Time does fly....

Wow, it's hard to believe that I haven't written on here since Riley was 6 weeks old. Time sure does fly. I have really enjoyed being home with the boys over the last 3 months but that time is coming to an end soon. I will be returing at the end of May to finish up the school year. I will then get the month of June off again and return for good in July. I am actually looking forward to going back but I am sure that as soon as I get back I will be wanting to be home. I will miss my little guys.

Noah is still going to school two days a week. This is a much needed break for me. He is so active and just doesn't want to stop for anything. He has really started playing with the neighbor boys a lot. I have had a hard time letting go and letting him be outside, without me, playing. Thank goodness for cul-de-sacs. I am happy to say we live on one but it is still hard. He just got his big Gator from Mommom and Papa's house so he enjoys driving his friends around. Noah just finished up with T-Ball. He really liked it but told me he would rather just hit the ball when daddy pitches. I have to agree that he is a better hitter this way. Since T-Ball ended he has started flag football. Want some good laughs.. come to his games. They are sooo cute. I had so much fun watching them run around. He loves that his daddy is coaching too. He is so proud of his daddy. We also just signed him up for swim lessons that will be in June. He loves the water and I just want to teach him to be safe in it. I could careless if he learns to be an excellent swimmer! Noah continues to love on his little brother. It melts my heart watching him hug and kiss him. Priceless.

Riley... aka.. the spitter! Riley continues to have a lot of trouble with Reflux. We go through at least two outfits a day and no less than 3 burp cloths. We still love him though! Just means more laundry and more baths. Riley has started holding his head up very well. He wants so bad to roll over but just can't do it yet. We got him a bambo seat and he loves to sit up in it. He only last about 5-10 min and his little head just plops over. He is also starting to try and pull himself up in his carseat. He wants to sit up too! I think I see this stuff more with Riley because I was so worried about what I was or wasn't going with Noah that I didn't notice all these little things. It is fun. Riley had to go to the doctor today for conjestion and he was pulling on his ears. Well... it's a double ear infection. Man.. he is too little.. looks like tubes could be in our future again!

Jeremy and I have been working on selling, decluttering, and cleaning! We haven't gotten very far but I have made about $2500 on Craigslist in the last month so I think we are doing great. We just got some new patio furniture and a Gazebo. We love to sit out there and just hang out with each other. It's kind of a nice little escape.

We have finally found a church that we really like. Noah loves it and we have been very happy there. We are looking forward to continuing worshiping there and making some friends. We are taking a money class there on Wednesday nights and are learning how to become millionares. Don't worry... it will never happen.. But a girl can dream. If it does.. I will share or at least take you to lunch!

Hopefully it won't take me as long to post again. I have a hard time even getting a shower these days so it might be a little while.

6 weeks and counting

Where does the time go? Since my last post Riley has turned 6 weeks old and Noah has turned 4 years old.

At the end of February Noah turned four and had a football birthday party at McDonalds. He had 22 of his friends come and help him celebrate. We basically took over McDonalds for the morning. He enjoyed eating cheeseburgers, playing, and just being with his friends. We also had a lot of family come into town for the celebration. Needless to say... he had a great birthday. Noah just last week was transitioned into the four year old room. He ask everytime if he can go back to his old teacher but I think he will be ok after a couple weeks. We will see. It is a little hard for all of us. He is growing up. I told him that this was the last room at Kiddie Academy and his next classroom would be at mommy's school! Kind of scary!! They grow up so fast. Next month Noah starts Lil Sluggers T-ball and flag football. He is so excited.

Riley is still doing great. We have been trying new formulas to find one that works for him. He has reflux and is spitting up everyting he eats. He got medicine that helped with the gas pains but it didn't do anything for the spitting up. We switched and tried one formula and still spitting up a ton!! So off to the doctor again.. this time they had us try Enfimill AR. Wow.. this works wonders. He has been on it for about 1 week and has maybe spit up 2 times. And an added benefit it has rice in it so it is much thicker.. therefore, he is sleeping more at night. He is sleeping about 7 hours straight which we love.

I am enjoying being home with the two boys but exhausted. It is so much harder with two. I haven't figured out how to get them both completely content at the same time. Some days I tell Jeremy I am ready to go back to work. He just laughs and says no way could he do it! I am not ready to send Riley to daycare though so I keep telling myself that.

2 weeks!

We have officially made it through another week with all three kids (yes, Bailey is our girl) doing well and mommy and daddy are still sane...

Noah is still doing excellent with his little brother and he wished he did not have to go to school two days a week so "I can stay with Riley and Mommy." Of course, he still has his 3-year-old moments and tonight he decided to drive his tractor down our street as mommy raced after him trying to get him to stop. Mommy carried him back as he kicked and screamed and the neighbors looked on. Oh well, he was over it quick.

As for Riley, he is doing great and still sleeping a ton. On Monday we went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor to talk about his tongue-tie. We also did a little research ourselves into the potential problems later in life such as speech, licking ice cream, chewing, kissing, etc. If you aren't familiar with this, a short frenum pulls down the tongue, restricts it from moving freely, and prevents the formation of a tongue tip. We have decided based on the ease of the procedure to go ahead and get his frenum clipped...it only takes one snip with sterilized scissors and apparently is a very minor procedure with no local anethstetic. We are hoping it is as simple as the doctor's say so our little guy is not in pain. Today, we went for his 2 week check-up at the prediatrician and he measured 9 lbs-3 oz and 21-3/4" long. So, he is gaining weight well and growing like a champ. He learned numbers 1-9 and A-K today, so we will work on the rest tomorrow (he is AG!!...ha ha).

