Riley is 4!

So this post is just a little late, but at least I'm keeping our events in chronological order!!  In November (the 1st), Riley turned 4 years old!  I really had a hard time with it because 4 sounds so much more grown up than 3!  And I have to say, so far, this fourth year of his life has just been so much fun.  He is just soaking up EVERYTHING!  We are working on everything from social skills (waiting until we are alone to talk about something or someone who looked different) to academics (identifying and naming our letters and sounds).  Riley has always been a kind-hearted boy, but we have really seen that this kindness and joy will forever be a part of who he is.  He has recently become very interested in helping his sister and teaching her new things.  Don't get me wrong, we still have our sibling rivalry moments, but overall, he is an awesome big brother!
Here are a few fun things he is saying/doing:
-he is becoming so independent in dressing himself, brushing his teeth, buckling his carseat, etc...makes my job SO much easier!
- he is really loving books these days
- surprise, surprise..his MOST favorite Bible stories involve "bad guys" or some kind of fight/battle...David and Goliath, Samson, Jesus' crucifixion, etc....kind of worries me but Edmond assures me that it's normal for little boys!
- he is going to AWANA and is in the Cubbies class.  He really loves it and is starting to learn lots of simple scripture.  He even reminds me when we need to work on it.  It's been somewhat challenging for me because I am one of the teachers.  But we are learning and there has been much improvement!
- he LOVES playing with other children..mostly older boys.  And of course they tend to pretend to be superheroes most of the time.
- he also loves dogs.  We have some neighbors with 2 dogs, Sadie and Maple and EVERY time Riley sees them outside playing, he dashes outside to join them.  I know...we should get them a dog, but I just CANNOT think about that right now!
- he has a few articulation errors right now (I know..here comes out the SLP in me), but they are so darn cute!! I just don't have it in me to really correct them right now.  Mostly it's just his s-blends, but on some specific words, he substitutes or deletes sounds. For example, movie theatre sounds like movie beeatre....and thanks is sometimes tanks...and finger is thinger.  So cute!

 One of Riley's best friend's Andy

 Rowan and Ava...our neighbors for 3 years now

 This is Logan...Riley feels like such a big boy playing with him.

I decided to do a water play party since this may be his last birthday where we can do that in November!

 A blow-up slip-n-slide...I was worried that we may have to visit the ER!

I'm sure there is more to report, but that's all I can think of for now! We sure love our little man!

Swimming

We just finished swim lessons today!  Woo hoo!  Riley did 2 back to back sessions....4 weeks total.  And he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Just the last few days did he start kind of complaining about having to go.  But, he always enjoyed it once we got there.  On the first day, he was so excited that he could hardly stand still.  He was practically jumping up and down while the teacher was introducing herself and giving them some instructions.  It was quite an adjustment for Riley to learn how to sit and wait for his turn.  But by the end of the 4 weeks, he was doing so so well!  I was beyond proud of how far he had come.  And as far as the swimming goes...he far exceeded my expectations!  I told Edmond on day 1 that I thought Riley would NEVER learn how to float, because he just can't be that still.  And my boy totally proved me wrong.  He is now doing really well swimming under the water and has made tons of progress swimming on top of the water.  We still have some work to do before I say he "knows how to swim".  But he is such a trooper...not afraid of a thing!  And I have to add that I had a very proud mama moment today.  There was 1 boy in the class who just was not very fond of jumping by himself. So Riley started chanting, "You can do it.  You can do it."  And the rest of the class joined in while they encouraged the little guy to make the jump.  His kindness and the way he just loves people...MELTS MY HEART!  I sure do love this guy!

 Posing for the camera with his treat for finishing the session.

And here he is showing off his skills!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Aubrey!

Our sweet little girl has turned 2!!!  I really can't believe it.  Time sure is flying these days.  We kept her birthday pretty low key this year.  I still decorated because that's just what I do, but her party was very small...just a few of her little friends (and their siblings of course).  We played "pin the nose/bow on Minnie" (nose for boys and bow for girls), but most of the kids wanted nothing to do with the blindfold!!  Oh well, they still had fun.  The best part was that my mom and dad were here to celebrate with us!  

Birthday girl cheesin' it up before her friends arrived.

Some decorations!

                                                   

I think Riley and Straton were the only two who actually wore the blindfold!

Pinning Minnie's bow without the blindfold!

Time for cupcakes!

 YUM!

And opening a few gifts...of course big brother wanted to help!

Aubrey Jeanette....

I can't even put into words how much we love you.  You are just the sweetest thing and you are pretty cute too!  You continue to be a fantastic eater, you LOVE playing with your baby dolls and you are pretty much obsessed with shoes!  You don't smile ALOT in pictures, but you really are a happy baby. You sleep very well at night and still take a good afternoon nap.  Riley started school recently (just 2 mornings a week), so you and I have some good girl time.  This is the first time in your life that we've ever had time for just us.  I am really loving it!  One other thing that I want to always remember about you at this age is that you love reading your Bible.  You ask all the time to read your "Bible story" and will even go upstairs by yourself to get it out of your room. Your brother won't even do that!!  We really do adore you sweet Aubrey and can't wait to see all that the Lord will do in your life!

