The Life of Riley

11 months have gone by since the day we held baby Malakai in our arms for the first time! I will never forget looking in his eyes and thinking that at that exact moment my world was changed.  Nothing prepares you for having a child, I do not care who you are, you can read all the books you want, listen to all the advice you can handle, and play with as many babies as you can get your hands on... but when it comes down to it, it's a whole new world! And a good world at that- but challenging at times.  We have been nothing but blessed with this angel of God.  Watching him grow is so fun! Like all parents tell you, "The time really flies".  I just started a class at my church this week called "Navigating Motherhood".  It focuses on young mother's with newborns-kindergarten.  Today the speaker talked about using each day as an opportunity to teach our children.  This really spoke to me because there are days that I am tired, worn out and just unen...

Exciting news in the Riley world... we bought our first home!! After a year and some months of searching, researching, praying and waiting (as patiently as we could) we found the perfect home for our trio! We originally went into this process thinking we really wanted to live in Ladera Ranch, which is a great neighborhood with a lot of young children and families etc. But the Mellaroo's and the outrageous HOA's turned our eyes a little north to the wonderful city of Mission Viejo. We found a great house! Here are the stats: *3 beds, 2 baths *1600 square feet *Master bedroom bonus retreat (we LOVE this!) *Big backyard- with concrete and grass, leaves us lots of room for a garden or a play set or a pool! *Awesome park at one end of street with a sports field, playground and half basketball court and at the other end of the street a huge green belt! Kai will be in his glory here! We have big plans for our home... *Chad's plans: -Backyard- he wants a garden and he wants to buil...