100th Post!

I had all kinds of great ideas about my 100th post.
I thought about doing a fun giveaway... maybe a Starbucks gift card, a funny book about being a mom or maybe giving away some more hairbows, but here we are... the 100th post completely snuck up on me (is snuck a word?? spell check doesn't think so!) and I have nothing for you. SORRY!

But really that's been the kind of day we're having here....

I forgot to mention in Riley's 15 month update that she got 2 shots. The Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (I think that helps with something that could cause meningitis) and the Diphteria, Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine aka DTaP (I think diphteria complicates breathing. I know what tetanus is and pertussis is whooping cough... i know that much!)
She was supposed to get a Hib vaccine, but they are running low on it in our area for some reason. They'll get her caught up at her 18 month appointment.

ANYWAY...
Riley has never had a reaction to shots (for that matter neither has Chandler), but today she is running a fever and is really clingy.
This is pretty much how the day is going.....
*She ate some yogurt for breakfast.
*She came to the computer and stood by me with her head in my lap while I checked e-mail.
*She sat in my lap to watch Sesame Street.
*She had a few grapes, a few baby carrots and some milk for lunch.
*She seemed to still be hungry so I tried giving her slices of avocado... that didn't go so well.
*She got a bath... the result of the avocado not going so well! :)
*She laid on my bed with me and Chandler and watched "Wonder Pets". If you've never seen "Wonder Pets", I recommend it. It's cute, but not too obnoxious. We rented one of the DVDs last week for Chandler.
*She sat in my lap while I sent a few e-mails.
*She "brushed her teeth" on the bathroom counter while I put fresh pjs on her.
*She went down for a nap... begrudgingly

I still have not had a shower and Chandler is still in her pjs...
We might just stay that way the rest of the day. :)

Once I was sure Riley was down for the count I decided to catch up on my blog reading. I found these two quizzes and thought I would try them out...

31

Created by OnePlusYou

42

Created by OnePlusYou

They are much harder than I thought they would be... try them out. See how you do and let me know! :)

There's your "Jennifer has made it to her 100th post" fun.

Riley's 15 month stats...

Riley had a well baby visit today.

She is currently 32.5" (90th percentile) and 20 lbs. 10 oz. (25th percentile). Long and skinny.

Her doctor says everything looks good.

I'll try to take a 15 month photo tomorrow. :)

Ok, Ok! I'll do it!

After many requests (most of them from my husband) here are all of Riley's monthly photos... beginning at birth:

1st Day Home from the Hospital: March 4th, 2007

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

Everyone says that first year goes by quickly... it really does!

Another year has gone by.....

I was totally singing Celine Dion as I wrote the title to this blog... hope you are too! :)

Here's Riley's 12 month photo!

It's not my favorite monthly photo, but it will have to do. It's getting more and more difficult to get her to sit still for these photo sessions. Ignore the bruise on her forehead... it was a P.F. Chang's incident. In an attempt to get rice out of her lap Friday night, she banged her head on the edge of the table. It left a nice red mark and was a bruise the next morning. :)

She isn't walking and really shows no interest in it what-so-ever. She only says a few words, "Uh Oh", "Bah" (ball), and "Fffff" (Woof). We have heard her say, "MaMa" but only in a state of complete desperation. :)

Favorites:
BOOKS! She LOVES books.
FOOD! Anytime, Anywhere, Any kind!
Dogs. She will open her Where's My Nose book and point out the "puppy dog" on the page.
Balls. She squeals with excitement anytime we roll a ball to her.
The swing. The enjoys sitting outside in her swing... it doesn't even have to be moving. She just likes to sit in it.

Things she likes, NOT SO MUCH:
Leaving Mom and Dad. She doesn't like for us to leave her in the nursery anymore. That's difficult since I don't have the option of bringing her to choir with me on Sunday mornings!! :) I thought I could trick her one Wednesday night by having Melanie drop her off in the nursery, but she cried as soon as Melanie turned for the door.
Riding in the Cart. Wal-mart, Target, TJ Maxx... it doesn't matter. She just doesn't like it.

11 month update

We have a had big start to 2008 here at the Miles House!

