Riley Claire - 2 years, 2 months Newsletter

Dear Riley,

How are you? I pray as you read my letters that you are well, that you are loving, being loved, and laughing. I pray you are happy and enjoying life the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

This month you have started to assert your ever-evolving preferences: from flavor of drink, food, or writing utensil, to who you want to go see.  You know what you want and you ask for it, sometimes more like demand, depending on how necessary the object is at the moment. Your favorite drink is milk, your favorite food is French fries (no matter how many healthy alternatives I offer), and your preferred writing utensils are colored pencils. Colored pencils also make for exceptional drum sticks. You even clap them overhead and chant, "1, 2, 3, 4" before you begin your drum solo. Riley, you usually want your Grandad when you ask for someone. A lot of the time you want Aunt Ma, and you love your PawPaw. I am forever thankful that you get to grow up knowing Grandmom and Grandad, and even more grateful that you get to spend whole days with them nestled around the fireplace.

I love coming home from work to see you every day. You usually greet me with a big hug and "I miss you!" Nothing could warm my heart more than you missing me throughout your day. I am already looking forward to summertime.

I love you so much! I constantly question myself if I am a good mother or not. As you know, I didn't have a good mother, or much of any mother for that matter. My birthday was this past weekend and I never heard from her the entire weekend. I still am unable to 100% sort my feeling out regarding her. While I want a mom to be there for me, to listen to my problems, and to enjoy and desire my company, I have had to realize that will never happen for me.

In the depths of my heart I never want you to experience that feeling. The only thing that comforts me is knowing I am able to do everything in my power to prevent you from ever feeling like that. We may not always have the resources (like this year, no time!) to do extravagant parties and gifts, but you'll always be loved beyond any possible doubt. I am determined to give you the mother I never had or will ever have. I am so excited what our lives have in store for us, together.

I love you,

Love, Mama

Snow White

Riley,

I posted a few weeks ago about a Saturday night where you and I ate popcorn and watched Snow White, one of my favorite movies ever.

Well, little did I know I created a monster that night. Somehow, you have become addicted to Snow White. Seriously. Two days ago, you begged to watch Snow White 3 different times, all before 1:00. I turned the movie on for you 3 different times. For the most part, Snow White keeps you entertained for a solid 30 minutes, sometimes longer. On some days this is a welcome relief, it’s also a pain to have to watch Snow White over and over and over again. Not to mention, you are CONSTANTLY harassing your Daddy and me to “Watch Snow White!” Literally, you would only watch Snow White if we would let you.

When the movie comes on, you like to point out the castle, the mean queen (“She mean".”), Snow White and the Prince. You sometimes get upset when Snow White cries, and in the video below you will see just how upset you get when the bunny rabbits try to comfort her. Every time you watch this scene, you scream like this. Every.time. Instead of singing “High ho, high ho!” you sing “Bye ho, bye ho!” It’s really pretty cute.

Riley, I truly wouldn’t want to watch any other movie with you. Maybe one day I will love Snow White as much as you do. Pocahontas (another childhood favorite of mine) comes out on DVD at the end of November. Move over Snow White, we WILL be watching Pocahontas at least once a week! I really love that movie!

Love, Mama

Happy Halloween 2010

Dear Riley,

Don’t get mad, you were a bumble bee last year and we made you wear the same costume again this year. Bad parents of the year award, right here.

This was Halloween 2009:

Again, we just went to Broadway Square Mall and walked around letting you trick-or-treat. You actually said “Trick-or-treat”, well at least WE knew what you were saying.

How dare we wake you up from a nap to go TRICK-OR-TREATING! World’s worst parents, for sure!

  You were such a big girl! You didn’t need much help with your bucket, and only a few reminders to say “Thank you!”

Oh, you see that black dot on your face? There were many face-painting booths set up. After watching a few little girls get their face painted you decided you were ready. We stood in line to let a really nice lady paint your face. We decided on a spider to kinda go along with your costume.

You were doing pretty well up until this point. You then decided the paint brush hurt and you hopped down and came running.

So this was your spider. Scary!

One end of The Mall had a Sky Jump apparatus. The guys tether you to two poles, strap you in, and you bounce on a small trampoline. You cried when at first we weren’t going to let you do this. Your Daddy made a special trip to the ATM to get $7 for you to Sky Jump. I was convinced you wouldn’t do it; boy was I wrong! See, you are normally a big scaredy cat (I mean that in the sweetest way possible). Anyway, you loved the Sky Jump, and you went REALLY high! It was awesome to see you being so independent; I am still astonished you did this!

Happy Halloween! I can’t wait to share many, many more with you! My little bumble bee!

 

Love, Momma

Fun Weekend!

Riley,

We are coming off an amazing weekend, and right now it’s only Saturday. To start things off, Braxton and Aunt Morgan spent the night Friday night.

