Riley Addison~1 Year Later

How amazing you're already OneWhat a precious person you've become

My baby girl is 1 today....its sooo surreal! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, and I cant imagine her not being here! She has filled this last year for our family with joy and laughter, and being able to see the things through an eye of a little one again! Riley is a strong little girl already, she knows what she wants, she picks up on things in no time, and she just loves to be loved! She is walking, starting to talk, is interested in whatever the grown ups are doing, and drinking milk! I just cant even put into words how much I love this little girl, and how truly blessed we are for our healthy 1 year old! I cant wait to see what the year brings for us!

Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much Riley Roo, we hope you have a great 1st birthday celebration!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful this Thursday for....

All of the great hand me down toys and clothes everyone sends up!!! Riley loves them all, and we are soo blessed to have such generous friends and family!! Thanks Shannon, Cousin Jennifer and everyone else who sends things Riley's way!

and my cute baby girl...that loves bubble bath and good smelly soap just like her mom!

Riley's 9 Month Milestones

Since Ive been a bad blogger, I want to make sure I get to Rileys 9 month update before we enter her tenth month. It seems these days she keeps me soooo busy, the months are just flying by!

Our little girl has grown from a newborn to baby, to now almost a toddler in front of our eyes. She is quiet defiant and had her very own opinionated personality!! I think we are going to be in trouble with this one! Here are a few new pics and a list of what she is up to!

~Crawling like CRAZY and into everything that isnt toy or baby related, such as the outlets, dog dishes, computer stand, vacuum cleaner, VCR until Daddy put tape over it!
~Starting to eat "people" food. She has tried waffles, pancakes, cheese, jello, french fries..she is a great eater, and we are still plugging away with homemade baby food! This time of year has been nice because she is getting fresh, homegrown veggies from every ones gardens!
~Has her own Baby language, and loves to talk!
~Is growing like a weed, some outfits are 12 months already!
~After crawling gets boring, she pulls herself up on whatever is near and she can get her paws on. She can go down the couch all the way, and pretty much get anywhere she wants if there is something she can hang onto. We have even caught her standing with no hands for a few seconds!
~Still only has 2 bottom teeth, but the top 2 are visable and ready to come through!

Its truly amazing watching this little baby that was growing in my belly last summer, become this little girl. We are sooo blessed, and I thank god every night when I lay her down to sleep for such a happy and healthy baby girl!

Enjoying a popsicle on a HOT summer day!

Mommys atempt at trying to get Riley to sit still for a photo shoot! It doesnt work!

She already had wheels under her...and knows how to use them!

Loves the pool!

Known as the bull dog face...this really cracks us up!

Moving on Up...Out with the Old!

Riley is offically not a baby-baby anymore...or atleast she is now out of her infant carrier. Although I think she likes the big car seat better, its weird carrying her into all the stores and such. There will be days that I will miss that carrier, but days that I wont miss lugging it around, because 25 pounds on my arm was getting pretty heavy! She of course was very curius of her new seat, she seems to really like it! It just seems weird putting the carrier away because its been such a part of out daily lives, but it will be nice to put another big baby thing away! How time flies!

Enjoying her new digs!

Rileys 1st doctors appointment, less than a week old...look at all the room she had in there!

Today, saying good bye! Yeah, Mom is kinda lame because she is documenting this with pictures and sad to see it go!

Happy Birthday Shannon!!!

I just want to send birthday wishes out to my oldest best friend Shannon. Now that we are both into our mid twenties, and have families we are not faced with birthdays that are always special, but less over the top like we were when we were kids. But our birthdays dont go by without us thinking of the memories that we made sharing our birthdays together!! So today, Riley, Grandma and I went to Sylvan Beach, and we shared Canoli Ice Cream just for Aunt Shannon! I couldnt ask for a better best friend and god mother for Riley!! Even though we are 150 miles apart, we still manage to keep in contact and be part of each other daily lives!! I just wish we could spend more of these birthdays together doing fun stuff with our kids!!


So HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT SHANNON!! WE LOVE YOU AND WE HOPE YOUR HAVING AN AMAZING DAY! And...thanks for sharing the Canoli ice cream with us!!



Riley is enjoying her new favorite outfit from Shannon too!

Just Sharing!!

I know, I know, Ive been a bad blogger...here are a few pics to keep you interested and I will give a big update soon!! I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying summer!

