I think I'm big.....

...but I'm little. Or so mommy says. Well, look who's holding her own bottle now?

Does this thing go in my nose or mouth?

Ah, that's more like it.

Cutest Aggie

My baby didn't get to go to the Aggie basketball game with me in Austin so we decided to take her to the game today. It was in College Station so we drove in last night to see Mama and then went to the game this afternoon. The Aggies played Iowa and won the game. Whoop! Tatie is a very cute little Aggie and I think she had a good time. What do you think? We even met a 'celebrity' but you'll have to scroll down to see who it was.

Intently watching the Aggies with my baby

Trying to share my popcorn with my baby but mommy says she's too little. I bet daddy would let me give her some.

Happy Girl
Look who we met!? Phil Gramm.

3 Year Check up Visit

I went to the doctor today for my 3 year old check up with Dr. Treybig. I think she was very impressed with me because I did everything she asked - opened my mouth and said ah, took deep breaths when she was listening to my chest, let her look in my ears AND up my nose. Yeah - I'm a big kid now. Because I was so good, I even got a special coin to put in the machine for a prize. I'm now the owner of a new, green, gross (or so mommy says) spider! Here are the important stats from my visit:

Height - 38 1/2 inches (80th percentile)
Weight - 34 pounds (75th percentile)

No shots today and no more doctor check ups until I'm 4. Yeah for me!

Tripp's 3rd Birthday Party

Tripp's 3rd Birthday Party

We had my birthday party this past weekend! Fry's Fun Farm came and brought a petting zoo and pony rides to my house and I had all of school friends there. As a surprise, my Papa even drove in all the way from Tomball to be at my party. No one knew he was coming. Thank you, Papa!

We all had a great time playing with the animals and giving them feed and milk. I think we also successfully tortured the 4 day old piggies. They were just so cute though and we couldn't keep our hands off them. After the petting zoo, we grilled hot dogs and had some lunch before singing happy birthday and having CAKE! I was so excited about my Thomas the train cake, although mommy said it didn't go with her animal 'theme'. I think she finally gave in because after all, it is my birthday.

This year, instead of presents, we asked that everyone bring gently used books that they don't read anymore and we're going to donate them to the Ronald McDonald House. We got so many books to donate so THANK YOU to my friends for the books and thank you for coming to my party. I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

To my precious Tripp

Wow! Your birthday is so bitter sweet for me. On one hand, I'm so excited that my baby is growing up and the other hand, I'm so sad that my baby is growing up. I don't think you'll truly understand how amazing you are to mommy and daddy and how much we adore you.

Each day, I love watching you explore and discover the world around you. You ask questions constantly and your imagination is very active. I have to remind myself that one day I will miss the constant chatter and questioning and one day you won't want to always be with your mommy. I hope that day doesn't come and if it does, not anytime soon. You are such a loveable little love bug and still love to cuddle with mommy and daddy in the morning and ask for 'warm milk milk'. You'll actually push daddy out of the bed when he tells you '5 more minutes'. You're so strong and demanding! You have grown and matured so much over the past few months and I even noticed the other day that you hands are the hands of a little boy - the baby pudge is gone!

What else? You love books and love to have mommy make up silly stories for you. You even make up your own stories, which are so fun for me! You and your daddy have special bonding time at night when it's time to go to bed and he reads to you and tucks you in. He sure does love you and looks forward to seeing you when he's been traveling. You still love Thomas the train and Bob the builder. You love to take things out of my kitchen cabinets and drawers and it makes me crazy. You love to help me cook and will even walk away from your netflix movie to come in and help me. You love pancakes and would eat them morning, noon and night if I let you. You informed me the other day that you like ice cream but you don't like peanut butter. Speaking of dislikes, you're also not a huge fan of chocolate or pizza. What? Whose child are you? You love to wrestle around with your baby and since she seems to like it these days and is a little bigger, I let you. You LOVE LOVE LOVE the outdoors. Digging and getting dirty is tons of fun for you and you would be outside 24/7 if I let you. You love bull dozers and trucks and shovels and any and everything else that goes along with that. You still love your thumb and that makes daddy crazy. He told you that on your 3rd birthday, you'd have to give up your thumb. Hasn't happened yet, silly daddy. At night, you still want your blue bear, green pillow in addition to the blue one, and your blue blanket. They're all getting a little worn but then again so did the Velveteen Rabbit. You love your friends and you are so sweet to them, for the most part. I have to remember you're a typical 3 year old and you're still finding your way. You love having donuts with your friends after swimming on Wednesday mornings. You love storytime at the library. You love Miss Connie. You love to sing and dance. Favorite songs? Three Blue Pigeons, Gig 'Em Aggie Songs, Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Yes, I realize it's February. You're so independent and dependent all at the same time.

