The Riley Family

Now that Kate is 3, she has started to use the big girl toothpaste that she has to spit out. We have been talking it up for months and practicing. She picked out the Cars toothpaste (over princesses!) probably because we had run into Noah at Target, and he is the ultimate Lightning McQueen fan.

For a couple of seconds today, Jack stood up by himself not holding on to anything! It looked like he was thinking about taking a step!

Kate had her first gymnastics class today. Since it is spring break, only 2 of the 4 girls were at class, so Kate and Abbey had a lot of one-on-one time with Coach Luna. The class is 1 hour long, and Anjie is not in the class with her, but Kate really didn't seem to mind. She did everything that Coach Luna asked, and looked like she had a great time. She said her favorite part of class was jumping in the foam pit. Pictures at Picasa .

He turned Jack's car seat around the other day, and he loves looking out! For some reason Kate has decided that she wants to sit in her old one, so J has been enjoying the zebra seat.

The weather has been so great these past few days so we have spent a ton of time outside. We had a record high of 79 degrees yesterday on Kate's birthday. Check out Picasa for more pics.  

We took Jack to Kidsnips this weekend for his first real haircut. The top of his hair was just too long, and it really looked like he had a comb-over going on! He was quite good for Mr. Todd to cut his hair, and he looks very handsome now.

We took a ton of pictures this weekend for Kate's birthday. You can view them at Picasa .

Kate had a wonderful birthday. She is so excited to be 3! Thanks to all of her friends and family who came over and called and sent presents, we really appreciate it! Jack has figured out how to open the screen door, so we have had to move a baby gate to block it off when that door is open. And since it has been nearly 80 degrees the past few days, we have had it open a lot! Jack really seems like he is teething, but so far no teeth have popped up. Hopefully they won't bother him for too much longer. Jack is learning how to drink out of a cup, and it is a messy process! He knows how to drink, but he also knows how to dump the small amount of liquid on his tray and then splash!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Kate! We have been celebrating all weekend, with a party for her friends on Saturday, and our family party yesterday. Today we are letting Kate plan the activities, and she is thinking about going to go feed the ducks. Pictures coming soon.

Jack has the funniest new trick. He thinks it is hilarious to put something in his mouth (a spoon, a cookie, whatever he can find) and crawl away as fast as he can. He looks like a puppy! We are getting excited for Kate's birthday - just a few days away. She is looking forward to being three and all of the new things that come with it... preschool, a new story time at the library, and lots of other classes. Speaking of that, Kate had her last day of ballet this week, and starts gymnastics next week. The class is 1 hour long, and is without mommy (I will be in the waiting room) so we will see how it goes! She is also starting a pre-piano class in a couple of weeks.

My brother-in-law, James, is an author, and has recently completed a new book. He is trying to get it published, and has entered a contest sponsored by Borders. His book is called The Broken Mirror . Please check it out and add your vote . They make you sign up to vote, but it's free. Even if you don't have more than a minute to read the story, if you could vote, that would be awesome. Good luck, James!

It still isn't warm out, but we spent some time in the backyard today playing football, playing with the new playhouse, and doing some early work on the garden (turing over our compost). We have started planting a few things indoors for transplanting in May.  

Jack had a good time playing outside today. His leather Robeez knock off shoes were covered with mud (how did that happen!) so he wore big boy shoes today. The shoes were a gift from one of Paul's cousins, and they were the perfect size. He looks so cute in them!  

Turned out to be just a scratch, but we did take a tour of the Edward Hospital emergency room just to make sure he didn't need glue or stitches. Jack pulled the popcorn maker plug, and it fell from the top shelf, right into his face. Poor little buddy cried and cried and was bleeding, but the cut just above his lip is just a scratch and will be fine with neosporin. It already looks much better today.

Wow, Kate got two super cool birthday presents yesterday, from Mamie and Grandpa and Uncle Shawn. Since both came in very obvious big boxes, K really wanted to put them together. So, K now has a big play house outside, and a new vanity for inside. Thank you!! More pics at Picasa .

We took Kate to the doctor yesterday, but it was rather pointless. Doc L just said she has a regular cold and that she needs to deal with it. She is feeling much better now, although she still uses her whining voice much of the day :(.

It doesn't seem possible, but Jack turned 11 months old yesterday. It was a beautiful, warm day (and Kate took a 5 hour nap in the afternoon) so we spent just a ton of time outside playing, swinging, and one of us eating mud. Jack is instantly dirty when he goes outside, he loves to explore in the grass, mulch, of course mud. Here are some other pics .

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Riley. We hope you have a great day!

Kate slept nearly all day yesterday. Sadly, she missed all the nice weather. Her fever has been gone a couple of days, but she has a horrible cough. The cough is so violent that she has even spit up some from coughing. She has also had hives the past couple of days - the poor thing is all itchy. We are taking her to the doctor this afternoon to see if there is anything else we can do.

Once again, Kate had the flu. This time it was the respiratory version, so no throwing up, thank God. Still, she was pretty miserable. She had a high fever (~104) for almost 3 days. Yesterday she was almost back to herself, and today even better, but still a little grumpy. One more reason we can't wait for spring!

Jack loves to jump on the trampoline! And he usually remember to go feet first to get off.

Happy Saturday! It is supposed to be almost 60 today! Hooray - hopefully we will spend lots of time outside doing bike rides.

Since Kate has been sick and sleeping a lot the past couple of days, Jack and I have had lots of time to play. He is very funny and loves to play race games too... wonder where he gets it :). We have already taught him to try to get away at the sound of the 'Jaws' music. His new fav game to to crawl around and around a chair (or shelves at the library) and play a tag/hide and seek game.

It is so great to see - the tulips are coming up! Last spring I bought dozens from the park district and planted them all around the yard this fall. And just yesterday they started to come up.

Kate loves to play dress up. Lately this has been her fav costume. She thinks it is Tinkerbelle, but I am not sure. Kate is so excited to have her own umbrella - she has been wanting one for ages.

The day started off great - some dino races, shopping for house stuff, then 2 hours outside in the sun! Yeah, it was only about 40, but the sun was soooo warm. Kate, Noah, and Jake had a great time bike riding and trying to melt the remaining snow piles. Jack took a super long nap in the car. So anyway, it was a great day until about 2:30 as we were about to go inside, Kate just freaked out! She started crying and whining. We went to run an errand and she fell asleep around 3, and has been asleep since. She woke up for a few minutes at 7, just wanting to put on her jammies and brush her teeth. Hopefully she will be able to sleep this off!

We have been talking about switching from my frontpage site for a few months now, but last night after I updated my website, our PC died. So, I am checking out some new products to see what should be the next version of the site. I am kind of bummed since I had invested so much time and energy into the old one, but perhaps this will give me a clean slate!