My Birthday

I know this post is a little late! I had a good birthday. It was pretty quiet but still fun. The kids helped make me a birthday cake. It was triple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Can you tell I like chocolate? We ordered pizza from Tomicelli's, played pictionary, and hung out. Mike surprised me with an I-pad. It's awesome! I didn't really want to turn 30, but it wasn't so bad once it was here. I hope my 30's are as memorable as my 20's!

Ethan and Mia put the candles in. Half of them were upside-down!

Happy 16 Months, Riley!

Another month has passed us. It's hard to believe that it's the end of July. Where is this summer going? Riley is always on the move. She does pretty well keeping up with her big brother and sister. She loves being wherever they are. Riley likes helping them cause chaos!

Riley is talking up a storm. She says new words every day. She'll say, "bu" for bubbles, "Ri-Ri" for Riley, "there it is". I need to start writing this stuff down. It's hard to remember when it's time to post it on here! She'll attempt to say whatever I say. It's pretty cute but it's one more reminder that I have to watch what I say!

I think she's working on some more teeth because she's been waking up a lot at night. She goes down easily for nap time. She usually sleeps 1-2 hours in the afternoon. Putting her down at night gets a little harder, especially if I'm around. She goes down easily for Mike when I have to work, but if she knows I'm here, she's a pain in the butt! She still sleeps with the talking baby and likes the hallway light on at night.

Thankfully, Riley isn't at that picky stage as far as eating goes. She'll eat anything we put in front of her. We usually put her in her highchair, but lately, she likes sitting at the twins' little table. The problem with that is that Mia steals Riley's food. I have to keep my eye on that Mia! She's probably the easier one of the three, but she's incredibly sneaky!

Riley is pretty outgoing. She's not afraid of strangers and will let almost anyone hold her. It's nice because Ethan and Mia are in a major stranger danger phase right now.

I painted her toes for the first time. It was kind of hard! She moved constantly. Ethan wanted his toes painted too. Mia wouldn't let me do hers. She was afraid for some reason!

Summer Fun

What's better than Schwan's ice cream and a lawn mower? This is Ethan's ideal way to spend time!

Almost had all 3 looking at the camera.

Looking kind of sad...

Mike complained that his lawn mower was all sticky. I wonder why. Thank goodness it poured later that night!

Cats and Dogs

I asked Mia to grab the remote for me. Riley spotted it on the floor first, so she picked it up to bring to me. Mia saw that Riley had it and snatched it from Riley's hands to give to me. Riley lunged at Mia from behind, grabbed her by the shoulders, and tackled her to the ground. Mia didn't get hurt, but she was mad, nonetheless. Riley looked like a linebacker from the NFL. It was great. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Ethan's First Speech Therapy Session

Ethan's speech therapist, Laura, came today for the first time. She will be coming to our home, which is nice. The twins were scared and started screaming, "no" when she first walked in, but she won them over with bubbles. (I think that they thought she's going to babysit them and that I'm going to leave so they freak out!) Riley wasn't scared at all. She kept saying, "hi" to her and trying to get into her toys. The girls kept trying to play with all of her stuff, so Mike took them downstairs so Ethan could focus a little more.

I was really curious to see what she was going to do with him. Speech therapy for kids is done through play. She brought all sorts of toys with her. She had Ethan match shapes, color, and play with puzzles. She would say the word for each thing and would have him point or match the like items. She brought flash cards and tried to get Ethan to match animals and other items. In between each task, she would reward him with either blowing bubbles or playing with a squishy ball. She would have him ask for which one he wanted (the bubbles or ball) before she'd give it to him. If he was having trouble performing the task, she'd ask him if he needed help and she'd have him say "help". She was SO good with him. I could tell she works with kids a lot. Ethan will have 45 minutes of therapy a week. When he turns three, they will re-evaluate him to see if he needs more therapy.

This is the last day of me being in my 20's. My 30th birthday is tomorrow. I'm slightly depressed about turning 30, to be quite honest. When I was a little girl, I thought 30 was really old, and now, I'm there. I don't feel 30 at all, so I guess that's all that matters. I'm still young at heart! I'm very thankful to have such a great and healthy family. My kids bring me such joy and fulfillment. I have a good husband who loves me. God couldn't have blessed me more! I'm also thankful for having such great parents and siblings, great in-laws, and great friends. I couldn't have married into a nicer family. My 20's have been good, so here's hoping that my 30's will be even better!

Riley's Stats

Riley had her 15 month check-up today. She passed with flying colors. She was pretty shy when Dr. Mailloux came into the room. She does this thing where she puts her head down and looks up at you (she does it when she gets in trouble.) Riley did that the entire time he was in the room. She did smile at the nurses, though.

-she weighed 22 pounds 8 ounces which puts her in the 45th percentile
-her head was 19 inches which puts her in the 95th percentile
-her length was 29 inches which puts her in the 5th percentile

Riley is following Mia as far as height goes. I think she's going to be a shorty. She's following Ethan as far as her head goes. I'm sure she'll grow into it. I might be biased, but I don't think it looks like her head is that big. Riley received a couple of shots and we were out the door. I love her doctor because he's always on time and he's quick and efficient.

I called yesterday for my brain MRI results and it's normal. So there's no tumor, brain hemorrhage, or cysts. I started the propranolol and it does make me dizzy. The bad part is that I'm on the low dose and I'm supposed to go to the higher dose in 2 weeks. I'm hoping the dizziness gets better. The first night I took it, it kept me up all night (which is one of the side effects), so I've been taking it during the day. It helps with the insomnia, but the dizziness is worse. I can see how people are non-compliant with taking blood pressure meds.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July. It was my holiday off, and it was a lot of fun spending it with family. We headed to Chamberlain to Mike's parents' house. They always have a Schmidt family reunion over the 4th of July. There were about 60 people there this weekend. The kids had a blast playing with everyone. Though, it took them a long time to warm up.

We went boating on the river while we were there. The kids all took turns riding the inner tube. Ethan and Riley loved it, Mia hated it. They all like riding on the boat and especially liked it when we hit waves. Ethan and Mia were half hanging off the boat to watch the water. They had life jackets on but it still made me pretty nervous.

We had a lot of fireworks to light off. The kids enjoyed watching the different colors as they went off. Their favorites were the snaps (the ones you throw on the floor and they pop) and the smoke bombs.

We had a lot of help with the kids this weekend. It's always nice to have a little break. I only changed a handful of diapers. Thanks to everyone who helped out!

Wearing a funky hat.

Riley and Grandpa Schmidt.

I love this picture. Ethan popped his head in the frame at the very last second.

Lawn mower rides. Are we a little red-neck?

Uncle Mark and Mia.

She looks pissed. I think this was after her inner tube ride.

Mia's turn on the tube. She screamed bloody murder. Her ride lasted 20 seconds.

I even rode it. I'm actually scared to ride it. When Mike and I were first dating, we went on an inner tube ride, were going extremely fast, and crashed really hard. This was the first time I climbed back on.

Mike, Riley, and Ethan.

He couldn't wait to climb in. Ethan is not afraid of anything.