Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Our first Christmas with Riley was wonderful. Christmas is my favorite time of year and to now have a new baby to share all of the fun, family and traditions just makes this holiday even better.

We were so excited for Riley's reaction on Christmas morning and couldn't wait to bring her downstairs to see the tree with all of the presents underneath. She was really excited about the boxes, bows and wrapping paper...maybe even more so than the actual toys but she did get some fun new stuff.

Her first baby dollRiley and "Bear"After opening presents from Santa and mommy & daddy at home, we went over to the Nelson's for breakfast. Riley had so much fun playing with her Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Nick and was of course spoiled with more gifts.

That afternoon, we headed to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas with Gigi, Popdaddy, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Kelly and the McGuffees.
A girl and her wrapping paper...bliss

We had such a great day and I think that Riley enjoyed every second of her first Christmas!

Christmas Eve

For Riley's 1st Christmas, we started to think of new traditions that we could start as a family around this holiday. This year we decided to go to an early Christmas Eve mass and then downtown to the Brown Palace for dinner at the Ship Tavern. It was so much fun to get dressed up and go downtown as a family.

Before we left for church, Riley got to open her 1st Christmas Eve jammies. This was a tradition in Kris' family that he loved and so it was really important to him to carry that tradition on with Riley.

8 Months Old!

Happy 8 months to Riley! Not only is today her 8 month birthday, but it is also Christmas Eve, which is why I decided it would be appropriate to take her new picture in a slightly more festive location in honor of the day.

Some important things to know about Riley this month:

• She is crawling!!! It's her own special hybrid, but she uses both her arms and legs to get where she wants to go now.



• She says "mama".... I had to work hard to beat Kris to "dada".



• She has 4 teeth now, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom.



• She is still really, really smiley



• She loves Taz (Gigi and Popdady's dog) and Bella . Animals are a recent discovery for her and when she sees them she squeals and waves her arms like crazy.



• She is an excellent tag finder and loves to chew on the really satiny ones



• Christmas lights and Christmas trees take her breath away. She gasps anytime she sees either of these beautiful sights.

While part of me wishes she could stay little forever, I do love to watch her grow. She amazes me everyday with the things that she is learning to do. We just adore her!

Zoo Lights

I love Christmas lights and each year before Christmas Kris and I have made a tradition of going to the Denver zoo for their lighting display appropriately called Zoo Lights. This year we couldn't wait to take Riley, so last night we bundled up Miss R and braved the cold to go and see the lights.

We met our friends Tim and Katy there, so Riley and James got to have their 2nd zoo experience together...this time colder and darker than the 1st, but pretty impressive with the lights. Riley's holiday spirit was a damped a bit by the fact that we woke her up to take her out into the cold, but she cheered up once she saw the lights.

Santa Baby!

This weekend we hosted our first annual Santa party! It was so much fun to have a holiday together with our friends and their festively clad babies complete with a visit from the big guy himself.

Riley and James in their coordinating outfits....so stylish!

While Riley was pretty excited about her first visit with Santa, her friends James and Alec were a little less enthusiastic about Santa and maybe even slightly traumatized by him.

The good news is that they both recovered quickly after Santa made his exit.

Riley and her cousin Isabella all dressed up!

We had so much fun with all of the adorable babies and can't wait to do it again next year!

Riley's First Christmas Tree

I absolutely love Christmas. It is by far and away my favorite time of year and it is made even more special this year with Riley. Our most recent family tradition has been trekking up the hill to Winter Park to find the perfect Christmas tree and we couldn't wait to take Riley on our adventure this year. We had the perfect hat, mittens. little furry snowsuit, red baby sled and then.....blizzard conditions in the mountains. So, we settled for a local nursery instead, but still found the perfect tree for Riley's first Christmas.

Checkin out the snow

Helping Mommy decorate

Riley also got her first peek at outdoor Christmas lights this weekend with on a house that would rival Clark Griswalds. I think she was pretty impressed, she was making these little gasping sounds as she looked around.

Peeking out from the car...we had to get out to get a better look.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a really great 1st Thanksgiving with Riley

Our Turkey Day started off with the 1st annual "Turkey Bowl" at Rainbow park. It was really chilly out that morning so we we bundled Riley up in her new furry suit to go watch the football gameRiley and Aunt Kelly cheering for her Daddy, Uncle Ry and Popdaddy

After the game, we went back to the Galiffa's house to warm up with some really delicious Caplets and Riley got to play with her new friend Grace...they were too busy to look up for the camera.


In an effort to continue our all day feasting, we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the Nelson's this year and were joined by my mom and dad. Even though she is working to expand her repertoire of purees, she's not quite ready for to partake in the all of the yummy Thanksgiving food, but she'll have next year to look forward to some Turkey and pie.

7 Months Old!

Happy 7 months to Riley today!

Notice anything different about our little Miss this month? That's right...she's sitting up all by herself! This has been one of her biggest accomplishments this month and she just loves to show off her balancing skills now... she especially loves when we give her applause.

You may also have noted....

...the absence of our usually present month sign which as you can see was way to enticing to leave sitting there for our picture.

Aside from the occasional paper she tries to scarf down, Riley started eating solud foods this month and learning to eat has been quite the adventure. Fun...but messy most of the time. She has proven herself to be a young foodie and so far likes just about everything I've made for her including mashed avocado.

While she has not uttered her first words just yet, Riley is still quite the conversationalist and loves to chat with me all day. Her vocubulary has recently expanded to include "ba ba ba" and "pa pa pa". Riley is working on waving and loves to flap her arms up and down in excitement when she sees her own reflection in the mirror. ..too cute! Except for being able to roll just about anywhere she wants to go, she is still fairly stationary which both Kris and I are savoring because we know it won't be for too much longer. It is amazing that our little one is becoming so independent, but we love how she can interact and play with us.

Riley's Baptism and Happy 60th Birthday Gigi!

This weekend we celebrated to big events....Riley's Christening and also Gigi's 60th Birthday!

We were lucky to have alot of our family from Oklahoma here for the weekend and we had everyone over to our house for a little pre-baptism lunch.

After lunch we all headed for Spirit of Christ for the baptism...here is little Miss getting dressed in her gown at the church

Father Stephen performed the baptism and Riley's godparents are her uncle Ryan and my cousin Cydney.


The Francis Fam
Sooo tired....she was perfect throughout the ceremony. She didn't even cry when the priest poured the water on head.

After the baptism, we changed into our western wear and headed off to the Grizzly Rose to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday. The hit of the night was the mechanical bull and we even got Riley on for a picture with her Gigi.
Ride 'em Cowgirl!