vaca pics!

Pictures from our NY visit, as promised:

Pool fun...

Aaron and Riley

Riley loved swimming with her Daddy

Mommy even got in with Riley some!

Riley in the baby pool

Uncle Ethan decided to hop in!

Indoor fun...

Gracie and Riley
wearing the same outfit that Grandma Kathy gave them!

Riley loved Uncle Ethan's big recliner (who doesn't?!)

Gracie warmed up to Uncle Aaron real fast, she loves him
she even fell asleep in his arms!

Riley playing

even when Riley was inside playing, she loved playing with the pool toys!

Visit with Great Grandpa...

Aaron, Riley, Grandpa Russel, Ethan and Gracie

Riley's first visit to meet her Great Grandpa F

Gracie and Ethan

Lake fun...

Lake Ontario

Emillie and Hannah

skipping rocks!

Mommy pushing Riley in swing

Riley absolutely loves the swing

super woman!

Fun at the hardware store...

Riley loved all the kitties

so did Hannah and Emillie

Riley was a hoot carrying this basket around with knobs in it

Me, Riley, Hannah, Aunt Marlene and Emillie

While I'm happy with the photos we did get, I'm also very disappointed because there were many people we did not get photos of!  We have none of the girls' Grandma and Grandpa F, Aunt Carrie, Aunt Jenn, Great Grandpa Gordy and Betty, Great Aunt Karen and Great Uncle John, Bill, Marge, Amy, Carol, cousin Matt and his family, etc etc.  We saw so many people during our stay in NY but as always, we were busy dealing with Riley and just enjoying the visit, socializing and hanging out.  Our pictures do not capture all that we saw and did but at least you all can get a glimpse into our visit.

Also, if any of our NY family has some pictures of our family from the morning we left (and any other good pics), I would love a copy!  E-mail is fine.  Hint hint...

:)

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA.  We just got back from a wonderful family vacation in upstate NY, visiting with Aaron's family.  We were gone a good 10 days and now it's back to reality!  We've actually been non-stop since getting home Monday night.  (Not to mention, the heat here at home is unreal!!)  I haven't had a chance to even upload our pictures yet.  I have a few on my camera, but most of them are on Aaron's and I'm not even sure what all he took.  It'll be fun going through them.  I hope to get to that this week at some point.

Our vacation was a really nice break away and it was so good seeing Aaron's family.  We did a lot of hanging out, eating great food (especially, desserts!), swimming in the pool and playing indoors and out.  We visited the lake one day and played at the park, and skipped rocks in the water.  We got to go to a carnival one night too!  Emillie and Hannah had a blast.  They had fun with their Grandma and Grandpa and aunts and uncles.  They saw the movie Cars 2 and got manicures with their Aunt Carrie and were spoiled rotten at the carnival thanks to Uncle Ethan and Aunt Jenn!  Grandma and Grandpa treated them to new outfits, and yummy breakfasts.  We visited the hardware store that Aunt Marlene runs and played with all the kitties that live there (Riley was loving it).  Gracie (our niece) is so stinkin' cute.  Riley and her even played together a few times, well briefly.  Mostly, Riley was wondering around (as usual) and keeping Mommy and everyone else busy.  We witnessed Gracie crawling for the first time too!  We had visits from many friends and family members during the course of the week and we appreciated all the goodies you all gave us and the girls.  We had a great time catching up with you all and miss you already.  Thank you for such a great time!

Stay tuned for pictures...

animal crackers

I treated Riley to her very first box of Barnum's animal crackers.

You know the ones that come in the little red box with a string to carry?

We were out running errands and I gave Riley her snacks as usual.

I saw these in the store and had to get them for her to try!

OK, Mommy stole a few too - OK, a handful. 

They were good, but not nearly as good as I had remembered - must be a kid thing.

Riley enjoyed them.  She even roared like a lion before eating them.

Riley played with the box the whole day, carrying it around like it was her purse. 

Riley is 15 mos!

I wanted to update everyone on Riley. 

