Tagged

Ok I got "tagged" on a blog so now I have to write 5 things about 2 family members and then answer some questions.
Here goes:
Matt:
1. He is currently watching a movie in our living room with Spencer. I love how good he is to my family and that he loves them as much as I do.
2. He laid tile in our house and it looks like a professional did it! Good work honey!
3. He can make me laugh all the time. I try not to let him know that because it gives him too much power, but he pretty much cracks me up constantly.
4. He is a really good tennis player. I love to watch him play, he's just so cute!
5. He would do anything in the world for our baby girl.

Paiton:
1. She is snuggled up on her side by me sleeping right now. She has trouble sleeping if she's not physically touching me. Not kidding.
2. Paiton likes to be held by me constantly. Again, the touching thing. I think she kinda likes me ;)
3. I went into labor with her the day after her due date, although it felt like a week after.
4. She talks and grunts while she eats. It is the cutest thing I think I've ever heard. It makes my heart melt to nurse her and listen to her little voice. I don't want her to stop!
5. This little girl is my best friend. I spend every second of every day and night with her and I wouldn't have it any other way.

And now my questions:
1. How long have you been married? 1 year and 8 months
2. How long did you date? 3 1/2 years
3. How old is he? 24
4. Who is taller? He is, definitely.
5. Who sings better? It's not pretty either way.
6. Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. He knows a lot about everything so probably him.
7. Who pays the bills? I do.
8. Who does the laundry? I do.
9. Who sleeps on the right side? He does.
10. Who mows the lawn? He does!
11. Who cooks dinner? I do.
12. Who is the first to admit that they are wrong? Probably me. Matt's never wrong ;) I don't know, we're both pretty stubborn.
13. Who kissed who first? Oh geez I don't know. All I can say to Matt is "cat in a blender" :)
14. Who wears the pants? I probably do. Although he does too :)

Screamy P

Here are some cute pictures I took of P in another cute outfit :)
Here she is hanging out with Grandpa Riggs. Grandma and I took P and hit up the mall yesterday. We like to go spend time with them during the day. It's fun! :)Cute face!

Just chillin in her Bumbo! :)

Ok P has started screaming. Not mad screaming (well she does that too) but just screaming to hear her voice. So I videotaped it yesterday because it's just too funny!!
Enjoy!

Change #1

Hey all. This weekend was a big weekend for us! Matt and his dad ripped out our old carpet and tiled our entry way! Woohoo!! It was really exciting as we have been wanting to do that for quite some time now! It looks awesome! Thanks for spending your days off working so hard guys! Here is a peek at how awesome it looks!
Before:

After:

Also this weekend was Stacie's baby shower. I didn't take but one picture because I was holding a baby the whole time (weird). Haha. We spent this weekend at my mom and dad's because I didn't want the baby around the tiling stuff in case it was bad for her to breathe in! Of course while we were there everyone wanted to love on and snuggle Baby P! It's too bad she's just so cute!! :)
Stacie and I at her shower:
Pai's super cute big girl outfit I got her for Christmas:

Titi and Paiton:

Papa and Pai:

Daddy and Pai:

Big smiles!:

Bumbo!

Ok before I forget again we have some cool Paiton bragging to do!! On Sunday, 2/15/09 Paiton sat up! I was trying to show my mom how she pulls up like she wants to sit, and instead she just sat for about a full minute! It was so cool and Mom was a witness! Also yesterday she figured out how to put her binky back in her mouth. She's really good at taking it out and yesterday she put it back in twice!
I got her a Bumbo seat to sit in for a few minutes at a time and she seems to really like it. Here are some super cute pictures of her sitting in it:

