My Best Buddy

Writing a blog is much more enjoyable when you have an adorable pictures of your child to share. Life around the house is expectedly pretty mundane. There are moments where it feels like every day is exactly the same for me. But mixed in between all the snack times, nap routines, and tantrums there are some pretty precious moments that bring joy into my life. 

One thing I've been able to enjoy that I had no idea would be a thing just a few months ago is watching Riley and Bo's relationship form. It started off pretty hesitant, but as long as mom was still close by she seemed to be okay with her. Since then Riley has accepted Bo as part of her life. As I take her to bed she will often request, "Bo, mah," which mean she needs to give Bo a kiss goodnight. She's also learned that it's hard for me to say no to that request and she'll often use it as a delaying tactic. Whenever Britt's feet are uncovered she can expect Riley to run over and "tickle" them to which Riley has learned to expect quite the performance from Britt. 

Another thing that has brought me a lot of joy recently is seeing Riley seem to be learning at an exponential rate! It just seems like every day she has some new word and I'm absolutely loving it. We've also been working on colors, the alphabet, and numbers a little. So here are some pictures and video showing off the cutest, smartest little girl I know. 

Riley in her favorite habitat. If I let this girl run around outside all day she'd be all for it! 

These pictures are just a few months old and she already looks so different! She grows too fast!

My heart!!

An exciting sighting a few weeks ago. (This is our backyard)

The adventures of living in a home. We have vermin! I've seen way too many dead/live mice in the last few weeks. This picture is evidence of our friendly trash pilferer. We even bought a new trash can that has a lid that stays on and they still get in there! 

This girl has gotten so big!

 

You think this is just a funny meme, but just ask a new resident. It's a little too close to the truth! 

Always an adventure with Britt! She had an interaction (a socially distance one, but still) with someone that later tested positive for Covid. So, after I put Riley down for a nap and figured even an exhausted Ben would wake up if she started crying, we hurried to the closest urgent care for testing. Then we discovered they require a telephonic appointment with the doctor before they let you do drive by testing...so we hurried to the next closest urgent care. We knew that most medical places have special rules for people coming in with Covid symptoms so we looked at the door and it said if you believe you have Covid to signal the people at the front desk and to wait in your car. We weren't sure exactly what the sign language was for Covid or please come stick a swab up my nose, so we wrote out a note. As Britt waited at the door the front desk person beckoned her inside, and when she explained they just told her to come in and acted like she was crazy. Why do people keep up signs if they aren't even keeping that policy anymore! Drives me crazy....but it did provide a few good laughs.  

Ben taught Riley how to say, "Cheese!" It has provided quite a few adorable pictures and quite a few hilarious pictures.

            This is probably one of the most accurate pictures of Riley I have. This girl is pretty wild!

 

Grandma Jack wanted some picture for her wall so it prompted a little photoshoot. I just love these pictures!

Just look at the joy in that face when we found a puddle on our morning walk. 

She is always suddenly thirsty when she sees some source of dirty or soapy water.

I feel like she could be in some 90s R&B music video here. Cue some Usher.

We love having a photographer in our home now. :) 

I could try to edit out the sweat mark under my arm, but let's be real. We were in DC in September. 

More family photos!

 

Now for a BUNCH of videos. I just feel like as cute as pictures are she's so much cuter in action. And I think every movement is so cute, so get ready for an overload of videos of Riley doing pretty ordinary stuff. :)

These first two most of you have already seen, but I just wanted to put them on the blog because they crack me up.

It's amazing the random things that Riley thinks are hilarious. 

This has become on of Riley's favorite games. If you are sitting on the floor you can expect her to come and grab you from behind and say, "Uh Oh."

Britt learned the hard way that having Riley enjoy something you do isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Ever since our trip to Utah/Idaho Riley has been in love with Nemo. (We probably watched it 6 times on the plane rides.) I just think the way she is watching here is absolutely adorable. 

Sometime you just have to let her get soaked and covered in mud. 

