Big Weekend and a Big Announcement

This is a little late so forgive us, but trust me when I say we've had a lot going on! First off, the big news... This December, Baby #2 will be making his/her debut! That's right, Riley is going to be a big sister and we couldn't be more excited. The due date is December 22nd (what a Christmas gift!) but since I'll be having another c-section the actual birth date will probably fall somewhere around the 15th. So currently I am 12.5 weeks pregnant and feeling good. Exhausted, but good. People were telling the truth when they warned me how tough being pregnant is while chasing around a busy toddler! And I know it'll just get tougher as my belly grows and grows, but I'm looking forward to it. With this big news, comes lots to do around the house (um...lots for Mark to do around the house...) like painting, switching rooms around, moving furniture, putting together new furniture. Lots to do, and a very exciting time for our family

In other recent news, we made our annual trip over Memorial Day weekend to visit Nana and Granddaddy. The most exciting part was it was our first meeting of baby Maddie!!! She's absolutely precious and Riley loved her. A little too much sometimes, but she meant well :)


Riley had a blast at Nana and Grandaddy's as always. She got to swim with Daddy, kick her legs in the water with Nana, go for walks to look at the sheep, watch Grandaddy work in the yard, and relentlessly go up and down the stairs.




A couple of weeks ago Riley had her 18 month well-check. 18 months...where does the time go? She weighed in at 27lbs and 34 1/4 in. tall. She is still big for her age, the same size as most 2yr. olds! The doctor said she looked great and was most impressed with Riley's verbal abilities. This girl can talk. We've counted a minimum of 75 single words, and this number grows daily. She's even using phrases like "Open it", "I see you", "I want it", "Don't want it", and "more Gabba". She never ceases to amaze us, and we know she'll make an awesome big sister!

Easter and a visit from Nana and Papa...

This is the fashionably late Easter post. Though this was Riley's second Easter, it was obviously the first one she was aware of. It was also the first time she had seen Nana and Papa since last July. Normally that would not be the case with such a long stretch between visits, but due to some unexpected circumstances which are almost completely behind us, that was unfortunately the case.

The visit started off much better than the last visit where the tears were flowing quickly since she was not familiar with them. This time that did not happen, thanks in part to her warming up a little more easily now, and also thanks in no small part to her Foofa doll from Nana. That definitely broke the ice and brought out a slight smile to start things off. Another sure-fire way for them to cozy up to her was watching Yo Gabba Gabba with her...often. She also picked up one new word that was certainly music to at least one set of ears: "Papa".

We had a rather stressful, but still fun, dinner out to Texas Roadhouse, whose rolls Riley absolutely loves. In fact we could probably put her on an all-Texas-Roadhouse-rolls diet and she'd be A-OK with that (come to think of it, I think I would be too if that were my diet). The stressfulness was not due to her fussing or screaming, but rather we were up against the clock with her bedtime routine, and she was just so wound up with wanting to stand up to see the people behind us, and just enjoying herself. Hard to blame a girl for enjoying a night out. :) On our way out, she promptly said "bye bye!" to any and everyone in her sight.


We also took a quick trip over to the big-cat sanctuary located nearby. Not a big hit. Almost all of the tigers and lions were asleep, and the one lion who roared loudly seemed to stop just before we could ever get over to him. However she did say "hi kitty!" when the lion looked directly at the two of us once (always a nice feeling to be stared down by a lion). What most interested her though was not the lions or tigers or cougars...but a dog, of course. After the big cats she ran around for a bit with the other kids, and as usual tried to make a new friend.


Easter itself went over great. Though a little cloudy and misting rain for a bit, it was still a nice day. She loved picking up all of the eggs and putting them in her basket that Mommy was holding for her. Later she realized there were Reese's Pieces in the eggs and proceeded to have each egg opened for her so that she could enjoy the chocolate and peanut butter goodness. She also had fun blowing bubbles with Mommy and Papa.


Unfortunately the next day she spiked a 104 degree temperature out of the blue, so we had to take a trip to the acute care clinic for kids to get her checked. After checking everything, including a very uncomfortable (and in hindsight very unnecessary) UTI test, we left the office with a lower temperature and no real cause of the problem. The next day brought a trip to her doctor just to be on the safe side since she was practically inconsolable for hours, but again he could find nothing wrong. So it was a mystery illness which went away as quickly as it came.

After a great week and Easter weekend we said goodbye to Nana and Papa until their next visit hopefully this summer. After leaving to take them to the airport, I received a call from Melissa to say that after we left Riley went to the door to say "Bye dada...Bye Nana...Bye Papa". :) Next up: Memorial Day with Nana and Granddaddy, where Riley will get to meet her new little cousin and our niece, Madelaine, the recent addition to Uncle Greg and Aunt Jenny's household.

Spring time!

Melissa here. I'm taking over the blog tonight to deliver what everyone really wants...tons and tons of pictures! There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately. Riley continues to grow, learn, and amaze us every day. She makes me laugh every day, and makes me see things in a whole new way. She adds new words to her vocabulary pretty consistently now. Some of her new words: Foofa (a character from Yo Gabba Gabba), noodle, strawberry, okay, up, Lily, leaf, yeah (she says this for outside...we're not quite sure why), and she's combined a few words like "Bye momma" and "more noodle". The word bottle used to be "baba" for her, but now it's turned into "bobble". She also can point to her belly, hands, feet, eyes, mouth, nose, and ears when asked. She loves her baby dolls, especially the one given to her by Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg. She carries her up close to her shoulder, pats her back, gives her kisses, and tries to feed her and give her a bottle. She is also turning into quite the girly-girl. She likes to dress up, put necklaces and bracelets on, put things around her neck, put on hats, etc. It's so fun watching her grow from a baby to a little girl.

So enough bragging and onto the pictures. The weather has been gorgeous here, so we've been spending a lot of time outside. Just like her Daddy, Riley LOVES being outside. She'd stay outside all day long if given the choice. She runs and squeals, chasing all the animals. She loves to tease the dogs with their ball. She also picks weeds and brings them to me saying "fwower!".

We've also made a couple of trips to the Dallas Arboretum. Riley's not too fond of sitting in the stroller while we wander around looking at flowers (who can blame her?). But luckily we've found one particular field that seems to be the baby/toddler playground. Riley is in heaven here, seriously. She loves it! She can run around, visit the other little ones, she just has a blast.



Each time we go she makes a new little friend. This little girl was 21mos. old and knocked Riley down with a big ol' hug.

This little girl was 17mos. old and she & Riley quickly became best friends. They chased each other around, shared snacks, and before long were trading kisses.

We're looking forward to what I'm sure will be an eventful spring. Several visits with family are coming up soon, and a new addition to the Brown family is expected to arrive in just a few short weeks!!! Lots of exciting things to come.

Love to all!