Perfect Day

I was wondering today what a perfect day would look like for Riley and Quinn. It made me smile to think about. I will write about Quinn first since his day is so predictable. Quinn would love to eat all day long, a little at a time so his stomach was always full. He would take a short nap in the morning, a long nap in the afternoon, and another short evening nap in our bed. I don't know why, but he sleeps so much better there. He then would want to be held the rest of the time. The person holding him could not sit down, but must walk constantly. They would also need to play airplane about every 15 minutes. Oh yeah, and he would never be placed in a car seat or stroller as that would cause an emotional breakdown. That's it... he would be the happiest baby ever!

Riley's day would need to be a little more planned. She would wake up and eat immediately. No time for hugs, kisses, I love you's. She would then go to the zoo, eat snacks, and pet the goats. Lunch would be at Arby's, then a nap. After her nap, she would have a snack immediately. After a snack, Riley would run outside for hours and have dogs preferably stop and greet her every 5 minutes. We would eat dinner, and go to a park with lots of kids. She would then come home to take a bath and would be allowed to run in the tub as much as she wants. Please note everything needs to be done immediately... no waiting.

I love the differences in their personalities and am hoping they will be great friends! Here are some random thoughts about the week:
* Riley loves Quinn. She has been hugging and kissing him constantly. I even caught her holding his hands to teach him paddycake.
* People aren't joking when they say to never leave your 1-year-old alone EVER! When I have left Riley for less then a minute I have found her standing on the kitchen table, standing on the dryer trying to open a detergent bottle, playing in the bath tub with her pajamas on, grabbing a fish hook off a garage sale table, playing in an old poopy diaper, and trying to pick her brother up.
* Riley thinks every animal is a dog.
* Quinn wants to be held all the time. The second you put him down, he freaks out. One thing I have learned about having kids 12 months apart is that you don't care what the experts or other moms think about when and how much to hold your baby. In order for me to have sanity, I do what works. Fortunately for him, he gets to be held a lot.. at least for now. Also fortunately for Riley, she gets to do more things she is not suppose to because my hands are full.
* The Gerber microwavable meals are worth buying. They also help me stay sane.
* Quinn still sleeps until 6:00am, with the usual wake up at 5:00am for a pacifier. By the way, that kid can down 7oz. of formula, no problem.
* I have the cutest kids. I don't believe you if you tell me yours are cuter!

New Experiences

This week has been full of new experiences for Riley. She has learned to sing her cousin's favorite song, is shaking her booty, screams as loud as she can, visited the zoo, learned new words, and ate an ice cream cone by herself. I feel as though she is a different child. She seems so old and can do so much now. It is sad to me, but at least I get to enjoy those fun ages with her brother soon. That is one of the great things of having two so close together.

Here are more details of her adventures:

Screaming: This morning she was running with her cousins and was her normal hyper self. She then screamed at the top of her lungs until her voice shrieked. It was funny to her, so she did it for about an hour straight. I am surprised she still has a voice and that Quinn stayed asleep. Hopefully she will forget her talent soon, but I am thinking she won't for many years.
Songs and Booty Shaking: Riley spend Saturday night and Sunday with her cousins in Huntington. They love to teach her new fun things. Her cousin has a teeny bopper song she loves called "oh, Baby". Apparently Riley enjoys it also as that is all she has been singing since she arrived home. I was giving her a bath the other night. She stood up, held on to the side of the shower, sang the song, and started shaking her booty. It was hilarious!
Zoo: Since we have season passes, we have already gone to the zoo twice in the last week. She really enjoys it. Her favorite things are the people walking around, the ducks, and the goats... Mark's least favorite things:) As we were leaving, she grabbed my hand, led me back into the zoo, around the corner straight to the goats. It was nice to see her clearly communicate something! Just wish we didn't have to keep visiting those annoying creatures.
New Words: She can repeat almost any word, it just may not sound exactly like the actual word. Her favorites are Mom (of course), dada, Aubrey (Awe-b), baby, brother, more, and yeah.
Ice Cream: I gave her an ice cream cone the other day. She loved the cone more then the ice cream. She ate it from the bottom of the cone and ended at the ice cream. Strange.

