Dear Weather Man...

Really, the snow can wait!  It's only October 12th, and I want to play outside and have fun on Halloween before the ground is white and the air is freezing.  I plan to be a cat.  I look really cute in my costume!  But, I guess if you really want the snow to fall in October I'll be ready.  My mommy and daddy bought me my very first winter coat and snow pants! I have some room to grow.  But I look cute, don't I?

Love, Riley

EXACTLY, How Tall IS Riley??

I've been having this internal debate on how tall Riley really is since I wrote my last entry.  I keep thinking how can the nurse be off by 5-6 inches for the past couple months?  How could she only have grown 3 inches since she was born at 18 1/2 inches?  I started looking at the tags on 12 months clothes and sure enough 1 year olds should be quite a bit taller than 21 inches!  So, Brett and I broke out the old trusted measuring tape over the weekend and made Riley stand still against the wall (not an easy task with a 1 year old!).  Sure enough she measured 28 inches!  So, Riley IS 28 inches tall, EXACTLY!

Steri Strip

I took Riley to the doctor yesterday afternoon to get her flu shot and we ended up leaving with a steri-strip next to her eye!  It was our worst trip to the doctor's office yet.  She cried bawled and clung to me from the minute we were in the room and she saw the nurse until we were actually leaving.  She had made it through the shot and was dressed and ready to go when she fell.  She was patting the little round stools and turned to walk toward me, lost her balance, and hit her eye, cheek bone, and nose on the edge of the step up to the table. Of course, this started the whole bawling thing all over again.  I felt horrible and her poor little head hurt.  She had a small cut in the crease next to her right eye.  Dr. Fred thought that he should put a steri-strip on it to make sure that it heals properly.  So, I guess at least we were in the right spot for Riley to fall and cut herself, but I felt like a horrible parent.

I also noticed that Riley really hasn't gained any weight in the last two months. She was at 19 lb 10 oz, then 19 lb 8 oz, and yesterday she was at 19 lb 14 oz.  I asked the doc what he thought and he looked at her growth chart and felt that the first weight (from her 1 year appt) was probably off.  He did say to not give her any juice because this can mask her hunger.  Really she only gets like 3 ounces of half juice half water a day - if that.  But, hopefully this will help her gain some weight!  Also, she measured at 21 inches.  I was looking back at some of my older entries to see what her weights were and noticed that I had written that she was 26 and 29 inches.  Seriously, either that was a typo or I was delirious! So, overall, Riley is doing well.  Here are some pictures of her with her steri-strip.

Riley Goes To The Apple Orchard

We thought we would take advantage of the beautiful weather (fearing that it may be one of the last) this past Sunday and take Riley to the Center Grove Apple Orchard.  We heard about this orchard from the Coppola's who went a couple weeks ago.  We also took Riley's cousin, Kennedy, because her sister and mommy were both sick. 

Riley and Kennedy loved all of the activities, especially the corn pool, jumping pillow, and petting zoo.  Unfortunately we weren't able to pick any apples which Kennedy was really looking forward to.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

First we made our way through the corn pool. 

Then we milked cows.

We went through the petting zoo.

Visited the three little pigs.

Jumped on the monster jumping pillow.

Slung apples at the apple sling shot.

Posed as pumpkins.

And let everyone know where the party starts!

Peek-A-Boo

Changing Seasons

Fall is officially here and the Murphy's are loving it!  We have so many leaves in our yard it is rediculous.  The tree in our front yard has been losing leaves since early summer and we've just been mowing and cutting them up as we go along.  I finally made Brett buy a rake so that we can play in the leaves this year.  Plus, I have great childhood memories of filling pumpkin and ghost shaped bags full of leaves each fall.  We will have plenty to fill this year!

I came home from work last night and Brett had raked some into a pile and Riley was picking a leaf out of the pile one by one!  Here is Riley raking and playing in the leaves!

Beep, Beep

Riley has a new favorite toy at Grandma and Grandpa Burch's. She loves climbing in and out of this car. We may have a new toy idea for Christmas! Watch out WDM!