The Moments...

Potty Time!!

2009-08-06T21:23:00.003-05:00

Well, big news here!! Riley went "poopies" in the potty!!!!! For all you non mommies and daddies out there, please know that this really is a big deal and exciting and all that. I promise : ) It happened at school, so I wasn't around to see it, but it definitely happened. Gran and Pop are here for a few days and they picked Riley up from school yesterday on their way into town. When they got there, one of Riley's teachers, sweet Lindsey, told them Riley had just pooped on the potty and wanted to know if they wanted to see it. Sure enough, it was there. Can you believe she asked if they wanted to see it? That's so funny! It's really sweet that she was so excited about Riley's first potty experience. I just love Lindsey! She is such a blessing to us. Anyway, back to the potty news... They called me on the way home so that Riley could tell me her big news. Of course we were all "Yay, Riley! We are SO proud of you!" and on and on. I swear I almost cried when they told me. Strange, I know, but I bet some of you moms out there understand. Riley also went pee pee in the potty today while at home with my mom. We know that it will probably just be random for a while, but it's exciting. My baby is growing up!

Riley is so much fun lately and really learning and growing. She knows some of her colors and numbers and talks up a storm. She is constantly saying things and doing things that amaze us. She is just a little sponge and we are so enjoying all of the new things she is learning and doing. It is amazing to watch her grow.

She is having a great time with her Gran and Pop, of course. Today, they took her fishing at our little neighborhood lake that we live on. You can see the picture below of the fish she caught (with a little help from Pop, of course). They caught 2 and brought them home in a bucket so that she could show momma when I got home from work. Please notice the stickers all over Gran. Riley loves to put stickers on her Gran and Gran is proud to wear them : )

Milestone - A Few Years Too Early

2009-07-14T08:01:00.006-05:00

Riley's Aunt Jeanie came to visit us this past weekend and we had such a great visit! Riley was so excited to have her here. On Saturday morning, we went to the Helena Market Days where locals sell home grown veggies, fruits, fresh baked bread, salsas, jams, and many other things. It's in downtown Helena, which by the way, was rated in the top 100 cities by Money Magazine. Click here for the article. Sorry for the plug, but we just absolutely love the little town that we live in! Anyway, on to the story... We were walking around the market and a little boy came up to Riley and started talking to her. Before I knew it, he had kissed her right on the mouth! It was really cute, though, and I thought wow that was Riley's first kiss!! Of course, I had to ask the little boy's name so that we could always remember that moment : ) His name is Nicholas. I noticed that a woman had her camera and was taking pictures. She introduced herself and we talked for a bit. She is a local freelance photographer and she offered me her email address and wanted to send me the pictures. I just got them from her and I wanted to share this milestone with you. Of course, we didn't expect Riley to get her first kiss at such an early age and from an older boy, at that : ) That little boy is really going to be a ladies' man. Look how he's holding her face as he's about to kiss her. Do all you girls love that as much as I do?!

I can't end this without also mentioning that Madison, AL (which is basically the same as Huntsville) is also listed in that same article. Oh how I love my hometown, also. If I can't live there, then this great little town of Helena will do!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009-06-01T16:00:00.002-05:00

All in all, what a great weekend! Eric (Ben's brother) and Laura got married on Saturday and it was so beautiful and perfect. He could not have picked a more awesome person to spend his life with. I just love her and am so glad she is now officially family. Oh, and Eric is a pretty great guy, too : ) Friday night, Cathy and Bill (Ben's parents) hosted a dinner party at their house for Eric and Laura. It was absolutely beautiful and everyone had so much fun! I guess you're wondering where the 'Bad' and the 'Ugly' come in. Well, while we were at the party on Friday night, Riley managed to pick up a candle from the coffee table and pour all of the hot wax all over the side of her face and down her chest (she was wearing a little spaghetti strap shirt). I turned around just in time to see her pick it up and spill it before I could get to her. I totally freaked out! At that moment in time, all I could think about is that my child is scarred for life. I know, I know, you're thinking "but candle wax may be hot enough to hurt for a second, but it doesn't do that much damage". Well, I know that, but at that exact moment, I wasn't thinking straight. Anyway, it was crazy and put a damper on the night because we were all freaked out. I went with my parents back to my house (only one street away) and put Riley to bed, then went back to the party. Riley is fine now except for a small burn on her chest. It's not bad at all, though. Ben would say that I should've seen those candles there and recognized the danger. Looking back, I think I just wasn't concerned about anything because Riley is at Nana's house all of the time and it's usually a 'safe zone'. I didn't even notice the candles. I have to mention that there was a sweet nurse at the party who very calmly told me it would be OK and really made me feel better right away. Thank you, Heather! All I have to say is that, if Riley lives to be an adult, it will be a miracle. It seems something is always happening. Do any other of you mothers feel that way?!

The wedding was perfect on Saturday and went off without a hitch. Laura was a beautiful bride and Eric a handsome groom. It was an awesome day with family and friends!! Laura's family is so sweet and I hope we get many opportunities to all hang out. Riley wore an absolutely gorgeous dress that her Gran (my mom) made and she looked precious, as always. (More pictures to come, I promise!)

On to Sunday... Ben went golfing with his dad at Farm Links, which is an all day outing for two reasons - it is a bit of a drive, and it costs $150 to play as many holes as you want, so they always play 36. Riley and I headed off to Target that morning and had a great time. She loves saying "hi" to everyone and makes sure she says it loud enough that they notice her : ) She also has started saying "I'm Riley!" She actually said it to the check out lady. It's so cute!! Well, on our way home - around 11:30 - I had a flat tire. I was riding down the road and, all of a sudden, my truck was pulling hard to one side and I couldn't keep it straight. I pulled off onto the side of the road and the tire was FLAT! Luckily, we weren't far from home - only about half a mile from the subdivision. We are also lucky that Bill and Cathy didn't go to church this Sunday. They were just so worn out from the wedding weekend. So, I called Bill and he came to our rescue. It turned out to be such an ordeal. He was able to pump up the tire enough to get it to his house. He took the tire off and went to get it fixed, but couldn't find anyone available to fix it. So, he came back and decided he would just put the spare on so that we could get it fixed this morning, but he found that none of the tools to get to the spare tire were there. Seriously! He took me and Riley home and said he would do something to get it driveable. Well, after about 3 hours of working on all of this, a neighbor helped him figure out how to get the spare tire from under the truck and put on using other tools. I know it's really not that bad of a situation, but I just felt bad that Bill had to work on it all that time after we were all so tired from the weekend. It's fixed now, so hopefully we're good to go and that was my last flat for another 5 years or so. I think the last time I had one was 5 years ago when Cathy and I were out at a concert. I'll save the details, but I know Cathy (and my dad, for that matter) will remember : )

Riley and I really did have a lot of good Mommy/Daughter time together yesterday despite the tire ordeal. She is just so much fun and I love spending as much time as possible with her.

Random Things

2009-05-19T15:33:00.001-05:00

I stayed out of work with Riley yesterday because she has 'hand, foot, mouth disease'. I mean, could they not have thought of a more medical term for it! It's such a strange disease. Anyway, she only had a mild case and is fine now and back at school. Oh, and Momma's back to work. It was a somewhat trying day with her yesterday. She didn't want to take a nap and didn't even seem tired at all. She never yawned once and didn't rub her eyes, either. So, no break for Momma to do laundry or iron clothes for the work week. She was also very adamant about the fact that she wanted to go outside and stay there all. day. long. We played outside , blew bubbles on the deck, went for a walk, swung in the swings, then when Daddy got home, we went for another walk and played outside some more. It was a very nice day to be outside, at least!

This weekend we are going to Huntsville for my nephew, Eddie's, high school graduation. Are you kidding me?! My baby nephew is graduating from HIGH SCHOOL! I am so very proud of him. He's a very sweet, smart, funny, and I must say, very good looking. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks he's good looking because he seems to be a real 'stud' at school : ) If he's reading this, I know I am embarrassing him, but that's what aunts are for, right?! OK, more importantly, he got a full academic scholarship to college. He is my brother's son, that's for sure. Apparently, Todd passed on the 'smart gene'. Eddie, I am SO proud of you! I am so going to cry at your graduation. I love you very much!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from our session with Nicole. As you can see in this first picture, she loves her Daddy. Lately, though, she's been a Momma's girl. I can't be out of her sight for a second without her asking for me. It's so sweet. Yesterday she wouldn't even let Ben push the stroller at first. It had to be me : ) Then, she finally let him push, but I had to walk beside her so she could hold my hand. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts because, one day, she'll think her Momma is embarrassing and stupid ; )

First Busted Lip!

2009-05-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, Riley had her first busted lip : ( Daddy was away on business and Gran and Nay Nay were staying with us. They were outside playing when I heard Riley start screaming. She, apparently, had fallen down on the concrete. She mostly caught herself with her hands, but still hit her mouth on the concrete. Gran came through the door with Riley bleeding everywhere - well, not really everywhere, but since it was her first accident involving blood, Momma thought it was awful! We got her cleaned up and her lip was SO swollen already. She had been playing with the kids from across the street, so they brought over popsicles for her. It was so cute because they were so worried about her. We gave her a popsicle and, before we knew it, the swelling was almost gone. Here is a picture. Not a good one, but it shows her lip. It doesn't quite do it justice as to how swollen it really was. You can see the blood on her shirt - along with a little popsicle juice. I'm sure there are many more accidents - and blood - to come over the years.

My Huntsville Girls!

2009-05-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

I've talked before about my "Huntsville Girls" (HSV Girls) and how much I love them! This past weekend, we had a visit from one of them, Cathy! She came down with her husband, Mike, and daughter, Sophie. We had the best time and the girls had fun playing together. Cathy took most of the pictures, but I did get a few, so I'll add them at the end of the post. Friday night we just ordered pizza and hung out. I had bought the girls matching PJ's, but I think they're a little too young to care : ) The Mommas thought it was cute, though. The PJ's said 'Sassy Just Like Mommy'. How cute is that! (Pictures to come later when I get them from Cathy - hint, hint.) On Saturday, we went to the zoo, which was so much fun, then that night we got a babysitter and went out for an adult dinner. It was so nice to have one of my very best friends here with me. My friendship with the HSV Girls is such a comfortable one. The kind of friendship that just comes so easy and you don't worry about what you do, what you say, how you look ... They've seen me at my best and at my worst (which we won't discuss) and they still love me. They know all of my secrets and wouldn't dare tell a soul : ) I am so very blessed to have them in my life. Thanks for coming to visit, Cathy. We had a great time! I know we will see you soon!

Now, for the pictures...

Riley and Sophie taking a bath - notice the pink water : )

Riley at the zoo

One of Momma's favorite animals

No No!

2009-05-07T08:26:00.005-05:00

Just a quick post to show you a video of Riley's new thing. She has started telling us "no, no, no, no". I'm sure we shouldn't be encouraging it, but it's just so cute! Before you watch the video, I think I need to explain a little something. Riley is such a climber and she isn't scared of anything, either. It makes for quite interesting times trying to keep her safe. Her new thing is climbing onto the table. On one side of the table, there is a bench instead of chairs. So, the way she gets onto the table is by putting her hands onto the bench, then she puts her feet on the windowsill, then she steps up onto the bench and up to the table. Really, it just isn't appropriate to sit or stand - which she also does - on the kitchen table. We tried so hard last night to discipline her for it, but everytime we tried, she would do something really cute and we couldn't keep a straight face. I think we're going to have a hard time with this discipline thing : ) Anyway, here is the video. Enjoy!

Long Time No Blog!

2009-04-29T08:54:00.003-05:00

Finally! I made the time for a new blog post. There's so much to catch up on, but not enough time, so let me just start by saying that my sweet baby is no longer a baby : ( It's unbelievable how much she can say and do now. She says too many words for me to even list here. I am constantly amazed at how well she can communicate with us. She's so sweet and so much fun!!

This past weekend, Riley's Aunt Nicole took some pictures of her at Aldridge Gardens. I've only seen a preview of a few photos, but they are great! I will post them below for you to see. Thanks, Aunt Nicole! We can't wait to see the rest of them!

This coming weekend, one of my very best friends is coming to town with her husband and little girl, Sophie. We are so excited about the visit! We plan on going to the Birmingham Zoo or The McWane Center. Either will be so much fun. Of course, we are planning on an "adult dinner" on Saturday night, so Riley's favorite babysitter (except for the grandparents, of course), Lindsey, will be coming over for a few hours.

Like I said, there's so much to update on, but I'll keep this one short for now. I'll try not to wait too long for the next post.

Tomorrow

2009-01-21T14:51:00.002-06:00

Well, tomorrow is the day that Riley gets her tubes put in. I know it is very routine, but I am really not looking forward to it. I know that, when we hand Riley off to the nurse to go to the OR, she is going to get upset and that makes me so sad. I just really can't stand the thought that she is going to be scared and not know what is going on. Please keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly and we'll get back home quickly.

Things...

2009-01-14T08:50:00.014-06:00

I just really wanted to get some things on here about what Riley's been doing so that I can have them documented. You see, this blog is not only for our family and friends to keep up with us (well, mostly Riley), but it's also my way of preserving memories and milestones.

Riley has been really talking a lot lately. Sometimes, she's just carrying on a little conversation and we don't really know what she's saying. It's so cute, though. Some words we can actually understand are:

mama
dada
bye bye
bott - for bottle
stinky - she just said this the other day when Ben told her that her diaper was stinky. It didn't sound exactly like "stinky", but she was trying to imitate what Ben said
hey
she can tell us what the dog says and what the cow says
nana - for banana
thank you - this is actually one of the first things she said
no no

She can also blow kisses and wave bye bye. She has recently learned to take her bib off, which is very annoying since I'm obsessive about her not getting food on her clothes. It's easier to keep her clean than to have to try to get those stupid stains out of her clothes : ) She's also taking steps here and there and standing on her own a lot more. She mostly takes steps when she's not thinking about it. If she thinks about it too long, she just chickens out. There are definitely words that I have left off of this list, but I will add more as I think of them. I have a written list at home, but of course, have forgotten half of what's on it.

