Two new hobbies

I have been slowly saving $ to make a purchase for my newest interest. Well, a few weeks back my sweet husband decided that since hunting season was now pretty much over, he would trade me $. Basically we both get "fun" or "blow" money that we can do with as we please. (We both have been saving up, but he had quite a bit more saved than me.) Clay wants a new shotgun, I wanted something that will shoot but not kill. Enter my new camera!!!

I am so excited to start learning more about taking great photographs. I plan on taking a class or two, and I will just practice practice practice shooting. My goal is to create beautiful images for and of our family (I will be thrilled if I learn to shoot even 1/2 as well as Shannon or Allison.) My favorite subject will of course be Riley, followed by Clay and Scout too! I have already learned quite a bit in just the week since I've owed the camera! I will soon post some pics I took over the weekend. Oh, and those of you who are concerned...(Dad )...the $ I save from now on will go towards Clays shotgun and by next season he will be picking out a perfect new shotgun. He is not being mistreated! :) I promise!!

My second new hobby, please don't laugh, is sewing. Haha! Yep, I want to learn to sew. Nothing big or major, just small things here and there. My mom was sweet enough to run me back through the basics this weekend while we were in visiting. (Home ec in high school was my last run-in with a sewing machine.) She also kindly donated her old beast of a sewing machine to my cause. It worked perfectly and I even made my first project, a burp cloth for Riley. We cannot get enough of those things around here. I had so much fun making it and it turned out great. But you will have to trust me on this, as I did not take any pics.

Tabletop

Riley is learning to push herself onto her hands and knees. I thought this was a fun video. I grabbed the camera after seeing her do this several times, so at the first of the video she is just working up the energy and frustration to push her self up!

7 months old!

What a fun baby Riley is! I am so amazed at how much growing and changing she does over the course of each month. Clay and I are having such a great time with our sweet girl!

Riley is getting to be very, very active. I had the hardest time taking her pictures this month. Riley did NOT want to sit still! :) She wanted to pet Scout, she wanted to twist and turn, and most of all she wanted out of the chair. I was having to take the pictures with one hand stretched out in front of me, so that when she decided to try to get down, I would catch her before the hard floor did. (Don't worry, she never fell. After our quick photo session, I finally took her off the chair...she looks kindof relieved. )


Here are some of the things she is up to:

-She is making many noises. (Still no true sounds, but lots of zzzphfff's and zzizss's).
-She can pull herself onto her hands and knees. She can then rock a small bit before flattening out.
-She grabs for objects and can move toys from one hand to another.
-She is starting to look at me for reactions. (Ex. The other day she was sitting up and toppled over, she quickly looked over at me. And was fine for a few seconds, but as soon as I said "oops" she started crying.
-She loves to hit tables with her hands or bang her toys around.
-And she can stand up on her own while holding onto our ottoman. (Not for long though)

We love you Riley!

Pears!

By popular demand (aka Nana and Papa), to compare with yesterday's green bean video, I have posted one of Riley enjoying her yummy pears!

Green beans and details

So I've had several people ask me for more specifics about my baby food making. There are so many good resources out there, and I think that making home-made baby food is becoming increasingly popular. I love making the food and it is so easy! Below I have listed exactly what I use and how I make the basic purees.

But first a video. Riley tried green beans for the first time a few nights ago. It was so funny, I think she was expecting something sweet like pears and so when she tasted these she got quite a shock!

On to baby food making. Here are the products that make this an easy process.

1. A steamer. There are many types of steamers and Williams Sonoma even has a combo steamer/blender just for making baby food. This is the steamer we got as a wedding gift and it works great!

2. A food processor. I use a small 4 cup processor and it is the perfect size for making Riley's food.

3. Ice cube trays with lids for freezing the food. Ice cube trays are great because each cube of food is approx. 1 ounce. So I know about how much food I feed Riley each time. The trays I have are bpa free and they have silicon bottoms which makes popping the frozen food out so easy.

