Because It’s Funny

Riker wiggles all the time.
And when we are trying to undress him,  he wiggles a lot.
Sometimes he fights so much, I just give up and laugh.
This was one of those times.

Clearly this did not make him happy.

 
But for some reason, this did.
Oh, do you see the teeth?!
The bottom right tooth just barely popped out.
But the bottom left is out.
New teeth are super fun.
Fussy Riker is less fun.

From Failure To Success

Once upon a time,
when TJ and I were first married,
we invited the Bishop and his wife over for dinner.
I used this recipe:

Unfortunately, when I served the chicken, it was raw.
RAW!
Not like super raw.
But definitely still kinda pink.
To make matters worse, no one said anything.
They just kept eating.
I was mortified and too scared to say anything.
With visions of food poisoning dancing in my head,
I politely picked at my chicken and kept a smile on my face.
When that evening was over, I vowed to never serve chicken to guests again.
Also: to avoid any phone calls from the Bishop over the next few days.

Why am I telling this story?
Well, tonight I finally decided to attempt this recipe again.
Since it was just for TJ, I could always toss it if it was raw.
To my surprise, it turned out great!

 
I was aiming for taste, not presentation.
(Clearly)
Since I didn’t actually eat any of it the first time around,
I was excited to finally taste the fruits of my labor.
And it’s yummy.
Everyone should make this for dinner tomorrow.
And if it turns out raw, I feel your pain.

(Recipe card created by yours truly…inspired by this blog)
(Recipe comes from kraftfoods.com)

Hiking Hocking Hills

TJ and I have vowed to experience more of Ohio while we are here.
I’d heard many good things about Hocking Hills, so today we decided to check it out.

Our dear friends and neighbors, the Martindales, came along.
They are glowing because they are awesome.

Riker was clearly so excited for our hike.
He actually really loved it and enjoyed being outside all day!

This is at the “Lower Falls”…
I’d call it more of a trickle, rather than a fall.
We’ll have to come back in the spring after the snow melts to see if it’s more impressive.

 

TJ, of course, felt the need to climb (or at least attempt to climb) everything in sight. 

    

Riker was a happy boy all day long, despite missing his nap.

    But by the end of our hike, he was exhausted.
It was a great day and definitely made us even more excited to discover more of Ohio!

Needs

We arrived back in Columbus safe and sound.
TJ has 2.5 weeks left before school starts.
We have a lot of things that we need to do before then.

We needed to go to campus to prove that we are Ohio residents.
Yup, we are officially residents of the Buckeye state.
After we turned in all that paperwork,
we took a mini walk around campus.

TJ needed to take a picture with Riker in front of this artillery cannon.

And he needed a picture of me and Riker/the stroller in front of the Shoe (aka the football stadium)

  And he needed this picture of Riker sitting inside the stadium.

And he needed a family picture in front of the field.

Perhaps if I tell TJ that I need (not want) to go to the mall,
he’ll be more willing to comply.

Family Pictures

Sometimes I have really good ideas.
”Let’s take family pictures!”
Sometimes my good ideas come at really bad times.
”Let’s take family pictures…outside…in the middle of July…in Arizona!”
Regardless of how bad this idea might sound,
our pictures turned out super cute!
       

Photos taken by Framed Memories Photography.
Thank you! We love them!

Random Post with Random Thoughts

Today is our final day in AZ.

We head back to Ohio in the morning.

This past week, we've been busy packing and saying goodbyes...

but I promised someone I would blog

(actually, I said I would post on Saturday...but Monday is close enough, right?)

so here are our recent random happenings.

Random thing #1:

Riker attempts to put anything and everything in his mouth.

He is especially fixated on our cell phones.

Like father, like son...

Random thing #2:

Riker has a tooth.

You can't see it in this picture...

Actually, you can't see it in any picture yet.

It's really, really small and just barely popped out.

But it is there (on the bottom) and it is sharp.

Soon, he will have one tooth and a round head...

like a jack-o-lantern.

Only way cuter.

Random thing #3:

Riker doesn't like to play with his toys in the manner in which they are meant to be played.

For example:

This play mat was not advertised as a teething toy.

Yet Riker chooses to chew on it.

And his teething toys?

Those are used for hitting himself in the head.

Random thing #4:

Riker still loves the pool.

Which is cool, since his mom and dad both like swimming too.

Random thing #5:

When Riker goes swimming without a swimming diaper,

it looks something like this.

We had to get out before that thing exploded!

We LOVED being back in AZ for the summer.

But now it is time to head back to Ohio...

TJ will be starting his second year of law school on August 23rd.

So long, AZ...you will be missed.

Deja Vu?

Do you feel like I have a million posts about going to Diamondback games?

I hesitated to even post these pictures,

since I have posted so many of us at baseball games.

But then I realized, that I have nothing else new to blog about.

So it is either Dbacks pictures or nothing.