Such a big girl! Since this video was taken she discovered the two bigger slides on the playground. She never goes down this slide anymore. Opting for the bigger adrenaline rush. At least these slides are curved so she can actually go down them without going faster than I'd like. We try to avoid parks with big/fast slides because she is always wants to try the biggest slides and I'm not ready for that! She's quite the dare devil, but also gets upset every time she trips. It's real hard to figure this girl out at times. I made the mistake of letting her go down a big, straight slide at one park and although I was at the bottom to catch her it was terrifying seeing her shoot down that thing like a rocket! I soon realized that she's so light that she doesn't create much friction to slow her down so she really gets going!

I love that she has already figured out her own, "Mom, watch!" before she knows that phrase. After every attempt at the slide she will run up to me with mouth open wide (she only does it for a little bit in the video) and shout, "AGAIN!" 

You wouldn't guess it by the state of her hair, but this girl really has opinions about her outfits!

Ben was on night shifts for most of September and half of October. On mornings that he'd get off a 6 am he'd come home and get Riley up when she woke up around 7. Then they would have about an hour together before I forced myself to get out of bed and we'd switch places. During that hour they would spend a lot of time working on learning different things. Ben obviously spent a lot of time working on her letters! These first two videos were taken on October 5th. The next two were taken on October 18th. The videos are a little long and not all that exciting, but I just needed evidence that she could do this before two!

After mastering the capital letters we tried to work on lowercase calling them big and little letters. Riley soon translated that into her own meaning. 

Taking after her dad in her love of dinosaurs. She has started (sort of) saying Pterodactyl. (It sounds like dac-tl.)

E-I-E-I-O

*I've heard people were having problems seeing videos on my posts. As long as I'm on a computer, not a phone, I'm able to see them. Also try a different browser? Lastly, be warned the videos aren't edited. So some may be a little long for what they are, but I didn't feel like going through and cutting out just the cute parts. 

This weekend was the best weekend we've had in a while! Ben had a few days off in a row so he was able to get some rest the first day and then be ready for some family fun the next! We went to a little farm about 45 minutes north of us. An acquaintance from our ward who is also military tipped us off that military got free admission so it was totally worth the drive! 

Every year I have asked Ben to humor me and go to some sort of festive farm during the fall months. There is just something that I love about the idea of walking through a corn maze and walking through rows of pumpkins! The first year of our marriage we had a couple invite us to a pumpkin patch. It was more pumpkins than activities, so it wasn't my ideal location. The second year I got it in my head I wanted to go to a haunted corn maze so we drove about an hour to a farm that had after dark activities. Turned out the haunted "maze" wasn't really a maze and more a walk through of the corn with an occasional creepy person. It was fun, but nearly ended our marriage when Ben jokingly started to run off and leave me behind in the maze! The third year we went to the same farm, but during the day. I was pregnant that year and every ride had a warning saying if you were pregnant not to ride. So I felt a little shady every time we went on an attraction. The highlight that year ended up being the apple gun. Ben had accidentally bought the extra expensive tickets that give you free access to the apple gun so we really had to take advantage. The forth year we were in San Antonio for the prime fall weeks. I was still determined to keep up the tradition, on the drive back from San Antonio we took an hour pit stop to go take a picture and play some corn hole. 

This year trumped (does anyone else feel like that word is ruined?) all the others! This place had it all and it only cost us the gas to get there! This was the first time a trip to one of these places was totally enjoyable. It may have also helped that Covid meant they had to put a cap on tickets so the place wasn't over crowded. We just had to have our masks on when social distancing wasn't possible which wasn't too often. 

First stop, the tractor swing! Although I don't know if you can call it a swing because there was literally a sign telling you to not swing in it! It said to not swing, but glide. False advertising. 

This video is a little longer than it's worth, but it's the only evidence of all the fun slides there. 

Of course we had to try the corn maze! I always get so excited about corn mazes, but then once I'm in them I realize I don't like the feeling of not knowing how to get out of somewhere. We had a fun time at first, but we didn't actually know exactly where the exit was so the whole time we were totally guessing which direction we needed to head. After we'd been in the maze long enough to want to get out we found a make-shift exit that a few people had obviously taken out of desperation. We were tempted, but we carried on and found the true exit. The rest of the day we were able to feel superior to every group we spotted coming out of the fake exit. 

Our hardened criminal

Daddy is always able to make any activity fun. She was giggling way more before I pulled out the camera, but I captured a few. 

