I Kind of Feel The Need To Whine

I expected to feel overwhelmed and be crying last week when I went back to work - but I think I handled it pretty well, today not so much.
I expected my baby to be fussy and cranky last week - but she did a really good job.
I did not expect Taylor to be so fussy and cranky this weekend that I called the doctor on Monday to make sure everything was ok.
I did not expect to feel totally helpless and completely overwhelmed.
I did not expect my baby to have her first fever today.
Sigh, I'm tired, I think that's part of the problem, crying babies - even if it's only 15 minutes at a time, will really wear a Mama out!

I'm praying the Zantac will help my baby girl - even if she doesn't have bad reflux, any reflux has to be miserable and I so want to fix her and hopefully the meds will, if that's what's wrong. If she's just a crier, Lord help me, because it's hard feeling helpless!

Pretty Girls

Riley loves to ham it up for the camera - even more so when she's in "costume"!! Here she and Hope are getting read for the pet parade and she gave me a quick "model pose" as she calls it.

Don't mind the ice machine in the background, just focus on the pretty girl and her flowers.

and Taylor - well she's just chillin' with those adorable chubby cheeks and eyes that are surprisingly still blue

Cha-Cha now......

Dance Class has been SO much fun for Riley. She loves loves loves to dance and wiggle and do all the fun stuff they get to do each week. When she found out that she would get to "dance on the big stage" at the Walnut Festival well she started making a list of all the people we needed to invite - and she is so blessed because nearly everyone she invited made the trip to watch her - boy do we have awesome friends!!!

The only bad part about our performance was......it was at noon but we had to be there by 11 so fitting in lunch was a challenge - imagine my surprise though when  my girl was so nervous, I don't think she even touched any of the lunch I packed for her until it was over.....and my girl likes to eat!

Hi Mom!

They did three songs, but were spread out over the whole performance time so we got to see the other kiddos too. This was "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" from Annie. They also did the Chicken Dance which was fun and easy for them.......of course during that one my daughter kept telling the girl next to her that she wasn't on her spot (they tape their names down so they know where to stand), I think she has inherited my Type-A personality!

The finale - and Riley's very favorite was the Cha Cha Slide - boy she thinks that's fantastic!!! She even requested it at a wedding we went to earlier this month and the dj looked at us kind of funny because I'm pretty sure he's never had a 3 year old request it before.

Criss-Cross

How Low Can You Go?

Da Boys

Take one, very dirty, boy who is really not wanting to wait around and take his picture during arm-band night.

Add a Papa Dub
and an Uncle Joey and you have three pretty handsome fellas.

Stuck like glue - I mean caramel

I told you these girls were inseparable this week, but maybe that's because they were stuck together with all that caramel.
And this totally counts as a healthy snack since there is a piece of fruit under all that candy right :)

Hope was the pro at finding the spots with the most caramel, Riley went more for the apple since it was easier to bite off.

Pet Parade

My big girl, the one who isn't fond of animals, was in the pet parade tonight. You can bet I was just as surprised as anyone when she actually walked across carrying the bunny, I was sure she would chicken out. Then I just about fell over when she asked to hold the bunny later, then nearly fainted when she stood in line with all the twenty-some other contestants and their dogs/cats/pigs/bunnies and never once even seemed frightened. Good job Riley Jean!
Here are the country girls getting ready for their big performance - don't you just love the rubber boots with the dress :)
Here they are getting ready to go - puppy Bo, Hope, bunny Splash and Riley. Linda was a thinker and had picked little bouquets for the girls to carry too.

Sweetness - they are just so stinkin' sweet I don't know what to do with them

I love that Bo is wearing a pair of overalls that Hope wore as a baby.

Riley was so intent on not dropping the bunny that she couldn't smile for a pic.

Until she was done walking and were just waiting to hear the results.

I was so proud that Riley was in the parade - imagine how excited we were when they won 5th place - awesome - and thanks Linda & Hope for sharing your pets so Riley could participate, I'm pretty sure our kitty Neo would not have done so well!

