Sitting Tall

Hi everyone. Thought I'd just post a couple of photos. I love this one because it shows off Riley's beautiful blue eyes. Please also notice his slightly orangish skin. Apparantly I didn't get all the squash wiped off from breakfast.

Here's Riley demonstrating his amazing sitting up skills. He's quite good at it, but still doesn't understand the concept that he can't just fall to the floor whenever he feels like it. I think he's remotely close to trying the army/demented seal crawl thing. He's starting to pull himself forward a little bit.
Things are going great for us. Sam isn't nearly as busy this semester, so that's been nice for me. He's home a lot more. I'm staying plenty busy keeping Riley entertained and working a bit from home.

Update

Well, Riley had another doctor's appointment last week so I just thought I'd let everyone know how he's doing. He is about 27 inches tall and 17 lbs 11 oz. No more shots for about three months, Yipee!
Riley finally figured out how to roll onto his stomach from his back. That's good news because he could never learn crawl until he first learned how to get on his tummy. Unless he figured out how to do a crab walk or something like that. On the negative side though, when it's nap time I've been putting Riley in his crib awake to try to get him to learn to put himself to sleep. He doesn't like it at all, and usually rolls onto his belly to try to suck on the crib bumper pads. (I'm not exactly sure why that's comforting, but apparently it is. Maybe I should try it.) He usually cries and, now that he's laying on his belly, he gets snot and other gross things all over his sheets. I have to change them about three times every week. Just thought you all might like to know that!
He's also finally starting to master sitting up all by his baby self. You have to watch him though...he'll be sitting up just fine, and then two seconds later he'll keel over for no reason at all.

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.

Christmas Eve

Yesterday (christmas eve) we took some family photos with all of the McMurrys at a park in Plano. It was about 70 degrees (everyone stuck in Utah, eat your heart out!). Later, we had a Christmas party at Gmom and Pop's house. For the first time, both riley and I got to meet Sam's aunt Patty, uncle brian, and their kids.

Christmas Joy

Riley decided to celebrate Christmas Eve by staying up almost all night long. He kept waking us up every hour and a half all night long. I'd like to think it was because he was just too excited about his first Christmas. But when morning finally rolled around, he was so tired that he slept through most of the fun.
It was still a great Christmas!

Riley Clause and the Women

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a little Santa suit that we bought for Riley this Christmas. He's sitting beside his girlfriend, Mrs. Clause. Whoever designed Riley's costume obviously doesn't understand babies and the tendency they have to put everything within reach in their mouth. By the end of the night, the little white cottony ball on his costume was so wet that you could wring the spit out of it. Oh well. All I have to do is dip that thing in a little bit of sugar and he'll be happy for hours.

This is Riley and all his many girlfriends at church. There's only one other little boy and about nine girls in our ward. After we laid all the babies down on the blanket to take the picture, Riley started trying to hit the babies on either side of him. For those of you who are thinking, "Oh No! Riley's turning into a bully," don't worry. I'm pretty sure the hitting was unintentional. He still has almost no control over what his hands do. The other day he was waving his hands around and he stuck one finger straight up his nose. It went in amazingly far. He was pretty mad, and looked at me like he somehow thought it was my fault or something.

Holy Parabola!!!

Riley had his four-month check-up today, so I thought I'd update everyone. He weighs 15 lbs 5 oz and is 26 1/4 inches tall. I know, I know. In a just a few more months, he's going to be as tall as me. That's going to cause all kinds of problems.

Catching Up

It's been forever since I've had a chance to post. Sorry guys! Here's a photo of Riley after a hard day at the office. He works in a factory that produces dirty diapers. He's a four-time employee of the month. The pay sure is lousy though.

Don't we all wish we were this flexible? I miss the days when I used to be able to suck on my toes.

Riley, I apologize in advance for posting a photo of your naked behind on the internet. But I thought I'd better do it before you got too big to be REALLY embarrassed. This blanket is Riley's new favorite toy. My grandma made it for him, and it's really satiny. He loves to play on it wearing just his diaper.

Who needs toys when you have blankets to play with?

Another photo of Riley in his little suit. This is a pretty impractical baby outfit. He ends up chewing on the tie. But it was so cute, I couldn't resist getting it for him.

