Hollyhand House

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Happy Birthday Nana

Happy Birthday to the best Mother-in-law, Mom and Nana!  We love you so very much and can't wait to celebrate with you when you get out of the hospital!!
The family at Mrs. Cindy's birthday lunch last year.
Mrs. Cindy, Riley, me and Amanda (Riley's sister)
WE LOVE YOU!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Mrs. Cindy

   I have been asking for prayers for my mother-in-law for a while now.  She is still in intensive care at UAB and while she gets better everyday, she also has had several setbacks.  She had to have another surgery early this morning to stop the bleeding.  They have already had to go in a couple of times to hopefully fix this problem and stop the bleeding for good.  The doctors said today that if she continues to bleed they dont know what else really to do.  I know that God is the great physician though and he will be the one that can take care of her if it is in his will.  I just ask that if you continue to pray for her and our family!  She has been through SO much for many years now!!  She is so strong though and just keeps fighting.  The doctors said when they took her back to do the surgery that she was smiling and she mouthed to them that it was just another bump in the road! Now you tell me how many people would be like that in that kind of situation?!  Not many including myself!
    But if  ANY good could come out of something so bad, it has changed the way I look at things.  Since this has happened, I treasure my family and try not to take any day for granted.  I try not to complain about the little things.  I know if she can go through what she has for almost 12 years and I have never really heard her complain, then I shouldnt really complain.  I am trying not to talk about people but see the good in them (sometimes this is a harder one!)  But Mrs. Cindy has always been such a sweet person and never said a bad word about anyone and I am striving to be more like that!  I am happy for what materialistic things I have been blessed with and try not to want more...because those things dont really matter...its the love you have for your family!  Instead, I would rather give to others.  I pray A LOT more than I did before. 
   For those of you that dont know Mrs. Cindy, she is a wonderful person.  She is the most kind-hearted, sweetest lady and once you meet her you will feel like you have known her for years!  She is just that kind of person.  She really is such an inspiration to me and I want Anna Riley to know what a great person her Nana is.  We miss her SO much and we cant wait until she can come home!!

1st 4th of July

We had such a good weekend but boy were we busy!  But I just love weekends where we are surrounded by friends and family!!  Saturday evening we went to our friends, Wade and Mandy's house for a bbq, Sunday we went to Riley's cousin's house for another bbq and Monday we went to my grandmothers for yet another bbq! haha!  Anna Riley did not get to see any fireworks this year...maybe next year.  Riley and I sat on our back patio and watched the ones they did at Sokol on Sunday night but she was already in bed.  I hope everyone else had a great weekend!
Audrey thought she was a rockstar...she left those sunglasses on the whole night! There are 2 others, but she was the only one that slowed down to let me take a picture!

I bet these two could get  into some trouble together in about another year or so!

Anna Riley was trying to give Ainslee a kiss but Ainslee was a little unsure about that!
Papa Doug and his "Lil' Dumplin"
Granna and Anna Riley
Granna, PawPaw and Anna Riley
AR absolutely loves my cousin Hunter!
Nothing like some sweet kisses from Granny

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Our little 5 month photoshoot

I just love taking pictures of Anna Riley but I am just learning and you can clearly see that.  If I had my choice, she would go to a professional every month because I love pictures that much...I guess I will just settle for mine for another month until her 6 month pictures! :) 

**New post below**

5 months old

Anna Riley turned 5 months on Sunday but because of the super busy weekend I am behind on posting it. 
As I say every month, I cant believe another month has came and gone and my baby girl is a another month older!  Here is what AR is up to at 5 months old:
                                                      

