One year left....ahhhhh 30, here I come!

I can not believe I am 29, yikes! Life goes by entirely too fast. Riley is getting so big! She took 3 steps today! Lulu, she had a blast playing in her ball-pit today, I love those deep belly laughs when she is having so much fun. Tomorrow she has her first school photo shoot! I am so excited for her. I'm sure she will be looking backwards, yanking on the back drop, or biting the photographer so she can play with the camera. In these pics, Riley and Donnie playing in the ball pit, and Riley enjoying her favorite veggie, corn...she eats her whole (half) cob. Don't you love her tan line at her neck!

I was going to title this entry "Why bad things happen to good people"...but didn't want it to be so depressing. However, I just want to say that I just read on the bottom of the tv screen on "E" that Rev. Run (Run DMC) and his wife just had a baby that was born with all of it's organs on the outside. It did not survive long after birth. There was a baby at the NICU the same time Riley was there that had the same thing. They sort of explained it as the same thing as what Riley was born with...but in the front....instead of the spine and spinal cord not fusing and closing, the chest bones never fused. They had been waiting for a few months already and had not closed her up, I guess research shows it's better to wait. I wish I knew how that little girl was doing. Anyway, I remember watching Run's reality show every once in awhile earlier this year. I remember them talking about trying to have a baby. Run seems like a very genuine person and extremely focused on his family...not like some crazy rap star. I guess what I am getting at is that knowing in part what this family is dealing with, I feel a deep pain for them. Trust me when I say that I wouldn't trade Riley or her condition for the world, it will make her who she is....but to go through the pain again....or to watch her struggle as she learns to walk....I wish I could make her whole. We are forever thankful that we were chosen to be her parents, and she amazes us everyday, by far surpassing what the doctors expected.
I know HE will get Run and his family through this painful time....HOPE, it's what got us through!

Ohhh...the joy's of being a mommy!

After almost 3 weeks...I think Riley has finally kicked everything and is no longer sick!!! She started with a run-of-the-mill cold, which caused an ear infection. While dealing with the ear infection, she got her 1st UTI, and while dealing with both infections...she got the chicken pox (1 week before she gets vaccinated)! Now, she is teething...so she's just a little fussy! She has been such a trooper! I am so proud of my little girl! I know she is always going to be a tough cookie! Her life may have it's fair share of curve balls, but she will always have Dada and me to lean back on...although, I have a feeling that she will be the type to do everything on her own, and if we give her advice, she will probably do the opposite (don't you love how I am analyzing her personality...but if you were with her day in and day out, you would believe me...she is sooooo fiesty.......and I love it!). This picture was the only one I took yesterday where she was actually not frowning. In the others she has what I call the Franklin Frown. If you are a Franklin or know a Franklin...then you know what I am talking about (esp. Donnie and Travis!). I knew she had the Franklin Frown when we did her 3-D sonogram. Not only did she have the frown, but also a more subtle version of Donnie's cereal bowl dimple in her chin (it will surface when she loose her baby fat, it's just hiding).

Why the pumpkin patch?

"Pumpkin" is what we call Riley. Ever since we took her to the pumpkin patch almost a year ago...we concluded that Riley was our little pumpkin, and that's not just because of her rolls and dimples! In October, I will post another picture of her at the pumpkin patch!