Party Time in Pineville

About 2 weeks ago, Riley had his first trip away from Mom and Dad!  My parents were driving through town to visit my brother in St. Augustine and asked if Riley could go back with them to Pineville for a few days.  We were a little nervous, but decided it would probably be good for all of us.  He left with them on Monday and I drove home on Thursday....so we were apart for 3 days and nights.  I think Riley handled it better than we did!  He had fun visiting his cousins and being spoiled by Mimi and Potts.  Here are just a few pics!

Just Hangin' Out

We are having so much fun watching Riley grow and change!  These are just a few of our most favorite moments over the last few weeks. He likes to play with his burp cloth and will often fall asleep under it!! He keeps us laughing...that's for sure!!

Firsts

Riley has had many "firsts" over the past few weeks.  On Saturday, January 24th, he came down with his first stomach virus!  Of course Dad was out of town on a cross-country flight.  And then to make matters worse....I caught it from him the next day AND Edmond was stuck out of town (weather problems) for 2 extra days.  Mimi came to the rescue!  It was not much fun, but we survived.  In the picture, Riley is showing you his purple tongue from the pedialyte.  Riley also experienced his first time in his Bumbo, his first Superbowl with Dad, and his first daycare experience.  The daycare only lasted for a few weeks!!! I am now going to be able to work part time (4 days a week for now, then 3 days in a month or two) and we have a sitter who is going to keep him!  We are having so much fun watching Riley as he starts to smile and laugh...all the time!!! He is such a blessing!

Riley in Ringgold

Last weekend, we went to Ringgold, GA to visit Edmond's family.  We were not able to make the trip at Christmas, so decided to go our first long weekend!  We had a blast!  While there, we were able to visit some of Edmond's friends and had good quality time with his parents and sister's family.  This was Riley's first time to meet his Carpenter cousins....Noah, Reese and Kayleigh.  They were so good with him!  I think he may be called "Baby Riley" for the rest of his life!!!  Hope you enjoy the pics!!!

Our Posner Friends

On January 11th, Riley and I drove to Baton Rouge for my friend Michelle's baby shower (was so much fun, but I didn't get a chance to take any pics...sorry!).  We really wanted to see the Posner family so we left bright and early Sunday morning so that we could have some hang out time with them.  When I lived in Baton Rouge, the Posners's house was my home away from home!  I first met them when I needed a language sample from a 3 year-old for a project in one of my speech therapy classes (Ok, Linda Posner might say our first meeting was right after she gave birth to her second child, Aaron. I could be wrong!!).  My friend Roos saved the day when she introduced me to the Posners.  After that, I loved them so much that they couldn't get rid of me!  Here they are with Riley...Joshua, Aaron, and Rachel!  They are so special to me!

Christmas with Friends and Family

On our way back to Pensacola, we stopped in Baton Rouge so that Riley could meet some of our dearest friends (Amy...holding him, Michelle, Jared, Mrs. Cathy, Angel, Mollie and Laurel)!  We had fun visiting at Jason's Deli!  Riley pretty much slept through the whole thing!  Oh well!

We celebrated Edmond's birthday while we were in Pineville (and again in Pensacola)!  Here Riley's Fontenot cousins help Edmond with the candles on his cake.  Edmond turned 28 this year...just a baby himself!

Potts and Riley had some good bonding time!  Here they were "talking" about those LSU Tigers....are they going to win their bowl game!  We are a little nervous!

Here is Riley on Christmas Day!  He was enjoying all of the hustle and bustle at Mimi and Potts' house!  He really had a great first Christmas!

We have a tradition in our family....on Christmas Eve morning, we go to McDonalds for breakfast and the kids get to play in the play area.  This year, Karleigh, Clark, and Brody (Riley's Fontenot cousins) surprised him with early Christmas gifts (Curious George, a stuffed bunny, and a Bible).  They went "shopping" for him in their rooms and then wrapped the gifts for him to open.  They had alot of fun and insisted that he take them home!

On our way home to Pineville for Christmas, we stopped in Covington for a short visit with Julie and Aiden.  They seemed to enjoy getting to know each other.  We wish that we lived closer to them, but these short visits will have to do for now!

Santa Baby

We had just returned from our Christmas service at church when Edmond and I couldn't resist taking some pictures of our little man!  After taking 4 or 5, we finally had one that was "good enough".  While Edmond was looking at the pictures...he erased it!! I was a little frustrated!! So, he decided to take one more and all of a sudden Riley gave us the biggest grin!  We like to say that he was dreaming of Santa Claus, but of course, I'm sure it was gas!