My Little Eskimo

Below are several pictures taken today of Riley. This hat was bought for Riley when his Etta and Big Mike were in Buenos Aires (and he was just a hope). How freakin cute is he in this hat!!! I love it!!

Bronco Billy

When Michael was little he had a little horse that he would sit and bounce on. The horse was known as “Bronco Billy”. Bronco Billy was not a passing fad in the toy realm for Michael. He was a ritual. Every night before Michael would go to bed he had to take his ride on his horse. This ritual was so regular that Mary, who is 2 ½ years younger than Michael, vividly remembers hearing the springs of the horse every night.

Obviously, Riley needed his very own Bronco Billy, so Santa came to Brewton a few days early and Riley has been slowly but surely coming around to his new friend. The first introduction did not go to smoothly, but now that we know not to press the buttons in the horses ears Riley is coming around. When you press his right ear the raises his head and neighs, when you press his left ear he makes galloping noises. I am not sure if it the noises or the animation that frightened Riley, but I think we will give him some time before we do it again.

Below are a couple of photos of Riley and his very own Bronco Billy, one was taken on the 23rd of December and the rest were Christmas morning in his precious Christmas pj's.

And here below we have a picture of a picture of Michael riding his Bronco Billy in the fall of 1981.

Loner

I will post more pictures from Christmas soon. But I just thought this picture was cute so I am sharing it now. Riley is the only grandchild on both sides and the only great grandchild for the Otts and Pocky, so this child is never ever alone! He always has an entourage following his every move. However, he looks like he his is doing his own thing here. Almost like he is walking off pouting.

Good news for the blog...

I now have more incentive to blog:

I used some birthday money to buy a small point and shoot with 12 mega pixels...but I still really really REALLY wanted to save up for a bigger and better SLR. Lucky for me, the wait is over and Santa Gie Gie and Santa Grandcoy made it happen! I have already put it to good use taking many pictures of my munchkin and family. And I would be happy to share those fabulous pictures with you but in my hurry to get out of town yesterday I left my new camera in Pensacola. However as soon as it is back in my possession I will be putting it to good work!

Merry Christmas to you!

I am sorry to say that you will not each be getting one of these in your mail box. I waited so late to do a Christmas card (despite the best intentions) that I did not even have a Christmas card list until after I ordered them...that was when I realized my list was twice as long as the number of cards I ordered! So please enjoy the digital version. Next year I will be more organized! (Famous last words...)

Oh and in case you cannot read the word under the sleeping picture of my little angel is "PEACE".

Our First Santa Photos

So they tell you to back your children into Santa so they do not get scared...opps I forgot. And I should have known better because he was scared of Dr. Sinrod at Chappell's party. Here goes try numero uno:
And all the cute little noises and funny faces in the world could not help:

Oh, I know let's add Pollard to the mix! Riley and Pollard were so excited to see each other, and Pollard had smiled in his solo photo with Santa...this is certain to work:

I guess I was wrong again.

Oh we have calmed down...maybe we can get a smile:

Calmer....

And now my hopes of a smiling Santa picture are shot!

If Riley won't smile with Santa, maybe he will smile with mini Santa, his friend Jake:

Nope...they were both done with the photo session. I think we can kiss Riley's modeling career goodbye!

Adulthood gets me again!

I know by this time in my life I should have completely accepted that I am an adult...and I guess I have accepted it, but even with acceptance I am always coming to the realization that I am not good at it! The responsibilities are endless! I know some of you reading this are saying, "duh". And my Mom if she read the blog would be laughing and saying I told you so. But I want to know if I am ever going to be a real adult...one that always remembers to pack lunches the night before, perhaps even a family dinner, or one that has her Christmas shopping done when Christmas is a weak away? You may ask what got me started...the Christmas card! Every single card that I get in my mailbox is a reminder that I am always playing catch up. I really had this beautiful idea that when school was behind me and my little angel was sleeping through the night that is when I would really be in charge! Ha...shows what I know!!