Another thing that I wanted to mention is our dog, Goober. I can't believe that I've never talked about him on here before. I guess I should devote a whole post to him, but this will have to do : ) Ben found him right after we got married while he was running in our neighborhood. He had been muzzled and had wounds around his snout from it. Ben felt so sorry for him and brought him back to the house. We weren't going to keep him, so we tried to find an animal rescue that would take him, but they all told us they couldn't take anymore dogs. Of course! We agreed to be his foster home, and one of the rescues put him on their website to try and find him a home. We tried not to get too attached, so we decided not to name him. Well, everytime Ben would go to take care of him, he would say I've got to go take care of "the goober". Months went by and he still didn't have a home, so we decided to keep him. We tried to change his name, but Goober had just stuck by then. So, "Goober" it is! Now that you know the story of Goober, here is a picture of him.

His one floppy ear is so cute! You can see the scar that he still has around his snout from being muzzled so tightly. Poor Goober : ( Everyone who meets him says that his name fits him and what a great name it is : ) It is slightly embarrassing, though, when we're out walking with him and someone says "oh, what's his name?". I just sort of mumble "Goober".

Riley loves to go out and see Goober. She just laughs and laughs at him, especially when he's getting treats. And, if you ask her "What does Goober say?", she'll make the barking noise. So cute!

Riley is going to visit Gran and Pop in Huntsville this weekend. It will be the first time she's gone by herself and Gran and Pop are just so excited! We will miss our sweet girl so much, but she will have fun and it will be good for her to spend time with her Gran and Pop.

One Step (or three) at a Time

2009-01-06T21:15:00.007-06:00

Riley took her first steps tonight! Three to be exact! We could not believe it. She had used only one hand to steady herself and get up off of the floor. She was resting that hand on my knee as I sat on the couch and she was watching TV. I don't think she even realized what she was doing as she took 3 steps toward the TV. Ben was watching her from the kitchen and we were so proud of her. I even teared up a bit. It was just so sweet and I cannot believe how fast she is growing and changing. What a milestone! Not sure how long it will be before she really gets going, but tonight was a start.

On another note, Riley has had an ear infection for basically 2 months now and she just can't get rid of it. She is on her 4th round of antibiotics now. $180 antibiotics! Yes, you did read that correctly. This antibiotic cost $180. Her ped did give us a $40 coupon, so it "only" cost $140. Anyway, we have an appointment with an ENT on Monday to see if they think she needs tubes in her ears. Please keep us in your prayers. We want to do what is right for her, obviously, but we are very nervous about her getting put to sleep. I know it is a common procedure, but as all of you parents know, it's always unnerving when it's your child. We are hoping that these antibiotics can work and she won't have to get the tubes.

Before I end this post, I need to say Congratulations to Eric and Laura on their recent engagement. We are SO excited that Laura will be a part of the family. I have considered her a good friend from the moment that we met. In fact, I always told her that I was keeping her even if Eric didn't ; ) Laura is such a sweet person and I am so glad that her and Eric found each other.

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

2008-12-31T14:14:00.002-06:00

Found a quote today that pretty much sums up my outlook on life and wanted to share it.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets
So love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

What Happened?

2008-12-30T10:37:00.005-06:00

I can't believe that it's been so long since my last post! I promise to try to do better. We had a really great Christmas and spent lots of time with family. This year, it was our year to spend Christmas in Huntsville. I was just so excited to be with my family and have Riley there to be with all of her cousins. I really love Christmas! I don't think Ben realized exactly how much until I cried on Christmas Eve when Santa came to our house. Really! Santa actually came to our house. We live in Helena and, every year, the Helena Fire Department takes Santa around on top of one of the trucks and they go through most of the neighborhoods. We heard him coming and rushed outside. We walked out to the end of the driveway and he stopped in front of the house to wave and throw candy out. I know Ben thought I was crazy, but I really did tear up. All of the neighborhood kids were outside and just so excited about seeing Santa. Christmas is my favorite holiday and it's a time when, especially this year, I think a lot about how thankful I am for my family. I have a wonderful husband, a sweet, perfect, precious little girl, the best parents a child could ever want, siblings that I am close to, an extended family that is especially close and in laws that every girl wishes for. Not to mention, some pretty awesome friends! Really, it couldn't have been a better Christmas. I hope you all had a special Christmas, too. I'll leave you with a picture from our October photo session. (Ben doesn't like this one, but I think it's a perfect picture of our family!)

Santa

2008-12-09T10:45:00.003-06:00

Riley got to see Santa on Sunday night. Well, I think she looked at it more like she "had" to go see Santa. Our photographer, Bonnie at Blink Photography, hired a Santa, so we made an appointment with her. I figured, cute Santa, no waiting in line a the mall, and much cuter pictures, it was well worth the $25 that she was charging. First off, Ben got Riley over to Santa's lap without her seeing him, so we got a few 'blank stare' shots before she turned to see him. When that happened, she just looked at him, looked at us, then back at Santa. Then came the look of concern just before the tears came. There was absolutely no smiling, but I'm sure the pictures will be cute anyway. I mean, the most beautiful child on earth was sitting on Santa's lap and this was one pretty realistic looking Santa : ) He must've thought I was crazy because I was totally having this conversation with Riley about how Santa is really nice and he brings lots of presents at Christmas, etc. etc. Of course, Mrs. Santa was there, too, and I'm sure as they left they discussed how this grown woman still believes in Santa. Oh, and I was calling him "Santa" the whole time. So, what's wrong with a grown "woman" (I hate being referred to as that) still believing in Santa?! I will definitely post the pictures when I get them.

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-12-05T09:38:00.007-06:00

This week, Riley had her one year appointment. Ben goes to all of her appointments. I think he's only missed one when she was sick, but he has been to all of the rest of them. I am so thankful for that. It just makes the visit so much easier. He helps entertain and helps comfort her when she gets shots. Just another reason why my hubby rocks! What a sweet Daddy he is. I told him the other night that one of the sweetest sounds is the sound of him playing with her. I just love to listen to it. I thank God every day for such a sweet husband who is the best Daddy to our little girl. The day she was born, I knew by the way he looked at her that he was going to be a great Daddy.

I love this first one because there were about 15 people in the room and it's like they are the only 2 people in the world : ) Everyone else was to the side where I am looking and Ben just had Riley over there spending some precious time with her. So sweet!!!!

This next one if right after she was born and he just couldn't stop staring at her.

Our Angel is ONE!!!

2008-11-26T08:50:00.008-06:00

Sweet Riley,

You have brought your Mommy and Daddy so much joy this past year. From the day we found out you were growing inside of Mommy, we loved you more than we ever thought possible. On the day you were born, our hearts overflowed and, with each passing day, our love for you has grown. We could never have imagined that we would be blessed with such a sweet, happy, and absolutely perfect daughter like you. Every day with you is such a blessing. We love watching you grow and learn new things. Your laughter and the cute little things you do just make our hearts melt. We cannot imagine life without you. You're our miracle. You're mommy's sweet little angel and daddy's little girl. Our life would not be the same without you. Happy First Birthday, angel. Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!

"The" Party!

2008-11-24T14:01:00.005-06:00

Riley's 1st birthday party, that is. What a great day!! Riley was absolutely perfect and seemed to enjoy being the center of attention : ) There were lots of family members and a few close friends with their children. I was afraid that all of the people would overwhelm her, but she didn't mind it at all. She sat through opening all of her presents without even trying to crawl away and dug right into her cake - without getting overly messy. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I want to thank everyone for coming - especially my family who drove from Huntsville. It really meant a lot to us for you all to be there. It was a very special day!

As always, Nicole was there to take pictures - thanks, Nicole. So far, she has sent a few and they are great. Here are just a few.

my husband rocks! Friday

2008-11-21T09:03:00.004-06:00

Several days this past week, it has been really cold when I've left for work. And, a few of those days, I was lazy and didn't pull my car down to the garage and my windshield was frosted over. Don't you just hate having to go out there and wait for the car to warm up and the windows to defrost? Me, too! That's why I'm thankful to my sweet husband for defrosting the windows for me. I didn't really have time for all of that waiting, so he poured warm water over them and, voila!, I was ready to go. It truly is the little things that mean a lot to me and Ben always seems to do those little things that make me happy : ) Thanks, Ben, for taking care of me. You ROCK!!!

Roll Tide!!

2008-11-17T10:16:00.005-06:00

The game was lots of fun, but cold! Why is it that, everytime I get to go to a game, I'm either sweating like crazy or freezing cold?! Anyway, I'm just glad we got to go. Adult fun day was just that - Adult Fun!! It was a great time with family and friends. Laura and I left the game at half time to watch the game where it was warmer. Great idea! Riley had fun with Nana and Papa! Thanks, Nana and Papa, for keeping her! Here are some pics from Saturday.

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-11-14T08:35:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow we are going to the Bama game! Yay! This is something that we do together once every season and I always look forward to it, but this year I'm looking forward to it even more. We don't have very many "adult fun days" anymore. Don't get me wrong, that's fine. We love spending every minute possible with Riley, but every now and then, we need time just for us. Since it's a night game, we've decided to make a day of it. I love going and being a part of all of the excitement that college football brings. It makes me feel young again : ) Laura and Eric are going, too, so that will add to the fun! So... Ben rocks this week because he scored us tickets to the game. Thanks, Bennie! I love you and I am so looking forward to our "adult fun day". ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talking!

2008-11-10T11:18:00.006-06:00

Well, Riley finally got her first ear infection. She just felt really terrible at first, but is now better and back at school. She stayed out all last week - some with me and then some with Gran. Aunt Jeanie even came down to stay with us one night. I think Riley got pretty spoiled with all of the attention and, basically getting whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it. I guess that's what Gran is for, though, right? And, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love for my mom to spoil her. I'm thinking that they are probably having a hard time with her at school today ; )

Riley has been walking a lot down and around the couch and pulling up on anything and everything. She will stand on her tip toes if that's what it takes to get to something on the end table, too. She has really been talking a lot lately. She even tries to say "thank you". It's so cute! Whenever she has something that she shouldn't, I'll take it back from her and say "thank you". I guess that's where she got it from. She doesn't necessarily say it at the right times, but she says it. Every now and then she gets confused and she'll wave bye bye, but say "thank you". She also says "bye bye" and other things. Some we recognize and some of it only she knows what she's saying : ) Either way, it's totally cute!

In only 2 weeks, she'll be one. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast! Every single second that she has been on this earth has been special. I thank God every day for her and my sweet husband. Life would not be the same without them.

MIracles

2008-11-05T15:20:00.002-06:00

Did you notice the new button I have on my sidebar? I have been following a certain blog for a while now. The girl was told, when she was around 20 weeks pregnant, that her baby would die within a few days due to heart complications - one of which was complete heart block, which I happen to have. Anyway, the baby survived the pregnancy and is now 1 week old with NO signs of any heart problems. This is truly a miracle. Her story is worth following. I believe that I have witnessed several miracles in my life - including the day that I technically died from SCA - and now I have just "witnessed" another. Do you believe in miracles?

Riley's First Halloween

2008-11-01T09:10:00.006-05:00

Despite the fact that she was sick, Riley had a great first Halloween. We went trick or treating in the neighborhood and had a great time and she loved seeing all of her little friends. Our neighborhood really is a lot of fun on Halloween. We had several little hayrides going on and some of the older couples who don't have children, sat out on their driveways or porches with fire pits and heaters, tables set up with their candy, decorations and crock pots full of food. Pam was even handing out coffee. Here are a few pictures from the night:

The cutest little flower Mommy's ever seen!

Admiring the pumpkin
Nicholas as Big Al & Olivia as an angel

Anna Beth as a lamb

Riley pooped out right at the end of our route

~my husband rocks! Friday

2008-10-31T09:38:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween!! This is going to be a short one, but I did want to take the opportunity to tell you why my hubby rocks this week : ) Earlier this week, I went and bought some pumpkins with the intentions of carving one to put out for tonight, of course. Well, last night came around and we still didn't have the pumpkin carved. After a long day of work, and still having to do all of my motherly and wifely duties last night, I told Ben that really we didn't have to carve a pumpkin. He quickly corrected me and said 'oh, yes we do!' So, off to the kitchen we go to clean out and carve that pumpkin. It's not the carving part that I dreaded, it was the cleaning it out part that got me (and it wasn't really all that bad after all). So, we scooted Riley's high chair over to where we were going to do the carving so that she could be a part of it and then Ben proceeded to get all of the goopy, nasty stuff out of the pumpkin. He then let me do the fun part - carving out the face. (I did let him help with the mouth.) I had bought one of those kits to do a cute little face on it, but Ben really wanted to stick with tradition and just do the usual triangle eyes and nose thing, so that's what we did. It actually turned out pretty good. I took some pictures last night, but forgot to get them off of the camera before I came to work, so those will have to wait until tonight. Make sure to check back for them. Thanks, Ben, for motivating me to go ahead and carve the pumpkin. It was so much fun and a great memory for Riley's first Halloween. YOU ROCK!!!!!

P.S. - didn't I say this was going to be a short one?! Oh well, anyone that knows me will say that there's no such thing as short when it comes to me talking : )

Where My Heart Is

2008-10-27T13:45:00.018-05:00

*** Update: I have added the picture of Riley's first time eating chocolate syrup and biscuits. Scroll down to see it!

Riley and I went this past weekend to Huntsville to visit family. What a great time we had!! My main purpose for this trip was to watch my nephew, Eddie, play football. He's a senior this year and plays for Westminster Christian Academy and I had yet to see him play. I hadn't been to a high school football game in so long and it really was fun! I'm so glad that I got to see him play before the season is over. I really cannot believe that he is a senior. Where did all of those years go?! I also got to spend some rare, special time just me and him. I can't remember the last time that happened. (Kyla was too busy with her new boyfriend to come along with us.) I took him to eat at Rosie's, of course. You all know by now that I cannot make a trip to Huntsville without eating at Rosie's and this time was no exception. I had such a great time talking with Eddie and finding out what's going on with him. He and Kyla are such wonderful children and I am so proud of both of them.