Random Pics

Here's a picture of Riley with our friends little girl, Kaitlyn. I know, I know. He's turing into quite the little butterball, isn't he? Isn't it funny how babies (especially toddlers) are so fascinated with other babies. This little 2-year-old girl at a party we went to kept kissing Riley and trying to sit on his lap. It was pretty funny.

Riley's new favorite trick is blowing spit bubbles. He spits all over everything and everyone. Usually, he has this little white spit beard dangling from his chin. On the plus side, we can dress him in a Santa Suit and we'll have our own jolly little holiday decoration (complete with beard).

Riley's addicted to chapstick, just like his mom.

Riley with his Grandma Morrill or Grandma Therena. We haven't figured out what she's going to be called yet. I think Gereena is a good name (Grandma + Therena =Gereena)

Our baby is now officially obsessed with his thumb. It's good that he finally figured out how to get it into his mouth. Before, he would just poke himself in the eye with it. It must be so frustrating to have a total lack of control over what your hand is doing.

Free stuff is great

Here's a little family photo that we had my brother take of us down by the Provo River walkway (thanks Dustin!). Since I so stupidly paid a lot of money to get Riley's baby photos taken, we decided not to do a professional family photo. But I thought this photo turned out great. Have you noticed that I'm slyly begin to post more photos of myself on the blog? They also have Riley in them for now, just to make the transition easier for all of you. But from now on, I'll just be posting pics of myself. I can't handle all the attention Riley's getting. Just Kidding!! I know seeing baby photos is the only reason you guys all check this anyway.

Hooray for Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. We were going to take Riley trick-or-treating, but we figured everyone would be suspicious that we were just trying to keep the candy for ourselves, what with him having no teeth and all. But we did end up going to a couple of Halloween parties. The first one was on Friday night. It was adults only, so Sam and I left Riley with a babysitter (other than family) for the first time. I worried a little about how both he and I would do, but everything ended up fine. On Saturday, we dressed Riley up in his little pumpkin costume and went to another party. It was fun...Sam and I got to carve a jack-o-lantern for the first time in many years.

Lousy Coupons

Here is a photo of Riley that we had taken at Sears a couple of weeks ago. There is also an awesome black and white close up of his face that we bought, but I couldn't get the dang thing to post for some reason. I thought the photos turned out pretty good, except he refused to smile.
I had this great coupon that said I wouldn't have to pay a sitting fee and I could get like 30 photos for $3.99. Sounds like a great deal, right? The only problem was my "mommy brain" kicked in again. I took Riley to Sears and they said they would look at the coupon and give us the discount after they'd taken all the photos. So, when we were all done I handed the cashier my coupon. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "Um....this is a coupon for J.C. Pennys. You're at Sears." I told her I thought it would be a good game if we pretended like we were at J.C. Pennys for a little bit and she could go ahead and give me the discount. She didn't seem to think that would be very fun.
I felt pretty stupid. Obviously, i'm well aware of the fact that J.C. Pennys and Sears are two very different stores. And I had looked at that coupon about a hundred times. Anyway, I ended up paying significantly more for photos of Riley than I had been planning on. So enjoy, cause they were dang expensive!!

This photo shows off Riley's newly balding head quite nicely. He had just gotten out of the bath, which he loves now. He kicks around and pushes his legs against the sink which usually results in him banging his head. I think he's ready to start bathing in the bathtub...but I'm not ready to stay in a stooped position forever so I can hold him up. So I guess that means he'll keep getting baths in the kitchen sink.


This is Riley staring at his mobile, which he is in love with. I think he likes it more than his parents. He laughs at it and talks to it all the time.




Riley's going through a phase where he sticks his tongue out all the time. I think he likes the taste of the air. Remember when Kathryn went through that phase too?

