Riley's 1st Birthday Party!!!

We celebrated Riley's 1st birthday on Saturday April 18. Riley had both sets of grandparents (Atwood and McMurray) come up for his party. We also invited Mark and Lindsey Still and thier girls Abby and Sariah. His uncle Lloyd, cousins Lili and Macy came swimming with us.

For his party we went swimming at Kinsmen Leisure Centre in Sherwood Park. It was so much fun. We put a lifejacket on Riley for the first time and he loved it. It helped him float and also didn't make me worry that we would drop him as he is always trying to get away from either Jesse or I in the water now. After swimming we went to our house for some Pizza and cake. Jesse and I made the Pizzas (Aunt Rachels recipe) and they turned out so good. We actually cooked it's a miracle. I was just so proud of myself and Jesse for making the pizza crust which we were very worried wouldn't turn out good enough. We also had a cake that we attempted the night before made out of cupcakes which actually turned out pretty cute and Riley sure did love those cupcakes. He opened his gifts and by that time he was certainly tired and not very happy. We were so happy to have Abby and Sariah there to help him open his gifts and to make it more exciting for him. It was a very long day and we figured after the whole thing was over that we should have just given him some cake at the beginning and then he would have been happy for the whole thing. I think he just wasn't used to having so many people in our house at once and all the noise. Also he kind of choked on his pizza so that made him mad for a while and I felt so bad for him because it seemed like he wasn't enjoying his party because all you heard was him screaming and crying for about 20 minutes. I finally took him in his room away from everyone and he played in there for about 20 minutes. Then he was happier when I brought him out again. It was a very fun day and I hope Riley had a Happy First Birthday!!! We love you Riley!!!

Swimming with Mommy

Swimming with Daddy

Riley opening his presents there are many many pictures of this so I just picked a few.

By this point he was very tired and not wanting to open anything else!

Riley cake made out of cupcakes. My first time baking a cake ever and first time ever decorating one. Not bad for a first attempt!!

Riley and his cake before we lit the candle. The cupcakes at the top (blue, yellow, and green) are supposed to be balloons you can't see the string attatched to them that looks like the bear is holding them.

Stuffing his face with cake!!

He had cake everywhere including in his ears, hair, and up his nose. So he needed a bath. I love his pose in this picture lol!

Here was our attempt at trying to get a picture with Riley and all his birthday loot! As you can see Jesse is in the background because Riley wouldn't hold still (typical one year old) and he was trying to get him to stand still with his car. Well no he starts walking behind it as I quickly snapped the picture. He ended up driving it over all his stuff! At least he likes his presents and he had a very fun first birthday!!

Happy Birthday Riley!!

Today is Riley's birthday!! I can't believe he is already a year old. Time goes by so fast it is so hard to remember every little thing that has happened over the last year but we do have some good memories of the pregnancy and of Riley so far.

The day before Riley was born

Minutes after he was born

Riley on his birthday!!

Here is what happened the day he was born:

So on April 17, 2008 it was kind of a stessful day. Jesse had a final exam that morning and I was 3 days overdue. I was measuring bigger than normal and because of having to deal with Gestational Diabetes the doctors were concerned about the size of the baby and that if we waited much longer I would have problems during delivery. So I was induced that day at around noon. I was given a cervidil insert and had to stay at the hospital for 2 hours after. I hadn't dilated at all before the doctor had given it to me. So I stayed at the hospital with a monitor on waiting until they would let me go home. My back started to hurt a bit while I was sitting there and I didn't think anything of it. I was sore off and on the last month so that is all I thought it was. I kept worrying that I wouldn't know when I was having a contraction and the nurse told me she was postitive that I WOULD KNOW when I was having a contraction bad enough to need to come back to the hospital. So sometime around 2pm they let me go home. My back was still hurting. When I got home I didn't feel like doing much so I layed down on the couch and watched a movie with my mom. I had a heating pad on my back because it was really hurting. Jesse left to go and get some groceries. My back started hurting worse and worse and finally I asked my mom what it might be. She told me to time when I was having pain and for how long and how far between when it started again. Then immediately I felt severe pain in my stomach and sides and I timed them and it was every 3 minutes. I was so worried Jesse wouldn't get home in time so we called him and he came home quickly. We went to the hospital and I was dilated to a 5. I was having very bad back labor as they call if when the baby is face up. I remember being scared before about getting an epidural but I was in so much pain that I didn't care. It was such a blessed invention. I was able to relax. About 6-8 hours after I got to the hospital and after the doctor had to turn him (so I wouldn't have to have a C-section) little Riley was born. He was 8 pounds 11 3/4 ounces and 20.5 inches. I remember just staring at him. I couldn't believe he was mine. We had decided before he was born that if he had dark hair his name would be Riley and if he had light hair or no hair at all his name would be Aiden. I really did like that name so much but wer looked at him and he just didn't look like an Aiden at all. Even the nurse said he looked like a Riley. He had lots of hair so I guess the way be decided to name him worked out. It has been a fun year, we have enjoyed being parents and watching him grow and do things. He has learned and changed so much in a year and we love him.