She just turned 15 months old yesterday.  Her appointment is not until later this month, but I'm guessing she's around 22 lbs.  We'll see if I'm way off!  Ha ha.  She's growing like a weed.  She's so tall.  Everyone we see in public thinks she's older than she is.  I don't know if it's because she has a lot of hair, or is tall or what.  She looks like a full on toddler now.  No baby here! 

Her teeth are growing in so much.  She now has 16 teeth!  We're only waiting on her last 4 molars to come in.  She's still biting on things and curious about what stuff tastes like but in general puts less in her mouth.  She drools less too, ha ha.

Riley's becoming more picky about foods.  From 9 to 12 months old she'd put just about anything in her mouth that you gave her.  She's slowly getting pickier.  If I had to pick favorite foods right now - they'd all be fruit.  She loves blueberries, strawberries, watermelon and grapes.  She eats chicken and cheese well too.  Macaroni and cheese is always a favorite, gee go figure!  She loves avacado, sweet potato and winter squash.  Carrots, peas and green beans, only sometimes.  She loves beans...especially baked beans!  She loves hot dogs.  Ice cream.  Cheerios.  Puffs.  All those snacks, sweets and foods that are "treats" she loves.  Typical toddler.  She loves her milk too.

Books are a favorite.  She's loved books as long as I can remember.  She will sit down and "read" through a book herself.  Flipping pages, talking out loud, pointing, etc.  She now will pick out a book and come over to us and turn around to sit in our lap - basically telling us, "read this to me, now!"  It's really cute.  She loves animals in her books.

Speaking of animals, she loves saying all their sounds.  She knows what a horse, pig, dog, cat, cow, sheep, duck and lion say.  If she doesn't know what an animal says, she'll just "roar."  Dog is the newest one.

She's saying "mama" for a cat now.  It was "at" for awhile, then she started to meow like a cat but it sounded like "ma" instead.  Now she'll say "mama" to a cat.  Maybe she's meowing twice?  I don't know, but I don't like it.  Ha!  I'm trying to get her back to calling it a "at" or meow only once.  I'm mama, not a cat!

She still doesn't say "mama" to me.  Not really.  She can say the word.  I think she's said "mama" and "dada" to my mom when she's watched her and we're not around - but says it to my face rarely.  And now when she says it I get excited, only to notice her looking at a picture of a cat, or talking to Tater or something.  Weird.  Anyway, she's got "dada" down.

Riley likes singing, dancing, and talking more.  She's a little ball of energy and entertainment.  She loves moving.  Loves walking, running, twirling, jumping, swinging, etc.  Any movement.  She rarely sits still.  She cracks up when Aaron throws her in the air.  She loves getting so dizzy and then walking around stumbling.  Aaron calls her a "drunken sailor" when she does that.  It's funny. 

She loves giving kisses, and blowing kisses.  Waving "bye bye" or saying "hi" to people in the store.  Sometimes I'll just see her randomly wave to people.  It's really cute.  Other times she'll shy away, turning her head.  She's not always acting shy but still does at times.

She loves her "blankie."  We use several of the same kind of blanket, but she loves cuddling with it and dragging it around.  She sleeps holding on to it a lot now.  She went through a phase of throwing everything out of her crib, but now she keeps stuff in - not everything, but some things.  I give her books and toys to look at and play with - it gives me extra time when she wakes to sleep in or get things done during her nap time.

Riley has one long nap now, after lunch.  She transitioned to one nap somewhere between 13 and 14 months.  I continued offering her two naps for a good month before deciding she didn't need that second one anymore.  We played limbo for awhile.  One nap suits her now.  She sleeps 2-3 hours in the afternoon and still is down for about 11-12 hours at night.  Her bedtime is still early, 7-ish.

