Lovely Lovely Thanksgiving

A wonderful week filled with family and two date nights in a row for Dan and I. A new first this year was watching Dylan get so excited about watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Dylan called every float "Buzz Lightyear." Definitely not surprising!

Rae had two helpings of Thanksgiving dinner, while Dylan only ate bread and turkey with honey mustard on it :).

Loved spending time with the fam, loved Dylan and Rae getting to see their Mimi and Papa, and loved spending some alone time with the Dan. Great week :).

Mickey's Magic Show

This guy was lucky enough to have a good friend named Claire that had her 2nd bday party at Mickey's Magic show at Conseco. Not only was this the first bday party that he went to, but he still absolutely loves Mickey. Rae was still a little to little to appreciate it, but Dylan was the only 2 year old in the suite that was never once distracted (except to get his piece of cake) and yelled at every character by name every time they came on the stage. So cute. Also, we have a new character to love. "Mama, Jasmine beaufiiul."

"Handy Manny Alloween!"

We started our Halloween at Bubs for breakfast in Carmel. Pumpkin pancakes for all with apple butter and whipped cream. It was an absolutely lovely breakfast. The kids were super cute. Unfortunately, we were eating in a covered porch with space heaters, so you can't see the kids cute Halloween outfits under their sweatshirts. However, Dylan and Rae were trying to hold hands throughout the breakfast- which was about the cutest thing I had seen in about 24 hours. Those kind of things happen a lot around here when you have these two cuties around.

When we asked Dylan what he was going to be, he always answered, "Haaandy Maaany Allloweeen!" It was so cute. Found the tool belt, the green baseball shirt, the tools, and we were good to go! His favorite thing that he got in his bucket was his popcorn ball. No surprise there. After trick or treating we had some neighbors over for smores and Dylan had a personal dance party. When I asked what his favorite part was when he was going to bed that night he said, "Mama, shake da booty." (Right now he loves to say, "This my favorite song." He says that the most to "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz.)

Rae girl just went along. A little in her car, a little walking. She didn't really get the whole candy in the pumpkin thing, but she sure liked carrying it around! She had her first lollipop and LOVED it. :) Don't you know that girl was in bed by 6:45. :).

Side note: I stink at blogging. Those pics should be in a much more logical order up there. You get the idea.
Side note number 2: Yes, Dylan is wearing a hat advertising a Mexican beer. This was the Handy Manny hat we found at Old Navy for $2.50. The cute Handy Manny label I used to hide it must have fallen off when we were posing for our picture by the fire. :)

I guess they make them that way...

I think we got there this past weekend. The terrible twos. I know what you are thinking- not sweet, a little shy, funny, big brother Dylan! And while we had a wonderful, wonderful fall break, there were 2-3 minute spurts here and there of...

"NO NO mama"
"Mama, I don't like it!"
"No Daddy, Mommy do it."
"No Mommy, Daddy do it."
"No, Rae Rae, this mine"

and my personal favorite

"Mama! Daddy went poopy in the potty!"

Now, when your kid says that, while you are standing in a not very crowded (so everyone can hear) but crowded enough (so several people turn and look) eatery, all you can do is laugh. That was after a monster fit because, well, we told him we were going to go eat, and he actually couldn't eat lunch in the parking lot of Trader Joe's, we had to walk a few steps to get to our choice spot. He also lost it again in the car on the way home when he told me to turn the car right ("mama, this way"), but in reality, I had to turn left.

But really, we had an amazing weekend! apple picking, football game, shopping, apple pie, oatmeal cookie, pumpkin "cake"-making, etc. Two seconds after a fit he does something amazingly cute and we can't stay mad.

I guess they make kids that way on purpose.

Disclaimer: For the record, Dylan calls anything that is happening in the bathroom, going poopy in the potty. He likes to talk about it a lot...but is not interested in doing anything in the bathroom by himself...

