Throwback Thursday: Rob Edition

I came across one of Rob's baby albums the other day and I find myself looking at it constantly. I've been wondering what our baby girl will look like .. so I'm trying to piece her together in my brain. I know my family genes are pretty strong.. but so are Rob's so I have no clue! We're fairly sure she'll have BLONDE hair and green eyes! But there is always that small chance of being a ginger with blue eyes! 

We can hardly wait to meet her!

Some of his pictures are SO CUTE and I wanted to share some. Happy Thursday! :)

 
xox
    Riley

24 weeks.

that's SIX MONTHS, people!

Yesterday was the 4 month anniversary of seeing this:

We were... SHOCKED!

 Now we're nearing the end of the lovely 2nd trimester. I'll be sad to see it go, really. I've been feeling so great!

The biggest news this week? Rob can feel her kick/move when she's VERY active... which is always when I am ready to go to sleep. The first time he felt her it freaked him out a little. I mean, he thought it was cool but it just made it a little more real for him.

In fact, it gets a little more real every day. For both of us.

The highlight of the week? We woke up one morning and Rob looked at me and said

"Wow. You're glowing. You're so beautiful"

Did I marry the world's sweetest man, or what? <3


We're almost 2/3 of way there and it feels like time is flying by! In the next few weeks we'll be getting the apartment & nursery in order :) I am for sure showing now but no maternity clothes yet. The weight that I had originally lost in the first 22 weeks is slowly creeping back with the help of the growing baby and the growing appetite.

Cravings: Ranch Dressing

Still on the Ranch kick

Misses: Real Caesar Dressing

It's funny though, I'm really not missing the salad parts of these cravings ;)

In other news, we went home to Ohio for a long weekend for my sister-in-law's bridal shower... which was beautiful! We visited all our families and had a really nice time (and ate a lot of really good food!). We even got to go on our first married double date with friends Jon & Amy (hi, guys!)
Looking forward to another trip up north SOON :)

Rob had this idea and ran with it. I appreciate the flattering angle!
-_-

xox

    Riley

Registering for Rowan

It's no secret I wish I could make a living out of shopping. Seriously, how does one become a secret shopper? Sign me up.

But what's better than shopping?! REGISTERING.

Oooh, yeah! I love it. I am an expert. Not on baby registries - yet - but in my YEARS of being engaged I was pretty prepared for registering for our wedding. Luckily, our work was cut out for us with me just graduating from undergrad and Rob moving down to Virginia to find a nest for us - we really needed everything. Well, most things; We were blessed to have some nice items handed down to us from our families. (thanks, guys!)

I love doing research on customer forums for products and official consumer reports to see what's good and what disappoints.  We usually never buy anything less rating less than 4 stars. Why spend the cash if it ain't gonna last? We still manage our wedding registries whenever we buy off it or think of something else we could use. (Our Bed Bath & Beyond registry is good til our SECOND anniversary! Pottery Barn is good til our first).

Anyways, Target was actually rated the #1 one stop chain store for a baby registry. I know what you're thinking "They have like 4 half-aisles of baby stuff". True. BUT they have WAY more stuff ONLINE. Seriously, I had no idea Target carried Itzy Ritzy... but I am stoked they do! I am always managing our registries online, it's SO convenient. So we registered for most of our baby essentials/needs there.

Our Target Registry

I also came across this thing called BabyList. It is kind of like Pinterest for registries! You can register for things from ANY ONLINE STORE. You can also ask for favors: home cooked meals, diapering service, somebody to walk your dog, and those sorts of things. We used it a lot to register for items from Amazon that were a better deal than Target was offering or didn't offer at all. We also put some cute baby girl items on from Etsy, Land of Nod, Carter's, Ikea, Diapers.com, Bed Bath & Beyond, The Honest Company, and gift cards to our favorite places in case we forgot to register for something important. Highly recommend.

Our BabyList

We'll let you know how these registries worked out!

xox

    Riley

The Way

Have you seen this movie? If you answered "no", you need to login to Netflix and watch it right NOW!

Hats off to Emilio Estevez, seriously. 

Rob and I watched it a few weeks ago per a recommendation. I'm so glad we did! Such a great story about family, perseverance, redemption, God, & life. I won't say too much about it... but I hope you take the time to watch. I think everyone takes a little something different away from it. It's like Eat, Pray, Love in a way... except this movie is good... and not boring and drawn out! ;) 

The Way refers to the Way of Saint James/El Camino de Santiago, a  pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Pilgrims on the Way of St. James walk for weeks or months to visit the city of Santiago de Compostela.

