Merry Christmas

We hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas! We had a great Christmas spent with our families!!

On Christmas Eve we headed to Granny and Papa Dan's. The theme Christmas continued and this year our theme was Polynesia. There were great decorations, music, games, and of course great food. We all had a wonderful time getting to talk and be together and the kids had so much fun playing. Granny read them stories and they took a trip on the plane and had their passports stamped for the second year. Of course there were also lots of presents and the kids were in heaven. Payton is not so sure yet of opening gifts and was a little overwhelmed, but Riley had no troubles! After this celebration, it was time to head home to get ready for bed and SANTA.....

Christmas morning Riley let us sleep until 7:30, but that was all the break that we got. We then woke Payton up, which was not the best for her present opening mood, and were on our way downstairs to see what Santa had left. Riley wasted no time checking out what was down there and then the opening began. Diesel quickly settled onto his present...a new bed....as well. Riley was in heaven and Payton was not too into it. Riley was very excited to get all the things on her list and a few surprises. I think she also liked that she was able to open most of Payton's presents too. After a quick clean up and breakfast, it was time for church and to get ready for our company.

In the afternoon, Grammy, Papa, Nana, Papa T, Auntie Bika, and her boyfriend Jay came over to celebrate with us. Mom had planned on making homemade ravioli over thanksgiving weekend before Payton changed those plans, so her and dad graciously made them for us all to enjoy on Christmas. We ate SO much good food (thanks mom and dad!) and again enjoyed being with family. After we ate, Riley was eager to rip into more presents and this time Payton got more involved in the process. After presents, we watched a little "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas" that was shared from Uncle Rob. (Riley has found a new found love of the muppets since seeing the movie with Bika and Jay, and also got many new muppet movies for Christmas.) We had a fabulous time just having a relaxing Christmas with our family.

We hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday too. It was so nice to be able to spend time with our loved ones and really enjoy each other!

Pajamas with Santa

Last night our church had "Pajamas with Santa". Now I did not take it literally, as it was meant to be, and bring the girls in their pajamas. (I also felt weird bringing them in their pj's to mass..) We did stay for the fun however! There were crafts, cookies and milk, and stories. And of course....SANTA! Riley was very excited to sit on his lap and tell him about the slushie magic that she wants. Payton however was not so sure. She did not cry though like most of the other kids I know around her age that went, so I guess that is a plus. I snapped a few pictures with my camera and think they turned out pretty good. Hopefully the one they took will be available for us at church next week. A successful and fun evening with Santa!

And too funny....this morning Riley was telling me all about how she believes that that was the "real" Santa. (She knows that previous ones were not..) She thinks this because his hair and beard were real and he said "I will see what I can do" about the slushie magic:) So much fun to experience the holidays through their eyes!

Riley's First Christmas Program

Tonight Riley had her first Christmas program at school and she did a fabulous job! They sang three songs with the pre-K and 1st grade and then after all the other grades performed, they sang 2 as a whole school. She looked so grown up up there....I did my best to get some pictures. We could also tell how much she enjoyed herself, especially on a hallelujiah song when they popped up and down. We are so proud of how well she is doing in school and adapting. She is getting smarter and more outgoing by the day it seems....

St. Nick

I cannot ever remember putting out my shoes for St. Nick. (Perhaps this was a tweaked tradition when Grandpa Bill knocked on the door and left the bag of fruits and nuts...) This year, we began this tradition with the girls however. I was completely unaware until about 4pm though that we would be starting:) When I picked Riley up from school, she told me that they had left their gym shoes out for St. Nick to fill. And there meant....he had to do the same at home! Luckily I had a few things I had already gotten for stockings. Not exactly fruit and simple things like that, but the girls did not mind. They were both so excited when they got up and saw the things in their shoes. (Even Elfy couldn't miss out on the fun!) Later at school, Riley got to see what he left there and learn a little more about the tradition. (Mommy too when she brought home the little card that explained how it all began...)

