Home Sweet Home

We finally made it home! Three weeks is just way too long for me to be away from Court. I haven't been able to stop looking at him and touching him. He's really real. The one positive is that I get to fall in love with him again. His handsome face...his smile...his yummy smell. I'm glad to be home. Meredith was a perfect angel for the flight home...what a difference from the flight out. She fell asleep right before take off and slept for most of the flight. I only had to keep her entertained for the last 50 minutes or so, which wasn't too bad since the seat next to me was empty. So she got to sit in her own seat and eat cheerios, read books, listen to her favorite songs on my cell phone and look out the window at the puffy clouds. Once we touched down, I could hardly wait to get to the baggage claim and find Court. As soon as I saw him I started crying...what a baby! Meredith was a little unsure at first. She did her little sheepish hand wave and then looked at me for reassurance. Poor baby...she'd been inundated with new faces for 3 weeks and it took her a minute to figure out that this was really daddy. Once she did figure it out, she gave him hugs and kisses and was happy to see him. I was glad I got to go out to Vegas and Utah to see family and some friends. I tried to see all I could...unfortunately, Meredith and I got pretty sick and spent at least half the trip laying around John and Jodi's with snot oozing from our eyes and nose and lungs. So, if we didn't get to see you while we were out...I'm so sorry! We'll definitely see you next time! Love to all!

The Sick and the Restless

Sorry I haven't posted for the last couple of days. Meredith and I are still in Utah. It rained yesterday and today and Meredith and I have had the crud. I've been lying on the couch pretty much all day because I feel so horrid. Coughing up green stuff and blowing my nose non-stop is not my idea of a fun vacation. But I guess this trip was never meant to be a vacation. I am supposed to be in Vegas helping my sister with her new baby. But circumstances have me and Meredith at my brother's house in Spanish Fork, Utah trying to get over our colds before we head back to Texas. Of course we still have the 6 hour drive back to Vegas ahead of us so we can turn in the rental car. And then another 3 hour flight to endure. I'm not looking forward to it...I hope Meredith is a lot better on the flight home than she was on the flight out! I mostly hope she is not sick for the flight...then I'll really get nasty stares for having a naughty AND sick child on the plane. So everyone say your prayers that Meredith and I get better before then. Let's hope this is not a lingering sickness. Anyway... I don't have any fun pictures to post. Yesterday we met up for lunch with a bunch of my former coworkers and had lunch. That was fun...but I forgot to get my camera out and take some pictures. I also went and did my annual eye exam so I can order some new contacts, since I'm almost out. Then last night we hung out at John's house and watched American Idol. I thought I didn't really care who won, but when it wasn't David Archuleta I found myself feeling a little disappointed. But David Cook was good too. I just hope Archuleta didn't get a whippin' from his daddy for not being the winner! I've heard his dad can be a bit overbearing that way. Anywhoo...I think I'll go give Meredith some dinner and then lay down again...I'm hoping and praying that I'll feel much better tomorrow.

No No No

Meredith has started saying "No." I'm not sure if she knows what it means. Sometimes she says it in the right context and other times she just says it. Sometimes she even says, "No no no." Since she started crawling, she's been into everything. I guess I'm telling her "No" a lot. I'll have to try some different words I guess. Here's a video of her saying "No." It's not the best, but it's all I have for now. I'll keep trying to get a better video.

More Utah Fun...

Today Meredith and I aren't feeling very well. Meredith's nose has been running like a faucet and she has a croupy cough. Poor thing's nose and cheeks are all red from being wiped so much. By 7:15 tonight she was zonked. I made her a bottle and she crashed hard. I'm hoping she'll feel better tomorrow. I'm totally congested and have a sore throat from the drainage. I've also had some waves of nausea for the past week or so. Whenever I eat a meal, I feel like throwing up. don't know if I'm just eating too much or what (no, I'm definitely NOT pregnant)? I've spent most of today just laying on the couch feeling icky. I did laundry and did some organizing of our stuff in the room we are staying. John gave me some nasal spray to help clear my sinuses. We had a good laugh as I tried to squeeze the spray and inhale in the right order. I don't think I've ever used a nasal spray before. It seems to have helped. Tonight should be interesting...being congested always makes me anxious...I don't like feeling like I can't breathe. Usually I have Court beside me to tell me I'm not going to die, but not tonight since he is in TX and I'm here. Maybe I'll have to call him at 3am for reassurance. I'm sure he'd love that!