This means you were a wild little girl from the moment you saw Braxton! You love to show-off your toys to him. You two play so well together right now, and you especially since you aren’t around kids all day. You are totally different with him; playing with toys you haven’t cared about since they came home from the store. Last night there was also a lot of jumping on the bed!

Saturday morning was the Rose parade right down the street from our apartment. Of course, we were there, your Daddy too!

 

One float threw some candy for all the kids to pick up, and somehow we ended up with candy cigarettes. Braxton approved. You, Riley, did not.

Oh, I almost forgot. You were probably the only little girl to get put in time-out at the parade. Sometimes, YOU DON’T MIND!

You can thank your Dad for this gem of a picture.

After the parade, Aunt Morgan and I took you and Braxton to Moore Farms in Flint, Texas. Moore Farms is a cute little pumpkin patch and corn maze. When we first got there we hopped on the hay ride. Fun!

Eventually, the hay ride took us over to the pumpkin patch. We jumped out and started searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Braxton helped too!

There were photo opportunities all over Moore Farms!

Although finding willing participants for pictures is sometimes challenging.

We also checked out the hay bale maze. This maze was a little more suited for you and Braxton. Aunt Morgan was a little afraid of letting you two loose in the 5 acre corn maze!   It didn’t take long for you to go missing in the hay bale maze. I have to say I panicked for a minute when you went missing. Luckily, you came running, scared of course, when I was calling your name.

There was a “sand box” filled with corn for you and Braxton to play in. This was a big hit!

Braxton loved petting the baby hog. Yes, wild hog.

It really was a great day! I am so thankful Aunt Morgan and I had you and Braxton so close together. We get to spend so much time together. One thing for sure, there is never a dull moment!

Riley Claire – 2 years, 1 month newsletter

Dear Riley,

Hello again! Time is really flying by; it’s hard to believe you are already two. According to Gerber, you are no longer a toddler, but you are a pre-schooler now. I don’t know where they get their information from, but I was very content with you still being a toddler. So Riley, STOP GETTING BIG!  I want my baby back!

Before you were born, I had a vague idea how hard caring for a new baby would be. I knew the first six months or so were really difficult. All the books and websites I read told me this, as well as countless people I knew. One thing no one ever told me was how hard caring for and raising a two-year old would be.

Don’t get me wrong; I love you and love being your Mommy. Please know that.

But, it’s really, really challenging. Draining, mentally and physically. Your physical energy is seemingly endless. For instance, we had over-night guests last night and they slept in your room. Apparently, you are a very light sleeper and were wide awake at 2:00 a.m. until 4:30 a.m. Not only were you awake, I was awake, your Daddy was awake, and our guests were awake. Ok, no big deal, just a couple of hours. We had a very busy day, filled with a parade and a pumpkin patch. I was certain, very certain, you would take a wonderful nap this afternoon, and as a consequence I could take a wonderful nap this afternoon. False. False. False. Riley, you had other plans. You napped for maybe 30 minutes, and have been wide awake since. No amount of coaxing, threatening, or singing could get you to take a nap. I was very frustrated, and mad. How awful is that? Looking back, I should have scooped you up and played with you during those hours I was laying around mad that I couldn’t take a nap. It goes without saying, that a lot of the time, I am not Mother-of-the-Year material.

Sometimes you eat very little for days at a time. That is very frustrating! As your Mother, I instinctively want to nourish your tiny body, and when you don’t eat it makes me crazy! I begin to wonder if something is wrong with you, like maybe food makes your belly hurt, or maybe you have worms (I know, I’m crazy, and this is the mentally draining part I was talking about). I tend to jump to worst-case scenarios in general, and your finicky eating is no exception. Most of the time within a few days you will eat ravenously and more than make-up the lost calories. And believe me, I rest easier at night when you are a good eater.

Regardless of the situation, you usually carry on without a care in the world. I am so proud your Daddy and I can provide you with that. I didn’t have that feeling, and your Daddy certainly didn’t. In any case, I think so far, we have managed to raise you with no major problems. We’ve made big adjustments to our lives, and with you specifically in mind we continue to do so. It’s also fairly apparent that your Daddy and I need to spend time together, alone. This is such a hard task for me! Since I work during the week, I feel like I barely spend any time with you. When the weekend rolls around, you are all I want to think about. Taking that special time away from you brings tears to my eyes even now. I think this is part of me growing as a Mother and a person, and your Daddy and I growing as a couple. You have the best smile in the whole world! I know this particular newsletter seems a little on the negative side, but Riley, I hope you can look past that and understand how much you fill my heart with happiness. I truly try to cherish every minute with you. I not only want to capture and remember the good times we have, but also the more challenging times so we can look back and see how far we have journeyed. Together.

I love you so, so, so much, Riley.

Love, Mama