Christmas Preparations

First off, a belated Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed spending a quiet day at Connie and Dan's. Friday held some unbelievably scary excitement as most of you know. (Too much to write here...) Thanks to some wonderful help from Mom though, we were able to continue with our plans of getting the tree up today! Riley had a blast decorating, once again . Poor Payton was under the weather, but she still did her best to help out...and get into trouble as well. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Happy Halloween!!

Today was the day that Riley has been waiting a long time for....and thankfully I think that it did not disappoint! She was all set for school and was excited to bring her costume to change into. She said that they changed, paraded around the block (and that people threw candy at them?), and then they had a party. She was in such a great mood when I picked her up and could not wait to get home and trick or treat. When we got home, we were barely able to get Payton in her costume and snap a few pictures and then we were off. We were joined by Auntie Bika and Jay (and Diesel tagged along too). Payton was not sure what to do or what to think of the whole experience. She kept taking the candy out of her bucket and throwing it on the ground or just licking the wrappers. Riley was an old pro and most of the time did not even want anyone to come to the door with her. After one loop Riley and I left the others back at home, she grabbed a sweatshirt, and we were off to do some more trick or treating. It was quiet in our subdivision and many houses had the lights off or empty candy buckets (do any kids really follow the take 1 rule?), but Riley had a blast. After we were done, it was home for a warm meal and some cupcakes, so graciously prepared by Bika and warming up. Mike was home handing out candy and he said it was kind of slow. With all that we have left and Riley's loot, we will not be shy on sugar for a LONG time!! Happy Halloween to everyone! Now to hold Riley off until Christmas.....

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday we had a fun family afternoon carving the pumpkins. Mike and Riley did their standard "princess potato head" pumpkin first. Riley loved using the drill to make the holes for her parts and it was funny because it looked like the pumpkin was crying when they put in the eyes. Payton just took all of the experiences in. She was a little under the weather, either because of her last molar working its way in or a cold, so she was not into getting her hands dirty....watch out next year though. Riley was very into cleaning the "guts" out of the carving pumpkin. She was in up past her elbows scooping out all the seeds and stuff and did an awesome job cleaning it out. Mike had fun carving it up as usual and it turned out awesome. I tried to take a picture of it but my flash went off and it looks like I had the lights on. Oh well, you get the idea of what it looks like.
Today Payton also played with playdoh for the first time. She was not totally into this either, but did not try to eat it so I guess that is a bonus. Riley cannot wait for her to enjoy doing these things that she loves. In the slideshow, there are also some pictures from a few weeks ago that just never made it onto the computer until now. Riley was sharing one of her favorite things...the laundry basket...with Payton. As Payton gets older Riley loves that they can do more things together, although is really starting to hate that Payton gets into all her things. And so it begins....

Riley is SUPER excited for Halloween tomorrow! At bedtime she said that she wished she could trick or treat first and then go to school:) She is looking forward to getting candy, as well as handing ours out. We will see how Payton does with the whole thing and I will try and get some pictures tomorrow.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Last Saturday we headed out to get some pumpkins and have a little fun. We were so lucky that it turned out to be such a beautiful day!! And ironically, we met Mallory, Mike and Farrah there too. (Someone at work had recommended the same place to them...) It turned out that it was also Civil War Days there too, so it was a little more crowded that usual but we still had a blast. Of course Riley had to do the usual train ride...although this year we let her go all by herself. We also saw and pet the animals, went through the corn maze and hay maze, played in the little village, and this year we tried out the Abyss....the haunted barn! It was geared towards kids and the lights were on with no real actors, but Riley still said never again:) They said they closed down the scary parts and Mike would really like to go back at night some time. Payton had a blast walking around all of the open space, especially in between all of the pumkins! It was hard to snap any good pictures of her. We all had a beautiful fall day at Dollinger's! Next weekend...carving those great pumpkins that we got and trick or treating:) (Riley is counting the days....)

Future musician??