Riley and I stayed at Nay Nay's house this weekend. While we were all at the beach a few weeks ago, my parents' house flooded due to a damaged pipe in the kitchen, so they are in a small apartment right now. Anyway, we really enjoyed staying there and getting to spend time with Nay Nay and Uncle Fred. Gran even came over and stayed with us so that we wouldn't miss out on our time with her. Riley really had fun playing with the toys that Nay Nay has for Sarah Grace and, also, learning new things. She learned to open drawers and kitchen cabinets and even said "Nay Nay" a few times. I'm not really sure why she hasn't opened drawers and cabinets at our house yet, but I'm sure she will now : ) Riley also got to spend a good bit of time playing with her cousin, Sarah Grace. They really had a good time and Sarah Grace was so good with Riley. As you can see, they even have a good, friendly Alabama/Auburn rivalry going:

Nay Nay made chocolate syrup and biscuits for us each morning and we even let Riley have some. I'm sure it won't be the last time. Here is a picture of her first adventure with our family tradition of chocolate syrup and biscuits. Notice the retro high chair. It was mine when I was little : )

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit with the "Huntsville Girls" this time, but I did get to see some other special people that I rarely get the chance to see. Since I was going to Eddie's game on Friday night, I took the day off of work and headed to Huntsville on Thursday night. Since I am never able to make it down during the week, I took the opportunity to go and see my Raytheon friends. It was so good to see them and show off my sweet angel, too! I miss that place! As I was heading back to Nay Nay's house after my visit, I was a little sad and Ben happened to call. He asked me what was wrong and I told him "You know that my heart is in Huntsville". I know it makes him feel a little bad that we can't live there, but he knows how I feel. Huntsville is my home. It's where I grew up and where my family lives. It's where my very best friends are. It's where I had the coolest job! Don't get me wrong, Birmingham is good and I am so thankful for the family that I have here and the friends that I have made. Without them, I don't know what I would do. Ben's family is so sweet and I love being with them. I have long time friends that live here, as well as new ones. I will always long to move back to Huntsville, though, and maybe one day we will. For now, I'll just have to visit and make the most of the time I have with my family and friends there.

We had to head back on Saturday to get Riley's one year and Christmas pictures taken with Bonnie of Blink Photography. She does such a great job and I can't wait to see the pictures. Riley did really well and was happy throughout the whole session and I know she got some great shots!

Oh! And I can't post this without mentioning that Riley is getting 2 more teeth - that makes 6 total! One is actually barely through the gums and the other one is on it's way through. Of course, this means that the nights have been a little difficult for us lately. OK - a lot difficult. I really need to figure this stuff out. (This is not an invitation for advice, but thanks!) I know I spoil her and I know I should probably not go in there every time she cries, but I can't help it : ) I was spoiled, so it's all I know. Blame my mom and dad ; )

So, needless to say, I had a GREAT weekend!! Hope you all did, too! Here's another picture of the most adorable Bama cheerleader I've ever seen.

10 Years Living Strong!!

2008-10-21T22:08:00.008-05:00

Today marks 10 years that my sweet husband has been "living strong" cancer free. 10 years ago Ben was diagnosed with Epithilioid Sarcoma. It is a rare form of sarcoma and is hard to detect in the early stages. Luckily, Ben found his tumor while it was still small and was able to be treated successfully. It wasn't easy - and he has a major battle scar to be proud of - but he has made it 10 years and I thank God every day for curing Ben and allowing us this wonderful life together. As the article I linked above states, recurrence after the initial diagnosis is very common, but Ben has made it this far without that and we are so thankful. Thank you, Lord, for blessing Ben with good health. We pray that he has many, many more cancer free years! The picture above is of Riley's hand on Ben's scar. It was taken when she was only 4 weeks old. How sweet!

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-10-17T10:16:00.006-05:00

Seriously, people, are you tired yet of hearing about how my husband rocks? Actually, I think I have only about a handful of readers, so I don't think it really matters : ) Anyway, so it's Friday again - thank goodness - and time for another edition of "~ my husband rocks! Friday", so here goes...

I started work at a new building this week, so things have been a little different. Not bad, just different. I have to leave a little earlier for work for one thing. It's a totally different drive and I have to leave earlier to avoid all this crazy traffic "we" have here in Birmingham. I put the quotes around we because I tend to still say "they" for Birmingham and "we" for Huntsville. I will always be a Huntsville girl at heart and, hopefully, will be able to move back there one day. That's where my heart is and that's where I belong : ) Back to the subject at hand - Ben and I work on totally opposite ends of the city, so to speak, but yesterday he calls and wants to have a lunch date. Lunch dates are rare for us since we work so far apart, but in the past few months, he's been making the effort to come to where I am and take me to lunch. I really love it because it's just me and him and it's a "date". We don't get too many of those anymore. Sure, there are nights when one of the grandparents is keeping Riley, but it seems that usually all we want to do is go home and relax on those nights. So, these lunch dates are really nice. Such a simple thing, but I love it. Thanks, Ben, for date yesterday! You ROCK!

Oh, and we went to a place called Newk's. It was my first time eating there. Love it!

Lumpkin Family Photos

2008-10-15T16:17:00.009-05:00

My family came to town last weekend to take some family photos. Nicole of B Photography - who happens to be my sister-in-law - took the pictures. I haven't seen all of them yet, but she was nice enough to send me a few preview pictures. Look at this one! It's my sweet niece and nephew with Riley.

Do you see Riley's lips? I'm not sure what this is all about, but she kept doing it that day and it was so cute. Here are a few more:

Nicole did a great job and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. These pictures are going to be so special to our family. Thanks, Nicole!

~my husband rocks! Friday

2008-10-10T15:06:00.003-05:00

I missed last Friday since we were on vacation, but this week I'm back on track letting you know why Ben Rocks!

As you know, last week we were at the beach and took my parents along to enjoy it with us. Ben had a lot of together time with his in-laws and didn't complain once - and hasn't since, I might add. You've heard all of the jokes about in-laws and such, so I asked him the other night if he had gotten sick of them and he said "of course not! They are so easy to be around." I thought that was so sweet and it also makes things easier on me knowing that, anytime my parents want to come visit us, he will welcome them wholeheartedly. You rock, Ben, for enjoying time with my family!

Also, on the ride home, I guess I was kind of delirious and not wanting to end our vacation. I don't know what got into me, but I was being pretty silly. Instead of being annoyed, Ben was thoroughly entertained. Well, maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but he was laughing at me/with me. Just one more reason that he rocks : )

Another weekend is here and I'm SO glad. We really need more days in the week so that I can have more quality family time. The weekends are just way too short! Not much relaxing to be done this weekend. I've got my family coming from Huntsville and we're going to take some family pictures at the Botanical Gardens. Then, on Sunday, I've got a couple of Spring cleaning projects to do. I know it's not Spring, but I didn't get it done in the Spring, so now's the time. I know that Nicole of B Photography is going to take some great family photos and I'll make sure to post some of them here.

Pulling Up!

2008-10-09T08:39:00.002-05:00

Riley is officially pulling up! Last night she did it like a pro. She even took one little step and moved her hands from her toy to the end table and stood there for a long while. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. I feel like I shouldn't be calling her a baby anymore : ( She is just so cute and totally entertains us all the time. She is really at a fun age right now. Sorry for the short post, but just wanted to write about her pulling up.

Vacation Recap and New Videos

2008-10-07T21:27:00.007-05:00

Our vacation was great! Riley loved the beach and we all enjoyed spending so much time hanging out with Gran and Pop. The weather was great and the water was perfect. It actually looked more like a lake because it was so calm and it was very clear. Probably the most beautiful that we've seen the water in Gulf Shores. We really didn't want to come home. But, then again, who does when you're on vacation?! Our trip to the zoo was fun, but a lot of the animals seemed to be napping while we were there. Riley did get to see some monkeys, the tigers, Umba the Mandril, a peacock and a few others, though.

Riley has been doing some new, cute things lately. The night that we got home from the beach, she actually pulled up on her own. I haven't seen her do it since then, but she is learning. She also plays peek-a-boo, makes the cutest noises and has a great laugh. Tonight she just didn't want to go to sleep. We put her in her swing (I know, she's getting too big for it, but she loves it) and she started falling asleep while she was sitting forward. Of course, I videoed it and, of course, I'm uploading it here for you to see : ) I'm also uploading a video of her playing peek-a-boo with me. You'll have to ignore my annoying voice, though : ) I will post more pictures of our beach trip soon. For now, I'm exhausted, so I think I'll go to bed.

Not Wanting to Go to Sleep

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Vacation Time!

2008-10-02T07:27:00.007-05:00

Finally, we're on vacation at our condo in Gulf Shores. Yay!!! Riley really loved the beach yesterday afternoon. We only went out for a few minutes after we got here, but she seemed to like it. The water is so beautiful! It's very calm and clear. We left yesterday morning around 8:00 and Riley did so great on the drive down. She slept some and played with Gran and Pop the rest of the time. We stopped once at a rest stop to feed and change her. When we got here, we went to eat at the Oyster House - one of our faves! We then headed out to the beach to let Riley see the beautiful ocean and beach. This place has finally recovered from the hurricanes. The beaches are almost back to normal. We are so looking forward to our time here and especially since Gran and Pop came with us. They are so excited about being here with Riley. Ben and I just love this place and can't wait to show Gran, Pop and Riley our favorite places to go. One of them is the Gulf Coast Zoo. If you've never been, you should check it out. We've really grown to love it since our first visit there about 4 years ago. They were even featured in their own series on the Animal Planet - The Little Zoo That Could. Very cool! Some of our other favorite places to go when we're here are: De Soto's Kitchen, LuLu's, The Wharf, and, of course, the Tanger Outlet Mall : ) Gran, Riley and I will go there on Saturday while the "guys" are watching football.

I've uploaded our first day's pictures to shutterfly. Click here to see them. I'll try to upload more, but I managed to forget the power cord for my computer, so we are limited on our computer time. Here's a little preview of the pictures.

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-09-26T13:31:00.006-05:00

I know, I know! I skipped a Friday and I bet you were thinking that my hubby didn't "rock" last week. Wrong! He always rocks : ) So, I'm back on track this week.

I've always felt a little self conscious about my face - large pores, some reddish spots, etc. You know, just a girl thing. I always look at these people whose skin looks so smooth and perfect and I'm so jealous. For a long time, I've wanted to get laser treatments or something on my face to improve my skin, but it's just so darned expensive. (I'll go out and spend a fortune on clothes, but not on my skin? Go figure!) Anyway, Ben has known this and so about a year and a half ago or so, we talked about it and he told me that I was beautiful the way that I am (how sweet!), but if it would make me feel better, we'll find the money to get it done. Wow! What a great husband!! Doesn't he just rock?! I went for a consultation and made an appointment for my first treatment. In the meantime, I found out I was pregnant. You can't get the treatments done when you're pregnant, so I had to forget about it. Once I came back to work and started making money again, we decided it was time to get the treatments. One treatment a month for 6 months. They haven't been bad at all so far. The harsh treatments left me looking very sunburned and then peely, but not too bad overall. Yesterday was my last treatment and the most intense one so far. You would not believe what I look like today. Imagine red and white leapard print. Seriously, that's what my face looks like - AND I came to work. What a dedicated employee I am : ) I am posting below a picture of what I looked like on the ride home last night. The laser tech had put some kind of cream on me that was supposed to be soothing and it looked hilarious. She also sent an ice pack with me - thank goodness because my face was on fire. I took some ibuprofen last night to help with the soreness and swelling. Man, the things us women to do try and look beautiful. I must say that the treatments have improved my skin, so I'm happy that I did it. I wonder what my face will look like tomorrow? Good thing I don't have any plans this weekend. Sorry for the long post, but I had to tell you that Ben rocks because he thinks that I'm beautiful no matter what, but he also wants me to feel beautiful. Thanks sweet Ben! You ROCK!! Now for the picture...

You see where the white cream sort of clung to my skin in circular pattern? Well, that's what my face looks like today, except red circles! I wonder what the people at Wal Mart thought of me today : )

My little angel is 10 months old today. Look for a post and pictures later. Oh, and she has another tooth coming in on top. So cute!

How Cute Is This?

2008-09-17T16:20:00.004-05:00

Riley and my sweet little (well, not so little anymore) Jacob! Doesn't Riley look like she's posing with her boyfriend on prom night?! She had already changed into her PJ's at this time, but here's another picture from earlier in the night when she was cheering Bama on. (Ignore the person in the background with Auburn flip flops on.)

Just a Little Update

2008-09-17T10:12:00.006-05:00

I just thought I'd give a quick update on what's been going on with us. Riley is really crawling around so good and pulling up onto her knees, too. She seems to want to pull up all the way, but doesn't know how to get there yet. I think that maybe her gums have been bothering her lately because she's been waking up some in the night. She normally sleeps so good. School has been going really good for Riley. She even eats off of the lunch menu now. Isn't that just so cute?! She's such a big girl : ) She eats so many different foods now and likes just about anything. She absolutely loves to feed herself and is so good at it. She really seems to enjoy going to school. She's so happy and Ben says she gets excited every morning when he drops her off. She is also happy to see us when we're all home, though. They are having school pictures made at the end of the month. Why am I so stressed over what she is going to wear for pictures? For some reason, it just seems like such a big decision : ) We are going to the beach Oct. 1st and taking my parents with us. I can't wait! I really need a vacation. What I need is a permanent vacation, but this will have to do for now!

So, things are great with us. Riley is just growing and doing new things every day. It won't be long before she turns 1! I really cannot believe it! Of course, I'm already planning her birthday party : ) Hope you all are doing great and thanks for keeping up with us!

