One Big Pinkalicious Party!

Riley has always been a lover of books - so it was no surprise a few months back when she informed us that she wanted to have a Pinkalicious themed birthday party.  I was up for the challenge and I am pretty sure that Riley had the most wonderful, pinktastic, pinkalicious birthday party.

The difference between this party and any other, Riley is at that age where you she wanted to invite friends to her party.  So Riley partied it up with her favorite cousin and five other friends.  We had perfect weather and a great little party.

Riley is already thinking about her theme for next year!!!  Good thing I have 51 more weeks to plan!!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Riley Paige!!

10 months!!

Avery turned 10 months old on Saturday, August 24th.  Wow!  Only 2 more months until she is 1...where did the time go????  This past month has been the busiest for Avery.  Let's see, Avery has left the world of crawling (well, not completely) and opts for walking most places.  Yep - she's a walker now!  She has a total of 4 teeth and started daycare.  She has been eating lots of new foods at daycare and so far no complaints about any of them.  Her new word for the month is "uh-oh."  She still adores her big sister and wants to do everything she does.  

Avery is still my sweet little snuggler and wakes up in the morning with the best smile ever!  Avery isn't the best sleeper - still waking up at least once and sometimes twice a night.  She loves sipping water from her sippy cup and we're hoping that will mean it will be a smooth transition eventually when it's time to give up the bottles.  

Here are pictures of our big 10 month old!!!

5 years old!!!!

Riley's birthday was this past Wednesday.  Jeremy and I cannot believe our first born is 5.  I don't know why, but turning 5 seems to be a bigger deal to me than any other age (besides when she turned 1).  I don't know if it is turning 5 and kindergarten happening within weeks of each other, but I feel proud and sad at the same time.  Proud of the little girl Riley has become and sad because there is nothing about her that makes her a baby.

This year has been a great year with Riley!  She completed Pre-K and did really well there.  She went to summer camp this summer complete with field trips.  Riley had a successful first year of dance and performed so well in her recital.  Riley became a big sister this year and truly adores her little sister and loves teaching her things.  Riley is starting kindergarten in less than 2 weeks and is excited to meet her teacher, Mrs. Merritt.  She is also starting hip hop classes at a new dance studio and is so happy about this!

We are so excited, as we are every year, to see what new and wonderful things Riley will learn about this year.  We love watching our smart, sweet, yet often sassy girl take on new and exciting challenges.  Stay tuned...I have a feeling this year is going to be awesome!!!!!

Learn as you grow

Avery started daycare today!  Initially she was not supposed to start until September, but when the opportunity arose for her to start sooner, we took it.  Of course, we have been more than lucky to have Babcha watching Avery since she was 2 months old, but it was time for some peer socialization.  While Avery did well with Babcha and got to go on many exciting adventures, Jeremy and I felt that having her head into a class with 7 other kids her age just a little earlier couldn't hurt.  

Jeremy was in charge of drop off (and big sister Riley had to go along to make sure Avery was ok).  Drop off when smoother than Jeremy was anticipating.  I made one call to the center in the morning to make sure Avery wasn't on a hunger or sleep strike - and she wasn't!!

Avery had an awesome day with her new friends!  Her teacher Miss Kelly is a perfect match for kids in this age group.  The atmosphere at Learn As You Grow is so family friendly and it feels safe.  So we're hoping that this experience is everything we want it to be for Avery and more!  Here's to hoping Avery has many more awesome days like this!!

Walk this Way!

Well, well, well - a certain little girl wanted to be the overachiever of the family and start taking unassisted steps LONG before her big sister ever did.  At a mere 9.5 month Avery took several of her first steps.  She is super proud of herself (as you will no doubt be able to see in the video) and we are too!

Will Avery be a full fledged walker by her 10th month birthday on 08.24.13??  You be the judge!

(Please note: this video is over 4, but under 5 minutes long - enjoy as much or as little as you'd like)


http://youtu.be/xCFsVouNmm4

One Stitch, Two Stitch

Last Saturday this mommy earned several more gray hairs!  Riley lost her balance on her scooter and fell with her face landing right on the handlebar.  Good grief!  Riley is typically pretty good on the scooter, but told us she wasn't paying attention resulting in the accident.  

Since her face was stopped by the handlebar, she had a slight gash on her eyebrow and pretty rough abrasion below her eye.  She definitely looked like she had gotten into a fight.  The tears and screams were heart breaking, but went away pretty quickly.  That was of course, until we went to immediate care just to make sure that she didn't damage anything else.  The doc at immediate care thought the cut on her eyebrow could use a few stitches.  Riley was not having it, she freaked out all over again and had to be restrained for the procedure.

Thankfully it was over before we knew it.  Tears eventually stopped flowing, and when we got home the only rule was, nothing with wheels until the stitches came out.  Which she willingly followed.

Here is what our "Little Rocky" looked like:

Riley got the stitches out this past Thursday with not a tear shed.  Let's hope that there isn't a third time!!!