The 'Ville

One Scarf, Two Scarf, Red Scarf, Blue Scarf

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

The word “scarf” is an odd one, especially after you have typed it out five times and subsequently looked at it really closely.

But I digress.

First off, my apologies for the utter lack of posts this week. I promise I have had good reason for the absence, though: we think we finally found a house! It’s an Acadian-style 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath very close to Nola and Nopsi’s house, which they are just thrilled about. We are officially under contract as of this week.

Kenny and I are both extremely grateful to my parents for letting us live with them for the past 8 months, but we know it’s high time for us to settle down in our own place. And finally rescue all of our stuff from storage!

We went through inspections yesterday afternoon, and everything went pretty well. No major problems were found, although the house does need a fair amount of cosmetic work. We will take the weekend to truly, once-and-for-all decide if this is the right choice for our family, financially, logically, and emotionally.

Although the process of finding a home started off really slow for us (read: we were slackers), we recently stepped it up. It’s been a little stressful, but for the most part, things have gone fairly smoothly. We looked at a lot of properties throughout the past few weeks, but this one was the best we saw. We have had numerous discussions, crunched a lot of numbers, and done a fair amount of soul-searching. But, most importantly, we kept going back to this particular house.

The house is not perfect, not by any means, but how realistic is it to expect perfection? What the house does have is a two-car garage, rear yard access, a front porch, some upgrades, and a great floor plan. We are hoping that, with time, we can eventually make this house a true home for us, in every sense of the word.

It may take a few years (and a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and paint), but I think we’ll get there.

Although I’m not quite sure what Jem will do once Riley-bean doesn’t live with him anymore…..

First Farm Trip

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riley got to experience the farm for the first time last weekend, on a spectacularly glorious day. (Too bad we hadn’t found time to make the trip a month or so earlier; otherwise, I could have included it in his “firsts” book. Oh well; c’est la vie.)

Kenny and I figured that our boy would love being up there, and we were not mistaken one bit. Although a little overwhelmed at being introduced up-close-and-personal to real, live creatures of both bovine and equine descent, Riley-bean had the time of his life. After all, he loves being outside, and this day was spent almost entirely in the great outdoors.

The sticks available on the ground for Riley to find were just short of infinite. I’m sure he would have been happy to walk around collecting all day, but we had other things to do.

Luckily, Grandpa provided the distraction of a tractor, and the sticks were soon forgotten. Riley got to ride on Grandpa’s lap for a decent stretch on the way to feed the cows, and he even almost fell asleep despite the noise of the engine and the bumpy ride.

Then Kenny showed Riley the big supply of hay in the barn. Riley was a little intimidated at the tall stack and didn’t want to climb on it, but he was willing to sit in someone’s lap. And while we all demonstrated what farmers do with small pieces of hay, Zac bounced around above us on the stack. Jumping and climbing on the stack is apparently Zac’s favorite thing about going to the farm, and I can’t say I blame him. It looked like lots of fun.

Somewhere among all of the fun we managed to cook a delicious fajita lunch over the campfire, as well as celebrate Kenny’s birthday with presents and gooey butter cake. Yum.

We also detoured across the road at one point to the neighbors’ land to meet their horses. If only we had had time to ride! The horses were all huge and gorgeous, but Riley wasn’t too happy when we plopped him on the back of one.

After the horses, Grandma of course had to take Riley for his very first {short and safe} ride on the four-wheeler. Vroom-vroom!

Then I guess Riley was feeling confident because he decided he wanted to try driving the tractor.

With all of that activity, it was no wonder the boy fell fast asleep on his daddy’s lap during the tractor ride back to the campsite. He was OUT.

And he remained firmly asleep even after being transferred to me. (However, he then promptly woke up when we put him in his carseat and didn’t close his eyes again the whole way home. I guess a twenty-minute power nap was all he needed!)

Long story short, I would definitely call Riley’s first farm adventure a complete and utter success. We had such a wonderful time, and we captured so many great moments throughout the day, thanks to Grandma’s and Nopsi’s cameras.

Thanks for organizing the day, Grandma and Grandpa! Let’s do a trip like this again soon, okay? Do you think we could order up the exact same temperatures and conditions?

Because in terms of a day spent outdoors, it was pretty close to perfect.

Mixbook

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

Remember when I mentioned a special photo project a couple of weeks ago? Well, I finished it up, ordered it, and it finally arrived yesterday.

I purchased a Groupon to Mixbook many moons ago, way back in February of last year. While I hadn’t forgotten about it, I just didn’t have the time to devote to the project until suddenly the expiration date was fast approaching and I knew I had to get a move on.

I also had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do a photo book, but I couldn’t decide what kind. Since I already order a blog book every year (or three, as in the case of 2011), I figured I would focus my Mixbook photo book on one event, such as our wine country vacation or our trip to the beach or Riley’ first birthday. But I wasn’t completely thrilled with that idea.

Then my friend Bridget suggested I do a book of Riley’s “firsts”: first bath, first haircut, first outing, etc. One collective book capturing all of his first little moments and experiences in the first 16 months of his life.

Done.

I came up with about forty “firsts” and quickly decided to center the whole book around photographs, since I already write more than enough on this blog. However, I did label each page, and UJ contributed a fantastic poem for the front of the book describing many of the “firsts,” which I just love.

It took me a little while to get used to the Mixbook interface, but I loved the many choices for backgrounds and layouts and how I could also manipulate everything to get it just the way I wanted it to look on the page.

I think the book turned out really great, and I’m so glad Bridget gave me the idea. I love this whole photo book craze. It’s so much easier than scrapbooking!

This book, along with my photo book documenting Riley’s arrival way back in August 2010, is something I will treasure forever. Hopefully one day Riley-bean will appreciate it just as much as I do.

Oh, and I also just bought a second $50 coupon to Mixbook so I’ll need another idea of what to use it for before February 2013. Let me know if anyone has any other brilliant suggestions!

Cuteness Eleven

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Playing angry birds with Daddy

Front-facing carseat now!

Computer time with Nopsi

Crazy Mama and Daddy

“Swimming” across the floor

Fun with his new Cheerios book

Sleepy Bean

Lunching out with Mama and Nola at Mondo and Houston’s

Trip to Target and the resulting slinky purchase

Making another mess

Cool dude

More sleepy Bean

Big Boy

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

One of the new phrases Riley likes to say is “big boy.” And it’s true; he really is becoming such a big boy.

We recently started calling him that after he sat in one of the kitchen chairs all by himself for an afternoon snack one day last week. And, as you can imagine, he picked up on the new phrase mighty quickly. (The child DOES. NOT. STOP. TALKING.)

He just looked so big sitting there in his cute train overalls, eating his raisins (“ray-rays”) and drinking his juice.

I’d just like to know, though…...where did my tiny little boy go??? This is certainly not the face of a baby.

Big boy is right.

Big, sweet, adorable, happy, beautiful boy.

Seventeen Months

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riley-bean is seventeen months old today, and he shares this “birthday” with his daddy. Happy happy Birthday, Ken! We love you lots.

At 17 months, Riley weighs approximately 27 lbs and stands about 35 inches tall. He is definitely a growing boy.

