More from Houston

Here are a couple of videos I took while Clayton and I were hanging out in Houston this morning. In one, he is laying with Grandad and they're talking to each other. In the second one, Grandad is teaching him how to dance. He is also wearing the new hat that Matu made for him. They're too cute!

For more cute videos and pictures from Houston, check out Lara and Jennifer's blogs. They're the REAL photographers in the family - he, he.

Laughing with Grandma!

Clayton and I are in Houston right now visiting Grandma, Grandad and Matu. Aunt Lala rode with us. We are having a great time! Here is a video of Grandma and Clayton playing.

To see more of our Houston fun, check out Lara and Jennifer's blogs.

Zilker Park Video

Here is a video of Clayton at Sunken Gardens on Sunday.

Another Wonderful Family Day

These pictures are a couple days old. Chad, Clayton and I had another "Family Day" on Sunday. We started with lunch at Ski Shores Cafe. I forgot to take pictures when we went there on Mother's Day. I made sure not to forget this time. Then we went to Sunken Gardens in Zilker Park. Chad practiced traversing (climbing horizontally) to build strength in his hands. Clayton really enjoyed laying on a blanket and looking at the leaves. He is such an outside baby!! I wish it weren't so hot! Then we drove to the arboretum and fed the ducks again. Finally, we went back to Ceramic Cellar so that Chad could paint his parent's garden stone. I decided to make a coffee cup with Clay's footprint on it. It turned out really cute.


Highlights from our day:

Ski Shores Cafe

Sunken Gardens at Zilker Park




Attempting a walk at Townlake (It was too hot).
Feeding the ducks at the Arboretum
We fed this duck extra food b/c it has two broken wings :(

Watching the Dogs!

I took a few videos of Clayton watching the dogs play yesterday. We were dog sitting Chad's parents' dog, Dudley. Check them out....

Family Date Night

Last night, Chad, Clayton and I went to dinner at Serranos in the Arboretum. Afterwards, we looked around Pottery Barn and then walked down to the duck pond. We packed some bread and enjoyed seeing the ducks through Clayton's eyes. Clayton has been to the duck pond in Houston but was still too young to really notice them. He noticed them last night! Here are a few pictures of our night. We had a really nice evening!

Ready for dinner at Serannos.

Shopping at Pottery Barn.
Oh, around 9 years ago, Chad and I took a really funny picture on this cow. Chad was scaring me and I had the silliest expression on my face. Here is our 2008 version with Clayton. :)
Feeding the ducks (Clayton: What are those weird looking things?)
Clayton: Get him away from me!
Clayton: Okay, I'm ready to go!
Family picture by the duck pond.

Clayton's Adorable Laugh

Clayton, Aunt Lala and I ran some errands this afternoon. One of our stops was to pick up some bird food for my parents. We're going for a visit next week. I was entertaining Clayton while we were in the store. He wasn't giving us his full-blown laugh, but this will give you an idea of what it sounds like. I just love his little laugh. In the car, a few minutes before, he was laughing really hard for Aunt Lala!

Cool Beyond his Months

Clayton and I had an enjoyable work out this morning. Chad's parents are out-of-town so their dog, Dudley, is hanging with us for a few days. I left him with Tilley this morning while we went to exercise. I have to drag Tilley when I run. I'm pretty sure that it would be the same with Dudley. They aren't the most "in-shape" dogs - ha! It was nice running with just Clayton.


Here are a few pictures and a video from this morning. Clayton is just way too cool!

I'm cool.

Hmmm... (pondering the universe) Mommy is so funny!
Nap time!
Cool Beyond my 4 Months! Watching the doggies play.
Upside-down kisses from Tilley.
I love my Big Toe.

A video before our work out.

A Possible Break-Through!

I think we may have made a break-through with Clayton and "tummy time" today. We played a game this evening where I rolled him onto his tummy over and over again and he'd roll off. It kept his interest for 15 minutes and he never got fussy. We then practiced sitting up. Hopefully, our game tonight showed him that he can use his body to move. He is an active kid trapped in an immobile body! Here are a couple pictures and a video.

Sitting

Chad's First Father's Day

I learned my lesson after Mother's Day when I forgot to take pictures. I took lots of pictures on Chad's first Father's Day. We had a lot of fun! We started the day with church, had lunch as a family at the Boat House Grill, Clayton ate rice cereal, Chad and Clayton went swimming, we took a family nap, and ate chocolate cherry cake to celebrate. Here are some pictures from our day.

