Remodel Pics...FINALLY

Okay, so even though this has been done for a while, I've been way slow on getting pics posted. It was a lot of work but so worth it!!

Ugly Kitchen Before:

Pretty Kitchen After:

Before

AfterBefore
After
Before
After

Its The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Riley went with his cousins to the "U Pick It" Farm to gather pumpkins. He rode the train and picked out his very own pumpkin (which is sitting on our porch now and he has to go give it a hug each morning before we leave the house). This morning I asked him where he wanted to go and he said "Punkin Patch!!" He's such a cutie!

Busy Bees

Sorry...no pics on the work in the kitchen yet. The new floors, paint, and cabinets are all done but we still have about a week before the countertops will be installed. I'm not going to post any pictures until everything is done....but its going to be a makeover reveal worthy of HGTV! I LOVE LOVE LOVE what we have so far. This time of year usually slows down at work so we planned the kitchen remodel accordingly, but we've ended up having some of the busiest weeks of the year and its been some long days between the office and the house.
Maybe its just cause he's "at that age", but it seems all my stories about Riley these days revolve around him being in time-out. hmmm. Yesterday he had to sit in time-out for something (now I don't even remember what it was for). He knows the drill...you have to sit quietly for 2 minutes, then you have to say you're sorry for whatever you did wrong, and lastly give mommy kisses and hugs. Well he now tries to skip the 2 minutes and almost immediately starts into the apologies. So he was sitting there and looking at me with those big blue eyes and he says "I sorry Mommy, I mean it, I sorry!" He's just starting to really put sentences together and the way he said it made me laugh out loud. He's growing up way to fast!

Nail Polish Woes

Just this morning I was thinking about how grateful I was that the past months have been pretty "toddler disaster mess" free. I guess I jinxed myself, because not one hour later I was cleaning out my office and I got a whiff of nail polish. I ran to the living room to find Riley happily watching sesame street while painting himself all over with my nail polish. Benson's recliner is COVERED in it but he miraculously missed the carpet. I'm pretty sure his clothes are done for. This was him sitting in time out. I said in my stern discipline voice "you sit there in time out for 2 minutes!!...oh, and let me take your picture"

Riley's 2nd Birthday Party

Riley's Birthday - Rigby Lake

During the day, we took a break from all the craziness and went to the lake for some fun.

Family Rodeo '09

Lagoon Day

We spent Saturday at Lagoon. The morning was perfect and Riley had a blast playing in Kiddie Land. I was a little worried about how he would feel about the rides (anyone remember the picture from the carousel last fall?) Anyway, he LOVED the rides and couldn't get enough. The hardest part was getting him to look at the camera.

It rained all afternoon. We were soaked and ready to call it quits so we took a break and went to Layton for dinner. The weather cleared a bit and we decided to try to hit a few more rides before the next storm. It ended up being a beautiful night and NO ONE was left in the park. We pretty much walked right onto the rides without any wait. In 2 hours we went on Wicked 4 times, Spider twice, Tidal Wave twice, the swing ride, the Rocket three times, and the Samurai once. (Anyone who has been to Lagoon on a Saturday knows that would be normally be impossible) I had such a headache from all the rollercoasters, but it was so fun!Yeah, that's me--screaming like a little girl.

Riley Reflections

Two posts in one day! Its either feast or famine around here. Anyway, as we're approaching his 2nd birthday, I thought I'd record some of the milestones Riley has reached in the past few weeks. After watching him pitch head first out of his crib one day, it was time to move to the "big boy bed". We put it in his room for about a week just so he could get used to it, and then one night prepared ourselves for the pending disaster. We went through our whole routine of pajamas, reading a book, saying prayers and then told him to crawl into bed. He got right up there, dropped his head on the pillow, cuddled up to Elmo and Cookie Monster, and didn't move. We shut the door and listened....not a peep. We checked on him later and he was in the exact same place we had left him. Its been almost a month now and he's been an angel! Not even one bad night. I would have never thought such a major transition like that could have gone so smoothly! Next up...POTTY TRAINING!
So Riley's new parlor trick is showing off how he can count to ten by himself. He always skips five for some reason, but gets progressively more excited at 6,7,8,9, and 10. I'm going to try to get it on video, but he always gets camera shy when I get it out.
Has anyone noticed that our child is ALWAYS wearing a hat? I thinks its because this winter I wouldn't let him play outside unless he had his hat on. Now, when its time to leave to house, he starts asking for it, and drama will ensue if he doesn't get it. I guess the advantages are that he doesn't sunburn his little head, and you can't see my messy haircut job (getting a 2 year old to sit still for a haircut is a mission impossible)

So our little one is growing up so fast and I am so grateful for the sweetheart that he is!

Fun at the Zoo

Last Saturday we were out strolling through the Farmer's Market and decided on a whim to go to the zoo. Riley was in sensory overload from the start. He would get so excited at every new exhibit. The little birds were just as exciting to him as the big tigers and lions. He's so much fun at this age!

Yes, I'm still blogging....

Memorial Day Weekend Highlights

Grammie treated all the grandkids to a birthday party at Build-A-Bear. Riley loved it for the first 2o minutes or so, but after an hour he was in meltdown mode...as you can see above.

We spent 4 days in McCall, Idaho at Benson's parent's condo. We went hiking, swimming, and just had an overall great time.
Grandma Jo likes to call him "Riley the Explorer" and being out in the wilderness really got him excited.

We couldn't keep Riley out of the water. He's quite the little swimmer and always wants to wade or splash whenever he gets the chance.

IN OLDER NEWS....

We've been crazy busy lately trying to get our new party supplies store open and running. Its been an adventure and a TON of work, but I'm really happy with how its turning out.

A FEW PICS FROM THE WEDDING...

This was the gym after we were done decorating for Amy's wedding. It turned out great and I've booked a few other weddings inspired by this picture so it was more than worth all the work!! :)

Just a pretty pic of Amy the bride!

Amy's Wedding Bouquet

This is a pic of a bouquet Amy really likes for her wedding. Any comments?

Bowling Night

We went to Rigby Bowl for mutual on Tuesday night. That place is old school! We had to keep score with pencil and paper and there weren't any little lights that lit up to tell you which pins you knocked down. We've become so lazy in our modern bowling culture! It was a blast and the girls did really well.

Mister Mischevious

Another cheesy camera smile...and check out that hat!
Riley is my guitar hero!

Does he seem pretty proud of himself? Well he found a Sharpie marker in my bag and had a blast coloring on himself. When that got boring...

He turned his attention to my kitchen floor. This is just a small section of the overall damage. You can see the square in the middle where he sat and proceeded to spin in a circle, not missing a single square. Thankfully it came up with a magic eraser (those things are amazing!!) I'm so glad that my new hardwood floor is still sitting uninstalled in my living room and this old vinyl was his only victim!!