1st Mother's Day

I seriously can not get enough of my daughter and her cuteness. There are a few pictures, OK maybe a bit of a picture overload, from this week and I can't help but smile and thank God for my life, despite how tired I constantly am and the lack of time to myself I have, I wouldn't change my life for the world!

Bib from Aunt Megan

 Riley had pears for the 1st time this week. She LOVED them, like the most she loves anything. I fed them to her cold since it was a hot day and she couldn't get enough of them. She ended up eating half of the pear in one sitting and had the other half the next morning, waiting for the diaper that she is going to produce is making me quite anxious.

1st time eating pears

So sleepy she had to rest on her soft ball.

This is one of the first times that I have had this weekend off from work and thankfully it is a wonderful weekend. The hot air balloons are up in the morning and gorgeous and Riley and I have been taking lots of walks all around town.

Patrick took me to eat sushi last night which I have craved since day one of being pregnant over a year ago and have only had it twice since not being pregnant, oh it was so delicious. We went and got a bottle of wine and The Vow to watch at home and I ended up getting a much deserved, in my mind, massage! And of course Patrick couldn't leave it at that he had to surprise me with a present. Ever since I gave birth I have been teasing him about getting me a push present but was actually kind of serious about it, that was hard work labor! He told me right after I gave birth that I deserve any piece of jewelry I want and I said I want a plain band to wear to work so I don't have to wear my diamond, knowing my luck my diamond would get loose and fall out in someones poo or something silly like that. However 5 months have gone by and still no push present. Well he got me a band last night and it isn't plain it has 11 small inset diamonds in it that we will eventually replace with the birthstones of the family! Isn't my husband wonderful, sorry brag moment!!!

Last night was not all fun and games however. Riley had a rough night as far as sleep went. I was up A LOT last night with Riley. Luckily I did end up getting about 4 hours of sleep when Patrick took her in the morning and fed her some more pears of course while making me my favorite french toast breakfast! I then got to work on my quilt a little bit while sitting outside enjoying soaking up the sun with my family. Then we went to my parents house were the guys made us all dinner including Patrick's mom Kay was there! It was a perfectly relaxing day and I can't wait for what next year has to bring!

Riley and I on my 1st mothers day, couldn't be more blessed despite Riley's serious look!

Kay, myself, Riley, Jeanine, all the mom's together!

My mom feeding Riley for the first time, Riley eating zucchini and bananas for the first time!

Last night was not all fun and games however. Riley had a rough night as far as sleep went. I was up A LOT last night with Riley. Luckily I did end up getting about 4 hours of sleep when Patrick took her in the morning and fed her some more pears of course while making me my favorite french toast breakfast! I then got to work on my quilt a little bit while sitting outside enjoying soaking up the sun with my family. Then we went to my parents house were the guys made us all dinner including Patrick's mom Kay was there! It was a perfectly relaxing day and I can't wait for what next year has to bring!

Wonderful mom?!?!

So there has been this horrible stench in our bedroom lately. Since Riley has been eating peas lately her poop literally looks the same coming out as the peas looking going in, sorry for my sick nursing humor but that is hilarious, I was sure to instantly text message my husband at work when I saw this! Now being a new mother instantly I thought there had to be a poopy diaper somewhere in the bedroom causing this stench but despite looking under the bed, emptying the garbage and making sure all the laundry was done I could not get rid of or find the source of the stench. So I did what any other mother would do, I went and bought a candle so that it masked the smell. Tonight when I got home my husband said he found cat poop under the bed which I had obviously not seen. My point being, does anyone want a free cat, so far he has pooped under our bed and in our bath tub. I know hate is a strong word but I use it to describe this cat. I mean I blamed the smell on my daughter when all along it was the cat ugh, how could I look at that face and think it was her! Well all is well and I have a wonderful smelling candle in my room now!

Another wonderful mother moment from this weekend was when Riley and I were sitting outside in the wonderful sunshine, just playing fetch with Abby. Riley is sitting up on her own now so when Abby needed a drink of water I walked behind Riley to let Abby drink out of the hose. So at this point Riley is sitting up, on the blanket, by herself. Abby finishes drinking and I notice a swarm of ants that I of course have to hose down with water, I am keeping an eye on my child, I promise! While hosing down the ants I notice Abby sitting directly in front of Riley looking pretty concerned. Finally I get curious and go to look at Riley and low and behold she has Abby's toy in her mouth...great mom huh! Abby was so good she was just waiting for her to throw it haha.