Woohoo for Arm Band Night

Two adorable cousins - check

$15 for an armband - check

Hours of fun cousin laughter and running - priceless!

As adults I think we worry about things at carnivals - like losing a kid, like the safety of the rides, like now much cigarette smoke our kids are inhaling because ridiculous adults and super cool teenagers feel the need to smoke around little people, but for kids - well it's just fun and that's awesome.

I've never seen a carnival run quite this way - but they would let the kids ride as long as they wanted (which was good and bad). Seriously they would let it run for awhile, then they'd ask if they wanted to stay on or get off. If they wanted to stay, they got to and didn't have to get off and wait in line again - isn't that weird, but kinda cool for the kiddos.

Yes, they are totally adorable and I'm pretty sure they know it - and they love each other SOOOO much!

I just loved the name of this one "Berry Go Round" - ha isn't that ingeious. We worried they'd get on with someone who spun to fast - not the case, they had a blast!

Again Riley's favorite ride was the "big slide" I think we rode down about 6-7 times in a row. The kiddos went with daddies to start with and then it was the mommies turn. And don't ask how I know that when it starts sprinkling, you shouldn't ride the slide until the stop it because of the weather. All I can say is Linda and I got a cold surprise that ended with wet booties for the rest of the night.

Guess What I Didn't Expect To See

This was my reaction too when I realized our local carnival had a petting zoo - huh, just never quite thought about a petting zoo at a carnival before - but at $1 per person it wasn't too bad. They also had Purell for when you were finished which was great - but the slobber was a little to thick for just Purell so I was glad we had baby wipes to really cut it.

And we didn't just have the normal cast of characters for a petting zoo - you know goats, sheep, etc. We had those plus camels, a white tiger, a jaguar, a lion, a kangaroo, a zebra, monkeys, and even a llama.

The tiger and jaguar were so cute because they were still babies!

This guy - now he would try and eat your hair, don't ask how I know, and he slobbered a whole lot too - he was pretty gross if you ask me.

Riley was trying to be brave while feeding them, they were just so hungry they would run right up to the fence which kind of freaked her out - and then one of the goats stole Hope's little paper cup of food and ate the cup and Riley was done - she didn't even try and feed them after she saw that.

Taylor is Lovin' It!

Taylor says, "It's my first Walnut Festival and I love it. I can't wait until I'm big enough to ride these fun rides with my big sis though but for now the bright lights sure are entertaining me. Guess what - I'm also getting held a lot and snuggled, that's pretty fantastic if you ask me. Next year everyone better watch out though because I'm going to be all over the place and maybe get to ride my first carnival ride."

Yep - I still have blue eyes and dark hair - do you think I'll keep both? My sis didn't now she's a blondie with brown eyes.

Guess What My Girl Rode On

So I know I've mentioned it before - but my girl doesn't love animals - she has always been very hesitant of them, especially dogs. We have to carry her nearly anytime we are outside at Joey's parents house unless they put the dog in her pen. She's even leary of cats - and we have one, I don't get it - she's never been bit, or hurt, but I guess they just aren't her thing - but we're hoping she grows out of that!

Imagine my surprise when she says "I wanna ride the pony" - and I hate to admit this, but my first thought was "yeah it's five bucks, we'll pay that and then you won't ride" - terrible wasn't I. I was totally wrong, she hoped up there and rode like a pro, I was so proud of her.

She was so proud that she was petting him while she was riding!
She knew we were proud, so very proud, you can tell by that little smirk!

Too bad that little arm band didn't cover the pony rides or I'm pretty sure that's where we would have been all night!

Thanks Cousin Ryan for leading my pony that way Cousin Hope and I could ride together!

Work that camera

Hope had to ride the pony too - funny thing is this girl probably has 20 horses at home that she rides all the time - even funnier she rode one in the parade all by herself that same day.

I was so very proud of Riley for riding two times and we can't wait until we can get the girls together to ride at Hope's house soon!! (and maybe Ryan and Linda won't make us pay $5) Hope sure is a good influence on Riley where animals are concerned - first the pet parade and then a pony ride, she'll be a country girl yet ;)