Birthday Party Wrap-Up

I know it's been roughly 12 days since Riley's birthday party, but, as I've mentioned before, life tends to get in the way. I've had a huge deadline to deal with for work, and on top of that I got sick yesterday. We've had a bug going around the house, and have I said how much I hate cold weather? Bah humbug!

Anyway, Riley had a wonderful birthday party, and we appreciate everyone who was able to come. It was rather low-key, as are all of our parties. Guess that's what happens when your kids have birthdays during cooler-weather months--you can't really have a celebration outside.

Bella, Riley, Dad and Uncle Steve

The party didn't really have a theme. Riley tried to go for the third year of having a Princess party, but I convinced her to take a look at the party store with me to try to find an alternative. After determining that most of the options there were too young (Dora, Backyardigans, Elmo) or she was unaware of them (Hannah Montana, Bratz, High School Musical), we decided on no real theme. I gave her some choices on what type of cake, and this is what she chose:

Riley's cake of choice. I used a cake pattern from my late grandma
that my mom found. It included my grandma's handwriting, too.

We let everyone play and chat for awhile--all the guests at the party are regulars, so it was nice to catch up with everyone. I enjoyed getting some snuggles with my newest nephew who's 10 months old!

One nephew, Ethan.

Nephew number two, Caden.

Riley and Ethan eating.

We ate dinner and then opened presents. Riley was blessed by all the wonderful gifts, including the movie Enchanted, which Riley is opening below. I think Jeremy loves the movie just as much. Both kids enjoy hearing music from the movie, and Jeremy refers to it as "That's How You Know" based off one of the songs of the movie.

Opening Enchanted.

Opening her new coat. She loved the scarf more than anything!

Showing off said scarf.

We then had cake, and kids played, balloons were popped, and people started to leave. All in all, it was a wonderful party, and we thank everyone for all their presence/presents. Sorry the video below is a little dark, but that's what happens when you turn down the lights!

I Should Have Known

I know I'm behind on posting about Riley's party, which I promise to do once this nasty freelancing deadline is over on Wednesday. But then I'll be behind on posting about Thanksgiving! So bear with me. Anyway, life is good at the C household, despite the cold weather and the fact I freeze in my own home. Such is life in the Midwest. But here's a funny story to tide you over until the next posting:

Jeremy and I were enjoying some Mommy/son time while Phil took Riley out to buy a new cordless phone (ours apparently can receive phone calls and we can hear people talking, but alas, they cannot hear us back. That could be a problem.). We were going over animal sounds since lately all he wants to do is pretend certain animals are either in the house, at the store, in the car, you name it.

Then we started talking about favorite animals. Riley started this tradition years ago when she was learning her animals. She used to ask people what their favorite animals were, and she'd put that in her memory bank. Jeremy is the same way. So here's the conversation:

Mom: What's your favorite animal?
Jeremy: Eee-eee (monkey).
M: What's Riley's?
J: Fah-mingo.
M: Mommy's?
J: Dolphin.
M: Daddy's?
J: Bear.
M: What does Uncle D like?
J: Giraffe.
M: What about Casey?
J: Zebra.
M: What does Papa like?
J: Hockey.

Yeah, that's my boy. And these are my kids, in their matching hockey jammies no less:

Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl

I've been feeling melancholy all day today. Five years ago today I entered Mommyhood for the first time. My life changed completely; some days better than others. The little girl who entered the world only to be given antibiotics since I ran a 101.9 fever during delivery is now a sassy five year old. No longer a baby. No longer a toddler. Almost a kindergartner.

We all have our days, and days with Riley are never dull. She struggles with wanting to be able to do activities well and correctly. She wants so badly to read now, but she struggles with it and gets easily frustrated. She loves coloring, activity books, games, cards, you name it. Of course most of this stuff has to be done when Jeremy's not around, as evidence by him already throwing all her checkers over the house today.

She's my little helper, always wanting a hand in things, "helping" Jeremy with stuff and wanting to cook in the kitchen. I love that about her, even if sometimes in hinders the process or Jeremy doesn't want to cooperate. There have been far too many times I've asked her to help me out with something, and she does it willingly.

This has been a challenging year in a lot of areas, but through it all, she loves her brother immensely, oftentimes telling me that he's her best friend. Today, while out getting an ice cream treat (than you Baskin Robins!), she shared her scoop with him, and he said, "Happy birthday, I-ree." She leaned over and gave him a hug, and said, "Thank you, bud."

It's hard to believe it's been five years since she entered our lives. These last 2.5 years with her at home, I've had a chance to watch both kids grow, molded by what I've taught them. I'm so proud of Riley and the girl she's turned into. I love her with all my heart.