Chad loved his Father's Day gifts!

Clayton's gift to Daddy (c/o Mommy).
Clayton's gifts to Daddy (c/o Granny & Pa)
The chocolate cherry cake that I made for Chad. He had to taste test it last night - typical!
3 generations of Riggins' men.
Clayton and Chad at Boathouse Grill.
Hmmm...I'm not sure about this whole water thing.
Okay, I'm starting to like it!
I tried to get a family picture :)
Here is a swimming video I took on our digital camera (I should have grabbed our flip).

Tasting "Real" Food!

Our little baby starting eating rice cereal today for the first time - sniff, sniff! Chad and I LOVE each and every stage that Clayton goes through, but, at the same time, we're sad to see him growing up so fast!! When we went to the pediatrician's yesterday for Clayton's 4 month check-up, we were given the go-ahead to start cereal. The doctor said that from 4-6 months solid foods are not for nutritional purposes because babies end up spitting most of it out. By 6 months, Clayton will be eating solid foods 3-4 times per day. At that time, we can take away a bottle. Luckily, Grandma gave us some whole grain rice cereal when Clay and I visited last weekend. Chad and I were pleasantly surprised with how well he took to the spoon and new food texture. Here are a few pictures.

What is this crazy stuff?

This is kind of fun!!
Daddy is doing such a good job of feeding me!
Uh, oh! I'm spitting most of it out!
Okay, Mommy's turn to feed me!

Ceramic Cellar

On Friday the 13th, Aunt Lala, Clayton and I visited the Ceramic Cellar. It is a local pottery studio where you can paint your own pieces to be fired in their kiln. Friday was Clayton's 4 month birthday, so I wanted to get foot/hand prints made to remember this cute stage of his life. Aunt Lala and Matu are getting a flower vase, Grandma, Grandad, Granny, and Pa are getting a garden stepping stone, and Chad and I are getting a decorative plate. Here are a few pictures of our fun outing. Clayton had his 4 month shots earlier in the day and Aunt Lala and I were so happy that he made it through the 2.5 hour project without a single meltdown. How did Chad and I get so lucky?!

I can roll!

Here are a few videos of Clayton rolling from his tummy to his back. He is doing it much more consistently. He still wants to lay down on his tummy before rolling, so we're working on pushing up on his elbows and then rolling. You can see in the videos that he doesn't enjoy "tummy time." This gives him a big incentive to learn to roll. We'll see if he ever rolls from his back to his tummy!

Fashion Show

Clayton just loves his Grandma!! She is always so thoughtful and sweet. She and Aunt Lala picked out some really cute clothes/pajamas from Baby Gap online. They arrived in the mail yesterday and so Aunt Lala and I decided to have a fashion show. Clayton was such a ham for the camera! Aunt Lala and I both love the "Groovy Little Gecko" pajamas the best.

Warning: These pictures are too cute for words!

We bought this outfit when Clayton and I visited Houston last weekend. It was one that Matu liked a lot but it didn't make it in his 3 month pictures we had taken. Matu, this one is for you!

Working Out

Here are a couple of pictures from our work-out this morning. Tilley has been struggling with allergies, so she wore her shoes today. It was such a huge change from yesterday when I had to practically drag her every time I ran. Today, she ran next to me, for the most part. Clayton fell asleep at the end of our run and took a nice 30 minute nap. It was fun!

My Cookie Monster

For those of you who know Chad, you know about his relentless sweet tooth. He is known to eat an entire container of cookies in one sitting. Well, here is our little cookie monster. Right now he is more of a milk monster, but the outfit was too cute to pass up!

Advice

Isn't it amazing how people come out of the wood works to give new mothers advice on parenting? I understand that advice is a form of nostalgia where people are reminiscing on the things they did well as a parent or thinking about things they wish they'd done differently. However, there are times that I want to make my own mistakes. Just yesterday, I had someone say "You're not taking your baby outside right now, are you?" Well, actually, yes I am! Crazy, huh?!

My approach on parenting is to take advice from the pediatrician, child development books, family, and friends and then adjust it to reflect my (and Chad's) personal beliefs on child rearing. In the end, we may not have a "perfect" child but we will have raised a child that has the same values and beliefs as us. Isn't that the goal - to impart in your child the good qualities of you and your spouse?

