Voting Is Awesome!

On Tuesday, I finally get to find out the gender of my baby.
I know I’ve been calling him Cletus,
leading people to think that my baby is a boy…
but I really just say Cletus because I think it’s funny
(you know, because it rhymes with fetus).
Depending on what we find out on Tuesday, I might have to start calling Cletus something else.
But what do you think?
Is Cletus a boy?
Or a girl?
Take a second and vote on the side bar.
Just to humor me.
Even if you read this in google reader, click a few extra buttons to visit the blog.
Kthnxbye.

That One Time TJ Thought He Should Cut Riker’s Hair…

Ever since my mom buzzed Riker’s hair at the beginning of the summer,
TJ has been dying to give Riker a mohawk.
Now that Riker’s hair has grown out a bit, TJ decided to give it a try.

Riker was not super excited about this…
but once he was given a cookie, he was much happier!

After the first few hairs started to fall,
TJ finally admitted “I have no idea what I am doing.”
And unfortunately for Riker’s hair, I also do not know how to cut hair…

Finally, TJ reached a point where he just decided it was best to stop cutting.
Which couldn’t have come at a better time, because Riker had hair and cookie goo all over his face and in his eyes.

 

If you just sort of glance at his hair,
it isn’t THAT bad.
But if you look at it for longer than 3 seconds, you will notice just how crooked and uneven it is.

Good thing he’s such a good looking kid,
with or without his mohawk!

19(ish) Weeks

As of this past Tuesday,
I am 19 weeks pregnant.
Different websites compared Cletus (my fetus) to different items:
heirloom tomato, a Subway sub, and a softball.
I celebrated this week by eating a Subway sub.
I even took a picture of me holding the sub next to my growing belly.
This picture was less than flattering, so I decided not to share it.
However, I do want to do a better job documenting this pregnancy, since I took very few pictures of my pregnant self while carrying Riker.
So here’s my belly…at 19 weeks, 3 days pregnant.

And, for the sake of comparison, here is a picture of my 19 week belly while pregnant with Riker.

I’m telling myself that the stripes in the current picture make me look bigger than I actually am…

Finally! A Lake Trip!

One of our absolute favorite summertime activities is going to the lake.
Unfortunately, Summer’s wedding consumed the majority of our summer…
so we had to wait for all that hoopla to be over before we could finally make it out to the lake.

Riker loved watching all the boats on the water,
and was excited to sit on a “boat” all by himself.

Riker and I spent most of our time hanging out in the shallow water.
And while I was diligent in keeping his little body covered in sunscreen, I was less than careful about applying my own.
Today, my skin in bright red and sore.
(but red skin is better than white skin, right?)

 

Oh, and don’t let this picture fool you.
It may look like Riker is laughing and playing with TJ in the water…
but in reality, he cried the entire time he was in that thing.
He only wanted to be in the water if someone was holding him tight.

Once his grandpa showed him how to throw rocks into the water,
he was the happiest kid at the lake!

And this is what the boys looked like 5 minutes after we pulled away from the lake:

like father, like son.

(oh, and have no fear…despite what these pictures show, Riker did have a life vest and he did wear it. but since the life vest resulted in massive amounts of tears, no pictures were taken of Riker actually wearing it.)

Wiggle Wiggle

Riker has developed a love for Yo Gabba Gabba.

I personally find this show to be creepy...

but TJ loves it and watches it with Riker all the time.

Riker asks to watch "Baba" all day...and I will only turn it on when I want to see him do this dance!

Super Dewper

This summer, I have struggled finding ways to entertain Riker.
After playing with me for so long, he no longer finds me entertaining.
So I was happy to find out from a friend about the Kids Club at the mall.
Every Thursday, they set up a stage in one of the courtyards at the mall
and they sing and dance and play music.
There is a groundhog (I think?) named Dewper that the kids all go gaga over
(except Riker…he still clings tight to me if Dewper comes too close to us).

Riker loves all the music and has been working on his dance moves.
He loves to copy the older kids and moves non-stop the whole time we are there.

Chick-fil-a sponsors the Kids Club, which means Riker gets a free kids meal after the show is over.

Kids Club members also get to ride the carousel for free,
which makes Riker happy and me nauseous
(pregnant or not, I don’t enjoy spinning in circles).
See that boy back there?
That’s Eli…
he’s Riker’s buddy.
Unless they are trying to share toys.
Then they don’t get along so well.
We’re working on it.

Wedding Bells Are Ringing!

My little sister Summer was just married on July 9, 2011.
Last week was non-stop craziness as we finished all the last minute stuff for the wedding reception.

Thursday evening, they took their bridals.
Did you know that it is really hot in Arizona in July?
Well…it is.
And walking around in a tux and a wedding dress makes it even hotter.

While the photographer did her thing, I snapped pictures in the background.

Isn’t this wall so pretty?
Your wedding is the one time when you truly feel like a princess!

All day Friday, we devoted our attention to decorating the church for the reception.

  

Tableclothes  were ironed,
chairs were wiped down,
and those paper lanterns were hung at least 3 different times.

But the end result was perfect,
so it was worth all the effort that was put into it.

And finally, the big day arrived.
They walked out of the temple as Mr. and Mrs. Jake Fullmer.

We didn’t take too many pictures outside of the temple
(since it was over 100* that day!).
The reception that evening was beautiful,
and we finished cleaning up and taking everything home just minutes before the monsoon started!

And, of course, we all spent Sunday sleeping…and sleeping…and sleeping some more!

Lately

I’ve been horrible at blogging.
I apologize.
We’ve settled into a lazy routine here in AZ…
which means I’ve shirked in my photo-taking responsibilities.
Some things I have managed to capture on camera include:

 

Riker’s second bee sting.
Seriously!?
Bees seem to love Riker
(they probably think he’s made of honey, ‘cause he’s so stinking sweet!).
Riker is officially traumatized and will start whining if he sees any type of bug/bee/fly/stick-that-could-be-mistaken-for-a-bug.
Which is fine with me…I hate bugs too.

Naked time.
The heat has caused Riker to get some diaper rashes
so we have naked time every now and then to air out his bum.
Naked + legos = happiness

 

I am now 17 weeks pregnant.
This picture is technically 17 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
But at this point in my pregnancy with Riker, I was already rubber-banding my pants…
I am quite proud of the fact that I still need to wear a belt these days.

So there you have it…
you are now caught up on the life and times of the Grier’s.
Don’t you feel much more satisfied?