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-09-12T08:31:00.010-05:00

I've been thinking this week about how I am so in need of a vacation and that got me thinking about all of the wonderful trips that Ben and I have been on - ski trips, some beautiful places in Guatemala, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, etc. They have all been wonderful, beautiful and special, but there was one trip in particular that we took to Guatemala that was extra special. Ben told me before we went that he was going to have a surprise for me while we were there. (I LOVE surprises, by the way!) The surprise wasn't until a few days into the trip so I would have to wait a little bit to find out what it was. I couldn't wait! It turned out that we went to this monestary in Antigua that had been excavated and fixed up into a hotel. It was beautiful and so different from anywhere I had ever been. The place is called Casa Santo Domingo. Make sure to click the link and check it out if you have time. The history of it is pretty cool. When we got there and were walking around, I just teared up. Ben asked me what was wrong and I said "nothing. It's just that this place is beautiful and no one has ever done anything like this for me before." (Not to mention that the place we'd spent the 2 nights before that was beautiful, too.) We were still just dating at the time and he knew how much I love surprises and how much I love to go to new and exciting places, so he planned this surprise for me. That is one of the many reasons that my hubby ROCKS! If you've never been to Guatemala, there are some beautiful and unique places there. Getting there isn't cheap, but once you're there, everything is very affordable. I've included below a few pictures from some of our vacations. Thanks, Ben, for always knowing how to make me feel special!

Casa Santo Domingo

Bahamas - Exuma Islands

Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

Lake Tahoe - No, it's not a fake backdrop. Isn't it beautiful?!

St. Lucia - Our Honeymoon

Slideshow of Riley's Birth

2008-09-11T16:31:00.002-05:00

I went back and watched the slideshow of Riley's birth pictures again today and it just makes me cry every time. A friend of ours, Jennifer Hagler, was there when Riley was born to document her birth. I can't tell you how thankful I am for her and the pictures she got that day! It is something that we will treasure forever and I thought I would share it with those of you who haven't seen it before. You can click here to see it. You can also visit Jennifer Hagler Photography by clicking here.

More Shenanigans & A Video

2008-09-06T16:22:00.006-05:00

Riley is so cute crawling around and has really perfected it and she's only going to get better and faster : ) She is even wanting to pull up on things, although she can't quite figure out how to do it. Lately, her favorite things to do are to spread all of her books out on the floor and, also, to turn over her basket full of her little toys and pull them all out. She also likes to play fetch with herself. What I mean by that is that she'll get one of her toys, throw it out in front of her and crawl to it, then do it over and over again. It's so funny! I just love watching her do and get into new things. I had mentioned in my last post that she's been sick. She is much better, but still not back to normal. She's acting fine and is very happy, but her stomach is still sensitive - if you know what I mean ; ) (I'm sparing you the details.) Hopefully, that will go away soon. Below are some pictures and a video. Enjoy!

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-09-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

This probably won't make since to a lot of you because I have to be so "discreet" about the situation, but nonetheless... I've been having some issues with some certain unnamed people at a certain undisclosed location. It's nothing that I can't handle, but still frustrating. Bottom line is that I don't understand why some people don't realize how precious life is and that it's not worth being ugly to others. And, by the way, did your mother never teach you the golden rule? I mean, seriously, people. Just be nice! It's a very simple concept. Anyway, of course, Ben has to hear about it every time something arises concerning this situation. I just tend to get on my soap box : ) I know, I know, me on my soap box? Hard to imagine, huh? (Sarcasm intended. See above.) He is always right behind me, taking up for me and trying to make me feel better about the situation. That's the thing about Ben, no matter what is going on, he's always on my side, of course, and backing me up. That's why my hubby ROCKS!

On another note, Riley has been sick the past few days with a stomach bug. She's doing better, but not yet symptom free, so please keep her in your prayers. Gran is here now staying home with her so that I could come to work. Thanks, Gran! You're awesome! Check back for another post later today or tomorrow with some new pics of Riley's recent adventures in crawling!

Shenanigans

2008-08-31T20:28:00.004-05:00

Here we go! Riley is getting around really good and starting to get into things. We have an end table that usually has a basket underneath containing magazines. Riley was trying to pull out the magazines today, so I moved the basket and this is the result...

I took the first picture thinking that surely she couldn't yet crawl up onto that shelf. I turned my back for literally a second and, sure enough, she had climbed up there. No rest for the weary!

ROLL TIDE!!

2008-08-31T07:09:00.010-05:00

Riley experienced her first Bama game last night! Isn't she the cutest cheerleader you've ever seen in your life?!! Looks like she might just be our lucky charm this year, too, since Bama did so awesome last night : ) Here are a few more pics from the night:

Riley & Daddy

Riley & LaLa

Riley & Uncle Eric

Notice that LaLa is an Auburn fan. We love her anyway ; ) Uncle Tray was here, too, but somehow I failed to get her picture with him. Sorry Uncle Tray!

Riley had her 9 Month appointment on Friday and she did so well! She got a finger prick and a shot and she didn't cry at all! What a brave little girl! She weighed 22 lbs. 2 oz. and was 28 1/2 inches long. So, she remains in the 90th percentile for weight and moved to the 75th for height. Now that she's crawling, maybe she'll lose some of her baby fat. Well, hopefully not all of it because those rolls and fat little thighs are just so darn cute : ) She's doing so well with her crawling and she's making new noises every day - that are so very cute, by the way. She's our little angel and we just can't get enough of her. I swear I could "eat her up". Now I know what all those moms were always talking about when they said that! Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-08-29T09:46:00.003-05:00

How many weeks have I been doing this? And, I still haven't run out of reasons why my sweet hubby rocks : ) Ben rocks because he takes care of all of our finances and financial planning and I love it! I was single for so many years and had to do it myself that I was more than happy to turn over that responsibility to him when we married. You see, I'm really anal retentive about things and never thought I could trust someone else with the finances. I always thought that, when I got married, I would be the one with the responsibility, but I must say Ben is more "anal" about it than I ever was. It's so nice not having to worry about it and knowing that it is taken care of. Also, Ben is a saint to put up with my shopping habits. I confess that I'm a big shopper and I've had to learn to slow down a bit now that it's not just me, but Ben has been very patient with me : ) I'm still working on it, but I've gotten better. Thanks, Ben, for taking such good care of us and for being so patient with me! YOU ROCK!!

Things just got a little more difficult around our house...

2008-08-25T16:11:00.010-05:00

and that's because Riley started crawling!!!! She's just getting started, but I'm betting that, by the weekend, she'll be all over the house! Yikes! I think that things are going to be a bit more hectic at casa del Habshey : ) Fun times!

In my last post, I mentioned that Gran and Aunt Nay Nay were visiting. They had a great time and so did we! I think that Aunt Nay Nay fed Riley every meal she ate while they were here. She just had a good time spending time with her and taking care of her. Aunt Nay Nay was even the first one to see Riley crawl. She also taught Riley to shake her head "no". It is the cutest thing! As you can tell, Aunt Nay Nay and Riley enjoyed each other. Gran, on the other hand, worked her little tail off while she was here. She cooked, she washed clothes, she ironed all of my clothes for the week and I'm sure there's more that I'm leaving out. Thanks, Gran! It always makes my week so much easier when you help me prepare! I think Gran did have a little fun and had some time to spend with Riley, though, despite all of the work she did : ) Saturday, we all went shopping at the outlet mall and popped into a few stores at Patton Creek before eating at Firebirds. I tell you that is one of my very favorite places to eat. Yummy! I loved having Gran and Aunt Nay Nay here and I hope they'll come back soon!

I'll leave you with a few pictures that I took right before they left. We were trying a halloween costume on Riley to see if it was going to fit. She looks so cute!

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-08-22T15:39:00.005-05:00

Are you guys sick of hearing about how much Ben rocks yet? I didn't think so : ) As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Ross Bridge last Saturday to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. It was so much fun! It was very relaxing and it was so nice spending time alone not having to do anything. After our massages on Saturday - which were great, by the way - we sat by the pool just relaxing and talking. We couldn't help but notice how much fun the kids there were having. There was even a small child crawling around and enjoying the little sprays of water coming up out of the concrete. We talked about how much fun Riley would have playing in the water and discussed how we can't imagine her being 2 or 3 or 4 like those other children there. Here we were on our little 'getaway' and we couldn't stop thinking about Riley and missing her. Needless to say, Ben rocks because he misses Riley just as much as I do when we're away from her. It might sound like such a small thing, but it's so sweet.

One of our favorite weekend past times is looking at houses. We're not looking to move or anything, we just like looking. We'll look at ones in our price range as well as houses WAY out of our price range. It's just fun to us. Ross Bridge is a nice little community, so we took the opportunity while we were there to look around at some houses. It was a little hot, but we enjoyed it. Ben also rocks because he humors me by listening to my dreams about these million dollar mansions we walk through. A girl can dream, right?!

On another note, Gran and aunt Glenda are here visiting this weekend. This is the first time that Glenda (Aunt Nay Nay to Riley) has come for an extended stay and we are so excited that she's here. I know she is enjoying her time with Riley and I know Riley is enjoying her. Thanks for coming, Aunt Nay Nay!

First Babysitter

2008-08-20T08:58:00.002-05:00

Riley had her first babysitter last night! Usually, if Ben and I go somewhere, Riley stays with Nana and Papa or Gran and Pop. Well, last night was an unusual night - more on that later - and Nana and Papa were out of town and Gran and Pop had just gone back to Huntsville, so Riley stayed with LaLa (Laura). I think they both had a great time! Laura is just so good with Riley and I felt so comfortable leaving her there. Riley really loved Jarrett (LaLa's dog) and laughed and laughed at him. Thanks so much, Laura, for taking care of our little angel for us.

Last night Ben and I attended a memorial service for a very good family friend of the Habsheys. Dudley was one of Ben's dad's longtime best friends and Ben was close to him, too. They were big golf buddies. Dudley passed away on Saturday after battling colon cancer for the past year. He was a sweet, funny person and will be greatly missed. Please keep Charlotte, his wife of 40 years, and the rest of his family and friends in your prayers.

~ my husband rocks! Friday

2008-08-15T09:11:00.004-05:00

Last night Ben and I did one of my favorite things. We went to see one of my favorite musicians - Edwin McCain - at 'Workplay'. For those of you who aren't familiar with Workplay, it is a smoke free music venue. It's one of the very few places that I can go see a show in peace without the annoyance of smoke. We had such a great time and Edwin was awesome, as usual! I just love going to see musicians like him who write their own music and truly love what they do. I could go on and on about music, what it means to me and how much I enjoy it, but at the risk of sounding like a weirdo, I won't. Luckily, Ben enjoys it almost as much as I do. As you should know by now, he rocks! What else can I say?! Thanks, Ben, for taking an interest in the things that I love. Just one of the many reasons that I love you!! YOU ROCK!

This weekend we are celebrating our 2nd anniversary. We'll be going to Ross Bridge Saturday morning for a couples massage and then spending the day there hanging by the pool and just relaxing. After that, we'll probably order some room service and get a good, long night's sleep. Boring, I know, but we are so looking forward to just spending some time alone doing nothing. Gran and Pop are in town to stay with Riley and they are all very much enjoying their time together. Thanks, mom and dad, for being such awesome grandparents! Riley is truly blessed to have you in her life.

~my husband rocks! Friday

2008-08-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

Short post today, but I think these pictures say it all about why my hubby rocks this week. Thanks, Ben, for being such a sweet Daddy!

I'm a loser...

2008-08-07T14:00:00.007-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost a week. Man, I'm such a loser. Riley is doing so well - just very, very happy, sleeping good, eating good and almost crawling. I'm not so sure I'm ready, but she's about to start, so I don't really have a choice. She can move each knee forward, but isn't sure yet how to move her arms forward. I'm sure it will be any day now. She's making lots of new sounds/noises. It's really so cute! Where does she get these things?

We went swimming last Saturday at Ben's dad's house. Laura, Eric, Mandi, Jason, Jacob and Kaleb were also there. It was so much fun! Riley just loves being in the water and she was very entertained by Jacob and Kaleb jumping and diving into the water and Jason and Ben throwing them across the pool. I think Jason enjoyed having a little girl around for the day. I tried to convince him that they need one to balance out the boys. I told him it would "soften him up a little". (Not that Jason needs to be softened up, but you know the playing and things are just different with a little girl.) He didn't go for it and we agreed that he and Mandi could just borrow Riley every now and then. Here are a few pics of the Jowers boys with Riley. Excuse the quality. I forgot my camera so I had to use my phone and these pics were taken while the sun was behind some clouds.

There's a cute pic of Daddy and Riley, but you'll see that one tomorrow. Sunday was good, too. We had some good, quality, fun family time and then Riley and I made a trip to the store. She always loves to go out and see everyone : ) It's been a good week, but I'm ready for the weekend. Riley and I are going to Huntsville! Yay! It's going to be very busy, as usual, but fun also. We can't wait! Make sure to check out tomorrow's edition of "~my husband rocks! Friday".

my husband rocks! Friday

2008-08-01T08:29:00.004-05:00

It's that time again - time for me to brag on my sweet hubby! I had to get permission from Ben to post this one because I didn't want to embarrass him, but he's good with it so here goes... The other night Ben and I were watching the show in memory of Randy Pausch - you know the guy who did 'The Last Lecture'. It was so sad to watch this guy who is dying tell his story and how he's determined to have fun and have a good attitude until the very end. When they started showing him with his children, it really got to me. It's just so sad to think that they don't have their dad anymore. Anyway, long story short, when the show ended I was in tears and I look over at Ben and he's wiping his eyes. My sweet husband was as touched by it as I was. I think it's sweet that he cries at things like that. We both have such a great appreciation for life and all the little moments that we get to share. I know that some of it comes from experiences that we've both had in our lives. Experiences that have made us realize that we are not promised tomorrow. Thank you, Ben, for helping me to remember to appreciate every moment I'm given on this earth. You rock and I love you!!