You have blessed us beyond words these past 3 years and it amazes me to think that it has all gone by so quickly. I'm going to slow down and take one day at a time so that I can cherish this precious stage with my precious little guy. As you tell me almost daily, I love you so much. ..You're my best friend.

Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday, little guy!

Today is my birthday and I'm 3 years old! Mommy and daddy sang happy birthday to me this morning and I knew it was going to be a special day. Daddy took me to school and stayed for chapel and then mommy came and had lunch with me and brought cupcakes and balloons for all of my classmates. Reagan and Laurel share my special day in a special way.....it's also their birthday but they turned 4 instead of 3 like me. After naptime, they came over and we each had our own cupcake and everyone sang happy birthday to us. Meghan and Drew were even in town and helped us celebrate. What a fun day!

Birthday Eve

Tonight we had a little pre-celebration with Emmylou, baby Miller, her mommy and daddy. The original plan was to go eat at Phil's Ice House and have Amy's ice cream afterwards, but we got there just as a large yellow school bus let out a lot of hungry people. Instead of waiting 40 minutes for a burger, we decided to head over to Hangtown Grill where we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Good thing because Emmylou and I were running around like wild animals.

Birthday ice cream at Hangtown Grill

The hilarious thing about my present is that Ms. Becca thought the cows were walking behind a GRILL! Sweet friends. Thank you for a fun evening!

First Roll-Over

This morning, my baby rolled over by herself for the very first time! Mommy and daddy tried to catch it on video, but my baby got camera shy and just looked at them like they were crazy. She's getting be such a big girl and before we know it, she'll be crawling all over the place trying to keep up with me. I love my baby and we have so much fun ahead of us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning when I climbed into bed with mommy and daddy, they told me I had 2 Valentine's Day surprises and we had to get ready to go. I couldn't wait to find out what they were and kept trying to guess but mommy wouldn't give me any hints. Our first stop? Kerbey Lane for breakfast with Gaby and her family.

....And then, we went to go see "Elmo and his Green Thumb" at the Frank Erwin center. We had so much fun and I think even my baby loved watching the show. What a fun Valentine's Day surprise for me!

Enjoying cotton candy with Gaby.

My baby's first show.

Can this balloon be any bigger? It's bigger than my baby!

Tatie loved the show. I think Abby Cadabby was her favorite. He won't admit it, but I caught daddy dancing to the Sesame Street songs when he thought no one was looking. Daddy, I saw you and you've got some groovy moves!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Rileys.

My Mama

Mommy stopped in College Station on her way back from Houston to pick up Mama. Mama is my great-grandmother and she'll be 91 in June. She lives on a farm and grows her own food and tends to her own cows. I sure love my Mama and was excited that she could come visit me for a few days.

Helping Mama sift flour for her homemade chicken and dumplings. Yum!

Riding in the wagon with Mama.

Mama even played a little baseball with me.

You can't catch me, Mama!

Aunt Brenda and Victoria came a callin' when they heard 'chicken and dumplings'.

Baseball 1 on 1 with Victoria.

Tripp-ism

Mama (Tripp's great-grandmother) is in town visiting us for a few days and Tripp has lots to talk to her about. Here is one conversation in the car last night coming home from dinner.

Tripp: Mama, did you know my baby used to kick mommy's tummy when she was little in there?

Mama: Really? Did you kick mommy's tummy when you were in her belly?

