YAY!!!!!

Riley went to the potty (UN-PROMPTED!!) two times today. I am so excited that he has the interest to go and that he made it into the potty!!

He is going into a big boy bed on Thursday because he keeps climbing in and out of his crib and I just hope we can make it to Thursday without injury and then we will be good!

Riley's cake and ice cream

Last night we had cake and ice cream for the birthday boy! He was very excited to have everyone sing Happy Birthday to him and he got the Cozy Coupe car he LOVES! Although I have to say that they should really offer in store assembly on that thing. It was in a lot of pieces and I only had one hand so it was very difficult to get together. The holes weren't even pre-drilled so you had to screw them into the plastic. It finally got put together though and it is very cute. We were looking for a used one but decided to go for the new 30th anniversary edition and it is definitely updated and has the same kind of character as Riley! He also got a backpack and a new potty seat! He has been showing some interest in going potty so we decided to give it a go and try it out to see if he would do it. He loved the potty! He sat on it and he did really try to go to the bathroom. He also sat on it before bed and tried as well as first thing this morning. I went into his room to get him this morning and he had taken his diaper off and was saying "pee. boppy (which means potty)". He has yet to actually pee in the potty but hopefully this interest continues!

I could not find a cake I liked (and I didn't order one ahead of time, bad Mommy!). So I bought this yummy chocolate cake that had that hard chocolate covering drizzled around it and then I bought the blue and green gel and (very sloppy) wrote Happy Birthday Riley and made polka dots. It was cute and he loved the cake as you can see.

This is how we roll.

What other way is there to enjoy your cake and ice cream?

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Two years ago today my baby was born. Riley came into this world early in the morning after a very long night. I was induced around 6 the night before and had an epidural when I was 4cm along. They broke my water not too long after that and once they broke my water Riley's heart rate dipped way way down. I was very nervous because Wes had left the room to go get a coffee (it was very late!). His heart rate did not come back up so they had me on my knees and switching from side to side to try and move Riley around. They finally put fluid "back in" and his heart rate went back up. He was crushing the umbilical cord as he was coming out so it was making his heart go all wonky. They had me all prepped for an emergency c-section and everything. Wes came back in the room and didn't know what was going on! Everything finally calmed down and labor progressed, quickly. I went from 6-10cm in about an hour and in three pushes Riley was born. We did not find out what we were having so I was anxious to see if it was a boy or a girl (I truly thought I was having a girl!). I pushed Riley out and everyone was laughing and nobody was telling me if it was a boy or girl!! It took several minutes and me asking and finally they put Riley on my stomach and told me it was a boy......I was very surprised and very happy that he was healthy!

The last two years have been amazing to have Riley in our lives. He is a very intelligent and loves to laugh and play jokes on everyone. He thinks he is a very funny. He loves to play baseball and can throw it really far and actually hit the ball when you throw it at him. He loves to sit and read books and is very lovable. He will be riding in the car and say "Mommy" I will respond "Yes Riley" and he simply says "Love you". He is so amazing and I can't wait to see where he grows to from here.

We had his 2 year checkup this morning and he weighs 24.5 pounds and is 34 inches long. He only gained about 3/4 of a pound in 6 months! He is very active and eats all day long, but he just burns off all of it. He did finally get a little taller and is now in the 25th% for his age. He is still barely on the growth chart for weight!

Happy Birthday Riley, We Love you!

"Life begins each morning....

each morning is the open door to a new world-

new vistas, new aims, new tryings."

-Leigh Hodges

Aiden's face painting fun!

Aiden had a birthday party for his friend Lucy today and he was very very excited to see friends from school he has not seen in a while! He had a lot of fun and they had a face painter there doing face paint. Aiden got a lion/tiger looking face and of course when we got there to pick Aiden up the party was still in full swing so Miss Calleigh decided to have her face painted too It was so hot and muggy that Calleigh's Under the Sea themed face kind of 'melted' away, but they had lots of fun!

The scary growling face!

Calleigh's looks funny in this picture and she was so sweaty and yuck....but still cute!

I'm just a lovely ray of sunshine aren't I?

I had an appointment at the Hand and Upper Extremity department at the Orthopedic Specialty Center (Sounds so ominous and official doesn't it?). My hands have been very very weak and sore for a long time now. I used to go to PT/OT for it, but it did not do very much to help with the pain. I let a long time go by and finally it got to a point where I can't even grip a pot of water long enough to carry it from the stove to the sink (I mean we are only talking 3 feet here). So I decided it was time to call them. I brought Aiden with me to the appointment and Calleigh and Riley went to "school". It was Riley's first time ever going to daycare and I was a bit nervous because he is very attached to me right now. He did well though.