Yesterday I had decided to take Meredith to the ward Court and I attended before we moved to Texas. Got up, got dressed...never made it there. Just as I was getting ready to leave, my phone rang. It was my brother Rob calling to tell me that my dad was in the hospital. Apparently he'd been having some chest pains on Saturday and drove himself to the hospital. He didn't tell anyone he was in the hospital until Sunday morning, so he spent the whole day on Saturday at the hospital alone. I felt really badly when I learned that. John, Rob and I drove over to the hospital and arrived just in time to see him wheeled out to have an angiogram done. I could tell he was really nervous. Rob and John gave him a blessing and then we hung out in this tiny little waiting room. They told us the test would take 20 minutes and then if he needed any stents or anything, they'd do the procedure immediately. When an hour passed and we hadn't heard anything, I knew there was more than just the test happening. When the Dr. finally came out, he told us that everything went okay and that they had to put 4 stents in. The nurse took us back and showed us the video of the angiogram and the stents being put in. Apparently, one of the arteries was completely blocked and the nurse said that usually when that happens people have a heart attack. So my dad was very lucky. I'm just glad that he is the type to go to the Dr. when he feels chest pains. If he had ignored it, things could have been very different. When we finally got to see Dad in the ICU, he was in good spirits and said he felt much better, but was really tired. The hospital he was in was not so great, though. They didn't have phones in the patient's rooms and they didn't allow cell phones. Well, my dad wanted to talk to my step-mother, so I pulled out my cell phone and called her...she was in Vegas visiting with Michele. A nurse came in and told me I had to turn off the phone and walked out. When she came back in and saw me still on it, she glared at me and told me I had to leave. That got my dander up, and told her I had my father's wife on the phone ... did they have a phone with long distance that we could use? If not, I wasn't going to hang up the phone until she'd had a chance to talk to my dad and to work out some logistics. The nurse got really mad and told me I had to take the phone out to the hallway. I just glared at her and she left. Dad wanted to sleep, so we left him and went over to Rob's house for lunch and to hang out. We played Rock Band on his XBOX (very fun game! I did pretty well at the drums if I do say so myself...I stunk at the guitar though) and hung out for a while. We tried calling to see how dad was, and they wouldn't let us talk to him. They said they could only relay a message. Rob asked if they would let us know when he was being discharged so we'd know when to pick him up. They said they would. My sister Kristyn tried calling to talk to Dad and they told her they didn't have a patient there by my dad's name. She said, "Uh, yes, you do." After being transferred around she finally got the nurses' station, but they wouldn't let her talk to him either. They said she was calling too late. When Kristyn called the next morning, they told her he was being discharged soon and she should just wait a while and call him at home. They didn't let us know when he was being discharged, so my dad just drove himself home. Can you believe that?! Me neither. I think we are going to write a family letter to the hospital to complain. Never go to Mountain View Hospital in Payson, Utah. They are very unprofessional and you won't be able to call anyone or receive any phone calls! Anyway, Dad's home now and Linda came back from Vegas. So all is well.

Here are a few pictures from the last two days:

The Riley Family Band:

Kendall was rockin' with those drums.
I was amazed at how well she did.

The Youngest Member

Janis Joplin in training?

Jam Session

Tiffany borrowed this really nice camera from a friend to take pictures of her kids, and she graciously agreed to shoot some photos of Meredith. It was a beautiful day and the flowers were so pretty. I'm excited to see the pictures Tiff took. Here's a shot of some of the girls getting their picture taken.

Playing with Preston

Utah Fun!

We arrived in Utah on Thursday at about 11pm Mountain Time. The drive up was rather uneventful until the last hour. After 4.5 hours in the car, Meredith was ready to be out of the car seat. So, to keep her entertained, I must have sung the "Different Strokes" theme song about 100 times. I don't know why, but she loves that song. I was eager to get to my brother's house too, so much so that I got off the freeway an exit early. As soon as I realized it, I pulled a U-turn and headed back toward the freeway. Apparently, you're not supposed to make a U-turn in that intersection, because I got pulled over by a cop. I told him I was sorry and that I was lost. He asked for my license, which is from TX, and then questioned why I had a rental car with Nevada plates. I explained to him the whole story. He took my license and went back to his car. I was annoyed because I had been driving for 5 hours with no problem and then as soon as I got off the freeway in Utard, I get pulled over! Ugh! Fortunately, he was nice....he looked up my brother's address for me and gave me directions and told me to drive safely. Phew!

