Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

First of all, can I just say I'm so glad that Halloween is just around the corner because that means all the restaurants are rolling out their pumpkin options...Pumpkin milkshakes, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin drinks. I think it's a crying shame all that great stuff is only offered this time of year. Does anyone else out there feel the same?
Now that the important stuff has been said, we recently had a chance to enjoy some pumpkins of the inedible variety at a couple of pumpkin patches. One was in Utah with our friends the Ishiis before we rolled out of town for Texas and the other was with family in Oklahoma.
Riley didn't care too much for the pumpkins, but he did seem to enjoy the fact that both places had a petting zoo of sorts. The first place in Utah had a huge obese pig. I'm not exactly sure how much he weighed (and believe me, it was extremely evident this pig was a he) but it had to have been A LOT. The poor pig was so fat all it could do was lie there and wallow, surrounded on all sides by pumpkins. The other petting zoo in Oklahoma was great too because you could buy little grain packets (at 500 times the actual retail price) and feed all the little goats. Riley loved it. He would laugh and laugh as the dirty little things slimed him with their runny noses and discolored tounges. I had to cringe a little, but as a mother of an extremely active little boy, there must come a time when you have to trust that hand sanitizers really kill all the things they say they do.

Riley loved the wheelbarrow ride, as long as we didn't stop moving.
Same thing with the ponies. Once they started trotting around in their little circle, he was as happy as can be. When they stopped and he had to get off, it was another thing. My mom had to pry his strong little fingers off the saddle.

He's got the cowboy stuff down. What a natural.


I love the look on Riley's face. "What the heck is that thing my mommy is holding?"

No More Hugs!!!

Riley has always been pretty darn stingy with his hugs. He almost never gives one to Sam or me unless it's one of the "angry" hugs that he gives when we're doing something that he doesn't like and so he hugs us out of frustration. But I was up in Oklahoma last week with my mom and Riley visiting family. When Riley met his older cousin Zach, it unleashed a hugging maniac. Riley hugged Zach nonstop for the next few days. He got so enthusiastic about it that he flat out tackled the kid and knocked them both down more than once. Finally, after three days, the ever-so patient Zach had had enough and he said, "Riley, Please! No More Hugs!"
Since then, it's been a non-stop hug-fest.Riley now hugs pretty much every little kid he meets...at the mall, at the park, at church. Most of them don't seem to mind, except for the few that get knocked to the ground in the hugging process.

The Great Outdoors

Riley has this handy dandy kids carrier I bought him earlier this spring so that we could do some hiking. It was an expensive little thing, I we haven't used it near enough to get our money's worth. However, we have been taking advantage of the great fall colors the past couple of weeks in the mountains near my parents house.
There are some great hiking trails up there. Even greater than the nice scenery is the fact that Riley actually loves riding around in his pack. It's kind of a small miracle, because he hates being confined in any way, shape, or form. But he's as content as can be, riding up there on Sam's shoulders. We even went caving last weekend with my family. I thought Riley would be a little scared or anxious because it's a huge, pitch black cave. He really seemed to like it though.

More Peas, Please

Up until Riley turned 1, he was a great little eater. Broccoli, peas, beans...it didn't matter. He'd eat it all. Then we let him have unlimited access to cake and ice cream at his first birthday party, and it all started to go downhill from there.
In this video, my sister Audra was trying to trick Riley into eating peas. She'd give him a bite of chocolate to trick him into thinking he was getting something good, and then try to sneak the peas down him. It didn't work very well.
We did finally figure out a real solution though. Now, we blend his vegetables up with a generous mix of some fruit so he can't really taste the green stuff. It works like a charm.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Happy Talk

Riley loves "talking" on the phone. Flip cell phones are his particular favorite. He always holds the phone to the back of his head instead of up to his ear, I guess because he lacks the coordination to hold it in the right place. He'll laugh and pretend like he's talking to someone on the other line for 10 minutes, which is a long time for his short attention span.
This video doesn't do the cuteness of the "phone talking" justice. It's too hard to film on the move. If nothing else though, it will give everyone an idea of what a busy little boy he is.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

It's Show Time

I have about five million videos that I've been meaning to post for the last little bit. Here are two of them. I'll try and post some more in the next few days. I love these videos, because they show off what a laugher Riley is. He laughs at everything! He even has this little fake, social laugh that he uses when people around him are laughing and he has no idea why. It's pretty dang cute!



Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Into the Woods

Earlier this month my sister and I both had some free time on our hands and husbands who were very busy studying and working. So I dropped Riley off at his Grandma's house for a couple of days and Audra and I went on a backpacking trip to Grandaddy Basin in the High Uintas Wilderness Area.
For the most part, it was a lot of fun. I say for the most part because, well to be perfectly honest, I think backpacking in and of itself is a pretty stupid idea. You strap a monstrously heavy bag on your back and climb up and down steep hills for hours on end. But the chance to really be away from civilization and some of the most beautiful scenery on earth totally makes it worth it.
I'll be honest, all the seclusion and the no husbands around part of this adventure did get to me a bit. We were there two nights, and each night I could have sworn we were about to be eaten by a big fat bear. It must not have been a bear, because it didn't touch the enticing honey offering that we left on a stump to distract it away from our tent. I'm pretty sure it was some other big animal....but my imagination does tend to get away from me sometimes. Maybe it was a chipmunk on steroids.
On our way into the Basin, it started snowing and hailing. No, I'm not kidding. You can tell by the way Audra and I are dressed that we were ill-prepared for such an event. We broke all wilderness safety rules and huddled under a tree for about an hour with our one measly plastic poncho until the snow turned to rain.

Here's a photo of Grandaddy lake, the biggest in the Basin. Isn't the view beatiful? The lake and all that nature stuff looks pretty okay too (ha ha..i'm so dang funny)






For some reason, my sister was bound and determined that we catch a fish, clean it, and eat it. The only problem was that we weren't having any luck with the whole catching part. After casually observing some Scouts in the area who were catching fish one after the other, we figured we must be doing something wrong. So we went over and asked them if our pole set-up looked okay. Our first clue that we had done something wrong is when the Scouts started coughing to cover up their laughs. Apparently fish are smart enough to realize they shouldn't eat something if it's an inch away from a huge red and white plastic bobber. Go figure.
So, after we got some great advice from the Scouts and made a few adjustments, I caught a fish on the second cast. The next part was the hardest. I told Audra she had to kill it. She closed her eyes and hurled a rock at it's head a few times. Turns out its pretty hard to aim when your eyes are closed. Then we cleaned it, cooked it and ate it.
The meat itself tasted pretty good, but I could only manage to eat a few bites. This may sound a little hypocritical because I do like meat, but I've decided that I have to be far, far away from the actual killing process if I'm going to enjoy whatever it is I'm eating.
After that little adventure, we didn't fish anymore because we were too afraid that we would catch some poor little fish and not be able to figure out how to set it free.



All in all, it was a pretty great adventure.

Lake o' fun

We had the chance to go to Lake Powell again with my family this past week. Riley loved it, even more so this time than last now that he's walking. He got into everything, practiced steering the boat, swam, knocked down sandcastles, chewed on lots of sand and rocks from the beach and ate.... a lot. I'm amazed how much food that little guy's belly can hold when he finds something he likes. It was a ton of fun!