Another thing Riley has learned to do this week is cough. Not for real, for fake. She just coughs all day, she thinks the sound is so funny it makes her laugh out loud sometimes. She definately learned it from her dad with his allergies flaring up lately.

One good thing that happened this weekend was Patrick got relocated to our hometown branch!!! Instead of driving 2 hours every day to get to and from work he is in town. I am so proud of him and so very excited that he is happy at this job and feels like he is doing a good job.

Peas!!!

So this week has been a pretty long and hectic week for me. Work was very busy. Not only did I work with a doctor I had never worked with before, who at least was a great doctor, but we had some pretty critical patients. I am very thankful that I work with wonderful people that share my sense of humor, if they didn't that would surely make for a long day.

I also had to get a new phone this week. Somehow my phone took a bath, don't ask how. Riley was in the sink in the bathtub then the towel next to her and then my phone. Somehow my phone was in a puddle of water but the towel was completely dry....hmmm. So now that Riley has discovered phones she has decided this one is hers but I think she gets the broken water logged phone...much safer on the wallet!

Also Riley ate peas for the first time today and she LOVED them! Probably her favorite so far. I have a video of her eating them so that you can all see how much she truly loved them. She told me about it in between each bite! The funny look on her face was probably realizing that she was sitting in a pile of poo, which she tends to do at the start of eating every time: ) She is still working on the crawling thing as she has only figured out how to go backwards, not forward but I have a feeling it will be coming very shortly. As I'm watching her now on the floor she just pivoted in a complete circle with her hands, her legs stayed in the same place haha silly girl!

I have started quilting officially yesterday, I am doing the zig zag quilt which I will post as soon as it is done. My husband says he doesn't mind this crafting hobby because it isn't that expensive...haha oh Patrick he must not look at the bills. At least I am in the house and hanging out with the family and it gives me something productive to do while Riley is sleeping!

Chore Chart

Motherhood has shown me a whole new outlook of life. On top of wanting to be the best mother possible to my daughter, I try to be a great wife, spend time with my family and work a full time stressful job in the ER as a nurse. On top of every day life we are trying to sell a house, living in a house that is too small for us, we just bought 10 acres of land that we have to build a house on so we are trying to get those plans together and I haven't even mentioned trying to keep in touch with my friends, probably because I'm not very good at it. If we don't make plans I tend to not make a very great effort which I know is one of my faults, I really should work on that more, note to self.

As much as I LOVE Pintrest, I now believe that I should be a crafty mom, keep my house pretty clean for all those house guests, and exercise to get my pre-baby body back. I feel like the list goes on and on and keeping up is more than I can handle. So what I did is put together a chore chart that I have been seeing so much about on Pintrest. I figure I only have an 800 square foot house and before I move into a house 4 times that size I should start getting a pretty good routine down. So I thought about how I needed to go about this because my 30 minutes everyday of cleaning isn't working when I am doing the same thing, the deep cleaning never gets done. So what I will do is start with this list and continue adding to it and maybe give an update in about a month.

CHORE CHART

Everyday

Dishes

Garbage

Empty diaper pail

Pick up toys & “stuff”

Monday – Kitchen/Dining

Sweep & Swiffer floor

Scrub counter & sink

Clean out microwave & oven top

Clean out refrigerator

Wash windows & blinds

Tuesday – Living Room

Dust

Wash windows & blinds

Vacuum carpets

Vacuum & wipe down couch

Sweep & Swiffer tiles

Wednesday – Bathroom

Scrub counter & sink

Deep clean tub & shower

Wash carpets & towels

Sweep & Swiffer floors

Scrub toilet

Wash window & mirrors

Thursday – Riley’s Room

Dust

Vacuum carpets

Laundry & fold clothes

Clean toys

Wash windows & blinds

Friday – Our Bedroom

Dust

Vacuum carpets

Laundry & fold clothes

Wash windows & blinds

Saturday – Garage/Office

Organize boxes

Sweep floors

Clean washer & dryer

File papers

Pay bills

Sunday – Outside

Mow lawn

Weed flower beds

Sweep walkway & driveway

Clean out car

Grocery shopping

Monthly

Clean under couch cushions

Clean out clothes in closets

Clean out kitchen cabinets

Wash down doors and walls

Vacuum & dust out car

Clean outside windows

Clean inside oven

So my attempt at this scheduling thing is going to be waking up and getting myself ready while Riley sleeps a little bit longer in the morning. When Riley gets up get her ready and play until she takes a nap and then attempt to get most of the cleaning done at that time. We then usually go for a walk before lunch and then another nap, more time to clean if needed or crafting! I have been getting my workout done during my lunch break at work in the physical therapy room so it is uninterrupted and that has been working fairly well.