She had her first public tantrum last week, in Target.  I was in an aisle, still shopping, and going to give her some snacks - her Cheerios.  I thought of giving her the little container but changed my mind, I pulled it away from her (not even saying "no" or anything) and was going to hand her some instead - yeah, she didn't like that.  Started crying, screaming and was so mad!  I couldn't do anything during that tantrum.  I literally stood there in the aisle and watched her.  It felt like it lasted forever, but really it was maybe a minute or so.  Finally, she calmed down and I gave her the Cheerios.  I can't hold Riley or comfort her during a tantrum, she just has to have her mad episode and then calm down before we can move on from it.  It was very embarassing for me.  I think I heard someone in the next aisle complaining about her crying.  That typical "shut that baby up!" comment.  Let me tell you.  You can not shut a baby up when they are having a tantrum.  It cannot be done.  Be patient with people in the stores and know that most times the parents are doing the best they can!  I know this isn't always the case.  But I'm a good mother, and my daughter still acts terrible at times.

Riley is so much fun at this age (tantrums aside), but let me tell you she exhausts us too.  I still have to say "no" a lot, but it's getting better all the time.  At least in our house.  She's learning finally that some stuff is a no touch zone.  Aaron just installed more cabinet locks today actually.  She kept getting into too much and we were over using the word "no" for no reason.  It should be better now.

If I forgot anything or you are curious about what she may or may not be doing, by all means - ask me!  I think I hit the main points that I wanted.

Happy 15 months, Riley!

Happy 4th!

Riley is napping right now. 

I am busy blogging away.

Aaron is doing math homework. 

We all are just doing our own thing this 4th of July! 

We're enjoying the quiet day. 

It's very hot and humid outside today. 

We played inside some earlier. 

This morning Riley and I went for a walk and then I stopped at the playground on our way home so she could play some. 

Riley had so much fun swinging!  She didn't want to get out. 

Riley's dress was a gift from our (old) neighbors.  It was too big for Cailyn to wear this 4th of July but fits Riley perfectly!  Thanks again, Beth.

cousin Jackson

Riley got to visit with her cousin, Jackson, on Saturday!  Ian, Julie and Jackson were down visiting my parents for the holiday weekend.  We couldn't miss out on the opportunity to visit with them all.  So, we headed down for a day of relaxation and fun in MD.  Lucky for us, we had Emillie and Hannah that day too - so it was added fun.

We all hung out at the house.  We didn't arrive until close to noon.  By the time we ate lunch, visited some and played, Riley had to go down for a nap.  She didn't wake until 4-ish.  Then we played outside some, took some pictures, had dinner and hung out more.  We left around 8 pm to head home to NJ.  The day flew by, as it always does, but we had such a nice visit all together.  I can't wait for the next visit already!

Uncle Aaron and Jackson

neighbor horses and Mom
(did you know horses love peppermints?!)

Aunt Abby and Jackson

I loved tickling him!!

Jackson looks good in this yellow chair!

so sweet
(Jackson is 8 months old, by the way)

Julie, Jackson and Ian

Riley and Jackson

Emillie, Aaron, Riley, Abby (aka me) and Hannah

Emillie, Riley and Hannah with their Daddy

Aaron throwing Riley in the air

Aaron swinging Riley around

dizzy Riley

Grandma and Jackson

Grandma and Granddad with their grand kids

The results are in...

Thank you to those of you who voted on whether or not to give Riley bangs.  I was so curious as to what you all would say!  The majority of you said to go ahead and give her bangs now.  But a few of you said no, or to wait it out.  It was about half and half.  I was already leaning towards not giving Riley bangs now, to wait and see what her hair does as it grows out.  And, I have to say we're still at that place.  We are not ready to take Riley to get a hair cut yet.  She's only 15 months old!  Why rush it?  I think that we can wait until she is older and I know better what her hair will look like.  I love when Riley's hair is pushed over to the side, or in a barrette.  I am going to keep fighting with putting hair ties and barrettes in her hair for now.  If she takes them out, that's fine.  There are days, or hours I should say, that she keeps them in.  I guess that's a start.  We're trying to "go with the flow."  Crazy hair is our thing right now!

Please don't let my decision discourage any of you from voting in future polls I may have on my blog!  I love hearing your input and seeing what you all think.