Congratulations Aunt Libby and soon-to-be Uncle David!

Brett's sister, Libby, got engaged last night! We knew it was coming. When she and David were home for Christmas he told Brett and I that he had it planned to ask her on the 30th when they were in Texas with his family. We are so excited for them and can't wait for all of the exciting times ahead for them and the Murphy family. Here is Riley saying CONGRATS in her crown that Aunt Libby gave her last week!

A few more firsts

Riley tried a few new things the past couple of days:

First, she tried out her new bathrobe. The pictures are too precious not to share. Brett thought the booties were "just too cute." Never did I ever imagine that he would think that pink booties were "just too cute." Actually, when he said it I thought he was being sarcastic. Here she is:

Next, Riley loved her glow worm. She loves to stare at the little worm's glowing face and to grab its head and arms and pull them to her face!

Lastly, rice cereal. Riley has really shown an interest in Brett and I eating. She stares at us and watches intently. We tried putting a spoon to her mouth and somehow she knew to open wide. She still needs a little help sitting up, but sits just fine in her bumbo...so we tried making rice cereal. She hated it! I think we'll wait a couple weeks and then try her on the store made rice cereal. Ours was a bit grainy. Here are a few pictures:

Riley's room

I've had a couple requests to post pictures of Riley's room. So here they are as requested!

Oh What a Day!

Riley's first Christmas was wonderful despite totally messing with her bedtime routine! I know that she just loved it...ha! She slept through 80% of her presents...all of which were wonderful. I think she particularly loved her exersaucer from Santa. Somehow he always brings the perfect gifts!

Christmas Eve started our festivities this year. We welcomed Brett's sister, Libby, and her boyfriend, David, into our house for a few days. It was great to have them home with us this Christmas. Last year we went to visit them in MN the weekend before Christmas. We also went to Brett's Aunt and Uncle's house for some delicious prime rib. They just moved in to a new house so it was wonderful to finally see it.

Christmas morning we had Brett's parents and siblings over to open gifts and to eat brunch. We only accomplished opening gifts as we nearly set our oven on fire. I attempted to make monkey bread and failed miserably! I used a two piece bundt pan only to have all of the yummy goo seep to the bottom of the oven. We tried to finish cooking it in the microwave and that was a disaster, as well. This is 2/2 dinners with the Murphy's where something has burned horribly! Next year I think I'll make cinnamon rolls from the can! ;) Riley got a lot of wonderful gifts from the Murphy's. She got some cute clothes, a walker, some toys, a glow worm (Grandma Kathy bought this for her since she was her little glow worm with her billy blanket when she first came home), a Christmas ornament, and some books.

Brett cleaning out the oven. He's so resourceful!:
The Murphy's love their mimosas!:

Christmas afternoon we went to my parents' house to celebrate with all of the Burch's. Riley wore her cute Christmas dress. She must have loved it because we were able to keep it clean and on her all day! No mishaps here...Mom did most of the cooking. I've always loved her ham and mashed potatoes. We brought the green bean casserole - uncooked because we weren't able to use our oven without the house filling with smoke! Riley got a bunch of great gifts here, as well. Great Grandpa Melvin got her all of the coins that were minted in 2008. What a special gift. They are all encased and the shiniest coins I've ever seen. She will truly be able to cherish this gift when she is older! He also got her a bank filled with quarters. Riley also got a lot of cute clothes, toys, books, and bath robe. What a lucky girl! I can't wait to use the bathrobe tonight for her bath. I'm sure she'll love it as much as I do.

Riley with her bank:
Riley with uncle Nick:

Riley with Grandma and Aunt Sandy:

Riley with Grandma Sheryl:
Riley with Aunt Sandy

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better first Christmas for our little girl. I can't wait to do this hectic day over and over again. We truly are blessed to be able to spend the holidays with all of our family.

Our Christmas present:

Tonight we are taking Riley to her second birthday party. Carter Coppola turns one today! I know she's going to take a long nap this afternoon so she can be rested for all of the hula dancing that she will be doing tonight! Happy Birthday, Carter!