Rileyisms

Hey All!
Sorry it's been so long since i've posted. I'll try and get some new pics up here in a day or two. Life has been pretty crazy lately, what with moving out of our apartment, going on vacation and trying to figure out our new life plan. We've got the life plan thing narrowed down to opening a sunscreen stand on a beach somewhere or selling t-shirts on a street corner.
Riley has grown so much. He is now a pro walker with no more intentions of crawling ever again. Unless he's pretending to be a dog or other type of animal. His forehead seems to be a magnet for furniture and sharp corners. Now that he's walking, it's been pretty hazardous having almost everything that he could possibly hit his head into right at eye level. I think i'm going to buy that little guy a helmet and make him wear it 24-7.
I'd thought i'd take a minute or two to write about some of the cute things Riley's been doing. First of all, he definitely knows what no means. Anytime he is thinking about doing something he knows he's not supposed to, he starts shaking his head and saying, "Uh uh, uh uh." About 99 percent of the time he ends up doing whatever it is he wasn't supposed to be doing anyway, but the whole time he's doing it, he's shaking his head No.
His vocabularly has doubled--from three whole words to six. He now says Mama, Dada, Duda (Uncle Dustin), Odda (Aunt Audra), Hot, and Dis (This). While saying Dis, he also points frantically at whatever it is he wants at the moment.
He loves animals, and moos anytime someone says cow. Dogs are his favorite, and he sticks his tongue out and starts panting anytime he sees a dog. It's pretty darn cute.
Every day he's less and less like a baby and more and more like a little boy. It sure did happen fast.

I have tri-athlete's feet

Last weekend I ran my first triathlon in Roosevelt, Utah. I wish I could tell you something cool like I won first place and ran 30 miles without stopping. But neither of those are true, and as we've all heard over and over in church, lying is bad. The triathlon is a Sprint Triathlon, which actually means it's the smallest and wimpiest of all triathlons. It was a 1/3 mile swim, a 13 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile jog. I finished 12 minutes behind the women's leader. My dad ran it with me. That guy is in amazing shape.
Mostly, I decided to do this as an incentive to get fit. It kind of worked. I sure jogged and swam a lot more than I would have if I hadn't known I was about to embarrass myself in front of lots of people. I wasn't as ready as I should have been, but it was really fun, and best of all this race got me really excited about working out and trying to get in better shape.

Happy birthday to baby Riley!

Our big baby boy celebrated his first birthday on July 21st! I absolutely cannot believe he's already one. It's gone by so fast. I know everyone says this, but it really does seem like it was only yesterday that we got to see and hold him for the first time. Don't tell, but I actually woke up the morning of his birthday with some stray tears in my eyes. It's sad how fast babies grow and change, but at the same time, each new stage and period in Riley's life has been so fun for us to experience. He makes us smile and laugh each day, and we're so greatful to have him in our home.

Daddy setting up Riley's new toy.
Riley's first unlimited access to unrestricted sugar. As can be expected, he loved it (except for the few minutes when he got a huge ice cream headache from eating a bite the size of texas)
Riley and his baby friends at seven peaks water park. We went there for a couple of hours in the evening before his party to take advantage of the discount rates.
Presents, Presents everywhere
Riley with Aunt Alison and Uncle Ben

Heat Wave

Here's some funny cartoons I found online for all of you who are suffering in this mega-ginormic summer of hotness that never ends. Seriously, it's been sooo hot in Provo for the past few months. They think it will probably end up being the hottest summer on record for Utah County. I'm just glad we have air conditioning and the ability to keep it cranked up 24-7.


All of you McMurrys will relate to this one. For all of you non-McMurrys, I guess I should explain. That whole family is addicted to box fans. They sleep with them at night and lug them around the country when they go on vacation. At night, Sam sleeps with his nose about an inch away from a fan that's on full blast. And Sam,don't be mad, but I have to tell this story. It's just too funny. We had just moved to our apartment in Provo, and Sam's fan stopped working in the middle of the night. He rummaged around the room in a pacnic for a little bit, trying different plugs to see if that was the problem. Then, when that failed, he got up and drove to Wal-mart at 3 in the morning to buy a new one. Now that's dedication.