Big update

Sorry I've been so bad at blogging lately. Or maybe everyone enjoys a break from me!
As everyone knows my best friend Amy passed away on the 5th. I want to thank everyone for the condolences, cards, and emails. That meant a lot to me. Yesterday was the funeral. I actually did really well. Matt, Paiton, and Mom went also. It was nice and all of her siblings spoke. We sat in the back in case we needed to escape with the baby so I couldn't see her family or her casket or anything, which I think made it easier. They had some pictures up and a video slideshow going. Also a chocolate fountain in Amy's honor :) It was actually a fairly nice day and the sun was shining so that helped too. As the day went on it started to hit me more and more and it got harder to deal with. Matt rocks at cheering me up though :)
Today was the burial. I had never been to a burial before so I called my mom this morning worried about what it would be like. Paiton and I got there and it was dark, cloudy, freezing, and snowing a little. I bundled P up and put her in the Bjorn. I was the only one wearing jeans. Dang! I thought for sure everyone would be since dress pants are so so cold, but I was wrong. I don't think anyone was paying attention to me though! It was very short, her brother in law said a prayer and blessed the grave. Then they opened the casket and let everyone say goodbye individually. I was surprised since they said she was too hurt to do a viewing after the crash. I took Paiton up and they had her face covered. It was really hard for me. I silently introduced Paiton to her since she didn't have a chance to meet her. I noticed she had on a short sleeved dress and my first thought was "Oh my gosh she must be freezing!" then I realized it didn't matter and that's when it REALLY hit me and I had to leave. I said hello to her family and her parents and Paiton and I left. I am glad I went but it was one of the hardest things I have had to do and see. I won't give details but I could tell her arm was not in good condition. I am glad to have told her goodbye though and gotten that closure.
Anyway, that's that. Here are some super cute pictures of Paiton on Valentine's day!! Matt took me to Tucano's for dinner, one of our favorite restaraunts and my mom watched Paiton. THANKS NANA!!! We had fun and stuffed ourselves!!

This is Paiton's Valentine's outfit!
The cutest beanie (and baby) in the whole world!
She wore jeans for the first time so we had to get a picture of her little butt!
Titi and Paiton :) Titi loves to snuggle Baby P

Grandma Riggs and Pai!
We do have some good news! We are making some updates to our house and although it is expensive it's FUN! We bought some new carpet we are going to get installed next month. It's really pretty and nice and it will be good to have new, nice carpet for the baby to play on! Yay! Matt and his dad are also tiling our entry way and our laundry room and hallway! It is going to look so beautiful downstairs! They are also painting all of downstairs since the paint looks gross and doesn't match! I will take before and after pictures, but it will be at least a month before it's all done! Let the countdown begin!
We also have booked our trip to Virginia! It will be me, Paiton, Mom, Dad, Spencer, Cami, and Grandma Riggs! We are so excited for P to meet Uncle B and for a super fun trip! Woohoo! We miss Cadon so much and can't wait to give him loves! Matt will stay here and coach tennis and hang out with the doggies :)

Happy 3 months P!!

Today is Paiton's 3 month birthday! Happy 1/4 of a year old Paiton!!! We love you!!
Tonight Matt and I are going to a movie for the first time in MONTHS! :) We are going to see Friday the 13th (of course!) while Matt's parents babysit. Wish us luck! We'll see how long I can go without texting to make sure she's ok!!

This is Paiton today:
Pre-Target shopping trip


And Post-Target shopping trip :)

Koch's visit

First, I'd like to keep a running total. At 8 am Paiton pooped through her clothes AGAIN. That's three days in a row. Just keep that in mind.

Here are some pictures from the Koch family visit!

Kiki holding Paiton. She screamed the entire way home from the airport so we had to take her out of her super sweaty clothes!

She finds her hands fascinating!

Titi and Paiton

Me, Kiki and Paiton

Debbie holding baby P

Kiki holding Paiton at our house
We did a craft and I made a plate for Matt for Valentine's day that had Paiton's foot prints on it!

Working on our plates
Papa and PaiPai

We took Paiton for a walk! It was nice out, about 42 degrees!Me and my love
When I pulled Paiton's beanie off she had quite the hairdo!
Nana and Paiton snuggling
Pai in her cute grown up outfit from Debbie
Me and one of my other brothers, Travis
And here's everyone in our family except Brandon and Jason:

Now I have a question and I need HELP! If anyone knows how to train grown, adult dogs, please PLEASE let me know. Our dogs are OUT OF CONTROL! They have always been bad dogs to be honest, but this is getting ridiculous. We can't let them out of our sight because they destroy anything and everything around them. They have totally chewed my desk chair and a big hunk of carpet out of my rug. I don't have time all day to babysit the dogs and take care of the baby! So if you have any insight or help, please let us know. We are literally at the end of our rope. I can't take any more eaten onesies, destroyed carpet on my stairs, destroyed rugs, destroyed office chair. They even jumped up on our desk and almost knocked the printer off and ate a bunch of paper. For the second time! If I can't get some help the next post you read might start off "Two Shiba Inus For SALE!"