Things that happened...in no particular order

Rae turned one.
Rae walked.
Dylan slept in a big boy bed.
Dylan started soccer.
Rae developed quite the vocabulary: mama dada cracker cheese tug car ball mmmmm bath banana shoes juice
Dylan is a professional scooter rider
We got some professinal pics of the babies done
I scheduled a trip to New York. Alone with babies.
Dylan and Rae had their first sleepover at Lolo's house.
Mimi and Pop-pop visited.
I interviewed for a new job, got the job, but didn't take it.
Rae and Dylan started with a new sitter whom we love.
Dylan learned "no that's mine..." :p.
We took Dylan and Rae to a colts game.
We scheduled a trip to see friends in Virginia.
Rae is drinking milk! Dylan still prefers water.
I went back to work part time and thank the lord every day that I only work three days a week.
The pumpkin spice latte came back.
I went through a whole giant yankee candle and just purchased a new one.
I am obsessed with having open windows in the fall.
I am kinda annoyed that summer is still hanging around. It will be 80 degrees when we go to the pumpkin patch on Saturday.
I started letting Rae sleep with a fan and she is now sleeping more than 12 hours a night.
Dylan likes to fall asleep to music on his "cd player" (which isn't a cd player at all, but a fisher price toy that plays music).
I fell in love with a local consignment shop.
Dylan will say "mama, raerae like this song" when a song comes on the radio and rae starts dancing in her carseat.
Rae broke 20 lbs and Dylan broke 30 lbs.
Dylan is still super tall. Just bought him some 4T pants (they are too long)
I have decided not to do more laundry than I am prepared or willing to fold.
I couldn't be more excited that fall tv is back on.
Rae loves to look at books.
Dylan love puzzles and light aqueen and
Rae still only has two teeth
Dylan loves all things that "roaaarrrr"
We started having Friday night movie nights with Dylan after Rae goes to sleep. And he loves it.
I have made some really great friends in my neighborhood, and Dylan has too.

I love: Chelsea, girl's night on the deck, my list of books that I am planning on reading soon, my new nikes, my sunroom that is now finally decorated.

Dylan loves: Pizza and duckies with aunt titi and uncle ben, his elephant and lion, light aqueen and mater, and football and daddy's sports.

Rae loves: stretch pants, nanananas and crackers, looking at books in her carseat, and pushing her new baby stroller around.

Best Friends

I used to be Dylan's best friend. I'm not anymore, and I am ok with it, because this girl is. :) Makes a girl want to have a big family.

Hey Rae

Today you woke up at 5:22. Wide awake. This is after me choosing to start my Jillian 30 Day Shred last night, and having a party on our deck the night before and partying like we were 24 until 3 am. I am sleepy, and would prefer to go back to the days where you slept until 7. Especially now that I don't have to get up for work. Sound good? Love you.

Took a Break

My fear of blogging is that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it. Well, that happened pretty fast. I attribute it to two things. Stating on my blog that I would do something that actually took much more time than I thought it would, and Dylan's big fall. Not only did it take me forever to get started on Rae's birth story, but I haven't started on Dylan's yet. His will come...but I will not say when. Can't put that kinda pressure on myself anymore!

Reason number two is Dylan's big fall which resulted in us having a pretty traumatic Friday morning many weeks ago. I felt like it was something I should mention, since it was such a big deal, but to be honest, it was so traumatic for me, I really couldn't bring myself to write it down. And now...his tooth has come back down, no surgery needed, no infection, and I have much less anxiety now than I did four weeks ago. Better mommy.

Take a look at this guy. Two pics- one where you can see a tooth missing, and one where you can see that it has come back down! The body is really amazing.

Raegan Kathleen

Raegan Kathleen Riego
9-9-09.

Rae girl, Rae K, Raegan Kate, Rae Kate…this is your story. 

Little Raegan, we decided to try to have our second baby when your older brother was a mere 8 months old (side-note, you are 8 months now, and we will not be trying for another baby right yet). We knew we wanted you and your brother to be 2 grades apart, and because we were blessed with an “easy” first baby, we thought that we should start as soon as we could. Well, wouldn’t you know that you really wanted to be here. We found out we were pregnant in January of 2009, much to our surprise,e after only having to try for one month. Dylan delivered the news to your dad in the form of a picture of him with a sign saying, “I’m going to be a big brother!”

My pregnancy with you was different from my pregnancy with Dylan. My skin was different, I felt sick, my hair was dry, etc. Because of these differences, I thought from the beginning that you were a girl, but didn’t want to let myself get overly excited.

The day we found out you were a girl, your dad and I both cried tears of joy.

