Jill's shower

On February fourth we had a shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Ann Cortner! The original date was snowed out, but it all worked out and J-bird had a fantastic shower. Lucy and Danielle made these lovely tissue balls to hang from the ceiling. She got a ton of precious things!

Mrs. Lucy said since the shower could not be at her home, she was bringing her home to the place. So, she brought a pretty white chair for Jill to sit in. So sweet.

Jill's nickname is "Bird", hence the bird theme...

Jill opening her goods with Riley's help Endsley playing with the paper Riley loved Lilli and would not leave her alone.

Hanging with the "big" girls

Jill with the hostesses

I finally got to meet this little guy. I had prayed for his little life while Danielle was pregnant and have read about him every Tuesday morning for over a year...literally. Such a cute little guy!

Ann Cortner arrived two and a half weeks early on March fourth! She is perfect in every way. I couldn't be happier for my best friend. So excited that she gets to see what this mommy stuff is all about.

Riley's comfort

She sleeps with it every night and on occasion brings it along in the car. She has had this pink dog since she was a baby. We have one at Cece's house and Nonna's as backup for bedtime. Her favorite part about the dog is its tail. She will say, "I need my tail, Ashlee." Yes, she has been calling me Ashlee. Not sure if I have written about that or not. Jeremy is referred to as "Jerm." I call him this every now and then, so now she does. It's hilarious to me. Anyhow, back to the dog. Lately, when Riley gets in trouble she runs to her room, grabs it and rubs her fingers up and down that tail. Gotta love the crazy morning hair...
so focused

This is her position at least once a day. For the most part she is a really good girl, but we have been having some moments lately. Terrible twos have turned into whiny threes!

Big Snow part 2

Saturday morning Jeremy was ready to get out in all the snow. He talked to his cousin Eric who was going out to his parents in the country. They had all the equipment to make for a good time. So we loaded up and headed south. It was FREEZING!! Eric had a limp when we got there from trying to stop the tube with his foot earlier. He kept playing until the pain was pretty bad. Long story short, he now has a broken foot! Oh, and Meaghan had an accident prior to our arrival as well. Face plant on all that ice! Quote from Elliott about the accident, "I looked down and she was just staring into space. I thought, Oh great...we've done killed Meaghan!" This is his wife he's talking about! In all seriousness, she was o.k. Just lots of blood.

Jill and Bill came along for the ride. Riley is obsessed with them. Only wanted poor preggo Jill to hold her in all those clothes. Oh well, I don't think she cared. There is Keith in what looks like glasses that a 90 year old should be wearing. Bless his heart.

Jeremy still dreaming about being in Colorado the previous week. Who knew you could snowboard in Culleoka?!

All the guys plotting the next run

A few more pics from the day...

I look like I am in pain here. I was just slightly scared after all the accidents from earlier in the day! Not to mention that Sandy brought me some ski pants to wear that were purple. Those paired with my jacket made me feel like Barney*.

Friends

Anastin and Endsley stayed warm in the house with Phyllis.

Sunday we were rested and ready to go again. This time we headed to mom and dad's. It was so fun!

Dad and I

All the sleds were at Tony and Phyllis', so we looked around and dad finally suggested a cattle trough! It worked pretty well.

Then Nonna came over with the tube. Oh what fun we had on this! Riley cried when she had to let someone else take a turn. She loved it!

Riley riding with Chance and Ansley

I chose to ride with preggo Brooke after seeing Jeremy fall off. I figured they would go easy on her.
All was well until we ran into a barbed wire fence. That was the end of the tube. It was a sad moment. All good things must come to an end though. It was such a fun weekend. It made us all slow down and enjoy some simple family time. Now I am wishing for spring to arrive!

Big snow 2010

Today we have gotten around 3 1/2 inches of snow! This is technically Endsley's second snow. The first wasn't worth counting or taking her outside to take her picture in. Jeremy has been so excited and acting like a 5 year old over the snow. The boy loves it. He was just in Colorado snowboarding last week, so I wouldn't think this little bit would get him all fired up. He left work early and was ready to go as soon as he got home. This was as close as Endsley got to the snow. She kept looking at us like we were crazy!Billy and Jill showed up to take part in all the fun. He helped rig up a little something behind Jeremy's truck to pull Riley up and down the street. The sleet kept hitting her in the face so she wasn't a huge fan. That is an inner tube that they are riding on!

Riley and Bird

Billy getting ready to take a spin

He had been waiting for this all day!

I had to try it out too! I have to admit that it was fun!

Off to CeCe and Papa's tomorrow to ride four wheelers, gators and whatever else we can get into. We are taking full advantage of all the fun stuff to do!

Who knew?

Who knew that Riley had wavy/curly hair? Not me! I took her in for a trim a few weeks ago and the girl said if you let me out a few layers in her hair will curl up on it's own. So we did it for fun! When it it fresh it looks a lot curlier.

Riley and her very first friend, Addison playing at our house.

Play date

Two weeks ago Riley had her first "drop off" play date. Ella Kate is one of her little friends from church. For the past year every time I picked her up from Sunday school and asked her what she did she would reply, "I play with Ella Cake". The teachers had said that they played well together in the two year old class. So, we decided to have miss Ella Kate over for a few hours. I seriously wish it had been all day. They were precious and I loved listening in on their conversations. If I wasn't in the rec room with them they would come downstairs to let me know that they were changing activities. It was so cute!

Riley: "What do you want to do now (In her country twang) "Alla" Kate?"
Ella Kate: Looking at a purse of Riley's she said, "Hey! Get a load of this!" They painted and wore Riley's cooking aprons. I was helping them at one point and after hearing Riley call me Ashlee, Ella Kate said, "There are a lot of Ashlee's in the world. There is one at my church and one at Riley's house." hehe.

They played with play dough

They played doctor on sleeping Dora.

They semi ate their lunch outside. It was the first pretty day we had had in a long time.

It was two and a half hours of pure peace. I think I was more excited about it than anyone! This is the stuff that I love about being a mommy. I told Ella Kate's mom that she could come over any day and I meant it. She was so well mannered and Riley just loves her!


After nap that day we went out to the play set and Endsley got to try out that new swing Santa brought! She was a fan! Swinging with big sister

Love those cheeks!

We ended the day with a paper cut. I know it hurt! She milked this one though. She would hold her hand up and not use it. So, after bath time we doctored her up! Isn't she pitiful?!