Things I've learned as a Mommy.

1. I can survive on only 5 hours of sleep and make it through a full day at the office.

2. Mommies have a pact that nobody but other Mommies can truly understand.

3. My body is amazing, even if it's not the same as it used to be.

4. I can love somebody more than I ever imagined.

5. Motherhood is a natural role. Even without experience it comes easy.

6. Generic forwarded emails will make me cry.

7. I'm obsessed with nursing/pumping and giving my child breast milk.

8. I will get angry if I learn that my husband gave Riley two formula bottles in a row! :)

9. I have a normal body, I'm not different. I can make a child, give birth to her, and provide food for her.

10. I CAN drive the speed limit to keep Riley safe and yell at my husband to do the same.

11. Work is harder than ever.

12. I'll always leave my house 11-15 minutes later than I should.

13. 50% of the time I will forget something at home...but never Riley! :)

14. Smiling and laughing has never been so fun.

15. I can survive without TV and not care that I just missed my favorite TV show.

Just a note...

I have been an avid Babycenter.com lurker. I like to go to the August 2008 birth message boards and see what everyone is talking about. Occasionally, I'll post on one of the boards.

Tuesday, I was looking and saw a post titled: Pray for Kayleigh. It caught my eye and I looked out of curiosity. I found a link to an amazing and inspirational story that was slowly turning sadder by the day. I haven't been able to quit thinking about it since and my heart has ached for this family since. It is a blog like Riley's that I have checked religiously for the last three days. Kayleigh is a little (born at 1 lb 1 oz) preemie girl who has been fighting to survive for the last 6 months. Reading her story and how her parents are dealing with the trials and tribulations of NICU life has made me step back and realize how lucky I am to have a healthy baby girl. I mean, Riley could have been born with many problems due to coming 5 weeks early, but that never really hit home - until now. More and more I have been thinking about how naive I was to think that Riley was going to come into the world a healthy baby girl. On August 15th, I didn't even have one thought that anything could have been wrong with my little girl...not even when she needed help keeping her oxygen levels up.

Every night I find myself hugging and kissing Riley all night long and thanking God that she is healthy and happy. Some nights I have a hard time letting her go to sleep, and most nights Brett and I check on her 4-5 times after she's fallen asleep. I can only imagine what little Kayleigh's family is feeling and thinking now. They can't hold or console their little girl even as she is slowly slipping away. So, during this Christmastime remember what the true message is. Do not let one day pass where you don't hug your children and family and tell them how lucky you are to have them here with you. I know I won't take Riley and her health for granted like I have these past four months.

Here is Kayleigh's story: http://www.kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Four Month Doctor Appointment

Riley saw Dr. Fred on Friday for her four month checkup. She was 10 lb 5 oz and 23 inches long. Still a little bitty thing. She measures in the 15th percentile for each. So Dr. Fred wasn't concerned since she is proportionate. Dr. Fred said that she looks great so we were feeling pretty good - until it was time for her "immunization update." She actually did okay with the update until we got home. She was fussy all night until she finally decided to fall asleep around 9pm. Now, she's battling a runny nose. We've been lucky that she's avoided the runny nose until now.

I've been looking forward to starting Riley on cereal and other solids so I asked Dr. Fred about it. He advised us to wait until she was able to sit up on her own. It won't be long. She has been sitting with support, but needing less and less each day. I've decided that I'm going to make Riley's baby food. Hopefully it's as easy as it sounds!

Riley's Favorite Things

1. Her hands...Riley loves to suck on her hands. It's crazy to think of the determination that she has to suck on her hands. The saying "try, try again" is very fitting for this little girl. It doesn't matter how many times Brett or I pull her chapped hand out of her mouth...she's going to put them right back in - and look at you while she does it! It's like she's saying "WHAT? They're MY hands." I love that she has found her hands and that she realizes that she can move them. But, chapped hands are no fun either.

2. Baths. As I've said before, Riley loves her baths. Just last night she had fun in the tub. She kicks for a good ten seconds and then looks over at me and smiles. I love her!

