The Deneen Bean

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

9 months and counting

We took Riley in for his 9 month check up yesterday and he is doing great! His stats are:

Weight: 16 lbs 2 oz

Height: 26 inches

Head Circumference: 17 1/2 inches

He is almost to the bottom of the 9 month old curve for height and weight and is already there for head circumference. If we use his corrected age of 6 months he is right on target at the 25th percentile for height and weight and the 50th percentile for head circumference. So essentially he has a head circumference of a 9 month old and a body of a 6 month old!!

The past 9 months have flown by and Ben and I are always amazed at how fast he has grown and what a little man he has become. Here are some recent photos........

It was unseasonably warm this past weekend (90s) so we decided to go for a little picnic. We drove to the Los Angeles National Park and found a little picnic spot. It ended up being too hot to do much more than sit and enjoy the scenery but we had a great time.

Riley and his toy enjoying the beautiful day

Riley wondering why there is always a camera everywhere he goes

Riley loves drinking out of bottles and cups

Doing a little feet painting with Auntie Cindy

Having a chat with his lion

Sitting up all by himself!

Looking in his box of toys for one more toy to pull out

Love those feet!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Chocolate and More Chocolate

I haven't had the time to bake like I usually would but today we were celebrating the birthday of two of my co-workers so I dusted off the cake pans and made a birthday cake.....both of these girls love chocolate and one of them loves brownies with nuts so I decided to combine both of these things....I started off with a bottom layer of chocolate fudge brownies with nuts, then a layer of chocolate mousse, then a layer of chocolate cake, and then finished it off with another layer of mousse and chocolate shavings...a little decorating and voila a chocolate lover's birthday cake....

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Many Faces of Riley

Let's Play!

Who me??

Come on mommy.....

Hmmm, what can I get away with?

I've had enough, pick me up already!

Wooo Hooo!!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Viva Las Vegas

Last weekend our good friends - Quentin and DiDi- got married in Las Vegas and we took Riley for his first trip to Vegas. We packed up and headed out on Thursday. The trip was pretty uneventful but we did have to make a poopy stop during our trip...unbeknownst to Ben and I this was a forewarning of what was to come!! Since we had Riley we didn't want to stay at one of the casinos because of all of the smoke and we wanted the convenience of having a kitchen so we stayed at our timeshare - we love staying there when we go to Vegas because it is still on the strip but near the end so it is easy to travel around by car without getting stuck in the Strip traffic. Riley and I hung out in the hotel room on Thursday night while Ben went out with the groom-to-be and some friends. The next day we took a walk down the strip and had lunch at Maggiano's. One would have thought that Riley was a rock star with all of the attention he was getting in the restaurant! After lunch we headed back to the hotel for Riley's first trip to the pool. Riley and daddy played and then we all relaxed poolside. The pool wiped out Riley and daddy and after a long nap we hung out with Jon and Cynthia for drinks by the pool.

The next day was finally the big day - Quentin and DiDi's wedding. Quentin and Ben have known each other since junior high and were roommates all through college....hmmm, which means that I have known Quentin for quite a long time too! The wedding was at the chapel in the Wynn Hotel. Everything was so beautiful and DiDi looked amazing! I had no idea about this but apparently the Wynn has a policy which prohibits strollers in the hotel/casino. DiDi was thankfully thinking of us and got us a "special pass" that allowed us to have a stroller....that was a lifesaver because it ended up being quite a trek to the chapel. After the wedding, we all headed over to the Paris Hotel to Mon Ami Gabi for the wedding reception. Riley managed to need 4 trips to the bathroom and 3 outfit changes all before dinner was served! We all had a fabulous time celebrating with Quentin and DiDi.

The next day we had had our fill of Vegas and headed home. We had a great time and loved being able to celebrate Quentin and DiDi's day with them. Here are some pictures from the trip........

Congratulations again Quentin and DiDi!!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Visits with Family and Friends

The past couple of months have been filled with visits with family and friends. First, was my grandfather's 80th birthday. We celebrated his big 80 with the rest of the family. Unfortunately, instead of my grandfather being the center of attention it was all Riley. One of the pictures of that day clearly shows that. Here is a link to the pictures.

Next was a visit with Great Aunt Irene and Uncle Ken. After their trip through New Zealand, on their way home to Wisconsin, Aunt Irene and Uncle Ken had a 24 hour layover at LAX. We wanted Riley to meet them so Riley and I drove out to have dinner with them. Since Ben was coming home from another interview that day, he came straight from the airport to meet us later that night. We had a great time visiting with them and hearing about their trip. Riley loved getting a chance to meet his Great Aunt Irene and Uncle Ken. Once he gets a little older we'll be making a trip out to Wisconsin to visit them! We can't wait.

This past weekend Dan, Leah, and Gabe came for a visit. They were making a Southern California tour during their Spring Break and we were happy that we got to spend some time with them. They arrived on Saturday afternoon. Michelle and Jethro came over to spend some time with us and we hung out at the house and caught up. After Michelle and Jethro left we all headed out to dinner at one of our favorite spots.....Shabu Shabu!!! You just can't beat good shabu shabu and good friends. We ate like pigs!!! I wish we had taken our camera with us so we could have gotten a picture of all of the rice that came off of Gabe after he was done eating! Here are the pictures from that weekend.