At the appointment they were running about 25 minutes behind and when I finally got seen the Dr. was very surprised that my tendon had lasted as long as it has. It is very inflamed and swollen and very tight. He pushed on it and poked it and felt around and I at one point had to ask him to stop because it hurt so much! He kindly obliged and took a break for a minute before going to town and really pushing on the tendon and moving my hand, wrist and thumb all around. It hurt.....a lot! He told me that it is called DeQuervains. It is like Carpal Tunnel but instead of being on the top of the hand it is in the tendon that goes from the thumb joint down to the wrist. He decided he wanted to try the cortisone injection in only one hand at the moment (my left hand is much worse than the right but they are both pretty bad). Aiden was very fascinated watching them sterilize my hand with betadine and then giving me the lidocaine shot and then the cortisone shot. Let me tell you......it hurt like hell! Even though it was numb I could still feel him pushing the needle all around to move the cortisone around. Then he told me I had to "minimally use" my left arm for three weeks. I have to keep this stupid brace on my left arm for three weeks and "minimally use" it.

I have three kids under the age of 7....is this man nuts? He should come spend one day at my house and then tell me to minimally use my arm!

I also have to have my right arm in a soft brace to help support it for a week. Then after three weeks of the brace I can decide if I want to do a cortisone shot in the right wrist as well. We will see how this one does first. Also in six weeks if the cortisone is not helping they will go ahead with surgery. He said they would normally do another shot of cortisone but he is concerned about how stressed and tight the tendon is. So if rest and steroids don't help surgery is the only thing that will.

Doesn't it sound like so much fun!!

Busy week!

What a crazy weekend. It is very hot here right now. It has been in the 80's for several days and even got over 90 today! We have just been trying to take it easy with the heat. Saturday night Aiden spent the night at Uncle Nathan and Aunt Dawn's house and he had sooo much fun! They went out on the boat all day Sunday and they went to the Sandbar and played and splashed and Aiden was trying to learn how to swim in the lake (life jacket of course!). He has been wanting to spend the night at their house for a while now and we had some stuff going on so it was the perfect opportunity for him to go. Calleigh also spent the night at My Aunt's house and she had a lot of fun! They did girly things and watched movies and she was very tired the next day! All in all it was an exhausting weekend and we have a long week ahead of us.
I had a job interview toaday for a part time position at a Child care center in South Burlington called Giggles. I would basically be able to make my own hours which will be great with school starting. I am just hesitant because I don't know if I truly want to get back into child care. I have a lot going on with the day to day with my own kids, I don't know if I have the stamina and energy to run around after 12 other kids right now! I am willing to go for it though if I get the position and see how things work out. I am also looking into a few "mindless" jobs. You know the kind where I can go in and do what I need to do and go home. By mindless I don't mean it wouldn't be hard work or I wouldn't be using my brain. It would just be a change of pace and something new. I think I need that right now.
I have a doctors appt on Friday for my hands. I am nervous about it because I have been in a lot of pain day in and day out (even worse in the heat). I have to figure something out, I can barely even carry a pot full of water from the stove to the sink, and we are only talking 3 feet, without my wrists throbbing and giving out on me. It sucks....a lot. Hopefully they will have a plan and I can start feeling better sooner rather than later.
Wesley also has his full certification now! He passed the last part of his testing and is now a fully certified Airframe and pawerplant technician! I am so proud of him for getting it done and I hope he can be happy too!
For now we are just taking it day by day and getting through.

Summer is here!

What a day!?! It is really really hot out. I guess we all wanted summer and now it is here with a vengeance. I am not complaining though because in a few short months we will all be in winter coats cursing the snow! We went to the park today to play and silly Mommy forgot the camera at the house (must be the heat...yeah, that's it..the heat). The kids had a lot of fun despite the bright sun and lack of shade at the Williston Community Park. Riley was very persistent that he was going to the "big" playground instead of the "little" playground, so we went over and I think he was intimidated. It is a very large structure and there were a lot of kids running around. We stayed until Riley started to show his usual signs of being tired and hungry. We went home and had yummy mac and cheese for lunch, a house favorite at the moment. Unfortunately I think it was too muggy upstairs because not one of them napped and they are pretty tired. We will have a lazy day and early to bed for all of us!