The Way did not help tame my perpetual case of the travel bug! The scenery is SO beautiful! Meg, are you reading this? We should do this! If we can bike 7 hours through French gypsy land and survive, then we can for sure walk this pilgrimage!

Happy Viewing! :)

So get out there, people! It's worth your pennies

xox

    Riley & Rob

23 weeks.

23! 

& I am definitely showing now! I woke up this morning and it was like I popped overnight. Rob and I went on a walk when he came home from work and with wide eyes exclaimed "wow! that is so cute!" and then he stared at my bump the rest of the walk -_- HA! As if I didn't feel a little weirded out already. But it was cute, I have to admit. Here's a little sneak preview... don't mind our messy closet.

When are horizontal stripes going out of style again? I can't wait. And neither can my fellow preggo ladies, I'm sure.

My doctor's appointment went well. I've started going every two weeks now instead of every month. My blood pressure was super, her heart rate was perfect, and things really couldn't be going any better at this point. SO BLESSED. This is the healthiest I've been in my entire life... Thanks, Rowan! I'll do the glucose test at the next appointment.

Cravings: Peanut Butter, Rice Pudding, Goat Cheese & Ranch Dressing

I was a BIG Ranch fan growing up. It was the only dressing I would ever use. I didn't like Italian or any vinaigrette dressings until college and even then I had to force myself because I was trying to expand my palette, eat healthier and more like an adult. Now I love them, but Caesar is my go to. Recently, though, I've been wanting to put Ranch over pretty much everything. Not anything weird, just wanting it all the time. Sometimes I find myself looking for things to eat that go well with Ranch because I have a strong taste for it.

Also, I've been eating PLENTY of goat cheese. We even had grilled tomato & goat cheese sammies for dinner. Delicious.

Misses: Nothing.. this week.

I'm good this week. I had some "non alcoholic" white wine at a Baptism party (the twins'!) and it tasted just like regular! That should tide me over for a little while.

xox

   Riley

Sunday Supper

Okay dinner was so good I had to share. These enchiladas were SO easy and SO yummy!

Real Simple's Image

I found this recipe for Real Simple's Creamy Chicken Enchiladas on Pinterest this morning before leaving for the grocery store. I haven't made enchiladas in a long time so I thought it would be good to mix it up for dinner tonight and try out a new recipe. I especially liked it because I didn't have to deal with any raw meat (yuck!) this time around and we could all use a few extra veggies in our diets. I usually make these, which are GREAT but I am not too keen on handling uncooked chicken these days so I avoid it when possible.

It took Rob and I about 8 minutes to get everything together and about 30 minutes in the oven.  I used mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar and substituted half & half for heavy cream to try and spare a few calories. They did not turn out as creamy as I had anticipated so just go for the heavy cream when you try it out. I also added a little bit of ancho chili powder in the cream sauce for a little heat. These had great flavor, although I will probably add some minced garlic and chopped onion to the filling next time... And there will be a next time!

Enjoy :)

Oh, and we didn't make the red cabbage side dish. No, thank you.

xox

    Riley & Rob

UPDATE: these are WAY yummy the next day :)

BABY GIRL has a NAME

We have decided to announce our baby girl's name to you all!

her name is.....

drum roll, please.... ;)

Pronounced (Row-in) It's an Irish name (technically a surname) that can be used for both men and women; kind of like Riley, where it OBVIOUSLY just sounds more suitable for a girl ;)  

You could call her Rowan, Ro, Wyn, or Rory. or pretty much anything. 

And no, for the record, it had nothing to do with the new Boy Meets World spin off/sequel actress Rowan Blanchard being selected to play Cory and Topanga's daughter 'Riley'. This is annoying. Now it's for sure going to hit the U.S. baby name charts -_- but I guess it was her name first.

WEIRD though, right? Riley/Rowan? WEIRD.

Anyways, I remember the very day I fell in love with this name. I picked out "Rowan" while eating lunch at the "pub" at the mall with my dad in 2007. He was done reading/browsing his Irish Sports Paper so I took a gander. One article I noticed was written by somebody named "Rowan"... and I literally remember stopping and thinking

"if I ever have a daughter that's what I'll name her"

I just thought it was pretty and unique. But not too unique like it was made up or something. Luckily the name has grown on Rob and now he loves it too! Because it is rather unique we balanced it out with a pretty, traditional, classy name: "Frances".

We hope you all like it as well, although it may take some getting use to ;) And yes, it's yet another 'R' name in our family.... but I promise.. the 'R's stop here! 

this was her first piece of mail from Grandma & Grandpa Pummill .. <3

Addressed to Wyn was a BIG box of onesies, sleep and plays, pacifiers, and all kinds of cute baby girl items!
Thanks Dad & Tonya! <3

xox 

         Rob, Riley & Rowan 

Valentine's Day 2013

Happy Valentine's Day, loved ones! 

