Baby Blessing . . .

For anyone who hasn't yet heard here are the final plans for our trip into town this weekend and for Riley's baby blessing on Sunday.

We are flying into town on Friday. Riley's baby blessing is scheduled for Sunday, September 27th. The meeting starts at 12:50 and is at Gary's parents' ward. The address is 3650 W. Dimrall (about 5600 South). After the meeting we are having a potluck get together at the Stake Rec Property, which is located at 4040 West 5215 South. If anyone plans on coming to the potluck please bring either a dessert or salad (enough to serve 12). Our flight back to San Diego leaves on Monday morning at 10:00 am.

We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you!

Night on the Town . . .

The person who enjoyed a night on the town in this post was me! It was the first time Riley was left with a non-relative baby sitter, Woohoo! Gary went on an overnight camp out with the Young Men, and some friends of mine invited me out for a "Girls Night" movie. I called our Relief Society President, Delma, to see if she could come over and hang out with the munchkin for a few hours. She was more than happy to help out. She has been asking if she could baby sit since he was born. She is one of those people that can't get enough of newborns and babies! My friends and I went to see Julie & Julia, which was a really sweet movie. Riley was pretty good for Delma, but she said that he seemed to be a bit concerned at times that he had been left with a stranger, and she said that she will have to watch him a lot more so that he gets more familiar with her. I think we will be able to work that out!

Well, I survived being without him and the best part was that I didn't feel like I needed to call and check in while I was out. Probably because I knew I had left him in very capable hands! I would say it was a very successful First Night Out.

More Baby Pics . . .

Here are some pics of Gary and Riley enjoying a book and some bonding time together. It is fun to see Riley concentrate on the different pictures. He gets really quiet and just looks and looks . . . I love it!

Here are some pictures of Jack and Riley playing with Jack's rooster squeaky toy. Jack is learning to like Riley more and more. He always runs to him when Riley starts to cry and whenever we come home Jack check on Riley in his car seat and sometimes gives him some little kisses. It is so sweet!

Here are some more pictures of Riley. In these ones you can see his cute little Michelin-Man rolls. He has discovered the joys of sucking on his little fists so his hands are often in his mouth and he makes little sucking sounds.

Some cute pics of my boys sleeping. I love these little striped footie jammies!

Happy 30th Gary . . .

So Gary turned the big 3-0 on the 15th!! We had a little get together with some friends, had a yummy barbeque, and played Guitar Hero World Tour. He got GH for his birthday and it was fun to have enough people to play all the parts. I created a cute little cake made entirely of homemade oreos (these are sinfully delicious and entirely too easy to make, I have posted the recipe below . . . make sure you ramp up your workout routine after you make your first back because you will be hooked!!). Here are a few pictures, unfortunately the red eye was turned off on the camera, but you can still see that everyone was having a blast!

Happy Birthday sweetheart! I hope that your birthday wishes all come true!

Homemade Oreos

Ingredients:

1 cake mix of any flavor (for Oreo-type cookies, Devil's Food is best)

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

frosting

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil

drop onto cookie sheet and cook in pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes

let cookies cool for 10 minutes

take two cookies, load some frosting onto one cookie and place the other cookie on top, making a sandwich

try NOT to eat all of them yourself!!

Bottle Time . . .

Gary just got Riley to take a bottle!

Riley has been resisting the bottle for a few days now and I have been racking my brain for ways to talk him into it, but to no avail. This morning I left Gary home with the sleeping baby so I could go and pick up some things from Target. While I was there Gary called me to let me know that the baby had woken up (which usually means that he is hungry), so I rushed home. When I got there he told me that Riley had finally taken the bottle, like it was no big deal! Gary must just have that "Daddy Magic"!

Here they are bonding together. Isn't this a sweet picture?

This makes me feel so relieved. I am officially starting work tomorrow and was concerned that Gary would have to deal with a hungry, screaming baby until I got home (I am working from 7 am -9 am, Mon - Fri at Waste Management again), but now I don't have to worry. This is going to be so great! Bottle feeding opens up so many possibilities, like not missing Sunday School every week and not being the only one who can quiet the screaming baby. Hallelujah!

2 Months Old

Yesterday was Riley's 2 month birthday! Yeah!

Riley can now . . .

hold his head up on his own

smile, giggle, and flirt with strangers

follow you around the room with his eyes

converse in baby talk

occasionally sleep for a whole 5 hours

intensely study pages of baby books

grasp objects that get close to his hands

(I am going to ask Gary to get our scale from storage so I can report on his height and weight, so look for that to come later.)

All that in just a couple of months! It blows me away! He is getting bigger and coming into his own personality more everyday. I think we have come a long way in learning to be parents, and we are looking forward to Riley reaching more milestones.

My parents came in to town to visit for a few days. Here is a picture of them with their favorite grandson!

This out fit that he is wearing is so cute! It has a monkey on the back of the pants! I love it!

Riley doesn't like to take a pacifier, but he will suck on my finger. Not very comfortable to hold my hand like that, but better than hearing him cry! (I love how he is holding onto my hand with his tiny hand, so cute!)

Bonfires . . .

We went to a bonfire at the beach last night to say goodbye to our friend Brett who is leaving for college tomorrow (Good Luck Brett!!). We saw some seals (or sea lions, I'm not sure which) out in the harbor while we were there. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch a picute of them, but I did take these funny picutes of Riley hanging out in a camp chair with his Dad. I think they are hilarious, hope you like 'em!!

P.S. Riley slept for 5 1/2 hours straight last night (normally he sleeps for three to four hours at a time)! His mom is feeling very rested!