For Now

Well, we are saying "goodbye" for now! We are leaving today around noon to drive (14-15 hours so please say a little prayer if you think about us) down to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. We will spend the rest of the week with Edmond's family. Edmond will fly back later in the week to finish things here. He has 4 more fly days left and then he will be DONE! He will take care of everything else. I really feel bad that I won't be here to help him, but I also know how much I stress about these kinds of things and he is one of the most laid back people I know (other than my brother), so maybe it's for the best!

Riley and I will spend the next month to month and a half in Louisiana with my family. We were told last week that Edmond had another school (not a fun one at all) to attend for 2 weeks after the holidays. If that happens, then we won't head to Hawaii until later in January. Either way, we will have lots of family time and are grateful for that. I am very sad about being away from Edmond for a few weeks. I just hate it, but we know this is best for us right now. We didn't want to put Riley through any more traveling than what's necessary. He doesn't love (or even like really) riding in the car. So....this trip should be interesting!

I hope to write some while home, but not sure how much time I will have. I will definitely write before the move and just keep you posted on our whereabouts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Riley sitting in his favorite position....ankles crossed!!!

Happy Birthday From Your Boys!

Karla is usually, well always, the one to do the posts here, but I thought I would do this one. I had to wait until she went to bed so that I could write this post. I wanted to take a moment to tell whoever reads this a few reasons why I love my wife so much.

Since the day we met I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I fell in love with Karla the moment I saw her (even though she says that is impossible). My love for her has only grown since then. Karla is the most selfless person I have ever met. She puts her husband, her son, and the rest of her family and friends before herself. Her love for the Lord amazes me every day and makes me desire a closer walk with him. Her ability as a parent makes me a better parent. Her patience with Riley, and me, seems impossible. I do not know how she does what she does every day.

Karla has shown me courage and confidence as we get closer to our next step in life. When I start wondering how we are going to do it, I just look at her and am reminded that the Lord has every step already figured out. I am so proud to be able to call her my wife. I am so blessed to be able to share in this day with her. I love my wife.

Happy Birthday Karla.

Helicopters Helicopters Everywhere!

When we first found out Riley was going to be a boy, we all ("we" as in me and my mom) went crazy buying airplane clothes and such. We didn't know at the time that Edmond would be flying helicopters, but even when we found out, I still didn't think anything about buying Riley airplane "stuff". Well, at Edmond's winging, one of his fellow student pilots came up to us (Riley was wearing a precious airplane onesie I found at an etsy shop) and said, "Oh, that shirt would be perfect if it was a helicopter!" So...I realized at that point, that I needed to step up my game and be on the look-out for helicopter "stuff"! I really had no idea there would be so much, but here are a few things we have found so far!! In the clothes department, we've mostly just been able to find pajamas, but many days, we stay in our pjs most of the day anyway, so that is ok!!

I'm not sure what he was doing here!

Most of these have been gifts....I can't take any credit!

Here is a short video of Riley doing one of his new favorite things...going through my purse! Please turn the volume very low because I really dislike the sound of my voice!! At the end he waves "bye" and blows a kiss (aka- fingers in mouth then out)!

Sweet Puppy (Halloween Pics)

As I typed the title of this post, it brought me back many years ago when I babysat frequently for this precious family, the Posners! Each child had a soft, cuddly stuffed animal that he/she slept with at night and one of them (I think Aaron???) had "Sweet Puppy" (all of the names started with "sweet"). I thought it was just the "sweetest" thing!!

Anyway...for Halloween, Riley was indeed a "sweet" puppy! That day was full of so much excitement with his birthday party that I really almost forgot about Halloween! This year was fun for us because it was the first year we've ever had trick-or-treaters! There were some darling costumes including a little flapper girl from down the street! I think Riley has a crush on her.

We only took Riley to one house because he was pretty tired and it was already dark outside by the time we got him dressed and ready to go. We went to our across-the-street neighbor's...the Bower's. They are the most precious family!!! We just love them dearly and are so blessed to have met them while here in NC. They have a few dogs of their own and Riley just LOVES them so as soon as we got there, they brought out the dogs for him to see. He just laughed and let them lick all over him!

Hope you enjoy the pics of our little puppy!

Riley's not real sure what to think of all the commotion.

We weren't sure if we'd be able to get the puppy hat on him!

And it's on!!!

Playing with the dogs!

Our Number One Man Turns One!

