First Trip to the Beauty Parlor!

OK, so it wasn't exactly the beauty parlor, but for Riley it was pretty darn close! We finally decided that her hair needed some shaping and the barrett that she keeps pulling out is pointless. Riley did much better than we both expected, especially since there weren't a bunch of hairdryers going (she is scared of hairdryers, go figure!). She got to sit in a yellow taxi cab, watch the Wiggles, and ate 2 lollipops (...which we paid for dearly right around dinner time).

A Talac Christmas

This Christmas was so much fun! Riley was into it from the start...here are some of her favorite things about Christmas as a 2 yr. old:
-Singing Christmas songs...Holly Jolly Christmas, Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman. Now, I have to say she was frustrated with the "All Christmas Station"- she didn't understand why I couldn't get them to turn off Karen Carpenter's "Christmas With You" and play Jingle Bells on demand. :)
-Finding her Elf "Ollie" every morning. She especially liked when Ollie was found in her stocking with a 1/2 eaten bag of Welch's Fruit Snacks. He must of had a "rough night" as Riley said.
-Taking the animals, wisemen and presents out of her nativity scene advent calendar and yelling "Happy Birthday, Baby Jeez" (evidently they are tighter than I knew and she has shortened his name) on Christmas morning when she took the baby out of the manger.
-Her "BIG" present from Santa...a Kitchen! She has NEVER played by herself for more than 5 minutes, until the kitchen. Thank you Santa!!!! She especially loves the microwave and keeps heating things up "just a little bit". :)

Hello Big Tex!

We decided to do a little celebrating and went to the Texas State Fair today...opening day! Riley had quite a good time and was completely pooped by the time we left. We started with a Fletcher's Corn Dog, which Riley loved! The dog show was a hit, this particular trainer has had his dogs doing tricks on David Letterman, etc. We went on a ride, which after 2 short circles, Riley was yelling "All done, All done!". The humor in it was almost worth the $8 we paid for the ride. We then went to the petting zoo and fed the goats, camels, and cows...or shall I say watched Gary feed them! Ice cream was the final touch before coming home, which may have been Riley's favorite part! Riley went to bed tonight talking about how the dogs ran really fast and the camel "yelled at Mommy and Riley". Funny to find out what she is thinking about! :)

4th of July Weekend...

Well, we had an action packed, fun 4th of July weekend. Despite being a little nervous about handling 2 kids, we had a blast with Drew over for most of the day on Saturday. We went to Jump!Zone and the pool, so they we tuckered out at the end of the day...which was one of the goals!

On the 4th, we spent the day eating and hanging out at the pool at Laurie and Greg's. Gary and I were able to do alot of relaxing as well, since Riley was havinga great time with Michelle and Stephanie!

Great weekend...we are pooped! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Riley took her daddy for an early Father's Day breakfast at school on Friday and made him a card. We celebrated again with Gary's dad on Saturday at their new home, which was nice to have them close enough to be together this year! Then for the grand finale, Gary was able to take a guilt free nap and allow his appetite to build for an early dinner at Uncle Julio's. Riley loved Julio's and she even ate off the menu!

Summer is Here!

Riley will be 22 months this week! :( SO BIG! She now has her own pool in the backyard and woke up this morning talking about "My Pool", and of course wanted to swim before going to school this morning! She is talking up a storm and also singing, singing, singing! Her favorite songs to sing are, "Happy Birthday", "Baby Bumble Bee", "ABC", "Rock A Bye Baby", and "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".

You've Got to Start Somewhere!

Well, it is time...potty time! Despite what it looks like in this video Riley is doing quite well with her interest in the potty and been quite successful for a beginner. This video was shot right after we got her potty, which even plays a song when she has success! She no longer puts her dolly in the potty. ;) By the way, we didn't keep the potty in the family room!