3. Her Legs. Over the weekend Riley learned that her legs can make her stand up. It's her newest favorite thing to do. She locks her knees and peg legs are formed! She is able to hold her body weight for a good 2 minutes before sitting down. Sunday, she was cranky until I would help her stand up-then she was all smiles. What a little stinker.
4. TV! She will try turn her head 180 degrees just to look at the TV. She doesn't care what you watch, as long as it is on. I keep trying to put her in a position so that she has to roll over to see the TV. She hasn't fallen for it yet. She will just turn her head somehow so that she can see. Like I said, little stinker!

5. Flirting. Riley's a flirt. All weekend long she was flirting. I hear that she likes to flirt at daycare (Hedy's house) also. She is the only girl out of 5 so she gets lots of attention. She likes to look at you and then turn her head and smile. She's our little cutie!

I'm sure there are plenty more, but these are definitely her top five!

Riley's first Santa sighting.

We took Riley to see Santa with her cousins on Tuesday night. She did great. We weren't sure how it was going to go since she had been a little fussy before leaving Grandma and Grandpa Burch's house. She slept up until it was time to see Santa. She was so excited to see him that she spit up all over his suspenders and big belly! Here are some pictures of Riley, Kennedy, Addie and Santa!

Santa pretending to be asleep. I don't think that he realized that Riley was awake. :)

Riley and Santa again.

Santa, Riley, Addie, and Kennedy.

One last funny story:

Brett decided to have Rain Soft come to our our house last night and "test our water" aka try to sell us a water purifier. He told me that we were doing it so that we could get $500 in free groceries and it would only take from 6pm-7pm. So I agreed to go along with it. I have to admit, it was kind of interesting to see the difference in their water and ours. But, the crazy water lady wouldn't leave our house! It was going on 8pm and she kept trying to test our water. Meanwhile we had changed Riley's diaper, answered our phones twice, cooked dinner (she even gave us some of her purified water to use), and had Riley fall asleep in Brett's arms (she did offer to wait for us to put her down...nice water lady). Finally, Brett told her that we had seen enough of her testing and that it was way over the one hour that it was supposed to take. Here's where the story gets even funnier. She still wouldn't leave. After that she showed us two more tests. When we told her that we weren't going to buy anything she stopped to admire Sam, our cat, under the tree - I think to give us a break before trying one last pitch. Then we told her again that we weren't purchasing any of her products. She became angry and said, "Fine, I guess you will just have nasty water." By then, Brett had had enough and was getting angry so he replied "I guess we will, for now" - like that would sting her. If only you could have been there...

Riley's 1st Thanksgiving

Another 1st to check off the list. Riley had her first Thanksgiving last week! Mom and Dad were happy to have a break from work and 4 whole days to spend with Riley. We weren't sure how Riley would do with three Thanksgivings in one day, but she did great. She was able to meet some of her relatives that she hadn't met yet. She was so excited and tired from all the turkey that Mom ate that she took naps at all three dinners. What a good baby!

We put up our Christmas tree this weekend. We didn't have a tree last year because we were trying to sell our house. So, since we moved in to our new house we have had our brand new tree sitting in it's box in our dining room (someday we will be completely unpacked!). Riley sat in her bouncy chair watching us spread out all the limbs for awhile before protesting. Brett and I had fun laughing at all of our ornaments and remembering why we have them. Brett likes to make fun of my miniture wooden ornaments. I love them because they remind me of my grandma Lois. She always had them on her tree. We started a tradition two years ago where we each buy one another an ornament each Christmas so that we will someday have a tree full of memories. I think this will be a tradition that I continue with Riley. We had several additions this year: Our ornament that we bought at Sandals in Jamaica on our honeymoon, a snowflake that says LOVE (from Brett), a (really cool) Christmas Leprechaun (from me), and two Baby's 1st Christmas ornaments for Riley. She'll appreciate the one with her picture in it someday. I remember when I was little I loved the ornament that had my picture in it.

Here is our tree looking down from upstairs: