The Teens (Months that is...)

One Year (Plus)

I really can't believe it has taken me this long to sit down and update the blog.  The cause of my procrastination is definitely a mix of things.  Aside from being busy, I feel overwhelmed by how much has happened and don't want to write an incomplete post. Realizing I will most likely be unable to find the perfect moment to write, I figure it is best to do what I can before Riley's second year passes us by! This will obviously be a bit of a picture-heavy post...

Well, our baby girl is officially one year old, and it was incredibly bittersweet as we turned that corner. I remember waking up on her birthday and feeling very attached to her - maybe if I held her and hugged her long enough she would be my infant just a little bit longer.  When she was first born my role as her mother was so black and white; she needed me for everything.  Although this was entirely exhausting, there was nothing uncertain in our dynamic.  With every passing day, she becomes less and less dependent, and more sure of herself and her capabilities.  With that comes a great sense of accomplishment and pride - she is growing healthily and happily (so we are doing something right!).  Yet it also comes with a bit of uncertainty and requires self-restraint and reassurance.  I can't catch all of her falls or figure things out for her...  I didn't anticipate it being this tough to go through this transition of redefining my role. I'm sure it will never be completely transparent, but until then I will just love her and support her unconditionally, and I'm sure I'll figure it out.  

Her birthday fell on Thanksgiving which was pretty awesome.  In addition to a mini-party on Thanksgiving, we celebrated the following day with a "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" brunch party. I surprised myself with how much I wanted her party to be perfect. I never thought I'd be that way with kids parties, but once I started planning there were just so many fun and adorable ideas I found and I couldn't help myself.  Pinterest will be the end of me.  In retrospect, it was all worth it except for her birthday dress.  I bought this beautiful white dress for her, but of course she hated it. She couldn't crawl without tripping, it was clearly itchy and constricting, and was stained within seconds.  Oh well!

(I realize this picture is a bit random with the rest, but it was a pretty awesome part of Riley's Thanksbirthday - gotta love deep fried turkey!)

In addition to Riley's milestone, we moved!  Charley and I bought a house in Winchester, which is just north of the city.  We had been searching for a home in Winchester for almost a year, and finally our stars aligned and we found the perfect home.  It met all of our requirements: quiet/cute town, strong school system, and big back yard. The house was built in 1952 and hasn't been updated once since then, so we have quite a bit of work to do in order to get the house to where we want it to be.  So far we've pulled up all of the carpets (it had wall-to-wall pink and beige carpeting), redid the wood floors, and have painted a bit.  At some point we would like to expand the house to create a great room - right now the kitchen and living room are on opposite sides of the house, so it is difficult to cook and hang out with the family (and tricky with Riley). We are loving all of the space and look forward to making the home our own.

(I need to take more pictures of the house, but here is the photo of it when we first bought it)

Charley turned the big 3-0!  Unfortunately his actual birthday was spent on a cross-country flight, so we threw him a surprise party before we left.  It was a Duck Dynasty theme which was really fun to put together.  Again, we were so caught up that I didn't get many pictures at all! Just imagine lots of camo, cat tails, and rubber ducks!

This year we spent Christmas with my family on Camano Island.  It was the first time in years that all of my cousins have been together for the holidays.  We had so much fun introducing Riley to the rest of the clan.  Although Riley doesn't quite understand what Christmas is, she definitely understood that presents equal fun and toys... we loved watching her open all of her gifts (Santa spoiled her on both coasts). Unfortunately my parents came down with the stomach flu on Christmas Eve, so they didn't get to be a part of the festivities.  The bug spread like wildfire - I came down with it once I got back to Boston, but (thank God) Riley and Charley seemed to have dodged it.

Looking back, I can't believe how few pictures we took over the holidays.  Although we got a few of Riley in her Christmas dresses, I definitely wish we had at least gotten a family photo!

Oh, and she was obsessed with the lights...

Overall, Riley is doing wonderfully. She took her first few steps on her first birthday, and about a week later she just took off.  She is loving exploring her world in a new way, and it is so much fun to watch her. Her last flights to and from Seattle were phenomenal - her attention span seems much longer so the distractions we brought her lasted for more than a minute each.  Charley and I swore never to be an iPad-dependent family, but when it comes to long flights, it is a must for us.  Never say never, right?  Riley has also perfected her tantrums.  I hate to use the word dramatic to describe them, but she throws her entire body onto the floor and just wails... So far most of her tantrums have happened at home, but occasionally they are in public places and she draws quite a bit of attention.  Her fiesty, strong-willed nature is very humbling for us to say the least (and I'm learning how to just breathe through those moments). 

Riley's favorite distraction at this point is other children.  We jump on any opportunity to get her around other kids because she seems so content.  Lucky for us we have tons of them on our street!  Within a block of us there is a family with an 18 month old boy, a family with two 20 month old boys and a month old girl, and another family with a 3 year old and baby on the way.  Riley will have lots of friends (and Daddy will have lots of boys to worry about when Riley is a teenager).

Life is good.  

Oh yeah, and last thing I wanted to include was a little recap of her first year updates.  Hard for me to believe.