Such a BIG girl!

Well I am just blown away that Riley will be two in just a few weeks. She's still my baby girl and always will be but she really is getting to be such a BIG girl these days!

She started transitioning to her new classroom at school this past week. They take a week to transition them slowly and she officially starts on Monday. She did great...she has two new great teachers and has taken to them really well although I know she will miss Alisa! One major leap has been potty training. Her new classroom has a full bathroom in it and they really work with them on using the potty. We have been working on it at home but I was shocked on Friday when I picked her up and her new teacher made the prediction that Riley might be potty trained in merely weeks...WHAT? She has been using the potty at school for ALL of her business and seems to be getting the hang of things...they do put them on it every hour though which is hard for me to stick to on the weekends.

I'm not sure if I buy into the idea of her being potty trained in a few weeks but we shall see. I think I realized that I'm the one that's not ready for this...public restrooms...frequent stops...accidents! So I couldn't embark on this new journey without all the necessary items...pullups since using the potty and maneuvering a diaper is slightly impossible...and antibacterial wipes because I cringe at the idea of Riley's little booty touching a public restroom! I know I will have to get over this but I'm just being honest here...so we made a stop at Target today for those two items and I guess we're ready to move forward and see what happens!

Riley and I both got presents this week...she got a kitchen...and I got to put it together! Looks like fun, huh?

Just kidding...my present was a new CAMERA!

I couldn't decide what I wanted...an SLR or not. I wanted great quality and more options than a point and shoot but I had to have something I would realistically carry in my purse...so I decided on the Nikon P90...it's a digital camera with an SLR mode so I can still play around with manual settings and such. I love it so far and still have lots to learn but I can tell a huge difference from my old camera!

Here's Riley attacking me with my new camera!

And here's a great shot I got of the golf course from our backyard...

So back to the kitchen...it was a nightmare to put together! Long story short I thought it might just be a few pieces to click together so I pulled it all out with Riley...it was more like a zillion pieces and she couldn't keep from walking all over the parts so I had to wait until after she was in bed!

4 hours, 60 screws, and two calloused hands later it was complete and it was all worth it when Riley saw the finished product the next morning!

She jumped right in like a chef and went to work...she played it with it so well that I didn't end up taking her to school until almost 10!

Last night we went over to Maddie's house for dinner and she got a new toy...check out Maddie's new ride!

Riley was quick to take it for a spin and she even tried this fancy move...until mom spoiled all the fun!

We played some current tunes and watched the girls dance away...

Lots of laughs...

and Riley showed us her perfected yoga moves...the downward dog!

She actually was doing a front roll which she has never done by herself but she did it several times just fine!

Ashley and John helped her pet the "kee caa" Lester...

Tonight was Jason's squadron Christmas party and it was a lot of fun! I definitely wish Jason had been there especially because one of our raffle tickets was drawn but not for a prize...for a game! I had to get up in front of everyone with safety gear on (apron, goggles, and hard hat) along with boxing gloves and attempt to unwrap a present faster than my competitors...did I mention the present was taped ALL the way around so I had to use the heel on my shoe to rip it...needless to say I didn't win but still had a lot of fun. There were some great prizes given out...TV's, laptops, cameras, cash...a good night! Riley went and played with all of the other kiddos which means she watched movies and ate pizza and cookies...not too shabby!