One-year photos

Hey guys! Here are some photos of Riley we had made at the mall. Just so you know, I was too cheap to buy any to send to friends and relatives, so don't be surprised when you don't get any. We had a coupon for one free 8 by 10 photo, and we picked the one of Riley standing against the ladder. Of course, they probably expected us to buy at least one lousy picture, but they didn't count on the power of an empty wallet to resist even the pushiest of salesmen.
Never fear though. We're going to have Amanda Dyer (Sam's cousin) take some more pictures of Riley. She's a great photographer! We'll send out copies of those pictures once they are made.
I will try to post some photos of Riley's birthday and video of him walking within the next couple of days.

Worst Music Video Ever!

A friend showed me this music video and I thought it was absolutely hilarous. Some Sweedish band made it in the '70s. What's really funny to me is that these people were absolutely serious. This wasn't a spoof--it actually played on MTV!



And here's a version that some BYU students made. You can tell it's a group of BYU students because there's a hymn book on the piano in the background.

Joke's on you, Chuckee

A few weeks ago, me and my friend Marie took our kids to Chuckee Cheese's. They have free rides every weekday for a few hours. Technically, you're probably supposed to buy their overpriced pizza while you're taking advantage of their free rides, but who cares about technicalities. Take that, Chuckee! That'll teach you to be generous and let kids use your toys for free.
Riley loved it! He absolutely loves anything with wheels, so a bunch of toy cars with at least one wheel apiece was his idea of heaven. He was a little scared of the electronic puppets that dance around stiffly and sing outdated songs, but who can blame him there?
On a side note, I'm glad my friend Marie and her little boy Hayden moved to Provo. The only kids Riley has to play with from our church are all girls. And he's a little...umm....rough with them. More like heathenistic. I was at a baby shower a while back, and there was a little girl a couple of months younger than him sitting on the floor. I sat him down and he crawled right over to the little girl I thought maybe they would play together quietly for awhile. But instead, he pushed her over.
>

Hooray for teething!

Yep, I'm serious. I'm greatful for teething. You want to know why? Because without it, i'd just have to admit that I have a fussy baby who still sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and likes to throw major tantrums.
As it is, at least I have a scapegoat to blame everything on. What's that? Riley took one bite of his food and then spit it out all over the place? He must be teething. Riley woke up two times last night? Surely he's teething. Riley is rolling around on the floor, screaming at the top of his lungs because I got tired of carrying him around and put him down. Teething, teething, teething.
Seriously though...Riley has been sooooo soooo fussy these last couple of weeks. He was sick for a few days and had a high fever of 103 off and on. The doctor said it was just a virus. It was weird though, because he didn't have any other symptoms other than being really hot.
And I think teething is at least a small part of the problem. He has three teeth completely in now, and two more trying to pop their way through. I feel bad for the little guy. It must hurt. I'll be honest though---I mostly feel bad for myself! No one warned me that tantrums started at age 1. I thought that didn't happen until the terrible twos.
Good thing Riley is so cute. It makes it all worth it.

guys + hair fixin' = trouble

So awhile ago, Riley's uncle Dustin decided to fix his hair for him.
   After about a pound of hair gell, this lovely mohawk was the end result. Of course, this was done on purpose. But I still can't help but conclude that men don't usually have what it takes in the fixing-other-people's-hair department.
Which leads me to some painful memories from my childhood. My mom taught early morning seminary for years and years, so my dad had to get us ready for school. My sister and I would roll out of bed with unruly hair and dad would just stick a bow in it somewhere and send us off to the bus. We were so ashamed that we always wore a hood on the bus, even if it was burning hot outside.
As you might guess, this didn't do much for our reputation as one of only a few Latter-day Saint families in town. Everyone else on the bus thought we were in some weird kind of cult or something.
Luckily, my mom would always meet us in the school bathroom to fix our hair before sending us off to class. That helped kids like us even more--we not only wore hoods all the time, but we must have had some sort of weird disease because we spent half an hour in the bathroom every morning.

Kissin' Cousins

Last week, Riley's newest cousin was born. Her name is Graycie Lynne Leasy, and she sure is a cutie! It will be fun to have a new little baby around.
The new mom
She's a grandma...again.
"Hooray for babies!"

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?