Today is Riley's first birthday! I really can't believe it. I have been thinking constantly the last few days about everything I/we were doing the few days leading up to and of course the day of his birth. I have to tell you something so fun to me....during the labor/delivery last year, we were excitedly watching the Georgia/Florida game (remember my husband and his family are HUGE Georgia fans) and yesterday during his party what were we watching....the Georgia/Florida game! It is just so crazy that it has already been a year since he made his arrival into our family! And we haven't been the same since!!

Riley- November 1st, 2008

Riley- November 1st, 2009

Here are some things my precious little boy is doing at 1 year old:

- takes 5-6 steps at a time

- has only 2 1/2 teeth

- claps his hands when he does anything...especially when we start saying "yay"

- waves "hi" and "bye"

- "talks" on our cell phones (of course not when anyone is actually on the other end talking to him)

- attempts to use the comb to comb his hair

- gives big open-mouth kisses

- is starting to get a little attached to mommy (makes me smile except in the middle of the night when he only wants me!!)

- says "dada" ALOT and every now and then "mama"

- imitates "woof" for the dog and sometimes "roar" for the tiger

- is terrified of the vacuum cleaner, mixer, or anything else that makes a loud noise (except the hair dryer...he loves to sit and watch me dry my hair)

- is starting to take only one nap a day

- sleeps through the night occasionally (he's just been feeling under the weather lately with cold, teething, and stomach stuff so hopefully we will get all of this under control soon)

- laughs all the time

- LOVES people (especially children and older adults), balloons, anything with a handle, remote controls, cell phones, naked time, glasses, food, Mickey Mouse, taking a bath, playing with things in the refrigerator and dishwasher, and doing anything outside!

We had a great time at his party yesterday! Thank you to our friends and family who were able to come and celebrate with us! He LOVED eating his cake. I finally had to take it away because I think he would have kept eating until it was gone! Here are a few pictures from the day! I am also posting a video of him walking because his Gaga and Aunt Amy requested it! Cristy....I saw yours of Joe and I PROMISE I am not trying to compete!!! ha!! I am so proud of little Joe for walking so early!!

some of the decorations I put together

Riley's shirt (that he wore some of the time) matched the decorations

Riley and Mommy opening gifts

blowing out the candle (not sure that Riley knew what to do...he just kept trying to grab it)

woo hoo...his favorite part of the day!

Oh how we love this little boy!!! He has definitely stolen our hearts!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Riley!

Mike's Farm

This weekend we took Riley to Mike's Farm. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was quite the popular place! So popular that it took awhile for us to find a parking spot! We went planning to go on a hayride with Riley, but the line was so long and there was so much more to do, that we decided to nix that idea. Riley loved seeing/feeding the animals and of course seeing all of the children. He LOVES people. I wish I could pay kids to walk around with us while shopping so that he would be so happy. Anyway, I was able to take some fun pictures and it was a nice day to be outside with him.

Got some cute pictures...maybe I can use some for our Christmas card.

Riley sitting on the tractor. He thought he was such a big boy!

Riley's Escape

Riley has learned how to escape from his "play area". We have been using his toy basket and walker to contain him in our living room. A while back he learned that he could crawl under the walker to get out. So, I started covering the walker with a big blanket. This past weekend he learned how to slide through the oh-so-small opening between the walker and basket. I was able to catch it on film!! Please ignore our voices in the background, the messy room and the very loud TV! I had no idea it was that loud.

And Fall is Here...Sort of!

Well, here in North Carolina it sure looks like Fall has arrived! There are pumpkin patches on the street corners, halloween decorations in yards, and lots of Fall treats in the stores. But....we are lacking in the department of Fall weather. It has been cool-er, but not at all what I thought Fall in North Carolina would feel like. One day it's hot as can be and then the next you could wear a light sweater. Hopefully in the next few weeks it will really start to kick in!!

This week I tried to take advantage of this new season and took some pictures of him outside around some leaves (trying to get a good Christmas card picture, but no great ones so far). Then today we took him to a Pumpkin Patch. I have actually NEVER been to one so this was lots of fun!

They let us borrow a wagon to haul our pumpkins in. Riley thought that riding in the wagon was so much fun. We may have to get him one for his birthday (coming up in just a few weeks....I can't believe it)!

Edmond was paying for the pumpkins over to Riley's right and as you can see, Riley is all about his daddy when he is near.

We tried sitting Riley on top of some pumpkins. It worked for awhile, but then he slipped through. His first reaction was caught on camera here.

