dave's 30th birthday!

Riley riding the trike that grandpa terry bought for him
emily, riley's girlfriend

dave blowing out the candles

davids birthday cake

so last saturday, the 21st, my hubby turned 30! so today we had a birthday party for him with some close friends and family. it was very hot, and we dont have air conditioning, but it was a great time with great food. after everyone left it started raining and we had some thunder and lightning which caused me to snuggle up because I hate thunder and lighting. Happy birthday David! 30 looks great on you!

summertime water play!

on friday we had some very hot weather. so I thought what a great time to bring out riley's pool. He was a litte unsure at first, but once he realized it was like his bath tub, only larger... he was splashing and yelling and had a great time!

fathers day!

So Riley and I got up at 7 am this morning ( just like every morning) and let dave sleep in. When he woke up he was greeted with home made muffins and a fathers day card.

then we hung around and relaxed and then took dave out for lunch to the roadhouse mcmenamins for some beer brats and pulled pork sandwiches. it was a beautiful warm day and the kids were playing on the lawn and we got to just hang out and enjoy some great food, drinks and company.

dave is such a great dad and a woonderful husband. Riley and I are very lucky to have him. we love you babe! hope you had a great father's day!

9 months

Riley eating jello and bananas!

what a ham!

so today is Riley's 9 month birthday. I cant believe that in just a few months he will be 1! All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mommy. And I must say it is the best job in the world! It is still surreal at times that he is even here and that he really does belong to my husband and I. Most nights I still find myself watching him sleep curled up in his crib and some nights even hoping that he may wake just so that I can watch him snuggle into my arms and as I rock him. I know, I know its sappy. Its just that the love I have for him is so much more than I ever imagined. And watching dave with him... its indescribable. My wish for my son is that he grows to be a respectable, dependable, honest man... ..who always loves his mommy!

farmers market

I love this time of year! This morning Me and the boys got up and ventured over to the beaverton farmers market. This was Riley's first trip, but something dave and I do every year. It was a beautiful warm morning and we came away with lots of goodies! Some lettuce, spinach, handmade soft caramel, garlic, tomatoes and some basil and strawberries. I am going to give making my own pesto a try. i will let you know how it goes.
So after 3 good nights of sleep, My son has decided that that was good enough. he has started waking again every 1-2 hours. I cant help but think that maybe we may have more teeth trying to come in? i have been watching, but no swelling or signs. it could be too that he is just being stubborn. (i have no idea where he would get that from!). I am very lucky that I havent had to deal with any kind of stranger anxiety yet. he is a very social kid who isnt even close to being shy. he may try and fool you but within minutes he is a big flirt. We went to gymboree class on wednesday, for the first time in 3 weeks because of,him being sick, and he went around and crawled in every moms lap.. no hesitation. some of them he had never even seen before! He is such a silly, easy going boy. I hope he stays this way!

yay its thursday!

I love thursdays! they mean that riley and I get 3 days with david. he works longer hours during the week to have more time with us on the weekends. (not that he really has a choice in the matter) but nonetheless riley and I love thursdays. what I also love is when dave gets home seeing riley's face light up with a big ear to ear smile and just can't crawl fast enough to get to his daddy. (and seeing the smile on dave's face is just as great!).
So as i had written before, the time has come to take back my life and make the time to lose weight and get healthy. so yesterday I was very good about the food choices I made and even went to the gym and did some free weights and cardio. it felt great just knowing that I am making the change and getting active. I am going to our local rec center and using their gym.. its a lot cheaper (i am all about saving money) and its not commercialized so I dont get depressed just walking in and seeing size 2's in their barely nothing gym wear and six pack abs. ( fyi.. I have accepted the fact that my body has changed from having a baby.. i plan on doing it again! I just want to be a healthier me) most of the time its next to empty in the evenings... I am even trying to recruit a couple of friends to join a water aerobics class with me a couple of evenings a week. dave and i , and another couple went to a wedding a few weeks ago.. and my goal is for the dress I wore to be too big for me by august 14th ( thats when I am going to see phantom of the opera) and I would really love to go buy a new dress to wear. I will keep you posted on my progress.

the daily struggle

so here I am blogging while my son screams from his crib because he is trying to convince me that his is not tired. I am trying to get him back on track. we were doing great up until about the last 3 weeks. he started teething, got the stomach flu then a head cold and then we were camping where he refused to sleep altogether. the night before last he woke up every couple of hours. the first time he woke up I went in.. and after abput 20 minutes i told him i loved him and walked out. within 10 minutes he was asleep. so every time after that that he awoke i restrained myself from going in. and within 10 minutes from waking he fussed himself right back to sleep. and then last night.. he slept through the night for the first time in a month! how nice it was to wake up rested! wait whats that i hear?....silence! I hate hearing him cry.. but I have to just keep reminding myself that he needs to learn...and that hes ok.

I am meeting up with some friends of mine this morning for coffee and a local coffee shop near my house called me too where I can check my son into play while I have adult conversations with other moms. Along with that comes the daily battle of what to wear, as I hate getting dressed anymore. the daily battle with my weight and new post baby body just depresses me. I know if i just excersised and on a more regular schedule I could get back into shape.. but it is so hard to get motivated. i need to just do it. so tomorrow is the day. and I am saying this here so I have somewhere to write about the struggle and maybe it will be easier to hold myself accountable if I tell the world. so I will blog about it and keep you posted.

camping trip

crawling around at the park

beautiful oregon beach

all bundled up and headed for the beach! he

fell asleep on the way..so he didnt get to touch the sand

riley camping! and eating sweet potatoes

the inside

this a picture of our yurt.

our camping trip was loads of fun. however, the night time was horrible. the yurts were soo cool. Riley loved it because he got to be outside! which is his favorite thing to to. He hated sleeping in his portable crib. he woke up A lot and it was hard trying to keep him from crying at night and not to wake the other people around us. we left on thursday and were due home on sunday, but decided to come home a night early to regroup before dave goes back to work on monday. I swear when i laid riley down in his own bed there was a huge comforting sigh as his head hit the mattress. On friday we spent the day walking the beach and hanging out around manzanita and the campsite. then on saturday we went into seaside and walked and shopped and then went into cannon beach on the way back to camp. after dinner we packed up and headed home. but overall it was a great trip with great friends and we are looking forward to our next adventure!