It's just not the same

So now that Riley is older an an extremely active little boy, I've noticed that I have a brand-new dilemma in my life. When in the world do mothers of almost-one-year-old boys use the bathroom?
Every time I look like I'm thinking about heading in the direction of our porcelin throne, Riley seems to know about it. I think he's a mindreader. It's a race to see who can get to the bathroom first, and Riley usually wins. Then, the next ten minutes consist of me trying to pry his strong little fingers off the door frame (or if I'm lucky off the toilet seat--thus lengthening the process because I have to disinfect his hands), picking him up and plucking him down at a safe distance from the bathroom. I run back as fast as I can so I can close the door without worrying about slamming his fingers.
From there, you would think that the process would be over and a person could use the bathroom in peace. But Riley has figured out that the latch on our bathroom door doesn't close tight, and if he pushes just right, he can get the door open. If that fails, he stands outside the door and yells and pounds on it at five-second intervals. Either that or lays down on the carpet and peers through the crack between the door and the floor.
It's quite a process, and I'm about to decide that it might be easier to just buy some giant diapers for myself and join Riley in his carefree attitude about the necessity of toilets. Then again, this whole process results in the only exercise I ever get, so maybe I should keep things as they are.

It's Funny Because It's true

My mom e-mailed me this video that I think is absolutely hilarious. For any of you who want to see it, click on the "It's Funny Because It's True" title and it will take you there.
I think all of us moms will relate to this. Guys have a tendency to freak out over dirty diapers. Maybe they just have a stronger gag reflex than women. Or maybe it's because they aren't around dirty diapers all day long like we are. Or maybe they're just wimps... I think I'm getting close to the real cause with that third guess.
Oh, and P.S. How do you load video from google or other places off the internet directly to your blog?

Baby Messes

Caught in the act!
Riley's favorite hiding place--Under the bar stool.

Above all else, Riley loves to make messes! He spent two hours today crawling from bookshelf to bookshelf and throwing all the books on the floor. I would have stopped him, but truthfully, it was really nice to have something capture his undivided attention for two hours. Luckily for him (and me), his baby mess-making is still cute at this point. It's kind of like when you hear a tone-deaf three-year-old singing in church. It sounds horrible, but it's adorable just the same. The other day, I was making dinner and I could hear that Riley had managed to open the cupboard underneath the entertainment center. I had raw chicken juice all over my hands, and figured he couldn't do too much damage in a couple of minutes. I was wrong. Before I knew what had happened, he had managed to dump out four boxes worth of game pieces and thrown our CD stack all over the place. It took me almost half an hour to clean up.

Powell Cont.

It took some getting used to for Riley to get used to his life jacket...As you can probably tell by the look on his face.

Riley and his great-grandma Morrill.. and their almost-matching hats.

Here's even more Powell picks for ya'll to peruse. Someone out there who knows what they're talking about, is there anyway to post more than five pics on the same entry? I can't figure it out...but that's really no surprise.

Lake Powell

Grandpa and Riley, the awesome fishermen. You can tell what Riley's thinking. "What the heck is this thing and can I eat it?"


We had the chance to go to Lake Powell with my family last week. We've been going there once a year since I was 12, and I have some great family vacation memories from that place. It was a fun trip...there isn't really any other place like Lake Powell. It's so beautiful.
Riley loved it...I don't think he'll ever be able to readjust to life in our boring old apartment again. There was just too much excitement! He's a smart little guy. He would pretend to drive the boat and make little motor boat sounds. He also learned how to quack when we were feeding the ducks. Any time after that when we saw ducks again, he'd start quacking.
If you ask me, he says three words already. "Mama, Dada, and Bye Bye." Sam disagrees with me. It's true Riley doesn't always use those words in the right context. He calls ducks "Mama" and boats "Dada" I know, I know. All of you critics are thinking this kid doesn't know what the heck he's saying. But he has also used those words enough in the right situations that it makes me wonder. One definite..He knows "Uhoh." He says it anytime he drops something. He's growing so fast! I can hardly believe how much he's changing.