The third decade

So today is my 3oth birthday. I am not too sad to see the 20s go. I am very much looking forward to my 30s. I have a feeling I will do a lot of living during this next era of life. Some people are sad to see their 20s leave them, like it's a sign that they are getting old or that their prime time has left them and it's all downhill from here. Not I. I did a lot of living and learning in my 20s. I would not be who I am today without all of the fun, studying, testing, hurting, learning, living, loving, marrying, and birthing. :) So I can leave that second decade behind with a smile on my face.

So 30s, BRING IT ON! I am ready for it. Here are the things I would like to do during this next decade: (because you know how much I love to make lists, by the way, these are not in any certain order)

• finish medical transcription training (hopefully in the very near future)


• stay at home and enjoy Riley's first years


• be a domestic godess :0)


• be a loving, understanding, fun wife


• have a second child


• attend lots of sporting events (Razorbacks, Tigers, and Cardinals)


• go to the beach


• go to Disney World


• take another trip to Europe


• figure out a way to become independently wealthy so Woody and I can be stay at home parents together


• continue growing closer to the Lord who has given me so many things I don't deserve
  

You know there are so many more things I'd enjoy doing, but those are the things that come to mind in 30 seconds (one second for each year I have lived- did you get that terrible attempt at humor?)

Summertime fun

Have I mentioned yet how much I love this summer? With Woody not coaching football (and all of the summer activities that go with it) or baseball, he has been at home more this summer than any other. It has been so nice to have him here day in and day out. August will bring a sad transition for us.

During our fun times, we have been to the pool a couple of times (not counting her Nonna and Poppy's house). Recently, we had a special visitor at our house. If you remember a few years ago, I used to babysit Addison and Alexis. Then they moved back to Texas. :( But they still come visit their grandmother. She is generous enough to let them spend the night with me when they come in for an extended visit. Addison couldn't make it this time, but Alexis did. We cooked out and watch Napoleon Dynamite, then went to the pool the next day.

I was AMAZED at how much she has grown since we saw her at Christmas! She has grown more inches than Riley in those 7 months. (that may be a small exaggeration, but not much as Riley has grown 6 inches and Alexis have grown 5- we won't talk about percentage of growth). Alexis is a full fledged tween. It's so fun to see her growing. I am so glad that they still want to hang out with me after I haven't kept them in 4 years.

Wedding #4

In June, we went to our last wedding of the 'wedding season'. Bradley and Rissa got married in Siloam Springs. It was so pretty and so hot. So we put Riley in her hat and sunglasses to shield her from the heat. The photographer snapped this picture of Riley and Woody. Is that not the sweetest thing?!

Yet more pictures.

More Cardinals pictures...

Sunday Baseball

One of Woody's players gave us two tickets to the game on Sunday. The seats were awesome! We sat in fold-out chairs in the handicap row, so we had a great view, room to stretch, and didn't have to bother anyone when we left our seats.

Yes, I know. Why would you put that little girl in a blue baseball cap? She looks just like a boy. Well, the STL on the hat is in pink, and her outfit is unmistakably a girl's outfit, and we needed to protect that precious face from the sun. She was digging on her sippy cup. She loves some apple juice. This picture was taken before we put the hat on her. Truth be told, the hat was on and off about 4 times since it was cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy, the sunny.... you get the point. She doesn't really mess with her sunglasses when I put them on her. I hope she continues that.

She missed her nap because of the game. But she did make it through the whole game. I thought she might put her head on my chest and take a little bit of a nap, but I was wrong. There was so much for her to look at, and people walking by behind us talking to her, that she was too stimulated to rest. A few different times during the game, she would lean up against me and suck her thumb for about 5 seconds, then get back to talking and looking around. This girl is not lacking in personality.

I love this picture. I think it's a framer. Funny story about our shirts. We got that shirt for Woody a couple of years ago. We went on Saturday to get my first ever Cardinals t-shirt. I really liked this red shirt. Apparently I liked it the most twice since we got back to the hotel room and I saw that Woody had the same shirt in reverse color. I kind of felt silly wearing the same shirt (we aren't one of those couples that tries to match or wear the same thing). But who am I kidding? No one is looking at us, they are all looking at Riley.

Baseball fun

With Woody being at home so much this summer, we have been so busy with family fun that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging. So let's catch up!

Last weekend, we met Crews and Kara in St. Louis to watch a couple of Cardinal's games. Riley got lots of attention with her cuteness.

Did I mention this girl's blue eyes? She thoroughly enjoyed the first 6 innings of the baseball game on Daddy's lap. But after that, it was time for a feeding and bedtime. So Kara, Riley, and I walked back to the hotel while Crews and Woody stayed to watch the last of the game.

She spent a large majority of the time doing the wave by herself. I love this picture. You can tell how intent she is about getting her point across. I'm pretty sure the older couple across the aisle from us didn't see the game because they spent their time looking at her.

You can't tell because of the Snugli, but she had on the cutest little Cardinal's T-shirt. I think she looks better in reds rather than pinks, so we had to get the red one, then put a bow on her head so she didn't get called a boy.

I wish she was more focused in this picture. She rarely sits still, so getting a second shot at this pose just wasn't in the cards.

Of course you have to get the family picture at the stadium. The weather was amazing for us! Saturday night it was about 72 degrees and Sunday it was 75 degrees. (More on Sunday later)

If you are keeping count, you know that we have had 4 trips since Riley has been born, and 3 of those have revolved around baseball. I am officially putting my foot down. Next year, we are only traveling once for baseball, and hopefully that trip will be us going to Florida on spring break. As much as I like the sport of baseball, I do not love it enough to revolve every family vacation around it, as much as Woody would LOVE that.

Blogger break

So it's been a while since I have posted anything. We spent several days at my mom and dad's for our summer 'vacation'. We had so much fun! Riley and I spent most of our time shopping, visiting, and swimming. She did much more napping than me though.

Alex came in for the 4th. It was SO good to see him. We hadn't seen him since Christmas, which was just too long ago. Sometimes seeing someone that I haven't seen in a while reminds me of how much I miss their presence in my daily life. That's what it was like this weekend. I meant to take lots of pictures, but we had so much fun that we forgot to take any pictures. :o( Anyhoo, with him being in Colorado, we truly value each visit we get to have.

Riley enjoyed her first experience in the pool. I'm pretty sure the pool liner was made to match her deep blue eyes. Mom got her a turtle floaty that she enjoyed lounging in. She mainly tried to eat the turtle's head, but what can you do? Everything that hits her hands these days immediately finds itself in her mouth. She also experienced her first fever while we were there. She woke up one morning and didn't look like she felt good, and wasn't acting like she felt good either. She's so happy that it was immediately obvious that something was amiss. I took her temp and it was 101.6. Scary for a first time mom with a first time fever. Luckily, I know people in high places (mom works at Childrens Hospital), so we took her to visit one of the drs there. Her ears were fine (ruled out an ear infection) and it was determined that she probably had a fever virus, which I had never heard of before. Apparently it's a virus that's only symptom is a fever and it goes away within 24 hours. The next morning, she was back to her normal, sweet, happy self. What a relief!

When mom emails me the pictures from her camera, I will post more of our fun. Meanwhile, I will continue posting the lastest exciting things Riley is doing. I will try my best to not got so long in between posts again... because I know there are SO many people out there that are so dissappointed in the lack of posts. Who am I kidding?! :o)