Jeremy surprised me today when he picked Noah up and came home with stuff to wash my car...it looks so clean. I think that is the first time we have washed our own cars in probably 10 years. He must want something, just not sure yet.

Well...off to get the baby announcements ready to send out...I was very pleased with how they came out!

We have survived...

We have officially survived being a family of four at home for one week. Noah has really enjoyed being a big brother and has done so much to help out with his baby brother. For the most part he has continued to be the same sweet boy he was before Riley joined us. There have been times that he has pushed us just a little far to make sure he was getting the attention. He hasn't asked if we could give Riley back yet so I guess we are good for now. Jeremy has spent the past week at home, helping with the housework (what a trooper), and getting to know Riley. We decided to go ahead and send Noah to school this week to get some much needed rest. Jeremy is a little sad about having to head back to work on Monday and I am a little nervous about being home with the two of them alone all day. We had someone come to our house this week to do newborn pictures of Riley and brother pictures with the two boys. We are really excited to see the outcome of them and hope to post some soon.

Riley Wade Bridges

Riley Wade Bridges was born on January 23rd, at 2:08pm, at Western Wake Hospital in Cary, NC. He weighs 8 lbs-15 oz, and is 21 inches long. Mom is doing great and is recovering well. Noah is super excited to have his little brother here and has been jumping off the walls ever since. We hope all of you get a chance to see our new addition very soon.

"Ahhh...I love me some Johnson's and Johnson's"

"Mommy, you look worn out, why are you sweatin'?

"Hey, what's up with the rude awakening? I didn't even fix my hair."

"Mom-mom, you mind turning out that light?"

"3 generations...watch out!"

"Nana and Granddaddy are going to spoil me rotten"

"I love my comfy new outfit"

"Hey...who's the wise guy that

put this huge hat on me?"

"I love my NC State hat...even though

my head is way too big for it"

"Papa...shhhh, I am trying to sleep!"

"Daddy...you da man!"

"I love my new little brother"

"Riley, look...I got you a doggie"

Snow Day!!!

As expected, we got lots of fresh snow this morning. Noah woke us up at 7:45 this morning (early for him thank goodness!) and was so excited when he looked out the window. All I remember is "guys, get out of the bed and come see the snow." So, after an hour of waking up, eating cinnamon rolls, tracking down our winter gear, and trying to get my belly into some snow pants, we successfully made it out into the snow. Bailey was a little unsure at first but certainly got over that in a hurry. Noah and daddy tried to put together a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and it did not work out as planned. I even got myself onto the ground with Noah to make a snow angel but that was very short lived and very uncomfortable. Finally, we headed to the backyard to try out the sleds we bought last year for our 0" of snow. Now, that was a blast. Jeremy is still laughing at the pregnant woman on the sled. Noah loved sliding down the small hill in the back and crashing at the end. We can't wait to get back out there when some of the neighbors come over later.

Noah loved the snow!

Noah and mommy

Noah and daddy

Catching Up

We decided to start a blog in order to keep everyone posted on our family and our upcoming newest addition.

This morning, Jeremy, Noah, and I went to see my doctor and found that little Riley isn't so little after all. He is already measuring 9 lbs 5 oz and I believe it! I will be going to Wake Med on Thursday night to start the induction process. The plan would be to have the baby sometime on Friday. We do have his room ready for him and our bags are packed. Noah is so excited to see his little brother.

As for Noah, he will turn four on February 25th. I know, it seems just like yesterday that we were going through this whole process with him. We went to Target on Sunday and let Noah pick out a stuffed animal for Riley and I am sure Riley will love when he is old enough to figure it out. Noah has really taken an interest in football and trucks and he is very excited about his firefighter birthday party on Feb. 28th. He loves playing with all of his friends from the neighborhood and his school. He is certainly a momma's boy, but still loves to play with his daddy and tackle him with his NC State or Dallas Cowboy helmet on. We purchased a Wii several months ago and recently got him Mario Kart. The kid is addicted! He also loves playing on the computer, playing games on the Disney page. Noah has done very well at Kiddie Academy and loves both of his teachers, Ms. Nevada and Ms. Dana. He is certainly learning a lot and often surprises us at the dinner table with his sight words, number, and letters! We are so proud of himand he certainly amazes us! Over Christmas, he was so bored with Jeremy and I that he was begging to go to school, so I guess we weren't enough fun for him. He is also taking a soccer class at school and seems to really enjoy it. After his birthday, he will move up to the four year old room and we are a little bummed since he has done so well with his teachers. He will certainly enjoy moving up and seeing many of his friends that have already moved up. Noah will soon give up his role as the only child and share his house with his baby brother Riley. Noah is really excited and asks everyday when his brother will be here. He knows it is near his birthday so as we make birthday preparations he gets more excited. We will see what happens after Riley gets here!

Nothing to much is happening with mom and dad. Just preparing mentally for two little boys around our house (if you can really do that!). We are very excited but a little nervous as to just how this will all work. I am planning to stay home with Noah and Riley for about 6 months before returning to work so I have been busy getting everything ready at school. Jeremy gets 2 weeks of paternity leave at IBM but will still work from home some. We have spent the last month finishing up the nursery, painting the office red.. yes, wolfpack red, and trying to organize the garage a little more. It never ends. The baby room and office are complete. The garage is hopeless. Jeremy isn't the best organizer so it will have to wait on me!

We hope everyone gets a chance to meet Riley very soon and please wish us luck!

Noah loves some Mario Kart

Noah loved singing Christmas songs at school.

Noah and cousin Hayes ready for some FOOTBALL!