I love how the simplest things can entertain her at this age. All you need is a large pipe to entertain her for quite a while! 

The best part of the whole thing for Riley was this little ball area. This girl loves any type of ball. She may end up being a soccer player after all. Ben would be so happy! 

Look at this adorable little cow!!

And then we found the goats....this soon became the best moments of our life. I've included a lot of videos. I just thought every one had a cute moment in it! So skip them if you want, but I love them! 

What kind of place is this?? How are my parents okay with me being this close to a dirty animal, but eating a crayon is prohibited??

They let you buy little cups with food for the goats, but Ben soon found that was unnecessary. With most of those cups going into the hand of small children there was goat food all over the ground.

On the way out we tried their fresh cider donuts which were amazing! A donut and some chocolate milk was the perfect way to finish the outing and a surefire way to have Ben agree that we have to go back next year! :) 

(Riley hurt her nose a few days earlier, that's what the scab under the nose is)

Rivers and Roads

On June 5th 2020 the following conversation was had: 

Britt: I need to figure out where I'm moving. I don't want to go back to Utah longterm but I'm also done with Oregon so we'll see where I end up come September.

Em: Done with Oregon huh?? How does Maryland sound??

and the rest is history. 

Okay I'll go into a little more detail. At first it didn't appear that Britt viewed my offer with much gusto. This happened on a group chat with Ana and Mel so she continued talking about renting vs buying homes. The soul crushing feeling of throwing your money away paying rent. Not wanting to live on her own, but wanting to move somewhere new. Every so often I threw in more suggestions like "Ummm remember my offer of living in our basement??" Later in the conversation a sign came that she was actually considering it, "Em what's your exact location in Maryland?" After I sent her a video of the space downstairs she started moving fast! Saying she would send me a contract and this was now her space!

A little later in the conversation our euphoria was dampened by the reality that we don't own this house and we'd have to make sure our landlord was okay with an extra person living here. We had just had an awkward interaction with our landlord and I definitely didn't want to talk to him any time soon. I hemmed and hawed over that for quite a bit, but in the end the landlord could not have cared less. As long as he doesn't actually need to do anything he can be pretty chill.  

Once things with the landlord were settled I could actually start looking forward to Britt moving in! Obviously, my offer of Britt moving in was pretty spontaneous so I hadn't actually discussed it with Ben until a few hours after the offer was made and Britt was set about her plans. 😅(btw what does it say about me that this is by FAR my most used emoji?) From the moment I told Ben the idea he was fully on board. He has always encouraged me to do things that will make me happier, especially when he knows he won't be around much to help me. He's just great like that. My happiness comes above all else. He has never complained or even commented on there being no prepared dinner upon his arrival. (Back when he was coming home around dinner time...won't be like that for a while.) He has never commented on how many toys he has to step over on his way through the living room. He has never commented on the fact that I seem to be wearing the same thing I was wearing when he left early that morning. If anything he uses all this as data as to how good or hard the day has been and steps up accordingly. So of course, when I told him that I thought it would be so fun to have Britt here to keep me company during the first year of residency in a new, sometimes lonely place he thought it was a perfect idea. In the weeks to follow, as we were unpacking our house there were multiple times where he would do something with the thought that maybe Britt would want that space for her things or we need to do this to be ready for Britt. It was so fun that while we were setting up our space we were already planning for our potential roommate and showed me that he was serious about being okay with it happening. 

Britt and I have lived in quite a few different homes together in our lifetime. We started off in our childhood home in Eureka. Being the two youngest siblings we often played together and developed a strong bond early, but it was nothing compared to what it would become. I credit our move to Utah as the catalyst to a lot of my strong bonds that formed with my siblings. Britt and I became each others closest confidant. When we went to summer ward get togethers that were mainly attended by young mothers with toddlers we had each other to help us get through it. We spent our weekends watching the best moments of Star Wars II and III and Lord of the Ring 1-3. I knew that telling Britt I would do her hair was a sure fire way to help her get up for school. We would dance to Rain by Mika together in the basement. We always agreed on watching Gilmore Girls after school no matter how many times we'd watched it through already. My worst nightmare was when she started making more friends in middle or high school! Who was I going to hang out with if she went out with them??

