A little bit of Pixie Dust...

....is what little miss Riley is made of. There is no other explanation that we can think of to explain why Riley is the way she is. She is vivacious, capricious, creative, beguiling, and imaginative. Riley lives in her own little wonder world. Her stories and laughter are something we can never get enough of.

Those of you that have had the oppritunity to know Riley as she is knows what I'm talking about. I wouldnt classify her as a follower. But I wouldnt classify her as a leader either. I would classify Riley as a "I'm in my own world, and if you would like to enter, come on in..." Some days her grass could be green and her sky could be blue--but other days her house has no walls and her flowers are made of licorice....and for this very reason is why we adore this little lady so much...

No Work, and ALL Play

Zoie has reached the age of "I am quite possibly the cutest thing in the world"---She does NOTHING but smile and coo and "talk". She has discovered how to put things in her mouth and currently her FAVORITE toy is a spit rag...yes, that is right...I spent TONS of money on toys and things that will help my children "develop" according to "research" and all she wants and the thing that makes her the most happy is a spit rag....*sigh* If a spit rag is nowhere in sight, she will figure out how to pull up her dress or shirt and stick it in her mouth.

Zoie's little eyes of wonder have discovered her toys that hang from her bouncer. She spends quite a lot of time trying to grab them and stick those in her mouth as well. She giggles and glees constantly as she masters the craft of reaching for things. She has also figured out how to ROLL OVER!!! She is quite the fun and loveable age. We thank our blessings that she is a healthy and beautiful little person.

Splishin and a Splashin

So, our ever so cute new home (again, I'll post pictures once everything is actually out of boxes and put away...) came with a spacious hot tub. Being that its super hot, Berns and I decided that we would leave the heat off for now and let Riley take it over as a little pool. The poor girl had to leave her trampoline back in Utah (lucky for her, her cousins bought it so she can play on it when she visits)--so the fact that she gets her own "pool" put her in her own seventh heaven.

Well, I have decided that pools, and hot tubs are quite the pain in the tush. I spent 3 DAYS trying to get all the chemicals right so that they wouldnt BURN off Riley's skin when she jumped in. The pH would be too high, so I would put something in to lower it, then it would be too low, then the chorine was too low and I had to add more, then shock it, but shocking it brought the pH back up, so I had to fix that, then do this, then do that....AHHHHH. I about went insane. However, after the 3 days that it took me to figure it all out, I now know what it is supposed to be, so hopefully next time I have to do the chemicals it wont be so darn annoying.

Little miss Riley waited very patiently for those 3 days--but as soon as I told her it was ready, she grabbed her life vest (even though she doesnt NEED it, she insists on wearing it) and her AWESOME looking goggles. She loves the fact that she can turn on "bubbles" in her pool. It makes all the pain of dealing with the dumb thing worth it as soon as I saw how much fun she was having!!

And Now For Something Completely Different....

REAL FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our little miss Zoie is only 3.5 months old, but we broke down and bought some rice cereal to treat her with. The idea stirred in my head because she started to nurse like, every two hours and was starting to KILL me (it started hurting soooooooo bad because it was so frequent). I thought it was a little growth spurt, but the "growth spurt" lasted much too long. Needless to say, Zoie LOVES her cereal. We make it about the consistancy of milk, but she is extra excited for a new taste and eating from a spoon.

She loved it sooooo much, she tried to eat the bib once she was done...

Westward Ho!

Alright, Alright, Alright!! After 56509450693 emails and a few calls, I will verify that we did in fact move to Las Vegas--land of hotter-than-acid heat and bright lights (amoung a few other things that we just pretend arent here). Berns was fortunate enough to land a nice job as an Operations Manager. His office is at home and our home is cute. (pictures to follow after im finished decorating) I miss my sister and her ADORABLE children (oh, and Nate, dont think we forgot about you) very much--but we look forward to the possibilities this job will present to us. We are also close to my dad now--so that is good :)

Riley has mixed feelings about the move--but generally, she is having a good time. She misses her cousins and her two favorite buddies (Madde and Olivia)--but reminds me constantly that she gets to go visit them. She is thrilled at the prospect of going to the beach since it's only a few hours away (get ready to house us Pam, and Danny and Lauren!) She is also excited about her small "pool" in her backyard (our house came with a hot tub, but being that is 15,000 degrees, we will keep the heat off and told riley it could be her little pool). All in all, she is doing great and loves her new school. We love her and applaud her for the good job she has done with all the recent moves.

Zoie is....well, 3 months old....nothing phases her except if she doesnt get to take a nap--and even then, she doesnt get crabby...just smiles with tired eyes. Her favorite things these days are her sister, being held, and her fuzzzy wuzzy blankie. She is trying to master the art of grabbing things to put in her mouth. She hasn't quite figured out that she has to OPEN her fist to do that. The poor little thing someone got pink eye right before we moved...but being the great little baby she is, never fussed...she just smiled right through it.

Berns, as I said, started a new job and he seems to be loving it. He basically runs the business--payroll, office work, HR, manager, the whole shabang. I think he also loves the fact that he can wear the same thing for 2 days strait and noone seems to care. I'm happy that he is loving his job...makes me smile

I spend my time tending to children. Every now and again I realize its time to shower, clean, go grocery shopping, and cook. We have been staying at my dad's house until our house is ready for us next week, so I'm at a loss of things to do. I did take Zoie out the other day and ran errands while Riley was at school, but I decided its no fun to do that when its so hot...not to mention my "errands" was just me going shopping :) I love being mommy and love the fact that my husband is willing to let me do that. I'm in the process of trying to find good dance schools around here so I can get back into the "groove" of things...but for now, I'm just adjusting to yet another change in the life of the Costas...

Until next time...

Alfalfa Curl

So, I gave Zoie a bath yesterday and when her hair (the small amount she has) dried, a little surprise seemed to have sprouted out of nowhere. Zoie's little alfalfa curl. I kid you not, it stuck up and curled all by itself, and with all the times I tried to "pet" it back down, it continued to stick right back up. Not even a little water would keep it down--it came from nowhere and is now sticking up constantly. I think its rather cute, so I have just let it be....

If it's a promissing thing that she will have hair like Victor (Berns' cousin) then I am super excited..that side of the family has the BEST curls...so bring them on---(although Danny and Lauren, I dont think she will EVER manage to beat little Eden's curls...)

I would also like to make note, that this picture alone proves that there is ABSOLUTELY no Shea in this child...she is all Berns...

Time Flies When You're Having Fun....

....and it's been nothing but fun with my little Rooster around (Rooster is the nickname I gave Riley, I have NO idea why, it just formed one day). Riley started 1st grade this week! HOLY COW! Where did the time go?? Kindergarten wasn't hard for me like most people told me if would be--they still seem super little in Kindergarten--but 1st GRADE!? WOW. I'm so proud of here and the great little girl she is. She LOVES her new school (probably cause her private school didnt have recess and this one does). She is trying her hardest to make new friends, and she loves wearing all her new school clothes (she is related to me afterall)....Time went too fast--if anyone knows how to slow it down, please give me the secret.