Lucky for you, this is the last game this season that we will attend.

This is our happy family at the baseball game.

Riker started off quite happy.

But now that he is a bit more active, he doesn't like to just sit.

So after a few innings, Riker and I ended up in the "picnic" area.

And he is once again happy as a clam.

I think he looks like a bitty baby Buddha when he sits.

It's the belly.

And the big bald head.

TJ and I took turns trying to make Riker laugh.

I wish this was a video instead of a picture.

Riker was laughing up a storm.

His laugh is adorable.

However, if this was a video, you would also hear the awkward noise I was forced to make in order to get Riker to laugh like this.

So in that case, thank heavens this is a picture and not a video.

TJ is also able to get Riker to laugh.

Eh, more like giggle.

Riker doesn't find TJ as funny as he finds me.

TJ has to work a lot harder to get Riker to laugh.

But Riker will always smile when TJ walks in the door at night.

So that's a plus for TJ.

By the time the crowd stood up for the 7th inning stretch,

Riker was asleep.

It's just was well...

the Dbacks lost. By a lot.

Kind of a bummer, since it was the last game we get to attend this season.

Oh well.

See ya next season, Dbacks!

Glitter Toes

My new hobby:

I learned how to do glitter toes while out here in AZ.

Apparently they are the latest fashion craze!

They are super cute...

I have yet to see a color that doesn't look awesome.

The best part is that they last for 4-6 weeks!

It isn't nail polish.

It's a gel system that is stronger than nail polish,

hence the super durability.

I've been doing them for family and friends...

and friends of friends...

and friends of friends of friends.

If you want yours done, let me know.

Only $15 for your first time

(salons in AZ are charging anywhere from $25-$50!)

I'm in AZ until August 2,

then I'm heading back to Ohio

(so C-bus friends, I can do yours too!)

PJs

This is the story of Riker and his pajamas.

Riker has been sleeping through the night since he was 6 weeks old.

This made me really happy.

I enjoy sleeping at night.

When we came to Arizona, Riker had little trouble adjusting to the time difference.

He was sleeping just fine.

One night, Riker woke up crying and screaming.

His little body was overheated.

Arizona is really hot in the summer.

So we cranked the ac down and Riker started going to bed in just his diaper.

Our uninterrupted nights continued once again.

Then, just last week, Riker woke up around midnight...crying.

I pick him up, comfort him, he falls right back to sleep.

Repeat at 2am and 4am.

I thought, "Surely this is a fluke.

I bet tomorrow night he will sleep just fine."

Unfortunately for me and my REM cycle,

Riker did the same thing the next night...

and the night after that...

and the night after that!

After three straight nights of this odd behavior, I googled.

When in doubt, always google.

Google holds the answers to all of life's questions.

I found various suggestions as to why my baby,

who is normally a champion sleeper,

is suddenly waking up all night long.

Some said teething...

Riker drools a lot, but no sign of teeth yet.

Some said changes in diet...

Riker hearts his rice cereal and baby food, so this can't be it.

Some said the baby might be cold...

hm.

Well, we have the ac running, plus a fan,

and I usually pull the blanket over me because I'm getting chilly.

Hey, maybe my baby is cold and that's why he's waking up!

So I grabbed some jammies and put them on Riker.

And guess what!

He slept through the night without waking me up!

Two nights in a row...uninterrupted sleep.

Bliss.

Unfortunately, Riker woke up again last night.

Twice.

Moral of the story:

I have no clue what my baby's problem is.

But I'm tired.

6 Months Old

Riker is 6 months old.

That's half a year!

I don't have any stats on him yet,

but once we return to Ohio we will take him to his doc to weigh in.

Unofficially, he weighs around 18 pounds.

I know, he's a chunk.

The latest Riker development is this:

That's right, my friends.

Riker is sitting up.

Unsupported.

Like a big boy.

Now, shortly after this picture was taken, Riker toppled over.

He isn't a pro at sitting up just yet

(after a few seconds, he wobbles and eventually falls)

but we're working on it!

Also at 6 months old, Riker is:

*rolling over like nobody's business

(mainly back to tummy...occasionally tummy to back)

*eating solid food

(he has yet to turn his nose up at anything he's been offered...hence the 18 pounds)

*sleeping 10-12 hours a night

(he still wakes up once, after about 8 or 9 hours, for a bottle but he always goes back to sleep for a few more hours)

*taking 2-3 naps per day

(still no set nap times, which drives me crazy...but he wakes up at different times every day, so nap times change every day. Any suggestions?)

*Laughing and smiling

(but only when he wants to...he won't perform on demand)

*Drooling

(like, buckets and buckets of drool...all day, every day. I keep feeling his gums, hoping to find a tooth to explain the drool...but nope, he's just a drool-machine for no reason at all.)

Pretty much, Riker is amazing.

I know I'm kinda biased, but I'm pretty sure he's the most awesome kid ever.

I'm just sayin'.