It Was A Good Day

Today was another whirlwind day but it ended up a good day, at least in the eyes of Riley. 

We started the morning off with Riley's first report card parent/teacher conference.  Riley got a very, very good report card and update from her teacher, we were very proud!  I got to pick her up after school because she had a 2:00 appointment with Dr Hoffinger. 

We grabbed a quick lunch at home before heading to her classroom so I could meet with her teacher to plan the Thanksgiving Party for her class and then we headed up to Walnut Creek for an appointment with Dr H.  I was pretty nervous, Riley's right foot has seemed a little stiff so I was concerned we might be heading down a relapse path even though I haven't seem any curvature.  While I was meeting with her teacher, Riley colored a picture for Dr Hoffinger thanking him for fixing her feet.  We also brought a kindergarten picture for Beverly.  We got there and luckily they weren't too busy so we only had to wait a few minutes before going back.  Riley handed Beverly her picture, which she LOVED!  Bev has always loved Riley, even when Ri was a baby, Bev used to scoop her out of her car seat and walk her around the office before Riley had her casts removed and re-applied.  Riley always calmed down in Bev's arms.  And of course we can't forget when Bev came to visit Riley in the hospital after her tendon transfer.  She's equally important in Riley's treatment as Dr H is. 

Then it was time for BossyMan.  He came in and Riley handed him her picture, he loved it and gave her a huge hug and then she told him about her Dashing Dolphins and her 6 dolphin tails.  He couldn't believe that they had a running club for 5 year olds but was very happy to hear about Riley's excitement over it and her participation.  He did the usual inspection and after watching her walk said he saw absolutely no turning in on either foot.  I let out a big sigh of relief and told him I was concerned because that right foot seemed tighter than usual and he said he felt that it was tighter as well but the position was good and there was no turning when she walked.  (Sad, that I can feel the tightness in her feet like a well trained orthopedic surgeon).  He also said that at this point (2 months before her 6th birthday) that it would be extremely rare to have an issue at this point on that foot.  He felt like we would have seen any issues if we were going to see them.  The surgery seems a success, the right foot looks good without surgery so there might just be a light at the end of this long journey that we've been traveling.  I am cautiously optimistic that we may be finally putting clubfoot behind us.  She's come so far and I'm so proud of her strength and the way she just lets it all roll off of her.  She could very well use her clubfoot as an excuse to not participate or do stuff but Riley has never let clubfoot get in her way.  I often wonder how a child who spent the last year and a half in casts and AFOs ignores all that and is able to run around and participate as if she's never been through any of this.  It blows my mind!

That's Riley and Dr H on the right side together

Check out the flexibility on those tootsies!

Miss Sassy!

Our traditional picture!

Since we were in Walnut Creek, Riley wanted to go to my office.  So we headed over there for a little bit, enough time for some Kellogg's treats!  There were only a few people in the office but Riley still enjoyed herself.

And I wonder why she likes coming to work with me!?!

Like most days; it was busy, chaotic, and exhausting.  But it was a good day!  I'm so proud of Riley's great report card, thrilled that her feet are looking good, and happy to spend the afternoon with her.  Work has been awful lately and Friday was a good reminder of what is really important in life!

More Mommy/Riley Time

I just can't get enough of this smile.  Marc dropped Riley and I off at Panera and Target while he took Jacob to basketball Saturday.  Jacob gets too distracted with all of us there so we had a hot beverage and then hit up Target while they played basketball!

Playing Hooky!

I took Friday off and took Riley to Six Flags with her friend Bella and her mom, Jen.  It was a super fun day and the girls were SO excited to be there.  Poor Ri was about a 1/4" too short to ride the rides by herself so I had to go with her.  My neck is super sore today, I must be getting old!  But we had a great time.  The rollercoasters weren't nearly fast enough for Riley and Bella but they had a blast and Riley's foot held up pretty well walking all over the park for 5 hours, I think she might be Disneyland ready!  We even rode a real elephant which was SUPER cool!

All ready to get the rollercoaster riding started!

On our first ride!

If that smile doesn't say fun, I don't know what does!

Nacho chompers!

Watching the dolphin show

Another fun one!

Still smiling after a full day

Now that's what I call a good day!

I Can't...