As far as our little guy goes, he is as cute as ever. He finally will sit in the sling I bought as long as he is on my hip. My life is a little easier now. He is having no problem downing 6oz. each feeding. Odds of him crying in the car the entire trip is now 50/50. We are sooo excited our chances of a quiet car ride are much higher. He is rolling front to back and back to front. He can wear many of his 9month clothes already. He is starting to smile at Riley when she is around instead of flinch. They are going to be great friends!

We all love the weather and I am especially excited that my long winter of being shut in the house is over!

Here is Riley and her ice cream


Riley has a new fun game of putting stickers on her brother's face

Doctor's Visit

I was thinking this morning that I did not have anything too eventful to write on my blog, however, I then remembered Riley had a doctor's appointment that I had to take both of them to today. I was hoping it would go ok, but I knew it was very likely to be interesting. Oh my, it was stressful! I was not sure how to bring both of them in safely without using the double stroller, so I just used it. The rooms are very small for a stroller that big, but that was really my only option. Once we arrived in the waiting room they both wanted out of the stroller. Riley wanted to run and Quinn wanted to be held...the usual. Instead of causing a scene of two crying kids, I did what they wanted. Riley ran everywhere and talked to everyone. People looked at me like I was crazy and I was told a few times, "I bet you stay busy". Things were going well until Riley was called back into a room. When she heard her name she did a nose dive off of the chair she was standing on. I put both of them in the stroller. At this time both were crying down the hallway. Riley then had to be weighed and measured. To Riley, this is pure torture. She screamed bloody murder as she had to stay still for all of 20 seconds. On top of that, I had to reassure the nurse that the numerous marks on her forehead were fresh from the recent nose dive, but she acted very concerned as if I was beating her on the head. We took her to be weighed and left Quinn in the stroller in the room. He flipped out so another nurse came in to calm him down while the nurse and I took a screaming child to the scale. Their cries resounded all through the office. I think I was sweating by now. While we were waiting for the doctor, I thought I should feed Quinn. During this time, Riley began climbing everything and trying to open every door in the room. I was able to grab her while feeding Quinn a few times, but I just let her go at it. What else could I do? The doctor came in the room to do his thing. Once again, pure torture for Riley to sit still for any amount of time. Both were crying again. At least the doctor looked at me with pity instead of annoyance. Then came the shots. I once again held Riley down. Usually the nurse does them pretty quickly, but Riley was crying so hard she had to wait until she started breathing to do the next one. I really thought she was going to pass out. We promptly left the office after the shots in order to allow the office some peace and quiet after 45 minutes straight of screaming. They both cried on the way home. I am hoping the older they get, the easier these appointments become. One can only hope.

Riley's stats for all who care:
Weight- 23 pounds 14 oz putting her in the 50th percentile.
Height- 31 1/2 inches long, putting her in the 85th percentile.
She is perfectly healthy and is ahead in all of her developmental milestones. Praise the Lord for a healthy, active, overachieving child!

Bath Time

The Richards have been staying busy with the two little ones over the past week. It is amazing how fast the days go by! They are both getting so big! The morning bath time was a little interesting this morning. I thought I would be "smart" by putting both of them in the bath at the same time in order to cut down on time. I put the infant tub for Quinn in the bath and filled the tub with water for Riley. They both made it into the bath without peeing on the floor. Quinn was happy in his tub and Riley was excited that her brother was with her. Riley laughed and screamed with excitement. Then she figured out how to climb in the infant tub with Quinn. Don't ask me how they both fit. It was cute at first, then Riley began putting her feet in Quinn's mouth and Quinn was being pushed out of his tub. Not fun anymore. Did it save time?...A couple of minutes. Would I do it again?...No. I was able to snap a quick picture of our experience. Gotta love Quinn's face.


Riley is continuing to say more and more words. She talks all of the time. She must have a little of Uncle Troy's genes. When she is not plugging her ears while Quinn is crying, she has been singing with the radio when we are in the car. Last Sunday, she sang during the worship time and even when no one else was singing. She continues to run and climb on everything. Her little attitude is starting to show more. It is still funny when she throws herself on the ground in slow motion.