Okay, enough ranting for one morning. :)

Building a Morning Routine

It is so nice to be home with Clayton this summer. It gives my freetime a whole new dimension. My mantra for the summer is "You can never get this time back." I say it to myself when I want a nap or some quiet reading time. To help Clayton, I'm really working on a daily schedule. So far, he gets up at 6, eats, we go work out at 7, and then we're working on a morning nap when we get home. He doesn't have the stamina to sleep for long periods during the day. He usually "cat naps" for 15-20 minutes. My plan is to give him "quiet time" from 8:15-9:30 where he is in his quiet, cool bedroom. Each day he'll hopefully add a little more time he is able to sleep until a morning nap is established. Then I will work on consolidating his afternoon sleep into one big nap. I'll keep you updated.

This morning, I skipped the workout (too tired) and Clayton enjoyed some play time after breakfast. We were able to enjoy some extra time in our pajamas - got to love it! Here are a few pictures I took.

This is Tilley enjoying some extra morning rest. She loves to be covered up with a blanket!

While Clayton played in his bouncer, I drank coffee and read some of a professional book that I'm reading. Over the summer, I like to read about ways to improve my teaching practices. Some people may think it's dorky, but I like to think of it as reflective :)

We took the bouncer outside so that Clayton could enjoy the morning breeze. He is such an outside baby.

I had to come inside for a few minutes, so Clayton continued his playtime in the exersaucer.

Morning nap.

A play date in Baytown

Clayton and I drove to Houston on Friday to spend the weekend with my family. Once in Houston, Lara, Clayton and I took a daytrip to Baytown to visit friends. We met Jenn, Melissa, Hudson, Meghan and Eva at Chick-fil-a for lunch. The little ones played on the playscape while the adults visited. Clayton missed most of the fun because he was napping. After lunch, we all went to Meghan's house and continued playing. Hudson and Eva also took a dip in the Robbins' kiddie pool. As you can see, Clayton didn't enjoy his first water experience.

Hanging at home.

Driving to Baytown.

At Chick-fil-a.

Hanging at the Robbins' house.

Ready to swim.

Just kidding!

Having fun!

Taking an afternoon nap.

Back at Grandma and Grandad's.

Ready for bed.

Play date with the Benoit Sisters

This morning, Clayton enjoyed a play date with Madeline and Mia Benoit. They are the sweetest, most beautiful little girls! Shannon is a friend from work that I just clicked with instantly. She is a really special person. Clayton is a couple months younger than her youngest daughter, Mia. They don't know it yet, but Shannon and I are already planning their wedding (he, he). Here are a few pictures I took during their visit - fun, fun!

Mia and Clayton's first encounter! Mia is a couple months older than him, but Clayton is already taller!!

Madeline holding Clay.


A picture of all three of the kiddos. They're too cute!

Summer Playtime

Here are a few pictures of Clayton playing today.

Family Day

Chad and I decided to make Sunday our family day. Each week we will try to get all of our chores, grocery shopping, etc... finished on Saturday. This will leave Sunday for excursions to nearby cities, walks at Ladybird Johnson Lake, enjoy places around Austin, or just watching movies at home. Today we ate lunch at a restaurant in downtown Georgetown called "The County Seat." Georgetown has a nice little downtown square. We both enjoyed out lunch and Clayton was VERY good!! We both got to eat!

It is so nice to slow down on Sundays and really enjoy each other. If we hadn't spent the day together we may have missed Clayton's new trick. Whenever he drops his pappy onto his chest, he reaches down and picks it up with his mouth. He did it 3 or 4 times at lunch. The picture below doesn't quite capture the cuteness of his trick.

After lunch we ran a few errands and then took a family nap. It was very relaxing. When we woke up from our nap we went by REI and Chad surprised me with a Sig water bottle. I start my workout regimen tomorrow. Then we went downtown to buy Tilley some shoes. Unfortunately the store was closed so hopefully Clayton and I can meet Chad for lunch this week and drop by the store again. Tilley is really struggling with allergies. She gets itchy feet. She licks her feet and then licks her ears and belly causing skin irritation everywhere! We're going to see if it helps. She is one spoiled little dog! We love her!

Here are pictures from our day...

Lunch in Georgetown

Clayton picking up his pappy.

Buying Tilley shoes but the store was closed :(