I had a parent/teacher conference for Riley on Friday.  They told me Thursday that they would both be there.   I don't have much experience with parent/teacher conferences but I convinced myself that both of them being there was NOT a good thing.  I really need to stop my imagination because the conference was great. Ri is doing fantastic, she's grown emotionally leaps and bounds in the last 4 months.  In fact, one of her teachers called it a 180.  She's competitive in a good way and she's more than ready for kindergarten academically.  They did say they have seen a slight regression in her behavior over the last week and all she's talking about is her surgery.  In almost every conversation she brings up her surgery, so they are attributing the regression to that.  I can tell she's getting anxious, she tends to micromanage and worry about silly things when she's anxious and she's become quite the backseat driver and worrywart over the past week.

I wish I could take her clubfeet and make them mind, I wish I could go into the OR for her and have the surgery for her.  But I can't.  So I took her to the nail salon, let her pick out our colors (a risky proposition with her) and painted our toes to match.  So while I can't take her place and I can't be in the OR holding her hand but at least our toes will match and hopefully that will bring her a little bit of comfort.

Let The Celebrations Begin!

Last Saturday we gave Riley an early birthday present, I took her (with her friend Bella) to see Disney Jr Live featuring Sophia the First (her favorite!).  Ri had an amazing time!  She wore her Sophia dress, amulet, and crown and looked oh so adorable.  We had a great time together and she kept turning around to thank me for bringing her and telling me how much fun she was having.  I brought her potty at one point and she said "This is the best day ever!"

So much fun!  I can't believe my little girl is going to be 5 in two days!

Early birthday present - A new amulet

My little princess

Two Sophia the Firsts

These are the smiles I get these days

Me n My girl!  Can't believe she's going to be 5!

She picked Doc McStuffins as her souvenir (she made a special appearance)

Dancing

The finale - the show also featured Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Much Needed Day Off

I took a much needed day off on Friday to spend the day with the kids.  They have definitely been getting the short end of the stick with my new job and Marc's crazy work schedule so I wanted to spend some quality time with them.  We walked to Peet's for breakfast then headed down to Morgan Hill to go to Marc's hotel to do some swimming.  After swimming we headed to lunch at Red Robin and then home for naps.  After naps we had gymnastics and then we did some food shopping.  It was such a fun time, I miss time with the kids.  Wish I could be around all the time!

Puzzles

I bought Riley a set of princess puzzles after her neurologist appointment, I figured once we finished her homework for the week it would be a good chance for us to do something fun together.  Well it took us a bit of time, but we finally finished her 150 piece princess puzzle since there was no homework this week.  Riley actually did a lot of it, I was very impressed as she's still probably a little young for this type of puzzle.  She was so proud of our work (and she loves the princesses in it) that we decided to glue it together and hang it in her room.  I went to Michael's and got some Mod Podge (I feel so Pinterest crafty now that I have some) and a canvas that I'll mount it on and then we'll hang it in her room!  Next up, the 100 piece one!

Volunteering

Last week they celebrated Dr Seuss' birthday at the kids' day care with daily Dr Seuss activities.  In Riley's class they asked for volunteers to come in and read to the kids and do an art project with them.  Even though I've been insanely busy at work I volunteered to go into Riley's class on Tuesday since that's my work from home day.  I've been so excited to get more involved in Riley's class and look forward to her going to kindergarten so that I can volunteer weekly at her school.  So Tuesday I went in and read "Green Eggs and Ham" and then did an art project with the kids that I found on Pinterest.  Riley was super excited for me to come in and most of the kids know me so it was super fun.  Even though I told Riley I was going to have to leave after spending a little bit of time with her class and go back to work she was still very upset when I had to leave.  I had to pull out the big guns and have Jacob's teachers bring Jacob over (I didn't let Jacob see me there).  Their classes connect so the teachers let Jacob and Riley see each other often.  That seemed to do the trick and she stopped crying long enough for me to leave.  Her friend James kept coming over to her and asking her to play with him but she still wouldn't leave my side, Super Jake-Os to the rescue! :)  Here's the art project that I had them do, mine (obviously) is on the left, my daughter's is on the right, it was probably the most "abstract" of all of the kids who did the project.  Go figure!  But the kids had fun and so did I!  I can't wait for another opportunity to volunteer!

These 2 Make Me Smile

Cup O'Cake

I had a hankering for something sweet on Monday but couldn't piece together enough ingredients to bake a batch of something, plus Marc didn't want sweets around the house so where did I go for inspiration?  Pinterest of course!  I found a mug cake recipe and decided to make one for Riley and I.  I put white chocolate chips in it because I didn't have regular (I know who doesn't have chocolate chips???) and I won't do that next time, next time I'll go for sprinkles to appeal to the 3 1/2 year old audience around here but it was pretty tasty and only took like 5 minutes to mix and microwave AND it served it's purpose, no more sweet craving for me!  Yum!