I am fully aware that this is not a perfect schedule and that some things will come up that will not allow me to always fulfill my cleaning schedule but there are some things on this list that don't get done for months so I figure even if it is once or twice a month that it gets done then I will be pretty happy with myself.

Easter Weekend

Our little family had a wonderful Easter weekend. Right now I am updating my blog and watching my hubby and my daughter take their afternoon nap. Yesterday we did yardwork, OK I lied Riley, Abby and I played and Patrick did yard work, but he did a wonderful job! It was nice and sunny out that we even got to take a little walk.

The Easter bunny also visited our house last night so this morning Riley got up to find her first Easter basket. She got a brand new cute dress, a teether, a stuffed bunny, some leg warmers and a new book! This was the first time that she was completely interested in what she was getting as a gift so it was kind of fun to watch and of course we got plenty of pictures!

We then took a drive out to our land, that is a whole other story, apparently a farmer decided to plow and seed our land with spring wheat despite not having a contract...hmmm. Anyways we will have to see how that all pans out.

We then headed over to Nana and Papa's house for some lunch where apparently the Easter bunny also showed up to last night. Riley got some cute sunglasses, a stuffed animal, cute outfit and a teether! We are going to spend time as a family tonight at home and watch a movie but all in all it was a nice relaxing day. First time in a couple of years that we didn't have to rush around to 3 families today but tomorrow we get to see Grandma Kay so that will be fun!

4 months old

Ready to go to her 4 month appointment

Riley had her 4 month checkup yesterday with Dr. Wren. Unfortunately Patrick couldn't go, which was tough for me with her getting shots but we both survived. She is getting to be such a big girl she weighed 13 lbs 11 oz (57th percentile), she is 24.8 inches long (71st percentile) and her head is 40.5 cm (36th percentile). Dr. Wren's conclussion was that she is boxy (like her dad) with a tiny head (like her mom), poor girl!

She is very interested in food right now so Dr. Wren said we can start her on rice cereal if we would like. Everytime I eat around her she just stares and lately she has been grabbing for it. No matter if she is in a dead sleep when she smells food she usually wakes up, never fails! And Dr. Wren says that it is probable that she is teething with all the drooling that she is doing and how she wants to constantly chew on things so that should be great fun to go through shortly.
She also got 2 shots in her legs, poor girl was such a trooper. She looked at me and cried for about 10 seconds and as soon as I picked her up she snuggled into my chest and stopped crying. It made me feel so great that she feels protected with me. The rest of the day she did fairly well, just a little fussy but after getting a bath and eating she got tucked away in bed sleeping soundly through the night.

Sitting up like a big girl

She loves her toes now that she can reach them!

Uncle Andrew was also in town and got to come see her, it was so funny watching him with her since he hadn't seen her since she was a baby. Unfortunatley she didn't do a lot of talking because she was a bit under the weather. He wanted to cuddle her and lay her down like a baby but for any of you that have seen Riley we know that she wants to sit up like a big girl, not lay down with you. She definately has a mind of her own, stubborn some may call it!

All in all at the end of the day when she decides it is time for bed I love the time where she snuggles into my chest and falls fast asleep. I then can't wait for her to wake up (hopefully not too early) and smile at me because she can't wait to talk to me and play! It will be so fun to watch her grow up but man is the time flying by.

Single Mom with an awake baby!

