All about Riley

 It's time for a post dedicated to my big girl...what an amazing personality she has!

 She has a love for life, an outgoing personality, a sweet heart for her friends, a genuine curiosity, a smart little mind, and she is just so much fun to be around!

 Don't get me wrong...she challenges me in ways that drive me crazy sometimes and I think this year has really been the hardest.  She has an opinion, she is very smart, and she's testing the waters for what will work and even though I want to be her best friend I have had to suck it up many times and first be her mom.  It's so hard...the hardest job on this planet!  But the hard moments don't even compare to the amazing conversations, the belly laugh giggles, and the love this girl has!  I am honored to be her mama!

Here are some things I've been jotting down over the last couple of months that I want to remember about this stage of life with Riley!

* She absolutely loves lunchables...I'm not proud of that but sometimes they are very convenient...but they literally make her day! :)
* She often rides a roller coaster of emotions.  In a short span of time she will go from arguing and yelling "I can do what I want to do" to almost taking it overboard by saying "I love doing chores and sharing God's blessings with the world and I love to obey my mommy" :)
*  In an effort to make our mornings not so unbearable with the daily disdain for her simple chores of getting dressed, making her bed, and brushing her teeth I made a super cute chore chart and the reward for checking off all of her boxes was a trip to the treasure chest where I had it stocked with lots of fun princess toys.  It is not a perfect system and we seem to stray from it...it's hard to figure out what the right method is!
* We carpool with Carter for preschool...Faith usually does the morning carpool and I usually do the afternoon carpool.  We often text each other about the hilarious conversations.  One day I was doing the morning run and realizing how much more entertaining it was because they aren't so tired...Riley was going on and on about something and explaining it in extreme detail when Carter stopped her mid-sentence and simply said "that's too many words Riley")...I about drove off the road I found that so funny.

 
*  Riley LOVES to dress in her wedding dress and talk about all things wedding.  Sometimes it scares me but I think it's normal!  She has had some legitimate crushes...first with a little boy Cash at the CDC and then a little boy Wyatt at Shepherd of the Hills.  She got a cute flower girl dress from Ellie and wears it ALL the time...when we go to AR she gets to wear the dress Gaby wore in our wedding!

*  Riley continues to pic something and master it.  In the last year she has completely mastered hoola hooping or "hoola looping" as she calls it and she can also do a pretty darn good cartwheel!
*  One day she came home and asked if we wanted to play "tag you hear it" and we were a bit puzzled until we figured out that was her interpretation of "tag you're it"...so cute!

*  One of my favorite things to do with Riley is to bake and we also love to watch Cupcake Wars.  As soon as we start watching an episode she is ready to get her kitchen toys out and play Cupcake Wars...it's so cute and fun!  Just for the record I'm always the baking assistant! ;)

* We tell her every day that she is beautiful but we have really been working on teaching her the difference between being beautiful on the inside and the outside.  I think she's the most beautiful girl in the world but I want her inner beauty to overshadow her outer beauty!

* Riley is really an emotional girl...she has genuine emotions for and towards her friends.  One day we were at a gymnastics playdate and her friend Kylee hurt her arm and had to go to the emergency room.  Riley was literally in tears she was so sad for her friend.  This year for 4 year old preschool she switched from T, Thur to the M,W,F class and left behind her best friend Maddy.  She has been in tears on a couple of occasions about how much she missed her best friend.  She also tends to get her feelings hurt very easily.  When a friend says or does something not so nice she is in tears because her feelings are hurt.  This is a tough one because I don't ever want her to feel like she has to hide her emotion, but she is also a girl and can use those emotions in a negative way too.  Like I said...she's a smart one!
* Riley has a crazy imagination!  Sometimes it just comes out in her world of playing and sometimes she likes to pretend that it's real!  When my parents were in town for my birthday she would not give up on the fact that she broke her leg "many years ago" and was on crutches and her parents just don't remember..haha!
* Whenever Riley starts a sentence with "i have a great idea" it's clearly going to be a moment where she wants to do something you will probably have to say no to..good try honey!
* When Riley gets an answer that she doesn't like she's been saying "how do you think that makes me feel?"  I think they encourage talking about things like this at school but sometimes it drives me bonkers.  I vividly remember one day after we dropped Carter off from school and I told her we were going to the store.  She wanted me to go home so she could get a toy to take to the store and I was not going to do that.  She pitched a huge fit and ended her tantrum with "how do you think that makes me feel?"
* I got a new pair of glasses and Riley kept asking to play with my old ones.  She would put them on and sit in bed and "read" her Bible...sweet thing!  I didn't want her wearing my prescription glasses so I found a super cheap pair with plain lenses at Claire's one day and she was in love!  She now tells everyone she wears them for her allergies...just like her mama!

* One Saturday Riley was going with Jason to run a quick errand and she asked if they could go get a treat...here's how the conversation went down:
    J: "no not tonight..it's too late"
   R: "maybe just a toy treat and not a drink treat Daddy..is that a good idea?"
   J:  "no honey..we're just going on a ride in my truck"
   R:  "awww...I thought we were buddies"
*  She has become a huge fan of Doc McStuffins on the Disney channel and absolutely loves playing doctor!  When we went in for Tessa's 6 month appt she taught Dr Tan about "ostenosis." She explained this diagnosis as a "big little booboo on the horse's hair that needs a shot"
* Some days she likes to pretend that I'm Riley, she's the mommy, and Tessa's her baby...on any given day I can't remember who she is or who I'm supposed to be but she plays the parts well.  Sometimes she pretends that we are friends and we do things together with our babies..me with Tessa and her with Sally...she's say to me "oh what's your name again?" and then "are you that new girl from Bible study?...It's so good to see you again..i thought i'd never see you...what's your baby's name?" - She is soooo funny!
* One night she was looking at a magazine and saw a picture of lamb chops and had some questions...she was a little concerned when she realized it was a lamb and I told her God created some animals to be good healthy food for humans. Then she asked if zebra was yummy and I said no and she said "phew"
*  Her latest phase is one where she wants to be JUST like her mama! I mean down to every little detail!  I try to have fun with it but sometimes it gets frustrating because there are just some things I can't let my 4 year old do or have and she doesn't like that.  She wants keys just like mine, a diaper bag just like mine, she picks out clothes and says "it's a real mommy shirt", and she is convinced she is a "real" mommy!  Jason reminds me that it is the biggest compliment that she wants to be just like me and he's so right!  I love her to pieces and I'm honored she wants to be like me!  Here's a few examples:

   She wanted a gym bag just like mine so we used her princess sleeping bag carry case to use as her gym bag...she has her shoes, her dirty clothes in a plastic bag, her makeup bag, a case for her shower soap, hair dryer, and a brush!

I have hosted Bible study at the house the past few weeks and it's actually been hard for Riley because she wants to come out and be a part of Bible study.  I know how smart she is and how her little mind works and so I explained to her that this is mommy time and she needed to stay in her playroom.  She did pretty good hanging out in my room or her playroom but when we were almost done and doing prayer requests she just couldn't wait anymore and she brought her build a bears out and her dolls and set up her own Bible study...it was the cutest thing and I just love the way God made this special girl!

Riley - you are a joy and we are constantly amazed by you...the questions you ask, the concepts you put together, your zeel for life, and how smart you are!  God has big plans for you sweet girl and we are so thankful we are a part of it!