Thanksgiving and Riley's baptism

It has been another very eventful week for Riley. She celebrated her first Thanksgiving surrounded by tons of family. Both my family and Pam's family went to my parents house here in Wichita for an afternoon dinner. She had tons of visitors on top of family, with all the neighbors stopping by to see the little miracle baby they have heard so much about. It was great to be able to show her off, and she handled all the attention really well.

Today we (finally) had Riley's Baptism. We would have like to have done it sooner, but for obvious reasons it took awhile to get around to it. My younger brother and sister, Michael and Jill, are now officially her Godparents. Thank you to everyone who were able to attend and help celebrate the occasion. Despite having tons of visitors and all kinds of attention, she did very well. One of the gifts we received was from Pam's mom and sister - a professionally bound book with photos and excerpts from this blog! It is really neat, and helps tell Riley's story and documents her amazing journey. Very touching...

Pam and Riley did pretty well without me during my trip to St. Louis the week before last. 4 days alone with each other, I figured Pam would have gone insane but managed to hold it together. Next week starts a new chapter in our attempt to return to life as normal, as Pam is going to return to work a few days a week. My mom has graciously offered to come over on Mon/Wed/Fri to watch Riley so Pam can phase herself back in at McCurdy.

Rainbows hasn't been out in a few weeks to work with her, as the therapist was sick the week before last and then the holiday created another week off. This coming week she'll have them out here, along with an appointment to see the pediatrician and get her 6 month shots. She has been progressing well, but feedings have become a bigger pain - she isn't fussing near as much but even though she is "sucking", she still barely manages to get 3 oz. down in 30-45 minutes. She has also started to throw up a lot more - usually a few times a day. Given that I had a hiatal hernia as an infant, and threw up just about every feeding, this is de-ja-vu for my mom! Hopefully the speech therapist and/or pediatrician will be able to help with this, since her weight gain has slowed down quite a bit. She has started to roll a little bit more, and is smiling a lot. It is very rewarding when playing and talking with her to get a little smirk or grin - but we've already figured out it is nearly impossible to catch it with the camera! Have been lucky to catch a few, but none of the "really good" ones.

Friday was Pam's 28th birthday, so we finally got her out on the town for the first time in awhile. She even had a few "adult beverages" - her first since before last Christmas! Pam's mom and sister babysat Riley so we could get out of the house and we are very grateful, Pam really enjoyed getting out for a bit.

This Wednesday (Dec 2nd), Riley will be 6 months old. We are parents of a 6 month old. Riley is halfway to 1 year old. How is this possible? Has it really been that long? In a few weeks, it will be a year since we got pregnant. Wow, life has really changed in the last 12 months. We have grown so much as people, as a couple, and as a family. And we have the gray hairs to prove it, haha!

Here's a few pictures from Thanksgiving and Baptism...check out more at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7231&id=100000166685595&l=343eb9eba1

All smiles lately! She's learned Mommy and Daddy's voices and lights up when she hears them.

Me and Riley with her cousins Landon and Makena at Thanksgiving...all 3 Skach grandkids!

Getting baptized by Fr. Orr

So cute in her baptism dress. She did real well and didn't cry at all!

Godparents Michael and Jill with Riley at Baptism.

With my parents and Pam's mom at the Baptism.