random silly pics

Here are some pictures taken of Riley last week.

Riley got this bucket stuck on her

she kept trying to figure out how to get it off!

so funny to watch her.

pretty girl - trying to pull her pigtails out!!

view of pigtails from behind...
she did end up taking her elastics out this day.

It's getting harder to take pictures of her sitting still!!

space cadet

"Hello, Earthlings!"

Emillie's Birthday

Emillie is officially 14 years old!

We celebrated her birthday this past weekend when we had the girls over.

Emillie said she got her new cell phone as her big present.  She didn't have it yet though, as it was arriving in the mail the day after we had them.  I'm guessing that as I sit and write this, Emillie - somewhere, is texting on her new cell!

It's our tradition to take the girls to a restaurant of their choice on their birthday, and they pick what "treat" they want. 

I love baking and have not once baked for the girls on their birthday!  Can you believe it?!  Usually they just order a dessert when we're out.  We don't eat out often (since Riley's been born) so it really is a treat for all of us.  Besides the girls get to have two celebrations every birthday (one with their mom's side and one with us).  They get a cake (or something of the like) with their mom.

Emillie picked the Chinese buffet near us and Rita's (Italian ice) as her "treat."

We had a nice day together, as always. 

Emillie said she had a good birthday.  She kept saying, "I keep forgetting I'm 14!" the day we had them.  It was cute.  I remember that feeling too.  There is so much anticipation for a birthday, and then you just feel the same when it comes.  You have to keep telling yourself your new age, because it's easy to forget!  Haha.

Here are some pictures of our fun day...

Indoors and Out...

 

 

  

Restaurant

Rita's & the mall

Gifts

Happy Birthday, Emillie!

FYI - Email

In my last post I talked about some new features on my blog. One was the "Follow by Email" button.

Yesterday I entered my email address to subscribe, so that I could test it out and report back to you all.

Today I received an email from "the A team" with the newest three posts of mine. It looks like the emails are sent out a day after I make a new post. The email included everything, not just a link. I could read and see pictures very clear from what I had posted. I didn't even have to leave my email to view any of the material. And I love how simple the email format is. I like that I got one email with all three new posts too (since they were posted on the same day), instead of three separate emails. Pretty cool!

There is a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe too. So it makes it easy for you to stop receiving emails from "the A team" at any time.

I encourage you to try it out! Let me know what you think.

Happy Friday, all!

a few new features

Hi all,

I made a few changes to my blog. 

I'm sure you noticed the design change - but maybe you didn't (it depends on how detail oriented you are!)  I kept the style very similar.  I like simple, but pretty too.  I flipped stuff around too - so now my blog archive is at the right.

I added the "Reactions" as a way for my readers to comment without saying much, or even leaving a name.  It's one of the most private ways to comment on my blog.  I won't see who posted a reaction but I'll know that someone read my post and was amused by it.  This feature shows at the bottom of each new post.  Feel free to try it out!

I also added the "Follow by Email" button.  It's on the bottom right side bar of my blog.  If you are tired of checking my blog periodically for updates - just enter your email to subscribe.  By subscribing to my blog, you'll get emails anytime I post something new.  I just added my own email in there today to test it out.  If I find it acts funny, I'll let you know.  I will be the guinea pig.

I can also add your email address manually for you to receive email notifications.  You just need to tell me.  I can add up to ten email addresses myself.

I love comments, as reiterated by my new sign on the top right of my blog.  I really enjoy hearing from family and friends that read my blog.  I like to interact with you all and many times I feel like this blog is one sided.  Your comments and feedback truly help motivate me to keep blogging.

I understand wanting to remain private.  Just remember that under the comment feature you can select "anonymous" when leaving a comment.  You don't even have to put a name if you don't want to reveal yourself.

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Thanks for reading,

XOXO
Abby

the next day...

Today I took some pictures of Riley. 

The day after her first hair trim.

I was able to pull it back into a ponytail too!

(She couldn't quite reach it to yank the elastic out, ha!)

It looked cute. 

Sorry the pictures aren't so great, she wouldn't stop moving!

Riley's Hair

Well y'all, majority rules. 

It only took us a couple months...


Riley's quickly growing, as is her hair.

The back and sides have been looking great, and she even has a cute curl in the back.

Other than that curl, her hair is very straight.  It falls flat.

The way her hair falls into her eyes has completely been driving me nuts! 
(My dedicated readers know this already, as I've mentioned it numerous times now on my blog.)

Riley does not like barrettes in her hair.  (Again, you know this already.)  Even if I'm sneaky when putting them in, she finds them and takes them out - if not immediately, just minutes later.

The only way to keep her hair to the side (which I prefer) is to constantly brush it out of her eyes (or blow it), or use a barrette.  (And her hair does not stay tucked behind her ears yet.)

All these methods have tired me out.

I've been seeing Riley pull at her hair, and even struggle to see at times.  Well, it's just plain ridiculous.

Enough is enough!

Last night, the scissors came out...

BEFORE

hair hanging in her face and eyes

AFTER

there's Riley's eyes!!

amazing.
she can see!

Aaron and I tossed around the idea of going to a salon that deals with children exclusively.  I wasn't ready for that though - and I don't think Riley is either.  The only thing that needed trimming right now was her bangs.  I felt like we could save money and a car ride (and probably a stressful event) by doing it at home.  I trim my own bangs so how hard could it be?  Turns out, it wasn't that hard.  Riley didn't sit still very well - no shock there, so we gave her her usual cup of milk and sat her in her high chair.  We offered her a taste of ice cream (a rare treat) but really she did better just drinking her milk.  It was the evening and she was getting tired anyway.  I'm so glad we decided to trim her hair this way.

There's always that first official haircut at some point.  Maybe when she turns 2 years old, and Aaron is home from deployment we will take her to the children's salon and get her a "real" haircut.  But we'll see.  Time will tell.  It'll all depend on how her hair grows.

For now, I will be trimming my bangs...and Riley's.  And I'm OK with that.  Anything to get that hair out of her eyes!  I already feel like a better parent for letting my child see again.