Riley's First Christmas

I am so excited for Riley's first Christmas!

The End of Maternity Leave

So tomorrow I return to work. It's funny, at the beginning of this pregnancy, I was so excited to be that woman who did it all, worked, had a family, all of it. I worked so hard in school to get where I am, and have been so worried about my career slipping away. Now, tomorrow I am supposed to return to work, and I don't want to go. Riley is sleeping in her swing right now, and she is just too cute with her chipmunk cheeks and little pouty mouth, and I don't want to leave her.
I never thought I would want to be a stay at home mom, but here I am, so terribly sad to be returning to work. If I could stay home until she went to school, life would be perfect. Unfortunately, due to finances that isn't possible. So off to work I go.....

Thanksgiving 2009

So what started out to be a frustrating day ended up being a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving with my husband and little girl :) Frustrating because my mom left this guilt trip on her facebook about us not coming to spend Thanksgiving with her, and because we had totally forgotten about Thanksgiving and hadn't prepared any food. And by prepared I mean grocery shopping.

Let me start off by saying why I was so frustrated with my mom. Her status said:

There were alot of things my mom didnt have, but one thing she did have was tradition.Every holiday her kids would come to her home, even if it was the only time they saw her. So when you have kids of your own and want tradition in your familys, remember how important it was to me......Happy Thanksgiving Mike and Brooke

First let me say this is frustrating because my mom hasn't spent a holiday, let alone, Thanksgiving at her moms since I was 16 years old, so as guilty as I first felt about not spending the holiday with her, the guilt went right out the window when I read this status update. Way to have that plan backfire. Second, we have 3 OTHER sets of parents who don't get every holiday with us, in fact my mom has gotten more holidays than any of the other parents, so even though we didn't spend Thanksgiving with any of them, I don't feel she has the right to pout. Third, my mom wasn't even having Thanksgiving at her house. She was having it at her husbands parents house, who as much as I love, are not my family. Plus they live 2 hours away. And we have a 3 month old who I am nursing. So when my husband and I talked about what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving this year, the idea of staying home and having our own, first Thanksgiving as a little family truly appealed to us. There would be no getting up early to get things done around here, no pumping extra milk to give to Riley while we were out. (I'm not a public nurser, and definitely not a nurser in front of semi-family types, I think I'd rather nurse in front of tons of people I didn't know vs. a handful of people I did.) Which also meant no swollen boobs while we were out either. There was no driving in holiday traffic, none of it. It was very appealing, and so we went with it! (Sorry for being a selfish brat.)

And then we dropped the butterball..... we had no food here. So I became super frustrated. Not only was I dealing with Facebook guilt trips, now there was no food, so it really was like having a family Thanksgiving without the food. You know, all the guilt, none of the good stuff? I decided yesterday was going to be just another day at home, and set off to pout for the rest of the day. Thats where super Dan comes in. He decided he was going to save Thanksgiving!

Around 11 AM yesterday, he trekked out into the LA streets in search of a thaw turkey and some side dishes, and you know what, hell if he wasn't successful! He came home and cooked us our first real turkey (The one we had in stockton was like a turkey breast, so we'll say it doesn't count. This one had bones!) and we had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home! It was wonderful.

Not only that, but Dan got to see Riley roll over, which she has done a couple times before, but we weren't sure if they were accidental roll overs, but regardless Dan had never seen her do it. AND she laughed yesterday. She had also done this a couple times before, but it was like a one time thing when Maggie was here and I was starting to think she just really liked her Grandma Maggie, because she hadn't done it since. But yesterday, she laughed. Not once, not twice, but a full out gigglefest. Loved it and loved her.

Yesterday, was a good day. Happy, content sigh.

I'm sure there will be hell to pay later, but for now, happy, content sigh.

Thankful for Facebook

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for facebook. Even when you try to avoid it, the guilt trips and bull shit can still find you via the internet. Thanks Facebook!

Dear Parents,

Please send money so we can pay off bills that we ran up in college. Please? For Riley's sake?

Dear Government,

Can we have a do-over? Please?

Dear Credit Card Companies,

If you lose all record of my accounts I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Dear Student Loan Companies,

If you lose all record of my accounts I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Dear Parents,

No, seriously.

