Chase Lost His First Tooth - 9.30.14

On Sept. 15th, Chase noticed his first loose tooth! It's his bottom middle left tooth. He said it "started this morning when I took my medicine".

Chase has been constantly playing with his loose tooth. His finger is continually wiggling it and he complains if his food is "too hard" or "too big" because he doesn't like to have his loose tooth involved in any kind of eating. He only wants to eat with his "back teeth".

Tanner has offered his services to "help" Chase remove his loose tooth. However, Chase starts fake crying at the thought and has said several times, "mommy, I want my tooth to fall out all by itself".

On September 30th Chase got what he wanted. Chase woke up in the morning and noticed that his tooth was no longer in his mouth. At first he panicked because he thought he swallowed it while he was sleeping, but after a frantic search, we found it underneath his bed covers. It was amazing we found it because his little baby tooth is so small!

 Chase put it under his pillow at night (in a zip lock bag to make it easy for the tooth fairy to find) and when he woke he received $5. At first he was disappointed because he thought he was going to be left a toy! Where does he get these ideas? However, he rallied into a good mood when I told him he could go to Toys R Us and use the $5 combined with the money he "earned" from helping Grandma Nish and Ron, He was so happy to purchase a Skylander figure!

Of course - Jayden now says that her tooth is loose!

Riley is Walking!

Riley took her first few steps days before her 1st birthday and now she is officially walking as much as she is crawling. She especially loves when someone holds her hands and lets her lead the way walking.

Riley plays well by herself for 15 minutes, but she's starting to be a climbing dare devil. I have to really keep an eye on her or she makes a beeline to the stairs or is suddenly almost standing on top of one of the little Ikea chairs. Riley also does not like the word "no". If anyone tells her not to do something, she listens, but she throws a big crying fit as evidenced in the video below:

Chase's Back To School Night

 Tonight was "Back to School" night at Chase's school. Since Tanner was at a work event (AKA summer party), Auntie Naomi and Uncle Henry watched Chase, Jayden and Riley at home. It was great to hear about the curriculum from Chase's teacher (who is FABULOUS!) and to see Chase's classroom. There's some cute self-portraits and various cut and paste projects that were fun to look at.

However, I did not feel like a model parent when I saw this project of what the students think they are. There were a lot of great drawings of "swimmers", "singers", "ball players", etc.

But, only one student was a "truth teller" and he is mine~

Jayden's First Preschool Art

Here are some of the first paintings that Jayden brought home from pre-school. I'm not too sentimental, so 90 percent of them end up in the trash.....but I don't feel too bad because I take a picture of each and every one before they're tossed. =)

My Best Friend's Wedding 9.13.14

My best friend, Jessica, got married! My mom and Ron and the Endows watched our kids, while Tanner and I got to spend a wonderful weekend in Laguna Beach to participate in the wedding festivities. We all stayed at the Inn at Laguna Beach which is a cute boutique hotel right on the beach...the views were beautiful~

On Friday, we all attended the rehearsal at 11:30 and then had lunch at the Yardhouse in Fashion Island. Later after spending some time at the hotel, we found a nearby bar and had fun dancing and toasting the bride and groom to be~

On Saturday, it was the BIG day! Jessica looked beautiful and I was so happy to be her "matron of honor"~

It was a wonderful night that went without a hitch....can't wait to see the professional pictures.

Riley is ONE!!!

The year has gone by SO FAST! Our last baby is turning "ONE"! It's fun to see how her little face has evolved though out the year...

Just Born~

One Month~ 

Two Months~ 

Three Months~ 

Four Months~ 

Five Months~ 

Six Months~ 

Seven Months~ 

Eight Months~ 

Nine Months~ 

Ten Months~ 

Eleven Months~ 

ONE YEAR~ 

At her one year mark, Riley:

• Stands on her own
• Takes 3-5 steps
• Squats and comes back up to standing position
• Says "uh oh" (when something drops) and "Maaaaaa"
• Waves bye-bye
• Shakes her head no
• Screams when someone tries to take something from her hand that she's not ready to part with
• Cries when someone tells her "no"
• Loves to dance when music plays or when she sees Chase and Jayden dancing
• Laughs at silly faces and peek a boo
• Plays on her own for 10-15 minutes
• Loves to take things out of drawers, cabinets, laundry baskets
• Loves to climb
• Has a great appetite - will eat anything!
• Gives kisses

Riley's 1st Birthday Party

On the Sunday before her birthday, we had a small family party to celebrate Riley turning one. We had a big party for Chase's one year birthday, but I do believe that I like having small family parties for the first couple of years. I'm not as stressed out and the birthday girl doesn't get overwhelmed. 

I bought these dresses when we were in Maui this past August. It's so fun to dress the girls up...

Cookie Favors that I bought from Torrance Bakery and repackaged~ 

 Chase is my big helper...he likes to help me make the birthday banners and blow up the balloons~

Riley loved playing with the plates~ 

We ordered lots of different kinds of pasta, salad, garlic bread and vegetables from Buca di Beppo. Easy and delicious~ 

Cake from Torrance Bakery - it was a chocolate torte and it was yummy! Tasted like an elevated Ding Dong~ 

Riley loved her cupcake, but ate it very daintily~ 

Chase and Jayden had a great time opening Riley's presents...Riley had a great time playing with the wrapping paper.