There were many times throughout my pregnancy that I thought that you were going to come early. I felt contractions early on, and actually called the doctor a few times to make sure everything was ok. Dr. Templeton decided at one of my appointments that we should schedule your C-section a week early just in case. She came in the room and said- ok, that will be September 8th, but if you like, we could try for September 9th. It took me a second, but then I got it- your birthday would be 9-9-09! I thought it was a neat coincidence, so we “decided” that would be your birthday unless you came early!

Mimi and Pop-Pop came in a few days early, and spent some time with us before you came. The day before we went to the hospital, we went to see Dr. T, and she told me to be prepared. I was a little more dialated, and was having a few sporadic contractions. However, you had been giving me “pains” for what seemed like forever- so when I started to feel them again that night, the night before your “planned” birthday, I didn’t make a big deal. I mentioned them to Mimi, mentioned them to Daddy, but ate a wonderful dinner out on the deck. We went to our room early, so that we could prepare for the next day. At that point, I secretly knew you were coming (well, 90% sure). The night before, your dad and I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning watching Cocktail on VH1. Gotta love that. We were just so excited for you to come. So, your dad was tired and I encouraged him to sleep. I slept for about two hours, and then moved to the chair to start timing the contractions. I got in the shower, took my time getting ready, and then ever so calmly called the doctor. I look back on that secret time, when only you and I knew you were coming, with huge smiles on my face. I also love knowing that whether we planned it or not, you wanted your birthday to be 9-9-09 .

Dr. Templeton told me to come in as soon as possible, and I finally woke up your dad. Contractions really hurt by then, and I squeezed your dad’s hand tightly all the way to the hospital. Your dad pressed the button to enter the delivery wing, and the nurse asked if she could help us. Your dad replied, “Umm.. we’re having a baby?”

Everything happened so quickly. We got settled, did all of the preliminary tests, and before I knew it, we were on our way. I actually walked to the delivery room this time, stopping every few steps when a contraction came. You were having a race with another baby in the wing, so the doctor gave me the epidural, and actually told me to sleep for a little bit until the other baby was delivered.

I loved watching your daddy walk in the room in his scrubs. I loved hearing you cry for the first time. I loved watching your daddy take pictures while all of the doctors did their work on you. And I loved holding and kissing you and feeling the instant connection that only a mommy and a daughter know.

Love you baby rae.

Belly Laughs

I know I said I would do birth stories, but I had to document the sweetest sound I have heard since I have had two children. On our way to the park, Dylan and Rae were playing a little game of peek a boo in the back seat. Rae is big enough now to lean up and peak around the edge of her car seat. She kept peeking at Dylan, Dylan would smile and laugh, and she would laugh back with the biggest belly laugh I have heard from her. It wasn't once or twice, it was over and over from 37 to Allisonville, to 116th, to the park (I took the longest possible way there for no good reason).

It was so sweet, and makes me so excited to see them grow as best friends!

Birthdays

My 30th birthday was last Thursday and I had a wonderful last couple of days celebrating. This included LOTS of food- including a few of my favorites- sushi, St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail, and Hot Box pizza. I am currently waiting on a ice cream delivery from my husband to round out the weekend, and Katie and I still have a date to go get our artichoke appetizer at Cheesecake Factory (we have to be the only people that go for the artichoke, not the cheesecake).

My 30th birthday has caused me to reflect on quite a bit. As Danny and I enjoyed a date night on Saturday, we had a long discussion about how we have been together for half our lives. And, this life we are so preciously building one baby at a time will surpass the 15 years we didn't know each other. I am incredibly lucky to have a best friend for a husband. We have had the opportunity to grow together, and I love the couple that we have become.

I think it is most appropriate to reflect on the two birthdays that mean the most to me. April 14th, 2008 and September 9, 2009. My next two posts will be the birth stories of my sweet babies, which I still have yet to document. Believe me, I can replay every minute of my 4 day hospital stay with each baby. Those will continue to be some of my favorite memories of my adult life. So, on my 30th birthday, I feel so lucky to say that Dylan and Rae's birthdays have been the most defining moments in my 30 years.

A post from Shutterfly...

