Today is a bad day

Correction: Today is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
It is snowing…it’s supposed to be spring, but instead it is snowing.
In an attempt to forget about the flakes falling outside my window, I shall blog about happier days.

Last week, it was sunny (sorta) and warm (like 75 degrees!) so we went to explore a new park.

TJ, of course, decided to slide down the tallest slide…
his hips barely fit.

 

Riker’s absolute favorite part of the park was the tire swing.
He had a huge grin on his face the entire time.

And of course, the swings are always a hit.
Some day, when the sun decided to grace us with his presence again, we will return to the park.
If the snow doesn’t kill us first.

Oh, and on a semi-related sidenote:
The Grier’s will be back in sunny AZ this summer.
TJ has accepted an internship in Tempe, so we will be back in the land of the sun and Mexican food!
Our ETA is mid-May.
I’m very excited about this.

What do you mean you don’t have a fuzzy body pillow?

My friend Britney gave me a fuzzy body pillow…
because, really, who doesn’t need a fuzzy body pillow?
Riker loves the fuzzy body pillow and has found many uses for it.

 

It can be used as a chariot…

It is perfect for chillaxin’

It is a worthy wrestling opponent

It provides a super soft landing for his aerobic tricks

 

And it is perfect for cuddling with mom!
(notice how uninterested Riker is in taking a picture with me…he’s too busy watching his dad play Call of Duty)

Flashback

What a difference a year makes!
March 21, 2010
Riker’s blessing day

March 18, 2011
Riker learns how to drive the car

 

March 2012…
??

He’s growing too fast…
I need him to stop.

Road Trip!

Some friends and I decided we really wanted to go to Ikea.
Since the nearest Ikea is an hour and a half away in Cincinnati, we left the kiddos at home and took a little road trip!
(Well, except for baby Brock…he is still “attached” to his mama, if you know what I mean!)

Becca and Alyson are both VERY excited!

And Jen thinks Ikea is #1!

We used the self-timer on my camera quite often.

I loved this bench seating in the kitchen.
There were all sorts of storage cabinets under the bench…
definitely a must-have in my future home.

The best part of this picture is definitely Alyson…
the one poking her head out of the bottom!
Although, baby Brock is pretty adorable!

Becca primps in the mirror while Alyson and I enjoy some tea in bed (?!?)

Our trip wasn’t just about taking funny pictures…
we also purchased lots of stuff!
Being there made me wish I could trash everything in my house and just start over.
But since my bank account (and husband) won’t allow me to do that, I stuck to my budget!

Riker was the lucky recipient of a new toy box
(only $14.99!)
I think he likes it…

Unless you try to trap him inside!

I also came home with a couple of new bedside tables,a closet organizer, a popsicle mold, and a pizza cutter (just for Jen!).

We decided a trip must be made every few months…
there is always SOMETHING that you need from Ikea!

Just Like Dad

When Riker and I came downstairs this morning,
he spotted his dad’s tie laying on the couch.
He made a beeline for the couch, grabbed the tie, and begged me to put it on him.

He was so excited to walk around the house wearing his daddy’s tie.
Every now and then, he would just hold it in his hands and check out the pattern.
I think it made him feel like a big boy.
He was just like his daddy.

 

Riker also carried that book around all morning.
"Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late”
by Mo Willems
His favorite part is when the pigeon yells
"I’m not tired!”
He thinks its really funny.
I read that one page probably a million times this morning.
But Riker laughed every time…so it was totally worth it.

Balls and Bubbles*

Mr. Sun came out to play on Saturday,
so we headed outside to enjoy it!
We tossed two of Riker’s balls outside and let him go!

He loves to pick both up at the same time, then throw both of them as hard as he can
(which really isn’t that hard).

He’s slowly starting to comprehend the concept of “catch” and will giggle hysterically while TJ tosses the ball to him.
And every now and then, he will throw the ball back…but we can’t decide if he’s doing this on purpose or on accident!

Our newest toy is a bubble gun.
Riker can say “bubble” (which really sounds more like “bubu”)
but doesn’t really know what to do with them.

 

Every now and then, he will take a step toward the bubbles…
but backs away as soon as one pops on his head.
We just need more sunny days so we can play with them some more!

*The original title of this post was “Riker’s Balls”…but TJ thought that might be “inappropriate”
I just thought it was funny.