Just some pictures...and a little update!

I really hate that I have not been better at posting!  When I think of something to write, I don't seem to have the time to sit down and do it....and when I do have the time, I can't seem to think of what to say!  So...since this is one of those times that I have the time, but can't think of what to say, I'll just add a few things I want to make sure I don't forget.

These pictures are all from Mother's Day!  I think it may have been my best one yet.  Nothing incredibly exciting happened, but we were all together.....and that is a first for us!  So thankful for my 2 precious children and my amazing husband!

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We started the day off with an awesome breakfast (brownies with cool whip) and then church.  After the kids took a nap, we headed to the putt-putt place on base.  Riley asks to go ALL the time so we finally made it happen!  The kids really didn't care about playing golf, but they enjoyed running around and seeing all of the animal statues.  It was such a good day!

My sweet Riley is really growing up.  He picks up on everything and I really have to watch what I say and how I say it.  A couple of things he is saying/doing these days:

-he now says knock-knock jokes correctly...for the longest time, he started the joke off with "knock knock who's there".  It made me quite sad the first time he only said "knock knock"...sniff!

- he has made so much progress with his articulation (yes, the speech therapist in me is coming out now).  He initially had some difficulty with "s" and "r", but is really starting to get those.  But on a few words, he will say the "s" for "th".  And "thanks" is one of those words.  It's the cutest thing to hear him say, "sanks, mom"!  

- we have been having him take a turn praying for awhile now, but we usually have to help him get started and stay on track.  Well, a month or so ago, on his own, he asked Jesus to help Daddy's glasses get fixed and help mommy's foot to feel better (Edmond's glasses had just broken and earlier in the day I dropped something on my foot).  It was definitely a proud parent moment.  I love that he's slowly learning how to pray!

And Miss. Aubrey....she is just something else.  First off, she is talking up a storm lately!  She's been saying 4 and 5 word sentences and it just blows me away.  She is still LOVING her baby dolls!  She will push them around in her baby stroller all day.  She also HAS to have a purse on her shoulder and mommy's shoes on while she's doing it.  It is quite hilarious!  

At bath time, when we get her undressed, she has started running around the house saying, "naked girl, naked girl".  So funny!

She is very much a creature of habit...if you do something once, she will remind you everyday to do it again and again!  

She loves to be outside....almost as much as Riley does.  They are really starting to play well together.  I like that they can interact now without always arguing over toys.

And the biggest change with Aubrey is that we are now pacifier free!!!  Woo hoo!  We waited until after our trip to the mainland because  knew I would need it on the airplane.  But after we were home for a week, I decided to take the plunge.  We just went cold turkey and she did great.  We had 1 really rough night and a couple of rough naps, but she doesn't even ask for it now so I think it was successful!

This is as good as it gets with a 3 year old and 1 year old in a picture together!

And our Mother's Day  picture together!!

Riley Roo

Oh my Riley! He is just the sweetest thing (most of the time) and growing up way too fast. I am doing this post so that I can look back and remember all of the funny things he is saying and doing during his 3rd year of life!

He is really into the way I look (mostly the way I am dressed) these days. It really bugs him when I wear a t-shirt and shorts. He has learned from his daddy how to tell the girls in our family that they look pretty, but if I am in my "comfortable" clothes, he will adamantly tell me "you do not look pretty, mommy"! Ha!!! At first I thought it was pretty hysterical, but it is starting to get to me. I mean, I can't dress up for him every day!!! That boy!

He is also getting into the competition mode. Regardless of someone's age or size, he will INSIST that he is older than/bigger than the other person. This is oh so much fun while we are at the playground!!!

When he wakes up from his nap, he is either super cranky or super happy! I guess it depends on the dream he was having...who knows. His "happy wake-ups" are the best!! Today, when I woke him up, he told me (with the biggest smile on his face), that he had a dream about a T-Rex. He then went on to tell me about the conversation he had with the T-Rex in the dream. It was absolutely hilarious! And, yes...he is STILL into dinosaurs!

Riley is really starting to interact more with Aubrey. He will SOMETIMES share his toys with her, but he almost ALWAYS wants her to hug him. But whether or not she wants to hug him, totally depends on her mood and it drives him crazy when she won't comply! I'm sure this is only the beginning!!

He LOVES.....
- climbing in his daddy's jeep
- making me get the "heebie jeebies" (by asking me if I like lizards, snakes, etc.)
- eating anything sweet
- playing at the playground
- going to the beach and playing in the water
- getting packages in the mail
- going to his "big boy" Sunday School class
- staying in a hotel
- having visitors stay with us

My Riley just makes me smile...even when he's about to make me lose my mind! We love our children so much and are totally blessed by them!

Latest Pictures

My mom fussed at me today for not posting more often! So here are a few of our latest pictures at the beach. Riley is not too fond of the camera these days so I don't have many of him. In my next post, I want to talk about some of the things they are each saying/doing these days. They sure keep me laughing!

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