Here’s what I want to remember from this past month:

The biggest thing was that he dropped down to one nap a day, starting mid-month. He naps after he has his lunch and usually sleeps for a couple of hours, although some days are better than others. I’m still not sure how I feel about this change, but I think it was the right thing for him. We shall see how it goes from here!
He tried a few new foods this month, including tortilla chips, sour cream, shrimp, grilled cheese, kingcake, frozen yogurt, pecan, fresh spinach, “cuties” (clementines), raisins, and goldfish crackers.
He has gotten a little bit pickier about what he eats, but he still enjoys a wide variety of things. He drinks like a champ these days, both milk and juice, which means a couple of additional diaper changes. Wow.
He now has 10 teeth.
Lots of new words this month, and he is still talking constantly: sleeve, on, noise, heavy (“hebby”), bead, elbow and knee (and knows where they are), tickle, sausage, giraffe (“garaffe”), hippo, machine (“sheen”), chickpea, hair (and knows where it is), bean, bubble, guitar, slide, tractor, fleur-de-lis (“lur-la-lee”), pickle, printer, paper, house, tunnel, fishy (“shishy”), broccoli, tuna, apple, strawberry, crumb, poopy, wet, hole, hay, cow.
Lots of new phrases/names too: Scoutie, Riley, Riley-bean, Grandpa, Mater, Lightning, Rocky, Mickey, “oh no!”, “I’ll get it,” “not nice,” “big boy,” “choo-choo” for train,“ah-ah” for monkey, “cluck-cluck” for chicken, “oink-oink” for pig, “caw-caw” for macaw, “tweet-tweet” for bird. He has also been responding with “hayyyy up!” when asked what the farmer says for a couple of months; Grandpa loves this because it’s how he calls the cows at the farm!
He’s getting better and better at controlling his balance and coordination, although he has continued to take some tumbles on account of running and tripping over his own feet. Nothing serious, though, and he usually picks himself up and carries on. He’s tough.
Daddy taught him to do what we’re calling his “tarzan” move, where he beats his chest with his fist and makes a sound while doing so.
As you may have seen last week, he’s doing great with his colors. Most of the time he can identify green, yellow, red, blue, orange, and purple by name. He can also usually pick out the letters A, B, and R.
He continues to amaze me with how smart he is. He picks up on things so quickly and he is incredibly observant.
He LOVES his trucks, especially Chuck. We put his trucks to bed each night in the toy bookcase downstairs, and he tells them night-night. Then in the morning after he has breakfast he wakes them up! Too cute.
He still loves his baths (especially with bubbles…..I have also done this with him and really want to do this too), being outside and collecting sticks, watching the airplanes take off and land, and having his belly rubbed.

Seventeen months old and getting cuter and cuter! Happy happy birthday to both of my boys. :)

Video Friday: Colors

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I hope you have all enjoyed this mini Video Week. Things have been crazy busy for me around here the past few days, so I am glad I had a stash of videos taken last weekend to post every other day this week. Otherwise, you may not have seen anything new until Monday!

Riley is doing really well with his colors these days. He is able to correctly name green, yellow, red, blue, purple, and orange most of the time. Such a smarty-pants, my Riley-bean.

Happy Friday!

Video Wednesday: Tunnel Fun

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

You just never know what will happen on the weekends when Daddy is around……skeleton pajamas, one glove, lots of books, and some fun in the {child-sized} tunnel. Good times.

Happy Video Wednesday!

Video Monday: Cayenne

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday morning, QP came over as usual, but this time she brought a friend with her, Sharon, who was in from out of town visiting. And Sharon happened to bring along her new Labrador puppy, Cayenne, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Riley, meet Cayenne. Cayenne, try not to jump ALL over my boy. I know you’re still a puppy and he’s just your size and everything, but he’s quite easy to knock down, and I would prefer that not happen. Okay? Okay.

Or not.

Riley didn’t care one bit, though, even when he did get knocked to the ground by the exuberant pup (which happened more than once). He loved every second of it, and I heard the giggles to prove it.

I eventually did run back inside to switch cameras so I could video some of their interaction, but I unfortunately captured most of the good parts in stills.

No matter. It is Video Monday after all, so here’s one for your weekly fix with double the cuteness, if you can stand it: a puppy and a Riley-bean, in action.

Happy Monday!

Making Messes

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riley is at the age where I don’t feel like I have to constantly watch him. This is nice because it lets me get some work done on the computer while he wanders from room to room, playing and babbling to himself.

However, this is sometimes not nice because, more than once, the slippery little sucker has scooted himself down the stairs before I can get to him. I’m glad we taught him well on how to navigate the stairs, but he hasn’t yet grasped the concept that he shouldn’t go up or down them by himself. Crazy kid.

Lately, if he chooses to ignore the stairs and part of my attention is otherwise occupied, Riley-bean has taken the liberty of getting into some things that aren’t his and making a few messes.

Those first two I was completely aware of, as they were happening practically right at my feet. He actually has gotten into my shoes and my purse a number of times, and I let him since it’s an easy thing to pick up and it occupies him for a decent stretch. However, he did not have my permission to empty out his wipes container onto the floor of his bedroom one afternoon.

All of the blame lies squarely on my shoulders, and I fully accept it. I was focused solely on editing a photo project on my computer (more on that soon!), and although I knew he was in his room, I only noticed the silence after he had been quiet for a couple of minutes. I walked in, found the mess, and immediately dashed back to my room to grab my camera.

As messes go, Riley really hasn’t created any big ones. Yet. I know they’re just around the corner. Another blogger mom says she makes sure to document every mess her son makes before cleaning it up, just so she’ll be able to look back at it one day and laugh.

I hope I retain the wherewithal to do just that when Riley has colored the walls with crayon or dumped flour out all over the kitchen floor or some other such nonsense.

Because I have a feeling he is going to be trouble with a capital T in no time.

Winter Bubbles

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve said it before, but January 2012 is really proving my point. Winter weather in Louisiana is exceptionally unpredictable. One day Riley is bundled up in a long-sleeved shirt, sweater, coat and hat…..

…..and the next, the hat and coat aren’t needed.

(How cute are those shoes, by the way?)

No matter the temperature, though, Riley-bean loves being outside. And, one afternoon last weekend, Kenny decided to break out the bubbles to entertain his boy.

Even though he had seen bubbles before, Riley was mesmerized at first and seemed almost frozen in place…..

…..but it didn’t take him long to try to stomp on the bubbles as they landed on the ground. Typical.

Then he tried to reach out and grab the bubbles as Kenny was blowing them. And, I just have to say, thank goodness Nopsi has a really nice camera. These shots he captured are amazing.

Ah, to be a toddler again and see the world through fresh, innocent eyes.

Then again, at 32, I still think bubbles are magical.

Retro Riley

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Nopsi brought back a carload of stuff from Houston last weekend and thus needed to make some space in his closet. He was forced to clean out a multitude of old items that had been collecting dust on his closet shelves for years.

Boy, were there some gems in the pile, let me tell you. Old Mardi Gras costumes, two huge plastic knives, a stuffed duck that screams out “Aflac!” when squeezed, a kind-of-neat vintage model car (that has apparently been passed on to my husband), and a deranged-looking gorilla that dances to the Macarena song. (It’s okay to be jealous of that last one. It was quite a find.)

There was also this:

My original Rocky! I immediately rescued him from among the junk, and he is now safely ensconced in the boy’s crib with the rest of his menagerie.

And Riley already knows his name. Be still my heart.

But then there were these three special pieces:

A straight-from-the-80s retro sweatband and wristband set that Nopsi used to wear. Nice.

I’m shocked that Riley left it all on for as long as he did. He toddled around the kitchen, pushed his favorite truck around the den, and even sat in his highchair with his milk for a little bit before he had had enough.

I would have removed the bands before he got too into his lunch, though, even if he hadn’t tired of them.

We wouldn’t have wanted them to get messed up beyond repair, now, would we?

I should think not.

Life Is Still Good

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sadly, the New Orleans Saints’ 2011-12 season of football ended on Saturday evening with a heartbreaking loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

As the last seconds ticked off the clock, we were not the ones celebrating an advance to the NFC Championship game.

Instead, we were reluctantly licking our wounds, acknowledging a commendable season but denying that it was truly over.

September suddenly seems very far away.

For a city and state that love the game, spring and summer last way too long.

Luckily, there are many things to make the off-season go by faster, at least for our family.

There’s a trip to Breckenridge in store for Kenny and I next month, which we are very much looking forward to taking, even though we will surely miss our boy desperately.

There’s also Lizzie and Doug’s wedding in early May, which will no doubt be the social event of the year.

And, most importantly, there’s the arrival of Aunt E and Uncle Jeff’s new baby in early August (or late July!) to anticipate.

Thank goodness for the distractions of vacations, weddings, and babies.

Otherwise, it would be a very long 8 months.

Video Monday: Conversation with an iPhone

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

I am loving recording Riley-bean using my phone because he is so fascinated with seeing himself on the screen. Here’s a montage of three videos I took one day last week. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

On Wonky Sleeping

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

I don’t know what it is.

All I know is that it never gets old.

I just love peeking in on my sleeping boy.

Of course, it probably wouldn’t be the same if the wonk potatoes didn’t sleep so wonkily.

