I'm so thankful for...

Plenty of food and messy faces

Blonde hair and blue eyes
Warm coats and peaceful sleep

Grammy

Joy and toddlers

Passionate singing during dinner

Two perfect miracles

An amazing daddy and husband

Music and singing babies

Cousins, Ernie, and pigtails

My Intense Little Beauty

Just a look back into the past!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been able to finally understand my little girl. In many ways, she is very different from me and in many ways she is similar. I have really struggled with knowing how to parent her. I know she is still so little, but I feel like I need to make good decisions now because they will affect her when she is older.

Riley has always been early in all of her developmental milestones. Although I know there is nothing wrong with that, I don't always feel prepared for the next stage so suddenly. She crawled early, walked early, gave up her morning nap early, talked early, sang early, and started having some pretty intense temper tantrums early. I am constantly trying to figure out how to teach her to be obedient. I have read books, talked to other parents, and used the trial and error method. I have felt like I just wasn't getting her little personality and I was frustrated with her too often.

Today as I was in the shower (my one time a day I can get away and think), it hit me. She is intense! For those of you who know Riley well, you are probably thinking "Duh!". Well I know she is intense, but I guess I never realized the extent of it. She walks, runs, laughs, cries, loves, sings, dances, and talks with intensity. When someone visits, no matter who it is, she runs around the house and screams at the top of her lungs as if the greatest thing in the world just happened. When she kisses me it's not a little peck, it's a knock your teeth out sort of kiss.

Riley is full of passion. I need to embrace her passion more instead of becoming frustrated. For her passion will allow her to love Jesus with all her heart, love others intensely, passionately hate what is evil, and be thrilled at every little blessing that may come her way. I pray that I will never suppress that intense spirit and that I will allow opportunities to express the gifts God has given her. Even though I may pull my hair out in the process!

Just some cute pictures

Riley "going potty" aka reading with her pants down

Riley cuddling her sleeping daddy.

Focused on her picture

My first good reason I don't do laundry very often

You are so darn cute!

Benefit of being a second child... Riley would have never gotten away with this.

"Seriously mom, this is so much better then your healthy desserts!"

All About Quinn

Quinn has been changing so much over the past couple of weeks.

He has become quite the climber. I never knew how different raising a boy would be then a girl. He climbs and bangs on EVERYTHING. The nursery staff even made a comment that he climbs everything in the nursery. Yesterday I found him standing on our recliner. He was just laughing and waving at me.

He is so very close to walking. He took 7 steps in a row the other day. He tries and tries. If it were his choice, he would just walk to me all day long and of course I would have to clap and give him numerous hugs and kisses for accomplishing the task. He walks to Riley and she hugs him and says, "Good job brother!". It is so cute and once I charge our video camera, I will record it.

He eats everything! I have not found anything he doesn't like yet. I could feed him a can of green beans for supper and he would be happy!

He hates his car seat again. He is starting to puke every time he does not want to be in the car. Interesting...

He is determined. He doesn't stop doing things until he figures it out. He has been upset quite frequently the last couple of weeks. I think he is just frustrated when he can't figure things out (putting Lego's together, walking, climbing the couch).

He seems to always have a bruise, bump, or cut. Yes, it is possible to be more adventurous then Riley. Pray for me.

He makes an adorable duck.

Week of Firsts

First Halloween:
Mommy and Quinn spent his first Halloween shopping. We walked around Target, Kohls, Babies R Us, and Barnes and Noble. I am not sure he enjoyed it too much, but mommy enjoyed spending some alone time with him. Riley went to Huntington to stay the night with Grandma. I assumed it would be difficult getting her to wear a costume. After some creative efforts, she finally wore her dog outfit. They were able to go to a few houses and I am sure she enjoyed it.

First Surgery:
Quinn had tubes put in his ears early Monday morning. While we were in the waiting room, he had a burst of energy. He began yelling and crawled a mile a minute. He even tried to climb the walls. There were a lot of babies and toddlers waiting for surgery and Quinn was definitely the biggest and the most hyper child. When it was his turn, it felt strange to leave him with a nurse. Thankfully, the surgery only lasted 15 minutes. I heard him screaming after he woke from the procedure and I wanted to jump over the front desk to hold him. I was able to see him soon after that. He cried for about 45 more minutes, but was content the rest of the day. Thinking back on the morning, I realize how blessed I am to have a healthy child and how thankful I am to only have to deal with such minor issues.

First Steps:
I was able to capture Quinn taking his first few consecutive steps. I can't believe how time has flown!


First Mullet:
Yes, its true. I gave Riley a mullet. She has always had a slight one, now its just more obvious. Her hair was really uneven in the front. She won't let me put anything in her hair- no ponytails, pigtails, or barrettes. Since her hair was always in her face, I decided I would buy scissors to trim her bangs. I gave her a sucker and began. She kept moving so I just did the best I could. I forgot that when hair is wet, its longer than when it is dry...ooops! She totally rocks the 80's style now. I thought about making the back of her hair a little shorter, but Mark says no. I decided hair grows and she is still an incredibly beautiful little girl. Maybe it will be the new trend, however, any advice on how to style mullets is appreciated.

Short and Sweet

I am going to make this post as short and informative as I can. Riley took the keys off our computer and some of the most important keys do not work. Here is what has happened in the last week.

* Riley is acting more and more like a two-year-old. I will spare the details. I continue to pray God will use her fiesty personality for a great purpose!
* Quinn took his first step. He usually looks like he is going to walk, but I think he realizes its just much easier/quicker to crawl. Take your time little buddy!
* My children have not been sleeping well, but I am sure its just a phase, or teething, or growth spurts...
* My wonderful friend , Karen, helped make some meals to freeze. It has been so helpful to have pre-made meals. I hope to continue doing this in the future.
* Eating and cooking healthy is a lot of work.
* We love story time at the Library. Riley does not like the "story time" because it is too boring, but she loves it when they sing songs. Quinn once again just sits there.
* Riley has been kneeling by her bed to pray for her stuffed animals and babies. It is so stinkin sweet!
* Quinn loves food, even more then Riley. It is so nice that he eats everything I give him!
* I will leave you with a couple of my favorite pictures that my friend Abby took a couple of weeks ago.

Do I have twins???

Lately I have felt like I have twins. Quinn is getting taller and Riley's rapid growing has slowed down. Their hair is starting to look more similar and they both have bright blue eyes. They wear the same size diapers and occasionally wear the same size pajamas. They follow each other everywhere and they are starting to "fight" over toys.

Today Quinn had another appointment with the Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist. He still has fluid in his ears, so he will be getting tubes in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the tubes will prevent any more ear infections. He has learned to give kisses. That boy has always loved getting them and now he can give them. The other day he threw up on my face as he kissed me. It was disgusting, but funny at the same time. He is very active and will still not play with toys. He does enjoy throwing them though. To my surprise, he has not attempted to walk and I am very happy with that! Today he tackled Riley and laid on top of her as she cried. She seemed so helpless and I just had to smile as Quinn was laughing.

I think this picture is Mark's all time favorite. She loves carrying his racquets around the house. Riley is still sleeping in her new bed. The transition was so much easier then I expected. Most of the time she will lay there until I come get her. Maybe that means potty training will go better then expected too! Riley as been very interested in watching everything I do. She pulls her chair up to the table to watch me cook and loves to watch me get ready in the morning. I have caught her having pretend conversations with her friend from the nursery. It is very strange, but I think she just always wants someone to talk to. She stands at the windows and yells for the neighbors to come play with her. She is such a social butterfly. Guess who did this?