8 Months Old!

2008-07-28T08:36:00.005-05:00

I can't believe my little angel is 8 months old already! I was reminiscing last night and looking through some old videos. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Before I know it, she'll be having her first birthday. This weekend, we were expecting her to crawl any second. She is really trying hard and her Uncle Tray was helping her yesterday. He really wanted her to crawl and was being a very good "coach" : ) We had Ben's family over yesterday for all of the July birthdays and it was such a great time! Riley's Aunt Nicole did a photoshoot with her and it turned out so great! Riley was in such a good mood and Nicole got some really good shots of her. I am putting a few here and you can click here to see the rest.

my husband rocks! Friday

2008-07-25T08:54:00.002-05:00

It's Friday again and I know you are all anxiously awaiting this post to see what my wonderful husband has done this week to once again prove that he 'rocks' : ) I must admit that I was talking to my mom on the way to work this morning and was telling her something Ben said to me and she suggested that I write my post about it today. Thanks, Mom!

Ben rocks because the other day, out of nowhere, he told me that I am the "best mommy in the world" and followed it by a stern "and I mean that"! It's so nice to know that Ben sees the effort that I put forth to make sure that Riley is happy and healthy. Her and Ben are my world and I would do anything for them and to see that Ben notices that and appreciates it means a lot to me. Even though Ben is a very helpful husband and daddy and makes my job as a mom a lot easier, I truly think he realizes the sacrifices that a mother makes for her family and respects me for it. Thanks so much, Ben, for showing your love for us everyday. We love you!

A Relaxing Weekend

2008-07-21T08:53:00.004-05:00

What a great weekend! I really needed some time to relax and get rid of this terrible sinus stuff that I've had going on. Thankfully, Gran and Pop were there on Saturday morning, so I got to sleep in a little. I feel like a new person today, finally! On Saturday, Pop wanted to go eat at Cracker Barrell for lunch and, of course, I was up for that. Riley and I went with them and Riley sat in a high chair like a big girl for the first time at a restaurant. She was so cute and just loved looking around at all of the people. Everyone, of course, was talking to her and commenting on how cute she was. We were sad to see Gran and Pop go back home, but we really enjoyed their visit. Most of the day yesterday was spent hanging out at home playing and relaxing. In the afternoon, we went to a walk for McKaylee. Most of you probably know, but McKaylee is a sweet, adorable little girl who is battling cancer. She is undergoing treatment right now at St. Jude's. The walk was held to raise money for McKaylee and St. Jude's. I've included a picture below of Riley and Daddy at the walk. Please remember to keep McKaylee and her family in your prayers. You can visit her Caring Bridge site by clicking here.

my husband rocks! Friday

2008-07-18T08:26:00.003-05:00

Yay! I get to brag on my husband again today : ) Let's hope it's not going to his head too bad. Well, Gran and Pop are in town and Riley has been having a great time playing with her Pop. It's been a while since she's seen him. When I got home from work last night, I found Pop laying in the floor playing with her. It was SO extremely cute! He just can't seem to get enough of her. I know, I know, this is supposed to be about why my sweet hubby rocks. Well, I was thinking yesterday about what I was going to write today and couldn't decide. Then, when Ben came home from work last night, I instantly knew what I was going to say. You see, Ben loves it almost as much as I do when my family comes to visit. He honestly loves my parents and has a lot of respect for them. He sometimes even tries to bribe them into coming to live with us and I think he's almost got Pop convinced : ) Ben walked in the door last night with "goodies" for them. My mom LOVES chocolate - well, so does Pop, but Gran really loves it - and Ben had bought lots of it for them to enjoy while they are here. See, he not only does little things for me, but for my parents, also. He's so thoughtful and for that I am grateful. Ben, you ROCK! Thank you for loving my family as much as I do. I love you!

Look at My Teeth!

2008-07-13T17:10:00.002-05:00

I finally got a picture where you can see Riley's teeth. How cute is it?! Today she seems to be trying to figure out how to crawl. I think I'll start resting up!

More Firsts!

2008-07-12T07:01:00.007-05:00

It seems like Riley is just changing so fast and doing something new everyday. Yesterday was no exception. I've been trying to get her to say ma-ma and/or da-da. Well, guess which one she decided to start with? Yep! It was da-da, of course. It was so cute! Once she learned to say it, she was on a roll. She started yesterday morning and continued to say it all day. Gran and Aunt Jeanie are here so they spent the day with her. They had a great time playing and said that Riley was very happy all day, as usual. What a sweet little angel I have : )

These days Riley isn't really that into her baby food. She does eat it, but she doesn't just love it. Well, Gran made spaghetti for dinner last night, so I thought I'd try giving her little bites of the noodles with sauce on them. Not only did she love it, but she was picking them up and feeding herself! We gave her peas, peaches and little baby Gerber puffs, too. She liked it all. I think dinners are going to be a lot more messy from now on. Better get out that mat I keep talking about putting under her high chair. We're going to need it. Here are a few pictures of the little adventure.

my husband rocks! Friday

2008-07-11T09:00:00.004-05:00

You know they say it's the little things that count and that is so true with me. I'm not one of those who needs a candle lit dinner waiting on me when I get home or a bath filled with rose petals drawn for me. I really take pleasure in just the little things that Ben does for me. Like the other night he went to the grocery store and, on the way home, I happened to call him and he said "I got you a surprise". He does this most times that he goes to the store. Sometimes it's an air freshener that I like, or a candle, or my favorite candy or snack. Not much, but he thought of me! On a little more sentimental note - Riley has gotten back into the habit of needing a bottle around 10:00 in order to make it through the night. So one of us usually just wakes her up and gives it to her right before we go to bed. Thursday night I was on my way in there to get her up and Ben stopped me before I could get in there, telling me that HE wanted to get her up. What?! You see, it's just so sweet because, when you pick her up, she just cuddles up to you because she's still sleeping basically. Of course, I let him do it and it was just the sweetest thing to watch him hug her and just close his eyes taking in every ounce of her sweetness. This is why my husband ROCKS!!

The Habshey Clan Minus 1

2008-07-10T09:32:00.012-05:00

Last night we had the Habsheys over for dinner. It was Terry, Ben, Abbey, Paden, Bay, Riley and me - the minus 1 is Eric. He was the only one missing. Terry made dinner - YUM - and we had a great visit. Dinner included tabouli, which I love when made correctly, and Terry's is delicious. I love most Lebanese food. I think I may need to make a visit soon to one of my fave Lebanese restaurants, George's. His food is delicious, but his tabouli still doesn't compare to Terry's. Like I said, we had a great visit and everyone enjoyed seeing Riley.

Tonight Gran and Aunt Jeanie are coming for a visit. We can't wait! It's always awesome to get a visit from my family and I know they will enjoy being with Riley.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for the 2nd edition of ~my husband rocks! Friday~.

Fourth of July

2008-07-05T23:05:00.007-05:00

Riley had a very good 4th of July. She slept right through all of the fireworks going on right outside of her bedroom window. Today we went to Eric and Laura's for the day and Riley got in the pool for the first time and she loved it, of course. We knew she would! She also loves her friend Lanie Mae. They really had a good time together. I've posted a few pics below, but you can click here to see more.

Riley, Laura, and Lanie Mae

All that swimming really wore Riley out : )

Lanie Mae hugging Riley - so cute!!

"My Husband Rocks" Friday

2008-07-04T08:00:00.003-05:00

So, here goes the first edition...

Ben rocks because he is the best Daddy in the world (well, except for my Dad - hi Dad!). Ben is one of those dads who really helps out a lot. From the beginning, he has helped out with middle of the night feedings, diaper changes, nose suctioning (well, ok, he does ALL of the nose suctioning), medicine giving, rocking/singing to sleep, etc. You get the point. He helps with everything and for that I am so thankful. There is one night in particular that we had company over, Eric and Laura - not really company, they're family, but anyway - and it was Riley's bedtime. Ben took her and went into her bedroom. A few minutes later I see Laura peeking in there and she comes out saying "that has got to be the sweetest thing I've ever seen". She tells us that she peeked in there and Ben is rocking Riley and singing her to sleep. Eric tries to say that Ben is only doing that because they are there, but I quickly let him know that this is something Ben does ALL the time : ) I knew Ben was going to be a great Daddy, but he is so much more than I could have ever imagined. His love for her is so evident when you see them together. And, you should see the way she looks at her Daddy. I think she's in love ; ) I can't imagine my life with any other man. Thank you, Ben, for being an awesome husband and an amazing Daddy.

The World of Blogging

2008-07-03T09:13:00.006-05:00

Since I've started this blog, I've done quite a bit of reading of other blogs. You see, I'm not the typical blogger. I'm not a good writer, don't have a very exciting life to write about, but I DO have one awesome subject to talk about and that's RILEY!! While most of my blogs will still be about Riley - since I know that's what most of you really care about when you come here - I am going to start a new thing on Fridays called 'My Husband Rocks Friday'. No, I didn't make this up. It's something that a lot of bloggers are starting to do and there is a reason behind it. To read about how it got started, click here. You can also click here to read about a company called From*me Tees, which inspired the blogger to start "My Husband Rocks" Friday. (Yes, I've order a shirt.) I know it's a bit cheesy, but I do have one awesome husband and I can't wait to share with you all the reasons that he 'rocks'. So, come back tomorrow for the 1st edition of "My Husband Rocks Friday".

In other news, we have a busy - but fun - weekend planned. Tonight, Riley will spend the night with her Nana and Papa. They just got her a new crib and they can't wait to have her spend the night in it. Usually, when Riley spends the night, I go straight over there to get her as soon as I roll out of bed. This time Nana wants Riley to stay for a bit tomorrow and play. Well, I'm sure she always wants her to stay : ) We'll see if I can stay away long enough for them to play for a few hours. You would think I would take advantage and sleep in, but it always seems that I wake up thinking about Riley and start missing her.

Tomorrow night, we are having family over to grill out for the 4th - should be fun! And, on Saturday, we're going to Uncle Eric's house to play in the pool and just hang out. I know Riley will have so much fun playing in the pool. Hopefully, we'll have some good pictures for you on Monday.

Happy 4th!

Daddy's Little Sparkler

2008-07-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

Just a short little post today to let you see some pictures of my sweet little angel. I bought her a 4th of July shirt that says "Daddy's Little Sparkler". How cute!!!!!! Here is a picture of her and Daddy this morning and then one of Riley a little closer up so you can see the shirt. Oh, and I also have to brag a little. Ben said that, when he picked up Riley yesterday, one of her teachers told him that Riley is the most popular baby at school (not her class, but the school), that she brightens their day and they don't know what they'd do without her : ) Isn't that just so sweet?! They probably tell everyone else that, too, but it still makes us feel good! Now for the pictures...

Real Food, Sippy Cup and a Girls' Day Out

2008-06-30T14:00:00.007-05:00

Gran came for a visit (YAY!) and we really enjoyed having her here. Riley stayed home with Gran on Thursday and they really had a great time. Of course, now that Riley has 2 teeth barely through the gums, Gran thinks she can have table food, so she decided Riley should try a saltine during dinner the other night. Overprotective, first time mom was afraid she'd choke and gave Gran strict instructions to give her a "tiny" bite and to "be prepared to stick your finger down her throat if she gets choked" : ) Needless to say, Riley did fine and she liked the cracker. She also drank juice from a sippy cup for the first time and, yes, she liked that, too. Feeding time was much easier - and a lot less messy - when all we had to do was give her a bottle. My 'anal rententiveness' is kicking in and I can't stand the messiness of it all. AAAggghhhh!

Friday I took off work to spend the day with Gran and Riley. We decided to have a girls' day out of shopping (of course, because shopping is my addiction). We went to have lunch at Zoe's in Homewood and then walked around to all the little shops there. It was a very successful day with both Mommy and Riley getting some new things. Riley loved seeing all of the people and everyone was commenting on how cute and good she was. She finally tired of all the shopping and fell sound asleep while we continued on. We stopped by Savage's bakery for a little treat. Yummy! A few minutes after that, I glanced at Riley and noticed some crumbs on her face. Yep, you guessed it! Gran gave her a bite of cookie. That's what "Grans" are for, though, right? What a great day with 2 of my very favorite people!! Here are a few pics from our little outing. (Excuse the quality as they were taken with my cell phone.)

And a few of her in one of her new outfits. How cute!!!
Sadly, Gran went back home yesterday. (I always shed a few tears when she leaves.) Hopefully, she'll be back very soon for another visit. It is so hard living away from my hometown now that we have Riley. Gran and Pop have always been such wonderful grandparents and I hate that they don't get to see Riley more. I really miss my family and friends "back home", but I am thankful that it is just up the road in North Alabama. We miss you already Gran!

We Have a Tooth!

2008-06-20T08:49:00.003-05:00

In fact, she has 2 teeth. I can't believe it! They both came through at the same time. It is so cute! Of course, they are not all the way in yet, but they are through the skin and you can see them when she smiles. It is SO cute! Just a short post today to let you know the 'big news' ; ) Won't be long before she's eating corn on the cob like her cousin, Sarah Grace : ) Big weekend planned. Mommy and Daddy have a date and Riley's spending the night with Nana. It will be a fun time for all of us!!

Here are a few pics that I took of Riley this morning. I took them with my phone, so excuse the quality.

Clarification

2008-06-17T10:43:00.002-05:00

I didn't realize that my last post referencing our parenting method of spoiling would be such a controversy : ) Seems some people saw it as a rant or took offense to it. It was not meant that way. Blogs are usually used as a place to say whatever is on your mind and that's exactly what I was doing. And, those of you who know me, know that I tend to speak my mind anyway ; ) It's just that, with all of the books out these days on parenting methods and such, I feel like people have definite opinions on how others should parent their children. I just wanted to make it clear, just in case someone might be thinking that we should try something different, that we know we spoil Riley and we like it that way. I'm pretty sure that won't change much. It's not that anyone has said anything specific to us. I guess it's just what I feel like people might think sometimes. At the time, we were trying to figure out why Riley was waking up crying in the night and I felt like that, if I tried to talk to people about it to get advice, I would be questioned on certain methods of putting her to sleep, bedtime rituals, etc. Not that I would be, but I felt that I would. Anyway... I'm getting too in depth and probably still offending people, so I'll stop. Just know that it wasn't directed at anyone in particular. It was really just a dig at all the 'parenting method' books out there these days. Sorry if anyone took it the wrong way. But, rest assured, I'll continue speaking my mind here. That's partly what it's for. And, by the way, thanks for the advice you're thinking about giving, but we've already figured out the sleep issue ; ) Oh, Lord, here I go again....