Eventually I left to go to college. We were still thick as thieves during that time since I just moved 20 minutes away. The biggest and hardest separation was when I left on my mission. I remember Bishop Mortensen asking me what my biggest worry was when I was about to leave. I told him I was worried about Britt and not being a part of her life. When I came home from the mission Britt had moved about 2 and a half hours north of me, but we did our best to visit semi-regularly. Even as our lifestyle choices would've seemed like they'd distance us we remained tightly bonded. Then I floated a crazy idea to Britt. What if we moved to Washington state next year? I was graduating and wanted to go to PT school after BYU. I wanted to do it on the west coast and Washington had a few more school options than Oregon. Britt was on board! Things changed in that year before our move. I met a boy and happened to really like where things were going with him. That didn't change my desire to help Britt move out of Utah even if it wasn't going to benefit my future career like I thought. 

So part two of us living together became our time in Oregon! (It changed to Oregon once I didn't need it to be Washington for school reasons.) This would become some of the darkest times in our history...living on camping mats on the floor of Mel's toy room. Waking up with a slug on my pillow. The only escape from the small living quarters being a spider filled backyard, basically our worst nightmare. All jokes aside we were very grateful to Mel for taking us in during our month of homelessness, but I think we all learned something about ourselves in those weeks. We moved from Mel's house into a basement room in a random lady's house in Oregon. She was in Mel's ward and she offered the room for $500 a month so we took it! (Although Pedro* was offering a much more reasonable rate.) Yes we had to deal with some awkward encounters with children, but it really was a great set up and just what we needed. Britt found her awesome marketing job and posted a craigslist ad to find a future roommate from that room. It helped jumpstart her real life in Portland. Once my job of figuring out Britt's life was done I headed home. 

For the four years I lived in Texas Britt and I did not live together...go figure. 

Although I guess there was that one week in Mexico...

So here we are! At the beginning of our next adventure! I hope I can treasure these next months and not let them slip by too quick. I've already loved seeing Britt start to find her place in our little family. She is going to be the reason Riley learns her colors and numbers. She is diligent! The coolest part of all these different times in our lives that we've crossed is that I get to see the growth she's making. A lot of the times siblings grow up together, start their own family, and then move away only seeing each other a few weeks of the year. Living with her even for just a week and a half I can see how much she grew in her time in Oregon. Evette must have done some good work with her because while I can definitely still find lots of "classic Britty" in her she's also become quite the adult. Here's hoping I can help her during this part of her life somehow because she sure is helping me already!  

(I know, a current picture of us together would be so perfect right there...well the only one we have is going to be posted on Britt's instagram someday soonish so you will just have to imagine) 

*Names have been changed to protect their identities and because I don't actually remember his name anymore. 

Trip to utah and idaho*** (No photos yet)

 (These memories are being written down three years later.) This trip didn't go as planned from the start. This trip was originally to be at Tim's homecoming, he ended up coming home earlier, but we still wanted to go out to meet him. This was planned when we were feeling more optimistic about Covid. We definitely didn't think Ben wouldn't be allowed to travel! Yeah, the military wouldn't let anyone travel for a time period so he wasn't allowed to travel to see his family. At this point, since it was just Riley and Me I felt like I could take on the trip by myself. We started off in Utah, we stayed at Ana's house to avoid bringing too many germs to Mom and Dad. We were in masks whenever we were at their house or playing near them. Britt came out to Utah at the same time because it overlapped with Mom's birthday. We had a socially distanced birthday in Mom and Dad's backyard. Poor Mom put so much effort into providing ways to stay cool while we were outside in the heat. There were fans, wet rags, and shade. As nice as it was to be together, that time of masks and social distancing was such a hard time. 

A special moment in that trip was music time with Ana. Whenever Mom, Ana, and I are together we love to have Mom play the piano while we sing. Since that wouldn't have been safe this visit I played the piano while Ana and I sang. Mom sat outside the open window and enjoyed the music. Mom is so amazing at making her children feel loved. 

Rexburg was so fun, I think this may have been our first visit in the warm months because I remember being so shocked by how much fun we could have when it wasn't -10 degrees outside.  Also, I remember feeling so good about only having one kid on this trip haha. All the other families had multiple kids at this point and man just having to worry about Riley seemed so easy compared to their lives.