw her plates and utensils on the floor...she gets in a bit of trouble for that! She makes a great mess with her yogurt and often resorts to eating it by the fistful rather than using her spoon!
• Sleeping...well now that we are several weeks past Daylight Savings Time we have finally gotten back to our original wake up time somewhere between 7 and 8...thanks goodness! I'm still not sure why we have to do Daylight Savings Time...uugghhh! She is napping much better at school getting pretty consistent 1 1/2 hour long naps...on school days she has to be in bed by 7:30 at the latest but on weekends she is still pulling 3 hour naps and can stay up later so at least she still has some flexibility!
• Loving her baby dolls...what a little mama we have! She is into changing the diapers of her stuffed animals and dolls and she has even tried to change our diapers...except we don't wear them in case you were wondering! Riley received two huge boxes in the mail today from her Aunt Gaby and her DiDi with all of Gaby's Bitty Baby stuff so there will be another entire post on getting to play with all of her new baby dolls and their gear! Here she is changing one of her baby doll's diapers!
• Hygiene...Riley is definitely into hygiene and copying everything mommy and daddy do! She likes it when we put deodorant (with the cap still on) on her, put aftershave on her face, spray her with body spray, let her play with mommy's makeup brushes, and apply chapstick! Her all time favorite is brushing her teeth and this has actually become a problem because she has trouble parting with the toothbrush...I'm talking a full blown meltdown! She either melts down because we won't apply more toothpaste, because it's time to put her toothbrush away, or because she wants to brush with one of our toothbrushes..I tell ya it's rough! Sometimes she does great and sometimes I hesitate to even embark on the teeth brushing adventure...I guess there could be worse things though!
• Reading...Riley loves reading books before bed and she has started reading to us and her babies as well. She will grab a book, point her finger like she's following the words, babble, and then go "rrrooooaaarrrrrr" and laugh hilariously...it's so fun!
• Singing...We all know she loves to dance and that will NEVER change but she knows so many songs now...I'll let the videos below prove it!

So here's two of my all time favorite videos of Riley and they were just taken last week...you have to watch them all the way through...if these don't make you crack up then something's plain wrong with you!

This first one is when I was attempting to capture some of Riley's current talents on video and she was too mesmerized with the camera so I decided to turn the screen so she could see herself...this actually worked well but you can see she recognized herself and just talked to herself the whole time...too funny! Also check out the princess wave we have going on these days...I have NO idea where she came up with this but I love it!


This second one happened shortly after the first was taken when Jason called us on his way home....I decided to give her the phone to talk to him which I had never done before and he is on speaker...she just yacks and yacks forever, sings, counts, and lots more...it's long but trust me it's worth watching!

Happy 23 Months to Miss Riley!

Park and a Party!

Last Thursday we met a bunch of friends at the park and Riley had a blast playing...she was not a happy camper when it was time to leave!

Here she is riding with Ashley and Kaley...you can tell she's pretty happy!

Sweet Tyler showing off his muscles and pushing Riley on the ride! I have to say that I am super impressed with all of the parks here because they have so many toys / play places that are so different and fun and each park has different ones so it makes it fun to try out new parks!
John, Amanda, and Maddie came out to play too and Riley and Maddie had fun sliding together!

John played with Riley a lot and she sure did enjoy it!

On Friday we had our first of hopefully many family movie nights! We had been anticipating "Up" coming out for rental and so that was our first pick! We all ate dinner and watched the movie together...BLT's and Creamy Tomato Soup...yum!

Riley really enjoyed the movie and watched the entire thing...she could even sense the suspenseful moments as she would start yelling "Oh nooooo Oh noooo"...it was so cute! The movie is great...a must see!

On Saturday we all went shopping...we had to hit up Old Navy since they were offering a 30% discount for military in honor of Veteran's Day...can't beat that!

After shopping and lunch Riley got to attend her friend Avery's 4th birthday party and it was so much fun!

Avery's dad and Jason work together and we were stationed with them in Arkansas as well so it has been fun to be out here in Cali with them as well! Avery's little sister Reese is just one month younger than Riley so they always have fun together!

Here's the birthday girl!

Avery's party was a Hello Kitty theme and it was at a cute little pottery painting studio!

All the girls had t-shirts with their names on it to keep them from getting too dirty and here is Rockin' Riley!

Riley was very attentive as the lady instructed the girls on how to paint the little plaques for their rooms!

Then it was time to get down to business and she did so great painting...she would even dip her brush in the water in between colors to clean it off!

Reese painted too...with the help of her momma!

Riley even decided that painting on the table would be fun as well!

After all the girl finished painting it was time for presents and cupcakes...Riley was so cute as she wanted to be in the middle of everything with all the big girls!

Doesn't she look like she's been caught in this picture?

She totally dug in and attacked her cupcake...that's my girl!

Mommy was trying to get a bite of cupcake too but Riley wasn't in a sharing mood...so I just swiped some icing off her face...hehe!

Riley fell asleep approximately 5 seconds after we got in the car and we put her back in bed when we got home but we're not sure that she actually went back to sleep...Jason worked in the yard and I headed to the grocery store because we were having company over for dinner...needless to say she didn't get that great of a nap!

We had a bunch of great friends over Saturday night and Jason cooked his Minestrone and grilled cheese sandwiches...they were delish! We had so much fun hanging out with everyone and Riley had to hit the hay due to her extremely fussy demeanor...proof that the nap was not that great!

Today we went to church, ate all you can eat sushi for lunch, and Riley took a 3 hour nap...woohoo! We met up with the Habbestad's for dinner at Red Robin and I worked on a craft project that turned out super cute! I would share photos but it might turn into Christmas gifts so I can not divulge yet!

That's a wrap...we had a great weekend!