Father's Day

2008-06-16T14:10:00.009-05:00

For Ben: A little late, but Happy Father's Day sweet, sweet, Ben. You are such a wonderful, loving father. Seeing you with Riley just makes me love you even more. I always knew you would be a good daddy, but you are so much more than I ever imagined. You are an awesome daddy and husband and I absolutely cannot imagine life without you. We love you!!

For My Daddy: I have always been, and always will be, Daddy's little girl. Thank you, Dad, for the dances, the back scratches, the nights you carried me to bed, for reading me the "funnies" on Sundays while I sat in your lap, for being my softball coach... I have so many wonderful memories of you that I hold close. You are a wonderful man and 'Daddy'! I love you so much!

Just So You Know...

2008-06-13T09:54:00.011-05:00

It seems that lately all I want to do is hold Riley and look at her and kiss her and tell her and her Daddy how much I love them. I just can't help it. I feel so blessed and I don't want to take even one little thing for granted. This is not a new feeling for me, but it has become more intense lately for several reasons. So, I was thinking the other night about how I just love to sit and hold Riley, but the thing is that she won't really let us do that too much anymore. It made me so happy that, for the first few months of her life, that's basically all I did. And, I gave all of the grandparents permission to do so, too : ) Believe me, they took me up on it. Right, Gran? I would literally sit and hold her for hours while she slept. Oh, how I would love to do that now. People loved telling me that I was going to spoil her and I shouldn't hold her that much, etc., etc., but I didn't care and I wouldn't change it. So, just so you know... we spoil Riley. There. I said it. We spoil her, we know we spoil her and we will continue to spoil her. It's our parenting method and we love it! So, any of you who might think about having a talk with us about it, forget it! We are fully aware of what we're doing. In fact, I'll go ahead and let you in on something else, too. We don't put her in bed and let her fall asleep on her own. Nope! We hold her, rock her, or whatever else we feel like doing. That's how she goes to sleep. She loves it and we love it, so that's what we do. Whew! I'm glad I got that off my chest : )

I'm sure that none of you would be suprised if I told you that I was spoiled growing up. My memories of my bedtime rituals include laying on the couch - or floor - with my dad scratching my back until I went to sleep, then he'd carry me to bed. Or, other nights, I would lay my head in my mom's lap while she rubbed it and played with my hair. So, needless to say, I don't think much of this mumbo jumbo of 'you must put your child to sleep while they're still awake or they won't sleep good'. Whatever! I turned out fine - ok no jokes people - and so will Riley. She's my little angel and I hope she has as many special memories of her childhood as I do.

If I had to give one piece of advice to a new mother it would be this: hold that sweet baby as much as you can and let others do it, too. Both of you will love it! It won't be long before he/she won't let you do it anymore. What if, God forbid, something happened to my sweet angel and I hadn't held her that much and spoiled her like this? OK. I'm going to stop now before I get into all my sappy talk. Count your blessings today. I know I am! I'm including a picture of Daddy and his girl. It's an old one, but oh how sweet!

6 Month Appointment

2008-06-06T21:09:00.002-05:00

We took Riley today for her 6 month appointment. We were a little late because she's now 6 months, 1 week and 4 days old. She is doing very well. She actually enjoyed the appointment until the very end when she had to get 4 shots. Poor thing! She cried pretty hard, but settled down right when they were over. Anyway, she weighs 18 lbs, 14 oz and is 26 inches long. That puts her in the 90th percentile for weight and 50th for height. The ped. said that we can start her on stage 2 baby foods, which will be provide a little more variety, so I'm sure Riley will like that : ) She loves her food, as you can tell. We won't have to take her again until she's 9 months and she'll only get 1 shot that time. Thank goodness! I know it's for her own good, but I just hate doing that to her. She didn't seem to be too affected by the shots tonight. She was just as happy as ever, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she sleeps good tonight.

Best Friends & Family

2008-06-02T16:34:00.023-05:00

These are 2 of the best things in the world. I had such a great visit in Huntsville this past weekend. I spent a lot of time with my family and had an awesome visit on Sunday with the "Huntsville Girls" (known from here on as HSV Girls) and the newly named "Huntsville Girls version 2" - the daughters of the original Huntsville Girls - (known from here on as HSV Girls v2). We all got together at Cathy's new house (which is beautiful, by the way) and the big and little girls all had a great time. Sydney and Anna Chason were my 2 little babysitters and they were so good with Riley. It was neat seeing all their different little personalities. I so miss living there with the most awesome friends a girl could ask for : ( You guys are amazing and I love you!

My family time was so special, too. Gran and Pop loved their time with Riley, as usual and Riley was excited to see them, too. Saturday morning Todd and Pam came over for breakfast. Chocolate syrup and biscuits, of course. Yummy!! I was going to wait a while to introduce Riley to it, but thanks to Aunt Pam, Riley got her first taste of chocolate syrup. (I know, Mandi, I deserved it!) Looks like I'll be getting paid back for all the candy, sugar, caffeine, and other things that I gave to all of my friends' kids and to Eddie and Kyla. I was always the one you could count on to sneak the kids a bite of this or that when they weren't supposed to have it or bring them chocolate - and let them eat it - right before bedtime. (Right, Jackie?) It was worth it, though. Riley deserves to be spoiled to and we've definitely got a good start on that. Mommy and Daddy started the spoiling themselves from day one : ) Anyway, back on subject - Jeanie came over later that day for some special time with Riley. She helped Riley with her sitting up and rolling back over the opposite way. (She is currently only rolling from back to stomach.) I'm sure she'll get it quickly now after the professional help from Aunt Jeanie. She actually is doing good with the sitting, as you'll see in the picture below of the HSV Girls v2. (All of the pictures of them were cute, so I hope you'll click here to see all of them.)

Of course, a visit to Huntsville wouldn't be complete without a little Rosie's for dinner. I dropped by to get it to go and drank a Mambo Taxi while I waited. Yummy! It's better shared with friends, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do, so I sat at the bar, looking mysterious, and drank it alone : ) (For those of you who aren't up on your movie quotes, the mysterious comment is a reference to Hope Floats.)

So, as you can see, I had a wonderful weekend in "HuntsVegas". It was good to get back home, though. Daddy and Riley were so happy to see each other. It was very sweet!

Confession

2008-05-30T13:56:00.014-05:00

So, I'm not quite sure why I feel the need to confess today, but I do. It's a big confession. Are you ready? OK, here goes - I like to watch Noggin. I do! One of my favorites is Pinky Dinky Doo simply because I love the song she sings right before she tells a story. You know, the one that starts out "Yesserooni, positooni...". OK, so maybe you don't know, but trust me it's catchy. Everytime it comes on, I must sing it. At first, Ben thought it was cute and funny, but I'm pretty sure that by now, he's not finding it amusing anymore - just annoying. One of my favorite shows to watch is Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. There's usually a good story and I think it's so cute when they say "everybuggy" instead of "everybody". Riley's favorite thing about Noggin is Moose A. Moose and Zee. She'll just be sitting there straight faced and when she sees them, she just cracks a big smile and lots of times even lets out a laugh. I think that, secretly, Ben even likes Noggin. I caught him singing the Backyardigans song one day : )

My big girl is now 6 months old. I can't believe it! That's 1/2 a year. It has just gone by so fast. She is doing so many new things every day. Some big, some small, but lots of new things. She's eating baby food really well and loves it. She also is eating baby yogurt and loves that, too. She's just about gotten the hang of sitting up. And, with Aunt Jeanie's professional help, she'll be doing it in no time : ) She loves her doorway jumper and her exersaucer. Oh, and her new toy from her cousin, Sarah Grace. She pushes these petals with her feet and makes these balls go round and music plays. She's just mesmerized by it. Here she is the first time she played with it. That's her Great Aunt Glenda sitting behind her.

Riley is such a happy baby and we are enjoying her so much! She loves to talk and laugh. It's just the cutest thing ever. Here are a couple of pics to end the post for today. We're off to Huntsville for the weekend. We can't wait to see Gran and Pop!

Riley hugging Sarah Grace. How sweet!

Yummy yogurt!

One last thing, please pray for little McKaylee Borklund and her family. McKaylee was just diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. McKaylee's grandmother, Treasa, is one of Nana's (Ben's mom) best friends. They are such a sweet family and would appreciate your prayers. You can read about McKaylee on her Caring Bridge site by clicking here.

Riley's First Swim

2008-05-25T07:49:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Memorial Day at Gran and Pop's lake house with our yearly fish fry. This year was definitely different from any other as now we have 2 babies in the family - Sarah Grace and Riley. Yes, I know that Sarah Grace is nearly 2 years old, but they missed the holiday last year, so this was the first one all there together. Riley and Sarah Grace had a great time. They even had their first swim in the lake! Riley's life jacket didn't look too comfortable, but she didn't seem to mind it at all. Her little bikini was so cute! (Thanks Sarah Grace!) Thanks to Uncle Todd, Riley is now blowing raspberries and spraying her food all over me. Here are a few pics. I'll post a link to more when I receive Jill's pics.

Eddie did a great job of getting Riley to go to sleep!

Riley in her polka dot bikini : ) So cute!

Riley & Daddy swimming in the lake.

Yes, this picture is oriented correctly. Turning upside down in her swing is her new trick!

Appointment with Urologist

2008-05-25T07:36:00.004-05:00

Friday was our appointment with the urologist. We were pleased with what we heard. The doctor explained everything very clearly and gave us a new antibiotic to give to Riley daily. This one is a capsule that we break open and give her half each night mixed with something to eat. This is so much easier than giving her the liquid. This one is tasteless, so she doesn't even know we've mixed it in. Basically, she will stay on this antibiotic until and if she outgrows the Vesico Ureteral Reflux. She will get the test each year to see if it has resolved itself. If it hasn't done so by the time she is 5, then we will have to consider a procedure to fix it. However, if before then, she has 2 more infections then we will have to do the procedure at that time. There is a risk of damage to her kidneys with continued infections. So, that's basically it. I thought I'd let you all know. Thank you so much for your prayers. We will keep praying that Riley does not have any more infections while on the antibiotics.

Today's Appointment

2008-05-19T15:21:00.008-05:00

Riley went for her tests at Children's today. We found out that she does have reflux in both kidneys. It is called Vesico Ureteral Reflux (VUR). (You can read about it by clicking on the link.) She has a grade 2 in the right kidney and grade 2-3 in the left. It goes all the way to a level 5, so it's not as bad as it could be. However, her urine does flow all the way back into the kidneys, which is not good, of course. For now, we have to give her a low dose of antibiotics daily and keep checking periodically to see if she outgrows it. We have an appointment with a urologist on Friday, so we'll know more after that. He will explain everything in a little more detail and let us know how he wants to follow up with her. We realize that this is fairly common (1 in 200 births or so), but we of course are still worried and just don't want Riley to have to deal with anything at all. Please keep us in your prayers and pray specifically that she does not have continued Urinary Tract Infections and that she outgrows the VUR. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. They are very much appreciated.

And, just for the heck of it, here's a picture of Riley:

Surprise!

2008-05-18T18:40:00.008-05:00

Surprise!!

My Hot 40 Year Old Husband : )
Mommy & Riley

Ben will turn the big 4-0 on May 25th, so we had a surprise party for him last night. It was so much fun! I want to thank everyone who came. It really meant a lot to him and he had a great time! I wasn't so sure I could pull it off because it seems that you can never really surprise anyone anymore, but I think he genuinely did not have a clue. As usual, Aunt Nicole was there taking pictures so I will add a few as soon as I get them from her. After staying at the party for a big, Nana took Riley home with her to spend the night and Trisha and Natalie also spent the night over there. They really had a great time with Riley and we all had a great visit this morning before Trisha and Natalie headed home. I am so blessed to have such a great family of in-laws.

Riley got passed from person to person last night and was such a good sport about it. Everyone just thinks she's the best baby and she really is. She's our sweet, perfect little angel : ) We are so proud of her!

Tomorrow we'll be taking Riley for her tests. Please keep us in your prayers because I know it will not be a pleasant experience for her - or Mommy and Daddy, for that matter.

Riley Is Sick : (

2008-05-15T15:53:00.002-05:00

I'm sure most of you already know that we had to take Riley to the doctor last week because she was running a fever of 102.7. Without getting into every little detail, I thought I would fill you all in on what's happening. She has a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), well actually a kidney infection at this point, because once you are running a fever, it has spread to your kidneys. Well, when babies this young have UTI's/kidney infections, they usually check them for Urinary Tract Reflux. So... we are scheduled to have the tests done at Children's on Monday, May 19th at 11:30 a.m. (The link should also explain this procedure.) If she does have the reflux, we will have to give her a low dose antibiotic daily for a while and then check to see if she's outgrown it. Most babies outgrow the condition, but those who don't, have to get a procedure done to correct the problem. Although this is not too serious, we still would rather her not have to go through it since we know she will be uncomfortable, so please keep us in your prayers. I will keep you updated to let you know what's happening. Thanks so much for your thoughts and concerns about how she's been feeling.

I should have some new pictures soon. Aunt Nicole got some really great shots of Riley on Mother's Day. I haven't seen them yet, but I know they are going to be awesome.

First Mother's Day

2008-05-12T14:38:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful first Mother's Day! I am so blessed to be the mom of such a wonderful, sweet angel. I love you, Riley.

Our Happy Girl!

2008-05-08T09:22:00.004-05:00

Riley just loves it when everyone's home after work. She just gets so giggly - especially with her Daddy. Thought I would share a cute video of her laughing. Enjoy!