But I’m sure glad he does.

BCS Party in the Quarter

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

LSU may have lost the big game, but it was still great fun walking around the Quarter on Monday afternoon.

Nola, Nopsi, Riley, and I headed downtown after Riley woke up from his morning nap. We parked at QP’s, picked her up, and walked over to Felipe’s for lunch. There were people everywhere, mostly decked out in either purple and gold or crimson and white, eating, drinking, laughing, carousing, and generally having a good ol’ time.

We met up with Jeff, Erin, Trisha, and Jenn at Felipe’s and were lucky enough to score two tables next to each other. The food was great, it wasn’t overly crowded, and we had a really fun time. Riley had his first tortilla chip (as well as a taste of Nopsi’s long island iced tea…..), and he was his usual charming self to anyone that looked his way.

After lunch we decided to walk up to Bourbon to see just how crazy it was. I knew we probably wouldn’t be able to walk back that way because we had the stroller with us, but I’m glad we took a peak at the throngs of people crowding the Quarter’s most famous street. It looked just like it does during Mardi Gras. Riley didn’t know which way to look first, there were so many people and things to see.

On our way back to QP’s, we ran into Ashley and Greg, who were on their way to see Scott and the rest of the Tiger Pimp Nation at Embers Steakhouse. So we took a little detour and went back up to Bourbon to say hi. I’m so glad we did!

We said goodbye to Scott, Ashley, and Greg at this point and headed back to QP’s. Riley-bean was looking mighty tired but seemed content to relax in his stroller with his paci for the walk back. However, once we were up in QP’s apartment he got his second wind. After all, there was a kitty to chase, beads to play with, and a feather boa to try on. He stayed pretty busy.

I sure am glad the game was played in New Orleans this year. No matter what the outcome was, there was one heck of a party going on downtown. And huge thanks to QP for your hospitality……and the free rockin’ parking space.

Geaux Tigers!

Football Love and Loyalty

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, the outcome of the BCS Championship game on Monday night was the polar opposite of what every LSU fan wanted. In fact, it was exceedingly painful to watch.

I’m not going to pick the game apart, even though there is PLENTY I could say. I’ll simply say this: Alabama deserved to win that game. Congratulations to the Tide.

So with that utter embarrassment now behind us, Louisiana’s attention returns to our other, more impressive football team: the New Orleans Saints, baby.

Drew and the rest of the boys won their wildcard playoff game against the Lions convincingly last Saturday night, and they’re headed to San Francisco to take on the 49ers this Saturday afternoon.

Geaux Black and Gold.

Like many other states with powerhouse professional and college teams, we take our football seriously down here.

We’re loud, we’re passionate, and we’re opinionated, but most of all we’re loyal.

New Orleans was only recently given a real team to cheer for every Sunday, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t support our Saints through the bad years. We may have had bags on our heads while doing so, but we were still right there alongside them. Wishing, hoping, and praying we would break through just once.

And, eventually, we did. The New Orleans Saints won Superbowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. And no one can ever take that away from us.

So yes, LSU may have lost the title game this year, but they still had a 13-1 season. And while we still reserve the right to yell and scream and tell the coaches what we would do, we’ll still cheer them on next season and every season after that.

Because, ultimately, we love the game. And because we are true and loyal fans.

And that’s just what we do.

Upon Awakening

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

I had to wake Riley up from his second nap more than once last week.

This is because the boy has been insisting on talking to himself in his crib for more than an hour after I put him down.

Then just when I am about to give up (even though he hasn’t slept a wink but because it’s approaching dinnertime), he suddenly falls silent.

This means all he gets is a tiny little power nap before I’m forced to go in and rouse him.

He usually wakes up from naps on his own, sometimes crabby but most of the time just chattering to himself, waiting for me to come in and get him.

But on this particular day, he was in a deep sleep, and it’s never good to be awakened out of that.

He usually cries really hard when I have to wake him up, and this day was no different.

I think, because he wakes up so suddenly, he gets really confused at first as to where he is and what’s going on.

But it rarely takes him too long to calm down and be happy again.

All it usually takes is for him to spot one of his toys laying on the floor, or Jem walking through, or a favorite book on his bookshelf.

And before you know it, I’m wiping his tears away and welcoming that smiling face back.

Riley-bean, you make me smile.

Video Monday: Riley and Mama, iPhone Style

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

After I had to wake Riley up from his afternoon nap one day last week (it was past 5 o’clock!), I brought him into my room and sat him on my lap in my desk chair. My phone was on the desk, and he was being really cute and chatty, so I snapped a few pictures and then realized I could also take a video.

I had switched the camera to forward-facing, and he was quite taken with seeing himself on the screen. I’ll have to take videos this way more often!

On another note, tonight is the college football championship game between my Tigers of LSU and that team from Tuscaloosa in the New Orleans Superdome. This city is virtually shut down so some serious tailgatin’ can take place, so I’m sure there will be no shortage of partying anywhere within the city limits today.

We will be watching the game at home while Riley sleeps through it. Fingers crossed that our yelling downstairs won’t wake the boy up once he’s down for the night.

I hope you beat the pants off of them, boys…..GEAUX TIGERS!!!!

Happy {BCS} Monday!

Cousin Riley

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Even though Riley is technically already one because of Kenny’s siblings’ kids, he’s about to become cousin to a brand-new addition to the family…..

AUNT E IS PREGNANT!!!

They announced the news to Nopsi’s side of the family at our Christmas celebration on December 18, when we gathered everyone together during halftime with the pretense of taking a family picture:

Then on Christmas Day Nola’s side of the family was told in a unique way, with, of course, a custom-designed t-shirt:

However, Nola, Nopsi, Kenny, and I were told on December 9, before anyone else knew. Erin and Jeff stopped by the house early that morning, which was a little odd. At first I thought Aunt E was just coming to see the boy on her way to school, but then I saw Uncle Jeff walking up to the door with her.

Then I knew. I just knew what they were coming to tell us. I even said to Nola before they walked in, “I bet she’s pregnant.”

They made sure everyone was in the kitchen, where Riley-bean was having his breakfast, and then Jeff pulled a picture out, saying that they had gotten their Christmas cards in and wanted to show us:

How cute is that??? Of course Erin found the idea on Pinterest. They had taken the picture just the night before and picked up the prints on their way over the next morning.

The baby, gender and name to be revealed upon delivery (who does that?), is due on August 4. So far Erin is feeling great, aside from being super tired. She and Jeff are both really excited to be parents, and I am so happy for them. Y’all know I’m here for you, in any way I can be. All you have to do is ask!

Congratulations, Aunt E and Uncle Jeff; Riley can’t wait to teach his new cousin everything he knows!

Riley the Snowman

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

I cleaned out Riley’s dresser the other day, and look what I found…..

…..a super-cute snowman onesie that Nola purchased way back in September and which I had forgotten existed in Riley’s supply of clothes.

After lunch, as it was a simply gorgeous afternoon, I plopped the snowman in his wagon and we set off on a walk around the neighborhood.

The day started off really cold with a light layer of frost on the grass but warmed up to practically spring-like by early afternoon.

I was partially glad for the slight increase in temperature since it meant the snowman didn’t need to be covered by a jacket…..

…..but it had better stay cool down here at least through February.

The boy has way too many other cute winter clothes to waste on warm days.

Then again, such is life in the winter down here in the Big Easy. Sweaters one day, shorts the next.

I guess Riley-bean needs to get used to it eventually, although I’m not sure I ever will!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Nola and Nopsi decided to stay in for New Year’s Eve this year, and they offered to “watch” Riley so Kenny and I could go off by ourselves. We accepted right away, although we did feed, bathe, and tuck the boy into bed before we left. We wanted to make things as easy as possible on them since their offer was such a generous one. Thanks again, Nola and Nopsi!

Bridget and Brian hosted a party at their house just a few blocks away, so we didn’t have far to go. It was a small gathering, on account of bigger bashes being held downtown that tempted some of our childless friends and some other absentees who had to stay home with sick kids. No matter; the eight of us had fun anyway!

Madison and Grant were the only two kiddos ringing in 2012 with us, and even though Maddie kept telling me (starting at 9:30pm) “I am SO tired!”, those two certainly seemed to have lots of fun staying up way past their bedtimes.

