Riley Update

My little snuggle monster

So I have kind of been slacking on the updates or Riley lately but I will tell you what has happened in the last 2 weeks and it will basically sum it all up. Last week Riley turned 7 months old! Before she did this however she decided to have some pretty big milestones. She learned to crawl, go from crawling to sitting, pulled herself to the standing position and she finally cut a tooth. Oh man has it been a fun and very eventful two weeks for her. She has become such a fun little girl to play with, she is so curious about everything around her and I love watching and helping her explore. It is so much fun I can't wait for more adventures to come!

Standing up looking at daddy in the mirror

Initially she fiqured out how to crawl but it was only about a foot at a time. The next day I was taking a shower and she was talking to me playing on the carpet just like we always do. I had just enough time to put shampoo in my hair and when I looked out to talk to her some more she was gone...uhhh so what do I do I yell for her to come back...and she did. Apparently she decided this was the time that she was really going to crawl so she crawled to her bedroom and when I called for her she came back to talk some more. Thank goodness because we had continued procrastinating about the baby proofing up until this very point. Well then while I was getting ready that same day she backed her little butt up against the couch and she stood up...all by herself. It is just all going too fast. She now can pull herself up to the standing position about anytime she wants which is totally scary for me.


Helping with the laundry

She also has this very sharp bottom tooth now that she still continues to want to chew on my fingers with so we are trying to break that habit but I can say it is better my finger than other parts I guess!

We have had some pretty wonderful and eventful days off of work just taking walks and playing. We went and visited our friend Megan and got to go get ice cream at Blue Palm. Then the next day we got to go visit our friend Lori who just had surgery and visit with her and Summer which was fun.

This weekend may be the first weekend that I decide to go out with my husband and let Riley stay at Nana's house, it is still up in the air depending on how much anxiety I get but Patrick's friend Jeff is in town from Brazil so that is pretty good incentive to go out for the night. At least I know she will be safe and sound at Nana's.

Playing with the largest cat every, at Megan's house!

Father's Day

So this year was Patrick's 1st fathers day. Riley and I did these pictures with DAD above and framed it so that Patrick had some pictures to put on his new desk at work! We had a very good morning but unfortunately I had to work at 1 PM so I couldn't hang out all day. I did take him to Mr. Eds in the morning for breakfast because that is his favorite place to eat in the mornings. We then went home and his mom came over and we took a walk down the street to see Grandpa Bill, this was very bitter sweet because he just moved to a nursing home but we ended up having a nice visit. I then had to go to work but Patrick ended up going over to my parents house and they BBQ'd burgers and sounds like Riley had a wonderful time playing and being silly all day.

Visiting Grandpa Bill

Work ended up being slammed. We had two patients that got shipped out by helicopter which is basically unheard of in our small ER. We had very interesting patients and it was busy all day long so I was very happy to get a hamburger delivered to me later in the night. This week in general was very busy, I also had 3 codes which is unheard of as well. Lets just put it this way when I first started working there I didn't get my first code until almost 6 months in and then all of a sudden I got 3 in one week! Yikes, I was very thankful for my 2 days off of work!

The day before Father's day was when Patrick and I went to the Sweets game but earlier that day our little family took a walk to the park and played on the swings and watched the water and even went down the slide! It was so much fun and we took so many photos that we kept saying the paparazzi was following Riley because she was so darn cute! Also this week Riley officially crawled and is getting much better at that and she is basically an expert overnight on going from laying to pushing herself to the sitting position. It is so scary for us because now we can't procrastinate on baby proofing the house, we just need to get a day off together and buckle down and do it!

2 Year Anniversary

I can not believe I have been married to the love of my life for 2 years now. June 12 was our anniversary and I look back at these last two years and can't believe all the changes in our lives. Last year on our 1 year anniversary we were in Seattle at a Mariners game and I was pregnant and just barely showing. This year we have a beautiful little girl and we stayed in Walla Walla to go to a Walla Walla Sweets game, not to mention the actual day of our anniversary we both had to work long shifts. Needless to say we are celebrating this weekend on the one day we both have off together! I couldn't be happier with my choice in a husband, he is the best father to our daughter and he is so loyal and caring towards me, not to mention he gets along with my family so well. We have had our share of ups and downs but the downs never keep us down and the ups only reassure me that we will last several more years to come!