Tripp: Yep. I did. I kicked mommy's tummy when I was baby Jesus.

Trip to Houston

Mommy had to go to Houston for work and took my baby with her. My baby stayed with Aunt Judy and Uncle Al while mommy was in meetings and she told me she had so much fun and was spoiled rotten. They never put her down! Lucky, Tatie.

Here she is sitting at the dinner table with Uncle Al, Aunt Judy and cousin Mary (such a big girl!). Thank you for taking such good care of my baby and we love you!

What the heck?

Today while walking to the car after church, we asked Tripp what he had learned in Sunday school.

"Well, a wise man lost his sheep and couldn't find them and said 'What the heck'!"

What the heck is right.

Lazy Friday

My baby and I had a lazy day today and watched cartoons most of the day (bad mommy). We still don't have a tv but my baby and I were perfectly happy watching instant netflix on the computer.

We look cozy, don't we?

A lazy afternoon nap in Gaby's loaner swing. I think my baby likes this one!

Dress up fun

I like to help mommy in the kitchen and I especially like to wear an apron so I don't get dirty. Today, I decided to be a 'pirate cooker' while helping make pancakes. My favorite!

Bear Encounter

Today I met baby Bear and his amazing host family. I thought he was Tatie's age but he's actually about 6 weeks younger and wow - I'm without words. Here I am holding and feeding this precious little baby boy with his head shaved and bandaged from his surgery yesterday and he's just looking at me and smiling. Needless to say, today was an emotional day for me and he's been on my mind constantly. I wanted to take him home. He is so fortunate and incredibly blessed as Sarah, Lauren, Sophia and even little Angeline surround him with unconditional love. God has BIG plans for this little boy - I can feel it. Baby Bear, I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Tate is 4 months old!

Today Tate is 4 months old! She had her dr appt and is growing like a weed and right on schedule 'developmentally'. She weighed in at 13 lbs 12 oz (50th %) and is 24 1/2 inches long (70th %). Head is 42 inches (75th %) which must mean she has a big ole brain! She had her second round of shots but handled it like a champ.
To my beautiful baby girl -
What a difference a month makes. These past few weeks have been so much fun and we've been able to get a glipse of your budding personality. You love to smile and have the sweetest giggle ever. You make eye contact and have discovered your 2 little hands. You're grabbing at things and starting to hold things a little better - even your bottle - more often than not so you can get it to your mouth to see if it's FOOD! You're a great eater and make yourself heard when it's mealtime. Tripp is still in love with his baby and you're actually starting to tolerate him and respond to him - which is awesome to see. When you talk, he says you're saying 'I love my big brother' and you smile and giggle with him. He adores you and you're so incredibly lucky to have him as YOUR big brother. When he wakes in the morning, the first thing he does is to go over to your crib and say 'good morning, Tatie'. Most mornings you're like your mama and don't want to be bothered but on the days when you're already awake, you greet him with smiles and lots of arm and leg kicks. You're very strong and think you're already big enough to sit up. Well little lady, you're not. You're my little peanut and you're still too little. You're also trying to roll over and I expect that it will happen any day now. You are such a sweet little girl and I look forward to seeing your little face each morning. I'm excited to see what new things you'll start doing over the next month and feel so blessed to be your mommy.

I love you angel.
Mommy

Blue Moon

While in Atlanta, my buddy Mclain would turn around and 'moon' my mommy while saying 'Blue Moon'. I overheard mommy telling daddy the story and I thought it was pretty funny myself. So, tonight at dinner, I stood in front of mommy and said 'blue moon' with a very large smile and then turned around to show her my very cute derriere. The problem? We were in Kerbey Lane which is a restaurant here in Austin and before I turned around to moon mommy, I had already mooned half the restaurant.

Kari - we need to talk.

Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do you See?

This morning at breakfast, Tripp out of the blue started reciting the book 'Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do you See?'. I didn't think much of it because he's usually singing or saying lines from a book and I just assumed that he and daddy read the book the night before. Come to find out, it had been months since Wes had read the book to him and here the little guy was reciting it almost verbatim at the breakfast table. Wow! Way to go, little guy.