Backyard Camp Out

Tonight, Jeff decided to surprise Rilyn after dinner with a backyard camp out. It was so cute to see how excited she was to go hang out in the tent. It was a beautiful night with a crescent moon and lots of stars to help make the atmosphere even more real. We sat in the tent with some "friends" reading books and using our flashlights. Unfortunately, we forgot to get marshmallows to complete the whole camping adventure, but they will definitely be a must the next time. It seemed like we were really camping too, with the sound of our waterfall in the background. What a cool idea Dada! I am sure we will hear about this for quite awhile.

Girls Night Out

It is so nice having so many of my girlfriends in town for spring training because it gives me a reason to get out the house and have a little fun. Last night us girls met in Scottsdale for sushi, drinks and dessert, it was fabulous! We all agreed, Jackie's new hairdo is a definite fashion statement....LOL ;) Thanks girls for a great night, and thank you to Jeff for staying in with the kids so that this was possible.

New Independence

Yesterday, Rilyn announced that she had to go to work. Next thing we knew she had gotten a hold of one of Jeff's travel coffee mugs and started heading out the door. It was so cute to see her drinking out of the mug, mimicking what she sees Daddy do when he is heading to work. Not only is Rilyn off to "work" these days, but she has started dressing herself as well. Little Miss Independence now lives in our home. Having her morning coffee before heading to work.Here's an example of Rilyn's fashion style. She put on her swim top, bell bottom pants and "tap" shoes. I wonder if Heidi Klum will come knocking anytime soon? Another example, but this time she decided to wear every piece of jewelry she owns as well as picking out the bows for her hair. You can't tell, but she has on one giraffe print bow and one zebra print bow, another fashion statement. Looks like Emerson is getting in on the independence action around here too!

Dada's Little Helper

Lately, I have been working quite a bit. Jeff has decided he could use a little extra help around the house and has enlisted Rilyn. Yesterday his little helper fed Emerson a bottle and helped clean the window screens by spraying them down with water. It is really cute to see how involved Rilyn has become with helping out in so many ways. She is such a great big sister!

Fun With Pat and Glen

Our friends, Pat and Glen, are in town visiting, and I have to say we sure kept them busy in the two days they stayed with us. They ran around with Rilyn, reading books, baking cookies and playing "Boop". To say they earned their keep is an understatement. Within those two days they not only cleaned up Rilyn's "accident", helped with meals, did the dishes and on top of it all babysat the kids on Sunday morning. Jeff had to make a trip to Immediate Care at 9am that morning with chest pain. Luckily the EKG came back showing that his heart was fine, but they needed to do further tests to diagnose the problem. I began to panic, considering I had to be at work at 11am, and Jeff called saying he was no where near being close to coming home. Our friends were so generous to offer to watch the kids, and as you all know this isn't a small task. Jeff's tests came back, showing that he had costochondritis, which is an inflammation of the cartilage joining the ribs to the breast bone. Thank God he finally was able to go home and relieve Pat and Glen. The funny part of all of this is that Pat and Glen were the couple who hosted us for the last month of this past season. We were so grateful to have them come stay with us to try and repay them for all they had done for us, and in turn we now owe them even more!! Thank you guys so much, we hope this stay didn't discourage you from coming back again! We promise we don't normally make our house guests work. Here's Pat with Rilyn reading the cool 3-D fish book they brought for her.

These cookies turned out looking really good considering both Pat and Glen are artist, good thing I didn't help with the decorating.

Here's Emerson, just being happy old Emerson.

Buffalo Friends

We are so lucky this year in that the Cleveland's organization has moved their spring training from Florida out here to Arizona. It's great because this way we still get to see all our friends from the last two seasons. With everyone here now for spring training and our great friends, Pat and Glen in town, we decided to have a dinner party so that we all could be together. We all had a great time catching up, eating, and doing what we do best, drinking wine. It's just too bad everyone is only here for such a short while.Here, Adam made sure to "include" Larkin in the picture......(We missed you Girl, can't wait until you get out here.)

Bathroom Backfire

I can officially say that I feel Rilyn is FINALLY potty trained, with the exception of a couple accidents. My friend, Kelsey, gave me the best advice in suggesting we always kept Rilyn in panties, even when out of the house. This has definitely made the difference, and now she is only in pull-up diapers at nap and nighttime. With that said, the other night her being potty trained backfired on me. I allowed Rilyn to take a shower with me, since we didn't have time for a bath (bath sessions usually last over a half hour). During our shower, Rilyn tells me "hurry Mama, I have to go potty." Considering we are both soaking wet, I explain to her that when we are in the shower it is okay to go pee-pee since it is flushed down the drain. This was not an acceptable answer to her. She began to argue with me that "no Mama, I go pee-pee on the potty". It was at that point that I realized she definitely is potty trained! What a scene it must have been of us "two naked babies" dripping wet, rushing to the potty. :)

What A Strong Girl

Emerson is getting stronger and stronger each day. It is amazing to me how much faster she is at sitting up assisted, holding her head up and rolling over compared to Rilyn, but she is much, much bigger. She is really enjoying her play mobiles and gyms and especially eating her fists. She is definitely a little ham too, always flashing a smile. Not a cute picture of Emerson, but Rilyn is loving that Emerson is becoming more interactive as you can see.

Here, Rilyn decided we should have story time for Emerson and all her "friends". It was so cute reading to them all and Emerson seemed to blend right in.

Wow, That Was(n't) Embarracing!

As a mother I have learned that there are many times you sacrifice your embarrassment for the sake of disciplining your child. Yesterday was a perfect example of this. I was at the grocery store with Rilyn and she suddenly wouldn't stop crying and whining. I kept asking her what was wrong and if she wanted me to push her in the cart or walk. She wouldn't stop making a scene so I decided to threaten her with a timeout (thought that would do the trick). Anyways, she continued to cry even harder and unfortunately I have to stick by my word. I decided to have her sit at the end of the aisle in "timeout", while I turned my back and walked halfway down the same aisle, ignoring her for a couple minutes. This back-fired because not only did it cause her to freak out more dramatically and loudly, but at this point people were really starting to stare, wondering why this little girl was sitting on the floor screaming and especially why I wasn't doing anything about it. I was totally that mom yesterday, that everyone was looking at. It was at this point that I decided I wasn't even embarrassed, I was just angry. It's funny how once you have situations like these you really realize that only other mother's can understand and not judge you. Also, you start wondering when you stopped caring what people think of you!

Are You Impressed??

I have to say, I don't know who has been enjoying the playdoh more lately, Rilyn or me. I just wanted to post these pictures to show you all my skills at playdoh sculpting, just in case any of you wonder who to pick for your team when playing Cranium....
Pretty darn good, huh!Here's our little angel resting, she looks so peaceful. Her pack'n'play is now padded with some pillows and she is really enjoying this new "heaven bed".

Infamous Bald Spot

Emerson's bald spot is in full effect these days. Rilyn had the same thing with her hairline around this time. It looks so funny because from the front you would never know there was no hair on the back side. Luckily, it should only last a short time before her hair should start filling back in.Atleast her big sister doesn't seem to mind.....