Riley's Birthday Weekend

I titled this post Riley's birthday weekend since it seemed like even though his birthday was on Friday, there were mutiple little celebrations thoughout the weekend! Monday morning came and I mentioned something about his cousin Kortley's birthday and he snapped at me and said "No, no more Birthday!" Riley loves presents, and loved getting them, but if you know Riley...lets just say he doesn't do well under pressure, which includes being sung "Happy Birthday" to by more than one person. I think one of the pictures demonstrates his typical "on gaurd" face while my family was singing to him on the night of his Birthday. The funny thing is that apparently Ben was exactly the same as a child. If people would smile at him or pay too much attention to him, he thought they were laughing at him and he'd frown or run and hide. Sounds JUST like Riley :) Anyhow, it was a great weekend...and Riley got some really cool presents including a pop up cars tent from his Hansen grandparents. Just don't ask me to demonstrate how to fold it up....the directions say it folds up nice and neat just like a clamshell. Yah RIGHT a clam shell! None of us could figure it out. Today I finally got it to fold up small enough to fit halfway in the carrying case (hey, it's better than nothing). On the last step of the included instructions, there is a picture of a lady with the carrying case casually flung over her shoulder, and supposedly we are to believe that the tent is in the carrying case...but I'm not buying it. Not only that but she is SMILING as if the ten steps to closing up the tent were some sort of fun. I was definately cursing in my head today while trying to fold up a massive tent "nice and easy like a clamshell". Roger and Marrianne gave him some cute presents including a couple of little stuffed monkeys, which he now sleeps with. He also fell asleep tonight wearing his new Lighting McQueen hat, which was one of the things he got from my Dad and Laurie. He got to spend some time with Kortley, and we took them for a Jeep ride which put Kortley to sleep. I thought it was so cute that she fell asleep on Riley's shoulder!

Warning: Here is the mushy part.

My little boy turned three. THREE. I cannot believe it. I can't even reconcile the little boy I have now with the newborn I picture in my mind. I cannot believe how much I love Riley. When he was born, I became really depressed which clouded my feelings over and kept me from truly feeling the love I had for him. But after a couple months I was so in love with him, and it has just gotten worse! As he's gotten older, I love him more and more. I remember thinking when he was six months "I love him so much. This has to be the peak of my love for him. It has to go down from here." But then along came one year, and I thought "Wow, THIS is the best and I love him more than ever. But I bet when he's two, he'll really bug me and I'm afraid I won't love him as much." Well, you can guess the rest. As time goes on, I am realizing that no matter how old Riley gets, or how he changes, my love for him cannot possibly diminish...only grow. Simply because he is my child, and to me he is perfect. And to top it all off, I know Ben feels the same way. I see the joy he gets from Riley, and the joy we both get from Riley. Riley doesn't even know it, but he is truly our comic relief each and every day. Just tonight, not three minutes after we got him to bed, he comes into our room and sais "Good morning!" I think he really thought he could fool us. Happy third birthday Riley! We love you!

The Best Day

Today, Ben's brother Sam married a BEAUTIFUL woman named Stacia, and it was truly a wonderful day. It was definately an all day event, as the temple sealing, the luncheon, and the reception all seemed to string together into one busy day. But it was just a really, really fun day and I enjoyed it so much. It was nice to have the day with Ben and Riley, and to be reminded of how wonderful it is to be committed to the one that you love, and to support eachother and to love and support and uplift those around you. It was the coolest temple sealing I've ever been to, and the coolest reception. The place where the reception was at was beautiful, and for four wonderful hours we enjoyed being outside, mingling with family and friends, watching Riley run around free and happy with his cousin Kortley, and looking on at Sam and Stacia who are the neatest couple. I have posted several pictures of Riley and Kortley, and sometimes I feel like I post so many pictures of them but they are so cute together which allows for many photo ops that can't be wasted. And I know someday they will grow up, and while they will still be buds, they may not be as sweet and innocent, and there will be no more saying "Riley, give Kortley a kiss!" It is wonderful to look over and see Riley and Kortley running along holding hands and laughing.

I usually don't get mushy, but right now I'm so happy to have had this day to be with people that I really love and to simply enjoy life....free from the usual mundane everyday stuff. It's nice every once in a while to decompress and get back to what's important!

The family picture is priceless to me, mainly because the smile on Riley's face is.....angelic! And anyone who's every tried to take pictures of Riley knows that getting a good shot is not always easy! He tends to be a grump and play REALLY hard to get for pictures. I'm taking him to Kiddie Kandids for his three year old pictures soon, so here's hoping for a happy Riley!

Mom's Visit

My Mom came to visit me for my Birthday, and we had a great weekend! We went and checked out the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, and yes it was beautiful. HOWEVER...it was hot and humid. But kids never seemed to mind, so while us adults were dripping and whining, Riley was running around happy as ever!
Mom and I in front of one of the buildings. This was at the beginning when the heat actually felt good. Five minutes later, we were whining. I absolutely cannot imagine living in Arizona. Whenever it is really hot here, I can't believe that it is much hotter in other parts of the world. If I lived in Arizona, I would hide in an air conditioned basement all day! Riley and my mom had some major bonding going on this trip! She got to get in on the potty training (Riley actually asked her to "dab" him when he was done...if you know what I mean. Good boy Riley, I'm raising you right!) She got to take a trip down memory lane and remember how it was to have a toddler who assumes the bag of Doritos you bought is for him, and he MIGHT share with you. And all candy is rightfully his, and your drink is his drink. It was right up her alley!

