16 Months

It is amazing how fast this little girl grows and she is absorbing new things ALL the time it's hard to keep up! We love her more and more every day and are so thankful for a good spirited little one who brings such joy to our lives!

Here's what Riley is up to at 16 months...

• Sleeping 11-12 hours at night...if she gets a full night sleep then she is down to one nap per day from 12-2 but if mom and dad keep her out late then she will take two naps around 10 and 3...she's flexible and that's good!
• Eating well...she is more and more opinionated about what she will and won't eat...I think she's going to be a texture girl like her mom. For example, the girl absolutely LOVES pears and would heat a whole one if I let her but if it isn't real soft and juicy then she will start to chew it and then immediately spit the pieces out...stinker! She is also showing what a big girl she is by choosing to bite off foods on her own rather than pick up the nice cut up pieces her mom makes for her...so independent! She is getting better and better at using her spoon...sometimes she even picks up her food, puts it on her spoon, and then shovels it in her mouth...and sometimes it actually makes it inside!
• Talking like crazy and repeating what we say...at her 15 month well child check up the doctor initally asked about her verbal development and once the check up was over she laughed at how verbal Riley was...she is saying many many words in her own way...some of her new ones are "dinkie" (for binky), "thank you", and "cookie" (DiDi's dog)!
• She is able to play with her shape puzzle and get the shapes in the right spot...sometimes it takes a couple warm up tries but she will eventually figure them all out!
• She has learned to throw a ball back and forth with us...so fun! When she gets better at throwing the ball Hank will be her new best friend...he thinks we created Riley just to have another person to play fetch with him!
• Riley is getting more teeth...at least two of her molars are making their debut! She has felt these molars more than any of her other teeth...understandably!
• We are going through a good spell with baths again...mainly because she has had some bath buddies over the past month and LOVES them again! While we were in Florida Sydney and Riley took baths together...the dads supervised while drinking beer...and apparently she had a blast and since then she's also taken a bath with Gaby so we're enjoying this fun bath time! There is still screaming after the bath while we lotion her down and put on her pjs but at least she has fun playing in the bathtub! This morning she also took her little hands and washed her hair with me...such a big girl!
• Riley LOVES being outside and her way of telling us she would like to go outside is to walk to the door and twist her hand like she's opening a door knob and then say "please"...she's almost tall enough to get the doors open herself too...fun times ahead! She usually has a big fit when it's time to come inside...she'll love the California weather where we can play outside ALL the time! Taking walks are a favorite of hers but she always want to dart towards the road...why do all kids do that? We are teaching her that she has to hold our hand when we take walks but sometimes that is frustrating for her...another example of her independence making it's debut!

We love you Riley and are are enthralled with watching you learn and grow...we just wish time would stand still at times so we have the chance to take it all in!

The truck has left...

The big 'ol truck arrived at our house yesterday morning and by 3:30 it rolled out on its way to California with all of our stuff! It was a beautiful day which was great for packing and loading up! I have to say it was really weird pulling up to our house in the morning and seeing the moving truck there...yet I don't think this whole moving thing has actually hit me yet. I think I still feel like we are just going on some sort of vacation or something...it may not hit me until we are already there...we'll just have to see!

When you move it's a reality check for how much "stuff" you have accumulated and by the end you are just throwing random things in random boxes...that's the fun part of unpacking...having no idea where things are...oh the joy! I knew that this truck would hold someone else's household goods but it sure felt like we had enough stuff to load up the entire truck. It turns out we will be one of 4 houses on this truck...it's an art how they can load so much stuff on one truck but that's what they do!

As the truck pulled away I walked through the house and realized how stinkin' dirty it was...DISGUSTING! I was actually embarrassed...the area behind our washer/dryer and fridge were the worst...I have not pulled them out and cleaned since we moved in...I hope I'm not the only one who adopts the theory "out of sight out of mind"...after seeing how gross it was I just might add that to my "spring cleaning" agenda going forward! I had some time to clean up before I had to pick Riley up...or so I thought. It was Riley's last day of daycare and I had taken doughnuts for her to share with her friends. Shortly after I was taking in the grossness of my house and getting ready to attack it I received a phone call from daycare that Riley had a fever...poor baby! So I rushed out the door to pick up my baby girl and she just looked like she felt like poop. On our way back to Jason's parent's house I received a phone call from the listing agency that we had 3 showings set up for today...good thing but bad timing since the house was still a mess...we'll take it though!

