Christmas photos long past due

Okay, so I know I said sometime around Dec. 31 that I was going to post more pictures from Christmas. Sorry it's taken me so long. This is cute little Riley and Grandma McMurry.

Riley and his great-grandma Mary. Sam and I went up to Oklahoma for a couple of days to visit my relatives over the break. It was fun. Especially the part where my 9-year-old cousin beat me at basketball. That kid is GOOD! Remember me when you're famous, Taylor.
Riley and Grandpa Kelky. Riley slept pretty bad while we were down there, and grandpa rocked him to sleep a few times. I think Grandpa got just as good a nap as Riley out of the deal.

Riley and his one and only cousin, Kathryn. We thought it'd be cute to put them both in a pile of leaves and take a photo. There's only one problem...riley didn't know how to sit up yet. As you can see by the look on his face, he didn't think it was very fun to be sinking deeper and deeper into a pile of leaves and not be able to do anything about it.

Long Time, No Write

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've written, and a lot has been going on in the world of Riley. He LOVES food now. Anytime anyone is eating ANYTHING, he thinks he's supposed to be getting a piece of it. If I eat something in front of him, he looks at me like I'm the rudest person in the world for hogging it all to myself and not sharing it with him.
Thanks to a man at church whom I barely know, Riley now knows what chocolate tastes like. This man thought it'd be pretty fun to give Riley his York peppermint patty, even after Sam told him that he didn't think I'd like it. I rounded the corner at church to find Riley sitting on this man's lap with chocolate all over his face and his once-white shirt covered in brown slobber. He's never going to want to eat vegetables again!

Adventure at Gmom and Pops

We sure did have a great Christmas! The weather was in the 70s almost the entire time we were in Texas. I'll post a few more random Christmas photos for you guys in a day or two.
It was so much fun to be able to see all of our Texas and Oklahoma family and have them meet Riley. We wish we could find a way to move everyone into the same state!
Here are a few pictures of the night before we left. We went to visit Gmom and Pop in Dallas. It was a pretty exciting night. After eating about a pound of baby squash, Riley had, umm... let's call it a violent explosion. We had to bathe him in the sink. As soon as we sat him down, he decided to pee all over the dishes that were laying on the counter and in the other side of the sink. Good thing for disinfectant!

This photo has been censored for your benefit (and for Riley's too!)
Chewing on his hand....as usual. I'm surprised Riley's hand isn't permawrinkled...you know, like your hands look after you get out of the bathtub after a long soak.

New Year's resolutions: Destination, failure?

Here's a little column that I wrote for the newspaper I work for. I figured since I wrote it anyway, I might as well post it.

Every year, millions of Americans decide that the beginning of the New Year is the perfect opportunity to make some much-needed changes in their lives. They vow that this year is the year they are going to lose some weight, become a better person, or stop spending so much money. Most of those people even have every intention of following through with their plan.

I’ve been there many times before. A couple of years ago, I decided that I was going to stop eating so many sweets. I wrote my goal down just before the clock struck midnight, ringing in the New Year. But ten minutes later, a bowl of M&Ms sitting on the counter started calling my name, and that was the end of that resolution.
Most Americans are in the same boat as I am. Research shows that half of the people who make New Year’s resolutions have given them up by June. Although results vary, most surveys put the final mark of failure to keep resolutions right up around 90%.
A top ten list of the most popular New Year’s resolutions includes the following resolutions: Spend more time with family and friends, start exercising, lose weight, learn to enjoy life, quit smoking or drinking, and get out of debt.

While this list is admirable, the simple fact is that most New Year’s resolution setters are destined to fail. So, in an effort to stem the tide of this great tradition of failure, I’ve decided that this year I’m going to set some resolutions that I will actually be able to keep. Here are my top ten New Year’s resolutions for 2006.

10. Get out of bed every day, unless I’m tired or sick, or just feeling lazy.
9. Increase the hours of television that I watch every week to 45. There are a lot of good shows out there that I’ve been missing.
8. Cook less, microwave more. Homecooked meals are too much work. Besides that, food tastes better when it has time to soak in all those radioactive fumes that are emitted when you zap those little plastic containers that microwave dinners come in.
7. Do my part to help the environment by showering a maximum of three times each week.
6. Pick up an annoying habit. I’m debating between biting my nails, becoming proficient on the kazoo, or learning to talk like Fran Drescher.
5. Unorganize all of my drawers. Everything just ends up in a big pile on the floor anyway.
4. Spend more money. What’s the point of saving when you can borrow?
3. Exercise less. It’s pretty much a waste of time and energy.
2. Forget all the useless things that I learned in high school and college. Who cares if pi is equal to r squared? Stupid facts like those are just wasting valuable space in my brain.
1. Relax more and stop worrying if the clothes I’m wearing are dirty or clean. Personal hygiene is so overrated!
With resolutions like these, I’m guaranteed to succeed. I may not succeed with much style, but at least I’ll succeed. And next New Year’s Eve when the clock strikes midnight, that’s more than most of you will be able to say.