Riley has a LOT to say lately! Even during pictures.

I really like this picture of my Mom and I. Isn't she georgeous!

I got spoiled pretty bad for my birthday. Let's just say it involved plenty of movies, restaurants, and cute new clothes. Riley was also spoiled by my Mom since his birthday is coming up. He scored a Mr. Potatoe head, race cars and his first racetrack, and some great non-spillable Diego bubbles. So yeah, Riley is pretty impressed with Grandma, and was missing her pretty bad when she left.

Payson Pool is AWESOME!

If you are looking for the thrills of wedgie-giving slides....this new water park is not for you. But if you like a place with a lazy river, several wonderful kiddie areas, a big pool, as well as two decent slides, then this is the best! Riley love, love, loved it! And Ben and I loved it too (watching Riley love it had a lot to do with it!) It really is fun...and clean. If you haven't gone, go check it out. My only complaint is that the line to get in moved slowly. Kids under 3 are only $1, and that includes a swim diaper. Unfortunately the price for an adult ($4) doesn't include a swim diaper. Ben was REALLY dissapointed :)

Riley spent a LOT of time jumping into the water. The shallow area is huge...perfect to let little kids run around in.

Fun Fourth!

Well it's late but this next week is crazy busy so I thought I'd better do a quick post. We had a GREAT fourth of July. We went to Moroni thursday evening and stayed until Saturday night. On Friday the parade was in the morning, and this year was especially meaningful to the Cook family and extended family because there was a float in the parade that carried Ben's Grandpa Morris Cook (seen in picture number 2 along with Ben's Dad) and his 100 great-grandchildren. This year there happens to be 100, so we commemorated that moment with a float. A guy from KSL news came and did a story on it, which was on the news that night although the news at 10 pm on the Fourth of July isn't the most viewed! It was so fun seeing Riley on the float. As he passed us, he was doing just fine and throwing candy and waving his little flag. But of course I had to do the crazy mom thing and shout out "Riley! Riley! Hi Honey!!!" He did see me and waved back, but then I could see it register on his face that he was slowly moving away from me, and I could see his happiness replaced with concern, and although I couldn't hear him I could see him saying "I want my mommy." He and Kortley were so cute next to eachother, numbers 80 and 81. If you are able to watch the KSL news clip, it's kind of fun to see. A little after the 1 minute mark, there is a clip of Riley and Kortley jumping around together. Of course us proud parents have watched the clip many times!

I took Riley to a little carnival, and he pretty much had some of the rides to himself. He went on a big bouncy slide to, and I had no way of physically getting him off short of me jumping on and making a fool of myself. Riley took full advantage of this and went down the slide several times (even though we had only given one ticket). Eventually I was able to coax/threaten him off! Last time I had to jump onto one of those jumpy things for kids, I ripped a whole in the seam.




Ben and I enjoying a little family mingling time before the fireworks. Moroni fireworks are great! The whole town (plus many others) gather and spread out on blankets and chairs on the baseball field. There are concession stands and usually a band playing, plus LOTS of glow-rings. When the big lights go off, everyone screams and the some of the kids run around trying to find their family (sounds scary...I don't mean it that way. It's fun!) And the the fireworks begin, and they are so close to the ball field they are practically over your head! Good times.

Isn't "She" Lovely...

The other day a friend of Riley's was over playing with him, and she wanted one of my flowers to be in her hair. So I snapped it into her barrette, and then of course Riley wanted one in his hair too, so I snapped one into his hair. Today he came in the house with two of my beautiful purple petunia's, freshly picked. It's hard to get upset when he wants it in his hair, and one in Teddy's hair of course. Aren't they just beautiful?

The old..........

Beige walls, purple accents, and crafty

The NEW!!!!!!!
Light blue walls with white trim and brown/bronze accents



I am a lover of change, and lately my upstairs bathroom had been bugging me. But I brushed it aside by reasoning that since we are planning on selling our Townhome in April, why bother? Well, we probably aren't selling that soon anymore since it's just not a great time to sell, and now that I know we will probably sit tight for a little longer in our cozy townhome, I have caught the decorating bug again. I decided late one night that I wanted my bathroom walls to be light blue, with dark accents, and the next morning I found myself at Lowe's, excitedly buying some paint. Then I scored at Mervyn's with the shower curtain ($15!), and the rugs (softest EVER) and the towels (also very soft). From there I bought some frames, and the pictures are cut out from this little book I have. So within 24 hours (okay, so it was 25 hours) I had a new bathroom. Everytime I come in the house and smell that paint, I get excited to run upstairs and check it out. Ben can confirm that once I get an idea, I can't rest until it's done ALL THE WAY and nothing better get in my way. I don't like finishing anything halfway, so sometimes starting projects can be dangerous. But I love my new bathroom! I also love this townhome because we have made it our own and literally every square inch of it has been fixed up, or redone, or somehow given our own touch (much of this was neccessary since when we bought it, it was a little trashed). I will be sad when the day does come that we sell and leave, and part of me is relieved that we will stay longer than planned.