New website

Hey All,

I have decided to switch sites so now you will find me at http://barbararileyphotography.com/  Hope to see you over there :)

5/365

This dog is so spoiled. Every day when I get back from the bus stop, Dakota races upstairs to lay on our bed. I know I shouldn't let her up there, especially since I'm allergic to dogs, but her eyes melt my heart every time and I just can't make her get down.


Last night was a looooooong night. Cooper didn't sleep well and neither did M. I ended up keeping Mckenzie home from school because she said she didn't feel well, but by 9:30 she was bored and asking if she could go to school. It was fun having her home with me. I miss the little bugger now that she is in school full time. Cooper didn't seem to be affected by his lack of sleep. I seriously don't understand how he is my child because it appears he doesn't like sleep. I, on the other hand, can't get enough of it!  Even though we kept M home from school, we let her go to Daisy's tonight because she had her pinning ceremony where she officially became a Daisy. It was a short, but sweet ceremony and the girls got cupcakes after. I'm not sure which Mckenzie was more excited about: becoming a Daisy or the cupcakes.

4/365

Today was one of those days for everyone around here. Little man was cranky; I think he is teething. Abby was up waaaaay before the sun came up and refused to go back to sleep. She finally did lay down with me for a little bit, but by ten minutes to six, she was begging to play on the iPad. On the other hand, Mckenzie didn't want to get out of bed (totally normal for her) and started whining before the sun came up. I was cranky because it felt like I didn't get any sleep (when will little man sleep through the night?!?!) and so I guess you could say we all had a good case of the Mondays. Luckily, it ended better than it began and there is always hope for tomorrow :)

I finally decided to tackle making my own baby food and it actually went better than I thought. I don't know why I thought it was so complicated for so long, but I don't anymore :) I made broccoli, peas, and pears and apples and carrots. Abby wanted in on making food for her brother so I let her shell the peas. I think at least 1/4 of them landed on the floor, but she enjoyed helping. Too bad the dog doesn't eat vegetables or she would have had a glorious feast!

3/365

The girls both had a friend sleep over last night and they had a blast! They didn't even stay up too late! Scott talked the girls into going to snap a few photos with the fall colors tonight (and let me tell ya, that wasn't easy). I haven't edited them yet though (oops!)  but I did edit a couple silhouettes that I snapped real quick of my boys. Looking at them now, I realize that I need to have more light on the bottom half of Scott's body, but I do like the pictures. I have never done a silhouette before so this is a good jumping off point I guess :)


And just because the sky was so pretty :)

2/365

Scott and Mckenzie went out to do a few errands and Cooper went down for a nap giving Abby and me a little one on one time. It is rare these days to get that and so I am beyond excited when it happens. I like to think Abby is too :) She wrote a song and played the guitar for me. She didn't even complain when I broke out the camera and asked her to move to better light. She was just happy to sing to me. I was happy to listen to her and capture our moment with a photo. She is really into music and I am so thankful for that. Piano was always a big part of my childhood and I love having something I can share with her.

And just for the record, that is dog hair all over the floor. I'm seriously thinking about trading our yellow dog in for a black one just so I don't have to see the hair on the floor as much anymore.

1/365

Little man has had quite the week. Ear infection=antibiotics=penicillin allergy=cranky boy. But now that he is off the antibiotic, he is feeling better and getting into all sorts of stuff again. He loves to pull himself up and has just recently started cruising along furniture. How did he get to be so big so quick?! It seems like time with him is passing by so much faster than it ever did when the girls were little. I don't know if it is because he is the last or if its because we are so busy running around with the girls. Whatever it is, I wish it would just slow down a little bit.

I am starting a 365 with some friends and I hope doing it with a group will make me a little more accountable than I have been since we moved.

Flying

What a day. Cooper and I opted to fly to St. Louis because he is not a good traveler in his car seat. We got to the airport with only a little traffic and a lot of screaming from Cooper (thanks for helping out during the drive Ava V.) Got checked in and through security with no trouble, found our gate and settled in for the wait. That is when the day started going downhill. The plane was delayed at first because we had to wait on a crew. They finally showed up, we boarded and pushed back from the gate. Cooper was doing good and I thought, what a piece of cake. My mistake. We ended up sitting on the runway for over two hours, most of that time was spent standing in the aisle because Cooper was not in the mood to travel. The lady next to me was super nice and she helped me out with Cooper. I can't thank her enough for that. When he first started crying, I was so worried about how all the other people on the flight would respond, but honestly, no one complained and many even tried to make him smile. After two hours of going nowhere, the pilot announced our flight was cancelled due to weather and we headed back to the gate. We deplaned and stood in a really long line to rebook our flight. I tried calling the airline directly and the first service agent tried to book me on a 5pm flight when it was already 5:15pm. I asked why she would do that and her response was "Ma'am, I'm in Arizona. I don't know what time it is on the East Coast." in this super snotty voice. Then she told me to stop yelling at her and put me on hold and cut me off. 2nd call got disconnected (pretty sure everyone was trying to call to avoid standing in lines) and finally on the 3rd call I got a super nice lady that booked me on a flight. I rushed over to the gate only to see the door closed and the ticket agent not helping anyone because he just needed a few minutes to get himself together. (His words to another agent also not standing there.) Turns out that flight was overbooked and there was no way I was getting on that plane even though I had a confirmed seat. (How does that work?) Anyway, I must have looked desperate enough that the agent gave me a hotel room and a flight the next morning. Cooper was done for the day and so was I. We headed to the hotel without our bag and settled in for the night. Luckily for me, I have some super awesome friends that came to my rescue. They went to the store and drove over 30 minutes just to bring me all the necessary goodies to get me and Cooper through the night and make sure I wasn't a hot mess on the plane the next day. I am so thankful for my friends. I know I would have made it without them (very smelly and with awful breath), but having their support made it so much easier. Instead of spending the night frustrated with everything, I focused on the tremendous generosity of my friends and counted my blessings :)

