Hit 'em, wreck 'em Texas Tech!

(Excuse our terrible flowerbed...we have a newborn! And no time to garden! :)

Go Tech! We are so excited to deck out little miss Riley in her Tech gear. This was her first outfit she ever received...mom and dad knew we'd want our little one to represent! :)

We are looking forward to seeing Tech play for the first time this season and are anxiously awaiting tonights game against Texas (ugghh...let the nerves begin)! There is not a single Tech fan I know that isn't nervous days before each football game. I think that stems from not ever knowing what Tech will do. We could show up and blow it out of the park or....well lets not talk/think about the other scenerio. Go Raiders Go!

(ARRRGGG...Our little Red Raider Pirate...please don't judge. We are not terrible parents, I promise!)

Two months old!

Wow! We simply cannot believe our precious baby is already two months old. She is so amazingly beautiful and wonderful! I cannot stare at her enough.

Here are few things we are noticing now:

-Riley is smiling often. My favorite are the huge both-gums-showing-stick-out-the-toungue smiles.
-She loves to hang out on the changing table with out her diaper. She will stretch and stretch, kick around and do little mini-bridge push ups.
-She has gained a lot more control of her neck. It is quite strong now.
-She can track and follow objects and toys for a long time and at a longer distance. She loves her elephant mobile and will follow it round and round.
-She has begun to coo and "talk" more.
-She can put weight on her legs and will kindof stand up on our stomach.


She makes me laugh daily with her cute, funny, sometimes very grumpy faces. She is mostly very sweet but if she gets hungry watch out. If she does get upset she can work herself up quickly and can take awhile to calm down. Patience is not her best feature right now! :)




Riley we love you and pray for you daily.

On the road again

A few weeks back, we ventured out for Riley's first road trip. Clay had some work to do in DFW so we decided to stay a few extra days with my family. Well the 4.5 hour trip there was treacherous but on the way home Riley slept almost the whole way.

So I was hopeful when we set out again to Glen Rose for Labor day weekend. It started smoothly but quickly went downhill. Riley does great if I'm in the back near her, not so much if I ride up front. Sooo...Clay is our road trip chaufer from now on. I need to start bringing dvds to watch! :)

Once there we enjoyed a quiet relaxing weekend with my parents. (Clay loves Glen Rose, he has such a hard time relaxing in Houston...work is always on the brain. Not to mention how incredibly and wonderfully helpful mom and dad are with Riley) Clay golfed with my dad, went kayaking with dad and even managed to hunt a bird and a bat (crazy and gross I know, but he was so proud!) All the while I laid out by the pool.

We will be headed back again soon for one of Clay's good friends wedding...we just can't get enough of Hwy 290 and Hwy 6!

Clay

I knew from the moment I ever thought about us having children that Clay would be the most amazing dad, but he has proved to be better than I ever imagined!! He has fallen head over heals for Riley and loves her so much! One of my favorite sights is seeing her in her daddy's arms. There is something so special about seeing a big strong man holding such a sweet delicate baby...melts my heart.

Not only has he taken such good care of Riley, but me too. He has been so patient and loving with me and has really been solid for me to lean on. Thanks for being a kind, gentle, patient, honest, fun-loving, hard-working, God fearing husband and father. We love you more and thank God for you each day.

Two month checkup a little early

7 weeks old


I forgot to mention a few things about Riley's two month checkup. Other than her relux, Riley is doing really well. She is growing and developing and changing every day. She weighed in at almost 9 pounds, officially 8 lbs 15.5 ounces! This still puts her in the 15% range. She grew another inch and measured 22.5 inches tall, 50%. And her head was , also 15%.


Her neck is getting stronger each day and she is smiling more and more (well on her good days anyways.) Riley got two shots this time and just like last time Clay had to leave our appointment a little early. He got to miss shot time (lucky!) The first shot she let out a small cry, but the second was bad. It was one of those silent screams (mouth wide open but no noise is coming out for 30 seconds) followed by her loudest cries.