4. Freezer storage containers. I use little plastic containers that are freezer-safe and have rubber around the seal to keep out freezer smells and such. I have seen these trays at The Container Store and at Crate and Barrel.

5. Erasable Food Storage Labels. I use these labels to label the storage containers in the freezer (what type of food and when it was made).

Most of these items came from my mom and dad for Christmas, they did a great job this stuff out. Mom thought of everything, including the very helpful labels!

**Just a little disclaimer, I totally used to think moms who made their own baby food were a little out there. However, now that it is "my child" and I know a little bit more about it, I think differently. :) Here are a few reasons I do what I do. 1. I know what goes in Riley's food (no preservatives, no additives, and I can choose organic.) 2. Its cheap. 3. Its easy (I can make enough food to last Riley all week, in the matter of about 35 minutes. 4. Riley is and will get a variety of foods. I haven't looked at the jarred baby food much but when I did, I saw basically the same 4-5 foods. There are so many interesting foods that I didn't realize babies could eat (mango, cantaloupe, kiwi, papaya, pumpkin, just to name a few) And 6. I have fun doing this for my sweet daughter!

Commitment Ceremony

Riley's parent commitment ceremony was on January 26 at Houston's First Baptist Church. It was such a sweet, sweet ceremony and we are grateful for the friends and family who were there to support us.

These pictures are from the reception before the ceremony.

Notice, Riley looking a wee bit tired? Yeah and the pic below is just before she spit up ALL over herself, her white dress and dad. (Luckily it was Dad holding her, he was so calm and casual about it!)

My mom with Riley, who kept wanting to play with the grass!

Below are pics from the actual ceremony. The pre-school ministry does a great job making the night special and they even sent a dvd with all the pics they had taken during the ceremony.

Riley we love you and are so very committed to raising you in a loving home that knows and loves Jesus! We are so grateful to be blessed and trusted with such an amazing gift as Riley.

Fun with friends

Riley has been enjoying her time with some friends.

First, are pictures of Riley hanging out with Evan. Evan is Matt and Lauren's sweet baby boy, he is just a few months younger than Riley. Please excuse the very blurry pictures (I had my camera on a funky setting.)

Next, is Riley's good friend Pax. Pax is Kevin and Kari's precious 3 month old baby boy. Riley and Pax have been meeting up each week for awhile now. I just LOVE Pax's hair!

And last is Riley's very best friend. Scout!

Riley all your friends are boys, we need to find some girl friends!! (It seems everyone we know has had or is going to have a boy.)

Yumm!

At Riley's 6 month appointment our doctor told us we could start giving Riley solid food! How exciting. So far, we have tried sweet potatoes, avocado, and now we are on to pears. Pears are by far her favorite. I am making all of Riley's food and I have to say I love doing this! It is so easy and I know exactly whats she's getting (no preservatives and weirdly named additives.)

Riley's first try at solids happened to be while we were in Ft. Worth for a wedding. My mom and dad really enjoyed seeing this milestone first hand. Since then she has become a pro at eating and really enjoys playing and eating in her highchair (thanks mom and dad!)

Oh and for anyone who may be interested, I am using The Baby Bistro cookbook and the awesome website www.wholesomebabyfood.com. Both have been amazing resources for what foods to give, when to try them, and how to prepare them.

Pro pictures

We had Riley's six month photos taken a few weeks back by the same wonderful photographer that did her newborn pictures. Brittani, the photographer, and her husband are so fun and they make things easy by coming to our house. Unfortunately, it was sooo cold outside so we didn't get any outdoor pics. But these turned out fabulous!! Here is the link to her blog for the sneak peek!

http://www.brittanilouise.com/blog/



*I have been slacking on my blog posting and have several posts to update. Hopefully I will get around to those soon. I am just enjoying Riley so much right now, and I haven't really wanted to be on the computer.