My Birthday

Last Monday, the 3rd, was my 28th birthday. To be honest I was expecting the day to really really suck. Wes ended up having to work in the morning until after lunch (it is normally one of his days off). I had big plans for the day...and the first of those was to have Wes get up with the kiddos and he could do the morning routine and deal with it all while I blissfully slept upstairs and could just roll over and turn a *blind ear* to all of the chaos downstairs. However, the morning ended up being just as crazy and hectic as usual and my hubby did not get home until around 4. He did bring me home some very very nice deserts and he did take the kids outside so I could just have about an hour of "me" time. I actually got to take a shower that lasted for more than the 2.5 minutes mine usually do. Then Wes called his aunt Brenda and she was willing to watch the kids for us so we could go to dinner. Our original plan was to go to dinner and a movie and my Mom would watch the kids, but with my Dad's heart attack and he had just left the hospital the day before my birthday I didn't think it was even fair to ask her to still do it so I thought we weren't going anywhere! Anyway, we went to Kotos for dinner and had a really nice time. We both really love going to Koto's and just enjoying the entire experience...the Mai Tai's were pretty good too! The day overall was not what I expected but not as bad as I expected either.
We waited and had my family over this past Saturday for cake and ice cream. Ever since we were very young we have always gotten together for each and every birthday. We have never missed one. This is not my first birthday without my brother Brandon here, but it seemed to hurt more than it did last yer. It was very hard to be here enjoying cake and our families company without Brandon's face right there with his goofy grin and his loud booming voice picking on anyone he could find in his cross hairs. Yes, we made it through the day and yes we did have a good time...but a piece of all of us was still missing. I miss him more and more each day. Watching the kids grow up and not having him here to see it, especially his godson Riley, has been hard. But we will keep going and hopefully at some point the birthdays will become more survivable without him here.
On a lighter note I got a really great gift from my Mom! She of all people knows how important family time is and she gave me the gift of time with each member of my family. She gave me a gift certificate to Gardeners Supply and to lunch to have a date with my hubby. She gave me a gift certificate to go mini golfing with Aiden and one to go get manicures with Calleigh and to go to Shelburne Farms with Riley. I have to tell you it is one of the BEST gifts I have received. I don't get enough one on one time with my kids or my hubby and I am greatly looking forward to spending such great time with each of them! There will definitely be posts on those days as they come up!

Riley's favorite place to sit

For about the past week, our end table in the living room has been Riley's favorite place to sit. He just climbs right up there and perches himself on it and usually he will giggle and grin if I look at him.

Family Day

Today was a really nice morning, sunny and not overly hot or muggy so we decided to go to the park in Richmond and have lunch at On The Rise Bakery. It was GREAT! The kids had a lot of fun running around and having Daddy there. This is maybe only the second time Daddy has been able to make it to the park with us. He plays outside at home with the kids, but it's not the same as "the" park. It really was a perfect day and I have lots of pictures to post so there will be quite a few! I was kind of annoying with the camera, but I wanted to really capture the day because we all had so much fun!

Riley kept trying to go on the big slide. It was a little intimidating for him, but he has NO fear!

Aiden was very proud that he could make it all the way across the monkey bars without falling off.

This was as far as Calleigh made it.

Then of course Riley wanted to try the zip line thing. So Daddy lent a helping hand.

Daddy and Calleigh playing peek-a-boo. He peeked...but she got the boo!

Riley kept trying to climb hrough the holes to get to Daddy.

It was getting to be lunchtime so we walked over to On The Rise and had some lunch.

Their wood fired pizza is SOOOO yummy!

The Strawberries and Cream Smoothie was a HUGE hit with Riley!

It was a great day and we are happy that it was a great summer morning, since we have had so few. Days like this make me fall more and more in love with my hubby. Just watching him with the kids and seeing how much fun we are all having!

Veggies...yum!

We had some of our first veggies from the garden for dinner tonight and they were really really yummy!

Frazzled

This is the kind of day I am having......

Maddi's 2nd Birthday Party!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDI!!!

The cake was soooooo yummy and cute!

Riley and Cooper were trying "nicely" to get each other out of the car so the other could get in!

Maddi looked like she was having so much fun!

The shoes seemed to be a popular area to play in!

Maddi eating meatballs with her Mimi

Today was Cooper's 2nd birthday, he was enjoying some yummy food with Michael.

Isn't she just too cute for words!!

Aiden and Riley in the shoes.

Calleigh spent most of her time at the counter eating.

Maddi and her Mimi.

She was waiting patiently for cake I think!

Calleigh...once again eating!

I hope you had a good day Maddi, we enjoyed spending time with you today!