I Didn't Know I Could Fall in Love 3xs

Here is Giles. Weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz and 21.5 inches long. He was born on May 14th. He is such a sweet baby! I seriously never knew that I could fall inlove 3xs. Here are just a few pictures of the loves of my life, taken by my amazing photographer of a Mother Michelle Renae Photography. Thanks so much Mom! You always do such a great job!

Valentines Day Activities

This year I wanted to make Valentines Day even more special for Riley. So, I decided to buy these cute mailboxes from the $1 section at Target and decorate them. Then I planned activities to do with Riley starting on February 1st until Valentines Day. They aren't crazy or expensive things just things that we can do together. Here are some pictures. I wrote all the activities out on their own piece of paper and envelope and labeled each envelope with the date. I think she'll like it.

Riley turning into a BIG girl

So, I haven't updated in FOREVER. We went to Utah for Christmas and then when we got home it was time to get rid of Riley's binkie! She LOVED it, so much that she asked for it EVERY TIME we got in the car, and HAD to have it to sleep. I was determined to bite the bullet or binkie in this case. I did it COLD TURKEY, I got all of the binkies and washed them and put them away. I won't lie it was hard and there were some nights with not much sleep...but she's binkie free! It took 3 days for her to get to the point where she was sleeping regularly again. Here is a picture of her with it before we tossed it!


After we were rid of the binkie it was time to start thinking about potty training. So for 2 weeks we were getting the necessary things we needed before we could officially start. We went with Riley to get a small potty, we let her pick out "BIG GIRL PANTIES," and I bought a bunch of stickers, candy, popsicles, funk food as rewards. And wouldn't you know it that girl wanted the stickers the most and wanted to see the pictures I took of her as rewards! haha she is so narcissistic!

Just like the binkie, it was hard in the beginning. Her biggest problem was that she didn't know when she was about to pee, she would just do it. So, the first day was constanstly changing her underwear and cleaning up pee puddles :0) The second day she started to realize that she was about to pee but couldnt make it to the potty quick enough so she'd pee some in her pants and some on the potty. The THIRD day she was telling me she had to pee and holding it when we went out shopping and peeing when we got home!!!! And TODAY the FOURTH day she told me that she had to poop and she went into the bathroom and sat there for a little while. I went to check on her asked her if she was done she said no, so I left and then she came out saying "YUCK! YUCK! Get it Mom, Get it! It's STINKY!" I couldnt BELIEVE it!!!! She had really pooped. Before she would hold it until nap-time or bedtime so she could do it in the diaper! This was A HUGE accomplishment and we did a dance, I told her she was awesome. We took a picture and she was so proud of herself. So, we are so pleased with her and hope she keeps up the good work!

Baby Gross' Sex Revealed

So, Wednesday we had the ultrasound done to determine the sex of baby Gross. Like I did with Riley, I drank a Coke before the appointment because I have heard of people who couldn't tell what the sex was because the baby was asleep. So, with Riley I drank a Mtn. Dew, with this baby I drank a Coke. Well, we were in that ultrasound appointment for OVER an hour because Baby Gross just wanted to dance! We didn't get the money shot until the very end of the appointment. I even went to talk to the doctor then went back into the ultrasound room to have it done again! The technician then said what she thought the sex of the baby was, but after looking at it for so long she told me to come back tomorrow and they would look again to be 100% sure of the sex! So, I went back and it was great! They confirmed what the first ultrasound technician said it was and I got some 4D pictures of this sweet baby and didn't even have to pay for them! (since I had to come back). James thinks all ultrasound pictures are creepy and I am just amazed! But anyways, ITS A BOY! And he's healthy and everything looks good!

His name will be: Giles Hazen Gross

Explanation behind the name we chose: Giles is my Maiden name for those who have only known me as Gross. Hazen is James' brother's middle name and Grandpa's Mom's Maiden name (did you catch all that?) But I really just like the name Hazen. So, that is his name and James and I love it and love that we will now have both girl and boy. Riley is SUPER excited to be a Big Sister and have a little brother. That's what she tells us now, but we'll see when Giles gets here!

Big Girl = Big Bed

Monday night James and I were watching tv and I started to hear some strange noises so James hit mute. We both looked at each other and were like "I guess Riley is jumping in her crib." Oh well, she's not yelling for us and it's 10:30 she can stay in her room. Not 2 minutes later I hear clear as day "Mom!" I looked at James startled and said "Is she in the hallway?" Sure enough we was walking down the stairs. She had learned how to climb out of her crib and come downstairs. So James put up the baby gate upstairs again and she climbed out a total of 3xs that night.

So, needless to say she is in a bed now and has childproof handles on her side of the door. We already had this bed in one of the guest rooms that the baby will be in so we just switched the crib for the bed. It's a big bed for a little girl but she slept all night in it last night. Hopefully she keeps that up! We did have to rearrange her whole room though so that we could have the bed up against a wall for her head! But all in all she seemed pretty excited about it.

Girl Time

I have to admit that I love doing girlie things with Riley. We like to paint our toes and fingers together, we like to put on our makeup together (mine is for real, hers not so much, mostly a big powder brush and an old powder case), we like to have tub time...her in the tub me in the shower. I will spare you, there aren't any pictures of me in the shower :0)

It is true that I have been training her to be a girlie girl since before she could talk, she had a binkie purse as a baby that she wore. But I have also been training her to be a tom-girl for her later years because I want a girl that plays sports and I don't consider Cheerleading a sport...gasp...I REALLY did just say that!

Here are some random pictures of Riley also. She loves hanging out in James' Mustang she'll just sit in the garage in the car with her dolls and play for an hour. We literally have to drag her out of the car. She likes to play hide-go-seek. Can you find her in the one picture :0) Her most recent thing is her saying "Come play with me!" It is so cute and sad when you can't cause you HAVE to do laundry.

There is a picture of all the things that Riley loves to play with in the tub and I HIGHLY recommend all of those products if your child doesn't want to get in the tub. Now, Riley loves the tub and I think the paint and crayons helped in teaching her colors (she's known those for a while, but when we were teaching her colors).

And an update about Baby #2, we find out what we're having in 16 days but who's counting? We want to find out before Christmas so that we can tell James family in person. Yes, I am going to copy the Duggars and do a cake to tell what the sex is. It will be pink or blue inside. Because that's how we are going to tell everyone I will post the picture on the blog after we cut the cake :0) Should be a lot of fun.

Ward Trunk-or-Treat

James taking Riley to all the different trunks.
A family picture :0)
Riley with her friends, Myah and Greyson. Kristy's Mom made those adorable outfits!
Myah and Riley
Eva and Riley
Eva and Riley again :0)
Riley and James getting ready to go to the ward party.

We had our Ward Trunk-or-Treat tonight and Riley had so much fun! She was a cow and even kept her hood on! By the end of the night she was dragging her pumpkin along the ground cause it was so full. She would say "Moo, Trick or Treat, and Thank you." She was super cute and enjoyed running around playing with her friends.