Before & After!

Riley has been making great progress with her PT. Being able to have full range of motion in her neck muscles has let her to easily lie on the other side of her head, which in turn helps her head to not be so flat on one side!

Just look at these before & after shots; when I began using the Infant Head Bed Pillows, and just this night: (Hint: You're looking at the flatness of her head on your left hand side in the first photo)

Sept. 2nd

Sept. 29

And there's more good news! Riley's PT just decided that she's ready to cut back to every 2 weeks for PT appts! If she continues to do well for another month or so, she thinks Riley's ready to be discharged! She's noticed that her head is getting better as well and thinks we may have escaped having to get her a helmet! I sure hope so!

Riley Kate is 3 Months Old!

Riley Kate turned 3 months old on the 20th, and she is determined to prove it! Very active, she is always kicking, scooting, grabbing things, talking, and making faces now! She is so much fun! She now weighs 12 lbs 14 oz, and is 24 in long! She has nearly doubled her birth weight, still growing like a weed!


Her favorite new toys are her fingers. She loves to suck on them and sometimes tries to stick her whole fist in her mouth! She also loves her rattle, which she tries to stick in her mouth as well! She just opens up as wide as she can, brings it to her lips, shakes her head back and forth (as if that’s going to help! Ha!) and then closes, just before she opens up to try again!! It is SO funny!

Her neck is getting stronger and stronger; she is now holding her head up own her own, and is able to lift it 90 degrees during tummy time for a few seconds. But, she still has a hard time holding it up on her own for extended periods of time as her weaker neck muscle gets tired. She does what I call the “torticollis tilt,” where her head is slightly tilted to one side and slumped forward, in an effort to put less weight on the weak neck muscle.


Also, the shape of her head is improving greatly! Her plagiocephaly is almost unnoticeable! I would definitely recommend the “Infant Head Bed” pillows I blogged about earlier. They have been great!!

One thing we’ve noticed is that she really enjoys watching TV. She doesn’t really like to turn her head to the side that isn’t flat for very long, but will hold it there for 30 minutes to watch the TV! I’m going to have to start playing the baby Einstein tapes…

Chubby cheeks, blue eyes, and a big smile… that’s our little Riley in a nutshell! :-)

Kodak Moments

It isn’t always easy being gone from your family, especially when your little one changes so much when you’re away. We finally learned that Ryan is going to be going back to Montana now, still on the 8-on, 6-off schedule. But, he does the best he can, and spends as much time as possible with Riley and me when he’s home.

I wake up each morning, usually around 4:30 AM and feed Riley. Afterwards, I have to get up and get ready for work, and sometimes I just leave Riley laying on my side of the bed. One morning last week, I came back into my bedroom and found Ryan holding her, both of them sleeping. I gasped, stared for a moment at this amazing picture, and finally ran to get my camera.


Excuse the grainy image, but I didn’t want to use the flash and disturb them!

Perry Parade and Cowgirl Cutie

I just love small town parades; the floats, the marching bands, the shriners driving around the miniature cars, old farmers driving the antique tractors, and the little kids running to get candy in the streets.

I remember the Medford parades, there were usually two each year, both at Homecoming and the fall festival, Medford’s "Fun Fest." This was Riley’s very first parade, and of course she won't remember it, but I still think she had a good time! She definitely was stimulated by the marching bands, I had to run into the dollar general store twice to change her diaper!

I loved watching my two nieces, they are so cute and remind me of how excited I used to be. Libby is just "in the moment" in this video, shaking her leg to the beat of the marching band!

Kinsey twirled in the parade, and she did a great job! She looked just adorable in her uniform!

I was so disappointed that I didn’t get an action shot, there was a lady by her that kept getting in the way and by the time she moved, they were already past us! She is such a good cousin to Riley, always playing with her and giving her lots of love!

After the parade, and after the street sweeper picked up the horse poop, (thank goodness!) we walked over to the area where all of the food vendors were set up.

They had such good food there, Indian tacos, brats, corn on-the-cob, and roasted pecans! I got a corn on the cob, hot off the grill! It was so good! They just pulled back the husk, wrapped a paper towel around the bottom, dipped it in butter, and handed it to you! YUM. It doesn’t get any better than that.

We walked around and visited the booths, I bought a few headbands, and the kids jumped on some of the large blow-up play areas.

Pretty fun day.

It wasn’t too long that Riley and I were both hungry again, so I headed back home so I could have a nice, clean place to feed her. The one thing about breastfeeding that I would change is being able to feed her anytime, anyplace. I know I can breastfeed in public, but when the public you’re in is hot, sticky, and FULL of people, it just isn’t very convenient and worth the hassle. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

When we got back home, I fed her, she fell asleep, and wouldn't you know it, I got motivated to make some bows. I really wanted to make her an OSU bow to go with her uniform. I was pretty happy with how it turned out!!