I got Riley home and dosed her up with some Tylenol and she was back to acting herself but I knew she was trying to fight off some sort of illness...yucky cough...congestion..."the gunk" as I like to call it. We had planned to have dinner with the Shurgars...our first Little Rock neighbors...and they insisted we still come because it would be our last time to see them. Riley napped on the way out to their house and played with their boys, Will and Gibb, until they all went to bed around 7!

Here is handsome Will...who is in the stage where everything is "mine" and that led to some minor tiffs between he and Riley as she was scoping out and playing with all of his toys...he did a great job sharing though!

Riley had a lot of fun with the broom...I didn't know I had a little maid!

I stole this pic from facebook because I didn't get any of the adults last night!

We had so much fun with Thomas and Hayden...they hold a special place in our hearts because they were literally the first people we met when we moved to Little Rock...they were our next door neighbors in our little houses in the Heights...since Jason was gone the first 4 months we were here I was the third wheel with these guys and they took good care of me! I could count on my door bell ringing and Thomas standing there with a margarita in his hand at least once a week...if they caught me staying in and cleaning they would take me wherever they were going...and when Jason finally got home the four of us had so much fun together! Since we moved to our house in Cabot and they built a beautiful home out in the country we haven't seen as much of each other and now we have Riley and they have two boys and a little girl on the way... so much has changed since the good 'ol days on University! We can always expect a wonderful meal...and some good margaritas...with these guys! Since Thomas is allergic to beef we always have some sort of game and last night we had chicken-fried antelope...it was AWESOME!

After dinner the four of us sat around and just talked and we ended up on the topic of our children's bowel movements...how does that happen? As we sat there having this discussion I just laughed to myself thinking back to the good 'ol days and how none of us would have dreamed that one day just a few short years down the road we would be having a conversation of this magnitude...gotta love being a parent!

Riley is still battling something...she's had a low grade fever most of the day and has a nasty cough...we sure hope she fights this off quick! She was temperature free this evening so we think things are looking up! She is still so fun to be around even when she's not feeling well...she hasn't been eating that well which is a sure fire sign that she doesn't feel good...poor pumpkin!

Jason and I managed to get up to the house this morning and get it all cleaned up in between trying to work...it looks great if I do say so myself! We still have some little things to take care of but mostly we just want to take these last few days and enjoy time with friends and family...we are going to miss everyone sooooooooooooooooooooo much!

Movin' Movin' Movin'

Well our moving adventure has begun...we are going through lots of emotions right now! It's definitely weird to see our house packed up in boxes and it's so hard to think of leaving our life here...yet there is the excitement of a new place, a fun place, a new house, and change in general...then there is the stress of figuring out what to do with our house since it is still for sale...you can see there is a lot on our minds!

Work is definitely winding down for me...mainly just spending time with my clients ensuring them that they are in good hands and sharing the news about my move.

Here are a few pictures of the current state of our house...

Each of the boxes have to be labeled and marked with Jason's name...I am just chump change according to the military..haha! I found it hilarious that one of the packers came up with a new name for Jason...what do you think?

Tomorrow the truck comes to load up all these boxes...and then our "stuff" is off to California and we will be following behind shortly! We have taken up camp at Jason's parents house and are enjoying our time with his family...so far DiDi has been making some yummy dinner every night!

Easter weekend...

Happy Easter from the Purcell family! We had a great Easter weekend full of visits from lots of family, birthday celebration for Jason, and Riley's second Easter which was a lot of fun!

Here's our family Easter pic compliments of none other than Megan!

And the whole family for Easter...I sure missed my parents and wish they could have made it in to spend it was us as well!

We started out with a family lasagna dinner Friday night since everyone had made it in town...Riley took her first stab at helping in the cooking process! Actually she was just enamoured with the step stool...let's be honest!

She also showed off how she loves to hug her daddy...especially when he pretends he's sad and crying...what a sweet girl!

After dinner she Doc was able to snack on Riley's piggies for dessert...she was giggling away!

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with Tom, Sydney, and Stella! Riley was having lots of fun rocking Stella in her carrier and Stella was all smiles...they were so cute together!

After breakfast all the boys went to the shooting range and after I cleaned out my office Riley and I met up with the girls at the Midtown Shopping center! Let me tell you Riley is such a little girl and I think it's the cutest thing, but sometimes it scares me too! The girl loves her a handbag...and not just one but as many as she can carry!

Once she had claimed Aunt Barbara's handbag as her own she was off in the complete opposite direction and Aunt Michelle went to supervise...I yelled "Bye Riley" and this is her waving and saying bye without even turning around...a girl on a mission!