Kenny and I enjoyed our night off not having to chase after a 16-month-old, although I did miss having Riley-bean with us. He was with us in spirit, though, because of course I had to wear my bean necklace!

There was lots of good food, drink, conversation, and company. Throw in two excited kids, add in some really awesome firework displays, and we had ourselves a really great New Year’s Eve.

We did come home to a sad report from Nola. The boy apparently woke up just before midnight because the fireworks by the house were so loud (the sky seriously looked like a duel was going on between half a dozen people). Nopsi had gone in to check on him and found him sitting up in his crib whimpering. So he picked him up and rocked him for almost an hour to get him to calm down and fall back asleep. Poor kid. However, once we were home, we didn’t hear a peep out of him until 7:30 the next morning, so I guess the experience didn’t leave a permanent scar on him. :)

Happy 2012, everyone!

Social {and} Butterflies

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

The week between Christmas and New Year’s was a busy one for us this year. Kenny’s office shuts down completely for those five days, so he was home with Riley and me all week. (Yay!)

We had lots of things on our to-do list, and I think we knocked out many, if not all, of them. We organized and rearranged Riley’s toy storage areas, Kenny went to the farm to do some work on the trebuchet, Kenny and I both visited the dentist, I got a brake tag, Kenny got a haircut, I caught a little winter cold, Kenny changed the oil in his car, we took a much-needed trip to Sam’s, and (sniff) we helped Nola and Nopsi undecorate the house from Christmas.

In addition to all of that, we also found some time for a few fun outings. On Tuesday afternoon Nola and I met four others at Commander’s Palace for lunch. Kirk, a friend of mine from high school who now lives in Los Angeles, was in town for the holidays and insisted we get together. So that was how Nola and I found ourselves at a lively round table for six in the upstairs Garden Room for a three-and-a-half hour lunch with Kirk, his mom, QP, and our mutual friend Rosemary.

It was so great to catch up with Kirk; he certainly has changed a lot in all of the years I’ve known him. It’s hard to believe we went to our first high school dance together (the first of many) more than 15 years ago. Wow.

On Wednesday night Kenny and I spent a couple of hours at Bridget and Brian’s house visiting with Adam and Erin, who were in town seeing family. Then on Thursday night, Nopsi and I did a little father-daughter bonding throughout the course of a painting class at New Orleans Paint ‘N Party. We had purchased Groupons for a class some time ago, and the deadline was rapidly approaching, so we were lucky to find a painting that we liked and with two seats still available.

Armed with an array of snacks and two bottles of Mazzocco, we painted a colorful Katrina house. Although I was intimidated before we even arrived (on account of Nopsi’s skills as an artist and having to paint next to him) and supremely frustrated once we started drawing our black outlines (they came out much thicker than I had wanted), I have to admit that I really do like my painting now. It took me a couple of days, but I think mine actually turned out fairly decent, even if it is a lot chunkier than Nopsi’s.

However, I do think I should probably refrain from participating in any more of those classes. It’s just not worth the headache they always seem to cause me!

Friday was a fun day for just the three of us: Kenny, Riley, and me. Thanks to another purchased deal (from Living Social this time), we visited the Audubon Insectarium downtown. Even though Riley was in a less than stellar mood because of skipping his nap (and thus having to kind of rush through), I think the trip was worth it. And of course I had to dress him in his Very Hungry Caterpillar shirt for the occasion!

He seemed to be interested in a few of the exhibits, but he’s still pretty young to get a lot of out of this particular facility. I think we’ll bring him back in a year or so and he’ll be much better suited for it.

We were only about halfway through when we gave up and put Riley back in his stroller, with his paci and giraffe after downing some milk. He was content to ride along while Kenny and I walked around looking at all of the beautiful and cleverly thought out exhibits.

My favorite part of the Insectarium was the very last exhibit, the “Butterflies in Flight” gallery. We had to walk through an air lock to ensure no butterflies escaped their confines, and we soon emerged into a serene, Asian-inspired garden setting. The butterflies were plentiful, in all different sizes and colors, fluttering around, eating, or resting their wings.

One butterfly decided he wanted to be friends with Riley-bean, even if it was only for 30 seconds or so. No, we did not disobey the sign on the wall; the little insect took it upon himself to get a closer look at the boy.

It must have been Riley’s shirt that drew him in. He was obviously remembering his past life and simply wanted to reminisce.

After the Insectarium, even though Kenny thought I was crazy to attempt it, we walked over to Felipe’s for a late lunch. We were all really hungry, and I didn’t want to take the time to drive home. Considering how tired he looked, Riley did great, alternating between chattering to the people in line by our table and eating his lunch. And the pork burrito that Kenny got was totally worth the stop. SO good.

Riley promptly passed out once we were in the car driving home, and Kenny and I deemed the day a fun success.

New Year’s Eve recap coming tomorrow!

Video Monday: Little Drummer Boy

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, Kenny used to play drums when he was younger. His parents gave him a drum set many, many years ago, and the set happens to be put together in Kenny’s grandparents’ house, where we were for Christmas Day with his family. So of course Kenny took the opportunity to introduce his son to drumming on real drums.

However, it wasn’t long before he had Riley up on that stool all by himself, a drumstick firmly clutched in each hand.

And guess what? The boy loved it. He did not want to get down, and he probably would have “played” for hours if we had let him. Sadly, we did have to leave on account of it getting late, but not before I took a video clip of his “concert.” Please enjoy!

Happy Monday!

Video Sunday: Christmas Morning

2012-01-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Please enjoy this special Video Sunday, with a montage from Riley’s second Christmas morning, opening his presents from Santa.

Happy New Year!

Cuteness Ten

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

LSU Rocks the Crib and alternate option from 13-month photo shoot:

Bedtime routine with Daddy, bath and book:

Penguin PJs, bringing me his shoe and a new place to play:

Loves going to the grocery with Mama, especially when we see his friend Zendelle, who works there!

On second thought, I want the chair on the left:

Christmas PJs, stare-down with Nopsi, and playing at Mama’s feet:

Quality time with Mama:

Brushing teeth with Daddy:

Santa penguin shirt and saying “open” (door) and “wreath”:

Geaux Saints!!!

Other shots from 16-month photo shoot:

And, of course, my sweet sleepy boy:

Happy {almost} New Year everyone! May your 2012 be even better than your 2011. :)

Sixteen Months

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

I had originally planned to scale back my “birthday” posts on Riley-bean, doing one every three months or so instead of every month. I quickly realized, however, that wouldn’t be possible. This kid just does so much and says so much that I have no choice but to keep up with him. So here we go!

Riley is officially sixteen months old today. He weighs approximately 27lbs and stands 32 inches tall. He’s still in a size 4 diaper (5 for overnights), and he wears anything from a 12-18 month to a 2T in clothes.

Here’s what I want to remember about this past month:

He has tried a lot of new foods: salmon, cornbread, coconut, popcorn, caramel, walnuts, crackers, lettuce, roast beef, lobster, rabbit, flounder, swordfish, ginger, crabmeat, and peanut butter. His daddy also taught him how to “cheers” with his sippy cup, which is so cute.
He is also saying tons of new words: again, bowl, empty (and knows when something is), cheese, grape, blueberry, snake, baby, airplane, brush, star, bite, kale, moon, towel, pillow, penguin, tree, sticky, edamame (“mami”), ham, hair dryer, boulder, hello, cereal, Cheerio, noodle, hanger, alrighty. He talks a LOT.
And a few new phrases: “sssss” for snake, “choo-choo” for train, “baa” for sheep, “ah-ah” for monkey, “I’ll do it,” “Doh!” (and also hits his head with his hand when he says this…Uncle Jeff taught him), “cray-cray” for crazy (QP taught him this and he says it all the time).
He also says many names: Daddy, Mama, Nopsi, Na-no (Nola), Grandma, Uncle Jeff, QP, Elmo, Jembo.
He very much understands the concept of on/off and open/close. He says open all the time. He also started to say “no-no” when he doesn’t want to do something. Super.
He is very busy, all the time. He doesn’t stay in one place for very long, always on the move, constantly doing something. Unfortunately, this also means he is not a big snuggler. I miss those days! He also doesn’t easily and willingly give as many kisses these days, so I take them as often as I can get them.
He is starting to trip and fall a lot more, which probably has something to do with his speed. He’s pretty fast on those feet of his.
He loves to turn the speakerphone on and off, as well as play with the answering machine. And lots of times when the phone rings, he’ll say “hello!”
He loves throwing his sippy cups and some of his food onto the floor, although we’re trying to teach him that’s not nice.
He is loving moving things from one place to another and dumping things out (corks, foam blocks, etc.), but he’s not so into picking things up just yet.
I’m starting to teach him colors, although he says everything is green.
He is learning where his cheeks, chin, elbows, and knees are.
He’s been a little more whiny and moody lately, which I hope is because of teething and not a personality switch. One of his first bottom molars came in this month, so that brings his tooth total to 8 (that I can see to count).

