Imitation...

Is the greatest form of flattery....especially when it's your 7 month old son doing it! Just in the past few days Andrew has started to imitate all of us- every time Parker is silly, Andrew makes silly noises and starts to act goofy, any time we sing any type of "la, la, la, la" (similar to Elmo), Andrew starts to sing, "la, la, la...", he copies our kisses, our hugs, our talking, and he's even trying to imitate our movement! And, I don't just mean he's trying to wave at me when I wave at him (which is VERY exciting), but he wants to MOVE....he wants to follow Parker around the house...he wants to JUMP out of my arms and chase after Bella, he wants to get off of my lap and get his toys...the only problem: he can't actually do it yet. The poor little guy wants to do it so bad, but he's just not quite there yet.

Something else that's new: Andrew is a rockin'! Not rockin' to music, but up on all fours, gettin' ready to crawl! Parker didn't crawl until he was almost 10 months old and this was just fine with me- no baby gates, no chasing....but, Andrew, I think he'll be crawling in the next month! This seems crazy....it's just so crazy how fast time is flying by with this second boy of mine!!

Each new milestone is so much fun...but this imitation mile marker, I think it might be the funniest one yet! There is never a dull moment in this Riffel house!

I am Proud to be an American...

As I sit here watching the fireworks in New York....Parker and Brandon are out at the park watching the local fireworks show and Andrew is asleep at my side (Bella is nervously perking her head up with each boom and shriek of fireworks)....I am getting chills as I listen to Beyonce sing, "I am proud to be an American...."

We spent this weekend celebrating our many freedoms. This day- Independence Day- holds so many reasons to celebrate. This weekend we celebrated America by spending time with family and friends.

(On Friday evening, we celebrated with our best friends- Justin, Julie, Caden, and Mason Hoffman. This is a video of the boys playing in the water...so much fun together! They were in the pool, the sprinkler, but their favorite was being sprayed with the hose by Justin. Silly!)



We took a step back and really celebrated all of those small freedoms that we take for granted everyday...

(Andrew's first encounter with a goat and a chicken and Parker's first home-made popsicle...Grandma and Grandpa's farm is a place that the boys truly love!)





I looked at Parker and Andrew and I found a new feeling of happiness for their future and what this day will one day mean to them. I looked at my sweet boys and was thankful (once again) for how blessed Brandon and I are to have them in our lives and to be able to celebrate our nation with them...to teach them the importance of Independence Day.



This weekend we did it the old fashioned way....we opened up our yards and driveways to our neighbors and gave our kids new memories and traditions for the 4th of July. We sat in lawn chairs, grilled burgers, brats, and hot dogs, and everyone brought something delicious to eat. We chased each others kids, cleaned up their spills, laughed at their innocence, and enjoyed our freedom to celebrate together.

This day, we celebrated friendship...a tradition we expect to continue.



And....when we told Parker it was time to go see the fireworks....his eyes lit up with the type of excitement you see on Christmas morning. You see...this was his first time to watch a fireworks show and he had been looking forward to it all weekend!



Happy Birthday, America! Thank you for such a beautiful birthday weekend!

Sweet, Slobbery Kisses

Nope, I'm not talking about Bella in this post...although she does give some sweet, slobbery kisses.



I'm talkin' those sweet, slobbery kisses that only a baby can give. You may have noticed in the past few months, in every photo that I've got of Andrew, he is a slobbery mess. In some of the photos there is even a drip of drool coming off of his chin as I'm taking the photo!



Andrew sure is growing up and his personality is growing with him- he is almost always smiling...especially if someone smiles at him. Just try it. Smile at my sweet Andrew and you'll get the biggest, happiest, toothless grin you've ever seen!!



His personality shows that he loves his brother, he loves to play, he loves Bella, and most importantly, he loves to give LOVE to his Momma! At first, I noticed that everytime I would walk by him, he would automatically put his arms up, indicating to me that he wanted me to hold him. A few weeks after this started, as soon as I would pick him up, he would lean in for a hug and grab onto my arms to give me a squeeze...this makes this Momma's heat melt. Then....just in the past week or so, when Andrew leans in for a hug, he comes in with his lips open and his tongue out, ready to give me one big, sweet, slobbery kiss! OH MY GOODNESS....I forgot all about these sweet baby kisses!!



Now, every time I pick Andrew up, I go in to give him some smooches and he gives me some first! I LOVE IT! I don't care that I have Andrew drool all over my cheek!! I love these kisses!

There are so many milestones to celebrate with our children and although this one is small in the life of milestones, I think it just might be my new favorite! Bring on the sweet, slobbery kisses!

Date Night!

We had the perfect date!! One of my favorite little guys asked me to go with him to see Cars 2 this weekend and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect gentleman to go out to the movies with!

On Friday night, I mentioned to Parker that Cars 2 was at the movie theater (I wasn't sure if he was interested in it or not...you see...we don't have regular TV, so we don't see the commercials like other kids do, so I wasn't even sure if he knew about it!) and so I asked him if he wanted to go with dad to see it on Saturday.

His response...."But Mom, I would really like to go see Cars 2 with you." He was so excited when I told him I would love to go with him (for some reason, I just assumed he would want to go with Brandon).

This is only the second time Parker has been in a movie theater- we went to see Toy Story 3 last year- and when we pulled up at the mega movie theater, AMC 30 in Olathe, his eyes got about as big as the theater! We went in, got our goodies (popcorn and Reese's Pieces) and then we had to wait in line to get into the theater. Now, you would think most little boys would be very impatient at this point...not my Parker...he managed to make a new little friend in line and they chatted about many different things- how they were both scared of the hand drier in the bathroom, what kind of candy they picked out, what birthday party they were planning on having- it was so fun to see Parker socializing with a little boy he'd never even met before! Always making friends!

