Bows!

I'm so excited about all the new bows we made this week for the show on Saturday! I wish I could keep them all for Riley Jane. They look so cute in her pony tail! Her hair is getting so long and pretty. :) Here's the one I made for her to wear to the 4th of July parade in Shiner. Check out the rest of them at http://smileyjane.blogspot.com/.

I told you so...

I told you I was going to clean out my closet this summer and get crafty. Well, the crafty part is happening but the closet cleaning...well, not so much. You can see all the crafty things I've been making this week at http://smileyjane.blogspot.com.

BFFs Reunite

Is this seriously my daughter? Sometimes I look at her and I'm like-what happened to months 2- 20? This was first thing this morning after "Freeech Toast!" she noticed her buddy Cache (Casey and Hilary's puppy) playing in the back yard. Then back to the crib to retrieve "Vicki" her baby doll. Riley Jane discovered her in a toy box upstairs this week and they have been making up for lost time.

BBFs with Mason in the background. You can see Cache sitting under the table on the deck.

So cute.

My new favorite picture. Riley Jane in the softest little rainbow nightgown ever.

Ok this is Riley Jane at Sonic informing me that we left Vicki at home. Very serious (in her shades) and worried.

Baby Billy's Bedding

Here's the bedding I ordered for Baby Billy. It was one of the very first sets I found when we were still trying to decide if we would find out what we were having. I thought long and hard about doing the custom bedding. I was just so scared I would spend all that money and then not like how it turned out. I think this set will be perfect for our cowboy theme. Then, if we decide to change it a few years from now we can. It's been so fun doing all of this again! This set has a lot of brown in the plaid and I love the slate/green color in the crib skirt. I can't wait to get it in...it should be any day now. Now we just need to decide for sure if Riley Jane is staying downstairs or moving upstairs. Two cribs. Two babies. This is crazy.

Our Recipe Blog

My cooking fanatic sister-in-law, Emily, and I have created a recipe blog! The first post went up tonight! It's Italian Chicken- easy, fast, and delish! I hope you'll try it. You can find the blog on my blogroll or at this address http://emandbec.blogspot.com/.

Favorite Chair

This is how I know this is her favorite chair... Every morning after breakfast when we retire to her room to play and read books, I sit in her rocker and drink my coffee while she scoots this $4 Princess chair into the same spot, sits down, and tries to cross her legs like I do. When I blow dry my hair, she brings it into the bathroom and sits down while she watches me. While I make dinner, she brings in the chair to sit and talk to me while I cook. Then, when it's getting closer for Daddy to come home- hence this first picture- she scoots it over toward the door, ready at any minute for his arrival. As for the glasses, I'm wearing them at the moment and finding it hard to type. I thought I knew the keys. Oh, she took them back and it half way across the house. That's why we call her 'The Bandit.' Check out the video of her dancing in her mismatch pajamas and purple princess sunglasses. Try to ignore the nerdy mom talking in the background and turn down the volume on your computer. :)

Boffee

I love summer. I wish it could be this way all year long. Riley Jane and I have really been enjoying our time together. Although the days fly by, it's been a real pleasure cooking meals and doing laundry. It's just so nice to be home with her and not exhausted for once. Keeping the house clean and laundry done has been a breeze considering I don't have to try and it fit it into a 4 hour time span before literally crashing in bed every night. I may have even cooked a few meals... Mood swings and melt downs seem so much less frightening as well. I feel so much better about life in general when I can keep things going for everyone at home. Riley loves to listen to full blown picture books now- especially the ones she can mimic. Some of her favorites are Eric Carle's 'Head to Toes' , the pop-up book 'Who's Been Walking on My Floor?' and 'Way Up High' by Jan Peck, one of my favorites. The only kind of sad thing about our book time in the mornings is that she likes to sit or stand in front of me and listen and not sit on my lap :( That's ok. I'm guess that's what I'm used to at school as well. I'm just happy she likes being read to. Another favorite activity of hers right now is making "boffee!" in the morning. She gets out all the needed supplies, fills the pot with water, puts in the filter, dumps (shakes everywhere) in the coffee, turns it on, then smiles at me and gives me a high five. We then sit down for breakfast and talk about where Daddy is and what the puppies are doing out the window. Toni will appreciate this- remember when my mom used to make us scrambled eggs and toast and we would put all the eggs on the toast and eat it like that. She likes to copy me and do the same even when I'm not eating with her. Most of the eggs fall off but she gives it a shot. The afternoon is mostly one long three hour nap. I usually try to let Baby Billy sleep a little too. It's important for his development! She got a new pink boom-box today so she can listen to her Cds and jam. Let me just warn you...there will be dancing.

Summer Begins

Whew. Today was my last day of school. Such relief!! I missed Riley Jane so much this year. I am so looking forward to a fun relaxing summer. The only trip planned is to the coast with my parents at the end of June. I'm sure we'll come up with some spontaneous day trips as well. We'll be playing around here, napping, and visiting the Children's Museum in Dallas. I'm so happy to have this time with Riley Jane before Baby Billy gets here. We are SO EXCITED about his arrival! My mom and I went shopping a little bit while she was here this week. I'm still trying to change gears mentally! So fun to have the whole store to choose from when we go shopping for baby clothes! I've also been working hard picking out fabric for his bedding. We're definitely going with the cowboy theme. All this boy stuff is so fun and different from the magenta and lime green I'm used to. I think it will be extra special for our baby boy. As far as names go, I really want to call him 'Billy' but we haven't decided for sure yet. 'Will' is still an option so we'll see. We will probably wait until we meet him to decide. This is the fabric I picked for his bedding.