Faces of Juliet

HAPPY

BEING SILLY

LAUGHING

WATCHING TV

Great Wolf Lodge

For Riley's eighth birthday and Victoria's fourth birthday, we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. We do this in lieu of having a "kid" party. I don't do those. I do alot of things as a mom, except those. Just not interested in the hassle and expense. The kids don't seem to mind. But that is probably because we do things like the Great Wolf Lodge instead!

We had planned on going with another family, but their little one got the flu (major bummer). But we still had a blast! Carey and I decided that having the other family there was more for our benefit than the kids. We pretty much didn't see Riley most of the time. He was tall enough and brave enough to ride everything, so that is what he did for like 8 hours. Victoria liked just playing in the water or being in the lazy river. And Juliet spent most of the time rolling around on a towel on the ground or chllin' in the stroller. I did play with her in the water for a bit. She just splashed around and watched everyone else play.

We went in mid-February and it was freezing outside. Literally. We had a very cold winter. So this was a nice getaway. Always a blast at the Great Wolf. Pretty sure this will be an annual thing for us. Be super fun for Juliet next year!

In our hotel room. It was like a bear cave with bunk beds and a TV. Very cool.

Swimming with Daddy.

Ready for bed after swimming the first night.

Ready for more swimming fun!

This is where she spent most of the day.

At age eight Riley is ...

Our first born is eight. Wow. Eight. That is like halfway to 16. Wow. I love it though. I don't wish him younger. I love watching him grow into a young man but be so silly like the little boy he still is.

At age eight Riley is like me (his mom) in that he is very coordinated, tends to get somewhat distracted with other things, is a people-pleaser, a good student, loves to talk, has freckles, and is a performer.

At age eight Riley is like his dad in that he is absent-minded (has lost THREE hoodies at school this year), tender-hearted, seeks fairness, very smart (a little too smart in that he knows how many problems he can miss on his homework and still get a B), tall, a friend to many, and loves to make people laugh.

At age eight Riley plays basketball. This is his first time to play any organized sport and he loves it. He has such a good time with the boys. He is learning to be more aggressive and has learned quite a bit about the game. One of the other parents nicknamed him "Happy Feet." He is always moving those feet ... trying his best to hustle. We were so excited during that 6th game when he FINALLY made a basket. Carey and I just about came bolted out of our seats with excitement. I will never forget that. It was kinda funny towards the end of the season. When the other team would get the ball, Riley would run down court and just plant himself under the basket. Forget about guarding his man, he was ready for that rebound. Love it!

At age eight Riley is in scouts. He loves scouts. This is something that he and Carey can do together. He enjoys Thursday nights with his scout buddies. They are a great group of boys.

At age eight Riley is in AWANA at church. He doesn't love AWANA, but we are starting to see the fruit of this program. AWANA focuses on memorizing Bible scripture. He has memorized probably a hundred verses since he started at age 3 and the books of the Old Testament, but retaining is another thing. So we have started asking the kids to share a verse of scripture each evening before we eat dinner. Whoever says the blessing must also say a verse of scripture. Kinda cool.

At age eight Riley is in Children's Choir at church. Again, he doesn't just love choir, but he gets to see his friends and sing. He loves to sing, even though he probably wouldn't admit that. He does love to stay after choir and play in the game room up at church while Carey and I go to worship choir. I guess the game room is the bees knees.

At age eight Riley gets in trouble at school for talking out of turn, playing when he isn't supposed too, singing in class, making little noises, shouting out the answers and so forth. He knows that this is not acceptable behavior, but we tend to not get all bent out of shape about it too much. He is eight. He is a boy. He loves to make people laugh. He has a good time no matter what he is doing. And sometimes there are consequences for that. But sometimes, it might be worth it to him. I love that.

Case and point: This year he had his head on his desk (obviously bored) and once the teacher was finished giving her instruction for what the kids were supposed to do, he replied "blah, blah, blah." I was so very angry when he told me this. To be disrespectful like that to his teacher. Then I just cracked up when I shared it with Carey, and my parents and anyone else. We all think it. We all want to say it. And he did. Yes, there were consequences for that (I think I had him write a letter of apology to his teacher and some other things).

At age eight Riley is growing in his relationship with God. When he prays, he asks God to help him have better days at school. I love that he already recognizes that he needs God's help with those things he has a hard time with.

At age eight Riley is a GREAT big brother. He loves his sisters, even though Victoria tends to get on his nerves. He is so good with Juliet. She just recently started belly laughing and it is always at Riley. It is just the cutest thing. It is such a compliment to Riley when people laugh at him when he is trying to be funny. He just glows in delight.

At age eight Riley loves Legos, video games, riding his bike, going out to eat, spending time with Pops and Gigi, a Dr Pepper with cherry and vanilla, waffles, staying up late to read, watching movies, camping, steak, wrestling with his Dad (and it is Dad now, not Daddy), telling stories, being silly, chocolate ice cream, pizza (but not the crust), and any clothing that has anything to do with video games or star wars. He also loves his family, his church, his school (even though it is boring) and just about anything he does. I love that.

Birthday breakfast of donuts.

Came home from school to presents. Very excited.

Mmmmm ... chocolate cake. He couldn't decide on the icing, so we did both.

Carey lighting the candles with his new blow torch.

Christmas with Three ...

... is so much fun!! We had a blast this Christmas, Juliet's first Christmas and our first Christmas with our completed family ... the five of us! So great! I do believe that Carey and I were more excited about Christmas this year than the kids ... it is just so much fun being a parent at Christmastime!