Oh and Riley is now able to track toys from side to side for several seconds and seems to focus better!

Glimmer of hope

Well things have been kindof touch and go at the Graham household lately. Poor Miss Riley had a few good days mixed in with many bad, bad days over the past two weeks. While the Prevacid (reflux medicine she's on) helped take the edge off of her pain and discomfort, she still was incredibly uncomfortable and at times unable to sleep more than about 30-45 minutes in a day.

It is sooo hard to see your baby in such pain and not be able to immediately fix her or help her. So back to the doctor we went. We went ahead and had her two month appointment a little early (fun insurance issues) and so that we could take the next step with her reflux issues.

In the past, each time we ventured out to see Dr. Shuman no matter how fussy she had been at home, as soon as we got to the doctors office she calmed down and seemed like the worlds easiest baby. This time I was almost glad she was fussy, just so the doctor could see exactly how she squirmed and how she became inconsolably uncomfortable. Our doctor recommended we give Riley another medicine, bethanycol (not sure if spelled correctly). So far this has really, really seemed to help. In fact she is back to taking naps, granted they are still not in her crib on her back, but horray for small victories. I have no doubt that once she gets comfortable and healed, she will sleep really good on her own. In the meantime I will just enjoy and cherish the time she is spent permanently attached and asleep on me.

One month checkup

Riley had her one month checkup on Tuesday (yes we were a week late, read why below.) She is growing, growing! Our sweet girl weighed in at 8 pounds exactly (25%), 21 inches long (50%) and her head was 14 (10%). She is really starting to fill out and I actually had to put away all of her preemie clothes!

We seemed to have run into a rough patch lately, Riley has been well, she's been miserable. She is constantly uncomfortable, grimacing, and squirming and very gassy. (She has always been slightly squirmy and grunted alot, but just in the last week or so she has gotten miserable.) She is so uncomfortable she will not lay on her back whatsoever. And she has begun to not like the reclining position as well (so no more swing/bouncer, etc.) She is not sleeping well at all because she is so uncomfy and will cry/shriek in pain. This is very hard to Clay and I to watch and nothing much we do seems to help.

I was extremely upset last Wednesday, so I talked to the nurses at the Dr's office and took her to see Dr. Shuman on Thursday. We decided it was probably reflux but changing my diet might fix the problem. So I learned that I should cut out all dairy, citrus, tomatos, broccoli, and...(this is terrible)...chocolate. (Yikes, dieting again??) But I will do anything to make this little lady feel better. So we decided to postpone her 1 month checkup for a week to see if this diet change made any difference. Well, in some ways it seemed to help but others got worse. So on Tuesday, Dr. Shuman prescribed some medicine for Riley and so far things are looking better. She doesn't seem to be nearly as comfortable. And she actually laid down on her back two days in a row!!! Granted it was only like 30-40 minutes...but we will celebrate the small things! :) The pictures below are of our napping victory (notice Riley with celebratory hands raised.)

One month old!

Wow, I was talking with Clay this morning about our precious baby girl and neither of us can believe that a whole month has gone by since we were sitting in the hospital waiting to meet her. The days have zoomed by so speedy and we have loved and cherised each day with this precious little girl.

We love watching the funny faces she makes when stretching, hearing the funny noises she makes when nursing, and seeing her beautiful eyes take in the world on our walks. Everyone tried to tell me that the love for your daughter/son is different, but nothing prepared me for this. I am 100% in love with Riley and did not know that I could love someone so much. I melt everytime I see her, especially when she's in her daddy's arms.

Riley, you are an amazing blessing from God, one that we prayed for years before your arrival. We cannot wait to see you grow and change for months and years to come!

Riley did not want to make her one month pictures easy!

Brief moment of calmn...then

out! But as soon as I get her in her crib...

wide awake!