For Chandler is was:
*Her 5th Birthday
*A birthday photo shoot
and
*The Kindergarten Physical

For me is was:
*My Birthday
*Taking on the role of the Pre-school choir director at our church
and
**LOST returned to TV... we all know that has been the highlight so far! :)

For Brandon:
*Royal Ranger "Pinewood Derby Car Season" is now in full swing

This past month has been a really BIG one for Riley.
*She endured surgery
*She's obviously growing... her food intake is AMAZING! She's eating us out of house and home. Don't believe me... just wait till you see the photos!
*She loves to clap
*She has developed an extremely creepy laugh
*She seems to have bypassed the normal, "mama" and "dada" for more complex words like, "Uh Oh!" and "No No"
**One thing has NOT changed... she can't get enough of big sister Chandler!

So, here are the 11 month photos!

That's a night light she's holding.
You may remember the 8 month photo that was so difficult because she was really ANGRY or the 10 month photo that was difficult because of the snotty nose....
This one was a challenge because she was TOO HAPPY! Is that even possible?? YES! She was squealing, laughing, throwing the bear and trying to climb all over the chair. I was able to keep her still with the night light just long enough to get this shot.

"Hey Buddy! I know you! We meet here every month!"
This picture is also a good shot of her surgery incision. We had a follow-up appointment this past week. Her doctor said it's healing up nicely.
She wants us to come back in 6 months to see if the cyst had any impact on the astigmatism that she discovered at Riley's first eye appointment.

Silly Girls!
I love this picture... this is pretty much how the whole photo shoot went. Chandler would laugh and it would make Riley laugh. Riley laughing would make Chandler laugh... and it started all over again!

Proof of Riley's eating habits....
This is what Riley does after she eats everything in sight... she starts checking her arms, legs, belly, etc. for anything that might be left!

This particular day she sat in her high chair and ate for just about 2 HOURS!
I put her in her chair at 4:00 so she could eat and I could start dinner. She had a jar of baby food and some dry cereal. When she finished, she started hitting her tray demanding something else... I opened a can of greenbeans and gave her a few. She ended up eating just about the whole jar.
By then, it was a little after 5:00 and Brandon was home. We sat down for dinner and Riley demanded her portion as well! She ate a little of this and a little of that until we all finished dinner at about 6:00!

If you are trying to come up with an idea for a birthday gift for Riley, food is probably the way to go! :) Or maybe clothes... her belly is going to grow so large that we aren't going to be able to keep her in current clothes much longer!

10 months!

Well, it is hard to believe, but Riley is 10 months old! I should have posted this last week, but she has had a runny nose (actually she still does) so it was hard to get a picture that didn't have snot in it! :)

Riley has FINALLY learned how to crawl!!! I was hoping it would be after Christmas... I really wanted to get my tree down before she figured out that she could "play" with it!

She started crawling last Saturday during Chandler's tea party (party pictures coming soon!). Unfortunately, I missed getting to see it, but Brandon was there. I'm glad he was able to see the 1st crawl. I often feel bad that I get to see the majority of Riley's "firsts" while he's at work.

So, here's the 10 month photo... I'm not 100% pleased with the outcome (she's had better month by month photo sessions), but considering the snotty nose... it could have been worse!

Here is a little video I shot last night. Excuse Riley's nakedness (it was almost bedtime) and the quality of the video. I recorded it on my phone.

A new month, a new update

9 months! I can't believe it has been 9 months.....
Part of me thinks, "Wow! Riley is already 9 months old!" the other part thinks, "Wow! Has she really only been a member of our family for 9 months?"

She had her 9 month check up yesterday. You may remember how the last doctor's visit went... ear infections and Chandler's surprise flu shot. NOT FUN! Yesterday wasn't as bad.
Riley is now 17lbs. 9oz. and 28" long. That makes her 30th percentile for weight and 70th for height.
Chandler was concerned about the potential for shots (not for herself... surprisingly, but for Riley). Riley did have her 3rd Hepatitis B shot and had to get a finger stick to check her hemoglobin levels. I HATE the finger stick. I remember when Chandler had that done. It is a terrible visit, 2nd only to the "4 shot" visit. They have to squeeze the blood out of that tiny little finger... enough blood to fill a little tube. It seems to take FOREVER!