So we ended up going to the Sweets baseball game and sitting in the sunshine while drinking a beer. It was pretty fun, I guess baseball is kind of our anniversary thing! It was pretty fun and we were so relaxed that we decided to stay out a little bit longer and go out to the Green, which just happened to be one of the places that Patrick and I first went out when we started dating. Needless to say we felt super old, we knew absolutely no one there so we headed home after a couple of drinks! Thankfully, since we didn't get to bed until 11:30 (instead of our usual 8 PM) Riley slept and let us sleep in until 6:30, it was a wonderful surprise.

Vegas Baby

So last weekend I ended up going to Vegas. It was kind of bittersweet in that it was the first time I left my baby and it was pretty stressful. I also had to miss one of my friends funeral which I really had to come to terms with before I left. However I ended up having a BLAST! There were just 3 of us that went but we had tons of fun and there was no drama, just drinking and shopping!

Andrea and I took off that afternoon and landed in Vegas around 3. We just headed straight to the Venetian where we stayed and got ready for the night. That night we went out to the Blue Martini and had so much fun, despite the numerous calls from my husband (Riley was having a hard night without her mama and I'm not so sure my husband was all that thrilled that I was in Vegas without him, oops!). We had fun dancing but the most fun we had was when we basically did Ellen's dance dares all night long. That is where you go up behind people without them knowing and dance

behind them. I know it sounds stupid but it was seriously hilarious. People's friends would just look at us and laugh and barely anyone told there friend what was going on behind them. Oh man that seriously made the night. We tried recording the dance dares but it was too dark in the bar.

The next day we got up and went shopping at the outlet mall, basically all I bought was clothes for Riley...wow how the times have changed. Last time all I bought was clothes for myself and I only got 2 pairs of shorts this time. We got ready that night to go out to Absinthe, the show that was at Cesar's Palace. It was a cute little circus like tent in the middle of the court yard and it was pretty small so it was really cool. The tricks in the show were so cool and the humor was pretty dirty but it was definitely worth the money, I would love to go see another show in Vegas

sometime. We then went out to the Cesar's Palace to Gilley's Country Bar. This is a favorite of Andrea and I's. We had so much fun dancing although the next time we go to that bar I'm thinking more comfortable shoes and not a dress, kind of uncomfortable to swing dance in! By the end of the night our feet were bruised and battered and Andrea (the bachelorette) got Abby and I back to the hotel safely! The next morning came all too early, I went to Vegas with the intention of being able to sleep in although I think I got less sleep in Vegas than I ever get at home. The plane ride back was long and the drive home was even longer. I couldn't wait to see my family and I think that they were pretty excited to see me as well.

We did decide that the next trip we take we definitely need to make it a couples trip or we were thinking even a cruise!!!

Fabric Covered Flower Pot

So my friend Courtney moved back home from Oklahoma about a week ago and moved into an apartment. It is super cute inside but the outside needs some work, well I'm sure she wouldn't mind if she got new neighbors but I am going to do what I can to help it look welcoming! So I decided everyone could use happy flowers and I couldn't find any ceramic pots that I totally loved so I made my own.
Then my mom loved the one I made Courtney so much that I decided to make her one for her anniversary, 29 years, almost unheard of now a days huh! She loves birds so I brought back the same fabric that I made my diaper and wipe clutch with and she loved it!

First off I did get my idea from Pintrest, where else?!?! off of the small garden, so I definitely can't take all the credit but I will give some helpful hints on how I did it for any of you that would like to try it! It is super simple and I think very thoughtful for a gift, people can only get so much wine right, I can't believe I just said that haha oh how having a baby has changed me!

What you need:
I bought a terra cotta pot from Hobby Lobby for $3.
The fabric I got from Joanns and I bought 1/4 yard, I could probably make two of them so the fabric goes a long way, just make sure it wraps all the way around the pot.
Mod Podge, which I made myself off of this website, very easy!
Spray paint, Color for the bottom and a clear outdoor sealant.
Foam brush
Flowers, I choose a Red Dahlia and a pink Gerber Daisy
Potting soil

Step 1: I spray painted the water catcher for the bottom of the pot, technical terms I know, with red spray paint that is indoor and outdoor so it won't wear.

Step 2: Cut the fabric so it will go all the way around the pot, there will be extra on the top and the bottom but you will trim it once you apply it all.

Step 3: Apply mod podge on the actual pot in small sections and smooth the fabric out with a foam brush. Make sure and smooth out all the wrinkles.

