Cute Video

Well, I tried to take a video on my camera for the first time today. Riley was very happy to be in the video. He just happened to have the hiccups and I must say he has the cutest hiccups I have ever heard. It's a little longer than I thought it was, so don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing. Also, since this is my first video on my camera I didn't realize that I was holding it wrong. Sorry my child is sideways, it was supposed to be the other way. Be sure to watch his little legs, I think he might be an excellent bike rider.

Enjoy!

Some random stuff and a trip to Tyler

Last Wednesday we had small group at Allison and Justin's and Riley thought he would come out and "play" for a little while. This was his second time to small group and he did get a little bit more adventurous. The first time he was no fun and slept in his carseat the entire time.
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Here is Riley with Alli. He is sitting/laying on top of his future best friend Jake and his future wife Mallory. They are supposed to come out and play on August 15th. Riley can't wait to meet them!

Last week Russell was busy with a football camp from about 12:00 to 4:30 everyday. So on Thursday I asked Aunt Rachel if she could come over and watch him in between feedings so I could get some laundry, cleaning and packing done before we left for a week. Aunt Rachel never turns down a chance to play with Riley. and as you can tell by this picture they played so hard they both needed a nap! I got Riley a new bath thingy last week and I think he likes it a lot. He had a bath on Saturday before we left for Tyler and he was pretty much like this the whole time.
If you haven't figured it out by now this is not Russell blogging. Russell is gone for the week on a golfing trip with his dad and some other people. They started this tradition the summer we got married and Russell looks forward to it every year. Here is Riley and Daddy before they headed out on Sunday. Since Russell was going to be out of town all week I am staying with my parents in Tyler. My sister and her kids are still in Texas and so we are having a great time! Here is Riley sleeping in his bed at Nana and Poppy's. This was Caleb's old bed and bedding.

Riley has gotten to spend lots of quality time with Aunt Bekah. Here they are at church on Sunday. I think she has the magic touch when it comes to getting Riley to sleep.
Since there are a few of us at my parents house Caleb and Hannah are in one room while Bekah, Riley and I are in the other room. Here are Aunt Bekah and Riley cuddling before bed one night. She is such a great sister to not only share a bed with me, but she even stays up late with me for the late night feeding and even volunteers her help for the middle of the night feeding and early morning feeding! Thanks for being such a great help sis!
Here is a close up of how much Riley likes cuddling with Aunt Rebekah.
My sisters kids are totally obsessed with cousin Riley. When we got here on Saturday they asked is Riley had missed them and had cried because they were there. They love to hold him, kiss him, pat his head and talk to him. Hannah is only 4 years old and she already has a great talk to baby voice. I think I will try to get a video of it before we leave it is just adorable. Here are Riley and Hannah laying on Granny's bed. We have been here since Saturday and I don't have a picture of Caleb holding Riley because I always seem to be taking a nap when that happens. I do happen to have a picture of Caleb holding cousin Norah though. I think Saturday was the first time I had seen Norah's pretty eyes.
Here is Riley getting a bath from Aunt Bekah and her fabulous assistant Hannah!

Since both grandparents live in Tyler Riley got to spend some time with his Grammy yesterday on her day off. Aunt Rachel came into town as well since Annette is all on her own this week with Randy on the golfing trip. I failed to get a single picture of any of the festivities. We had lots of fun though. We went and ate Mexican food for lunch and then we came back to house I got to take a nap and Riley "played" with Grammy and Aunt Rachel.

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Ok now here is the funniest part of the whole post...Last night after we put my sisters kids to bed and Riley had eaten my mom, Bekah, and I made a quick shopping trip to Kohls to make good use of a coupon that was going to expire. I left Riley and Poppy watching the Rangers. I figured Riley would be ok with that because he was probably going through Rangers withdrawal since daddy wasn't home for them to watch games together. Well, when we got back they were pretty much in the same spot that we left them in. All you need to do is look in front on the snuggler to see how Poppy handles a diaper change when the women are not around. Now let me give you a close up. Poppy couldn't find the changing pad or should I say didn't know there was one in the diaper bag so he improvised with some newspaper. Luckily he found the diapers and wipes and I didn't come home to find my child wrapped in a dishrag or something. My sister asked dad if he was trying to paper train Riley.
I would say over all Poppy makes a great babysitter.
Since we are only halfway through our stay in Tyler I am sure there are more great tales to come!