Making cookies at Pops and Gigis ... always a good time at their house!

Tuba Christmas at the Water Gardens in Fort Worth. It was cold.

Making ginger-bread houses (which is alot harder than it looks).

Christmas Eve - Riley reading the Christmas Story (for the first time).

The girls listening to Riley read and eating Chinese Food ... yummm!

Ready to open the first gift on Christmas Eve - new PJs!

In our new PJs and ready to open one more present on Christmas Eve.

I love this picture!

Then it was off to bed and time to work. Carey and I spent the next 4 hours assembling, setting up, and trying out. We had to make sure that the Rock Band worked on Wii. Not sure we had to play that many songs, but it was just so much fun!!

Christmas morning.

Riley opening his Nintendo DS. Very excited!

Victoria opening her Buzz Lightyear. Very excited!

So we find ourselves getting smarter over the years ... what you buy for one, you buy for the other!

And then we finally let the kids have a turn at Rock Band.

And it was such a special treat this year to have the computer setup so that Grandma and Grandpa could watch it all on Christmas morning. It was a blast!

We had such a great time the week after Christmas spending time with family, old friends and new friends. And then there was the sleeping in till 9:00 or 10:00, playing rock band for hours on end, putting together the many Lego sets, and eating and eating and eating ....

Halloween 2010

Riley was Captain Rex, Clone Trooper. Victoria was Buzz Lightyear. We tried to talk her into being something "girly," but she insisted on being Buzz. When we suggested a princess or Jessie from Toy Story or Minnie Mouse, she replied "I know what I want to be! A hot dog!" So we settled for Buzz Lightyear. She was pretty cute! And Juliet was ... a baby in a onesie that read "My First Halloween" (thank you Grandma!!). Mommy didn't want to buy her a Halloween costume. And fortunately, Juliet was totally ok with that. :)

Ready to go to the Fall Festival at church!

The Haul! It was absolutely ridiculous how much candy the kids got! Carey sorted it last night and now we (me and Carey) have our own stash with all the chocolate. They will never miss it!

Juliet Update

Wow ... three is SO much more than two! More laundry, more time, more energy, and so much more fun!


Juliet is now 2 and a half months old. She is just a delight! She smiles at just about anyone. Loves to be held. Absolutely LOVES her big brother and sister. She coos and gurgles and makes all sort of funny little noises. She spends most of her day sleeping in her crib (YAY!!) and in my arms. She is just as happy as a clam being wagged around the house, so I comply. I have managed to fold laundry, clean the kitchen, make the beds and perform other household tasks all one-handed. She is starting to play on the floor some, but gets really upset if everyone scatters. She likes to have everyone around her.

First Sunday at church!

Sisters!

Tummy time.

She is a great eater! And she is a great sleeper! I moved her to her crib a couple of weeks ago. It was a rough few days, but she finally caved. We wrap her up like a little baby burrito and she goes right to sleep. No schedule as of yet. She wakes up at 7:30 just because that is when we leave the house to take Riley to school. The mornings we don't, she sleeps until 9:00!! She is still waking up one or two times a night to eat, but she is usually awake for only about 20 minutes. Very doable! I am lucky if she takes a long nap during the day. She usually just naps for 30 to 45 minutes about 5 or 6 times during the day. She is still young, so I am sure she will start to nap longer soon. But it is hard, since we are go, go, go. Taking Riley and Victoria to and from school, trips to Walmart, cleaners, bank, Braums and of course Sonic! She will sleep in the car, but only if it is moving. So Victoria and I spend a fair amount of time listening to her cry in the pick-up line at school as we wait for Riley to come out. But she is as quiet as a mouse once he is in the car. Weird.

Asleep in Mommy's arms. Juliet spends alot of time here!

She is growing growing. She fills out her 3 months clothes and is starting to get all rolly-polly. She was average at her last check-up. Both Riley and Victoria started growing above average at about 4 months, so we will see then.


People tell us that she favors all four of us. I can't tell. If we lined up all three of them at this age, I could probably only tell them apart because Riley was as balled as a cue ball, Victoria had eyes the size of saucers and then Juliet. They do all look alike in baby pictures. So cute!

First Days of School

Riley's first day of second grade wasn't quite as monumental as past first days. First off, I slept through the morning, so I didn't get to see him before he left. Pretty sure it was much needed sleep considering that Juliet was only 11 days old, but nonetheless, hate that I missed that. And since I still wasn't ok to drive with all the pain medication I was on, Carey took him that morning. Carey dropped him off at school and he walked in all by himself. The line to check in at the office was just too long, and well Carey is big into independence (which is great because I am not) and not so big into waiting in lines. He thought he would be just fine going in alone. Riley confirmed this when Carey asked him one time too many "are you sure?" and his response was "I said yes Daddy!"


So, we posed for the first day picture when we went to pick up Riley that afternoon. He didn't have the best of first days in his class. Let's just say that he is now very familiar with the rule that you do not talk during lesson time. But, three weeks into it and he likes his class and his teacher and I haven't heard him complain once about school (except for when it is homework time, but nobody likes that ... including me).

Victoria's first day of preschool went fantastic! She goes to the Wee School up at our church two days a week. She is alot like her brother in that I can't get a word out of her as far as what she does at school or how her day went. **sigh**


Juliet and I celebrated our first day together just the two of us with some laundry and a nap ... it was great!!