Thank you one and all for all Riley's brithday wishes today, from whatever avenue. We've had phone calls (one from Lebanon!), postings on message boards, cards, and emails. Riley was so touched (as was I) that so many people wanted to wish her a wonderful day. We're truly blessed.

So without further fanfare, here's Riley through the years:

5 years ago yesterday:



5 years ago today:



4 years ago today:


3 years ago:


2 years ago:


Last year:



And here she is now:


Today, birthday #5:

So I Have This Friend*...

I don't really talk about stuff like this. It's not that I'm fully embarrassed--I just think it's not something I particularly advertise. But I wanted to let others know about my friend.

Back when I was newly engaged, I became a member of an online site that connected brides-to-be with each other. You could post with other girls who were getting married on your same wedding date or you could locate brides by region. I didn't really post much on that site; I was still new to the whole online forum thing.

Shortly after my wedding, they offered a spin-off site on babies. So I joined. But I didn't post for awhile. I "lurked" around, seeing what other newly married women were going through. After I became pregnant, I ended up finding a group of women due within a two-month span together. We shared stories of weight gain, feeling our babies kick for the first time and then birth stories. It was a great group of women. Then, during my maternity leave, the site shut down completely.

Two spin-off sites formed from there. I didn't really look at the larger community; I was drawn to the smaller one. Since then, we've become a very close-knit group of women (along with a few token males). We've seen each other go through some rough stuff and some pretty fabulous life experiences. We're all over the country with a few across the seas.

I remember my first few posts on the site and a woman named Lynn wrote a little note in my journal. We became "journal buddies," sharing our life's thoughts and pictures of our kids. She has a beautiful little boy whose smile lights up the room and is just a few months older than Riley. I oftentimes refer to her as "my friend in Grand Rapids," because, really, how do you explain to your friends that you have online friends? I mean, without garnering some nasty looks? How do you explain that this woman has become one of your best friends? Oh, and you've never met.

When she told me there was a possibility of her hitching a ride to Chicago last weekend, I immediately became giddy. How fabulous would it be for us to finally meet? For her to meet the wacky family that I call my own? I received the excellent news just a few days later that she would indeed head my way! Luckily Phil didn't have any reservations, as he knows how close she and I have become. And the kids were ecstatic for the arrival of "Mommy's friend," which sounded a little too that-time-of-the-month for me!

She arrived late due to wonderful downtown Chicago traffic. But we enjoyed a delicious dinner of Giordanos and spent the entire evening chatting, watching Grey's and chatting some more. The time together was perfect, until it was ruined by a nasty creature that fell in our window well! Yeah, I shrieked like a little girl and decided it was time for bed.

Gross, disgusting creature. Nothing like seeing paws
against your window to know there's a creature there.

Riley gave up her room for Lynn, and the morning began with chocolate chip waffles and pancakes with hash browns and cinnamon rolls. Both kids enjoyed giving Lynn haircuts at the beauty shop and checking out said nasty possum. Gross. (FYI: The possum did make it out of the window well thanks to a plank Phil placed down there. Thank goodness--dead possum is never a good thing. But how would we know he's dead and not playing, well, possum?) Anyway, I was so sad to say good-bye to Lynn as she had to return to her little man, but it was a wonderful visit.

It goes to show that you can have friends all over the world. And yes, I have a very dear friend of mine I met online. She no longer is the best friend of mine that I've never met.

Oh, and she's good for taking a family picture for us. I didn't post a picture of Lynn, though. You'll just have to believe me in that she does exist. :)

Jeremy's forming the word "cheese".
So which kid resembles which parent?

*Disclaimer: Lynn wrote about her visit on her blog first. But I was planning this post as soon as she left. Work/life just got in the way.

Falling

Before the weather decided to turn back into fall-like temperatures, the kids fully enjoyed helping in the yard. They're both at an age where the love to help raking leaves, which is something I hope they continue to enjoy for at least a few more years.

Jeremy in the house.

Raking the leaves.

We have a tree in our backyard that I adore, as much as one can adore a tree. It's large for our newish neighborhood, probably 25+ years old compared to our subdivision, which is 17. We have the oldest tree around, and its foliage in the fall is breathtaking. The red hues are beautiful to admire when the temperatures begin to plummet.

Said beautiful tree.