What a Great Weekend!

2008-05-05T09:39:00.007-05:00

We got a great start to the weekend when we went to the Relay For Life. What a great event! We really miss being at the Huntsville Relay, but wouldn't miss the chance to participate in one, so we went to the Oak Mountain Relay For Life. Ben took Riley with him for the Survivor Lap and it was just so special. Then, for the first time, his mom and Bill walked the caregiver lap with Ben. It really meant a lot to him for us all to be there. (Laura and Eric were there participating, also.) Notice Riley's shirt in the picture above - it says "My Daddy is My Reason to Relay". How sweet is that! As usual, I could go on and on about how great Relay For Life is, but I won't : ) Let me just say that it was fun, special, awesome, etc. I am posting some of the pictures below, but to see the rest click here.

Gran and Jeanie were also here visiting this weekend and we had a great time. Aunt Jeanie worked with Riley on sitting up, so I'm sure it won't be long now : )

Also, this weekend, Aunt Nicole graduated from UAB. Yay Nicole! I am so proud of her. She worked really hard and now gets to sit back and relax a little. Natalie is also graduating this Friday from Troy State. Way to go, Natalie! The hard work has paid off! We are also so proud of Natalie. Of course, she has worked hard, too. Can't wait to celebrate!

5 Months Old

2008-04-29T10:16:00.011-05:00

Well, Riley doesn't seem to want to perform her new little trick for the camera. I do, however, have a few cute pictures and videos for you. She loves to talk, so it's easy to catch that on camera : ) Enjoy!

Story time with Nana

5 Months Old

Watching Dancing with the Stars w/ Mommy

Listen to me talk : )

Drum Roll, Please...

2008-04-26T11:31:00.002-05:00

Riley just rolled over for the first time!! We actually missed it the first time she did it, but she's done it several times since. Hopefully, we'll be posting video of it soon.

Fingers Crossed

2008-04-25T08:49:00.004-05:00

I'm reluctant to even blog about this for fear that it will "jinx" it, but here goes nothing. Riley has reached another small milestone. Some of you may not think it's that exciting, but for Mommy and Daddy, it is! We were able to cut out Riley's 10:00 p.m. bottle and she slept all night long! Wow! She has done so good the past 2 nights. We feed her a bottle about 7:45 and she goes to sleep shortly thereafter and sleeps until about 6:30. I just hope it continues. It makes it a little easier for us since we both like to go to bed no later than 10:00 p.m. This means neither of us has to stay up for that late bottle.

We also let her eat a real banana for the first time last night. Before you start thinking we are bad parents, we put the banana in a teething feeder and she loved it! It was messy, of course, but I guess I should get used to that.

Tomorrow is Riley's 5 month birthday, so we're planning a family outing in the morning to Aldridge Gardens and then to lunch. Hopefully, the rain will hold off until after that.

So Much To Say

2008-04-21T10:56:00.009-05:00

We had a lot of company this weekend and it was such a great time. Daddy went to a golf tournament and spent the night there on Saturday night, so Gran, Pop, Eddie and Kyla came Saturday and spent the night. It was so great having them there - especially Eddie and Kyla. I think everyone enjoyed spending time with Riley. Pop, Eddie and Kyla left on Sunday morning after breakfast, then Glenda and Fred dropped by for a visit. (Gran is staying until Tuesday - Yay!) Everyone seemed thoroughly entertained by Riley. She's just so cute and always seems to have so much to say. I am posting some pics from this weekend and also a couple of videos. The video where Riley is in her exersaucer, she's talking to Pop. She hadn't seen him in a while and just had so many things to tell him : ) In the other video, Aunt Nay Nay (Glenda) is making her laugh. You'll have to turn your head sideways to see it correctly because I forgot that, when I rotate my digital camera while taking video, it comes out sideways when viewing it on the computer. Sorry about that, but she's still cute in it! Today, Aunt Jeanie is coming to spend the night since she has some appointments here in town. We can't wait to see her!

I'm only posting a few pics from this weekend. To see them all, go to our shutterfly site.

Hello?!

2008-04-15T10:50:00.002-05:00

Is anyone even reading this thing? Sometimes I feel as though I'm just talking to myself! Apparently, I wouldn't be the only one talking to myself, though. Riley seems to be doing it more and more these days. She will wake up in the mornings and just lay there in her bed (or ours) and talk. It's just so sweet! I love to listen to her before going to get her. About 20 minutes after we put her to bed last night, she started talking very softly and when I went in there, she was just looking at the side of her crib (which has nothing on it) and talking. I told Ben this morning that I thought maybe she was having a conversation with God : ) I think she really just likes to hear herself. She'll sit there all throughout the day and talk and laugh. It's just really so adorable. There won't be anything to laugh at and she'll just bust out laughing.

We've been feeding her baby food pretty consistently now. So far, she's had green beans, sweet peas, squash, sweet potatoes and bananas. She wasn't so sure about the bananas at first, but she ended up liking them the second night. My little porker is just like her Mommy and Daddy about eating - she loves it!

She's still been doing really well at school and Miss Lindsey is still spoiling her. We like for our baby to be spoiled : ) Speaking of spoiling, Riley's Nana asked to keep her on Thursday night, so Nana is coming over for dinner and then Riley will be going home with her for the night. Also, Gran, Pop and Kyla are coming on Saturday to spend the night, so no doubt there will be lots of spoiling going on this week!

(I haven't been very good at posting pictures lately, but I promise to put up a few soon!)

An Hour to Live, An Hour to Love

2008-04-11T14:15:00.006-05:00

I just read a great book last night. I know, most of you are saying "What?! Christy Habshey actually read a whole book! And, yes, I did! It's by Kristine Carlson (wife of the guy who wrote all of the 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff' books) and it's called "An Hour to Live, An Hour to Love". It is a very short book - around 50 pages - and SO worth the read. I encourage you all to read it. Richard Carlson died suddenly in December of 2006. About 3 years before, he had written his wife a love letter for their 18th wedding anniversary. The letter answered the question(s), "If you had an hour to live, who would you call, what would you say and why are you waiting?". His wife published the letter in this book and then basically wrote a response, which is the 'An Hour to Love' part. It ends with Richard's favorite poem, which you can view here.

You all know how sentimental I am and the book (and poem) just goes right along with that : ) So, here's your task for today - take a minute to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Don't wait! As the poem says, we are not promised tomorrow, so today may be the only chance you get. Take the time to really appreciate life and those you love. Live life so that you never say 'I wish I had done this' or 'I wish I had said that'. Life is too short to "sweat the small stuff".

Gran's Here & A Forgotten First!

2008-04-04T13:06:00.005-05:00

Ben and I got a much needed uninterrupted night of sleep last night. Gran is in town, so she was on Riley duty during the night. Not that Riley requires much during the night, but she sleeps pretty restlessly the second half of the night and maybe requires a few pacifier re-inserts. Gran likes nightime Riley duty because she has Riley all to herself. Gran's been given the OK by Mommy and Daddy to put Riley in bed with her early morning if she wants to - and, believe me, Gran wants to. With any luck, Gran will want to be on Riley duty again tonight : ) It's so nice having Gran here. She really spoils us. She does laundry, makes dinner, irons clothes - must I go on?! Oh, and we also love her company. Gran's awesome and I really miss her when she's not here : (

Now to the "forgotten first". I can't believe I forgot to blog about it. Riley spent her first night away from Mommy and Daddy last week. It was the night that Ben and I were sick. She spent the night with her Nana and Papa. Of course, they just live right around the corner, so she was right there and didn't have to be gone for long. Nana and Papa enjoyed it and I'm sure Riley did, too. I'm sure there will be more nights spent at Nana and Papa's house.

It's Friday - yay for Fridays - and I am so ready for the weekend. It means quality family time. It's hard to get that during the week. Mandi, Jacob and Kaleb are coming over tomorrow to play and then Eric and Laura are hopefully joining us later in the afternoon and staying for dinner.

Yummy Oatmeal!

2008-04-02T09:05:00.019-05:00

Riley ate oatmeal from a spoon last night. I had been warned that it might be a disaster and wouldn't be as "fun" as I was thinking it would be. Well, it didn't go that bad. She made a terrible face at first, but did a pretty good job of eating it. Ben got it all on video, of course, but I've posted an after picture for you. Cute, huh?

I've also got a few videos to post. Riley loves talking while she's watching Noggin. Well, Riley loves talking all of the time, but especially when she's watching Noggin. She really loves Moose and Zee : ) The videos are very bad quality because they were taken with my digital camera in bad lighting. Oh, and by the way, this was at 4:30 in the morning.

I would also like to encourage you to donate to Relay For Life. My 2 personal favorite Relays are http://events.cancer.org/rflhuntsvilleal and http://events.cancer.org/rfloakmountainhsal If you donate to the Oak Mountain Relay For Life, make sure to click on the Inverness Elementary team link and then click on Laura Gober. Laura (or LaLa, as she is known to Riley) is participating and would love to have your donation. Most Relays are held in May and I would encourage you to find your local Relay and attend. It is a very fun and special event. As most of you should know, Ben is an almost 10 year cancer survivor. Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society are very special to us and we truly believe in what they do to try to find a cure and to help improve the lives of cancer patients. "There is no finish line until there is a cure."

You may have noticed that I finally titled the blog - "The Moments...". For those who care, let me explain. Warning, though, it's kind of deep and mushy : ) I have always loved a song by Edwin McCain called "I Could Not Ask For More". (It was our first dance song at our wedding.) The song (one part specifically) took on new meaning after my cardiac arrest back in May 2005. One line in the song says "These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive." All of life's moments - good and bad, big and small - are very precious and I thank God every day that I get to experience them. I've always been one to say life is too short, blah blah blah, but, after almost dying that day, I really appreciate everything so much more. So, there you go, the meaning behind the blog's new title.

4 Month Dr. Appointment

2008-03-31T10:54:00.004-05:00

We went in on Friday for Riley's 4 month appointment. Riley weighed 15 lbs., 12 oz. and is 24.5 inches long. She is definitely healthy : ) She had to get 4 shots again. Horrible! Mommy and Daddy hate it so much and it looks like it will never stop. I know it's for her own good, but it hurts her and makes her fussy for several days. It seems that, as a parent, you're always worrying about something. I knew this before we had her, but you just don't fully realize it until you're there.

She's back at school today after a few days at home last week and I'm sure she's happy. I think she really likes the stimulation she gets there and the interaction with the other babies. She just seems so happy after she comes home. Of course, I still call to check on her every day, but I guess they would wonder now if I didn't : ) Last week when she was out, one of the part time girls called to check on Riley. She says Riley is just so sweet and is her favorite and she really missed her. She said she gives Riley lots of extra attention. That really made me feel good.

Well, we are all finally feeling better. Ben and I are finally just about back to normal and Riley's cold is much better, too. Gran and Nana are also feeling better. I think that Nana had it the worst of all, but she said she's feeling much better today. I hope the bug has finally stopped with her. It seemed to get worse with each person, so we were really afraid for Bill to get it. I hope this week will be much better than last!

Riley had a couple of more "firsts" this weekend. She went to her first birthday party and her first visit to the park. Kaleb (Mandi and Jason's youngest) turns 4 tomorrow, so his party was on Saturday and SoHo Sweets. Riley loved watching all of the kids at the party. Everyone then went to Homewood Park since it was such a nice day. We hung out there while all of the kids played and we got some lunch from Nabeel's and ate in one of the pavillions. It was really nice! Riley slept through most of her first visit to the park, but she did open her eyes for a few minutes while we were leaving. It was really a fun day. The only thing that would've made it better is if Daddy could've been there. Unfortunately, he had to work since he'd been out sick for 3 days. Our weekend ended with a visit from Cathy. She had to come to town for a class at the Children's Hospital so she stayed with us last night. It was nice to visit with her, but it was too short. I really miss my "Huntsville Girls" : (

I got a pretty good video of Riley showing off her vocal skills, so I'll try to get that posted tonight.

Hell Week at the Habsheys

2008-03-28T10:25:00.004-05:00

Well, this has been a week from hell at our house. We have had a stomach bug - doesn't even begin to do it justice - floating around the family. I won't go into all of the gory details - believe me you don't want to know - but it was BAD! It started Monday night with me. I had multiple symptoms - if you know what I mean - and a fever that got up to almost 102. Later, I would find out that my mom had been sick all day on Monday. Nana ended up picking Riley up from school on Tuesday afternoon and letting Riley stay with her that night to keep her away from it. Ben tried to stay as far away from me as possible, but it didn't work. Tuesday night / Wednesday morning at 3:00 a.m., he woke straight up from a deep sleep with it himself. He had it even worse than me. So, after taking care of him for a few hours, I packed up some stuff for me and Riley and went to stay with her at Nana's house, all the while going back and forth to our house taking care of Ben. Luckily, Nana just lives right around the corner - literally! Well, Thursday morning we wake up at Nana's and she's not feeling well, so I call Ben, he Lysols our entire house and Riley and I head back home. I think Nana is feeling better this morning, but it seems to get worse with each person, so I hope everyone else has avoided it. So far, Riley has not gotten it, so please keep praying that she won't. I cannot even imagine a 4 month old having what we did. I have really spared you the details, but it was absolutely the sickest any of us have been. (Sorry Ben and Nana!) In case you didn't notice from this post, apparently, I just give it to people and then run off and leave them : ) I really do feel horrible about giving it to Ben and Nana. I'm not sure where this "bug" originated, but I am cursing that person every second still.

On top of all of that, Riley has had drainage (supposedly that's all it is), so she's got a yucky nose and is coughing. She doesn't seem to be too upset by it, but we have to keep suctioning her nose so she can breathe (daddy's gotten real good at the suctioning). At first, she really hated it, but she's gotten kind of used to it now, bless her heart. Now, she has to go to the doctor today to get shots. I absolutely hate it when she gets shots. I HATE IT! It hurts, so she cries until she can't breathe and then she doesn't feel good after that. Poor baby! I guess she'll get really spoiled tonight. Ummm, as if she's not usually spoiled?! : )

Well, I hope everyone else's week has been much better than ours. Maybe the next post will be a much happier one.

