SPI

Two days after Riley's birthday we set off for our annual family vacation (with my parents and sister) at South Padre.  We drove from Houston and had mentally prepared ourselves for a tough trip with a 4 month old, but Reese did so so well!  There and back she woke only when she was starting to get hungry and fussed a combined total of like 40 minutes.  It was such a blessing!!

I can sum up our trip with just a few words.  Fun, Sun, Sand, Laughter, Food, and lots of Relaxing!

So it took my lens alot longer to aclimate to the humidity than I thought it would so alot of my photos are very hazy.  Boo :(  And fair warning, photo overload below.


Our little sand crab!

My sweet mom held Reese anytime she got tired of being in her seat or on the beach towel.  So thankful for helping hands!!




We played ALOT of paddleball.








Riley loved feeding and chasing the seagulls.





Digging for pirates treasure :)

Riley's party

We had such a fun time celebrating Riley's 3rd birthday! This year it worked out that her party was on her actual birthday.  Riley still loves all things Dora so we had a Dora swim party at a local neighborhood pool.  (Sidenote: its a fun, casual pool, this is our first summer to get a membership and we have really enjoyed it!)




Riley's birthday started out by waking up to this fun surprise from mommy and daddy.

A dollhouse!


Mommy made some fun sprinkle pancakes


Nana and Papa come over and bring their gift.  A big girl bike!


After a day of relaxing at home, its finally party time! 


We swam.



We ate pizza.



Ate cake.
(check out her super "dora" cake. Ha. Mommy fail. I love costco cake so I ordered a cake from costco but a cake without dora on it was no good. So I improvised and bought dora, diego and boots figurines to place on the cake. well, they kept face planting. So I kept pushing them back into the cake, deeper and deeper. Notice they are up to their waist in cake :) Note to self. Don't be so cheap and order a true dora cake even if it doesn't taste as good as costco's. :)



The first thing she did was grab her dora and diego. She loved them and thats what counts! (We still play with these things almost daily a month and half later)



Reese slept and swam some.


I found some fun water squirt toys for favors. THey were a hit.
Riley loved letting her balloons fly after her party was over.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We love you!

Riley is 3!!

Sweet Riley is three!  What a wonderful blessing and joy she is! 



She had her well check a few weeks after her birthday and everything looked great.
Riley is 38" tall (65%) and weighed in at 28 lb 6 oz (25%).  The doctor used my height, Clay's height and Riley's current growth to estimate she will be 5'6" tall.  Fun!  Just a tiny bit taller than me.

I asked Riley a few questions and want to try to do this with each birthday!  (idea stolen from Paige :) and Pinterest)

Favorite color? purple...and blue and pink.  even sivar and goad (silver and gold)
Favorite toy?  Diego...and dora
Favorite fruit?  strawberries and peaches
Favorite tv show? Dora and Diego...and Mickey Mouse and Word World...and Winnie the pooh (she has seen Winnie one time? ha)
Favorite thing to eat for lunch? waffles ??we have never had this for lunch :)
Favorite outfit? my polka dot dress that Nana gave me.  I weared it a long day.*
Favorite game? Candyland
Favorite snack? Cheddar bunnies
Favorite animal? ducks and chickens, just chickens
Favorite song? I don't know.  (after a few more prompts) He's got the whole world in his hands
Favorite book? Feely bugs, Get Dressed with Dora and Clifford
Who is your best friend? Bubba
Favorite cereal? Lucky charms and Peanut Butter Puffs
Favorite thing to do outside?  Play chase
Favorite thing to do inside? play dollhouse
Favorite drink? lucky charm milk  ha!
Favorite holiday? I don't know
What do you like to take to bed at night? Diego and monkey and 'raff (her giraffe lovey)
Favorite thing for dinner? pancakes, sometimes at Nana and Papa's we eat pancakes.  this is true but never for dinner :)
Favorite dessert?  marshmellows
What do you want to be when you grow up? Riley: "A princess, tell me who"  Me: "Who?"  Riley: Princess Belle

*"I weared it a long day"-  Riley has been saying "a long day" for past events and she uses it for anything from yesterday to things that happened months ago. 
Example: "I go to school a long day." "mommy took me ____ a long day"

She also uses "all the day long" to mean all day.  Example: She will tell Clay "I missed you all the day long"  "We played all the day long"

We LOVE this!! So cute!

Asking these questions made me realize a few things. 
- She is indecisive...like her momma :)
- She loves breakfast foods...like her momma
- I need to make her pancakes more often
- I love this age!!! (I already knew this but this was a fun reminder)

Next blog will be her birthday party. :)

bath time

We usually give Reese a bath in her little infant tub over the kitchen sink but every now and then Clay floats her around the big bathtub.  She loves it!

Notice it is usally a whole family affair.  Not pictured is Scout.  He is usually right at my feet during bath time. :)






and a pic of Riley too!

June photo dump...

Such similar faces here!


















Great grannie visits!!