ask rivers what santa says and he goes, "ho ho ho!" of course, i take him to see the real santa and what does he say? "blue" i guess he really liked the sweater i put on him because he kept pointing to it and saying "blue!" that's all that santa got - so santa now knows (and has made note) that rivers likes the color blue!

rivers with santa on his 17 month birthday.


what a difference 1 year makes (for both rivers and santa)! rivers at 5 months.

trust me, i know it has been far too long since i've posted a new adorable picture of mr heartbreaker. so here you go...

"the wild things cried 'oh please don't go - we'll eat you up we love you so!' and max said 'no!' and the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws. but max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye." -where the wild things are

it was after this that rivers waved good-bye and then blew the wild things a kiss. mwah! seriously made my heart skip a beat!!

i forgot to update on how rivers has grown! we went to his 15 month checkup last week and he now weighs 22.7 lbs and is 30 inches long! he had his first flu shot, as well as 2 other vaccines, so he was not a happy camper when we left. not to mention we had to sit and wait 45 minutes before we saw the doctor, so he was good and ready to get out of there! overall though- he did great and we won't have to go back for another checkup until he is 2!! can you believe it?!

my monkey

happy halloween! we had a great one! my day started off with an 80 minute massage that my boys had gifted me for mother's day...it was wonderful! jeremy had a bit of a hiccup while i was away- rivers locked him out of the house! he was stuck outside without a key, a phone, his wallet, or anything else. he was able to keep an eye on rivers through the windows, but couldn't get in. he tried different windows, which were all locked. finally, one of our neighbors came outside and he was able to call him over for help. luckily, they were able to use a credit card to get in the front door. rivers was upset by the end of the whole ordeal (which lasted a good hour, by the way) and was thankful to have his dada back!
trick or treating was fun- this was his second halloween, but the first where he was able to toddle around! he collected way more candy than any 15 month old needs, or could even eat, and we only went to 6 houses!
here he is in his halloween pj's...

his cute little halloween bib from sheila...

let me preface this with saying, it was all grammy's idea!! and actually, we decided she has a new name for now- "gaga"! rivers is big into "dada" and "mama" right now, so we decided "gaga" would be appropriate. anyway, it got down to a frigid 51 degrees today (i know you northerners think that's silly), but it sure felt cold to us! we even had our fireplace going. so gaga got the idea to get out rivers' snow suit so that he would be warm when we walked jasper this evening. i had also just bought him a super cute winter hat at target last night, so we paired that with it. he was a great sport about it, and yes, it was overkill, but he sure stayed warm and gave us a lot of laughs! on our walk we came across a little boy playing outside in shorts, a t-shirt, and no shoes, and here we are- walking with our child in a snowsuit!!! that would have been a great picture! it was hilarious!

i had to get this pic of him with the pumpkins- who ever heard of a snowsuit in mid-october, crazy!

but like i said, he was a good sport, as usual!

just had to share b/c it almost had me in tears, i was laughing so hard! last night we went for our evening walk around the neighborhood and rivers talked the whole time. i am not exaggerating! and he wasn't just talking, he was passionate about what he was saying- he was literally yelling! jeremy and i were laughing so hard- we couldn't even get a word in! he is usually pretty mellow on our walks and just rides along in his stroller, he might point and say "moon" but he has never talked non stop around the whole block. it was pretty amazing! we were a little concerned what the neighbors might think! ;) tonight, he was the exact opposite. i don't think he said one word and was falling asleep by the end of our walk- that the was the other end of the spectrum- he never does that!

friends

a couple posts back i promised more pictures from this day,so here they are! my mom's friend nancy came to visit from virginia with her kids, megan & logan. rivers had so much fun with them and logan even brought him one of his favorite old toys, which was so sweet! on their last day here, we went for a walk around the duck pond and i got some great pictures to remember their visit by! it was so great to see you guys- thanks for driving down! hope you enjoy the images...

beach

finally! rivers had his first trip to the beach and he loved it! we went to the aquarium and to the wright brothers memorial, we went swimming, and played in the sand! he was so excited just to be somewhere new and loved exploring both the beach as well as the condo! there were just too many pictures to post so here are a few favorites, but click here to see the rest!

crazy i know, but this was actually rivers' first time in a pool! he wasn't too sure about it at first but within a couple of minutes he was all smiles!

at the aquarium- showing dada the waterline.



building sand castles...

rivers with his uncle alex- so cute!


how big is rivers? sooooo big!

here's another image to tease you all with...

more to follow! ;)

i have more pics from this day soon to follow, but for now, i just had to share this picture of my pretty mama and handsome son! love you both bunches! xoxo

jackson's 3rd birthday

rivers was invited to jackson's 3rd birthday party! naturally, i brought my camera along and couldn't help but snap a few pics. this was rivers' first party to attend where he was able to get around, eat cake, and enjoy all the kids. he was one of the youngest ones there, so he wasn't fully able to get in the mix, but he still had a great time!
checking out the scene...

jackson's party was a pirate theme, so courtney led the kids on a treasure hunt!


here's rivers getting into the mix...

how cute is he in his little pirate hat?!


cool pirate centerpieces and cake...


pirate jackson, the birthday boy!