And this was his reaction a few seconds later!! Guess he didn't like it!

My most favorite picture from the day!!!

I was trying to get a good Christmas card picture, but Riley was more interested in playing with and eating the leaves!

This was probably the best one, but I don't like how he is halfway in the shade. Any tips on taking pictures outside???

Birthday Fun!

We have had lots of birthday fun since we last posted. Riley turned 11 months old and 2 of our nieces celebrated birthdays on October 3rd. Since I was just home visiting, I wasn't going to be able to go back for Karleigh's party. So...we had a little family party while I was there. She seemed to enjoy it. This first picture is of Karleigh and my friend Julie's nephew, Crockett, when they were both about a year old. I found it the other day and it just brought back so many memories. Julie and I both (I think I can speak for her) thoroughly enjoyed being aunts and were able to do so for several years before we had children of our own. We thought it was fun that they were close in ages and decided these two needed to meet. This year they each turned 7 years old...just crazy!

Karleigh and Crockett

Fontenot kids and Riley enjoying birthday celebration

Karleigh blowing out her candles

On October 1st, Riley turned 11 months old. He absolutely loves balloons so I bought him one for his 11 month birthday. Poor thing fell earlier in the day and scratched his mouth. He's a tough boy though!

This past weekend we drove to GA for our niece India's birthday party. She turned 2. We decided to take advantage of the fact that we are only 6 hours from them right now. We had a lot of fun with family and Riley really enjoyed time with his cousins. We also made a trip to north GA for Edmond's 10 year high school reunion. Yes, he is quite a bit younger than me...he reminds me of this regularly!! We had a great time, but completely forgot to take pictures. Edmond's friend, Mike, took a few and is going to send them. I may post them later.

India blowing out her candles

India and Gaga (Edmond's dad)

Edmond, Riley and Aunt Cay Cay

Riley enjoying the blow toy

Riley laughing hysterically at his Daddy!

Visit to LSU

While we were in LA, we made 2 trips down to BR. These pics are from the 2nd of the 2. We drove down to meet one of my best friends (Julie), her little boy (Aiden), her sister (Valarie), and Edmond's dad. We had a great time eating at Ninfa's and visiting LSU's campus. Last Christmas, our wonderful friend Elizabeth gave both Aiden and Riley these precious LSU jerseys. We decided it would be fun to get a few pics of them in the jerseys together. Of course photographing 2 little boys was quite interesting. These are just 3 of the many pictures we took. I was also so proud of Mr. Edmond to come to LSU's campus and not wear Georgia colors. We would have still claimed him if he had, but he decided to go with a neutral orange.

Riley showing off his new trick...waving!!

I'm not sure if Riley is squinting from the sun or trying to smile!! How precious is Aiden!

I love this one because it looks like they are playing football. I can't wait until they are a little older and can really play!

Exploring the House

We are still in LA (for a few more days), but I realized I could use my mom's pictures in the blog. I thought these were too funny. He is discovering all kinds of places these days. This stand-up shower is one of my niece/nephew's most favorite hiding places. Well, I think it will soon be one of Riley's favorites as well. He had a blast crawling in and standing up, but then needed me to help get him out (he is a little scaredy-cat sometimes)! Sorry the pictures are loaded backwards...I couldn't move them around.

Truth

Hi! I am visiting family in LA so won't be doing a "real" post for awhile, but I really want you to go and read this http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/09/honey-strawberries-and-truth.html post by MckMama when you get a chance. This is baby Stellan's mom (I've talked about him and his health before). She is such a great example of letting the Lord use her through her blog!!

First Family Vacation

Over Labor Day, we took our first family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was only a 2 night vacation, but I think that was the perfect length of time with a 10 month old. To get even more excited about the trip, I decided to watch the movie "SHAG" the week before. It's one of my all time favorite movies! I couldn't wait to see some of the landmarks from the movie (like the SHAG pavillion where they have the contest). I am very sad to report that we didn't find it. Honestly, Myrtle Beach looked nothing like it did in the movie. So sad! We still had a great time. We took Riley to the aquarium and did lots of shopping at the outlet mall. I think Riley's favorite part of the trip was looking out of the full length window in our hotel room. Go figure!! Here are a few pictures from the trip!


This is what our shopping time did to my son!! At least Daddy was there to snuggle with him while I spent some money!



This is Riley's new smile when we get out the camera. It is just too funny! We actually had to use the stroller to get him to sleep at night. Good thing we had it with us in the room.