What a cutie!

Pa and Grammie came by to visit us later that afternoon. Riley just loves being with them, they give her so much love and attention!

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

We're two out of three in this next video! Still working on the rolling stuff, but she's definitely got the shake and rattle down! I just love watching her! She is so active and happy when she's moving around!

We went out to run some errands today... Got some groceries at Walmart, dropped off a donation at Goodwill, and filled up Dad's truck. Don't worry Ryan, I didn't forget to use the green pump! Riley slept for most of the trip. Such a good baby. Anyway, when I came out of Goodwill, I walked past a store called Murphy's, and it had the cutest display window, and I gave in!

I knew a little shop like this just had to have a baby section, and sure enough, it did! Look what I FINALLY found!

Go Pokes!

We're not going to the game tomorrow or anything, but Riley will be supporting the pokes in her new uniform! I need to teach her how to hold her hands like pistols!

Actually, tomorrow we're spending the morning in Perry with Grandma Maxie, Aunt Amber and Aunt Shawnda, and cousins Kelton, Liberty, and Kinsey. Perry has an annual parade, carnival, and various activities. It's actually a pretty good parade and is a good time! I will post the pictures sometime this weekend!

Riley and Mommy are sure anxious for Daddy to come home! Ryan gets back Sunday night from Montana. The scheduler was unable to find a flight out of Wyoming, so they are driving to Montana then flying out around 2 PM on a small, 19-passenger prop plane, landing in another airport in Montana, then flying to Denver, waiting around three hours for their next flight, then finally making it back to OKC around 10:30 PM, where Riley and I'll be waiting to pick him up! Needless to say, I told my boss NOT to expect me bright and early Monday morning! I'll probably cruise in around 10 AM... Ha!

Apparently, they have finished the crossing they were working on in Wyoming. I'm not sure where Ryan's gang will be going to next. It's possible they will be going to California though!

Good Grief! :-( Might as be shipped off to Timbuktu!

I "Dood" It!

This was one of my favorite phrases when I was a little girl. I can already tell Riley is going to be little miss independent as well! She is getting smarter and stronger every day - our little mover and shaker! Only 12 weeks old and she is grabbing toys and lifting up her head like a pro!

Labor Day Weekend!

It has been over a week since my last post and yes, I am having blogging withdrawals! Much has happened in the last 1 1/2 weeks! I'll start with Labor Day weekend. Ryan was unfortunately still working in Wyoming, so Riley and I went to the lake and visited "Pa and Grammie," a.k.a. my mom and dad. My Uncle Gary, his daughter Kelsey and her husband Kyle, and my Uncle Kent and Aunt Teresa were all there as well. We always have a great time at the lake. Whether we go out on the water or just hang out, as long as there's family and friends (and maybe some beer!), you will always have a good time.

I tried sleeping by myself in our camper with Riley this time. I'm not the biggest fan of air matresses, and I wanted to sleep on an actual bed, so here was our setup! It was sort of weird to have a pack and play in the middle of the camper.... very different from the 30 packs that used to sit there!

We got there Friday evening, stayed the night in the camper with no problems :-), and Saturday morning, Grammie and I went to Ponca City to go to Walmart and I got a pedicure. I always have such a good time with my mom. She is just great with Riley and puts up with me too!

When we got back, Pa and Grammie headed out to the lake. Riley and I stayed behind, just walking around the shed and playing in her bouncy chair. She just loved looking up at all the trees and new surroundings!

Later that evening, everyone returned from a * hard day * at the lake, dehydrated and hungry! We made some BBQ chicken breast, grilled potatoes, and green beans. Riley just loved all of the attention! Here she is with my cousin Kelsey!

Here she is again with our friend Cory!

One new thing Riley just LOVES is to stick her whole fist into her mouth! She has finally found her hand and fingers and doesn't know how she ever got by without them!

We're a pretty rowdy group. A little fun never hurt anyone, right? Here's my cousin Kelsey getting some water jug margaritas, courtesy of her loving daddy!

Even though we were all being pretty loud, Riley fell asleep in my arms and I knew it was time to go to bed for the night!

Mommy Cam

I have found that I like taking video of Riley with my digital camera. Here are some recent clips!

Squirmy Worm!

Riley's Bumbo Seat!

Here's also a few still photos of Riley in her bumbo seat!

Hot Off The Grill

This is where Ryan took me for Valentine's day earlier this year when I was still pregnant with Riley. We waited nearly an hour and a half, but it was easily one of the best suppers I've ever had eating out. I had a house salad, 10 oz. steak & baked potato, homemade roll, and blackberry cobbler! OMG, it was sooo good!