Sixteen months old!

Notable Christmas Gifts

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

After everything was said and done, I would have to say that we all got some pretty great gifts this year. Many of them were centered around family jokes, including a few given by different people with the same theme. It was kind of like that year when Kenny and I both surprised each other with trips to New York, only on a much smaller scale. (Yes, we really did do that, and yes, we really did take both trips, albeit a few months apart.)

We apparently are all budding t-shirt designers because there were a lot of custom-made shirts exchanged. I created one for Uncle Jeff with a favorite saying of his on it, and Riley also gave one to Nopsi and one to Nola.

And I am sorry to say that there were two, TWO, shirts created for yours truly, one by my brother and another one by my father. Neither knew the other was doing the same thing, so I am quite the lucky girl to have two unfortunate reminders of something that happened on our Sonoma trip back in July. I simply mistook some cattle for horses and now I’ll never live it down.

What can I say? We had been drinking wine all day long and I got a little confused. Such is life sometimes.

There were also a couple of bacon-themed gifts exchanged between me and QP, because we both love this video. And QP and Erin both reminded each other of a small little incident that happened on Thanksgiving night with custom created “green apple” gifts.

I’m telling ya, if you say something in front of any other member of this family, be prepared to have it haunt you for the rest of your days.

Then there was a special gift from my brother to me. As if his horsey t-shirt wasn’t enough, he commissioned UJ to paint a gigantic “Noel” on canvas for me. I was surprised with it as I came back downstairs at one point, so I must admit he got me good. But he still hasn’t topped my “Noel” delivery on my way down the aisle at his wedding, so I guess our good-natured battle continues.

But perhaps the most fun gifts of the day were from my dad to Kenny and my brother: remote control helicopters. Oh, and Nopsi got himself one, too. He couldn’t let the two young guys have all the fun!

The weather on Sunday wasn’t the greatest for flying, but you better believe Kenny and Jeff ventured out anyway to take their copters for a test spin.

However, they moved their flight paths inside when the wind blew one of the choppers into a tree. Luckily, there were no casualties.

Riley was absolutely fixated on the helicopters, especially once the guys started flying them around inside. He was so intently focused that I probably could have waved a handful of sticks in front of his face and he wouldn’t have blinked.

These were just a few of the memorable gifts given and received this year; there were certainly other wonderful ones. I definitely think we outdid ourselves, though, and we’ll have quite a challenge topping the creativity next year.

However, if anyone can do it, this family can!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Even though he had gone to bed much later than usual the night before, Riley still woke up at normal time on Christmas morning, around 7am. The three of us took our customary picture at the top of the stairs (sadly, without Erin and Jeff this year), and then I carried Riley down to see what Santa had brought him.

When I pointed out all of his new toys next to the tree, his face just lit up with excitement and joy. (Big thanks to Nopsi for capturing this moment!) He scrambled out of my arms and ran over to see what Santa had left for him.

We let him check out his three big presents for a bit and then moved on to his stocking. There was a lot of stuff in it, and he kept reaching in and pulling something else out, even burying his face in the opening a couple of times. Crazy kid. I finally just upended the stocking and dumped everything out onto the floor in front of him, creating quite a large pile!

A quick time out for some milk…..

…..and then we moved on to opening his presents from Nola and Nopsi. He sure cleaned up this year, and we hadn’t even gotten him out of his PJs at this point!

We did eventually have to tear him away from his loot, though, to get dressed for the day. Aunt E and Uncle Jeff arrived shortly after 9 to open gifts with us before the rest of the family got to the house at 10.

Bop made our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of scrambled eggs with bacon…..

…..and then it was time for another round of gift-giving.

A little down time (and a short nap for Riley), and then the three of us headed over to Kenny’s family’s celebration. We had a delicious Christmas dinner, prepared mostly by Grandma and Grandpa, and topped off with a little after-dinner aperitif of limoncello, direct from Italy!

The birthday buddies, Riley and Zac, played so well together all afternoon. Zac was very generous in sharing his toys with Riley, even some of the new ones he had just gotten. One final round of present-opening took place, and the day was suddenly drawing to a close.

We arrived back at the house around 7pm, tired from a long day. Riley had another super quick (and somewhat teary) bath, and then he totally crashed. The poor kid had been off his schedule and dragged from one place to another for three days straight, and he really didn’t know what the heck had been going on. He hung in there, though, and Santa certainly was very good to him.

We hope everyone had as good a Christmas as we did this year. Happy Holidays to you all!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Per usual, my family had dinner at GW Fin’s on Christmas Eve night. It was a smaller group this year since none of my out-of-town family were with us. We still had a good time, although I love when we’re a big group taking up multiple tables. That will be next year!

Nola made the reservation for 5pm, right when they opened, so Riley’s schedule wouldn’t be too thrown off. He was a totally different kid in that restaurant this year as compared to last. I don’t think Kenny or I stopped to breathe once, but QP and Nopsi did take the boy off for “distract walks” a few times, which helped lots.

Another long table was set up next to ours, and the people sitting there just happened to have a little girl in their party. The two highchairs were back-to-back and the kiddos kept turning around to check each other out. I tried to tell Riley she was an older woman, but he apparently didn’t care and kept throwing his spoons at her. Good times.

We also discovered early on that Riley-bean loves the GW Fin’s biscuits just as much as his mama does…..

Whatcha got there, Daddy?

I’d love some of it, please. Thanks!

Hold on while I get all of the crumbs off of my face and into my mouth. That stuff sure is yummy!

Time out while I make a "phone call.”

Thanks for carrying me over to this end of the table, QP. Surely there are more biscuits down here….look, I think I see one!

Mmmmm, delicious bite, Nopsi. Much appreciated.

Riley did much better the previous day at lunch (which I attributed to the difference in time), but he ultimately was very well-behaved during dinner. He made his way around the table and spent some time with just about everyone; however, he got really squirmy and fussy once it was past his normal bedtime. So I let him have his paci and he did really well the rest of the night.

Once we were back home, we gave the boy a super fast bath and then it was into bed for him so Santa could come. The elves sure were busy downstairs once he was asleep, preparing things for Christmas morning. Oh, and watching A Christmas Story, of course.

We finished up fairly quickly and then settled down ourselves in preparation for the big day. I remember getting SO excited for Christmas morning as a kid, and I’m so glad to have a reason to be excited again. Seeing Riley’s reaction the next morning, even though he really doesn’t know what the day is all about yet, was just so much fun.

Christmas Day recap coming up tomorrow!

Video Monday: Daddy Shenanigans

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

One night after bathtime, Kenny brought Riley into our room so he could tell me goodnight. This is what promptly ensued.

I sure do love those two boys.

Happy Monday!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

To the magic.

To the wonder.

To the anticipation.

To the joy.

To the fascination.

To the child in all of us.

To you and yours.

We wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas. :)

Rib Room Christmas Lunch

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Having lunch in the Rib Room at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel is apparently the thing to do the Friday before Christmas in New Orleans. Nola and Nopsi have participated in this little tradition for a number of years, but this was my first time doing so. Kenny, sadly, had to work, but luckily Riley’s schedule was clear (he “chose” to forgo naps in order to be social), so he got to be my date. Together the two of us rounded out a table of 9, and everyone had a grand ol’ time.

Like so many New Orleans restaurants, the Rib Room is such a festive place to be this time of year. The entire lobby of the hotel is decked out with lights and trees and garland, and the restaurant never seems to slow down. It was especially poignant for me to take Riley along on this outing; after all, Kenny and I had our wedding reception at the Omni around this time of year four years ago! A lot sure has happened since then.