On Thursday night Payton picked up Riley's recorder. We were so shocked when she was able to make it work immediately! She was so cute walking around playing it. Of course she was moving quick....as she always does...and it made snapping a photo and video difficult.

Kindergarten Pictures

Here is Riley's kindergarten picture. She looks so grown up to us!! She is finally all adjusted and we cannot believe how much she is learning;)

And we're walking!!

On the Friday before Labor Day, Payton decided to was ready to walk!! That day her report from daycare said "lots of steps on her own" and that was the turning point. That long weekend she practiced her skills more and more and a week later, she is walking pretty much full time!! She is getting so quick on those little legs and will probably be running before we know it! We are so proud of Payton!! She is really growing up;) And in case you are.comparing, Riley.was 14 months when she became a walker, so Payton was just a few weeks earlier.

Riley is getting adjusted to kindergarten now too! I will not say that there are no tears at drop offs but she has great days after that. She tells us so much about her day there and is learning so much! They are working on Spanish as week and it is amazing all the things she knows already;) Bet she will be reading in no time....

We love our girls so much!!! Just look at these cutie pies!!

August Pictures

August has been going by WAY too fast:( Riley and I now have our first week of school under our belt and we are all easing back in to the new routine. Payton had a rough first week away from mommy. Riley had a great 1st and 2nd day but a sad 3rd day. She went to bed wishing that kids did not have to go to school...lol Hopefully the morning won't be too rough.

Payton is almost ready to walk on her own! She has been trying a few stps on her own and barely holds onto things now as she zooms along furniture and pulls up on EVERYTHING! If she just got the courage we think that she could be walking completely all on her own. By the end of this week...who knows? Then watch out, here comes trouble!!

Here are a few pics of the girls from August. As you know, I have a hard time remembering to take pictures:)

If anyone is interested.....

Riley has officially entered school and thus entered the fundraising world too:) I hate to hound anyone, so I figured I will post what she is selling here and if anyone is interested, they can let me know and we can figure out the details. Currently, she is selling football mania raffle tickets. (I have had these tickets for a long time and now they are due Friday...oops!) These raffle tickets are $20 and each ticket has a 1 in 48 chance of winning. The tickets correlate to the NFL and each week your ticket has 3 teams listed that play that week and you win based on combined points scored by the teams that your card has. There are 6 prizes each week and 2 grand prizes. If you are interested in purchasing one of these tickets, just let me know and I can get them to you. Like I said...I sat on them for over a month and now they are due on Friday, but we can work out logistics:) (If you want more info, the website is www.charitymania.com)

The other thing that her school sells are gift cards. The school uses the "great lakes scrip center" for this. There a ton of restaurants, stores, and more that you can order gift cards from in various denominations. Her school turns in orders every Monday or it looks like I can set up an online account to do so as well. I have the list of retailers if anyone is interested or the website is www.shopwithscrip.com and they should have the listing there as well. This is an ongoing fundraiser throughout the whole year, so if you are ever interested, just let me know. (I am thinking ahead for Christmas shopping....)

I hope that no one felt pressured by this post:) Just the new fundraising life of a private school mother...lol If you want to support her school with either of these fundraisers, just let me know!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Riley's first day of kindergarten! It was also my first full day of school with my students so unfortunately, I was unable to take her:( Mike however was able to get the day off and so daddy took her:) (This might have actually been better...) She had a few tears when it was time to go to her room but Mike explained that many of the other kids...who also had tears....were nervous too. He said that she was fine when he left and when he picked her up she was smiling and in a good mood. On the way home, she got an ice cream treat to celebrate a great first day! Tomorrow will be another test since I will be taking her and she will need to go to the before and after school program as well. She has only shared a few details of her day but it sounded like she enjoyed her first day and will learn lots! Here is to a great first year of school for Riley....

And on a Payton side note...she took about 5 steps a few times walking in between us:) Maybe she will continue to get braver and be walking all by herself soon!!

Another milestone....