Since then, Meredith and I have been pretty busy...on Friday we went to a play at Bryson's school...they've been studying plants and seeds and made a play about how a seed gets planted and then grows into a plant. Some kids were plants, some were the wind, some were the stem and the petals, etc...they each drew a picture of what they were and wore it around their necks...it was really cute. I can't wait until Meredith is doing cute little school plays and stuff like that. After the play we went to WalMart and then Meredith and I drove up to Riverton to see my friend Julie. Julie lives in Washington State but is here in Utah for the weekend to attend a family wedding. I was so glad it worked out so we could get together and see each other. It was a lot of fun to catch up with her and to meet her little boy Mason.

Today we spent the morning at the Provo City Library at their Children's Book Festival. My sister Kristyn did a reading and Q&A for her book "Cool Daddy Rat" and then a signing. It was fun to hear her read the story and to see little kids come up to her and ask for her autograph. Meredith was excited to meet her cousins, although initially she was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. But she quickly warmed up to all the kids and had a great time playing with them. There was a big ballroom that had a bunch of fun activities for the kids. Each child got a free book and there was a puppet show, tables for coloring pictures drawn by some of the illustrators involved in the festival, tables for making bookmarks, and the kids could even get a caricature drawn of them by one of two illustrators. I wanted to get Meredith's picture drawn, but the line was so long, and Meredith hadn't had her morning nap and was cranky, so I ended up getting out of line. I took Meredith back to John and Jodi's and we took a nap together. Then I called Kari and made arrangements to meet up with her and Matt for dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was fun to see them. Meredith was a little unsure of Matt...when he tried to hold her, she clung tightly to Kari. Every time she made eye contact with him, she'd kinda duck her head down and give him a shy look. We're going to get together on Tuesday, so hopefully Meredith will warm up to Matt and not be so shy.

Here's a bunch of pictures:

Breakfast with Bryson, Saedree and Annistyn

Bryson's Seeds Play:

This was my favorite of the pictures the kids wore around
their necks...I love "Puppckins"! LOL!

Ridin' a Horsey

Playing with my friend Julie and her son Mason:

The Provo Children's Book Festival:

The Children's Circle. Kristyn read her book first.

Then she helped the next author by holding up the pictures for everyone to see.

Liam got to go up and help one of the authors...her story was about pirates and she was trying to get everyone to say, "Aargh!"... Liam yelled it out really loudly, so she called him up to help lead everyone else in saying "Aargh!"

Playing with Kathryn and Saedree

Dinner with Aunt Squirt and Matt:

Hot Tubs, Stories and a Fake Cry!

Here's a few photos of Meredith at her Aunt Michele's house....

Meredith absolutely loved the Hot Tub. Of course, the chemicals made my skin hurt. Going from Texas humidity to the dryness of Vegas has made my skin dry up. Not fun. I edited myself out of these pictures because, well, I looked HIDEOUS! From now on I will wear make-up and do my hair nice...I didn't realize how much I let myself go. I think a major diet is on the way too...once I get back from this trip. But Meredith sure looks cute, eh?

Michele's boys just love Meredith, and she loves them. I walked in to the room and found Brady reading Meredith a story. She was totally enthralled. It was way cute!

This video speaks for itself...

Look What I Can Do Daddy!

A Princess and Her Cheerios

After Michele got checked into the hospital, the nurses asked her about her birth plan. She didn't really have one, but wondered if she did, could she put stuff in it like make her husband wear a hospital gown too, since she had to wear one? I guess that didn't fly, because when I got there, Mike wasn't in a gown. The nurses joked that she should put in there that she wanted to wear a crown and be queen... which gave Michele the idea that she needed to get a tiara to wear. She called me, and I picked one up at Target. It came with a necklace, clip-on earrings and a ring. It was awesome. She had to have a C section and the Dr let her wear her tiara and the necklace, ring and earrings into the operating room and for the duration of the delivery. I bet she was the first woman to wear a tiara while giving birth in that hospital! It was hilarious! Later that evening I brought Mike's boys to the hospital to see their new brother. Meredith thought the tiara was pretty cool, but wasn't too thrilled to wear it herself. It took some doing, but I managed to get a couple of pictures.