Here are some fun facts about Riley:

-He can walk around furniture and while he is pushing toys but can't quite get the balance to stand all on his own yet.

-He doesn't quite walk yet but almost which is ok with me

-He can crawl very fast

-He loves to watch Baby Einstein movies especially the ones with animals

-He loves toys that have lots of buttons and that sing or make noise

-He loves it when Daddy chases him around the livingroom, he always laughs so hard!

-He loves playing Pattycakes and Peekabo and doing other actions to songs

-He gives hugs and kisses

-He never ever did take a soother but really loves his bottle

-He has such a cute smile and giggle

-He sleeps sooooo well through the night since he was 3 months old! I can only remember 2 or 3 times since that I have had to get up with him in the night and they were all cuz he was sick or teething!

-He loves pulling on cords and when pulling something apart he likes to try and figure out how to put it back together.

-Oh and I can't forget that he likes to rip and eat paper!!

-He hates vegetables-not sure what to do there but we try

We didn't do anything to exciting today other than sing to him and I took him to an indoor playground today with slides and many fun things to crawl on and into. There were also many toys to play with. He had a blast. We are celebrating his birthday tomorrow. His Grandma and Grandpa McMurray will be coming up from Cardston and his Grandma and Grandpa Atwood from Bow Island. They were actually here tonight to have dinner with us. Tomorrow we are going swimming and then having pizza (Riley's favorite food) and then cake. So happy 1st birthday to my sweet little boy.

Riley's first Easter

We had a very good Easter weekend. Jesse's brother Leon, his wife Jodi and their kids came up for the weekend. It happened to be Rylan's (their son) birthday. He turned 4. We went swimming at the Kinsmen Leisure Centre in Sherwood Park. We had never been there before and we really enjoyed going there. Riley lasted for 2 hours swimming which he never does. He was having so much fun playing with all the pool toys and going down the slide in the baby pool. I think we will go there again for Riley's 1st birthday. We also went out to Lloyd (Jesse's brother) and Rachel's house for Pizza and birthday cake.

On Easter Sunday we decided that after a long day on Saturday we were too tired to go to our own ward that starts at 9:00am so we went to Clarkdale Ward out in Sherwood Park which is also Lloyd and Rachel's Ward and the ward that we will be moving into this summer. We got to meet lots of people and their ward is really friendly. I have never had people in a ward be that friendly before. Rachel also gave a talk so we went to listen to her speak (we can use that excuse for skipping our ward). Their ward starts at 1:00pm. We also had set up a nice little Easter Egg hunt for Riley around our house before church. We put all the Easter eggs in obvious places that he always goes everyday no matter what places that he shouldn't go as well (we put some by the computer that he always tries to get to and he saw the egg and was excited to take that instead for a change). He found every egg all by himself in about 15 minutes, there were about 15 eggs. He always found two at a time and always had to be holding two at a time. If we took one away he would just go find another one. He liked shaking them to hear the sound of the candies inside. He got to taste his first chocolate egg and some gummy bunnies which he loved so much.We had a nice Easter dinner at Lloyd's house and had a very good time. We are sad too see this long weekend come to an end. At least Jesse is almost done school for the semester and we can have some fun as a family for a few days before he goes back to work.