The weather was awesome the beginning of the week. Who would've thought on November 3rd the kids would be wearing shorts and sandals? We spent as much time as we could outside, basking in the above-normal temperatures (it reached 74 on Election Day!), hanging laundry outside and opening the windows for probably the last time. Oh, and Jeremy enjoyed helping me vote on Tuesday. Riley had a field trip to the fire station for preschool, and Jeremy experienced his first Presidential election.

As for the weather, wouldn't you know that it snowed yesterday? Midwest, how I hate your ever-changing fall temperatures. Is it summer yet?

Girlfriends

This week has flown by, and I blame most of it on the unseasonably warm weather. The beginning of November and I had my kids in shorts and sandals. What can I say, I'm a sucker for beautiful temperatures. Now we're back to the harsh reality of the Midwest with the threat of snow tomorrow. Ick.

Riley has off of school today for parent/teacher conferences at the elementary schools. Since her preschool follows the district's school schedule, she's home with us today. And terrorizing her brother and the cats, not necessarily in that order.

As for me, I'm having a week of reconnecting with girlfriends. It started on Sunday when my college roommate found me on Facebook. One of my girlfriends from high school persuaded me to join about a month ago, and it's been enjoyable to locate people I've lost touch with over the years. Anyway, my roommate arranged for us to have lunch with our third roommate, who was in my wedding seven years ago. I lost touch with both girls, and I was so grateful to have them find me again. We had lunch in the city, catching up on the last few years of our lives. It was interesting to see us, so many years later, each in different stages of our lives. Me with two kids, one roommate recently married and the other still enjoying single life in the city. Who would've thought?

And then tonight I'm meeting a close girlfriend for the very first time. Thanks to technology we've become great friends online, and I'm sure this face-to-face meeting can only strengthen our friendship (and if it doesn't, you're not allowed to tell me that!).

I know I don't oftentimes think of myself first (or even second or third) when it comes to my family. But this week I have, and let me tell you that it sure is wonderful to have times with girlfriends. I think it makes me appreciate my family that much more.

Halloween Festivities

We got a late start on our pumpkin carving this year; I'm not sure why. I think life just seems to get in the way at times. We finally got around to carving it on Tuesday--the day Phil was home from work. The kids seemed lukewarm to the idea, especially about helping to gut the fruit (BTW, who knew pumpkins were a fruit?! Or that Illinois is the top-producing pumpkin state?!). And seeing as the man of the family loathes this task, SuperMom came to the rescue, digging her hands into the muck and removing the seeds. Notice that not one picture was taken of this greusome task...

Dad ready to cut off the top.

The kids surround the finished product.

Then the kids had to wait. But on Thursday the 30th, the kids got dressed in their costumes to attend the library's costumed storytime. It was so much fun, as always. I love this particular library, even though we're not technically library card members. Our library is less than stellar, so we go to the drop-in storytime at this library. After the stories, the kids did a costume parade around the library to the "Monster Mash" playing on a portable CD player.

Posing before we left for the library.

Waiting for the librarian to begin storytime.

Friday came, and Riley dressed up for her preschool festivities. Unfortunately, I didn't know they asked parents to come early and see the costumed musical chairs. I was able to catch the last 2/3 of the game, and luckily Riley was still in the mix. She made it down to the last 5 kids.

Riley is in the middle. The kid on her left, she told me,
was dressed as Count Chocula. Uncle D should enjoy that.

Posing for the camera.

She brought home more candy than she really needed; we were asked to bring in candy for the kids, but moms that didn't sign up brought candy. She brought home enough that we really didn't need to go door-to-door!

We had to wait until after naps, though. And for Dad to come home. Phil dressed up a bit for the occasion, and Riley wanted in on the photo op.

Dad and his girl.

We all went to our close neighbors' houses--about 4 in all. And then the kids and I met up with some neighbors, and off we went. Phil stayed home and "manned" the house, but I think he just stayed outside and socialized with our neighbors. The weather was beautiful (upper 60s), so I guess I can't blame him.

Obligatory Halloween step photo.

Ready to go!

We hit quite a few houses, and both kids did great. Jeremy walked most of the way, although I brought the wagon just in case. He was slower than Riley, of course, and a few doors he knocked on the door because he couldn't reach the doorbell. He'd say, "Happy Halloween." There was one house that had a bowl of candy near the door, and he proudly proclaimed, "M&Ms, Momma! Your favorite!" And then he became equally excited for "Papa treats," aka Tootsie Rolls. We made it home about 6:15, so about an hour's worth of trick-or-treating. The kids, of course, came away with quite the stash of candy, which, as my duty, I will attempt to help them eat. The things mothers have to do!

Heading inside the tent to the house.

Jeremy returning with candy.

Riley (in white) and the neighbor girls.