new chair & other news

A friend of mine is letting me borrow this little chair for Riley. Her son's legs have gotten too big and don't fit through the slots anymore, so for the mean time Riley gets to enjoy the chair and practice her "sitting up" skills. Since she is not a fan of "tummy time" and will probably fail that part of her "proper development" test, we can at least work on her "holding herself up in a chair" abilities... :) Tyler and I stick her in it and just laugh. Cheap entertainment, I know, but seriously, we invite you all to come over and watch with us as Riley sits in her chair. It is really quite hilarious. Okay, so most of you won't think it's as funny as we do, but still, a little midget person sitting in a blue squishy chair with her arms flailing all around and letting out little coo's here and there...what could be better?

In other news Riley had her first photo shoot last week. My friend Stephanie took a bunch of naked shots of Riley for her 3 month mark in life and I can hardly wait to see them. Other than her peeing all over me, she did great and Stephanie was even able to get some shots of her smiling. I will try to post a few when I get them back in a few weeks.

We also had a visit from Grandma Denton last Friday. No pictures to post, but Tyler's Mom came up for the day to see Riley and we met Tyler for lunch and had a nice visit. We were very glad to see her and hope to see her again soon.

Tyler and I had another date last Friday night. Some friends came over after I put Riley to bed and we went to one of our favorite spots, the Village Books Cafe in Fairhaven. Sadly, we got there at 8:30 not knowing it closed at 9, so we had to gulp down our drinks after we heard the overhead announcement telling us to go home. So we did what any new parent who is starving for some time alone would do - we went home after a whole hour-long date. What a new life we lead!

The other big news is that we left Riley in the nursery at church for the first time this past Sunday. We seriously contemplated heading down the road for some coffee, but decided against that and instead I spent the whole church service with my eyes glued to the monitor at the front, waiting for the number "503" to flash, telling me that Riley was desperately in need of her Mom. Much to my surprise (and I'll admit, disappointment), her number did not flash and when we picked her up after the service, they sung her praises and said she even took a nap for them! We were very impressed (although it doesn't take much these days!)That's all for now and I hope you are all enjoying this amazing sunshine.

sun-bathing & thumb-sucking

Happy Valentine's Day!

12 on 12 (2/12)

This is a project that was started by Kristen's sister-in-law Rebekah. Check out the blog she made here to view other people's photo projects. It is really 10 on 10 (10 photos on the 10th of each month) but I forgot about it this past Sunday, so I improvised and did 12 on 12. I will remember next month! I invite others to participate in this project. I had fun with it today and hopefully my photography skills will improve with the practice of this monthly commitment. Here is a quick summary of my pictures...washing dinner dishes from the night before, Riley napping peacefully, drive to Birch Bay to meet Tyler for lunch, lunch with all 3 of us, drive home in the rain, walk through Cornwall Park, Valentine's Day cards from my Mom in the mail, feeding/playing with Riley on the couch, some time to read while Riley naps, tacos for dinner, reading to Riley before bed then finally a movie and some time with Tyler.

3 months & two miles

It is late and I just fed and put Riley to bed and I have dishes piled up high in the kitchen...but I really wanted to get this post up today! I've been thinking about it all day and haven't managed to make the time until now. Today Riley is 3 months old. She weighs 13 lbs and 4.5 oz. And yes, every half of an ounce counts! I wasn't able to measure her, but I'm thinking she's around 25 inches long. So that keeps her in the 75% for weight and about 90% for her height. She's put on almost 1 1/2 lbs since her 2 month checkup, so she's right on track. She smiles all the time, has started to laugh more frequently and "talks" so much. I tried to videotape it today, but she somehow became camera shy and wouldn't perform. It is wonderful to hear her little voice though! I never realized how much fun it would be to just sit and have a little conversation with her.


Today also marks the first day of my 12 week training for the Vancouver Half Marathon. I am very much a goal-oriented person, so I knew I needed a race to help get me back into shape. I only ran two miles today, but oh my goodness did it hurt. Not to mention I had Doc with me and was pushing Riley in the stroller. I would not recommend that combination for the first run back after almost a YEAR of not running. I have run a marathon as well as several half marathons before, so 2 miles would normally be a walk in the park. I'm too ashamed to tell you all how long it actually took me to complete 2 miles, not to mention the fact my heart was burning along with every other inch of my body after just 5 minutes. So my goal for this race is to finish it, (preferably under two hours), but I'm thinking I need to extend some much needed grace to myself and probably just stick with the goal of finishing it. I will keep you updated on my training as time goes along, as well as the results of my race. It is Sunday May 4 in Vancouver, B.C. if anyone else feels like running???

Happy Birthday Doc!

Today Doc is 2 years old! We've had Doc for a little over a year and a half. Doc truly found us, just as much as we found him...we talked about getting a dog off and on but still hadn't decided if we wanted the extra responsibility and endless amounts of dog hair to invade our home. We were in Spokane in May of 06 for Tyler's dad's funeral and Doc was a neighbor to our friends the Oranen's. He was still just a little pup and hadn't found a home yet, so he'd wander over to the Oranen's house and make himself at home on their front porch. As Tyler spent a lot of time at the Oranen's house during the time we were in Spokane, Tyler came to love Doc, and Doc seemed to take a liking to Tyler. After only a few brief conversations, we decided that Doc was going to be our dog so we picked him up after Dave's funeral. We had no idea how to be dog parents and didn't have a single item for him, but during the drive back to Bellingham I instantly fell in love, as he slept curled up on my lap the whole way. He was originally named "Dock" but we liked the idea of his name being "Doctor" and now call him Doc. It has been an extremely fitting name, as he truly helped bring healing to our hearts during a time of deep sorrow after the death of Dave. We love him so much and he has been a great older brother to Riley (although he probably isn't too fond of the idea of another little being in the house, sucking up all our attention).

The picture on the left was taken when he was just a little guy and the one on the right is him this past summer on the beach. Sidenote: Doc's favorite past time is chasing seagulls on the beach, and yes, he truly does believe that he can catch them. It is quite a sight to see him racing through the waves at mach-one after the seagulls.