Our last day in NJ

Today we said goodbye to the place we have called home for the last 3 1/2 years. I could care less about leaving the house, but it is always such a final moment when it happens. That moment when you walk around and look at each room one by one. The memories from the last few years come flooding back. Some make me smile and some make me sad. Like when we had just moved in and Mckenzie colored on the walls. Abby never did anything like that so I was shocked when Mckenzie did. Until then, I somehow felt like our family was immune from such childhood antics. Mckenzie is one of a kind and I wouldn't change her for anything. She adds a liveliness to our family that is matched by no other. To this day, she likes to write on places she shouldn't. Her dresser, her bookshelf, the walls in her closet. You name it, she likes to write on it. Well, not paper. She doesn't care for that much ;) Mckenzie has gone from a toddler to a kindergartener in this house. Surgery and pneumonia and first birthday parties with friends and countless play dates and Dad's Night at school. Trying out gymnastics and learning to dance and saying goodbye to her beloved pacifier. She has passed so many developmental milestones and has really come into her own. We brought her to this house and she depended on us for everything. Leaving here, she is able to do so many things on her own.



Abby has grown into quite a remarkable young lady. She was so afraid of starting preschool here in NJ and at the end, she didn't want to leave to go to kindergarten because she loved it so much. I remember those first few weeks where she cried every day at drop off (I may have cried once or twice too). It was so hard, but she made some really good friends. Kids she is still friends with today. This house is where she learned to read and where she made great friends.  I remember the day this past school year she ran off the bus and burst into the house to announce that she was now a Level L reader. The pride in her face was so rewarding for me and I will never forget that. Or the broken front door that she had to burst through. That thing was a pain in the butt to open and close. And in the winter, I had to stuff junk mail in the huge crack to help keep the cold air out. Here is the place she outgrew Dora the Explorer and Laurie Berkener, opting for Jessie and SpongeBob instead. She learned to ride a two wheel bike on the street in front of our house. It wasn't easy for her, but once she got it, man, she never looked back! She learned to swim here too. Not from the swim lessons I put both girls in, but from splashing around with her friends. She lost her first tooth here and saw her first Broadway show and rode a bus to school for the first time and danced on stage for the first of many times to come. So many firsts and a few lasts as well. Like not sucking her thumb anymore. That was a really big challenge for her but she did it. And not needing a light on to sleep at night. She has really grown up here.



And Cooper. Well, he didn't get to spend too many nights in NJ, but he and I did get to spend many of them awake together. That crappy front door is the one we walked through when we brought him home for the first time. And I remember pacing the floor for nine hours one day because he just wanted to be walked. He didn't get many firsts here. But he did learn to roll over and discovered his hands and his voice here. And he smiled here for the first time. A big beautiful smile that made all those long nights and sleepy mornings worth every minute of is. But most of his firsts will be in our new home and I look forward to those.

Scott and I even had a few firsts here. Broadway shows and running 10 miles. I learned how to use a big girl camera and I can see how my photography has improved from when we moved here until now. Scott completed his first half marathon and is working towards being able to run a full!




We have made so many good friends here. Everywhere we have lived, we have met some wonderful people. But here, I was shocked at how many wonderful friends I made. Friends that I would call family. Living away from family is always hard, but here, I always knew in my heart there would be someone available to help out in a moments notice if the need arose. And that put my mind at ease. It was hard raising two kids and at the end three, when Scott was away. But, I always had a friend just a phone call away. Someone to watch the girls or shuttle them around to activities or bring me Children's Tylenol because I was out and Mckenzie was still running a fever or to rescue me from a nasty dead mouse in the cupboard or bring me milk because I just didn't want to take Cooper to the store in the rain or listening to me vent time after time. I could go on and on about the generosity of my friends because they are so kind and wonderful. I hope each and every one of my friends knows how special they are to me. I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing women and their children and I will forever hold you in my heart.


So see ya later Jersey! Thanks for all the wonderful memories :)

Moving Day

The moving part went as well as to be expected. There are always some hiccups along the way, like the driver showing up without a crew to actually move the stuff or boxes tumbling down the staircase on a make-shift slide, but overall, it went fine. Mckenzie had her last day at camp and Abby hung out at the house until our friend came to pick her up for a play date. Mckenzie joined in the play date after camp and the girls spent the afternoon swimming and hanging out with their friends. It was hard to pick the girls up. They had to say goodbye to their very good friends and it was difficult to watch them hug each other for the last time. As we were pulling out of their driveway, Mckenzie said to me "I wish I was a Morris so I didn't have to say goodbye to Ava." That broke my heart.

We spent the night at a friend's house. A very generous offer considering we are a family of five. It was a wonderful time and I am blessed to be able to call y'all our friends.

2010, as we say hello

2013, as we say goodbye.

Last minute stuff

We picked the girls up from their sleepover and they were ecstatic to see Scott! It has been over a month since they saw him and they missed him a lot! We spent the morning running errands and attending to last minute details around the house. The girls went over to a friend's house for the afternoon. I am so thankful that they are getting to spend so much time with their friends before we leave. We all went to dinner at another friend's house. It was a great dinner and great conversation.  I am going to miss them a lot! Tonight is our last night in the house as the movers are coming in the morning. I am sad that our time here has come to an end :(