Riley is 5 Weeks Old

Alright, it is time to put up some more pictures of everyones favorite Riley. It has been 5 weeks since Riley came into this world, and it is finally obvious to me that he is growing. It took a while for me to see it, but I can tell he is much bigger now than 5 weeks ago. He seems to be a little more aware of what is going on around him. I don't really have much to add, but with the following pictures, I don't think I really need to say much.

Riley was a month old on the tenth, so Sarah took his month old pictures, and has decided that this mini Rangers bat will be the constant in all growth pictures. That way we can truly see how much he has grown from month to month and year to year. At first he didn't really seem to hip to the idea.
Then he decided he should just chill. That might be the best way to get to the end of the photo session.
There must have been a bottle of milk on the table. He doesn't seem interested in the camera.

That's it for now. Hope all is well, and maybe we can get some more pictures up before the weekend.

Just a few random things...

So I know that I have allowed Russell to take over the blog, but there are just a few things I wanted to say and I thought I could also put on some cute pictures.

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Let's start off with the fact that after 4 weeks of being a mom I love everything about this new title. I have been a lot of things over my 25 years, but Mom is going to be my favorite! I must admit that the middle of the night feedings and the occasional crying sessions do wear on me, but that doesn't change how much I love him. I didn't think it would be possible to love Riley this much, but as I told Russell the other day I am pretty sure that every time I look at him I love him a little bit more. I mean, how can you look at this picture and not love this little guy.

On Monday Riley's honorary Aunt Allison came to meet him. She is going to be having a little one of her own in Janurary. I can't wait to meet him or her.This is Riley's favorite sleeping position. I think he might dream of little frogs all the time.
The week I was supposed to have between the end of school and Riley getting here I had a few things I was going to finish. Well, as we all know I didn't have that week because he got here a little early. Finally after 4 weeks I finished the last of the room decorations. I think they turned out rather well even if the bows are a little messy. He's a baby and a boy so I am pretty sure he won't ever care.
Now onto the most important part of this blog...

Riley's Daddy

Here are just a few great things about Riley's dad:

*He doesn't complain when he has to get up in the middle of the night to change his diaper before I feed him.

*Riley loves to cuddle with his daddy.

*Riley loves to watch the Rangers with his daddy.

*I wouldn't have made it through the last 4 weeks if it hadn't been for Russell. He has put up with a few tears, probably a little bit of an attitude every now and then, and he lets me take naps whenever I need one.

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I have been so thankful to have Russell here with me everyday. I think it has made the adjustment to parenthood easier than it could have been. Thanks for everything you have done for me honey and all the ways you have been there for me. I can't wait to see all the things you and Riley do as he gets older.

Road Trippin' and Picture Takin'

For not yet being 4 weeks old, Riley has been a busy little boy. He told me earlier this week that he was getting a little bored being stuck at home with just me and his mommy, so we talked about something we could do. We settled on taking a little trip to East Texas. We spent a couple of days seeing friends and family, and Riley got to put some faces with names he had heard. We started our trip by heading to Gilmer so that Riley could meet Great Grandparents. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive which Riley handled very well. Once there, he was a little hungry, so he didn't put on a very good show for Mimi initially. But after he got a full belly he was much more willing to talk, or sleep.