Recently, Riley has been talking more about getting her ears pierced. She wondered how much it would hurt especially. We tried telling her that it would be like a hard pinch but hurt less than a shot. Yesterday we went to the mall and after observing a few other kids get theirs done, she decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced too! I think another big selling feature was that she could have them both done at the same time and sit on my lap;) She said she was ready when they asked her and much to our surprise, she didn't cry or say it even hurt! (She actually said it hurt worse when we were practice pinching her ears....) She looks so much more grown up with her new earrings. And we know she loves them because she is constantly going to look at them, putting her hair behind her ears, and she wore a headband today too:) Another big milestone done...next up....kindergarten on Wednesday.....

Starved Rock

Today Granny and Papa Dan took Jadyn and Riley to Starved Rock. Although I was home and only heard about the adventures second hand, I had to share these too cute pictures that Papa Dan shared. It is so cute how Jadyn and Riley love each other. Whenever they are together, they walk around holding hands like in the picture. Thanks to Granny and Papa Dan for Riley's adventure. If it wasn't for the thunderstorm that woke her up and freaked her out, I think she would've slept like a log! (Instead she is now asleep in "my spot" while I stay up late to catch up on my blog...)

Payton's 1 year stats

Today Payton had her one year appointment and all checked out just fine. She got 2 shots...poor girl:( (I felt so bad for her, as this time she had real tears!) A tough cookie though, she only cried for a little bit and then was fine. Doctor was pleased with all that she is doing and thinks that walking is not far away. She is stubborn like Riley was though and will not attempt any steps without your hands, even though I am sure she could probably manage a few. I think that all of her moving around is helping her to start tapering off in the weight department. She literally is non-stop when she is awake and now that she goes up the stairs, keeps us on our toes.

Here is how she stacked up at todays appointment:

22 lbs 13 oz (74th %tile)
29 inches (41st %tile)
18.3 inch head (85th %tile)...she is a smart one with that big brain:)

Back we go at about 15 months for her last shots until kindergarten and she has the green light for everything now...well with the exception of peanut butter.Here is Payton's 1 year picture...we love those "buttery bucks"!

Touch a Truck

Today we headed out to the annual Touch a Truck in Channahon. This is the 4th year that Riley and I have gone. This trip was even more special for her because not only did we meet the Ensign gang there, we were also joined by the Andrews gang and Grammy! The weather was a little overcast and drizzly, but we still made the best of it. Payton got her first tattoo and Nick enjoyed sitting in ALL the trucks. Riley was really only interested in the school bus and the ambulance, but I think she still had fun. Payton...well she enjoyed the free cookie from the Milano bakery:) All in all, we all had a great morning! After we left, it was off to Culver's for a final lunch with Kris, Kelsey, and Nick and some silly cousin fun. At lunch Payton really discovered sticking out her tongue and the big kids had a blast getting her to show off her talent! (There are some fun pictures of this in Kris' pictures that are linked to our Wisconsin trip...)

First Beach Trip

Today we headed to West Beach with the "Ukockis" gang...even if it really is the Ukockis, Warren, and Andrews families. When we got to the beach...which it was insisted that we get there bright and early to beat the heat and the crowds....it was 73 and cloudy. The kids waisted no time in getting in the sand and the water though. I have to admit, I was a little chilly though. Riley loved jumping around in the waves and feeling the sand. Payton also enjoyed these things although not as much jumping in the waves going on. Oh...did I forget to mention that it was the first beach trip for both girls?! Riley enjoyed burying Kelsey in the sand and then they joined Nick for some major sand digging. When they stopped digging their hole, it was up to Riley's shoulder when she stood in it! Payton took a little nap on Kris and was pretty clingy to mommy, but she still enjoyed playing in the sand. The only downside to the day was that there were huge waves and a possible rip current, so the kids could not really go way out in the water and the "grouchy" lifeguard ended up closing the water completely because he was tired of people not listening and testing the limits. Oh and the weather turned out to be very nice....warm and sunny. The grownups enjoyed soaking up some sun...maybe too much! Riley is looking forward to her next beach trip:) (And maybe it won't be as long of a wait.)

