Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day and it still feels weird that I am a mom. I do, however, enjoy the benefits of Mother's Day. Homemade brunch, massage, time by myself to go shopping. Oh yeah, I did spend some time with the kiddo too.

Crab cakes with hollandaise, seared scallions, poached eggs and toast
(someone please tell me the secret to proper lighting for food pictures)

Riley and I enjoying the fruits of Daddy's labor

Some park time with Janna and Teddy.
The boys had fun, but not willing to show us

Trying to look nice, before heading our for a dinner barbeque

Easter in West Virginia

Rob and Janna let us tag along on Easter to Janna's family get-together in West Virginia. We had just moved into town the weekend before so it was nice to have somewhere to go. What does a little country mean on Easter?

If you smile, you will get a present.

Ok, not too bad

Riley's first Easter basket/bucket

Tractors (Teddy steering)

Flowers on the hill

4-wheeling of course!

And Easter egg hunt, Riley made out with $8.60!

Last Hike in Colorado

We went on a hike with Annabelle, Brian, Sophie and Sarah for our last outing in Colorado in April. Apparently with 2 cameras we didn't manage any pictures of the group together or any evidence we were with anyone. The really awesome pictures below (3 out of the 6, you'll know which ones) will be our proof. There is no way that Brian or I have a camera nice enough to take them. Thanks Annabelle for the pictures. We went to El Dorado Canyon, I don't know why we never went there before since it's only 15 mins from our place. Oh well, too many things to do in Denver when you're dead.

Daddy and mini-me time

Contemplating just throwing him into the water

At the beginning of the hike, doing good

No more baby, all toddler

The most awesome pose ever

Hike a baby to sleep

Wait, I found one!

Sophie and Riley

Pittsburgh

We made it to Pittsburgh last week. Even got to stop by Sara and Jason's house in Kansas City. I definitely have toy envy. Grandma took Riley to Raleigh and was nice enough to bring him to Pittsburgh. Free child pick-up and delivery....priceless. I don't believe I am about to say this, but the 3-day, 24-hour drive wasn't that bad. Yes, I am officially crazy and somehow the Stepp family has turned me into a road warrior? Nah, but I survived it. Thanks to all who called and let me chat with you during the cross-country trip. It's cloudy and rainy here, officially back in the midwest or near-east?

So, officially, this is Riley's 4th place to live before he is 2. Not counting the month we lived with grandparents. Hopefully, we will get him a permanent home soon. Poor kid, his parents are apparently gypsies after living in Prague.

Oliver the Cat

I kept joking around that Oliver is just waiting until Riley is old enough so that they can play together. Looks like Oliver doesn't want to wait anymore and was playing with Riley today. What kind of cat lets a toddler hug him, push him, and put puzzle pieces on him without running away? A SPECIAL kitty (you know what kind of 'special' I am talking about).

Oliver awakes from his mid-day nap with puzzle time

Riley's favorite game "More, More, More"

Pittsburgh bound

So, not that this blog stays up to date or anything, but I thought it necessary to at least post that we are moving to Pittsburgh next month. Brian got a job in Pittsburgh and so we are headed to a new city. It's crazy to move AGAIN, but we are hoping this one might be permanent. Thankfully we have our friends from Chicago, Rob and Janna, in town so we at least know people there. And their son, Teddy, is the same age as Riley so he has a friend too. But it will be sad to leave all our friends we have met in Colorado and the phenomenal weather here. The heat index here in the summer is LOWER than the actual temperature. That was so great, I cannot even explain how awesome that is, since we both come from the south and crazy hot humid summers.

Riley is quite the traveler, before he turns 2 he will have lived in 2 countries, 3 states, 4 different homes and been to 8 states. I just want to assure my European friends that we are NOT gypsies.

Some pictures of what we will definitely miss here in Colorado:

This cute little monkey, Jacob. Also his parents, Dana and Paul

Riley's besty, Ajna. And her parents too: Eric and Teresa

Brian's cousin and her husband: Bobby and Serena (yes, we will even miss Bobby)

Brian's cousin Amy and Serena's little boy, Jacob.

And the mountains

Definitely, going to miss the mountains.

Bye Rockies, microbreweries, Boulder, Pearl Street entertainers, agave nectar, Gluten-free everything, quinoa, 14ers and Krista (where are the pictures?)!

San Francisco

We went out to San Francisco in January to visit my brother, Kristy and my cutie nephew, Melvin. Of course I took most of my pictures with my phone (so stupid) and my apple doesn't like my phone so I can't upload my pictures. If anyone knows how to get an apple to recognize an LG vortex, please tell me. It was so much fun to have Riley and Melvin play together since they are only 9 months apart, and the last time they were together Riley was only 6 months old. My brother lives right by Golden Gate Park so we got tons of outdoor time (absolutely necessary with 2 boys). I took Riley to the Academy of Sciences and tried to explain nanotechnology and the theory of relativity. He understood all of it while only wanting to stare at the fishies underneath him and playing(eating) with artificial snow. Genius material right here folks. They actually came to visit us 2 weeks later, lots of good cousin time for the boys!

Riley hanging out with Bella, James and Kristy's oldest kid

Cousins holding hands and being cute between toy fights

And.....

What happens when Dad gets to hang out with Riley?

Some nice finger tattoos: "Ozzy", next up we are teaching him the lyrics to "Mama, I'm coming home"