A Few "Firsts"

2008-03-25T09:50:00.005-05:00

Riley had a great first Easter! We went to Huntsville to go to church with Gran and Pop and then went to Aunt Nay Nay's to meet up with the rest of the family for an Easter celebration and to celebrate mine and Jill's birthdays. Sarah Grace was really loving her cousin Riley and I think Riley liked her pretty well, too. Riley was so patient while we took SO many pictures of them. Have you ever tried to get 2 small children to look at the camera and smile at the same time?! Well, we never accomplished it. What we should have had pictures - or video - of is the adults trying to make them look and smile. It was quite amusing!

The other first for Riley has a tooth starting to come in! We just discovered it last night and that explains why she hasn't been acting quite right lately. She hasn't been bad - just sleeping restlessly and not taking her bottles regularly. I can't believe she's already getting a tooth. The time just flies by. I know everyone always says that, but you don't realize it until you're there. It's only been 4 months, but I can't believe she was ever 6 lbs. 10 oz. We had someone bring their baby to work the other day and she was a little over 7 lbs. and I just looked at her and swore Riley was never that little. It's amazing how you forget.

I'm posting a few pics from the weekend. To see them all, go to http://thehabsheys.shutterfly.com/

The Things Riley Does

2008-03-19T08:36:00.018-05:00

She sits in her Bumbo seatShe sucks her thumb
She talks to the bird on her play mat

She kicks the bird on her play mat

She goes for walks with her Gran
These are some of the things that Riley does these days! Isn't she cute?!

Also, here are some pictures that her Aunt Nicole took a few weeks ago.

Our familySweet baby girl

With her Uncle Eric

With her Great Grandfather, "Pop"

With her proud Daddy

Riley Did Very Well!

2008-03-18T08:37:00.005-05:00

Well, Riley's first day of school went really well. I called to check on her twice and Daddy went up there to look in on her once. When he got there, she was laying on the little gym mat kicking and laughing at all the toys hanging above her head. Everytime I called they said she was doing great! When Ben picked her up, they said she didn't make a peep all day except for her happy noises. When Ben brought her home, I read the sheet that they send home and it said she had good naps and took her bottles normally. At the bottom of the sheet there is a section for additional comments for the teachers to write anything extra and one teacher wrote "We (heart) Riley = )" with the heart and little smiley face after it! I thought that was awesome. I think she's going to be the class favorite : )

Since I was such a bad Mommy and forgot to take a picture of her first day, I had Ben take a picture of us before they left this morning, so this is her 2nd day of school picture. It's not a good picture of me, but you get the point!
I guess it's good that we are getting into our new daily routine, but boy is it hectic. Ben says it's like we're in the Army and he's right! Good thing I'm fairly organized or it would be disaster.

Fairly short update, but wanted to let everyone know how her first day went.

Riley's First Day at "School"

2008-03-17T10:32:00.008-05:00

(I've told Ben that we are referring to it as "school" because it makes me feel better, so when you ask me about it make sure you say "school". Like I said, it makes me feel better : ) )

I know I haven't been blogging much, but I'm going to try to be better at it. I will just give you a general update on what's been going on with us.

Today is Riley's first day at school. She did fine, but mommy had to cry just a little bit. I went on Friday to meet with her teacher and introduce her to Riley and, I must say, that I couldn't love her more. She is an amazing person and this is an amazing place (Kingwood Christian Childhood Development Center)! Riley actually loves going places and being around people, so I think she'll like it. Of course, by 9:15, I'd already called to check on her : ) I would've taken a picture to document her first day, but I'm a bad mommy and I forgot the camera. Oh well!

Our weekend: I took Friday off and spent the day with Riley. Like I said, she loves to get out and do things - like mother, like daughter - so we went to up to her school, to see daddy at work, to Harbert to say a quick hi to everyone and then met Mandi at the mall for lunch and shopping. Riley was an absolute angel the whole time. She just smiles and talks and has a great time. Friday night, Ben and I went out to eat to celebrate my birthday, so Riley stayed with Nana and Papa for a little while. Dinner was awesome and it was nice to spend a little time alone. On Saturday, we just had a family day at home playing and taking a walk, then we went to dinner with our friends Kelli and Neal and their daughter Lanie Mae. We don't get to see them much, so we had a great time and Lanie Mae just loved Riley. On Sunday, Riley and I went shopping again. It was so nice outside that we went to the Summit. She, of course, loved it and was an angel again.

Riley has still been sleeping through the night - well, most of the time. Daddy would beg to differ since her schedule was messed up yesterday and she woke up at 3:30 this morning wanting a bottle. It was daddy's night to listen for her - lucky me!

This weekend we are going to Huntsville for Easter. That should be a lot of fun! We are not going to waste any time starting holiday traditions, so we'll be dying eggs this week. I'm sure that daddy is really looking forward to that. Riley already has an Easter basket ready for to be filled by the Easter bunny. My childhood was filled with wonderful traditions and I am excited about all of the traditions we are going to create with Riley.

Riley is really a lot of fun to be with. She has started talking a lot and she's just always so happy. She has started laughing a lot and it is just too cute.

I'll write more after our trip to Huntsville for Easter. I'll leave you with Riley's first picture with the Easter bunny. I know - she looks like Ben sitting there!!! I've been told a million times. Good thing daddy is so cute ; )

Another 'Milestone'

2008-03-05T09:38:00.002-06:00

Riley laughed for the first time last night. I mean, truly laughed. She's been doing this little 'heh' laugh, but Gran made her really laugh for the first time. It was so cute!

This is a very short update, but just had to add it : ) Hopefully, we'll hear more and more of those sweet laughs.

A Great Weekend!

2008-03-03T13:39:00.003-06:00

I have to say that this was one of the best weekends I've had since I can remember. (Please bear with me here because I will now begin to brag on my daughter.) I spent a lot of time with Riley and she was a perfect angel. I know that I'm probably setting myself up here for her to act up, but she really has been great lately and I couldn't ask for a better baby. Friday night she slept for 10 1/2 hours, which was awesome and Saturday, Nana and I took her to the Cottontales Village. There were so many babies there, but everyone seemed to notice Riley. Maybe it's because she was talking to everyone as they passed us or maybe it was that cute bow in her hair : ) She had her shirt on with her name on it and everyone would go 'oh, there's Riley again'! A few people asked if they could take her home. We were there for 3 1/2 hours and she didn't fuss one time. Sunday morning we just hung out and had a few long conversations, then I took her to the mall and, same thing, people were saying how cute she was - this time no bow, so I don't think it was that : ) She was again talking to everyone. I wonder where she gets this talking thing from ; )

Also, on Saturday night, Mandi, Jason, Eric, Laura and Ben surprised me for my birthday. We got together at Laura's for steaks from Mr. P's - my favorite! We had a great time, as usual. Thanks, guys!

Today it's back to work : ( I'm beginning to adjust, but having such a great weekend with Riley really makes me miss her. She got into the day care that we had applied for, so she'll start on March 17th. I know she'll steal their hearts!

Isn't the picture of Riley just so cute?! I got a lot more bows this weekend, too. Whenever Gran sees Riley with a bow in her hair she says "Look! It's Ben with a bow!" At least she has my eye and hair color.

Back to Work : (

2008-02-19T13:18:00.006-06:00

Well, it's been great being home with Riley for the past 12 weeks, but I finally had to go back to work. Riley is fine, of course, it's mommy that is having a hard time. She's so sweet and talkative in the mornings and that makes it even harder to leave her. I held her so much on Sunday just because I knew I would miss her on Monday. Last night, I slept on the couch holding her for a while just to get in some quality snuggle time : ) The day care that we have chosen doesn't take infants until they are 16 weeks old, so Gran (my mom) and Nana (my MIL) are helping out for a while. Gran has been here since Sunday afternoon and her and Riley have been having a good time. She will be keeping Riley on Mondays and Tuesdays. I'm sure Gran is ready to get home so she can rest. She's really been helping out a lot - as usual. Nana will be keeping Riley on Wednesdays and Thursdays and I think she's really looking forward to spending time with Riley. I don't know what I would do without their help. They are both great grandmothers. Of course, we can't forget about Pop (my dad) and Papa (my FIL).

We've caught Riley sucking her thumb a couple of times. Of course we think it is so cute, but we really don't want her to get in the habit of it. I sucked my thumb and so did Gran and Nana, so she's probably destined to be a thumb sucker. It's going to be so hard to break her of it one day - if it happens.

Pop and Gran bought us a web cam so that they could see Riley whenever they want. In true Pop and Gran fashion, they must do for all children what they've done for one, so... now the whole family has webcams. Even Glenda and Fred went and bought one and Jill and Tim already had one. It's been an interesting week with everyone calling each other on Skype. It's fun, though.

It wouldn't be right to have a post without a picture of Riley, so here you go...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T16:42:00.003-06:00

Riley is "Single and Loving It" : ) Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!! One little bit of news... Riley slept in her crib in her own room for the first time last night. My little girl is growing up : )

Gotcha!

2008-01-29T10:48:00.000-06:00

I finally caught Riley's smile on camera! She looks kind of drunk, but it's a smile. It seems like every time I would try to catch it on camera, she would stop smiling, but I finally got it. I'm also posting a new video of her "talking". She's really starting to do this a lot and it's so cute!

Doctor Visit

2008-01-29T10:39:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why they call it a "visit" because it's not really much fun and, when you visit someone, isn't it supposed to be fun?! She had to get 4 shots. It was so pitiful that mommy even cried. She weighed 12 lbs and was 22 inches long. That puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. The doctor recommended putting some oatmeal in her nighttime bottle and, WOW, she slept from 9 pm until 5 am. The books all say that it doesn't work, but apparently it does!! I just hope this continues. It sure would make me feel a little more rested.

We had to give her some Tylenol so that she wouldn't feel so bad. It's pretty easy giving medicine to an infant. I'm sure that will not last, though : ) It was grape flavor and smelled like it would taste really good. Why didn't they have those flavored meds when I was little?! Well, I think they did, but it wasn't the same. They have like 100 different flavors now that the pharmacist can add to any medicine.

Since she didn't feel good, Ben decided to put her in the bath tub with him. (Sorry, no pic of that : ) ). It was so sweet and she loved it! It really relaxed her and she went straight to sleep in his arms afterwards.

Exciting News!

2008-01-27T08:58:00.000-06:00

Well, OK, it's only exciting if you're the parents of a newborn, but Riley slept all night last night. Granted it was 4 am when she woke for her bottle, but to us, that's all night. I'm praying that it wasn't just a fluke and that she'll continue to do it.

We had the gang over last night for dinner (Eric, Laura, Mandi, Jason, Jacob and Kaleb). Jason wore the kids out playing before they came, so they were pretty calm. They actually sat and read Riley's books for a good while. We had a great time! To let you know how lame we are now, the highlights of the night for me were Eric talking to Riley (and her talking back) and him reading her "There's a Wocket in My Pocket", and Jason giving Riley her bottle. Jason has definitely not lost his touch. In fact, I think it's about time for another little one for them : ) I won't bore anyone with all of the other details of the night, but as usual we had a great time. I am posting a few pics from last night along with Ben and Riley napping yesterday and our visit from Nana and Papa.

A Spoiled Little Girl

2008-01-26T06:51:00.000-06:00

We made another trip to Gran and Pop's house in Huntsville. As usual, Riley wasn't lacking for attention. To prove this, I've included a picture of Jeanie, Pop, Gran and Aunt Nay Nay (Glenda) gathered around her crib watching her "talk" to her turtle. This is not an unusual occurance, by the way.

This visit to Huntsville was to celebrate Pop's birthday. We all went to Rosie's for dinner on Wednesday and it was delicious. A trip to HuntsVegas just doesn't seem right without at least one meal at Rosie's. I still need to ask them when they are going to open one in Birmingham : )

We had several visitors while we were there. Of course, Aunt Nay Nay was there everyday. We like to time it where she can change a dirty diaper and we succeeded once. Other visitors to the house were Aunt Jeanie, Jill and Sarah Grace, Eddie and Kyla, Sheri and Chason, and Cathy and Sophie. I think Chason is going to be a good babysitter one day, Sarah Grace was a little too busy to pay much attention to Riley, and Sophie was a lot more talkative than I expected. She really took up with Pop, so he couldn't resist giving her one of the Big Birds that they always keep around. (Have I ever said how much those things get on my nerves?!) Cathy called the next day and said that Sophie insisted on taking Big Bird everywhere she went that day. We are so glad she liked it so much.

Gran always takes care of Riley's night feedings while I'm there. It is SO nice to get a full night's sleep. Well, I have to admit that I do get up sometimes to "check" on them : ) It seems that every time we are there, Riley sleeps for longer intervals than she does at home. I kidded that I was going to leave her for a week so Gran could train her to sleep longer. Well, lo and behold, she slept longer last night after I brought her home. Yay! We are so ready for her to sleep through the night, but I'm afraid we have a while to go.

I know this post is getting long - and boring - so I'll end it with the pics from our visit.

A Great Night with Great Friends

2008-01-20T17:46:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, this post is not about Riley : ) Ben and I went on our first date since we had Riley and it was such a great night! Some of us had a little more fun than others, but we all had a great time. We went to eat and to see the Foo Fighters with Mandi, Jason, Laura, and Eric. We ate at P.F. Chang's which was great! The concert was awesome!! Everyone knows how much I love music and live concerts especially, and it's been a long time since I've been to such a great concert. They were awesome and we were front row when they came out on the stage that was off of the catwalk. I love acoustic shows and that's where they did their acoustic set, so it was perfect for me. The picture was taken with Ben's phone, so it's not the best quality, but you can see how close we were. Of course, we had to make our usual stop at Waffle House before we came home.

I'm going to post more pics when Eric sends me the ones from his camera.