Happy Birthday!!

Today we celebrated the girls' birthdays with a combined family party. Sure Riley's birthday was a month ago and you are supposed to have a big first birthday party but who cares:) Riley is never able to celebrate her birthday with her New Jersey family, so since they were in town, it was the perfect opportunity. The weather was cooperative, albeit super hot and it turned into a fabulous day. We borrowed a big water slide and jumpy house from the neighbor for the "big" kids and put out the baby pool for the little ones and all the kids had a blast. It was so great to have our families together to celebrate the girls and get to spend time together. Thank you to all that came to party with us and thanks for another year to Grammy for making the wonderful birthday cakes! At Riley's request this year she had a pig and Payton had a giraffe. Maybe one year, Riley will just want a plain old sheet cake from Grammy....probably not though:) (The previous 2 years Mom made a monkey and an elephant for Riley....)

(In the pictures you can see Payton standing all by herself after "pushing" off of me....makes her SO darn proud of herself!!)

Wisconsin Trip 2011 (July 15th-July 20th)

We were fortunate enough to get invited back again to Aunt MaryJo and Uncle Denny's Lake house. We were also able to go for a little longer this year too. The girls were both great on the rides there and back, although not much napping happened. On the way, we woke them both up at about 5 am and would you believe neither slept a wink on the way?! Papa Dan lent us a minivan from his work and Riley loved the TV with her own personal headphones:) She wore them pretty much everywhere that we went!!

In Wisconsin, we had a very restful time. The kids spent a TON of time swimming and playing in the lake. Their favorite was swimming out to the swimming dock and jumping in:) And for as whiny as Riley is at swim lessons, she had no fears swimming in the lake back and forth (well, with her life jacket on of course...). By the end of our trip, she was even getting out of the boat and swimming in the middle of the lake! Mike and Kelsey enjoyed tubing and wakeboarding. I even got on the tube once, although not for long, but they refused to let me back in the boat without getting wet:( I think it is safe to say that we all enjoyed the boat rides and our time in Manitowish Waters! Oh and what would vacation be without pigging out, so of course we had to eat too much food as well! There are so many great places to eat Up North and we sampled many of them:) The girls were such great travelers. Not much complaining or whining, they went with the flow, and slept pretty good too. Check out all the fun things we did in Wisconsin. Oh and we were able to celebrate Riley's birthday there...and mine too! Auny MaryJo and Uncle Denny secretly love telling the waitresses it is someones birthday:) I got the dessert surprise the first night and Payton on the last night! Thank you to Aunt MaryJo and Uncle Denny for being such great hosts and thanks to the Andrews family for wanting to travel with our family!!!!

I am also going to attach ALL the photos that Kris took! She took a ton by the way and some of these are not from Wisconsin, but from all her travels in Illinois and Wisconsin. Thanks for sharing Kris:)

Happy 1st Birthday Payton!

It is hard to believe that a year has passed and we are already celebrating Payton's 1st birthday! What a great year it has been! Payton brings so much joy and love to our family and has such an infectious smile. It has been wonderful watching her grow this past year and grow into the little person that she is. It is also amazing to see the bond forming between Payton and Riley. Since the beginning, they have both loved each other so much and each day it continues to grow. (Now I know there will be moments in the near future that they drive each other nuts.....)

At 1, Payton is crawling and getting into everything. She finally mastered pulling up, which was a little more challenging due to her size:) She cruises along furniture and switches off from things...sometimes scaring us. Payton is able to walk fairly well if she is holding onto your fingers, but is not brave enough to try alone. She has just recently started to stand up against us (laying down) and let go, so that she is standing all on her own for a bit. (And you should see how happy this makes her!!) Stairs have also been mastered...well only the going up part. And finally...she has 4 teeth that are pretty much all the way through...we call these her buttery bucks, and 2 more have popped through on the top and are beginning to make their desent. All food is eaten by her and she continues to love large portions:) Formula is a thing of the past (yay!) and now the challenge is moving to all sippee cups. Payton can also say a few words and is working on more everyday. Her favorites are dada, mama, baba, and dog-dog. What a great little girl we have!