So this is the first time that I have actually felt like a single mom. For all of you mom's or dad's that are raising a child on their own, I don't know how you do it. Patrick is working overnight in the Tri-Cities for the next couple of nights so that means I have Riley. Unfortunately I am working 12 hour shifts as well so my parents, my mother in law and my sister are helping a ton watching Riley, I don't know what I would do without my family!
Anyways coincidentally this comes as perfect timing for Patrick as we are trying to get Riley to sleep in the crib and last night I was up with her almost at every hour. She didn't need anything, mostly just wanted to know I was still there. I guess I need to read some books in my spare time (haha) on how to do this. Should I let her cry it out in the middle of the night and self soothe or should I just run in there and put her binkie back in, let her know I am there and she falls right asleep again. I did the second option when she was in her bassinet and it turned out great, she knew she was taken care of and eventually stopped waking up at night for that comfort. We did attempt the crying it out method about a week back when she was being especially fussy before bed and she ended up screaming for 25 minutes until I couldn't handle it anymore and picked her up, the instant I picked her up she snuggled into my arms and passed out, I had her in bed in less than 5 minutes.
I guess this will just have to be trial and error just like everything else has had to be. Riley never seems to go by the book on anything so I suppose that is worthless to even try. On the plus side I do let her come and snuggle with me in the morning (it has become a ritual as soon as daddy leaves) and she sleeps great, usually wakes up to play for 10 minutes and then wants a nap again soon after for a couple of hours.

The Crib...

Riley is now 4 months old and has been sleeping through the night 90% of the time for the past two weeks. Problem is she is still in her bassinet and her feet and head basically touch the top and bottom of the bassinet. So tonight is the first night she will be sleeping in her crib, not right next to her momma. Obviously I am more distraught about this than I'm sure Riley is but I will power through this hard time. What worries me the most is she turns onto her belly while sleeping and she just kind of babbles when she wants up so I am afraid the baby monitor won't pick it up. My wonderful husband was sure to check the sensitivity of the monitor prior to her going to sleep.

Progress: so it took a lot more coaxing than usual but Riley finally fell asleep around midnight in the crib. It was like she knew something was going on.

Conclusion: All went well. She went to sleep at midnight and woke up crying at 5 AM which was unusual for her so of course I raced in to see why she was crying. She had rolled over to the side of the crib and her arm was in between the slats so she was stuck, scared the bejesus out of me but she didn't seem to notice, she proceeded to eat and then fall back asleep pretty easily. I would call this night a success!

First Blog

As soon as I found out I was pregnant about a year ago I started looking at blogs. Blogs about motherhood, families, crafts, nursing, etc. I have a favorites page a mile long that I continually check and add to. I do this to get great ideas that I rarely implement and remember things that I may use in the future.

This is my beautiful daughter Riley. She is only 2 months old in this picture but is 4 months now and so much bigger...isn't she cute?!?! I decided it might not be a bad idea for her to be able to read more about her life growing up and her family. I don't have anything like that from my parents and I am continually fascinated by the stories I learn from my grandparents. So this is my attempt to keep a type of journal so that my children will be able to look back on how their life was in the beginning.

Wedding photo courtesy of Markseye.com

My husband and I are constantly laughing. In fact every time we are around my mom she says we could have our own TV show because we are so funny. Interestingly enough we have several ideas for TV shows. I guess I think that some things that we do in our every day life are interesting or funny enough to share, not to mention I think I can learn from a lot of our experiences and grow as a family.

I also come home with many interesting/crazy/inspirational stories from my job as an Emergency Room Nurse that I would love to share with people, of course while minding HIPPA! I have always dreamed of one day compiling all of these stories and writing a book, although writer is not one of my goals in life I just think that it is interesting for people to read about. Not to mention some of my very best friends work there and we tend to get a little goofy at the end of a 12 hour shift where things like this end up happening. This is my friend Lori!





And last but not least I will be posting whatever I attempt to craft along the way. I never thought I was a crafty person but low and behold when I had my daughter I decided this was a great idea. My husband tells me I am not the woman he married because I was complete opposite of this when I married him. Back then I was all about work and fun and I didn't spend time at Joann's or cooking and I certainly didn't own a sewing machine. Now I am domestic, or at least attempting to be! I grew up with a very crafty mother, she owned a ceramic shop, she did toll carving and painting, made elaborate cakes and she crocheted baby blankets like crazy so I always wondered why I didn't get the crafting gene but apparently it just took a while to show up. This is my mom making our Christmas stocking this year, so crafty!

So on top of all of these subjects I also would love to review books whenever possible so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I will also be blogging about house stuff because we are working on building a house and I'm sure we will have many trial and tribulations to talk about!
So these are the things I will be blogging about, hopefully you find it informational, helpful and most of all entertaining!