She's growing...

It is finally apparent to me that my little girl is getting bigger. As a parent you know that it is inevitable, but when you see your little one every day the change is harder to grasp. For some reason, however, I am really noticing how much bigger she has gotten. With the way she eats it's amazing she doesn't weigh 15 pounds already!!! She is long and lean...my little bean pole and I hope she holds that figure throughout her lifetime! Here is a comparison of pictures in her car seat that show how much she has grown...the first is her trip home from the hospital and the second was taken yesterday at 5 and a half weeks old!

Grammy and JoePa Visit

We had a great visit with Grammy and JoePa...only problem was that the weekend flew by! Friday night we had a great dinner at Cajun's...Riley found it to be a very comfortable place to take a nap and that she did! Saturday JoePa took the early shift and Jason and I got to catch up on a little shut eye...it was the first time in a long time I woke up and my eyes didn't just burn due to lack of sleep...it was very nice! We fixed breakfast at the house and just hung out for most of the day. Saturday evening we had a great steak dinner at Jason's parents house to celebrate parents visiting because Scott, one of Jason's college roommates who live here, got a visit from his parents as well so we all got to catch up! Sunday was the usual...church and lunch with our friends and then off to the airport to see Grammy and JoePa off! We had a great time and already miss them...especially at 4 a.m. when JoePa isn't on the couch waiting for me to bring Riley to him!

Mr. Lloyd...one of a kind!

Some of you may have heard me speak of Mr. Lloyd and what a special guy he is...I met Mr. Lloyd in December of 2005 when I first started working for Pulaski Bank. He is an Aggie class of 1945 and when he found out that an Aggie had been hired he hunted me down to introduce himself...we have been kindred spirits since then. He frequents the bank and we have gotten to know each other very well! He has met my parents and Jason's mom and he has made the extra trek up to my office for the past year to "catch up" at least once a week! He often picks me up so we can attend the monthly Aggie luncheon together as well. His wife is just as precious as he is.


Mr. Lloyd has been so excited about the arrival of Riley...my last few weeks of pregnancy he would call me at work daily to see if I was still there if it happened to be a day that he didn't come and visit. He was even nervous about taking me to the December Aggie luncheon because he did not want to be the first person to meet Riley...it was pretty cute! Well, he did meet Riley on her 2nd day of life when he came to visit us in the hospital and last week Riley and I went to his house for lunch so his wife, Marge, could meet her as well. He then took us to one of his classmates homes so this man could meet some young Aggies...I told him that Riley is class of 2030!

I can only hope to be as energetic and fun loving as Mr. Lloyd and his wife!

One month old!

I can't believe Riley is already one month old...it seems in some ways like the time has flown and in other ways is doesn't. I guess when I consider how much less time I have off work that's when it seems like it has flown by! She is such a joy and just makes us so happy...we often just stare at her! We had a ton of pictures done this week and this is just one that we have gotten to see so far...I can't wait to see the rest! It was so much fun having pictures taken...Tara and Kaleb joined us for the photo shoot and both babies did GREAT! We even had a few taken of the two of them together..haha!

It is super cold, windy, and dreary here today...we can't wait for Spring to come! Riley and I went to the gym and grocery shopping and even stopped to say hi to dad at work...she slept the whole time! Tonight is going to be her first experience of bunko...I have to train her early! It should be lots of fun! Grammy and JoePa are coming in town tomorrow for the weekend and we can't wait to see them and I know they can't wait to see her...that's right, not me or Jason, just Riley!

Sweet Little Girl

The past few days have been a little challenging, but we have survived. Jason was involved in an exercise on base and started working nights on Friday from 6 pm to 6 am and he really worked longer than that which meant he had to sleep when he was home...it is super hard to completely change from days to nights! So me and Riley hung out and she was very good...we went to church on Sunday and out to eat with all of our friends and yesterday we went to the mall with Tara to get an outfit because I am having pictures taken of her today! She had a rough night Sunday because she was very gassy and we were up most of the night, but I am happy to report that last night she was herself...woohoo!! I felt so bad for her because I could tell she was uncomfortable so I tried several remedies to help her little body out and apparently that helped. Jason is now home and done with the night thing so he can hang out with us again!

On Saturday one of my best friends from high school, Megan, came over and shot some pictures of Riley with her new fancy camera and they turned out GREAT!!! Here are a few of them!

A few videos

Here are some cute videos from the past several weeks...

This is Jason getting kisses from Riley...actually she is hungry and thinks that if she attempts to suck on his cheek she may find some grub!!! It's so cute! And that is our dog Hank howling at the sirens in the background...haha! This was taken on 1/7/08.

Who ever said you shouldn't wake a sleeping baby? We told you she was laid back and this is an attempt to wake her up so she can eat...it must have been too long since she had last eaten! This was taken on 12/27/07.

When Jason was little he loved the Berenstain Bear's books and his mom saved the books she used to read him and brought them to us so we can read them to Riley...they are covered in food stains, have torn pages, and have Jason's childhood writing randomly on them, but they are a great keepsake and Riley can add her own touch to them as we read them to her! As you can see in the video she is enthralled...they say that reading to your child even at this young of an age is a good thing and it's fun for us too! This was taken on 12/29/07.

On our own!

Jason went back to work yesterday so Riley and I are officially on our own and so far we have survived!!! It is practically noon before I have her and myself ready to go, along with having the house in order, but we don't have anything that pressing going on so it's OK! We ran a couple of errands yesterday and went to lunch with Stacy today as well as went to the base so Jason could show her off to his friends so we haven't been cooped up too much! She is easy to travel with, but I did find it more difficult to accomplish what used to be a "quick stop"...for example, I had to drop off a package at the post office yesterday so I had to carry the package as well as Riley in her carrier...that was somewhat of a challenge. Luckily the Cabot folks were nice and opened all of the doors for me!

I got out one of Riley's toys to see if it interested her in any way. Jason kept telling me she would have no idea what to do with this toy, but she seemed a little interested. There is one part that has a mirror and she did seem to be intrigued by it. I don't think she is old enough to fully enjoy this yet, but she laid on it for awhile and seemed content!