Today Rob and & I celebrate our 5th Valentine's Day together. FIRST one as a married couple and LAST one just the two of us. We usually just exchange little gifts and go out to dinner. But this time, being our last V Day just the two of us, I wanted it to be extra special.

This year I really wanted Rob to feel the love! Things have been a little mundane lately; we've been in kind of a rut with the cold, windy weather and just hanging around the apartment. We haven't even been eating dinner at the table, we've been out in the living room watching the news like we're 80 years old. Time to break that habit! It's nice not to have to put on a show, but we needed to mix things up!

How was today different? For starters, I wore real clothes! Not leggings and over-sized shirt like most days. I also cooked dinner! I wouldn't really call what we do 'cooking' most days... I call it "putting stuff together'. We get by. haha! I made my first REAL from SCRATCH Chicken Parmesan. I used Tyler Florence's recipe I found online here. I took a shortcut or two but for the most part followed it to the nines. I also wanted to do some kind of nice surprise for him... so I got five balloons representing the 5(ish) years we've been together and put them in our bedroom for him to discover when he came home. I had some extra foam hearts from school and wrote the years on them and put them with the balloons. Then I put his gifts (dark knight rises and some snacks) under the balloons and it looked a little something like this:

 So when he came home I was 1) dressed in real clothes 2) cooking his favorite meal 3) playing Frank Sinatra, one of his favorites 4) He felt the love with his simple surprise!
Do I appear domestic yet? ;) We are a laid back couple so this was a big deal.

Then he gave me the sweetest card, my favorite flowers - yellow roses, & candy! And we ate dinner .. at our table :)

Yum, right?

Then we both got another surprise... A Valentine's care package from Rob's parents! They spoiled us, yet again. Even Baby Girl got a little gift :) Thanks, D & T! <3

Now we're watching The Dark Knight Rises in our jammies because we ate waaayyyy toooo much. But anticipating some chocolate cake a little later on.

It wasn't fancy or overdone... just a nice evening celebrating the years we've spent together and the many years to come :)

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

xox

    Riley

Wedding Pictures!

Remember when I told you about our wedding pictures being recovered? FIVE MONTHS later? 

WE FINALLY HAVE THEM!

& THEY ARE SO SO SO SO SOOOOOO PRETTY!

We cannot thank our photographer, Through Her Looking-Glass Photography, enough! We love our pictures and really appreciate the hard work and support they provided through the ENTIRE process!

Here's a few sneak peeks :)

Here is a link to view all pictures from our special day:

 Our Wedding

More Info on Our Wedding Day: Our Wedding Website

 *** All photos courtesy of Through Her Looking-Glass Photography

XOX

      Riley

22 weeks.

22 weeks! Time is flying by.

I love 22.
Rob proposed when he was 22. At 22 YEARS old, I graduated from my dream school, with my bachelor's degree, got married, moved to a new state with my HUSBAND, started a new job, went back to Ireland, got pregnant, and two very special people to me got engaged!
It's been a whirlwind - the best year of my life this far; But I know
the best is yet to come :)

At 22 WEEKS pregnant, I am honestly feeling the best I've ever felt. My kidney function has been phenomenal, I haven't gained much weight at all, I am really staying hydrated, eating well, keeping busy and I am just so so so happy. I love our quaint, simple, little life here in Virginia... just us three :) It's weird though, I don't really feel "pregnant". But I will say "pregnancy brain" is a real thing.. more on that later.

As for baby, she seems to be doing well, too! She is right on point with her growth and development so far, all measurements from her anatomy ultrasound exam came back normal, my AFP blood work came back normal, and all seems to be going along just fine thus far. We couldn't be more blessed.

I am kind of starting to look pregnant now. And I kind of dig it. I feel like superwoman.
Not digging the idea of a belly pic... just yet.

Cravings: Peanut Butter & Kozy Shack Rice Pudding

We cannot keep the rice pudding in the fridge. I have no idea why I want it so much... I don't think I've ever had rice pudding before I saw it at the store and gave it a try.

Misses: Going out with friends :(

This is just a general miss. I miss dancing, I miss hanging out, I miss shopping with people, I miss my girls!