Riley seemed to have a good time, charming all of the waitstaff and even some of our fellow diners. He was exceedingly well-behaved, especially considering we were there for over three hours, and we got a few compliments to that effect. He had his own little lunch plus lots of bites from our plates, played with any silverware within his reach, and of course tasted a couple of corks. And thank goodness for smartphones: Angry Birds on my iPhone kept him entertained a couple of different times throughout the meal.

The lunch was such a fun way to start off this special Christmas holiday weekend, and I thank all of the people at our table for allowing Riley and me to join you this year. We had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to next year!

Merry {almost} Christmas!

Corks

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, my family drinks wine. We drink a LOT of wine. Thus our recent trip to Sonoma and the 14 cases of wine we purchased. (Sidenote: You should see the wine rack here at Nola and Nopsi’s. Wow. It occupies one whole wall in a closet off the kitchen, and it looks pretty impressive all filled with bottles.)

As such, we have a collection of wine corks that Nola keeps in a metal bucket in a corner of the dining room. When we finish off yet another bottle, we toss in the spent cork with the others. I’m not sure how many times we’ve emptied the bucket, but I can promise it’s been more than once.

Riley discovered the cork bucket months ago, and he still loves playing with it. More accurately, he loves dumping the corks out and spreading them all over the dining room floor.

However, he has recently taken things a step further and now likes to “taste” a handful of the corks as he plays with them. Super. We’re certainly starting him off on the right foot mighty early. What awesome parents we are.

Who knew when Nopsi gave the boy a cork at our Christmas Eve dinner last year that it would become one of his favorite playthings? Oh, and we’re also having a special Christmas lunch in the Rib Room today at the Omni Royal Orleans….I’m sure there will be plenty of corks for Riley to play with at the table! Look for a recap of our fun afternoon sometime next week. Merry {almost} Christmas!

The Sunday Before Christmas

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

As is our longstanding tradition, my dad’s side of the family gathered together this past Sunday afternoon to celebrate the season. We were at Nola and Nopsi’s house again this year, which made things really easy on Kenny and me.

The complete opposite of last year, when he did little more than chill in someone’s arms, Riley was in his element, running around and playing and squealing and bringing a smile to everyone’s faces. He spent a good bit of time “by himself” out on the back porch with Jem, though. Those two are quite a pair. (Check out his bubble butt in the bottom pic…too funny!)

After we watched the Saints beat the Vikings, we opened presents. It was fun to see what Riley did when his gifts were put in front of him…..what a huge difference from last year. I can’t wait until Christmas morning! And, he already knows how to say “Elmo” and “boulder.” This kid is a smart one. (I know it kinda looks like he’s strangling poor Elmo in the top two pics below, but he’s really giving him squeezes. Sweet boy.)

A delicious dinner of two soups (chicken tortilla and lasagna) rounded out the day, even though we were all stuffed from the plethora of appetizers available during the game. Thanks to everyone in Nopsi’s family for making this annual day a special one. It’s always good to see y’all!

Merry Christmas!

Lights and Snow

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, as promised, we took Riley for a ride in Nopsi’s van and went to see the lights at Celebration in the Oaks in City Park. It was a really yucky night, humid and misty, but we went anyway.

We fed the boy his dinner in the car and kept him up way past his bedtime, but he had a blast. All he wanted to do was run around the gardens, laughing and occasionally stopping to point out the twinkling lights….“ohhh” and “oooh” was all we heard from him all night.

It wasn’t the best weather, there was a decent amount of lights not working, and I sure do miss the driving tour, but I’m glad we went. I think Riley-bean had a good time, and that’s all that matters.

The next morning Kenny and I took Riley on another fun outing: Snow Day in Lafreniere Park. I’m sure all of you northerners are laughing right now, but since we don’t usually get the white stuff down here, this kind of thing is a novelty for our kiddos. As such, the event was pretty crowded, and cameras were aplenty.

And even though Riley seemed to care more about finding sticks than playing in the snow…..

…..we still had a good time. We met up with Bridget and her family, and it was a different kind of fun activity to do on a Saturday morning.

There were actually two separate patches of snow, one open area for big kids and one fenced off area for little kids, which was great. The snowballs were flying across the way, but it was (fairly) calm in our little area. Riley kept a tight hold on his two sticks, but he did eventually get interested in the snow. He even threw some around, after a little coaxing from Kenny and me, so I’d call the trip a success.

Lafreniere Park also has a big display of Christmas lights, which you can mostly see from the comfort of your car, so we plan to take Riley back one evening to show him those. I hope he continues to be entranced by lights for many years to come. I just love seeing his reaction to them.

There are always so many fun things to do this time of year. I can’t believe Christmas is only four days away!

Stick Collector

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riley absolutely loves sticks.

A stick (or two or three) is usually the first thing he picks up whenever we go outside, and he has quite the permanent collection stored in his wagon.

If he has a stick in his hand, he’s doing just fine.

Sticks also have a knack for making their way into the house, so it’s not unusual to see one laying on the floor amongst Riley’s toys or hanging out on the bench in the kitchen or stashed inside his toy box.

And when Riley finds one of those sticks inside the house, good luck getting it away from him.

You’d think I was trying to take away one of his kidneys instead of a little piece of wood.

Wonk potatoes.

Video Monday: Jingle Bells Puppy

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Nopsi’s parents, Pops and Mae Mae, live in Florida and sent an early Christmas gift to Riley a few weeks ago. It’s a stuffed puppy that wiggles and hops across the floor to “Jingle Bells.”

Check out the boy’s interaction with his new toy…..I don’t think he quite knew what to do at first.

Happy Monday!

Best Gift Ever

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Up on the Traytop

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Lately, Riley has become quite impatient while waiting for me to prepare his breakfast/lunch/dinner, even with a sippy full of milk in front of him. So, what the master wants, the master gets.

On this particular day, it was a stack of plastic bowls, the lid to the gyro bowl, one of his snakes, and a blue truck.

He happily played (and drank some of his milk) while I warmed his dinner.

But he was not very happy when I said it was time to clear off his tray so he could eat. Sorry, buddy; those are the rules! You may be the master, but Mama is the grand master.

While he was eating, I just had to snap a close-up of his little feet. Did you notice them crossed in every picture above? So cute.

The next morning, it was his two knit hats that he wanted. Go figure.

I can’t quite decide what he’s thinking in that last picture. He reminds me of either a tiny rapper or a far-out deep thinker type.

Any other thoughts?

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Best wishes this holiday season from our family to yours. We hope everyone has the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday morning Grandma and Grandpa took Riley, Kenny, and me to Breakfast with Santa at the Ponchartrain Center. Grandma really wanted to get a picture of the boy with the big guy, and she figured a planned special event would be better (and cheaper) than taking our chances at the mall.

Grandma was right! It was a really fun morning, although Riley would have been content simply running back and forth in the wide open space, occasionally stopping to stomp on the access covers on the floor. (He is such a wonk potatoes.)

But we were there for breakfast with Santa, so that’s what we did. Riley got his first glimpse with Grandpa right when we arrived, and then Grandma took him up close a little later.

He pretty much wanted nothing to do with Santa at first. So we didn’t force him and instead took a break for some doughnuts and muffins. That he could definitely handle, even though he had already inhaled two pancakes and some grapes before we left.

That blueberry muffin sure was tasty, but they’re going to make me go back over by that strange guy again, aren’t they.

I thought so. I’m also told that he sees me when I’m sleeping……in that case, will someone please point me to the nearest exit?

Okay, okay, y’all win. Let’s just get this over with.

I took Riley back over to Santa and eased him in. We looked at the Christmas tree and its ornaments next to Santa, the wreath above Santa, the white fuzzy parts on Santa’s sleeve, and then I finally set him down in front of Santa and slowly backed away.

It ended up taking a little while, but Riley did eventually warm up to the strange bearded man in a fuzzy red suit. We came away with a really cute picture of Riley’s first time sitting on Santa’s lap, and it didn’t cost an obscene amount of money. The event wasn’t even overly crowded, which was an added bonus. My expectations were certainly exceeded!

So thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for the fun Saturday morning outing. Let’s do it again next year, shall we?

Video Monday: (Plastic) Snakes

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed a little plastic orange snake pictured in a post here and there throughout the past few months. Riley loves it. It’s part of a set that Nola picked up for him in the pool toy section of Toys ‘R Us midway through the summer. And, in my uniquely intelligent way, I only just last week went to get the rest of the snakes from the garage and reunited their orange buddy with them.

Boy, should I have done that sooner. Riley liked the one snake, but he loves having all five together. He especially loves carrying all of them around, using both hands and even his mouth to hold them.

And, as you will see in the video below, those five little snakes occupy him for good little stretches of time. And that makes me very happy.

Happy Monday!

Kitty Jumps Ship

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ah, my dear, sweet, sleeping boy.

But wait…..what’s that I see on the floor?

Why, it’s Kitty! How did Kitty get down there?

Uh-oh, the sleeping boy is awake. And I’m betting he has the same question.

“Why is Kitty down there, Mama? Please get him for me.”

Here you go, buddy. But you know what? I’m betting it’s your fault Kitty jumped ship.

At least Kitty survived the boy’s nighttime antics just before crashing. He looks mighty cozy snuggled among all of the other animals.

Oh, and Riley looks cute, too.

Baking Day

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

So how many kinds of cookies do you think you could fit in YOUR freezer? Well, if you’re Nola, the answer is at least a baker’s dozen.

Last Saturday was Annual Baking Day for Nola and QP, and Nola knocked out 11 of the 13 kinds of cookies on her list for this year. She gives away 40 assorted homemade cookie boxes to family and friends, and QP gifts her homemade chocolate chip cookies to co-workers every year as well. It’s a marathon of a day, beginning around 8am and not finishing until late afternoon. Care for a sneak peek?

Kenny and I were not a part of Baking Day in its entirety last year but we were in for the long haul this year. I even stepped up my game and actually got put to work this year, so I can officially say I was responsible for one type of cookie.

People usually pop in and out all day long, and this year was no exception. However, Baking Day 2011’s biggest addition was Jenn, who flew in from Chapel Hill on Thursday night to surprise QP for her birthday. Jenn and UJ were there most of the day, with Grams, Sherry, and James dropping by as well, and Kenny’s mom also came by later in the afternoon. We had a loud and noisy houseful of people, which is just what Baking Day calls for.

Lizzie, who was supposed to arrive around 8 that morning, didn’t show up until after 11. Sleep was apparently more important to her than baking! Her tardiness was quickly forgiven, though, and Nola and QP were finally able to present her with her official Baking Day attire: a custom-made t-shirt designating her as the “Cookie Bitch.”

Lizzie has become such a vital addition to the day, and Nola and QP affectionately bestowed the nickname on her last year. And she truly does live up to it, late or not! The kitchen still would have been bustling late into the night had Lizzie not joined in on the tradition of Baking Day, and I do believe that Nola and QP are eternally grateful for her help.

Riley was present for Baking Day as well, although it was a different experience for him this year. Instead of sitting contentedly in his Bumbo chair on top of the dining room table, he was weaving in and out of everyone most of the day, playing with his bells and his bus and occasionally being picked up so he could check out the action.

We took a short break for lunch on the back porch (oh, and Lizzie took a 30-second time out to stretch her piriformis muscle, naturally). Other than that, though, it was all cookies, all day.

However, there was one other small event that coincided with Baking Day 2011: the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta between the LSU Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs. Once the last batch of cookies was pulled from the oven and the kitchen was (semi) cleaned up, all attention shifted to the television in the living room.

What a day. Countless cups of flour, sugar, and butter were transformed into many dozens of cookies, now safely stowed in the freezer, waiting to be distributed. Memories were made, and lots of laughs were had. Oh, and the Tigers beat the Bulldogs (42-10) to secure their spot in the BCS title game in New Orleans on January 9.

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Eight Things

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Sometimes when Riley and I are on a walk, I can tell when someone is doing laundry. I just love smelling that fresh, clean smell unexpectedly.

2. Kenny and I went out for our anniversary last Thursday night while Nola and Nopsi graciously watched the boy. We stopped in at Oak Wine Bar for a pre-dinner drink and then continued on to Rue 127 for dinner. We both enjoyed getting to spend a few hours alone together!

3. Have you discovered the magical awesomeness of Lemi Shine yet? If not, you must run out and get some now. It will change the way you feel about your dishwasher.

4. Nola has quite the collection of bell necklaces (lots of restaurants in New Orleans give them away throughout the holiday season), and Riley-bean discovered them the other day. I love that most of them are as long as he is tall.

5. Are you as obsessed with Pinterest as I am? If not, don’t do it. Don’t create an account. It will suck you in and you may never see your loved ones again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

6. On Sunday morning, while I was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee and Nola was at church praying for all of us, Kenny and Nopsi gave Riley a much needed haircut out on the driveway. Kenny assisted in distracting Riley (I looked out at one point and he had pulled down two big tree branches and was flapping them like wings. Why I didn’t get a picture of that, I have no idea.) while Nopsi snipped away.

And snip away he did. Nola was mighty upset with Nopsi when she saw what he did to her baby. Her most memorable comment?

“Poor darling boy. He looks like a raggamuffin. He should be given candles to sell on the street in the cold snowy winter.”

Nopsi’s reassurances that it would grow back did nothing to help the situation.

7. Kenny and I put together quite a tasty spread for the four of us to enjoy at home during the Saints game on Sunday night. While the boys in black and gold whooped up on the Lions, we snacked on grilled sausages, salsa, edamame dip, avocado crab dip, and cheddar bacon ranch dip.

Not surprisingly, the most popular item on the table was the dip with bacon in it, an insanely easy recipe I found on my beloved Pinterest. (Don’t do it. Don’t.)

8. Riley had his 15-month appointment with Dr. N on Monday morning, and he checked out just fine. He weighed in at 25 lbs, 12.5 oz (70%) and measured 31.75 inches tall (75%). He did get another round of shots (DTaP, Hib, and flu), which made him fairly unhappy, but he calmed down pretty quickly and even waved bye-bye to the nurse who stuck him. That’s my sweet boy!

Stripes, Lights, and Everything Nice

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since the weather turned cooler, I have noticed that many of Riley’s winter clothes are striped. He has actually noticed it too, staring down at his sleeves and trying to figure out how more than one color got there. He looks cute in just about anything, but I have come to love him in stripes, whether it be PJs, a shirt, or his hat; drinking his morning milk (with a new friend), playing with his toys, or on a wagon ride with his mama.

He even sleeps with stripes!

He was also in stripes the first couple of times he got up close to Nola’s newly decorated Christmas tree(s) early last week. Christmas has most definitely arrived here, with the house fully and completely bedecked and bedazzled with decorations and lights. It looks spectacular, and I’m just crossing my fingers that we can make it through the entire holiday season without anything breaking. My motto with Riley so far has been, “Just look, don’t touch.” We’ll see if that works for another month.

Riley is loving all of the lights, especially the ones outside on houses and in gardens. We’ve started taking a few early evening wagon rides right before dinner so he can check out all of our neighbors’ luminous displays. And I can’t wait to take him in Nopsi’s van…..there are lights up in it again this year!

However, this is what I am most happy about right now: Kenny recently spent a couple of hours at our storage unit, crawling around in tight, confined spaces searching for the bin that contained our Christmas stockings. I thought we would sadly be without them this year, but he managed somehow to unearth them and bring them to me. Such a sweet man I am married to. Thanks, Baby!

So, stockings have been found, trees have been put up, pine and cinnamon scents abound everywhere, and eggnog is in the fridge. I just love Christmastime.

Hope everyone’s holiday season is off to a warm and happy start!

Video Monday: Crib Crazy

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Keep in mind, this behavior had been going on for a solid five minutes before I finally grabbed the camera and started recording.

Please enjoy my wonky child being, well, wonky.

Happy Monday!

Four Years with You

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

I loved you then.

I love you now.

I’ll love you always.

Happy Anniversary, Baby.

Fifteen Months

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riley is 15 months old today! It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating his first birthday, yet here he is, one fourth of the way closer to two. Wow.