This month has been FULL! If you have been keeping up with our blog you already know how busy we've been, but I'm sure there are some of you who haven't so here's the recap:
Cousin Colten's 1st birthday party, Thanksgiving with Gran and Chief (Brandon's parents), Brandon's 28th birthday (and the stomach flu!), Thanksgiving with Grammy and Squire (My parents), and the launch of my new business; Bows by the Miles - Custom Hair Bow Design.

We are looking forward to Christmas and getting to spend a few days with family before the end of 2007!

The 9 Month Photos!!

Same bear, same chair

The sideways mouth. She loves to make this face! We've got a picture like this from almost every month!

The sister shot.

Last Sunday we went to watch the kid's Christmas musical at the church. Chandler and I sat on the very front row... I've always made her sit in the back and she asked to sit up front this year. Before it all started I tried to get a few pictures. There was just too much going on!

Riley LOVED the poinsettias

Chandler's attempt at a "sweet smile"

Riley distracted by some thing more interesting than mom

Riley's tired face

Of course Chandler managed a great smile for her picture with JoJo! Maybe he can be in our next family photo? We get better results when he's around.

8 months have come and gone...

Yesterday, Nov. 2, marked Riley's 8 month birthday. I made the mistake of telling Chandler that it was Riley's "birthday" and she got really upset and exclaimed, "But MY birthday is 1st, then Riley's!!" I had to then explain that it wasn't really Riley's birthday, but she was now 8 months old.

I know you've all been waiting for it... here's the 8 month picture.

Sure, she looks happy and smiley, but here's what we got when we tried to take pictures earlier this morning...

This was about the 10th picture. When I saw it I decided that she had had enough and we would try again later.

After some food and a good 3 hour nap she was in much better spirits, but we still had to work for these pictures. Most every other month it has been pretty easy. She smiles and I take the pictures, but this month Brandon had to keep her happy while I shot the photos.

Ahhh, the magic toy that made it all possible...

Riley did not have a doctor's appointment this month, but I know she is growing! She easily finishes off a 4oz. stage 2 jar, an 8oz. bottle and a few puffs at each meal.
Her new favorites are Cinnamon flavored Applesauce, Sweet Corn Casserole Baby food, Apple Juice, and stuffing her face full of puffs.


Here are a few other pictures from this past month's adventures:
We had a family date night at Logan's. Chandler ordered a salad with her meal. It made me laugh, but that's what she wanted. Basically she picked off the things she liked and left the rest. Here's Riley enjoying our night out...

She spent most of the meal scarfing puffs and tugging on Brandon's shirt.

A few weeks ago Chandler, Riley and I were at the mall. We were passing Claire's and I asked Chandler if she would like to get her ears pierced. She was very interested in the process of ear piercing... especially the part that might be painful. I told her about when I got mine pierced and when Aunt Erin got her ears pierced. We ran into one of the girls from the church and Chandler asked her about it. She decided after all of her "research" that she was not ready, but probably would be when she is 5 years old (in January).

We headed to the car (after some other purchases) and she asked me, "Mom? What does it feel like to get earrings?" I told her again that it hurts a little, but it goes away after a while. Then I told her that we weren't going to talk about it any more (I was growing weary of the topic already). I told her that I wasn't going to bring it up again and that when she is ready she will have to tell me and I'll take her to get them pierced.

I loaded Riley into the car, folded up the stroller and got it into the car (not an easy task!), and got Chandler into the car. As I was in the middle of buckling her seat belt she looks at me and says, "I'm ready." My response, "We can't go anywhere until I get you buckled in."
"No mom. I'm ready to get earrings."

Ok, at this point it is already after 5:00. I KNOW that Brandon will be home any second and be wondering where we are, BUT I did tell her that when she was ready we would do it. I unloaded EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and we headed back into the mall. I asked several times if she was SURE she wanted to do this and she assured me that she did in fact want her ears pierced.

We headed into Claire's (I had already made sure they could do both ears at the same time.) and she walked right up to the lady and said, "I changed my mind. I want red January earrings because my birthday is January 7." The lady looked at me and said, "Ok. Let's do it!"

After much squirming and lots of tears Chandler came home with her red January earrings and here's the proof....

It's not the world's best picture, but it was the best I could do. She was terrified that I was going to touch them!