So Young to Be Bald

Hi All
Sorry it's been so long since we've updated the blog. I'll plan on putting some new photos of Riley up later this week. He's doing great. I packed away most of his 0 to 3 month clothes today because they are all too little. It was kind of sad.
He's blowing spit bubbles and drooling all over the place now. He's also lost a lot of hair. It was crazy...one week he had a full head of hair and the next he was almost bald. It looks kinda funny because his new hair is growing in under his already existing long, baby hair. There's a bunch of little stubs poking out all over the place. People keep asking us if we gave him a haircut. But no worries. We talked to the pediatrician about it and he gave us a perscription for infant Rogaine :)
Sam and I got new callings for Church. We are...drumroll please.....the ward librarians. It's a great calling to have with a baby. We both sit in there the whole time, so one of us can take care of Riley if he starts fussing. Sam's favorite part about the calling is that we miss sunday school every other week.
Other than that, nothing too exciting is going on. I did read a great book though, if anyone's interested. It's called "The Posionwood Bible." It's the story of a baptist family sent on a mission to the Congo in the 1950s. The story is narrated by the family's four daughters. The author is amazing. Her writing style is very lyrical, and her descriptions are great.
Basically, the plot is that the preacher kind of turns out to be a jerk. He's very domineering and he fails to see the beauty in the African people. He thinks they are all heathens and is determined to convert them at any cost. It's kind of a "Heart of Darkness" type book. There is also a lot of historical fiction going on. The author talks about the fall of the Congolese government and U.S. attempts to get their foot in the door because there's so many great natural resources in the Congo.
It's a great book...but you don't have to take my word for it!!! Everyone sing with me now "Take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow!" Anyway, if any of you decide to read it, let me know what you think. I'd love to have a discussion about it.

Check Up

Riley had his two-month check up today. I thought I'd just let everyone in on how he's doing. He now weighs 12 lbs 6 oz and he's 24 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for his weight and head circumference, but he's in the 85% percentile for his height. In other words, he's growing like a weed. It's weird because I took him to a WIC appointment two and a half weeks ago. They weighed and measured him there too, and he was only in the 25th percentile for all three categories. I'm wondering if the WIC people measured wrong or if he just hit a huge growth spurt.
It was really hard to see him get his shots. He had to get poked four times, and man did he cry (i must confess that I cried a tiny little bit too). After crying hysterically for about three minutes, he fell asleep.

It's Autumn Time

Sam and I went hiking up Provo Canyon last weekend. The leaves were all turning colors, so it was beautiful. We took Riley along in a little backpack/babycarrier thingie that we bought for him. He seemed to like it a lot. He was looking around at everything and smiling. Hooray for autumn!!

The Mommy Syndrome

Okay, so I have this great memory from my childhood. All four of us Morrill kids are lined up by the door with freshly scrubbed faces. My mom is trying to get us out the door before some sort of disaster occurs and we’re late AGAIN. She’s running around the house frantically, looking for her keys. Her teeth are clinched and she’s asking, “Where in the world are my keys?” Why are her teeth clinched? Because her keys are dangling from her mouth.
At the time, we all thought that was pretty funny. But now I understand something that I never knew before. I’ve always been absent minded, but now it’s worse than ever. I’ve decided that once you become a mom, you lose your mind.
Let me present some evidence. A couple of weeks ago, I was getting gas. As I got in my car and started to pull away, I happened to look out the car window. I had left the gas nozzle in my car pump, and as I pulled away, it jerked it out and went flying. My fellow gas pumpers all thougt that was pretty funny.
Later, Sam and I locked our keys in the car. The bad part was Riley was still in it. Luckily, the car was running so he didn’t get too hot. We stood there for about 10 minutes while Sam tried to break in. It was unsuccessful, so we decided to call the police. It was at that point that my mom noticed my purse dangling from my shoulder and asked, “Are your keys in there by any chance?” The answer to that was yes, of course they were. In the ten minutes of frantic deliberation, the fact that I had my keys right there beside me didn’t even cross my mind.
After that, Sam and I decided to go to Barnes and Noble. After taking Riley out of the car, I looked down and noticed I had forgotten to buckle him into his car seat.
All of this happened in a 24 hour period. For those of you who are thinking of reporting me to child services, please don’t! I promise that I won’t do stupid things that endanger Riley’s life anymore. However, I’m sure I’ll keep doing plenty of stupid things that don’t endanger his life.
Anyway, I want to hear all of you mothers out there fess up. Has anyone else noticed that a vicious cycle of stupidity began with the birth of your first child? Or is it just me?