Riley is now a couple days shy of 3 months old, and I am still as crazy and paranoid as ever. Her eye gets a little pink, I call the doctor thinking its pink eye, she coughs, I think she has swine flu, we went to cancun and I cried for days before. This mom thing is truly driving me insane. And my poor husband, I know there must be some days where he looks at me and thinks, where is my wife, and will I ever get her back? I hope he gets her back soon, but between you and me, I think this crazy person who has taken over her body is here to stay. At least for a little while.

BTW, I'm pretty sure my husband doesn't like me much anymore. I'll have to figure out how to fix that. Maybe this crazy person thing has something to do with it. I can't fix that. He knocked me up and now he has to deal with it. But I love him, and want him to love me back in spite of the crazy person in my body.

Just a couple days shy of 2 months

Riley will be 2 months old on Monday. She is getting so big and she is so perfect! She is such a happy, alert baby and pretty easy for the most part. (Except for the random evenings she decides she is going to fuss until 2:30 AM, like last night!) hehe 

So being a mom is going to give me an ulcer! So apparently SIDS occurs mostly between 2-4 months, and we are quickly approaching 2 months which makes me a NERVOUS WRECK! I swear I'm going to need some pills to keep me awake and alert because I will NOT be sleeping the next two months. And then when 4 months hits there will be a whole new set of worries!

Having Riley is truly amazing. When she laughs, even at 2 AM, I melt. So in love with my little family! 

Finances

Riley Louise

Riley Louise Faill was born at 6:11 PM Monday, August 24th and weighed 7lbs and 7 oz. She was 20 inches long! Labor was.. a treat. :) It was labor, what else can you say, except that all in all it went pretty well. I am so grateful to have had Taz as my doctor, and feel it was by far the best decision I made during this pregnancy. It's odd now, not being pregnant. It was an amazing feeling, because it was literally one second being pregnant and pushing to all of a sudden not being pregnant anymore. It's a different feeling considering I have been pregnant for just about 10 months of my life! 

Riley has been home for about 3 weeks now, she is 23 days old. Dan has been AMAZING as a father and even more amazing as a husband. He has really come through for us, especially during our first couple weeks while Mommy battled the baby blues! Everything seems to be getting more routine now, and we are adapting to living life without sleep. Overall Riley has been a great baby, only fussy during the evenings, and even then it isn't bad. We've only had a couple of crying fits, which I will take a couple over a 23 day period with a newborn! 

It's amazing how life has changed. Everything from my social life to my wardrobe! My friends have been great in realizing that I am not that mom that wants it to be just my baby and me for the first couple of months, I need adult interaction, and having friends that realize that has made this transition into parenthood a bit easier. My wardrobe has been a little harder for me to adapt to.. I already look forward to the days when I can wear normal bras that don't unsnap and shirts that aren't "easily accessible." Needless to say breast feeding is not my favorite part of motherhood. While it has its conveniences (cost, readiness) it has its inconveniences (everything else!) And I am still debating as to whether or not I want to continue. It's pretty much consumed my life at this point. We went to the pediatrician yesterday and the doctor told us that on average babies should gain at least half an ounce to an ounce per day, and Riley has gained, on average 2 ounces per day... She likes to eat! She's a little chunker. ;)

So now, life becomes routine again, we continue to adapt, and wonder what new changes Riley will bring with her each day! 

Baby Tomorrow!

So, I am being admitted at 4 AM, tonight/tomorrow morning, to begin my induction. Dan and I have been extremely nervous over the past couple days, thinking that in a couple of days, (possibly tomorrow, depending on labor) we're going to have a little one! I am so excited to finally meet her, see what she looks like, hold her, and learn all about her. We will post pictures and keep everyone posted soon. :)

Pregnancy Article I thought was Funny

Lindsey is a loyal Fatherhood reader. She's also pregnant. 
     
A few weeks ago, Lindsey emailed me to tell me the story of her decision to wear a dress to work. After explaining to me that it took a lot to work up the nerve to wear the dress, a comment from a coworker had her quickly rethinking her decision. 
     
"Oh my gosh! Are your legs always that big or are you swollen?" 
     
OK, once you've finished your gasp, let's move on. 
     
When I told my wife this she was hardly surprised. 
     
"People say offensive things to me all the time," Kayla said. "They don't mean to. They just don't realize its offensive." 
     