Birthday Party

Sorry it has taken so long...and I still don't have time to write much...or even put my slide show in the proper order..but below is a slide show of pictures that I have collected from Rileys party. You will note that he has quite the collection of handsome baby friends. I swear I will come back and update who and what at a later date, but for now enjoy some pics.

Cake

Every picture I have ever seen of a baby on their first birthday involves the childs hands and face covered in cake and icing. I had wondered if Riley would make a huge mess and be in desperate need of a bath after his cake. I thought, "perhaps we should take his clothes off so he can only smear icing on himself and his diaper?" Then I thought to myself about how hard it is to get this child to eat anything. I figured it could go either way, and I was hoping for the messy route.

To prepare I called up Icing Illusions and had them create the perfect birthday cake...a baby elephant. We decided she couldn't do fondant because Riley would not be able to dig in to his cake. It turned out pretty cute (not as cute as I had hoped) but buttercream is just not meant for molding stuffed animals.

As you can see from the pictures below Riley was anything but interested in the cake. I even wrestled him to get a little bit of icing in his mouth, thinking if he tasted it he would change his tune...not so much. The only thing that action resulted in is a picture where I look almost abusive!

Roll Tide

I will post more on Riley's Birthday Party later, but I wanted you to know that it was a wild one...evidence below: Before you call DHR, I promise no babies actually consumed beer. First picture we have Dana and Pollard...Lindsey you see what happens when you aren't there to supervise playdates at my house? (Pollard will be celebrating his first birthday next month) Then below we have Jake with his Dad, Jason, and Michael with his Dad, Lee. Jake and Michael were both born in April, and they both dressed up to support the Crimson Tide! I had no idea babies thought beer bottles were good for teething?

Dear Google Reader

How I love thee! I get to catch up with all my blogs so quickly. It is fantastic. I just have one complaint: Why can't we leave comments from the reader? I am not sure if it is because my blog has become increasingly boring or not, but people don't really comment anymore and it makes me sad. And I realize I fail to comment on others blogs because I am in reader. Could you fix this?

Attention Starved Blogger, Allison

The other day I posted Riley's birthday party invitation and I realized that people do actually read...overnight I had 4 comments...that is when I realized since people are reading I should take my address and email off the invitation...thanks Holland.

Ramblings

Did you know that yesterday the weather report said Saturday the hi was 50 with a chance of rain. Then in the afternoon it said the hi was 49 without rain. Then this morning it said 48 with snow early...excuse me...snow? Snow on my baby's first birthday when I have sent out 30 invitations to family and friends...not to mention posted the invite on my blog...and we are supposed to tailgate? Really mother nature? What about that global warming? How is it that I live in the South and I have gone 15 years without seeing a snow flurry in my neck of the woods and now twice in one year it is going to snow here? (**interestingly enough it snowed in March in Pcola when I was in the 5th grade, and then it snowed this past march here in the Gump)

Yesterday a 10 % chance of rain...today it says a 70% chance or precipitation. And Saturday morning when it is 38 degrees outside it is going to feel like it is 30 degrees. Anyone want to come over and man the grill at our tailgate??

When Elizabeth was kind enough to send me this graphic in a format I could post she said to look on the bright side..."The good news is there will be so many people in the house that you will not need to turn the heat on!"

Party Time

Riley will be one this coming Sunday! I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I have been excited for this little milestone...who am I kidding...big milestone, but as I sit here typing this I am certain I am going to be a little emotional about it. Below you can see his birthday party invitation. It should be a good time, and I will be certain to post pictures of him digging into the cake!

In case you were curious about these precious little invites you can click here to go to Busy Nothings. These girls are great and will customize anything for you from logos, to calling cards. They are SO creative. Hopefully Holland will be posting Chappell's invites too. Chappell's are also custom and oh so cute! I cannot wait order my next item!