For those of you that don't know, I post all of my pictures on a Shutterfly site- www.theriegofamily.shutterfly.com. Feel free to visit if you don't already! There I do a montly journal entry to remind myself of my kiddo's milestones. I have cut and pasted that below- as I know I have really slacked on this blog in the last few months. Let's just say blogger and I weren't on speaking terms for awhile. But I am back, and I am starting with something easy- my shutterfly post- to catch everyone up. Get ready for big changes in May, when one miss JenB will assist me with all things blogger, so I don't boycott this thing again.

Enjoy!

We had such a busy month! I have started a blog, www.theriegofamily.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit- but don't get too excited. I got in a fight with it this month when I had some trouble posting. But- tonight I will begin again!

This month...

I went on my first extended trip away from both kids (Vegas!), Easter, Mimi and Papa came to visit (Dylan has officially changed his name from Pop-Pop to Papa), Dylan turned 2, Rae was baptized, Danny's basketball season officially started, Dylan hit 30 lbs, Rae hit 15, and Rae finally got over her "cold" and is sleeping beautifully without coughing. Dylan counted to ten last night and I got it on video! He also did a summersault today and said "awesome" after he did it! He then proceeded to do it a hundred more times until he crashed into the baby seat-that I should have put away months ago... He is so cute! Rae is still pretty unhappy on her belly, but will get up on all fours, rock back and forth, and scoot backwards! She can sit up and play with her toys, and melts our hearts everytime she smiles- which is a lot. She belly laughs when I tickle her and has started eating stage two baby food!


We had Dylan's bday party at Yogi's in Bloomington, and we were so fortunate to have the whole family there. He was thrilled with his Handy Manny coloring books, his "tools", and his books! We got him a bike that luckily Papa put together before he left! We have taken it out a few times, but he still isn't quite sure about the pedals. Hard to believe that Rae is more than halfway to 1! I officially feel like she isn't quite my baby baby girl anymore...More on that later in my blog!!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful day filled with cinnamon coffe, cinnamon rolls, Piglet's Big Movie, kids taking long naps, first day of the season sitting in a chair on the deck while both kids napped...hold on...I know. That part sounds amazing. But also- we got to have an awesome Linner at Maggiano's, and chuch with cousins.

This afternoon, Dylan "found" his eggs on the floor of my room. I meant to hide them on the deck for him to look for after his nap. He found them before I could hide them. He put them all in his push cart and walked around for quite some time before he realized there were jelly beans and m&ms in them. He loved his Easter basket, especially his markers and coloring book from Mimi, and his Pooh sticker book from the Easter Bunny. Those made church fly by!

Check out those outfits! Are they cute or what? They were awesome, husband was awesome, and all in all, we had a fabulous day.

I will be leaving the house at 8:30 for our 9:15 doctor's apt. so that I can get Starbucks on my way...

Lovely Day

We had a lunch/playground/shopping date with Aunt Katie. Gotta love Hamilton Town Center.

Pretty Clothes

I have a lot of pretty clothes for Rae. It is hot out, and there are some dang cute dresses and tank tops and stretchy pants. BUT... I just can't bring myself to put them on Rae! I always think...oh, there must be someWHERE we can wear this! It isn't worth it to put this on her today when nobody is going to see her! She is just going to spit up, pee, poop, or spit food on this pretty thing!
BUT... Today I was hanging out with some neighbors while the kids played, and someone told me, "You just have to start putting those things on her! Then it will become normal and you will love it." So that is what I am going to do. Just wait until tomorrow. You are going to see something special! We have a date with Aunt Katie, and I KNOW she will appreciate the outfit I choose for our sweet baby rae! Pictures to come!

"She sits, she scores!"

Here is your pic! How could I forget the fact that my Rae is sitting!

Random

Trying to get used to this blogging thing. Can't quite get the pics to do what I want when I insert them. Realized that blogs are way cuter with pictures, but for someone that is always taking pictures, every time I wanted to take a picture in the last few days, it was just too hard. The camera was in the car, in the house, didn't have batteries, didn't have memory...so here is a post with no pictures!

Another thing I have to get used to is spreading out the posts. I had a couple of ideas over the last few days, so in lieu of pictures, I will post them all now- in hopes that I will have something to write in the next few days.