Sarah's sister Rebekah was spending the week in Gilmer while shuttling Caleb and Hannah to Camp for day camp. And since we were there, Luke and Katie brought Norah over so that all of the cousins were able to hang out together.
Hannah loves to hold Cousin Riley.
On Wednesday night Sarah took Riley over to her parents house for a few minutes and Granny got to spend some time with newest great grandson.
On Wednesday, after spending a few hours in Gilmer, our family of three made our way to my parents house in Tyler. This was the first time that my parents had a grandchild at their house, and it was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were Snickers, Reese's, Starbursts, and M&M's in our room. There was ice cream in the freezer WITH, not Hersey's syrup, but real hot fudge. There were freshly made molasses cookies. For breakfast on Thursday mom made chocolate chip muffins. Where did all of this come from? We VERY rarely had this stuff in the house when I was growing up. And even then it would only be one of these. Now, I realize that none of this was done for Sarah or I. In fact, my parents, especially my mom, have made no secret about how they plan to spoil Riley. But I think she forgot one thing...Riley is 25 days old. He only likes to partake in milk from Mommy. Nothing else. So if this is the start to the spoiling, I think me and Sarah are in for some big time trouble after Riley spends a week with his grandparents. But there is no doubt he will have a great time every time he goes and visits them.
Riley spent two nights in the very same crib that I slept in when I was a baby. It was made by my Great Grandad. Funny story to go along with it. He made it before my parents were to get married, and wanted to give it to them as a wedding present. But I think somebody told him that may not be the correct time to give a baby crib to somebody.
I was really excited for my favorite member of my parents house to meet Riley. That's right, Wally the dog. He was fascinated with Riley. He tried to get as close as he could to anyone who was holding Riley. I decided Wally deserved a formal introduction, so I sat on the floor and let Wally get a good sniff of Riley. I imagine a year from now Wally may not want anything to do with Riley. But I hope they become best friends.

Riley knew that July 4th was a very important day, and wanted to prove he wasn't a communist, so he went out and bought this patriotic outfit to wear. He wasn't in the mood for picture taking though.
For the 4th my grandparents Louie and Marolyn as well as my Uncle Dayne, Aunt Martha, and Cousin Mason made the trip to my parents house for a celebration. We had hotdogs and brownies and had a good time. Here is Grandma with Riley, where he slept for a very long time.
We came back from Tyler last night to prepare for Riley's professional photography debut. The great Debbie Riggs, along with her equally great assistant Mark were in town and just dying to take Riley's baby pictures. You may know Debbie's work from events such as "Russell and Sarah's Engagement Pictures", "Russell and Sarah's Wedding", as well as "Sarah's Maternity Pictures with Russell". Obviously we are fans of her work. I have a feeling that "Riley's Baby Pictures" may be some of her best work yet.
Riley was absolutely perfect all day. Other than when he gave Mark an up-close look at what he had for breakfast, he had zero problems. He was wide awake for his indoor morning session, and quietly asleep for his outside afternoon session. I don't remember him crying once. I think after Riley's session, his photographers were big fans of his.
It was a great few days for our family. We were busy, but got to see lots of family and friends. Riley was great for all to see, but I think he is glad to be home. We are excited to hang out at home for a little while, but ready to see what new things Riley will experience next.

Cousin Time!

Riley is 3 weeks old today. He celebrated by sleeping ALL day. Seriously, he has been awake for 28 minutes today. I am prepared to be very tired tomorrow, for I am sure he will spend the night awake. Oh well, I don't have to go to work for another 6 weeks, so I am not complaining. Yesterday Luke and Katie came to show off their new prize, Norah. This was the first meeting between the cousins who were born just 5 days apart. Many pictures were taken. The two of them were so excited they could hardly stand it. Just look.

Careful with the hand-holding. This isn't Arkansas.
In case you can't figure it out, Riley is on the left, Norah on the right.
Brother and sister showing off their beautiful babies.

We are taking off on our first road trip tomorrow. Sarah's grandparents have yet to meet Riley, so we are headed to Gilmer to show him off to what I am sure will amount to a slew of Deans. Then we will go to Tyler for a couple of days for some golf and general hanging out with grandparents. I'm sure it will be a splended time. We will be coming back here Friday and on Saturday Riley will make his professional photography debut when the great Debbie Riggs will take baby pictures of him. I'm sure the camera will love him. I'll fill you in on all the greatness sometime this weekend.