The Three Musketeers

Kenny and I left with Lizzie and Doug late Monday afternoon, while Riley was napping, to drive to Colorado. From then on, until Sunday around lunchtime, Riley was all Nola’s and Nopsi’s.

 

Judging by the pictures and emails I received during the week, those two ran that child ragged just about every day (and apparently let him eat breakfast on the counter). I have no doubt that he loved every second of his time with them.

Riley helped Nola and Nopsi with gardening and also found some time to play with the bubbles in the hot tub.

   

Nopsi and Riley took multiple trips to different playgrounds, which Riley just loves. That kid would probably live outside if I let him!

And the McFs were in town most of the week, so they (and QP and UJ) spent a lot of time at the house with Riley, who is still asking where Eli, Rita, Jenn, and Popo are. Too cute.

 

UJ also captured some really great shots of my boy, which he sent in an email mid-way through the week. Seeing Riley-bean’s sweet face gave all of us (sorry, Aunt E!) the energy to ski our little hearts out on our last day, so thanks for that, UJ!

Riley obviously had a great week, but Kenny’s and mine wasn’t too shabby either. It’s someone’s {birthday} tomorrow, but the recap of our ski trip should be up on Friday!

Video Tuesday: While We Were Gone…..

Nopsi luckily thought to record a couple of Riley moments while Kenny and I were off skiing, so we have him to thank for this week’s video {montage}.

Check out the funny, strained faces Riley makes while trying to smash veggie sticks into his tray, and then sit back and giggle at his antics while out to eat for Eli’s birthday last Thursday.

He didn’t have any fun while Mama and Daddy were away.

Happy Tuesday!

Krewe of Thoth

My apologies for not posting anything last week. Kenny and I, along with 8 of our friends, were on a fabulous ski vacation in Colorado from Monday to Sunday. We had a fantastic time, and Riley was well-looked after by Nola and Nopsi while we were gone. A recap of our trip, as well as details on Riley’s adventures, will be coming up a little later this week!

Kenny and I took Riley-bean out to another parade the Sunday before Mardi Gras. Our friend Scott rides in Thoth, which also happens to pass very close to his house, so we met up with some friends and family a couple of hours before the parade rolled and enjoyed the day.

   

Riley was completely enamored with Elisabeth (a.k.a. Eli McF, in town from North Carolina for a week); it was so cute to watch their interaction! He totally flirted with her all afternoon.

   

 

Although it was a nice day and good to spend time with everyone, we decided to leave early on account of having to get home to pack for our trip. However, we got stuck in gridlock traffic for THREE HOURS. Not fun, not fun at all. We eventually made it home, fed the boy, and managed to get all of our packing done before 10pm.

Lesson learned: DON’T PARK INSIDE THE PARADE ROUTE!!!

Eight Beans

1. Sleepy Bean

2. Preppy Bean

3. Squished Bean

4. Scarved Bean

5. Sittin’ Bean

6. Rockin’ Bean

7. Valentine Bean

   

8. Ridin’ Bean

 

So, which one is your favorite?

Video Thursday: Mardi Gras

Riley-bean attended his first official Mardi Gras parade last weekend. Kenny and I took him to the family-friendly Caesar parade in the ‘burbs on Saturday night, and we met up with a handful of our friends and their kids.

We hadn’t had a cold spell in such a long time but of course the night we all decide to stand outside waving our hands in the air for beads and trinkets was absolutely freezing! We just bundled up as best we could and hoped the kids wouldn’t mind (which they didn’t).

Riley was kept up way past his bedtime but I think he really enjoyed the parade. There was so much for him to look at, between the lights on the floats and the police cars and the tractors and the different things flying through the air. This was pretty much how his face looked throughout the duration of the parade:

My beautiful wide-eyed, blue-eyed boy.

Here’s a short video from our fun night out on the parade route…..enjoy!

Happy Thursday!

Video Wednesday: Riley-bean in Boots {Again}

Remember this?

Oh my gosh, was he tiny back then compared to now! Especially once you watch the video below of him attempting to walk in another pair of my boots.

Happy Wednesday!

Video Tuesday: Run-Around

I just love my two boys, especially when they’re being silly and Kenny is making Riley laugh by racing around the yard and bouncing him on his shoulders.

That laugh is just one of the best sounds in the world.

Happy {Valentine’s} Tuesday!

P.S. – I love you the mostest, Ken! <3

Video Monday: Fishies

Riley loves goldfish crackers. I remembered them suddenly one afternoon and thought he might enjoy them, so I had Nopsi pick up a bag for him to try. Of course Nopsi chose the fun colored ones, which intrigues Riley even more.

He usually eats some fishies as a snack, just about every day, either mid-morning or sometime in the afternoon once he’s up from his nap. Nola even went so far as to fill two clear acrylic containers on the bottom shelf in the kitchen, one with goldfish crackers and one with raisins, so Riley can ask whine for either whenever he wants. Super idea, Nola; super.

   

Riley doesn’t always have his fishies sitting at the counter like a big boy, but he did on this particular day, after we came in from playing outside. I decided to take a little video of the snack session with my phone, so please enjoy!

Happy Monday!

One Scarf, Two Scarf, Red Scarf, Blue Scarf

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…..