First, Rae is not responding to antibiotics. As soon as she is off, she is sick again. She has been on antibiotics for 30 days...I think that is unusual. She was off for two- and the runny nose and stuffiness and coughing is back. It could be worse, and I am sure another ear infection is soon to follow, but I am more concerned about the fact that meds can't kick this thing! We are going back to the doctor tomorrow. Don't worry about the hundreds of dollars in co-pays at the doctor's office and pharmacy that I have spent in the last month...

Dylan, on the other hand, is awesome! This kiddo is on the verge of sentences. I just know it. In the last few days he busted out "gosh!", football, bus, Manny, Tools, Pat, Eyore, Ben, Brian, plane, all of the color words, "night night baby rae rae," and "Ro Ro basketball shoot the." :) In the past week, Dylan has decided to sleep with the following: his crocs, two different kinds of balls, his cars, and Handy Manny. Today I went to a preschool co-op meeting for little Dyl-man! Here's hoping he can be in the 2-3 class next year! I really liked the fact that it was two hours, parents helped teach, and it was only twice a week. A few things have to fall into place for it to work out, so keep your fingers crossed for me! I can't believe that he is getting so big!

Now on to me...Rae barfed on my phone, and then I proceeded to drop it in my coffee. I also spilled a glass of water on my chicken that I had out for dinner. It has been quite the clumsy day. I have a feeling I will be posting quite a bit about tv. Very excited to watch Lost tonight. Weirdly intrigued by last week's Kendra. Kendra mentioned that she had one week to get ready for a photo shoot twelve weeks after the baby was born. I really like this show because a lot of it is filmed in Carmel this year- and she had a baby not long after me. It makes me feel good to see that she still has a baby belly just like the rest of us after she gave birth. Plus, I like her and Hank. This week I felt good about the fact that she stated she was 144 the week of the photo shoot and she can only be about 5 foot 3. However, I was a little annoyed that she didn't tell us that the picture that was on the cover of the magazine must have been airbrushed...She is usually so honest! There was no way that she lost that weight in one week. My friend across the street said that her husband bought her that magazine in order to "motivate" her to lose her baby weight. I am hoping she is making him watch this season (promise it is really my friend- Dan wouldn't do that:)). Finally, I was pretty ticked when Hank said that he "let go of the ball when he heard the ref say blue ball and somehow it was saint's ball." Just admit you ruined it for everyone Hank! I had to cautiously watch this episode while Dan was playing outside with Dylan. He would have been PISSED!

That's all for now. I will post pics next time!

Look alikes

Just wanted to post a few pictures that show how much these kiddos look alike!

Don't Sleep On It...

Welcome to My Friends Dylan and Rae! I sing that to the tune of "My friends Tigger and Pooh!" We watch a lot of Tigger and Pooh around here. The next line to that song is "They're always there for each other." Very appropriate! Today Dylan fell down, kinda did the fake cry thing, and looked at Rae and I laying on her playmat. When I said "Come here Dylan, I will give you a hug," he walked toward us, and chose to give Rae a hug instead. Toooooo Cuuuute! He felt better and went on playing :).

Soooo... Here is my first blog! Don't get too excited (Jen, Katie, and Mom), I am not sure how often I will be able to keep up with it. BUT, I hope to keep you updated with funny stories, cuteness, and pictures!
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Danny has started using the phrase "don't sleep on ___________." It basically means, don't forget about, don't underestimate, don't fail to appreciate. Here are a few things that am going to put on my "Don't Sleep On" list today...

Don't sleep on the dollar menu at any drive thru. It is not only a lifesaver in a situation where your child can't quite make it all the way home, but a moneysaver as well!

Don't sleep on the DVR. I really can't live without it. I am a tv person, and have a list of shows I watch on a regular basis. RIP my season of How I Met Your Mother- which I was saving to watch in succession (lord knows when...) that was deleted when we switched out DVR boxes. I was given one week to watch everything that I had on my DVR- or it was gone. Forever. Not an easy task.

Don't sleep on Rae holding her own bottle! The newest accomplishment of one Rae Riego. Dylan has become a little jealous during feeding time, and tonight tried to climb up on my lap while I was feeding her. He then proceeded to fall off my lap in slow motion as I tried to catch him with my...foot. It didn't work. He looked up at me from the floor for a brief moment before the crying started. I put Rae down on the floor with her bottle so I could pick him up, and to my surprise, she held her bottle and finished it on her own! Amazing!