Step 4: Once I got the fabric applied to the pot I applied a layer of modge podge to help seal it, especially around the edges of the fabric if you had any patch work like I did.

Step 5: Cut off where you want the top of the fabric to end, I wanted it just inside the top of the pot, my edge is not straight by any means but it works and then I finished the edge off with more mod podge.

Step 6: Let it dry.

Step 7:  Cut off all the extra fabric at the bottom of the pot and mod podge the edges. Let dry.

Step 8: Seal the pot with the clear indoor/outdoor spray and let dry.

Step 9: Pot your flower and water it!!!

The Farm Chicks

So this weekend my mom, Riley and I headed off to the Farm Chicks show in Spokane! I have been waiting for this day for months and when my cousin Christine suggested we take a girls trip I jumped at the suggestion. So Christine and my aunt Robin met us at the show and we ended up getting to stay at my cousin Michael and Aubri’s house. On a side note, they have the most beautiful house, old craftsman style with a lot of the old wood trim inside and coiffured ceilings, I could only dream of a house that gorgeous someday.

So Riley was such a good girl on the way up to Spokane she slept the whole way but she was not the best little baby of life the rest of the weekend. I felt like she was a newborn again. I couldn’t get her to stop crying, she woke up every 2 hours throughout the whole night and she would not really be held by anyone other than me, which includes at the show which hindered my shopping just a bit.

Me, Serena and Christine at the Farm Chicks Show

The show was something else. Christine heard someone on the phone say “there is a lot of shit here,” and believe me that was an understatement. 8 years ago when I went we parked in a field and it was in a cute rustic barn. This year it was at the Spokane fairgrounds and about 5 times larger than the last time I went so I was a bit caught off guard. We went through the whole thing but none of us really bought much except for my aunt Robin who bought a very large wrought iron planter that was found on the outside of a barn, it was so pretty. The highlight of Christine and I’s trip there was meeting and getting a picture with Serena (meeting may be an understatement, there was a girl with a camera that asked if we wanted a picture and I was so excited that when Christine asked Serena I handed this girl my camera, I think what she meant was do you want to buy a picture from me of you guys with Serena, oh well I acted like I didn’t know the ropes, I had been dealing with a screaming child all day so I was exhausted already and just too darn excited to care, plus we got our picture). We did think of a list of things that we want to remember for next year when we go.

Riley riding the horse at the Farm Chicks Show with my mom and aunt Robin

1.       Don’t bring any kids, there were a ton there including mine who cried, distracted me or needed to eat, those darn kids. At one point in time I was breastfeeding at a plastic picnic table in the food court next to two other mom’s doing the same, we made it a makeshift feeding station, and we were so cool!

2.       Come with an empty bag, just bring your wallet because we want to fill it up with goodies.

3.       Wear more comfortable shoes, I went for style and cuteness this year and I regretted every step after about 30 minutes on a concrete floor. Next year I will wear comfortable, stylish shoes!

4.       Get there early and stay all day, we went kind of later in the day on the 2^nd day and everything any of us really wanted was still sitting there but with a sold sign on it, so depressing.

5.       Go with something in mind of what you want. There is so much stuff there that it was hard to think of what you really wanted, impulse buying at these things I’m sure is very prevalent. My issue was I wanted things but in my rental house I have nowhere to put them so I have to really wait until next year when hopefully our new house is built and I can buy things to fill it. My concern was that I would buy something expensive and then feel like I had to decorate the room around that piece instead of decorating the room with the piece.

6.       Plan a little more than 2 days and 2 nights in Spokane, I had to work by 1 and with a 3 hour drive ahead of me we had to leave pretty early in the morning, next year I will just take off the whole weekend and hopefully get to do some shopping outside of the show also.

Riley standing up on her own, such a big girl!

Landon and Riley kissing, they love each other

The nights were fun however when Riley and Landon went to bed and it was just the girls sitting up drinking wine, snacking and crafting. We pulled out all of our crafting stuff; sewing machines, fabrics, thread, bags, etc. and ended up looking at Pintrest most of the night. I did get a little hand stitching done on Riley’s baby blanket but I didn’t finish. We also made some candy dishes that we saw at the Farm Chicks show that were selling for $28 and we made ours for less than $10, tutorial/pictures to come! Aubri also cut Christine’s some bangs so that was fun and my mom and aunt learned what Pintrest was, we watched them almost get obsessed with it in front of our eyes!

Mom learning Pintrest on her new tablet.