**Riley really love the pool**

My God Bless You..Kayleigh Anne Freeman

A few weeks ago, my dearest Shannon(fellow blog lover) sent me a link to this blog about a little girl that was born premature. http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

I wont go into a lot of details, as you can read the blog. But after many, many surgeries, Kayleigh has taken her journey to be with the lord. When I got on to check her blog on Monday, my heart ached for her parents, and through the tears streaming down my face, I realized how much this miracle has touched me personally alone with the other thousands of people that have been following her story. The faith, strength and courage that her parents have in the lord is amazing to me! After finding our church last week, and following Kayleigh's story, I really feel closer with god and all the amazing things he does. And I have taken manyu extra moments to give Roo an extra squeeze and kiss!

So today in honor of Kayleigh, Riley and I sent a pink balloon into the air. This story has really touched me, and I dont think too many days will pass without thinking of Kayleigh and her amazing family! I know that she is in the heaveans above, enjoying being a little girl, and watching down on all of us! My god bless you Kayleigh, and may you know how much of a little miracle you are, and how many people love you!

and a few other updates for the past Weekend!

Besides mothers day we did have a very busy weekend!

Saturday Riley and I were on the road early to run errands, pick up her organic veggies for another batch of bananas and squash, a Babies R Us run, and then to Keara (Carrie's daughters) First Communion Party. We had a great time, it was nice to visit with everyone, have some of Carries awesome meatballs~which she is famous for, and see Keara darling all dressed up!

Then it was over to Travis & Nicoles to meet the new baby Carter! He sure is a cutie! It seems amazing to me that Riley used to be that small. She looked like a toddler compared to him. Im really glad to have another girlfriend in the area with a new baby!

Once we got home, Auntie Elisa was there to visit with Riley for a bit, and it was bed time for both of us, as we were exhausted and had a busy day for Sunday lined up!

Sunday morning we headed to church at 10 am. Kennie and I have been hunting for a new church, first because we really want to visit church on more of a weekly basis because we realize how much a huge part of our life god is, and we want to be closer to him. So while talking with our neighbors(the farmers that we love!), Vickie told me about the church they go to, so we decided to attend with them! It was just the church we were looking for, lots of music, a band playing and a pastor, that puts the bible in our terms, and an actual message! So now that we have found a church, that we love, we will be going on more of a regular basis! In fact, Riley and I went to service on Wednesday night!

After church my parents, grandpa Eddie and brother came over to celebrate mothers day and Moms birthday! Of course the afternoon focused on Riley, but she managed to take a long nap while we had lasagna that my mom brought! She was up for cake and blowing out the candles though! Just when I thought we couldnt possibly do anything else fun for the weekend, we headed down to the neighbors to pick up the 1/4 cow we bought. Its always fun when you head down to the farm!! All the guys were outside hitting golf balls while the mothers sat around chatting and having coffee, the perfect ending to a great weekend!! The weekends are becoming so packed with summer knocking on our door, and Im actually starting to give up on things around the house and spend my weekends enjoying my Riley, and our friends and family!

Grandpa pretending to feed Riley shrimp!

Longie loves her uncle RJ

Paper is her new favorite toy, she grunts while trying to tear it apart!

Loving the adidas hoodie!! (Thanks Cousin Jennifer for all the great hand me downs!!)

Mothers Day 2009

I am truly blessed to be a mother, daughter, sister and a women who gets to celebrate mothers day with her family around her. Being a new mother this year mothers day had a true meaning to it. I hope everyone out there enjoyed their mothers day as much as I did!! And thank you to all who wish me a happy day!

Mothers day cards we sent out his year...My new favorite quote..

"Mothers hold their children's hand for just a little while...and their hearts forever.."

My mothers day gifts from Kennie, Riley and My parents, I love the mug!

Sweet Potato's!!

Riley tried her first bit of real baby food today! This morning, I made sweet potato's and carrots. It was really easy and fun, and Riley even hung out in her high chair while I had everything! There is a ton of it frozen in ice cube trays in the freezer, so maybe in a few weeks I will try squash and a few fruits! Im soo excited to be feeding something organic and homemade to Riley! (and yes those are actual sweet potato's and not yams, hence them not being bright orange!) She did enjoy the sweet potato's, but I think was just unsure of the new taste. Im sure every night she will eat a little more!

Riley Addison...5 Months

Heres a pic of my baby girl at 5 months!! I cant believe we are almost at 1/2 a year since she arrived in our lives! She is a joy everyday, and I love being her Mommy!!