Quinn is still growing like a weed and loves to eat! Over the past week he has been rolling over more and scoots forward with his legs. Over the past week he has been sleeping through the night..sort of. He still wakes up at 4:00am, but I give him his pacifier and he falls back asleep until 6:00 or 7:00. I hope its not a fluke because I love it! He is getting a little fussier when he is awake. I think it is because he wants to sit up and play, but doesn't know how. He still looks like a cute, little old man. We love him!

Defying the Odds

I thought I would write a quick post about my children going out of their comfort zones. Quinn had a big day yesterday. He was in the car for 20 minutes without crying and he sat in our stroller for 15 minutes without crying! For those of you who know our little guy, know that this is a HUGE deal. Our family has accepted that whenever he is in the car, there will be uncontrollable crying. I was amazed to have a quite car ride. I had to check him a couple of times to make sure he was breathing. Later that afternoon, I attempted to go for a walk with both of them. This has never worked out without Quinn screaming at some point. He did it! We walked an entire 15 minutes and I even caught 2 smiles! After 15 minutes, he started to cry, but to me it was a success. If that was not crazy enough, Riley layed on the couch with me for 30 minutes straight today. She had her paci and bear and we were watching "Praise Baby", however, this has only happened a few times since her birth. She still talked and kicked her feet the entire time, but I loved it. Great two days at the Richard household. Pray that Quinn continues to accept being strapped in a seat. We would love to have a life outside of our house someday:)

7 Years

Today is a special day in the Richard household. It's our 7 year anniversary! We will celebrate by eating leftovers, cleaning the house, and taking care of the kids. Every other year we have done something for our anniversary whether it be a date night or a weekend trip. This year, due to circumstances, there will be no gifts, no special dinner, and really no alone time (except for the usually hour in the evening). At first, I was a little sad about it, until I reminded myself of all the blessings I have been given over the last 7 years. Today is a good reminder that we don't need gifts, vacations, special dinners, or even time alone to celebrate. God has blessed me with the most amazing husband who works 7 days a week to provide for our family. Even when he is exhausted, he makes time to help out and play with the kids on his breaks. He is the love of my life and brings such happiness to Riley and Quinn. I have 2 adorable children that bring such joy to my life. Yes, they require every ounce of my energy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! So cheers... I raise my glass of water as I sit here alone still in my pj's to us! I could not ask for a better anniversary.

I just can't get myself to clean!

Two years ago, if I had any wish, I would have said I wanted to go to an exotic Island, lay in the sun, and drink frozen drinks all day long. Now if you ask me I would say that I just wanted one full day to clean my house. Not just 3 hours, but a good long day from 7:00am-7:00pm without any children needing me. It would bring me so much happiness, peace, and tranquility. I am trying really hard to rest when they both are sleeping, which I do enjoy, however that leaves about 30 minutes of time to clean before bed. I feel like I am living in a house of dust and mold. Ok, that was a little dramatic. I have considered hiring a maid for a day, but think of how many diapers I could buy with that money! If I never get my wish, I will just try to be content with the mess and hope my husband goes on a cleaning rampage soon! Ha, ha!

Besides dealing with my cleaning OCD, I have had a great week so far. The weather is awesome! Mark has had some extra time off, so we have been taking advantage of that. Yesterday, we had a picnic at the park. This time Mark got to chase Riley. It was very enjoyable to watch! Riley thinks she belongs with the older kids and runs with them. She went down the tallest twisty slide at the park by herself and smiled the whole time. Riley and I were able to go on a "mommy date" today. We went to an indoor play area. She loved it! It was so much fun to spend some one-on-one time with her. Quinn rolled over for the first time last week. He hasn't done it since. I think it scared him, so it may be a while until he does it again. He is still growing constantly and is always hungry. After a tease of sleeping 7 hours straight a few weeks ago, he is now back to waking up at 3:00 or 4:00am. When he wakes up, he acts as if he has not eaten in days. Someday I will sleep. Grammy and Papa don't know this yet, but we have secretly planned on putting his crib in their bedroom when we go to Michigan:) We love our babies so much and think they are the cutest kids ever!