Our mugs weren't quite big enough for the cake but they worked and next time I'll just make one for Riley and I to share since she's all talk when it comes to sweets!

Hooky

Riley and I played hooky on Friday and we had a girl's day with Bella and her mom!  Riley was so excited she could hardly contain it and I was pretty excited as well, we definitely needed some quality time together as it's been a long time since we had some good girl time.  We took our time in the morning, got Jacob dressed and gave him his bottle and then took him to school and dropped him off.  She wanted to stay and watch Jacob eat with the older babies so we hung out for a bit and Riley scored a waffle for breakfast (which meant I didn't have to make her breakfast, which would have consisted of toasting my own waffle but hey that was one less thing that I had to do).  Then we came home and watched some Olympics that I had on DVR, which she loved.  She tried to copy Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman's balance beam moves while we watched.  At 9:30 we headed down to San Jose with Jen and Bella, we put Riley's car seat in Jen's car so we could drive together.  The girls had so much fun riding in the car together and talked and sang the whole way down.  We got to the San Jose Children's Museum around 10:15 and the girls had a blast.  I had a hard time getting good shots of them!

Ready to get our girl's day started

Quick shot with her brother

First "experiment" at the museum, concentrating so hard

Already having fun!

Exploring bubbles

Making music

Giving Clifford a bone

Best shot I got of the 2 girls

I used to love these things when I was little

Digging for dinosaur bones!

Future waitress?

My lovey!

Water play, she waited all day for this!

Last stop, face/hand painting!

After the museum we got some lunch and then headed home.  We got home around 3:00 and watched some more Olympics while I folded laundry, then we went and got Jacob and picked up some yummy CPK for dinner.  Riley even talked me into getting us a strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Riley fell asleep on the way home so she didn't see Marc when he stopped home before heading to the Giants game.  Saturday morning she woke up and ran to him and told him "Girls day was so much fun daddy!"  It totally melted my heart, and yes it was so much fun, Riley was fantastic.  She listened well, played nicely and overall behaved despite being exhausted.  It was just what the RiRi and I needed!

Mommy/Daughter Time

Friday is a work at home day so I decided to pick Riley up a little early from day care and take her for some ice cream and some alone time with me.  I popped into Jacob's room and told his teacher I was going to grab Riley, take her for some ice cream to spend time with her alone and then come back for Jacob in like an hour so they didn't think I was forgetting him (I would never forget my little man!).  He was involved with his bottle so he was perfectly content!  She thought it was an awesome idea.  Riley was outside when I got to her class and when I went outside she came running to me, jumped into my arms and gave me a huge hug and was so excited to come with me for ice cream.  I told her yesterday once that I was going to come get her early and take her for ice cream so I'm not sure if she remembered or not. 

I decided to take her to Coldstone because I thought she would have fun picking a flavor and toppings.  And yep, as soon as we walked in and got in line she eyed the blue ice cream.  Well my original plan was to get cake batter ice cream with Oreo cookies to share but she was hell bent on getting blue ice cream (and she wanted me to get bright green ice cream, no chance!).  So I let her get her own and I got my own.   While we were in line I told her she could try mine and she said "You can try mine and I can try yours, that's a good idea momma."  I was holding Riley while we waited for our turn and she kept putting her arms around my neck and hugging me and saying "I love you momma," and "Mommy, I love you," over and over.  It was so sweet and so worth the effort of doing two pick ups and taking her in and out of the car a few times.  We sat outside and ate our ice cream and Riley ate every last bite of her blue ice cream (cotton candy with rainbow sprinkles).  She even tasted mine but told me she liked it but liked hers better, it was so cute.  It was my old Riley.  She did keep asking if Jacob was crying because we left without him.  Of course she asked if we could go back there again.  Um, of course! 

After our ice cream we went to get Jacob and she told the Assistant Director that we went for ice cream and she asked Riley why and Riley responded "So we could have alone time together."  So sweet!  I could see the pure happiness and joy in Riley's face and attitude from having that one on one time with me.  It was awesome to have my sweet Riley back, even if it was shortlived and only for a few hours!  I'm definitely going to have to make an effort to take her on more excursions like that while Jacob is still young and doesn't know I'm sneaking her out! :)  Jacob cashed out in the car on the way home from day care so I let Riley ride her bike outside for like a 1/2 hour while he slept in the car, all in all a great afternoon for the RiRi!  It was so nice to see her happy and beaming and have her sweetness back again!