***Make that FOUR. Since I started writing this (which it's taken me a few hours b/c I have to do it in between screaming episodes) Paiton has pooped through yet another outfit. Ok now I'm wondering if it's ME!? Am I doing something wrong!? I am putting on the diapers the same way I always do! What the heck!? I'm tired of being covered in baby poop! So now I need puppy help and baby help!

Quelf!

Ok so we obviously had to play Quelf while the Koch's were here. Here are some highlights: :

Spencer had to have a chin strap and I had to construct a snorkel and wear it the whole game.
We all had to hold something larger than our fist in our left hand and at all times.
Spencer had to wear his pants inside out.
And stuff a box under his shirt


Here is the game board
Matt had to tape stuff to himself, Debbie had to wrap her hand in foil and Kik had to wear a tie!
Debbie had to give everyone back massages

Matt with all the stuff stuck to him

Or it's just MY kid...

Ok so maybe I need to retract my previous statements about Huggies? I love Luvs (hehe) but yesterday AND today Paiton has had HUGE blow outs in them, covering both of us in baby poop! So maybe it's not the diaper, maybe it's just my child? You think...?

Update again

Sorry, I have a bunch of pictures to post but haven't been in a posting mood.
Debbie, Kiki, and Travis came to visit us this weekend to meet Paiton. We had a lot of fun and I have a bunch of pics to post from their trip.
Also I think it's safe to say that Paiton is officially teething. My little genius baby isn't even three months yet! :( She's growing up too fast. We have to keep constant on the Tylenol or life isn't pretty! She also enjoys a good gum massage! We can feel a little bump and I think it's going to be her bottom left tooth that comes in first. She has the runny nose, a fever, and is very cranky. Not to mention the 12 pounds of drool that come out of that girls mouth at any given time!
Keep checking back, eventually I will get pictures posted. Thanks to everyone who's emailed me about Amy. Her funeral is on Monday and her burial is on Tuesday. Matt is going to attend with me. Paiton will be coming as well. Thanks for all the concern. It was the most shocking thing I've ever heard and I hope to never have to hear news like that about anyone again. This weekend will be hard. I am debating whether or not to attend her viewing on Sunday night. I went to one in high school and that's the way I remember the girl. I don't know that that's how I want to remember Amy.
Anyway, thanks everyone.

In Memory Of Amy

My best friend from high school and beyond, Amy Yearsley, passed away on February 5. She was killed in a plane crash on Catalina Island. If you want to read about it search Catalina plane crash and it will come up. There is also an article on the LA Times website.
If you know me, you know Amy. We were inseparable for years and years. We met 12 years ago in drama our freshman year of high school. I have so many memories of Amy it's impossible to post them. Our trip to Canada where we didn't know they sold gas in liters and put too much in our car and couldn't afford it, our trip to California where we gambled at Viejas for the first time and Amy won $100, multiple drama trips and competitions, studying photography together and having photoshoots of each other. There are so many more.
Last night I went through my old photo albums to find pictures of her and there are of course TONS. There are boxes full of pictures of us in the closet downstairs as well. It was a hard thing to do but luckily I had Matt to help me. And Paiton, she makes everything better.
I am still in shock. I still expect Amy to call me or text me and we can make fun of everyone for believing such a stupid story. I expect that we're going to laugh about how weird this was for many years to come.
Amy has two sisters and two brothers and parents that love her. Please think of them. Amy was the only person I know who when out of nowhere I said "Let's drive to Canada" said "ok!" And that's just how our relationship was.
Oddly enough I had just texted her on Thursday. I was irritated when she didn't write me back because I had texted her a picture of Paiton. She was living in Las Vegas and hadn't gotten to meet her yet. Now I understand why she never wrote back to that text. I don't remember what time I sent it, I wonder if she got to see that I was thinking about her?
Last night got harder as the night went on. Matt made me cookies and I watched the Grammys and cried with Paiton. All night I dreamed about Amy and about telling our high school friends what had happened to her.
Amy, you will be missed more than you know. I will think of you every time I take a picture, every time I listen to my Britney Spears CD, every time I think of Canada, and every day anyway. I love you so much and I hope you are somewhere looking down on me right now and I hope that you're happy.
A few pictures that have funny memories of my millions of pictures of us....

Stacie Maternity

I did my sister-in-law Stacie's maternity pictures yesterday. I think they turned out really well! As you can tell I do a lot of black and white stuff! :) Stacie let me post them on here so everyone can check out stinkin cute and tiny she is!













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