Wait, you mean I have a 2 year old?!

Riley,

Today you turn 2 years old. Woah. Before you were born people would tell me all the time how fast you would grow up. Sure I believed them, but really just took it with a grain of salt. I justknew my baby would be a baby forever. The days wouldn’t fly by. I wouldn’t have to even think about potty training for a long time. I could just sit & hold that tiny baby as I watch him sleep all the live long day. Well I was definitely wrong in that area. Those days did fly by. And my baby is no longer a baby.

The last 2 years have been the best years of my life. You bring me such joy. You are my sunshine. Literally. No matter how bad my day is going, just one bright smile from you or word out of your precious mouth or a big bear hug from you makes it all better. You are a wild-at-heart, strong-willed little boy, but at the same time you are so sweet & affectionate. You truly care about others, even at your young age. Your newest phrase is “Oh no! What happened?” if something seems wrong or out of place. Then you intently wait for an answer to the problem. If your little sister is upset you try your best to console her. Put her paci in her mouth, cover her with a blanket, give her a toy. Whatever it takes. If you see someone crying (in real life or on TV) you begin to cry as well. You really do have a tender heart.

Your favorite game to play is “Boo”. At least that’s what you call it. Technically it’s Hide & Seek. You get one of us to go hide. You count. Then run to find us. Only thing is you want us to jump out & say boo to scare you. Then you laugh hysterically. I guess you enjoy being scared. :0)

You said your first full sentence about a week ago. You were looking for a ball. When you found it you said “I found that ball!” I love your little voice. I love hearing you chatter.

You can be quite the drama queen king at times. Like last night I was taking the cover off of your carseat to wash it. You were apparently really worried about it because you kept trying to sit in it & were saying “Oh no!!! My carseat!” And started crying a little. It was like I was throwing away your favorite toy or something. A few days ago you put your sunglasses on, looked at your Dad & said “Movie star!” If that’s what you want to be, I have no doubt in my mind that you can make it with your outgoing personality. I have no doubt in my mind that you can be anythingyou want to be. I am more than proud of you & who you are already. So is Dada.

So as hard as it is for me to write or say it, I now have a 2 year old. That seems crazy to me. I tear up just thinking about it. No joke. I’m about to cry sitting here typing this. And did tear up telling a co-worker that my baby boy is two today. She said she doesn’t want to be anywhere near me on your first day of school because I will definitely be a mess that day. She’s right. I know I will be. I don’t even want to think about it. But I now know that it really will be here in the blink of an eye. I try so hard to slow down & soak in every minute with you & your sister. I am so thankful that I only have to be away from y’all 2-3 days a week.

Happy 2nd Birthday, my sweet angel baby. No matter how old you get to be, you really will always be my baby.

We love you more than you'll ever know!

Dada, Mama & Averly

Baby in a basket

Mamie’s House

Last week my mom, the kids, & I made a trip up to visit my sister at her new apartment. It was (and always is) great to see my sister. She is so much fun.

They got their cable & internet turned on while we were there so Riley had to help Jamie test it out.

Swimming with Jamie, aka Mamie.

Riley is a little fish! He would stay in the pool all day if I would let him.

I love this picture of Averly! She was so happy & smiling so big!

Jamie, me & her sweet roommate Blair. My mom kept the kids so we could go out for a little while but we ended up just going to eat sushi & coming back to the apartment to watch a movie.

My big boy (who pee peed in Mamie’s potty while we were there!) and I before we left.

And my sweet girl, who always seems to be naked in all my pictures lately. I promise she does have clothes.

I can’t wait to go back & visit some more! :0)

5 Months Old…Yesterday

My sweet Averly turned 5 months old yesterday but I just never can get around to blogging on Sundays. So here we go a day late. Baby girl is growing so fast! I can no longer say that I have a newborn & it makes me so sad. She is really coming into her own & does the cutest little things now. Like when she’s eating she rubs my arm & my chest (Riley actually did this too). I love the feeling of her soft little hand on my arm. It melts my heart every time. She also likes to grab at our faces & hair. Before, she would grab hair somewhat unintentionally but now she aims for it. TAG’s facial hair is another favorite to grab at.

She loves to lay with her feet crossed & does about 90% of the time. Which is why this picture is so funny to me. All sprawled out. TAG said she looks like an old man in a recliner after a long day.

She is still teething like crazy & I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets another one or two very soon. My kids seem to be very early teethers. Practically getting them all in at once. She bit me for the first time yesterday too. And I mean hard. While she was nursing. Ouch!

I don’t think it will be much longer before she is sitting on her own. She is pretty good at keeping her balance & will sit up for a split second if we position her just right.

Unless she has on some super cute shoes that she wants to get a closer look at. ;0) She is very interested in her feet. Shoes or no shoes, she is always reaching for those sweet little “tootsies” as my grandmother always called them.

I know this picture is pitiful but you can actually see her 2 little teeth! Aren’t they so cute?! I’m sure they were the reason for her fussing here too. She has started sucking on her bottom lip a lot. I guess it feels weird having those new teeth in there. It’s the cutest little face!

She is in mostly 6 month clothes, but can still squeeze into some 3 month dresses. Pajamas are definitely 9 months right now.

The little chunk is wearing a size 3 diapers & as you can see from the pictures, they are holding on for dear life around those nun nuhs. Riley wears a size 4 & I’ve put one of those on her a time or 2 but they are still a little too big. I wish they made size 3-4. While I’m on the subject of diapers, I saw size 6s the other day for the first time ever. I thought 5 was as big as they went. With my butterball though we may just have to buy some size 6 before it’s over with!

I swear she already knows her name. She turns her head to look if we say it.

I’ve said it before & I know I’ll say it again a million times, but I am so blessed to be this little girl’s mother. She is the light of my life & brings me so much joy. I could never even begin to describe the love I feel for this precious baby. The feeling that this little tiny person relies on me for everything is a thought that I have yet to wrap my mind around. Even though this is my second go ‘round with a baby, it feels brand new. And so great. So perfect. God knew what He was doing when He gave me this girl! She completes our family of four. She completes me.

Happy 5 Months, my sweet angel. Your Daddy & I love you to the moon & back. Times infinity.

Wordless Wednesday

Guess Who?!

Guess who has not one, but two teeth now?! Yep, my little pumpkin pie already has 2 teeth. The first one broke through on Friday, July 23rd & the 2nd one broke through on Thursday, July 29th, less than a week later. No wonder she’s been waking up a couple times through the night lately. I figured all along that it was her teeth so I would give her teething tablets when she woke up & they helped her go back to sleep for a few more hours. I haven’t been able to get a picture of the teeth yet because every time I open her mouth she sticks her tongue out. Believe me though, I’m still trying!

Guess who pee peed in the potty for the first time?! My big boy! Saturday, July 31st right before his bath. While the water was running I asked him if he wanted to pee pee in the potty before he got in the tub & he said “pee pee potty" & climbed up on the toilet very quickly. He was in such a big hurry that I didn’t have time to put his little potty seat on. I just held him over it & he did his business! I was so excited I wanted to scream but I held it in until he was finished. (Didn’t want to scare him into stopping the stream.) :0) I was sooo happy that I practically did jumping jacks in the bathroom. I really tried to make a big MONSTROUSLY HUGE deal out of it so he would be as excited about it as I was. We ran in the living room & told Dada what he just did & TAG made him feel extra special about it too. High fives all around. The works. And while it hasn’t happened again just yet, we are constantly reminding him what he did & how big of a boy he was for doing it. I think I asked him 48,739 times yesterday if he wanted to go use the potty, but each time the answer was no. I’m not pushing it…just going to let it happen as it comes. But in the meantime I am so excited!!

Guess who moved to the sit up side of her bathtub Saturday night, July 31st?! My little sugar poo! In the other side of the tub she was always straining her neck to sit up straight so I figured it was time to turn her around. She loved it too!

Guess who can count to 9 all by himself?! Riley man! Like I mentioned in my last post, he counts everything. But I just thought 5 was as high as he could go. Boy was I wrong! He had some tupperware bowls out playing with them on Thursday, July 29th & he counted perfectly all the way up to 9! I was hoping for 10 once I heard him, but he went back to 8 after he said 9. It was so cute! I am a proud mama!

Guess who rolled from her back to her belly for the first time?! Little miss Averly is now a rolling queen as of Wednesday, July 28th. She has been rolling from her belly to her back for a while but just now perfected it from her back to her belly. My little Rolley Poley.

My sweet angels make me so proud everyday. Whether it’s something really big or really small to someone else, it’s ginormous to me! These two make my world go ‘round & I am so blessed to be their mother. As bad as I want them to slow down with the whole growing up stuff, I love watching them accomplish new things. Way to go, kiddos!

The things he says and does

I wouldn’t trade for the world! My little man is such a hoot. He really keeps us on our toes & seriously entertained.

This boy has a serious southern accent & I just love it! He says “otaaaayy” just like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals. We hear “Otaaayy” mainly when he is asking to do something. Like if he wants to go outside he’ll say “Side? Otaaayy.” Basically answering himself & then heading towards the door.