The restaurant was pretty unique also. See http://www.lucillesok.com/photos.html for some pics. On V-day, there was a guitar player singing old country songs and taking requests. He must've had a binder of sheet music that was 7 inches thick!! I requested "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams. He even sang it with a good *country* accent... it was so funny!

Unfortunately, there was a thunderstorm very early this morning that came through this area… a lightning strike hit Lucille’s restaurant and it caught fire.

I guess the restaurant sustained quite a bit of damage.

The firefighters focused more on the building to the south, which was primarily the bar portion of the restaurant and a historical monument.

This is pretty bad luck for the town of Mulhall, which was destroyed by a half-mile wide tornado on May 3, 1999 (the widest tornado ever on record).

Unless you live here, there's really not much of a reason to come here anymore... Too bad, this was a really good steakhouse!

Sleeping Beauty

I got home from work today, met Great-Granna playing on the floor with Riley, and after Great-Granna headed home, found out that Riley was T-I-R-E-D! Ha! After a few screams, I finally realized what the problem was. She was alseep before I even finished swaddling her! She looked so peaceful lying there on the floor, I had to get a picture!

Making PT Improvements

Riley has been getting better and better each week with her stretches. She's now turning and looking to the right on her own, both while on her back, sitting upright, and when she's lifting up off her tummy. I think the knot in her neck is also slowing dissolving. It just feels smaller and not so hard.

Today, Great-Granna took Riley to PT for me, and Cadance, Riley's physical therapist, was so impressed! She thinks that Riley has made enough progress that we only have to meet once a week now! We still have to keep up the routine and stretch frequently, but apparently, we're doing something right! Good thing, because we DON'T want Riley to undergo surgery!

Now, we're just trying to work out the flat spots in her head....

I've ordered some new pillows that are supposed to be good for positioning babies with torticollis and resulting plagiocephaly. It's called the "Infant Head Bed."

I have found that placing her on a contoured memory foam pillow during naps helps hold her head in the right position, but I need a better solution for sleeping at night, since I won't be able to check on her to make sure she doesn't roll off of it! Anyway, we're going to give these a try and see if they help!

Come One, Come All!

It was a full house at the Skaggs' last Friday and Saturday! Thanks to the help of family and friends, we now have a new roof over our heads! With a little food and free beer, we were able to round up some good help! My cousin, Matt, does roofing on the side, so he came out and helped us so we would get it done right!

It was beautiful weather, about 80 degrees or so and light wind. The *manly men* sure worked long and hard! My Uncle Kent worked his tail off, and still managed to smile for the camera!

On Friday, they stripped the roof, laid down new paper, and even got started on installing the new shingles. I believe they worked from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM that day. I think Ryan said it well when he crashed on the bed and said, "I just don't want to move..." My dad was pretty wore out the next day also.

They finished it all the next day around 4:30 PM. They really did a great job too!

The food was fantastic. On Friday we ordered pizzas and grilled hamburgers. But, on Saturday, we had spiral cut ham, company potatoes, green beans, macaroni salad, pasta salad, french bread, cherry cobbler, angel food cake and strawberries, brownies, lemon bars, rice krispies..... yummm!! It was quite a feast! Thanks to all the ladies who brought dishes to help feed everyone!

Of course, while the men were working, the women were.... SHOPPING! Okay, *I* was shopping! As a "good job" present to myself for carrying Riley for 9 months and having a natural birth (my attempt to justify my purchases), I got 6 new tops, 3 pairs of shoes, a necklace and bracelet, and a pair of jeans! Needless to say I will not be buying clothes again for a while! Until it gets cold anyway.... ha!

I also got a few things for Miss Riley. I have seen these caps everywhere on little girls, and thought they were the most darling caps!! I had to have one! Isn't she adorable?

I also got her a few more sleep 'n play outfits that were 6 months and 9 months sizes. They are so handy because I can let her sleep in them all night and then just put her in her car seat and drop her off at Tammy's and not have to change her in the morning before I leave the house! If only they didn't have so MANY SNAPS!

While they were helping us with the new roof, my mom and dad stayed with us at Casa de Skaggs. Riley loved the attention from both Grandpa and Grandma.

On Sunday, we loaded up in Daddy's truck and headed to Medford to dump the shingles and go to my cousin Amanda's baby shower. I duded up in my new clothes, put Riley in a cute jumper and headband, packed up all her stuff and off we go! A 3/4 ton pickup pulling a loaded down trailer is sure a bumpy ride! Riley still slept through most of it though!

We arrived at the shower a little late, but got to see Amanda open most of her presents. She got a lot of nice things! Our family always gives us nice showers and are so helpful! She is doing so well with her pregnancy- still running 5 miles/day! As you can tell, she looks great!

And as always, Grandma and Grandpa had fun showing off their little baby granddaughter!