Needless to say we had lots of fun shopping and eating at Pei Wei but I had to head out before the rest of the girls because there was too much going on for Riley to nap in the stroller and it was 2 pm and the girl hadn't gotten any shut eye...she was asleep before I even got the car turned on and we went back to DiDi and Doc's so she/we could nap!

Shopping girls and sleepy Riley!

After we all napped it was time to play! Riley loves to ride on the scooter and play ball so that we did and what a great day it was to play outside!

Riley also got her first experience with sidewalk chalk and she LOVED it! She started with sitting right in the middle of the birthday message Gaby had written for Jason so she was COVERED in blue chalk all over her cute outfit...I managed to hold back any thought of getting her away from the chalk to maintain the dignity of the outfit and let her get dirty and that she did! Eventually she decided it was fun to throw over her shoulder and down her back which is something she has always enjoyed doing but she was just getting chalk all over her bare skin back so that was the end of the chalk..for now! Thankfully sidewalk chalk doesn't stain because otherwise that outfit would have been donated to the dump...she had it all over...it was pretty cute!

We had a wonderful steak dinner that evening and stuffed ourselves once again! It was a lot of fun!

Easter morning Riley had a big basket from the Easter bunny...the mom/dad bunny and the Grammie/JoePa bunny! My mom made and painted a little Easter purse for Riley because she knows how much this girl loves them...so cute!

Riley had just woken up so she didn't give us much emotion as she perused through her goods but she definitely perked up at the sight of a dollar bill (SCARY) and she had lots of fun trying to put the eggs back together!

My little Easter bunny!The whole family attended our church for Easter and it was a GREAT service...Rick did such a good job of relaying God's grace and all that Christ endured for us...we so don't deserve it but how freeing it is to accept it!

After church we ventured out in the rain and cold (I hate Arkansas weather) to have brunch...notice the food theme for our weekend...we ate...A LOT!

During brunch there were two guys who played music for everyone to enjoy and after Riley was done eating DiDi took her up to listen to the music and they started playing nursery rhymes and suddenly Riley became the life of the party...here's the video footage...it was so fun!

After brunch we headed to DiDi and Doc's for an Easter egg hunt! At first Riley was more interested in checking out everyone else's Easter baskets but after her Daddy showed her how to hunt for eggs she quickly got the hang and had a basket full of eggs!

It was a great Easter!

After all the family left we napped since Riley was still sleeping!

After our nap Jason and I headed home to spend the last night in our home and get ready for the packers to come!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday Jas!

Today was Jason's birthday and we celebrated with all of our family that has come into town! Jason, his uncle Lance, and his Grandpa Joe all share birthdays within a few days and every once in a while we can celebrate all of their birthdays together! Chocolate ice cream cake is always our way of celebrating the lives of these great guys!

Here are three generations...they are being really goofy!

It has been quite a while since we have actually been able to share Jason's actual birthday with him...for one reason or another he has been out of town for his past few birthdays! Riley and I greeted him this morning and Riley gave him her version of "Happy Birthday" which actually wasn't too far off! We gave him his cards and Riley helped him open his gifts!

We had breakfast with the Yazwinski's at Cracker Barrell and celebrated both Tom and Jason's birthdays!

After breakfast Jason went to the shooting range with the guys and we were all back together this evening for a wonderful steak meal...and lots of other goodies!

I hope you had a special day Jason...me and Riley love you sooooooooooo much and are so glad we could share your special day with you!!

Welcome Reed!

Reed Baker has made his debut into this world!!!

Reed Baker

April 9, 2009 5:14 pm

7lbs 6 oz

20 inches long

Cute as can be!

I was able to spend much of Thursday at the hospital with Andrea as she went through labor and then was taken in for a c-section as Reed was turned backwards and was not going to come out on his own! We were able to see him shortly after he was born and I was able to hold him later...there is nothing like holding a newborn! He is a precious little boy healthy as can be and so far he has not even cried much and Andrea is recovering GREAT so all is well in the Baker home!

While we waited to see Reed, Derek and Jason entertained the kiddos with wheelchair rides...they always come up with something fun to do! Kaleb and Riley loved it!

Our life...

as we know it is about to change!



We are spending our last week in our home...



Packers come Monday to pack everything up...



The moving truck comes Wednesday to load everything up...



Friday is my last day at my job...



We start our road trip to California in just a few weeks...2000 miles, 2 cars, 2 dogs, a baby, and a u-haul...get ready!