Ten years ago!

The reason for our most recent trip to WV was my high school reunion. Despite the fact that I look like I'm under 18, I really did graduate from high school 10 years ago! I thought by now I would feel like an adult, but I still find myself wondering when that will happen. I've had enough life experiences in the past 10 years that I know I'm more mature than I was at 18. Since high school I've graduated from college, lived in one foreign country and five different states, completed an internship, and landed my dream job. I've also fallen in love, married my best friend, brought two children into the world, and bought my first house. And yet sometimes I look around my home and at my family and I feel like we're playing house, and any minute the real owners are going to come in. When I'm out with my boys I feel like people look at me and think I'm a teenage mom! I started to think maybe it was all in my head until a recent trip to the mall. I wanted to get a new dress to wear to my reunion so my mom, sister and brother's girlfriend, Ashley, went shopping with me. We spent all afternoon at the mall and by the time we entered the last department store I was getting tired and didn't feel like looking for the dress section, so I asked the first sales associate I saw. Her answer? "If the dress is for you the junior section is around the corner on the right." If I had been looking for a prom dress that would have been very helpful! Needless to say I did not find my dress in the junior section! I think I'll just count my blessings and be thankful I don't look older than I am! Anyway, here are some pictures from the reunion.

My hot date!

Kim, Jenny and Andrea.

Jenny, Joseph and Amy.

Jenny and I.

My girl, Jessica.

Meredith, Mandie, Hattie and Laura.

One of my best friends since middle school!

Rock Climbing

We spent last week in WV and the first thing we did was go rock climbing. We went with my friends, Amanda and Charles, and my younger brother, Daniel. West Virginia has some of the best rock climbing in the world and the scenery is amazing! We had a blast and were completely worn out by the end of the day. It was the perfect start to our trip!

Me in action.

Matt in action.

Daniel in action.

Tired but still smiling!

Big news!

Riley is now a walker!!! He seems to walk a lot better when the camera is off, but here are a few clips of him in action.

Here is a video of the boys playing with their basketball hoop. I doubt either of them will be tall enough to have a future in the sport, but they enjoy it now!

Photography by Tyler

Tyler LOVES taking pictures and he's getting pretty good at it. Here are some pictures he took the other day.

The joys of turning one...

Riley had his one year check up a couple of days after his birthday. He weighed in at 20 lbs 10 oz and was 18 3/4 in long. The doctor was very happy with his weight gain. Turning one turned out to be painful, Riley got 3 shots and then got to have his blood drawn. He was not the happiest boy, but he recovered quickly. Here is what Riley has been up to since the last update...

* He now has 4 teeth and two more that I think are going to break through any day now.

* He stands all on his own, but refuses to try walking solo. He will hold onto our fingers and walk around though.

* He finally says mama, but only when he wants something!

* A couple of months ago he discovered the stairs and now all he wants to do is go up them. All day, every day! We had to put up a make-shift baby gate that worked for about a week. Then Riley saw Tyler move it to go upstairs and that was the end of that. He now moves it aside whenever he wants to go up.

* He is no longer nursing. We made it to 11 1/2 months. I'm enjoying being free again, and Riley doesn't seem to miss it. He has also moved on from baby food. He thinks whatever we are eating he should be eating. Some of his favorites include: salmon, asparagus, bananas, blueberries, mangos, peas, tuna and beans. He pretty much eats everything we put on his high chair.

* He loves the pool, but he thinks he is too big for his floatie. He also thinks he can swim on his own. He literally fights to get out of my arms when I'm holding him, then he looks surprised when he goes under the water. He loves it though, and is all smiles when I pull him out.

* His favorite game is to go in the pantry and pull all the paper recycle out of the bin. When he's done doing that he takes one of my buckets of flour and pushes it around the house. It's not unusual to find flour, brown sugar or oatmeal by the front door! Thankfully he doesn't know how to open the buckets!

* He has discovered the fun of looking out windows and will sit patiently for 10 minutes or more waiting to see a car drive by. Every morning when he wakes up the first thing we do is stand by the window while Riley points things out to me.

A day at the beach.

We spent a day at the beach while my mom and sister were still in town. Even though we live 10 minutes from the beach this was only our 3rd trip this summer! I opt to take the boys to the pool most days since it's less work! My sister loves the beach though so we packed up our stuff and met one of Tyler's friends there. We had a fun day and Riley decided not to try and eat all the sand this time!

Mia and Tyler floating in the waves.

They are so cute together!