When you start getting cards like this from people you went to high school with... it becomes more real!
Isn't this cute???

xox

    Riley

Busy Bees

We had another busy weekend! I kind of love busy weekends ... I feel very alive and productive! But, believe me, we still love our lazy weekends too :)

 Saturday we got up early to get our taxes done. It was a processs... but we are looking forward to our refund! Cha Ching! I am so glad we went to somebody who knew what they were doing. He was able to find all kinds of deductions for us! Last year was my first year doing my own taxes and I did it with some turbo-tax online thing the first week of April. I had no idea what I was doing... and it's not even like it was totally complicated.. I just felt so out of my comfort zone. Then we cleaned the whole apartment top to bottom, laundry, dishes, blah blah blah. That night, we got to watch our favorite kids while their mom and dad went out on their Valentine's date. They have a five year old, 3 year old, 20 month old, and identical twin 3 month olds. Grand total of FIVE kids five and under. It's such beautiful chaos. And they're all SO cute!

Rob came to help babysit. This is one of the precious newborn twins!

Sunday we woke up early (again) to help out at the preschool pancake breakfast fundraiser. Rob is such a good sport... they put him right to work flippin' pancakes! They even had him wear a chef's hat (HA!). We then came home, took a rest, and baked six dozen cookies.

SIX DOZEN. Yeah. I wanted to bake cookies and send them out to our Valentines in Ohio & Indiana.. but I think we'll probably just send cards instead because these get reallllly messy. We made Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies and Peanut Butter Blossoms (with hearts instead of kisses). The PB&Js were not as good as I had imagined. But the Blossoms were pretty flippin' good. We used Reese's Hearts for an extra punch of Peanut Butter (can you tell who picked out the recipes? hint: the pregnant lady).

 

Also, I got word today that we will be receiving the rest of our wedding photos within the next 24 hours!

Stay tuned! Can't wait to share them with you :)

xox

    Riley

Long Lost to Finally Found

Our wedding - and engagement - was a little out of the ordinary. We just don't do things like most people. I mean, yes, I wore white, he wore black, our ceremony was in a church, our bridesmaids and groomsmen were uniform blah blah blah. However, we were engaged for *cough* 3.5 years *cough*, we had a very small wedding (85 people), we didn't do the garter or bouquet toss, we didn't have a flower girl or ring bearer, we had our reception in a winery/brewery.. not your typical reception setting, we took our honeymoon two months after our wedding to Scotland and Ireland, I planned it by myself while finishing my fourth year of undergrad, etc. We just wanted to get to married. We are so low key and were just not about the show, or doing things how everyone else does it, or going to a nice warm place for our honeymoon. We're just... different.

So why would the process of getting our wedding pictures be any different?

We got married in July. Then we went through this NIGHTMARE where we lost the better 3/4 of our professional wedding photos to a stupid stupid stupid faulty SD card. Our AMAZING photographer contacted the top three data recovery specialists in the states before telling us the bad news: none of them were able to recover our wedding pictures. The pictures we did receive were beyond gorgeous.. but it was pretty evident that big chunks of our day were missing.

I DID NOT want to give up. I searched online for HOURS about data recovery for SD cards that "die" and computers don't even recognize them, let alone register the data. I found this place in the UK called MjM Data Recovery. This place actually takes your SD card apart and gets the data (images) off the chips themselves. Reluctantly, our photographer sent them to this place thinking she was for sure setting us up for yet another heartbreak. She sent them our card August 31. We checked in a week later, a month later, six weeks later... they didn't receive our SD card.

So, to recap, not only did we deal with the fact that we would probably never see the rest of our wedding pictures.. the ones with our families, bridal party, ceremony, reception, prep before our special day, etc. , but now we had to accept that they were probably lost in space... at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean or something... so even the possibility of seeing them after it all was shot. I ordered prints of the beautiful pictures we did have for us and our families, made a wedding album, and canvas for our bedroom. We accepted that these beautiful photos were the only ones we were getting.

That is, up until 10 days ago when we heard from MjM saying they had finally received our card.. FIVE MONTHS LATER. The parcel had been floating between the US and UK because the postal worker did not label our international package correctly. Unbelievable. On all levels. At this point, I had such little hope in my heart they would be able get photos off it now. Surely, it was damaged beyond repair from FIVE MONTHS of travel. Plus, nobody else was able to get anything off it... so why would these guys?

WRONG AGAIN! They recovered most of the 5,000 pictures that were taken! I was able to see some sneak previews. I had almost forgotten how beautiful our wedding was (if I don't say so myself)! Our photographer will edit them once she receives them and hand them off to us when they are complete. God provides for our little family yet again.

Miraculous Miraculous Miraculous. Will share some when we get 'em! I am a happy girl :)

Here's some we received originally. Can't wait to see the rest!:

Photos courtesy of Through Her Looking-Glass Photography 
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