So with a nod to Kayla as well as poor Lindsey, I thought it might be a good idea to come up with a list of things to never, ever say to a pregnant woman. 

"You can't even tell you're pregnant." 
     
Maybe at one to three months this is acceptable but once you reach the third trimester all this means is "Wow, you're so fat normally I didn't even know you had an infant growing in there." 
     
"Are you sure you're not having twins?" 
     
By this point, pregnant women have been to a doctor numerous times. Odds are, someone would have noticed. Again, this just says "Hey, fat." 
     
"Was it planned?" 
     
No, the condom broke. This was a complete accident. C'mon people, even if it wasn't planned do you really think you're gonna get that kind of information? 
     
"Should you really be eating that?" 
     
Unless you want that hand bitten off, I would never suggest trying to take food out of a pregnant woman's hands/mouth. If the girl is hungry let her eat. She's "eating for two" as they say. Count your own calories, momma's hungry. 
     
"Those stretch marks/excess hair will go away when the baby is born, right?" 
     
If by some chance these words come out of your mouth, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit and pray to God she doesn't find you. And since preggos seem to have a keen sense of smell, odds are you're done for. 
     
"I never had any morning sickness." 
     
Do you really think saying "Nanny-nanny-boo-boo" to a pregnant woman is really in your best interest? I've learned that to every preggo, hers is the worst pregnancy in the history of pregnancies. So telling her how much better yours was than hers is not recommended. 
     
"Got milk?" 
     
Really? A lactation comment? We're really going there? 
     
Any labor horror stories. 
     
I think that most pregnant women are like my wife: hormonal and borderline crazy. When you add those wacked out baby deliver shows on TLC to the equation you have a hypochondriatic mess. The last thing a woman needs is you telling her how some doctor missed with the epidoral needle or how a nurse dropped some baby and broke its collarbone. 
     
And finally, under no circumstances should you ever utter the words "Oh look, you're waddling." 
     
Two ice packs later, I learned my lesson on that one. 
     
On a side note, congratulations to the aforementioned Lindsey who brought seven pound 11 ounce Caleb into the world on Aug. 6. Our doctor told us we could expect little Abigail Jolie within the next three weeks so we'll be joining you soon.

Nursery- Almost Done

We got shelves today! Still need to figure out how this is all going to pull together when we get the chair, but this is how it looks for now:

So Dan is off camping and I'm at home having what I'm assuming and hoping are Braxton Hicks so I thought I'd blog...

Dan and I took our "babymoon" which was really a day out in Malibu since I'm not allowed very far, but it was fun. We went to Paradise Cove and hung out for a few hours which was relaxing and beautiful and then had a beautiful dinner at Geoffreys which over looks the ocean. Overall it really was a beautiful and relaxing night! The next day we went and took "pregnancy pictures" which I'm posting for all to see....

I just have to say thank you again to everyone who has purchased something for the baby. I look at our registry and think there is so much on there that is so expensive, how are we possibly going to get everything we need? My friend Vicky bought our stroller which was so nice of her there aren't even words to express how nice! And my mom and dad got our crib, and dans mom bought the dresser, both which were rather expensive on our registry. I just really appreciate it. Our families know how strapped we have been financially and how we worry daily about finances so it was really amazing to not have to worry about things that would have been next to impossible to get. Now the only things we have to worry about getting that cause us stress are the swing and the pack n play. Now thats its getting closer and closer to Riley's due date I know that these are things I'm going to have to get myself, but its nice to know that there are really only 2 expensive items to worry about rather than 5 or 6!!! 

Here are our pictures:

Pain Scale Absurdity

After being in the hospital and being asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad are your contractions" about every hour, I found this and thought I'd repost it.....

Pain Scale Absurdity

Two patients came into the ER by ambulance complaining of pain.

One was a young woman with another migraine, who "usually gets" Dilaudid 4-6 mg IV in addition to IV Reglan and Ativan. She was allergic to many other medications, but she had a full bottle of dilaudid 8 mg pills and some Actiq lollipops in her purse from two different pain specialists. Her usual medications also included Ambien 20 mg at bedtime and Xanax 2 mg every 6 hours. Although she complained of vomiting constantly for 3 days, her vital signs, physical exam, bloodwork, urinalysis, and imaging tests were all negative, and she never vomited in the ER. She spoke calmly and was in no apparent distress.

