Boys Will Be Boys

I just had to document this for us to remember in years to come...

We've been having some issues with these tiny red bugs in Riley's bathroom (the exterminator is scheduled to come tomorrow) so we've been bathing him in the "big" tub in our bathroom. For no particular reason we've never really let Riley run around naked or in just his diaper very much. However, since he's walking from his room to across the house for bathtime instead of just right outside his door he has started to get more comfortable with himself. He walks around rubbing his belly and making muscles. Tonight when I put him in the floor he ran over to his toybox then turned around to face Jeremy, Garnet, and I and just started peeing in the floor! Bahahaa! The best part was it scared him half to death and he busted out crying when he started peeing! It was so priceless and hilarious! ...But I sure hope this doesn't scare him off from potty training later.

Baby Talk

I've been meaning to write down Riley's words for quite some time and as usual I've procrastinated a little too long! So I thought I'd make myself a list to remember these special moments. Riley is currently 17 months old. Here are all of the words I can think of at the moment:
1. He-ey! or a quick Hey! accompanied by a wave to complete strangers at the grocery store, mall, etc.
2. Momma-Riley said Momma as his 2nd word (after He-ey!) and until recently he hardly said my name unless he was sick or crying. Now he calls EVERYthing Momma and points to objects as he says "Momma. Momma.".
3. Da Da
4. Bye.Bye. (very quickly)...now he says this often, accompanied by a wave. He likes to say bye bye when he hears you saying "bye" as you hang up the phone.
5. Garnet (our dog)= Gah-neh, Gaw-gey (combo of Garnet and doggy), GaGa All dogs are called Gah-neh and he even calls squirrels Gah-neh!
6. Ruff,Ruff= ruh ruh
7. What does the duck say? "kak kak!"
8. Ava= BayBa
9. baby=Baay-bee (high pitched bee at the end)
10. Carly= Ca-ee....over and over and over. Lately Riley even wakes up saying Ca-ee over and over!
11. Trent=Tit (haha)
12. Grandmomma= Neh Neh
13. Pa Pa
14. School= Cool (every morning when we get to school he calls it "Cool"!)
15. Blue=Boo (he randomly held up his blue sippy cup and said "boo!" yesterday)
16. Green=Geen
17. Yellow is my favorite but I can't describe it well. "Yeah-o"
18. Red=Reh
19. Go Gamecocks!= Go Tay Tock! (almost sounds like Tick Tock)
20. Night Night= Nigh Nigh
21. Milk
22. Mo Mo (more)
23. Sit= See it. For awhile we were worried he was saying a bad 4 letter word!
24. Ball
25. Bite,Bite-when he's hungry
26. Car
27. Truck
28. "E-I-E-I-O" (singing)
29. Riley=Ri Ri (b/c Ava-Reese calls him that so he calls himself that most of the time), Riley...he really can say his own name!
30. Bay-ball (baseball)
31. Bah-ball (basketball)
32. Eyes (and points to his eyes)
33. Uh Oh..often accompanied by Sketti-o's
34. Doll Baby!
35. Choo! Choo! (usually he whispers it)

My favorite actions he does:
1. How old are you? He holds up a 1.
2. Where's your nose? eyes? ears? mouth? tummy? hiney (lol)? With tummy he pokes out his belly and rubs it with both hands, haha!
3. Where's Riley? He covers up either his eyes or just puts his hands on his head. Then he takes them away. There he is!
4. Do the Ava-Reese. He says "Ahh, Ahh, Ahh." while bobbing his head side to side.
5. Touchdown!
6. Give me love. He will lean in to "love" you but at very special times he now gives Mommy and Daddy real hugs and likes to play with our hair at the nape or our necks. So loving!
7. He does the motions on his own when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
8. He sings to himself often when he's playing alone, at home and at school. When I play the piano he always comes to play with me and often sits under the piano and sings!

How truly blessed we are! How I cherish these little moments. Thank you God for blessing us with Riley and changing our lives forever!

Happy Easter 2010!

What a beautiful Easter Sunday. The sun was shining and it was just an altogether beautiful day! Easter has always been a special holiday but I notice the older that I get the more I cherish it and seem to understand the meaning in deeper ways. Maybe being the mother of a son has something to do with it. Regardless, we are so undeserving but so blessed that God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from OUR sins.

The "Easter Bunny" came to see Riley. He was very excited to see his presents. He ran over tot he coffee table where his Easter basket and presents were. He got Carolina squeaky shoes, a set of Cocky plates, a Gamecock basketball, Spring rice krispy treats, a Cars cellphone, and a Thomas the Train bubble maker.

To celebrate the Resurrection, we attended Bethlehem Baptist, where we have been visiting for a few months. Still praying over where God wants us to be but feeling like Jeremy and I are on the same page...God is dealing with us in so many ways!


Following church, we had lunch at our house. Mom, Dad, Mama Mary, Carly, Trent, and Ava-Reese came. Papa Cliff is still suffering with the cellulitis in his legs so he unfortunately was not able to make it. We had our family's traditional Easter dinner...turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, mac n cheese, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, and Aunt Joan's homemade rolls. Oh and for dessert a frosted pound cake. It was delicious but so filling...


After lunch we all went outside. Trent took some great photos of the kids. We hid Easter eggs. Riley really got into finding them and was finding them in the bushes and plants all by himself but I had to hold his basket and he literally "threw" the eggs into or beyond the basket! Grandmomma helped him keep his balance and he only had a couple falls. I just let him do as he pleased even though he was in his Easter clothes. Needless to say he has grass stains and all...oh well, I figure that comes with the territory of being a boy! Ava-Reese does not like grass. She would sit with her legs up in the air to keep from letting the grass touch her legs! She actually fit into her Easter basket which made for a great photo op! Mama Mary is going "down hill" at a rapid speed but it was so nice to see her really smile a few times today at the kids. Now she doesn't seem to remember that Riley was born on her birthday, but what a special date for us to always cherish! Daddy finally got to see the kids in the wagon. It is fun seeing him be a "grandpa"!

After supper, Nana (Judy) came by after work to bring Riley his Easter presents. Nana and Pop gave him Thomas the Train PJ's and a book, swim trunks, sunglasses, and a life jacket/swimmies.

With all of the Easter festivities, Riley got WAY off schedule. He usually naps from 12-1:30/2ish but did not go down for a nap until everyone was gone, which was about 3:15. He only slept for an hour but when he woke up went right to sleep on the couch with me and we both slept for another hour and a half. Oops! So of course bedtime was pushed back too. At 10pm I ended up having to hold him because he would NOT lay down! He wasn't crying or anything, just tired but not sleepy. So he let me rock him and sing him to sleep. You know we read books and people tell us what NOT to do but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And none of those books or people tell you how special those sweet, rare moments are to feel your child's little arms around your shoulders, sweet hand rubbing your shoulder and then to sit and hold him peacefully asleep with his legs dangling down to your knees. I couldn't resist but to sit and hold him a few minutes because all too soon he won't fit in my lap because he'll be so big and/or won't want his Mommy to hold him! Oh how I cherish those kind of moments!