14 Months

My Riker baby is 14 months old today.
This makes me incredibly sad.
Every day, he looks more and more like a little boy…
and less like my little baby.

He gets into everything.
He runs everywhere he goes.
He can be very demanding.
He has 11 teeth.
He gives kisses and hugs.
He loves to play with his dad.
He sticks his tongue out all. the. time.
He repeats a lot of things we say
(really, he just kinda makes similar sounds…but he’s totally copying us!)

 

And as of yesterday, he climbs.
He pulled himself up on top of the basket all by himself.
He was quite pleased with himself.
Until he fell off.
It won’t be long before he starts climbing on top of everything.
It makes me sad that my baby isn’t a baby anymore…
but I’m way happy to be the mom of the world’s cutest toddler!

Slobbery Smiles

When Riker was born, he was a little bit tongue tied.
This made nursing difficult.
And it might have affected his speech when he got older.
So when Riker was 6 weeks old,
he had a frenulectomy.

This little procedure gave Riker full use of his little tongue.
And lately, Riker has been taking full advantage of it.
Most of the day, Riker’s tongue is sticking out of his mouth.

Thanks to his tongue, the amount of drool Riker produces has doubled.
His chin is constantly covered with slobber
and his shirts are always soaked.

But if Riker is happy, I am happy.
And that looks like a pretty happy face!

Death by Felt

I saw this really cute idea on a craft blog and I thought
”Hey, I can make that!”
I showed it to some friends and they all said
”Hey, I want to make that too!”
So we decided to have a craft day.

Now, this project requires a little bit of prep…
and by “a little bit of prep ” I really mean “a lot of prep”…
like, everyone needed 300+ felt circles cut out.
Being the completely insane person that I am, I thought
”Hey, since all the felt is at my house, why don’t I just cut out all the circles for everyone.

I was never very good at math.
If I was, I would have realized that:
300 circles x 7 girls = 2100 circles
That’s a lot of circles.
A couple of girls came by and took their felt home to cut,
so I really only had to cut enough circles for 5 girls.
300 circles x 5 girls =1500 circles
That’s still a lot of circles.

I took advantage of Riker’s naptimes
(and completely neglected my household chores)
and managed to get all the circles cut out in time for our craft day.
And even though it was a pretty time consuming project,
the end result is pretty cute.

And, as it turns out, I lost track of counting the circles and have ended up with lots of left over circles.
So now I need another project that requires 3” green felt circles.
Any ideas?

Let’s Vote

When TJ and I first met, he had great hair.
It’s crazy thick…and he always kept it short and styled.

See!
How handsome!
Unfortunately, even now and then TJ feels the need to grow his hair out.
He truly believes his hair looks good when it is longer.
I truly believe he couldn’t be more wrong.

Here, TJ looks like a character from Dumb and Dumber.
Am I right or am I right?

I think TJ is attempting to channel Jim Halpert here.
And I don’t think it’s working.

 

And this hairstyle…
just kidding, its a wig.
But I think TJ would totally do this to his hair if he could.

So what’s your opinion?
Which style works best for TJ?
Short and neat?
Dumb and Dumber?
Jim Halpert?
Emo Goth Guy?

Piano Man

I took piano lessons for nine years.
From the age of 5 to 14.
I spent 30 minutes every day for 9 years sitting in front of the piano…crying.
My piano-playing skills are pretty much non-existent.
I vowed that I would never force my children to play a musical instrument.

 

Riker recently rediscovered his piano.

He likes to bang on it as loud as possible…

 

And without pants.

For what it’s worth, I wish I did know how to play the piano.
But I wish I was magically good at it…
without having to practice.

Oh Mister Sun

Today, we woke up to sunshine.
That might not seem like a big deal to you living in sunny AZ
(or really, any state that isn’t Ohio)
but sunshine is rare here in the cold upper midwest.
I took advantage of the sun
and let Riker run around a bit this afternoon.

This boy would live outside if I let him.
He loves to touch all the cars.
And he tries to eat rocks and dead leaves.
He has a smile on his face the entire time…
until I open our door and try to force him back inside.
Then he stomps his feet and screams and cries.
We live for sunny days.
We are eager for spring.
If it snows again, I think we both might cry.