The other patient was an elderly lady who had fallen at home, fracturing her hip. She was taking a blood thinner, so her grotesquely angulated and deformed thigh was also markedly swollen. The fact that she had crawled down the stairs after her injury in order to call the ambulance probably contributed to the swelling and deformity somewhat. She trembled a bit as she asked for something to relieve her pain.

Guess whose pain was a 5/10 and whose was a 10/10? 

JCAHO, your pain scale sucks about a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Bed Rest - Day 3

So I thought I'd add the events of this week to the blog since I have nothing else to do right now :) Summer school started this week, and I got to meet and hang out with my new first graders. Well I got to hang out with them M-W. On Wednesday I had a doctors appointment, just routine, but I had some concerns I wanted to address with Taz.. the main being I am supposed to be monitoring her movements (Riley's not Taz's) and making sure I am getting 10 kicks an hour after I eat a meal. That has been all fine and dandy with the exception of the past week or so.. sometimes I get 10, sometimes I get 3, sometimes I get 8, sometimes I get 10.. it's all been very irregular, so I asked her about it and told her I was concerned because she is usually quite active. So I had my appointment and then did an ultrasound to check fluid levels which they said were beautiful, check movements, again nothing wrong there, and all was looking wonderful! Then they hooked me up to the NST which monitors the babies heart rate and if my uterus is contracting. I was hooked up for about 15 minutes, when Taz came in and said, "Girl, you're contracting! Do you feel that?" I didn't but they were apparently pretty regular and pretty close together, so she wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery to check for preterm labor. Just to be cautious. So I went, got hooked up to all sorts of machines, and then got another exam. 

This is where the REAL fun began... a resident doctor came in to perform the tests they needed on me, which included an internal exam. I was on my hospital bed, and she needed to elevate my bum to get a better look, so they put me on a turned over bed pan, put the head of my bed all the way down and proceeded. I.E. my butt at this point was much higher than my head. Now for any of you who know when you put a pregnant woman on her back, there is all of a sudden a lot of pressure and weight from the baby, when you add some incline to that, there is even more.. Needless to say, I started to pass out.. Got hot and sweaty, recognized the passy out feeling from the time I did it in college during my biology final, and asked to sit up, sat up too quickly, lost vision for a moment and then was put on my side, got oxygen and all was right in the world again. Except during that fun episode, the babies heart rate dropped. According to the next doctor, "Well duh, when you try to invert a pregnant woman and cut off her blood supply, it also cuts off the blood supply to the baby" She was funny, and very apologetic. Each of these episodes are fine by themselves apparently, but when you put the worry about movement, the contracting, and the drop in the babies heart rate all together, it spells overnight visit in cedars. :) So I spent the night and Riley was monitored all night as were my contractions. Got released the next morning still having contractions, but Riley's heart beat was perfect all night so that put me at ease. 

Can I say that I LOVE having Taz as a doctor? I know it worries her that something is going to go wrong and that it's me, so she's overly cautious with me, but I would much rather have someone who I know is going to be overly cautious than someone who is just going to write off things as random happenings and then something really be wrong! Plus it was really funny to watch the faces of the doctors at cedars when they were trying to do things, telling me they couldn't get a hold of my doctor and I was like well I'm talking to her on the phone right now, do you want to talk to her? But here I am on bed rest.... Ideally I would be out permanently of work til Riley comes, but I think I'm going to go back next Wed-Fri to finish up the week. I promised I wouldn't go if my contractions were still regular, or if I felt in anyway there was something wrong, but I think I have a good feeling about it. 

Side note. Dan was amazing through all of this. He stayed with me, brought me food, and other things I didn't even think to ask for and then spent the night on a really uncomfortable looking cot while the machines beeped all night. I felt so bad for him, and do now too as I sit on the couch watching him make breakfast... He's amazing, and I love him..... I couldn't have asked for a better husband or partner in this.... Oh, and Taz says there is a 99% chance I won't give birth in the next 2 weeks, which is wonderful because I am determined to make it to at LEAST 37. So keep your fingers crossed! 

I found this and really liked it, so I thought Id repost...