Her new favorite toy "Flower" the car...she loves playing in the grass!

Happy Birthday Maggie Mae

For those of you that dont know Maggie...she was my dog that I received for my 20th birthday from my boyfriend at the time. When Kennie and I moved in together, I couldnt bring Maggie because he already had the girls. So Maggie went to live with my parents. It started it with me telling my mom she was just going to stay there for a little bit. But now 5 years later, Maggie is a permanent fixture at my parents house, and there is no way Im getting her back, Ive tried several times. When I dropped her off that Sunday in September, she was crate trained, slept in her crate every night and was in it if my parents went anywhere. Well the crate is packed away now, and Maggie is the ruler of the house. Sleeps in bed next to my Mom, while my dad is on the couch, sleeps on top of my dad on the couch, is totally spoiled and loved. She has learned numerous new tricks and is much more behaved then when I had her! Exactly the kind of house Maggie needs, and the kind of dog my parents need. So everything worked out in the end, especially for Maggie because she is spoiled rotten now! So her birthday is today, she is 6!! I just remember the day I brought her home from the Amish, when she was just a ball of fur. The funny part about the story is that Kennie happened to be home from California and I ran into him with Maggie, and he was picking on her because she was a funny looking puppy...only if he knew then that he would end up being her Dad! Maggie is defiently settling into mid-age for a dog, she enjoys taking more naps, and lounging around the house, then she used to! And I will have to add a picture of her toy pile...because Im pretty sure she has every dog toy ever made!

Happy 6th Birthday Maggie Mae!!

4 Month Check Up

Yesterday Riley had her 4 month check up...

She weighs 14 1/2 pounds, and is 24 1/4" long...75 percentile for both!

The doctor said she is growing and developing great and is a very strong and determined little girl! She said we can start veggies and fruit in a few weeks!! I am going to attempt to make her food, we'll see how long that happens! But it was a great visit, even the shot didnt effect her too much!

Our Easter

**Wearing the same dress that I did when I was her age! Can you believe that dress is 25 years old!

Other then a great dinner w/family our Easter Sunday was a reminder of how blessed we are and how the lord is part of our everyday lives! Not only do we have Miss Riley to remind us that of everyday, but we have the other miracles he provides us! Grandma Patti also received good news that her last round of chemo went good and the cancer is still staying at bay. It just goes to show you that prayer is healing! We hope everyone else enjoyed their Easter Sunday as much as we did!

A fun and entertaining weekend!

Just when I thought the excitement couldnt get any better...we had a fun and busy weekend!

Here are a few pics!

The Jane Fonda baby...workout headband and leg warmers! This so screams 1985!

Rileys first taste of mashed potato's..Mommys favorite food!

Just being cute...in the outfit from Aunt Kellie!

Riley's First Pool/Hotel Birthday!!

On Friday Riley, Grandma Patti and I attended Keara's(my friend Carrie's daughter) 8th birthday/pool party at the Holiday Inn...needless to say it was her first time to a hotel and swimming! We waited until the pool wasnt too crazy and brought her in! She loved it! I think she is going to be a little swimmer this summer! She was soo good and even enjoyed watching all the crazy 8 year olds while we were just hanging out! It was a great...good Friday! Earlier in the day we ran errands, and stopped at Mike and Stacys...where we enjoyed lunch on the deck with Christopher!

Hanging out w/Grandma in the room and eating pizza!

First Page Complete!

Since Miss Riley was born, Ive been trying to work on her scrapbook, but it just hasnt happened. I got everything organized, got my supplies and had the vision in my head, but every time I sat down I was simply too tired! Well yesterday she went down for her afternoon nap, and I decided to start working. I got the first page layed out when her eyes popped open, but she graciously let me finish! Now that I have 1 page done I am soo much more motivated to get working on more! So hopefully I will have more new pages to post soon!

This is my accomplishment, and below is the sleeping princess while I worked!

Bathing Suit Girl

Here's Riley in her new suit...she has her first pool party tomorrow night for Keara's birthday at the Holiday Inn, it should be quite the experience, as now Mommy has to put on a suit too! I cant wait to take her swimming in our pool this summer!!

This week has been a huge learning week for our little bean. She grabs at everything now, nothing is safe. She pets the dogs, she is eating cereal like crazy, growing like crazy! I feel like she will be a teenager in no time! Here are a few other pics from this week!