Riley Makes Me Laugh - A LOT!

Mommy I can't wait to go to school because someone's going to ask me out. They are going to say 'ohhhh look at that pretty girl'

I think we should get some spoiled eggs at the grocery store
(I think and hope she meant boiled eggs)

Mama, are you going to take Taylor with you to work.
No sweetie I would really like to take both of you, but Tom says I can't because then I wouldn't get any work done.
Well Mom, I can be boring with you.

"Mama when I grow up I want to work with you - I can be the mailroom girl"
(and we have no mailroom girl - it's just a room with a copy machine, file cabinets, postage meter, and some hole punches - which happen to be her favorite, she could 2 hole and 3 hole punch for a good 30 minutes probably and not get bored).

I hear her fussing around so I tip toe into her room and see she's uncovered and wearing a nightgown and must surely be cold. I cover her up and she says "I don't want covers" and not in a nice tone of voice by any means. She then wakes up, rolls over and sweet as can be says "Mama, I'm cold"

"Mama, want to play tug of roll"

"Ummm, Mama, this, is the best, chocolate pudding ever, it's just delicious"
please insert small bites at every comma followed by lots of lip licking

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!