I have had so many people come up to me since I got pregnant was born telling me how I should breastfeed, when I should introduce solids, where she should sleep, that I should baptize her regardless of religious beliefs, whether or not to use a pacifier, how to swaddle, what to eat while I breast feed, etc. I could go on and on, and I bet it all sounds familar.

I guess I am just to the point of telling people I don't mind you giving your opinion but please don't tell me how to raise my own child.

I have always said and will always say, you know your child the best others may know them well but you know them the best, you know when they are ready for solids, you know whether or not they should have a pacifier, you know how they like to be dressed (or how you like to dress them) etc.

you know what is right and what is wrong for your child. i used to always find myself questioning whether or not what i did really was right or not. then i got to the point where i would just get angry. look at your child are they happy, are they well feed, are they clothed are they healthy. yes then don't let these comments get to you, you do not have to second question yourself, you are doing the best job a parent can.

i guess what i am saying is to everyone who questions themselves when it comes to parenting ( which we all do) we may not be perfect, but we do the best we can and as long as our kids love us, are happy and healthy then in our kids eyes we are doing a perfect job.

there will be bumps along the way, but thats what being a parent is all about.

58 days (or so) to go.... 

31 Week Picture

Okay here is me at 31 weeks...

Pictures w/Bedding, and other!

Ill post more soon when we have the writing on the wall and the cupcake mobile and maybe a rug!

June Update

So I've not updated in a while, mainly because there is not much to update... Most of my energy has been aimed at finishing out the school year and getting ready for summer school. Even now I'm supposed to be doing report cards, which is why I'm updating! Sometimes procrastination isn't a college phase... 

I am almost 8 months pregnant.. (out of my 10!) things have been pretty normal (as normal as pregnancy can be) mainly due to the fact that I've not had an ultrasound since the beginning of April! The tests they ran in the beginning are still in the back of my mind and the possibilities of what "could" be stay with me, but I feel like its better than just pushing it aside, forgetting about it, then giving birth and have to all of a sudden face it, so I keep things in the back of my mind. 

On a more positive note, she moves around like crazy! Anytime music comes on she bounces around... I think she's going to be musical... She must get it from her dad rather than her tone deaf, rythmically challenged mom! 

My work threw me a baby shower before school let out and we got a lot of cute stuff! I was SO glad to see some things off of my registry! Having a baby is funny. You are supposed to register, but for the most part people buy you what they think is cute or clothing of some sort.  So now the baby has TONS of clothes and I'm looking at the registry thinking.. hmmm, swing, hmmm, diaper genie, hmmmm stroller, hmmm, diapers. I worry about not having any of these things, and having 80 blankets and 15 pink dresses. LOL I have to admit though, opening all of the little onesies and dresses has been really fun! Can I say though, that if you are reading this, and want to buy clothes, can we gear away from pink? haha her closet is starting to look like I hosed it down with pepto bismol.. :) And its starting to make me freak out that she may come out a boy! The whole thing is fun though, and people are so gracious and wonderful when you are having a baby. I've not had to buy a whole lot of clothing, because it just comes delivered to my doorstep each week! So thank you! 

Our parents have been really great, my mom and dad bought our crib for us, and Dans mom bought the matching dresser. It was so exciting when these things showed up! It makes the room feel complete! I love having the papasan in the room, and I worry A LOT  about when we get the rocker than Dan's pop is making us... we are quickly running out room in the babies room, and I hormonely want everything to match and I'm refusing to get rid of the papasan. Hehe. It's comfortable, and its mine and its familiar and I can sleep in it! But I think I'm going to have to get rid of it in order to make room for the rocker... I know it means a lot to Dan, so I will suck it up and get rid of my chair. In all honesty though, I'm contemplating getting rid of the massage chair first. It's hard to get rid of something you love, that is comfortable to you, that you know you can sleep in for something unknown! And at this point while I'm not sleeping, the papasan looks like heaven! :( At least Dan is on the same page as me when it comes to matching. I love all the stuff we get, but the room is pink, tan and brown and so things that are green, or orange or a different color wood tend to get stuck in the closet til we figure out what to do with it. I know when the baby comes we won't care, and everything will get pulled out and itll be a mis matched chaos, but now its fun to walk back there and see everything cute and pretty and how WE wanted it to be. I think I'm coming off ungrateful in this blog, so I should stop soon, but isn't a blog supposed to be able to be a place to express how you feel? Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for everything that everyone wants to do, and I know that everyone wants to be involved and put their touch on things, and its so sweet to watch. But when you have 80 people putting their touch and advice into your lives, and your not sleeping, and your hormonal, its easy to overlook the thoughtfulness and jump straight to the 5 year old mentality of NO MINE! :) It'll pass. I hope....