For Payton's birthday, we were actually in Wisconsin at Aunt MaryJo and Uncle Denny's. Payton got to celebrate with breakfast at Paul Bunyon's, lots of fresh air, and dinner at Golden Pines. At dinner, she even got sung to and got a special sundae. Here are a few of her on her special day....and two from last year. Happy 1st Birthday to Payton!!!! We love you!!!!!
Here she is at approximately 12:32 AM last July 19th
On the day she went home
Look how happy she woke up on her birthday!
Enjoying her first breakfast at Paul Bunyon's:)

Riley's 5 year stats

On Monday, Riley had her 5 year checkup/kindergarten physical. There was much discussion and anticipation of the visit for her as she knew she would be getting "shots". She did a very good job overall at the visit. She was SUPER cooperative for the nurse and doctor and did everything they asked of her. Well....except for "peeing in the cup" she refused to go....said she couldn't even make any. She is too funny! They were ok with her not providing this sample thankfully. She did cry, as to be expected, during her shots and had her legs as tense as can be, which I am sure did not help. Riley was sad afterwards, but I made sure to tell her that she is now done until middle school. A McDonald's dinner was just what the doctor ordered after and made her feel almost back to normal! Another big milestone behind us....the first school physical! All we have left is the eye doctor visit and then she will be all set!

Here is how she measured up at her visit:
Height 41 1/2 inches (31st %tile)
Weight 36.2 pounds (25th %tile)

She continues to grow along at her slow pace.....and hold onto much lower percentiles that her sister:) But like the doctor said, they are just 2 different kids. Oh, not to mention that on a daily basis that Payton out eats Riley!!

Happy 4th of July!!

We hope that everyone had a great holiday!! We ended up having a jam packed weekend of fun, water, and family!!! On Sunday, we ended up joining Shannon and Mike for their block party. Jadyn and Riley had a ball together. They were so cute walking around holding hands all night. Payton was a great girl as usual and hung in until about 11 at night. After enjoying great food and a great fireworks show put on by Uncle Mike and some of the other neighbors, we headed back to their house for some night swimming and a sleepover. The big kids were up until about midnight and loving all their time together.

On the 4th we were invited to join them at the Homewood parade. Jadyn and Shannon were going to march in the parade with her friend who volunteers for the Humane Society. They invited Riley to also join them. The girls got extra festive and did a great job throwing out the candy! They made it the whole way without any complaining Auntie Shannon said. Payton and Eli enjoyed watching the parade and Eli especially loved all the candy! He did so much bending over for candy that he started to lose his pants:) This entertained us grown ups WAY too much and I couldn't help snapping a picture...hehe. When the parade was over we joined them at the end and enjoyed a little of the family festival. Then Riley "twisted" our arms to go back to do a little more swimming. This time Payton got to join us. She LOVES the water and was loving going down the water slide! At first we tried in her little "boat" but it kept getting stuck so then Mike started taking her. She was ALL smiles. A great big thanks to Shannon and Mike for inviting us over to their house to join in on ALL these fun activities!!! We all had a GREAT 4th of July!!! (And thanks to Grammy, Papa, and Bika for Diesel sitting so that we could have this sleepover!)

Swimming Lessons

Riley is taking swimming lessons again this summer. It has been a rough start with the cold temperatures and freezing water! Each week she asks if she "has" to and we tell her yes. She is by no means a future olympic swimmer, but most times shedoes try and do the things they ask of her. Here are a few pictures of her "play time" at the end of the lesson. I don't take many pictures because they would ALL look the same:)

Would you like fries with that?