I let Parker pick out the seat...even though it wasn't quite centered enough for me and we waiting (about 20 minutes) for the movie to get started. Now, I would have loved to have had my awesome Canon camera at the theater to document our every step, but I thought Brandon would have teased me for days about it, so all I have is this photo from my phone (no, I wasn't the only Mom doing this) and it's not a very good photo because it was so stinkin dark in there! But here is my attempt...



Even though there aren't 200 photos to document it, we had a fun date together! Parker enjoyed the movie (although he had a lot of questions about the plot and all of the car spies) and he got drowsey about half way through because it was so dark...but, after the movie, he was happy...a happy little guy to have spent an evening alone with Mom at the movies! I hope he always enjoys going on "dates" with me!

Flash Back Friday!

Remember those days....those college days. When the only things we had to worry about were going to class, seeing our friends, watching our favorite TV shows, which bar we were going to go to, meeting up with your boyfriend/girlfriend. When our income was so small, we didn't worry about money. When we were responsible for one person only, ourselves, and most of us weren't very responsible. Do you remember worrying about your friends....who liked who...what was the latest gossip?! I remember saying things like, "Did you hear that she made out with that guy at the bar last night...I can't believe it?!" Or, "Let's go to Mall Deli (probably for the 2nd time that day)!"

Those days when we rarely used cell phones...the days when I would walk out to my car after class and find a note from my boyfriend (remember doing this, Brandon?) taped to the windshield telling me to come over to his house after class for pancakes. I didn't know how to text - if it even existed...I didn't use my cell phone all that much.

Sleeping in meant sleeping until noon and summer meant freedom from class and more money from summer jobs!

These were days when I had time to go running, workout at the Y, and go tanning. These were the days where we all thought we were invinsible...young forever...time would never catch up with us.


(This photo was taken at our last Sigma Chi formal together in 2003)

Well....time caught up....and here we are. It's been 8 years since I graduated from college and that seems unimaginable to me! When I was 22 I thought 30 was so far away, but here I am. I knew I would always marry Brandon, but who knew just 8 short years from then, we would have the two sweetest little guys in the world in our lives. Who knew we would ever work for the same organization...be able to drive to work together...work 3 minutes from home...have such a beautiful home and so many blessings.

I've written this post because the other day at work, we were telling our student workers (who are currently Juniors in college) about how we met our husbands. We all had a different story and I started thinking about how much our lives have changed since those college days when we first met. It makes me excited for all of these college kids I've gotten to know in my work and just think that they may go to class tomorrow and meet their future husband and in 8 short years, they will have the life they always dreamed of.

So many memories flood back to me just from looking at this one photo- I hope you have time someday to do the same and find a photo that does this for you!

Happy Flashback Friday!

The First (Official) Day of Summer!

Today is the official first day of summer!! And, although we've been doing "summer" activities for about a month now, today it is official- our crazy summer has begun!!!

And...not only is it the first day of summer, but it is a special day for a few other reasons!!

1. It's Aunt Dani's birthday....and although we didn't get to see her today, Parker wore his KU shirt for her, sent her a video saying "Happy Birthday!", and Parker and Andrew sent her a birthday picture. She is one special girl and these boys love her so much!!

2. Today was also Andrew's 7 month birthday!! Can it be true??? My little baby boy sure has grown a lot this month!! Andrew has perfected sitting up and blowing bubbles with his tongue. He just so happens to be the loudest "talker" in the family (I know this is hard to believe) and he keeps getting sweeter and sweeter everyday! It's true! I think Andrew may be the most happy-go-lucky little guy I've ever known!! I have yet to hear him let out a real cry....and he is always smiling and perfectly content to be playing on his quilt with his favorite toys. We are so blessed with a happy, healthy boy!! My heart is so full of his perfect little smile and his sweet personality!!



3. Parker is a big boy. June 20, 2011 marks Parker's 3 year 9 month birthday...and he has certainly grown up these past few months. Let me just tell you that Parker is the SWEETEST big brother - not a day goes by that Parker doesn't smooch and hug on Andrew and try to make him let out a belly laugh!! He is always trying to help and whenever Andrew starts to get upset, Parker is right there with the silliest face that little guy has ever seen and all of Andrew's sadness melts away. Parker picks up on everything and is constantly amazing us with the things he knows- he'll just blurt something out and we'll stare in amazement!



What a special day today is.....let me tell you that this summer is going to go down in the history books as the craziest summer I've ever had. Our calendar is full and our eyes are wide with excitement with all of the fun things we have planned. From trips to the lake and to Colorado, to summer camp at Grandma's and swimming lessons...this family knows how to enjoy the summer!

30 Things To Do This Summer!!!

Happy Summer, everyone! Whew....what happened to Spring??!! It seems like summer just crept up on us (as most things tend to do these days) and what a crazy summer we have planned! I've decided that, although we have a summer full of fun activities, vacations, camps, swimming lessons, neighborhood parties, and much more, we need to take time to do the fun little projects and activities that we want to do this summer!!

I decided that in order to do this, I needed to make a list....and I had fun thinking of all of the things I knew we wanted to do this summer. So, from catching fire flies to climbing on rocks in Colorado, here is our list of fun things to do this summer!!

(I invite you all to make a list like this...you'll be amazed at how much you'll want to do this summer!!)