Our daughter is 9 Months!

To me, this was a big month. It's not her 1/2 birthday mark and it's not her 1st birthday either but it's her 9 month birthday. This means she has been in this world as long as she baked in my belly. It's just so surreal to think this much time has passed. We are lucky because she has so many friends and family that love her so much. Riley is healthy, active, funny, curious and always playful. Riley is perfect and she just becomes more amazing with each passing day.

-She is now waving "hi" and "bye"
-Sometimes (it seems like) she says "hey", "hi", "bye"
-She also says "woof, woof" (thanks to Nana!)
-And of course she says "Dada", "Mama", "Baba" and "Baby"
-She loves to stack her rings, put coins in her piggy bank, throw balls in her bucket or to the dogs and she enjoys clapping while spinning around in a circle while she's sitting (hopefully I'll get video soon!)
-Riley still only has two teeth which she got around 5 months so I'm pretty sure more are right around the corner since she has a puddle of drool coming out of her mouth all the time.
-Her crawling is now at lightning speed so watch out or she'll plow you over and she is doing a bit of cruising, not a ton, but a little here and there.
-And Riley loves ALL foods! She is a crazy good eater and I'm so lucky for that!!!

Happy 9 Months, Miss Riley Joy!


Miss Diva with a capital "D"! "Are these MY sunglasses?"


"You know what I want to do, Mom! Just let me get on with it already!!"

As you can see, Riley is SOOO over it!! LOL!

9 Month Check-Up (already?!?!)

Yes, we are 3 days early but it was the only time I could get an appointment-and what a LONG appointment it was! We arrived at 3:45pm and the sun was going down as we walked out just before 6:00pm. I hate going to the pediatrician, but it is needed to keep Riley healthy so I guess I'll just have to deal with it =)

Her 9 month stats are:
Weight-18 lbs 13.5 oz.=50th percentile
Height-29 inches=95th percentile
Head-18.5 inches=95th percentile
Her doctor says she is the height of a 14 month old! WOW!

Riley's doctor says she looks perfect and is growing very nicely-Woohoo! He also said we can now give her pretty much all table food with a few exceptions. She was given a TB test and her blood work done and so far all tests are perfect.

Here are 2 pictures from my phone while we were finishing up at the doctors-you gotta love those little teeth!


And another video, this one is a little bit of Riley's giggles, mixed with her grabby little hands and a buh bye wave at the end-I just can't get enough of her!

Our Family Valentine's Day

We had a very laid back Saturday to celebrate the "Day of Love." Nick decided to make breakfast for his two favorite girls-some scrambled eggs (we love eggs) and toast. Simple, yet perfect. Riley had her first tastes of scrambled egg and once she had her first bite, there was no turning back after that!

Mommy and Daddy bought Riley an Elmo Valentine's balloon, which entertained her on and off for hours, (yes, I said hours!) and a Ty "Pinks" Collection Froggie. Ultimately, the balloon won her affection as her favorite gift but soon the helium will die and the froggie will take the top spot. She really WAS excited, I swear. It just doesn't look like it in this picture. I think she looks like she's wondering, "Why am I in the baby jail, Mommy?" LOL!

We spoiled Riley with her first tastes of a few things this day. First for breakfast she ate scrambled eggs and after lunch, her first cookie. Not just any cookie, but a "Cookies By Design" cookie! Only my most favorite cookie in the entire world! We only let her chew on it for a bit and boy was she mad when we took it away =/ Now, looking at these pitcures up close, I can see all the food left on her face from lunch-she's such a messy eater!

After lunch we ventured out to the Florida Renaissance Festival. Now, just for the record, the Renaissance Festival really isn't our "thing" but we did get free tickets and since money is a bit tight these days we thought, "Oh what the heck. Let's go anyways!" I remembered (from a class trip in H.S) this place was a bit dirty and dusty, but now that I have a baby my view has completely changed-IT WAS FILTHY!!!!! My stroller was covered in dirt along with our shoes, diaper bag, bottle (b/c Riley kept dropping it) and even Riley some how was covered in a thin layer of dirt. It will be a few, make that many years before we visit the festival again!

We did manage to get 2 quick pictures during the brief time we spent there.

Once we got home we checked the mail and Riley got her 1st Valentine's Day card from Nana and Grandpa! I handed the envelope to her and she looked up at me like,"Are you seriously letting me have this? You KNOW I will destroy it, right??" And then she smiled and giggled and proceeded to tear right into it (with a little assistance from Mommy of course!)

"See my card, Mommy!?!?!" She was so excited!

And finally I will end with a video.

This one is Riley swinging. We took photos this day for her Valentine's Day card and we had to get a short video too. This child LOVES to swing! Kick, Kick, Kick!

(And yes, I eventually realized the camera was sideways so it does turn about half way through. Sorry :/ )

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year is Riley's 1st Valentine's Day. I love this day-all the mushy love stuff, the flowers, candy, cards, balloons and everything pink, red and frilly!

We went to the park to take some pictures for Valentine's Day and Riley had a blast playing on the playground as we snapped away with our camera. She is our little Valentine <3>HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Let's go to the FAIR!

Ahhhh, the South Florida Fair! We go every year and we love every bit of it! Last year I was just through my 1st Trimester of being pregnant with Riley, finally feeling good again and all of the fair food smelled AMAZING! Needless to say I gained a TON of weight that month-lol!

We went twice this year, once with Nick's Mom and once with our good friends Marty, Suzanne and their (almost) 2 year old, Austin. The fair was fun, the food was great (as always) but what a difference it makes to have an 8 month old by your side experiencing the fair for the first time. It was wonderful-can't wait until next year!

Here are some of our pictures from the two visits.

Tasting her first corndog

I'd say she approves!

Sitting with Dada in the BIG tractor wheel!

Just relaxing in her stroller while we sat in some shade.

The fair does an awesome sand sculpture every year and it is a must to get our picture by it!

Too busy to smile with Mom and Dad-typical lol!

Suzanne and Austin-as you can see he was very curious of the camera!

Riley wanted to grab all the animals in the petting zoo-she was very intrigued!

Enjoying the tractor wheel the 2nd time around too!

Riley wanted so badly to get her hands on Austin but he was having no part of it. His face says it all!

If I had to guess, he is thinking, "you've got to be kidding me, right??!"

Another successful year at the fair and a very tired baby! She slept the whole 45 minute drive home and another hour and fifteen once we got home! (This photo has made me yawn so many times while finishing this post!)

Just an update (with pics of course!)

Well, just a quick update on Riley. She is growing so quickly. Learning more and more everyday. She makes us laugh on a regular basis and we couldn't have a more perfect daughter!

Always reaching for anything electronic! "Can I have this in my room, Mom??"

I think this child would stay in the tub all day and be happier than a pig in mud if we'd let her =)

Riley and her apple-she wants to do it all herself!

Cheese! Or should I say "Banana?"

Not the prettiest picture but Riley is serious about her Star fruit!

I think more of this teething biscuit ended up in her hair instead of her mouth!

No pictures, PLEASE!!!

Ok, fine...just one =D

Already getting into Mommy's make-up! I'd say we've got a girly girl on our hands-but she's gonna be a little tough one too!