He uses Averly like a doll to point to all of her body parts-eyes, nose, ears, toes, etc & when he gets to her legs he says “nun nuhs” without skipping a beat & just keeps on naming parts off. Can you guess what “nun nuhs” translates to? Thunders (i.e. Thunder thighs, i.e. Averly’s thighs). Yes, he heard us tell Averly that she had some thunder thighs & now he repeats it. But to be fair, he does point to his scrawny little chicken legs that are smaller than his 4.5 month old sister’s & “nun nuhs” to them too. Bless him.

The little stinker knows exactly how to sweet talk & get what he wants. If we say no to something he gets a big grin on his face, gives us a huge bear hug around the neck & says “peeeeeesshh?!?” How can I not give in to that?

He really has been so good about not being jealous at all but the in the last few days sometimes when I’m feeding Averly, he will climb up in the chair beside us & bury his head in the other side of my chest. He can’t quite figure out what she’s doing down there but he tries to partake. He’s also copying everything that Averly does. If she squeals, he squeals. If she’s laying down kicking & waving her arms. He lays down by her & kicks. And even sometimes when I’m changing her diaper he starts saying “diber” wanting me to change his too. I’m not worried about it right now because I know he’s just playing but I really hope he doesn’t start reverting back to acting like a baby. Like just crying or whining instead of telling me what he wants. Or not wanting to use the potty now because he wants to wear diapers like Averly. Am I crazy for even thinking that?

My mom sent me a text Monday morning saying that Riley wouldn’t eat anything but Texas Toast & an ice cream cone for breakfast that day. That’s the breakfast of champions right there! Geez!

As you may or may not know, he is still not a very good sleeper. He still wakes up every now & then calling me to come in his room. I usually lay down in his bed by him for 5-10 minutes until he’s out again & we’re good. A few nights ago he woke up calling me so I went in his room. He was sitting up in his bed patting the pillow for me to lay down. Even if it was 2 in the morning it put a big smile on my face.

Yesterday when I was at work & my mom was keeping the kids my sister called her phone but she didn’t hear it. So Riley took it upon himself to answer it. How he knew how to actually answer it, I do not know. But he brought it to mom all the while chatting away to my sister. Saying “Heyyo Mamie!” Apparently he has become quite the little “Chatty Cathy” when it comes to talking on the phone because this morning while I was at work I called my mom to check on the kids (like I do every day that I’m at work) & Riley was having a fit to talk to me. I could hear him saying “Mama, talk. Talk. TAAAALLLK!” So my mom put him on the phone. Normally when he does this he just sits there. Listening. Wanting you to talk to him but not answering you back. Well today was different. Today was the first day he has ever actually talked to me. And I do mean talked. He was carrying on his own little conversation. Telling me that he had been playing with his basketball & what he ate for breakfast & that he was being a good boy. Even what Averly was doing at the moment. It was the sweetest thing. Even though it’s nothing big, I was so overjoyed that I wanted to just go right through the phone & squeeze him so tight!

He counts anything that he sees in multiples. Like if there is 3 chairs, he will count “Mon, chu, chree chairs!” Or 5 spoons. “Mon, chu, chree, fo, five spoons!” Then he gets so proud of himself & will say “Goot job Ra-vey!!” Precious.

Riley’s new favorite show is Caillou. I had never heard of it until we started watching the Sprout channel OnDemand. And thank goodness for that OnDemand feature because he begs to watch it right after he wakes up from his nap in the afternoons. Otherwise a t-total meltdown may occur. Anyway, this little Caillou fellow is pretty cute. And Riley has watched all 4-5 episodes OnDemand so much that he basically has the whole thing memorized. He can quote Caillou pretty well now.

Now that we have started feeding Averly rice cereal, Riley wants to help out too. I’ve caught him trying to feed her his yogurt a number of times. He didn’t quite hit her mouth though. More like just got it all over her face & neck. Poor little girl. When I tell him that Averly can’t have yogurt just yet, he starts saying “Hep (help). Me.” I can’t get onto him for just wanting to help but baby girl may not make it to her 1st Birthday if I don’t!

When he’s looking for a toy or something he’ll search the house saying “___________ (fill in the blank with whatever he’s looking for--tractor, ball, Mama’s phone, bep beps, Averly, etc.), y’are yooouuu?” Then when he finds it, he’ll say “D’ere it is!”

A couple weeks ago we went swimming at my friend’s house & he scraped his toe on the patio. That boo boo hung around for a while & he was sure to remind us hourly that it hurt. All we heard for a few days was “Boo boo hurts me.” In the sweetest little pouty *almost* 2year old voice.

If he’s ready to go somewhere, even just to another room. He politely asks me “Mama, go n’ere?” The “n’ere” is read ‘in there’. It’s just another part of this little country-fied boy’s southern drawl. I guess he gets that honest though.

Like I said, we have plenty of daily (and nightly) entertainment that you just can’t put a price on. I love every single minute with this kid!