* According to our scales she weighs around 16 1/2 lbs and seems to be about 27in long.
*She wears size 6 and 9 months clothes and a size 3 diaper.
* The queen of cat napping now takes 2 and 3 hour naps! YAY!  All because she discovered the joy of sleeping on her tummy and boy does she love it! She now takes 2 good naps and a 3rd cat nap in the late afternoon to hold her over until bedtime.
* We have established a bedtime at 8:00 and you can tell if you are just a little past that getting her down...its so much harder!  But she sleeps usually from 8-7:30/8 am.  (sometimes longer if I let her but it usually throws our whole morning off but sometimes I am lazy and need the extra zzz's myself! haha) 
*With that being said though, I do have to go in there some nights because she moves around SO much when she sleeps and often is all the way down to the bottom of her crib and has no where to go!
*She still loves sleeping with her Bunny and I let her sleep with it at night now.  She just snuggles up to it...its so cute!
*She can turn her glowing, musical toy in her crib on her own (its just a button you hit).  She has turned it on several times during the night when she has woken up.  I am glad she can do this, because it helps soothe her back to sleep. 
*She just went up to 8 oz. (7 just wasn't cutting it anymore!) and she eats every 4 hours...sometimes we can go longer if we are out and busy but usually I am doing all I can to get her to go 4 hours!  She loves to eat! 
*Since the doctor told us not to eat solids, we haven't went crazy with it but we have tried a few.  I have made her brown rice cereal and we have mixed bananas with it and we have also eaten A LOT of sweet potatoes.  Those are eaten at our house probably once a week anyways so I am so glad that AR seems to like them.  We will probably try a couple more things this month. 
*She will give you a kiss when you ask for it.  But be prepared...it will be open mouth and there might be some tongue involved! :)
*Her newest trick is turning off her bedroom light.  Every time we leave her room she puts her hand on the light switch to turn it off.  (It amazes me how quick babies catch on to things!)
*She LOVES remotes and cell phones...I mean I really dont know where she gets that from?!  Oh and she knows the difference between her play one and the real thing...no fooling her! :)
*She wants to crawl so bad!  She really likes being on her tummy now but the past couple of weeks she gets so frustrated because she cant get anywhere.  She is picking her legs up (like you do when you crawl) but she just cant get the whole concept. 
*She is getting closer and closer to sitting on her own. She can sit for a little while but then she loses her balance and falls over.  Her back is getting really strong though. This is one milestone I am ready for!!  I am tired of toting that heavy carrier everywhere!
*She is teething so bad! Those gums just itch her to death but she does pretty good with it!  But those hands stay in her mouth!
* Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still a favorite and really the only one she pays attention to.  I usually turn it on in our room in the mornings while I am getting dressed for the day and I will hear her in there just laughing at it.  She thinks Donald Duck is really funny...it must be the way he talks. 
*She laughs out loud all the time now.  And 'talks' and 'sings' to anyone that will listen! :)
*She snorts all the time now.
*She is a Daddy's girl!  She just lights up when Riley is in the room. 
*She is starting to reach.  Granna has been practicing this with her for a while now and she is finally catching on. 
*She loves to play with my hair and our faces when she is trying to go to sleep.
*She enjoys her bedtime stories and tries to turn the pages.  But she has her favorite books.  You can tell if its a book she likes because she sits still and "listens" but if not, she is all over the place.
*She still loves playing with her feet and has tried a couple of times to put her toes in her mouth but just gave up and put her hands there instead.  I guess she thought it was too much trouble! haha 
*She still is mesmerized by her hands. She could just watch them for the longest...especially when she is sleepy!
* She has been in the pool several times and really likes it but it usually puts her to sleep after a while.  She even feel asleep in her float the other day! 
*She still likes her pacie but mostly when she goes to bed.  But she likes for you to put it in her mouth so that she can take it out!  And then she chews on the hard part. 
*She rolls all over the place.  So we have kind of out grown the playmat we used to use and now she just lays on a big quilt and usually still manages to get off of it and onto the hard floors!
*Her hair is growing little by little (even though her Daddy swears that more has fallen out! haha)  but it has just lightened up A LOT!  When she was born her hair was so dark and now its a really light brown.  Still no red...some people like to say it looks red in the sun but I dont see a whole lot of red yet! 
*Her bloct tear ducts have just about cleared up! YAY!  She still has the strawberry on her side!
*She has the biggest brown eyes! I just love them. 
*Everyone has mixed opinions on who AR looks like.  But I do know she looks a lot like my baby pictures but those eyes are Rileys.  I think she is just a good mixture! :)
*Bathtime is still a favorite but I have to really watch her now.  She tries to get really acrobatic or tries to lay down and float. She loves for her ears to be underwater for some reason. 
*She still really likes her exersauser and is very interested in everything on it.  She also just loves laying on a quilt and playing with toys.
*She really misses her Nana and is ready for her to get well and come home so they can play!!
* She is such a happy baby and we are so blessed to have her in our lives! 

Friday, July 2, 2010

Who's watching me?

The other night I had heard some moving around and so I turned the monitor screen on and all I could see were two big eyes!  Apparently, Anna Riley had turned around in her crib and spotted the monitor.  She wanted to know what that was!  haha  So after that she has did it a couple more times during naps.  She is really trying to figure it out.  Right now we just have it sitting on the side of the crib but I have a feeling we will be finding another place before we know it!

Hanging with the "big" girls

She looked like such a big girl in the ladybug chair!
Audrey making sure she is ok! 
Just 'hanging out' :)
Caroline, Emma, Audrey and Anna Riley--BFFs :)
AR loved the ladybug chair, can you tell?