Halloween

Braving the cold to meet up with RJ & E at the HBLL to see the Lego exhibit.
It ended up being closed -_-

...so we went to go see it the next day (Halloween). The lego Salt Lake temple was impressive!

For Halloween we dressed up like the family from Inside Out ( hehe :) )

Then we watched a terribly scary movie (Megamind) as Riley slept next to us (the entire time!). We didn't get any trick or treaters, so we had to eat the Halloween candy too.

It was a very good Halloween :)

2nd half of October

She is so comfortable around Uncle N.

I LOVE this little jacket on her! 

The W. brothers have the same magical touch on the exercise ball

She always has an arm out like this when she relaxes or sleeps

We went to see Shell and her family. They are so fun! And super cute with Riley

This is a blanket made from an authentic plane blanket all the way from Hawaii! Thanks Shell! Riley obviously is enjoying it :)

Cornbellys

Our ward planned an awesome activity where everyone was paired up randomly, and we went on a massive group date to Cornbellys (a place where there are concession stands, corn mazes, and lots of other little activities for autumn).

We had signed up to go, since they needed a certain amount of people to sign up in order to get the discounted group price. However, that day Riley was really not having a great day, and we started to doubt our decision...

But what could we do? They were counting on us to go. So we bundled up Riley and set out.

That is when the crying began.

...and it didn't stop. We got to the meeting place at the apartments, and then set out again.

So she started crying again.

We didn't know if our nerves would survive, so once we got on the freeway we decided if she hadn't stopped crying by the next exit, we would just head home and chalk it up as experience.

Thankfully, with a constant stream of quietly sung primary songs, she was able to calm down. She even fell asleep by the time we got to Cornbellys! Whoo!

It was pretty cold out, so we held her on our chests completely engulfed in a blanket. It was a fun atmosphere to be in, and almost felt like a date!

After 20 minutes, we headed back to our car. One of the couples from the ward saw us and asked, "Are you guys leaving already?!" We were surprised by this comment-we felt like we had been majorly triumphant in our endeavors bringing Riley out and keeping her happy for almost half an hour! Why would we test fate and stay longer? By the time we dragged ourselves up the stairs to our apartment, we were ready for bedtime.

Chris and I chatted on the way home about how more carefree and easy this sort of excursion is when you are single versus having a baby to think about.

Single life vs life with a baby = WAY different!

But we wouldn't trade it for the world.

Dentist

We finally went to the dentist! We both had cavities :( so we picked different days to get them filled so we wouldn't have to bring Riley with us.

When Chris got back from his appointment, his smile was awesome!

"I can't believe you just took that picture!"
"I can't believe you let me!"

Bean Museum

For FHE we decided to go to the Bean Museum. It was specifically designated as a Halloween day, and The Conservation Kids were going to be there. We wanted to surprise Colton (aka Conservation Man) and get a picture with him and Riley. However, the surprise didn't work because he had class :( But it was a fun way to get us to go to the museum! I haven't been there since it was renovated.

Riley and I took a walk and met Chris there.

Riley seemed to like it from the very beginning. As soon as we walked in the doors, her eyes went really wide, like this:

The excitement was just emanating from this child!

...until we got started looking around.

Chris enthralled while Riley yawns

Then she promptly fell asleep.

Not everyone has the opportunity to be kissed by a giraffe

So Chris and I had to make full use of our time.

To wrap up the night, we headed over to the Creamery for some dinner.

She woke up when she smelled the food

All in all, an awesome night! It is fun that while it is more complicated to go on dates, it is still not impossible without a babysitter. 

For now.

The Baby Whisperer

Chris has a special talent at helping Riley fall asleep.

He is The Baby Whisperer.

Riley's Blessing Day

Riley was blessed on October 18th, exactly a year from when Chris and I were married. I just worked out that way (there were almost no other Sundays in October that would have worked because of conferences), but it added special significance to the day. Blessing our first baby on our first anniversary... wow. It would have been hard to believe a few years ago that I would be here today, a part of this beautiful family.

It was so neat to have both families and many other come for Riley's blessing. We did a terrible job of publicizing when she would be blessed, so we were pleasantly surprised when so many showed up at our church! We love our families!!

She got her dress as a present from Aunt A. It was so beautiful! And I am very glad Mimi and Papa were there to help her get dressed-it was quite the ordeal!

At least she was enjoying herself :)

The cute booties Aunt A. gave Riley

Chris did a great job with the blessing. He was a little emotional in the beginning, and that started the waterworks for me pretty quick!! He is such a sweet dad to Riley. She started to fuss, but Papa W. was smart and brought her pacifier up with him. You could hear her smacking on it the whole rest of the blessing - goofy girl :)



I promise I am not choking my daughter! This is me soothing her during sacrament meeting. Plus, I didn't know my mom was taking pictures during the meeting! ;) She was a little fussy at first, but it didn't take her long to go to sleep, when she was promptly passed around to grandparents :)





You see that bare foot of hers? This girl is notorious for always kicking off only ONE of her socks/shoes.
She gets it from her dad.



On top of this sweet blessing day, it has been so neat to have family here to celebrate with us. We have been so lucky that both families made it out here and we have been able to spend time with both sides.

Watch out for Creeper Aunt B



First Anniversary

We celebrated our first anniversary today. It is actually tomorrow, but since that will be Riley's blessing day, we decided to do the celebrating today instead.

After work, Chris picked me up. He looked sharp in his plaid button up shirt and a flower he handed over when I got in the car. He is so sweet :)

Thankfully, Mimi and Papa were very up for babysitting.

We decided to use one of our giftcards to go to Red Lobster. We were so excited for those cheese roll appetizers! ...but then when we saw the huge mob waiting outside the door, we had our doubts. When we found out it would be an hour wait, we decided to bag it and try somewhere else.

After long deliberation (indecisiveness is a trait we share) we ended up going to Chilis, and that was an awesome decision! I shared with Chris things I have learned about him in this past year.

It was fun to reminisce-I can't believe there was a time that I didn't know him so well and he wasn't a part of my life. And I can't believe we have been married for a year! ...and have a baby!! What?!?!


I am so thankful to be married to this amazing man, and I am excited for many years together.

Smiley Riley

Riley loves to hang with her head upside down. Apparently this is a trait she inherited from her father

She wasn't sure how she felt about the carrier...

Say whaaaa.....?

Riley LOVES studying the Gma H.'s quilt

After seeing how much Riley liked E's swing, we got one for her. She sleeps SO MUCH better in her swing than anywhere else! It is saving our arms from falling off.

Cousin play time

She always sleeps with at least one arm above her head

Fist bumps are her thing right now