Here is the Easter egg hunt pictures

You can't really see it but there is an egg in his barn and he is trying to get it.

All of the Easter eggs Riley found after our Easter egg hunt around the living room!

Looking in his Easter basket

He had his first chocolate and really enjoyed it as you can tell by his face!!

He always had to have 2 eggs, one in each hand if we took one away he would grab another one.

Here we have a sequence of pictures showing how Riley figured out how to open the egg himself and eat his candy (I had to open his eggs for him before). He didn't understand that once he opened the egg he could dump the candy in his hand and then eat it. He thought he could eat the egg too. He did figure it out eventually. He is too funny!!

He figured out how to open the egg and get the candy

He loved his candy so much that he looks kind of cross eyed in this picture.

What a face!

That's it folks, we hope you all had a Happy Easter!!!!

Riley at the Park

So we decided this last week that it was nice enough outside to go to the park. So we took Riley on the swings, slide, and springy horse for the first time. He had a good time. He was a little bit scared of the swing even though we didn't push him that much. I almost wonder if it made him feel sick. He kind of screamed so we stopped right away. We took this picture before we pushed him a bit so he looks happy. I think he just liked sitting in it. We will try it again soon and see if he likes it any better. We have the rest of the spring and all summer to try. He really loves going on the other things though. On the slide he kept looking down at the bottom and smiling. I helped him down and he kind of giggled.

Riley's first time in a swing.

He loves to rock back and forth all the time so he really liked riding on this thing. He was so excited that it could go back and forth. We had a hard time getting him off of it, he liked it so much.

He loved the slide. I helped him slide down it but as you can see Jesse's shadow was in the way taking the picture so we couldn't get one of him at the bottom.

Funny boy

Riley loves to play with this toy that goes on his crib. It has a mirror and he often looks in the mirror and when he sees himself he leans over and gives himself kisses (we have been teaching him to give kisses and he is starting to do it more and more). He does this all the time and I think it is funny and sooo cute!

He looks like he is doing a push up

Yes he is a funny boy sometimes but we still love him. He makes me laugh everyday at some of the things he does but at least I am entertained and will have some fun stories to tell him when he is older. So there you have it our Easter and fun life in the last few weeks. Thanks for stopping by.

Busy Boy!!!

Okay so a few days before my last post Riley started pulling himself up to a standing position. I have just been slacking and haven't put any pictures up yet. He has been crawling for a few months now and one day when I had my back turned he pulled himself to a standing position and tried to get the printer. He had a big smile and thought he was so clever. Now he stands against everything and walks around furniture. Before we know it he will be walking. He is now 11 1/2 months old and is growing so fast and into everything!!! He now likes to do things himself and sometimes gets mad if I try and help him with his food or his toys. I used to break off little peices when feeding him and now he would rather me give him the whole thing and he will pick off his own peices or shove the whole thing in his mouth which he sometimes does if he really likes what I am giving him. He also likes to push his car around and walk or crawl on up on his knees behind it. He loves having baths and watching Baby Einstein movies. He loves watching animals and hearing the sounds they make and he loves music. I can't wait to take him to the Zoo this summer.
He is very sweet and fun. He gives hugs and kisses all the time. He is not a cuddler though but that probably has something to do with the busy stage. He giggles and likes someone to play with him. We love him and cannot believe how fast he has grown.

Riley loves taking a bath. Too bad we don't have a bath tub at our house. We are looking to move soon so we will make sure our new place has a bathtub. He loves the green toy he is holding. It is supposed to be a crab. All the toys squirt water if you squeeze them. He only likes that green one and will always grab that one even if we mix up all the toys he still grabs that one. One day I didn't put it in the bathtub and he kept moving the toys around over and over trying to find that toy. He just looked so frustrated LOL! I found it and snuck it in there and he was so happy when he found it which shows in this picture!

Walking behind his car

Riley playing with his barn. He loves it and plays with it almost everyday. It makes animal noises when you open the gates or doors and there is a button that plays 3 different songs. He will sit there and dance during them which is pretty funny.

Playing with his kitchen