I just know its going to be chaos when the baby comes. Dan had a good idea, that when Riley comes and gets to go home that we ask to just have a couple days where its just the three of us before people come flooding over. He says he wants to figure it out for himself without everyone here vying to hold her, and telling us how it should be done. I think its a great idea, but highly unrealistic. People get so excited and rightfully so about a baby!!!! I think right now everything is just an unknown for us, and so we are freaking out about the little things, because we dont know how to freak out about the big things yet... 

I'll post pictures of my belly soon. I put one up on facebook, but give me a week or so and I'll put up another here. It's baby week on Discovery Health! YAY for having a day off. HAHA...

OH! My baby shower is in 2 weeks, and I am SOO excited to see the girls. Stacy, and Raimey and Lisa and Jenn and a bunch of others are coming and I CANT WAIT!

So we are all moved into our new place, and in the process of getting settled. Only a few more things to do, like put everything in its right place! Here are some pics of the new place so far! (The big bump under our comforter is my big body pillow I sleep with hehe)

baby furniture

Well, seeing as Brooke has been doing most of the work thus far (dont act as if that's suprising!), I thought it's time for me to chime in! For my first installment, I thought I'd write about how great my pop is - he's taking a kitchen table from my great grandmother and making a rocking chair for his great granddaughter! Brooke and I are really excited about the gift and look forward to rocking Riley (and mommy/daddy) to sleep. We're very thankful already - and anxious about getting everything moved and set up.

23 weeks and counting

Our apartment is a mess! We are moving on Friday and there are boxes and random things everywhere. I'm excited to be moving, but I hate the chaos... It will all be worth it when we are settled again. I will post pictures of our new place when we get settled. As of right now, I'm 23 weeks pregnant, eating lots, feeling Riley move a lot. (Except on the weekends. She's very inactive on the weekends! Like mom.) Since my last preggo pic was of me at about 20 weeks, here is me three weeks later... Almost 6 months!

Painting Furniture

So we finished the mini dresser and have started on the book case... I never realized how much I hate painting. I need instant gratification. HAHA Well, if that doesn't sum me up, I don't know what does! Here's a look... Ultimately the bookcase will have pink shelves that match the little dresser. 

First Blog!

So, I am on spring break and supposed to be packing, painting, planning or grading papers. So I figured what better time to start a blog! Not entirely too sure what I should be writing, but I wanted to be able to keep everyone posted on Dan and I and our newest upcoming addition.

We are moving in a couple weeks, hence the packing. We found a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment pretty close to Dan's work for the same rent that we have been paying for our 1 bed, 1 bath. The only downside is there is no room for the cats to go outside and play, so they will have to adjust to living indoors all the time. I'm sure they'll adapt. Living and working in Los Angeles is wonderful, but so expensive! People ask when we are going to buy a house. Haha, part of me thinks never, part of me thinks when we move out of Los Angeles. It's hard loving a place that you live, but finding it almost impossible to get ahead in that place. In order to buy a house, you have to have a down payment. And that is something we do not have! That and our debt to income ratio isn't something banks seem to be too fond of these days. So a new apartment here we come! Hopefully it will be as good to us as this apartment has been! I'm very excited that Riley will have her own room, so I'm optimistic. 

I've been painting furniture this week for Riley's room. We registered for white furniture, but I'm painting a bookcase and smaller dresser dark brown with pink and tan accents. It's funny, I've always wanted an underwater nursery, but we changed it to pinks and browns which I like almost just as much! It's just hard visualizing  what its all going to look like when it's put together. Right now its been a process of painting, not liking it, and then repainting it. I will have to post pictures of the finished product.

I am about 22 weeks pregnant now, forgetting that I'm not supposed to be moving furniture, etc... Feeling Riley move and kick is amazing!  The picture is of me two weeks ago...  I will post more when I'm bigger!