She Smiles!

Riley started smiling two weeks ago, just before she turned 6 weeks old. I wasn't expecting her to smile so soon, especially since Cannon didn't really smile until about 8 weeks. I really need to stop comparing Riley to Cannon when he was at her age, because they are both very different! Anyway, Blaine is the one who really gets her going with the silly sounds and faces he makes at her...he has always been better at that than me. Here are some of her recent cute little smiles that we have been able to capture on camera...







And what type of mom would I be if I didn't add a picture of my other child, Cannon? Here he is hammering away at the couch. He loves to "fix" stuff around the house...

Riley's Baby Blessing

Our little Riley girl was blessed this last Sunday at church. We decided to bless her over labor day weekend so that our parents could attend without missing too much work. The blessing was very sweet and we enjoyed visiting with family and friends at our home for brunch afterward. Much thanks to our family and friends who were a part of Riley's special day! Unfortunately I only took four or five pictures with my own camera before I let Blaine's Aunt Mo take a bunch with her fancy camera. This is what I got...

Kids do/say the darndest things!

Just over the last few days Cannon has said a few funny things that I wanted to share. Don't get me wrong, he definitely keeps Blaine and I entertained on a daily basis. However, I am not very good at remembering the things he says/does unless I write them down. So, here goes...

1) One day last week, out of the blue, Cannon kept repeating the following phrase over and over again until I finally figured out what he was saying and what he wanted me to do: "Mama take picture me baby Riley". Apparently I wasn't taking enough pictures of the little guy and his baby sister. When I got the camera out to take his picture, he immediately got up onto the couch, held out his arms to hold his sister, and gave me this little smirk...


2) My mom stayed with us over the weekend for Riley's baby blessing (more pictures to come) and brought him three toy dinosaurs. There was one large, medium, and small dinosaur in the mix. When Cannon played with the dinosaurs, he referred to each one as either "dada, mama, or baby dinosaur". Even though we thought we knew which one was which, Cannon surprised us. The largest dinosaur was the "mama" and the medium size one was the "dada". When my mom tried to correct him and say the daddy dinosaur was the biggest one, he kept holding up the biggest dinosaur in the air and saying, "no, this is the mama", in a funny deep voice. Blaine's response: "Well, that sounds about right"! :)


3) Today Cannon found a little baby doll that his great grandma Riley had given him shortly after he was born and played with it while I was busy dressing, feeding, and changing Riley. When I started to nurse Riley around lunch time, Cannon pulled up his shirt and brought the doll to his chest saying, "Cannon feed baby. Yum, yum".

Dinosaurs are bittersweet

My oh my does Cannon LOVE dinosaurs! He is always talking about them and wanting to watch the Land Before Time movies on Netflix. His dinosaur obsession is a funny thing though...even though he is fascinated by them, he is also terrified of them! For example, if Blaine or I are playing downstairs with Cannon and need to come upstairs for something, Cannon HAS to come upstairs with us or he will start to sort of freak out and always say, "the dinosaurs are coming, the dinosaurs are coming". At first Blaine and I thought it was kind of cute and funny. However, because Cannon now says it ALL the time and can't play by himself downstairs because of his fear of a T-Rex coming to get him, it doesn't seem quite as funny. Additionally, whenever Blaine or I play hide and seek with Cannon, he almost always says that he is hiding from dinosaurs. Where do kids come up with this stuff? Anyway, over the last two weeks we took Cannon to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point and to the Hogle Zoo, where currently there are life-like dinosaurs displayed throughout the zoo as part of its Zoorassic Park exhibit. When Cannon saw the dinosaur bones at the museum and the real-looking dinosaurs at the zoo, he was both amazed and a little scared. However, Cannon did much better if he was held while looking at the dinosaurs, which is why you will see us carrying him in almost all of the following pictures:

Cannon not so sure about the dinosaurs at the museum:



Cannon starting to warm up to the dinosaurs at the museum and enjoying digging up their bones:




Who needs to see lions, tigers, and bears at the zoo when you've got dinosaurs?:





I also had to add some pictures taken today of the kids in their semi-matching shirts:

We've got corn and pumpkins!

When Blaine told me that he wanted to grow some corn and pumpkins in our backyard a few months ago, I honestly thought it would never work. I think my lack of faith in his crop growing skills came from my multiple failed attempts at growing fruits and vegetables in my own garden as a child. One would think that with Blaine's dad being a farmer and everything, I would think Blaine knew a thing or two about planting. But, nope, I did not believe that anything would come out of the seeds Blaine's dad sent to start our own corn and pumpkin patch. Boy was I wrong! We have corn stalks taller than 7 feet outside and three pumpkins! I wish I could take some credit for our crop growing success but I would be lying...I have done absolutely nothing with the garden but reap its rewards. Corn straight from your own backyard sure is fresh and tasty! Check out our corn and pumpkin plant: