How do you warn Miracle Cote about the family SHE is coming into?
Do you tell her about how smelly her daddy is?
Do you warn her about all the trips to the Sycamore, Newtown Ice Cream Shop, Rings End and New Milford she will be taking? (not to Disney…)
Do you let her know that she really is the 2nd pretty lady in the house behind Mia Cote that is… poor Momma Cote is now number 3!

OR

Do you tell her about how much her family (and FRIENDS) already love her from even before they heard the wonderful news of her arrival?
Do you share with her all the stories about how good of a mom and dad her parents are going to be based on stories of being amazing an amazing Aunt and Uncle, friend and lets not forget Momma and Poppa to her big sister Mia Cote?
Do you explain to her that her parents will have a CLEAN house that is alway being WORKED ON to make the most welcoming warm home filled with yummy FOOD and CAKES and more love than anyone could ever hope for 1 blessed special little baby girl?

Please send the love and blessing to Little Miracle Cote coming for all of us to LOVE at the end of the summer. Enjoy the slideshow!

Continue the celebration the day after the 4th of July! Especially while the weather is this beautiful! We have had our share of rain this summer… but not the 4th of July weekend.

Hayley and her family was able to take full advantage of this beautiful sunny day in the park, downtown and carnival. This little girl was happy as a clam every moment of our playdate! This family knows how to continue the party… right after their photo shoot they were off to another BBQ! What a weekend! AND What a family!

Enjoy the SLIDESHOW!

There is no place like home…
Little William is not in Kansas anymore. But he is enjoying his 1st home in Connecticut! Look at all the fun he is having out here in New England!

Check out his slideshow of all his cute photos…

We were on the way to a little retirment party for Grampy when we passed by these FLAGs!! Wow! Look at all the flags. Grampy is late to everything… so why not take a few moments to stop and grab a few photos!

Grampy many of these. Do you think ORAGANO should hire him?

There is so much fun you can have with a little piece of chalk in the driveway!

And even more fun when Unkey Seany and Aunt Jennie stop by for a BBQ….

Life is good in our neighborhood!

No Bears! We survived our 1st camping trip with Riley! (and all the babies) The baby group took a trip up to Layla’s woodsy cottage in the Catskills to experience their first camping experience together. Everyone had a great time! We hiked… BBQed… enjoyed a campfire… It was a great little camping trip!

It was a chain reaction on the hike… one baby cries… then it is another’s turn. When it was Riley’s turn to cry I took her out to feed her a banana because I knew she was hungry. Meanwhile the twins were beginning to fuss so we offered up Riley’s carrier as a change of scenes… and Sydney fell asleep in it. lol So… Riley was carried back and forth between Daddy and I all the way back on the hike. haha!

When we got back Riley saw a bag of (her favorite!)… APPLES! She was a good girls and shared them with everyone. Riley loves her apples!

Maybe we should set up the tent to teach Riley to sleep in a toddler bed… she loved the tent way more then she likes her crib. But do you think she would like it if we keep the tent outside in the backyard??

Once the babies went to bed… Riley and Layla were the late night crew and eventually went to bed. The mommies and daddies were able to enjoy some campfire fun!

Thanks Layla for inviting us to your camp! We can’t wait for next time!

GG!! GG!!! Riley loves going to visit GG at school. She yells GG! as she walks in. Then has GG chase her around visiting all the other classrooms. Today was different… today Riley had to be on extra good behavior because GG’s K kids were performing Jack and the Beanstalk. They did such a good job! Riley laughed at the Giant and clapped at the end. She even sat in her little car the whole time like a good girl. Is she ready for GG’s class? lol

This is probably one of the first and only school year I am not counting down the days with excitement… I have had the best year staying home part time with Riley! Job sharing and Baby sharing with my dad has been such a great year for us all. I am not ready for it to come to an end.

We all have truly been blessed this year for all the amazing experiences… Grampy may be retiring from his Bethel Schools job but he will continue as Riley’s playmate. (part time still… because Riley is going to school!!) Riley loves her Grampy!

Grampy found the little camera in the diaper bag today to capture some of their adventures…

The concerts in the park are BACK! Yeah!!

But what a different year this is going to be. Last summer we would lay the kids on the blankets and enjoy our dinner while they would just lay there and play… Try laying them down on the blankets this summer… HA!

At least there is a playground in the back of the park! (and it is a nice playground too… trust us we are now certified playground connoisseurs)

Riley has NO FEAR! We really need to be on her at every moment. I turned around to get Riley’s swim diaper when I hear a SPLASH! And there was Riley in the pool… with all of her clothes on! Oh Riley…

We are going to have sooo much fun this summer! She LOVES the water!

The afternoon started with writing the word APPLE on Ryan’s Smartboard. Ryan told the kids Riley knows how to read already! They didn’t believe him. So I asked Riley what she wanted to eat… and of course like a good student… she READ the word APPLE! She loves her apples! I wish I had a photo of the kids faces… their reactions were priceless!

We went of visit Daddy’s class and watch the butterflies be set free! Riley took only a few mins. to warm up to the kids. She quickly was chasing the kids around the playground and felt like she fit in with them. The girls especially loved chasing her around.

How many more days left of school??

Grampy is refers to himself as Riley’s playmate. And let me tell you Grampy wears Riley out as much as she wears Grampy out! The evidence of how hard they play is left all over the house when I get home I have to clean up… lucky for me it is getting warm and they can now go to the park to play rather then messing up my house! lol

Grampy really is like one of those professional daycares that gives the paper of all the information on the kids day. He give the play by play of all the new behaviors he is teaching Riley. He loves to teach her new things and then have her show off what she is learning. From learning to roll a ball back and forth to playing matching games. He is such a proud teacher/playmate/GRAMPY!

Remember when weekend mornings were spent sleeping in until the afternoon??

Now weekend mornings are spent park hopping. Riley loves going to the parks… Ryan and I have found the fun in trying to find new parks.

There is a lot to look for in finding a good park… obviously the swings are important! Is a coffee shop nearby?

How are the slides? Is it easy AND safe for Riley to get around without a lot of help? Is there a lot to do to keep her occupied? Do our iPhones get service??

We have to enjoy the park too… You may think it is all about Riley…
But we are BIG KIDS who need to have fun too!!

Fraser Woods are you ready for these two kids coming to you in the fall??

But… when we walked to the (you guessed it…) The Newtown Ice Cream Shop we saw some NUNS and they called our kids ANGLES! The Sisters don’t lie!

Riley is now repeating lots of the words we say. You now need to watch what we say at our house… she understands.

It is so funny to listen to her repeat. One of our favorite is having her repeat names… you think she is just repeating until you say BRADY and then you realize she knows what she is doing. She finds this new game soooo funny!

It goes something like this…
us: Say Dadda
Riley: Dadda
us: Say Mommy
Riley: Mommy
us: Say GG
Riley: GG
… this can continue for a while …
us: Say Brady
Riley: (Putting her hand out and yelling LOUD) STAY! (followed by giggles)

Oh boy… are we ready for this?? And she has a sense of humor too?!!? lol We are in trouble!

We found another awesome park with David right before the rain came! Riley’s Godmother Marci and cousin David found a new park with us. We are still on the hunt for a great park half way between us. Anyone know a good one in the Southbury area??

WEE!

p.s. We have been soooo busy! Tomorrow is going to be a day to relax.

p.s.s. Riley has been sleeping through the night most of the week… but as a trade off she is waking up extra early… 6:30/7:00 AM!

Who won?

The poor animals in the woods… little Riley SANG the whole time while on our hike. She sang the ABC, Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy… just to name a few. She made all of her animal noises and other words she knows while walking on our hike. Who is she going to take after… always talking? She is defiantly not our kid! lol

After a tornado warning… come BIG puddles to splash in! We were at Pikes for a BBQ and to check out all his new Little Tike… I mean Little PIKE toys and the “tornado” hit! But that didn’t stop us!

p.s. When we go home the umbrella that was on the back deck was broken in our FRONT yard!

This is before Riley realized she needed to wear a helmet when we go on our bike ride…

This is when she realized a HEAVEY HARD helmet was going to be placed on her head. We thought she had a big head until the helmet was on.

Poor Riley… It ended up being just a short test ride… next time will be the real deal!