Earlier in the day, while we waited for her cousins to get home from school, Meredith snacked on Cheerios and listened to her favorite tune... the theme to the TV Show "Different Strokes." It comes on T.V. on BET every morning at 8:00 and I will often put it on while I feed Meredith breakfast. Weird, I know, but I just like to watch that show. Takes me back to the good old '80s I guess. Usually, when I play it for her, she will stop what she's doing and look over to the T.V. Today she didn't do that, she just danced and ate her Cheerios.

Vegas, Baby

My sister Michele just had her first baby. Meredith and I flew from Houston to Vegas so that I could help her adjust to her new role as mommy. Well, she already has 3 step-sons, but she's not had a little newborn before... So, yesterday Meredith and I boarded a plane for Salt Lake City...3 hrs and 9 minutes of torture. We were on this tiny plane that had 19 rows total. On one side were 19 rows of two seats then an aisle, then 19 rows of single seats (So, 3 seats per row). When I booked the flight, I selected a single seat because I figured if Meredith was horrible, at least there wouldn't be anyone beside me being bothered. Well, as soon as I sat down, the flight attendant told me I couldn't sit in the seat I had chosen because it didn't have an extra oxygen mask for an infant. Only Rows 16 and 19 did, so I would have to move. She said that row 16 was empty and she'd probably move me there so I'd have some extra room. That sounded wonderful! I ended up in row 19 sitting next to this poor guy that had to listen to Meredith whine and cry for most of the trip. I could tell he was irritated because the volume on his ipod got louder and louder until I could clearly hear the songs he was listening to - a collection of Michael Jackson greatest hits. I heard "Thriller", "The Way You Make Me Feel", that song from "Free Willy"... very interesting taste in music. But he was nice and did try to be accommodating - he let me use a part of his tray table for my snack, since I couldn't put mine down with Meredith sitting on my lap. The worst part of the flight was that I was right next to the lavatory, and there was a steady flow of people using it...and it smelled. Man, didn't their mothers teach them to go to the bathroom BEFORE they left on their trip?! So, Meredith had a hard time taking a nap due to all the people walking by, the constant sound of a flushing toilet and the odor that wafted out from the lavatory. Twice I checked Meredith because I thought she had pooped, and then I realized I was sitting next to the bathroom and it wasn't Meredith who had pooped. UGH! Gross. The air conditioning didn't seem to work either...because it was HOT HOT HOT on that flight. I thought I was going to lose it. I was so grateful when that plane landed and was dreading the 2nd leg of my trip...the flight from SLC to Vegas. Fortunately, the flight to Vegas was a completely different experience. It was still a smaller plane...we had to walk out on the tarmac to board the plane...I don't think I've ever done that before. But the cool Utah air felt good, so I didn't mind too much. This time we had to sit in row 1...at first I was annoyed because I had to stow the diaper bag up above since there was no seat in front of me to put it under. All her toys and books were in there...what was I going to do without it? But once we took off, I found that having the extra leg room was really nice. And Meredith was a perfect Angel. We were in a window seat, so Meredith got to look outside, which she loved. About 15 minutes into the flight, Meredith looked up at me, jibber jabbered something, and then laid her head on my shoulder and crashed. She slept the entire rest of the flight and even slept through the landing. She woke up when the flight attendant started telling us that we needed to stay seated until the plane parked at the gate. She woke up with a smile and waved at people as they exited the plane. Two people commented that she was such such a good girl and did so well on the flight... I just smiled and thought to myself "Yeah, you weren't on the last plane. Ask that poor dude who had to sit next to us for 3 hours if Meredith is a good girl!" Oh well. I'm just glad we made it here safely and that I can be here with Michele. It's been so amazing. It's so fun to see Michele hold her son and to see how happy she is to have him.

Precious Babies

Here's the two newest editions.... CONGRATS to the parents!

Michele's little boy

Mike's little girl

New Little Ones!

Congrats to Mike and Teresa who welcomed a new daughter to their family on May 4th. And Congrats to Michele and Mike, who welcomed a little boy just today! They are both so precious! Pictures are coming soon...