For her birthday, we got Riley the McDonald's drive-thru. She has been loving taking our orders and serving our food. Sometimes we are the worker and she "drives" through. Today Payton was on her car and did the driving up. It was SO cute to see them playing together and I just couldn't resist taking a few pictures of them playing.

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there! I feel so blessed that the girls have such an awesome day and that I have an amazing dad too! We hope that everyone had a great day surrounded by the ones you love. We had a low key day but we were all together and that is what made the day special. Here is a picture of Mike and Payton from his friend's pool party yesterday. Which by the way the kids had a blast at! Payton enjoyed her first treat from the ice cream man, a tweety bird, and Riley was brave and tried the "euro bounce". Which she LOVED!! It took us until they were almost leaving to want to try it and then she went twice. She also said that "next" time she is going to go on it right away. I was brave and did it too. I even managed to accomplish two back sommersaults and a front one too. I was proud of myself and boy is it exhausting!

Happy 11 Months Payton!

Wow...11 months already! Time is just flying. Before we know it she will be 1!! At 11 months, Payton has 2 bottom teeth and the 3rd has started popping through on the top. (The 4th is not far behind) She loves to stand against furniture (or anything really) and has even begun trying to change direction on furniture and scoot down it...which scares the heck out of us because she is still kind of shaky. She has yet to figure out how to pull herself up, even though all he wants to do is stand and take steps holding fingers. Payton can only crawl backwards and gets rather mad when she does because she is not going the direction that she wants to. She also continues to love all food and would prefer the "big people" food. Only having 2 teeth does not get in her way of eating anything and everything we give her. Just a little more time and she will be on whole milk. She continues to light up our lives and we all love her so much!!

Father's Day Pictures

Here are the pictures that the girls and I took for Mike for Father's Day!

Sprinkler Fun

Riley got a new sprinkler for her birthday and today she got to try it out. Not before she got a big surprise by the hose...the large toad that you can see in the slideshow! She had a lot of fun, even though she said she was getting wet. She even got her umbrella to run through with, as she does so often. Thanks Granny and Papa Dan for the fun new toy....I know that it will bring much more enjoyment throughout the summer.

Happy Birthday Riley!!

Wow...it is amazing how much Riley has grown and changed since she came into our lives 5 years ago! She entered the world at just 5 pounds, 9 ounces and now is around 35 pounds. She has really changed in how much she has matured and turned into a "kid". Riley is such a little person now. She says that craziest things, is so tuned into everything going on, and is learning so much! We cannot believe that when the summer is over, she will be entering kindergarten. Makes mommy (and maybe daddy) sad for the baby that is no more, but so excited to see the young lady that she will continue to grow into!

Here is how she has grown over the years....
Here is Riley the day after she came home from the hospital.
At her first birthday.
Her 2 year pictures.
On her 3rd birthday.
Her 4 year pictures.
And here she is yesterday, ok technically still 4, super excited to be bringing her birthday treats to school!

I think that she has had a great 5th birthday! She started out the morning bright and early coming downstairs and finding her presents. Then she got to the cupcakes, balloons, and candles that daddy went out last night to get for her and rounded out the morning with a cupcake (complete with 2 candles) for breakfast! For lunch, Granny and Farrah came over and then we went to lunch at McDonald's where we met up with one of her friends from school and they played like crazy! Payton by the way had her first taste of McDonald's and LOVED it! No surprise there:) She had chicken nuggets, french fries, and apples....she is SO done with baby food! Currently Riley is napping now (which is why I can create this detailed post...obviously Payton too) to rest up for a big night of playing with daddy. She is all ready for him to make her a birthday fort and he is cooking her her favorite dinner....steak and cheesy potatoes. YUM!! A great birthday for a great little lady. We love you Riley!!
As you can see, Payton did NOT want a hug from the birthday girl! She wanted OUT!!!

Here are a few pictures from the evening of her birthday and from her making one of her birthday crafts from Grammy and Papa....