He does go back to see Dr. N soon, but his appointment isn’t until Monday, so I will have his stats next week. In the meantime, here’s what I want to remember about this past month:

Thankfully, we still have had no issues with him eating or drinking. There are some days when he doesn’t seem to want as much as usual, but most of the time he is a P-I-G hog.
He tried a few new foods this month, including roasted brussel sprouts, oranges, turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and whipped cream. And we are now giving him a mixture of apple juice and water instead of just water, which he loves.
He is definitely testing his limits with us, and he knows EXACTLY what he’s doing!
He had 5 teeth at the very beginning of this month, but by the end there were 7 of the suckers poking through his gums.
He started saying lots of new words (wall, grass, ball, light, bus, juice, grape, mess, hat, door, milk, puffs, stinky, hot, outside, moon, open, crab), as well as a few phrases (thank you, all done/gone, Aunt E, gobble-gobble for turkey, hoo-hoo for owl, eeeee for mouse, ho-ho-ho for Santa). He also knows what “knock-knock” means, and he rubs his hand over his chest/belly when we ask if something is “yummy in his tummy.”
He is SO smart, picking up on things so quick and understanding lots of simple commands.
He loves to wipe his hands on the sides of his highchair seat, which is extra fun for me. He still hates getting his face cleaned (but still loves baths). He also still eats with his feet crossed most of the time.
Forget walking, he is now running. He can move pretty darn fast on those little legs of his.
He started headbutting anything and everything this month, which made life interesting for Jem, as well as Kenny and I when we put him to bed at night. We had to constantly be prepared for him to come at us and move out of the way if he did!
He loves music and will dance anytime he hears something with even a semblance of a beat.
He still loves being outside and exploring nature, collecting leaves, pine needles, pinecones, acorns, twigs, etc. We moved his slide to the side yard at the end of this month.
He is fascinated and mesmerized by all of the Christmas lights and other decorations that have gone up in Nola and Nopsi’s neighborhood just after Thanksgiving.
He is stubborn like his mama, and he gets a little whiny (“eh, eh, eh, eh”) when he wants something, but for the most part he is a happy and smiley little boy.

Fifteen months old! (And apparently in need of another haircut. Great.)

Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last week was certainly a busy one for us. Family and friends travelled into town, Riley got a belated birthday present, Thanksgiving came and went, and the Tigers beat the Razorbacks to remain on top. Oh, and we ate. We ate a LOT.

Nola’s sister Dawn arrived on Monday, and she and Grams came by the house on Tuesday to see Riley-bean. Aunt Dawn also brought Riley’s birthday presents with her, and he had so much fun discovering his two new toys. Thanks, AD#1!

Cousin Uncle Brian and Cousin Aunt Rachel arrived on Wednesday evening. A progressive dinner has become a tradition when they’re in town, and Kenny and I were lucky enough to be invited this year (and to have a babysitter for Riley-bean….thanks, Nola and Nopsi!).

We joined Jeff, Erin, Brian, Rachel, and Keegan for appetizers at Drago’s, dinner at Theo’s, and dessert at Sucre. It was a fun and delicious evening out on the town, and it was great to spend time with everyone.

After passing out on Wednesday night (look where his right foot is!) and then going for a morning Turkey Day walk with his mama, Riley had no idea how busy the rest of his day would be.

Starting around 12:30 that afternoon, eleven other people descended on the house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Nola and Nopsi worked so hard to create a festive atmosphere, setting a beautiful table and putting together enough delectable dishes to feed an army of people. Everything was wonderful, you two!

Riley did really well throughout the day, charming everyone before dinner, eating his third meal of the day with all of us when we sat down for the main Thanksgiving meal, and then finally crashing for a late afternoon nap. And he looked so cute in his plaid shirt and gray corduroy pants. (Thanks, Kel-Kel and Skeets!)

We were up late on Thursday night (playing Apples to Apples, of course…..”Don’t forget your green cards!”), and then Kenny and I took Riley across the lake on Friday for a belated Thanksgiving celebration with his family. Steve, Jaimi, and Zac drove over from Baton Rouge to join us, and Grandma and Grandpa of course rounded out the gathering. However, the main event of the day was that little football game between LSU and Arkansas, so our attention was focused on the television for the better part of the afternoon. The game would also be why I didn’t take a single picture on Friday. I had to steal these from Jaimi….thanks, Jaim!

Kenny and I decided the three of us would spend the night in Mandeville on account of a potential trip to the farm the next day, but sadly, the weather prevented us from introducing Riley to his cow, Magic. We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa despite that snag in our plans, though, going on a couple of outings to the neighborhood park and playing outside a lot in general. Riley had so much fun, in fact, that he fell asleep in the car on the way home for the first time in a long time.

Thanks must go to both sets of grandparents for hosting two stellar dinners and for gathering us all together during this special time of year. We hope everyone had as fulfilling and fun a Thanksgiving as we did!

Video Monday: Sippy Silliness

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Check out Riley’s latest trick at mealtimes…..such a silly boy.

Happy Monday!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for my crazy extended family and my wonderful friends. Without any of them I would be lost. And, life just wouldn’t be as much fun.

I am thankful for my general health and well-being. Some people aren’t so lucky, and this time of year is when we should remember that. I am also thankful that Kenny has a good job. Some are not so lucky with that right now, either.

And, last but certainly not least, I am thankful for my two boys. Without the two of them, I simply wouldn’t be me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you all have a beautiful and memorable holiday weekend.

Random Riley Roundup

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. I picked up a new bowl for Riley from BB&B a few weeks ago, and it is so cool. It’s a gyro bowl, so supposedly it retains whatever is in it no matter which way Riley holds it. We’ve only used it once so far, but it works pretty well, plus it entertains him while he’s eating.

2. Riley assumes a squatting position a lot these days, especially when we’re outside, because it allows him to further scrutinize whatever he’s got in his hands. I think he looks so cute when he “sits” like this!

3. Although the weather down here hasn’t been what one would call consistent, we still try to get out for wagon rides as much as we can. One (warm) day it was leaves that occupied the boy’s attention, and the next (cold) day it was a butterfly. And his wagon is never without a plethora of acorns hanging out in the cup holders. Riley definitely loves discovering all that nature has to offer!

4. I just love my little preppy boy. Thanks for the really cute sweater, Aunt E. :)

5. Riley and Jem are still BFF’s, only the boy is now insisting on grabbing handfuls of fur and skin and tackling the feline to the ground to give him “hugs.” Poor Jem.

Then again, this is the same cat that recently tipped over the wastebasket in my room and proceeded to lay down inside of it, so I don’t feel too bad for him. He can take care of himself, in his own weird ways.

6. I recently ordered a few things for Riley from Old Navy, and I couldn’t resist adding this owl hat to my order. How cute is it???

Uncle Jeff liked it, too, but I told him he had to get his own. This one is Riley’s.

7. For some reason or another, I pulled out a plastic sword that was part of a Halloween costume a number of years ago, and Riley has claimed it as his own. After all, it goes perfectly with his plastic snake. (Although to be honest, I would have given him just about anything he wanted on this particular day since he woke up with a runny nose. He’s a trooper though, and he was actually in a fairly good mood most of the day considering!)

Don’t you just love his new “angry” looks? (He should have practiced them more before Halloween….they would have been the perfect addition to his costume!) He cracks me up when he looks at me like that, but of course I tend to prefer him smiley instead.

8. Wonk potatoes is especially wonky when he sleeps at night.

No, I did not place the blanket over his face; I found him like that when I went in to check on him before going to bed myself. But yes, I did uncover him before I left the room. I admit I was a little afraid he couldn’t breathe well enough, especially since he’s been sick.

9. Empty diaper boxes are excellent places to play.

Especially if you bring your new sword in there with you.

10. This has been a pretty busy month for us, but we have managed to steal some family time here and there, around our travels and the LSU football schedule, of course. We’ve practically lived in purple and gold lately!

11. Nola and Nopsi are back in town for the holidays (six whole weeks!), and one of the first things they did was clean out their closet here so they would have enough room for all of their clothes. Riley might have inherited a pair of Nola’s old (pink) socks, as well as a random hairbrush. Lovely.

12. Nola tried out a new popcorn popper the other day for lunch, and Riley got a kick out of watching it work its magic.