St. Andrews State Park

Randy and I went to Marianna, FL to visit his relatives for the weekend (Feb 18-20). It certainly wasn't a "restful" weekend but it was a good one. And Randy really needed to get away for a while. I cant post all the pictures here but i have many of them on Facebook if you have access to view my account. I will share a few pictures here though.

We went golfing at the local golf course Saturday morning.

And hit the beach on Sunday. This was Riley's first beach trip (outside the womb). :)



Full time jobs

My poor husband has been working awful hours. He works seven days a week and most are 12-16 hours a day. I certainly don't get to spend as much time with him as i'd like. And he don't get to spend much time with Riley. And for the next 3 weeks he's having to work night shift which is something that I will never get use to. I prefer sleeping with my husband at night and not in an empty bed. Praying its only for 3 weeks. I complain a lot about my job.....stay at home mom, but his job is more worthy of complaint.

It's very hard caring for a baby 24/7 with very little break or time for myself. Even as i type this, i'm constantly picking up the toy riley keeps throwing down and crying about. I have learned more about multi-tasking and making ugly faces than anything else. Randy's job is different. He works long hours and seldom has time for himself, and his job doesn't include the love of his son. I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate what he does as a husband and provider. His job is hard but it is allowing me to be a stay at home mom for a little while. I really don't think i would be able to devote as much time to Riley, Randy, the house and other projects if i had a job away from home. I never thought i would be ok being at home all the time without a regular job, but I enjoy being able to devote myself to my son and my husband. I get frustrated sometimes but i wouldn't trade my slouchy dress, no making wearing, no jewelry wearing, getting up at 5am just to get a shower before the baby wakes up, no free time, no clean house, and formula smelling body for any money paying job. Thank you for all you do Randy! Riley and I love you very much!

Valentine's Day

Well, Valentine's Day is coming up. Randy and i have decided not to buy each other anything this year but we will try to go out to eat. We usually go to the church which hosts a banquet but my mom has to work and we usually go with them. It's actually a really nice banquet, they do a great job. Randy has been working so much overtime these days that he may have to take off work just to go out to eat. I'm glad they have work but good grief.....16hrs a day 7 days a week is hard on a family with a 7mo old....and he's salary so no extra pay. Not to mention i miss my hubby and Riley misses his daddy. I believe we'll try to get a baby sitter for Valentine's Day instead of taking Riley with us to eat. Mom and dad need some alone time. And mommy desparately needs some ADULT time and conversation.

On another note, i have started advertising my photography business. I'm very excited about it. Its new and i know it will take time to drum up business but i love to practice. I just cant wait to get my own building/studio so i dont have to take over the living room. Check me out on Facebook (Amy Love's Photography) and i also have a business website now http://amylovesphotography.smugmug.com/

Riley wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day in case we dont post anything else before then.

Riley's Cup

Riley is already a flirt! He had all the waitresses at our table entertaining them with his cute chubbiness and his desire to laugh and talk to them. He's just like his daddy and granddaddy! One waitress let him have an empty cup because he kept reaching for mine, which was full. They even let us take the cup home because he liked the cup so much.  On a positive note....he knew exactly how to drink out of the cup and didn't miss a beat. You would have thought he had been using a cup for a while. Think its time for a sippy cup! Not to mention when its not crowded i have baby sitters when we go eat which gives Randy and I time to eat.

I don't blame them. Look how cute he was!

                                                                   Hey Daddy!!

Sitting Up

Riley is a week away from being 7 months old and he's doing much better with his sitting up. He can situp a few minutes before he moves and topples over. Of course he's usually trying to take off his socks the reason he topples over. :)

New Adventure

As most of you know, I got laid off from my job in July 2010. After much thought, i've decided that now would be a good time to persue my passion for photgraphy. I've had a camera in my hand since i was a little girl. And i have long since wanted to be a photographer. But i have never been in a situation to where i could venture out and try my hand at it. I bought my studio lighting and screens back in October 2010 along with some software. I couldn't advertise it because i was making portraits for my parents and Randy's parents who had no idea i was looking to start my own business. Currently i have to use my living room as a studio, but if all goes well I hope to buy a decent size metal building to do my photography in. Randy said he would help me fix it up for a studio.....but he has been working awful long hours and working 7 days a week so i'm not sure how much help he will be. We're having to wait on our income tax though. And praying it will be enough to get the things we need. I told Randy if my photography venture didn't pan out then we could use the building for extra storage or a game room. :)

I'm in the process of creating a website to be used to view and purchase pictures. When i am done i'll post the link here. As usual, i'll keep you posted on our progress. And in the mean time, you can be thinking of the type of pictures you want to have made. :) 

Riley's First Allergic Reaction

Riley got sick a week ago and was given Amoxicillin and a cough medicine. Eight days into his medicine he started breaking out (Tuesday). Took him to the doctor Tuesday and come to find out he's allergic to Amoxicillin like his mom and papaw. The doctor gave him more meds and today (Wednesday) he looks MUCH better and that's only after 1 day of taking the meds. Thank goodness!

This was Tuesday before the doctor

Luckily the doctor informed us that it would get worse before it got better. Here are some pictures from last night (would've been at ER if the doc hadn't told us it would get worse before better).