Weekend in Denver

Last weekend we trekked across the courtly for a massive Rigg gathering to celebrate Taber's nephew getting married. We really wanted to be there to see all of our relatives and especially to spend time with Taber's Dad who has had a rough last few months between chemo and his broken ribs. We left the girls back in NH with some really good friends and brought Cam along to show him off to all the Rigg clan that hadn't met him yet. 

 It's been a month since the horseback riding accident and Papa Rigg was up and about and looking really good despite all that he's been through.  Cam was happy to get some good snuggles in with his Grandpa.

Taber's brother Brett and his wife CJ flew in from Arizona and brought their youngest son, Rockwell, who is just 3 months older than Cam. It was fun to see the two little Rigg boys together. (please excuse Cam for showing off his "abs" in this pic. Sometimes he gets a little cocky ; )

Brett was a total blondie when he was a baby so Rockewell looks like a mini Brett and Cam is a mini Taber (with his mama's Asian eyes ; )

 I have a feeling these two are going to grow up to be the best of buds : )

While the boys were bonding, my Rigg sisters and I went off for some pedicure pampering. Doesn't get much better than pedi's with the girls!

 That night the rest of the Rigg relatives starting coming in from Utah and California and Alaska. We all met up for some Mexican food and had a great time catching up.

It's a long and often pricey trip to get out West but always worth it once we're with all the fam. Love my Rigg family so much and couldn't ask to be part of cooler group of people : )

Eric and Ashley's wedding

The reason for the great Rigg gathering was to see handsome Eric Rigg marry his lovely bride, Ashley. They were married in the Denver Temple and it was a beautiful ceremony. Eric was just a cute little 12 year old kid when Taber and I got married so it's definitely a trip to see him all grown up and married himself! Time definitely flies!

We took a ton of pics (of course, because we're Taber and Becca) but here are few of my favs from the wedding day. Again, it was just so nice to be there with all the family. The Riggs are seriously the funnest  people to be around and really know how to have a good time : )

The happy newlyweds coming out of the temple

Taber and his gorgeous mama

 Me and Papa Rigg 

 Cam meeting some of his gorgeous cousins, the Walton girls and Stephanie Rigg

Stephanie married our nephew Devin last year and I finally got to meet her for the first time in person! She is as cute and sweet in real life as she is in all her pictures : )

Taber, Regan, Brett and the littlest Rigg boys

 This was the first time that Regan met Cam and I think it was mutual love at first sight : )

 Family family family!

 After the temple we had a nice lunch back at the hotel, took a fat nap and then headed over to the reception. I get a little sentimental at weddings and definitely shed a few tears watching the couple take their first dance, listening to the toast from the best man and watching Ashley dance with her Dad. It gave me the realization that someday that will be Teya dancing in a white dress with her Daddy and I know I'll be a blubbering bawl baby when that happens!!

 I took a break from the festivities to help the groomsmen decorate the car. 

One more trip to the chocolate fountain and then we sent the happy couple on their way and wrapped up the evening. 

Congrats Eric and Ashley! Married life rules!

Good little travel baby

My friend recently posted about flying with her child and said something to the effect of, "if your kid is good on the plane, everyone instantly thinks you're the most amazing parent."

And I would have to add that if your kid is bad on the plane, everyone thinks you're a lousy parent who probably needs a nanny 911 intervention.

I have been on both sides of the coin.

Bad parent: Teya screaming her head off on a red eye flight back from Alaska for 45 minutes while everyone around us was trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep. 

 

 Good parent: Cam sleeping like a little angel between our seats on one of our flights back from Denver. When he woke up people saw him and said things like, "Wow! He did so good! What a good baby, I didn't even hear him!"

They smiled and gave us the, "you're such good parents" look. And we accepted, because you gotta take it when you can get it!

He actually did do exceptionally well for the LONG days of travel with multiple flights and layovers. It also helped that we could tag team baby duty and when I got tired of holding and rocking Taber could take over. 

There were a couple delays and some pretty long flights but we're proud of our little guy for finding his sweet spot and dozing off so people thought we were total rockstar parents in the traveling department. Thanks for making us look good little man.

Left Behind

I've moved enough to know how painful it is to leave behind wonderful friends.

This month I've also learned how painful it is to be left behind. 

4 of my dearest friends are moving away and I've been surprised by how many times I've spontaneously burst into tears knowing they're leaving. 

Last night I said goodbye to my dear sweet Becca. She was the first person I met when we moved here and quickly became like a sister to me.  We trained for a half marathon together, went on beach trips, saw Wicked in Boston, watched each others kids, had game nights, date nights, temple nights and just a lot of fun together. She taught what it means to be a good friend, serve others with joy and compassion, teach my children with patience and love and always speak kindly of others. She has a zest for life that is absolutely contagious and I will miss her more than she knows.

I also said goodbye to another dear friend, Suzanne who moved last week.  I'll never forget how on my first Sunday here she offered to watch my kids so we could unpack and get settled in.  I was touched that she didn't even know me but was eager and willing to serve.  I soon found that Suzanne and I shared a love for parties, girl's nights out, karaoke, Lost, and the Biggest Loser. She was my visiting teaching companion and someone I could always call at a minutes notice to help with my kids.  The day I saw the moving truck in front of her house I sat in my car and cried. I'm glad she'll only be 2 hours away in Connecticut because I WILL be visiting her whether she likes it or not ; )

My good friend Amanda moved last week as well. We had them over for one last dinner before they began their long trek out to Utah and it was so sad saying goodbye. I was Amanda's visiting teacher and our girls were in the same primary class together at church.  Amanda was so fun and easy to talk to, our visits sometimes lasted close to 3 hours because we couldn't stop gabbing! She was always so willing to help out with my girls and never made me feel like it was a burden. Love that girl and will miss her a lot!

Laura D is also moving but thankfully she's still here for another month. Like Suzanne and Becca, Laura is one of the first people who reached out to me when we moved here. She invited us over to dinner after our first Sunday at church and we became fast friends. We ran a half marathon together, she helped me decorate my first fondant cake, we've done countless babysitting swaps and she is the best hairdresser you could ask for.  One time she came to babysit so we could do a Valentines date and she brought us chocolate dipped strawberries just because she's awesome like that. She also came and made us sushi and tempura on New year's eve when I was 9 month's prego with Cam and didn't feel like going out anywhere. I will miss her spontaneous free spirit and easy going personality.

Before they left I organized a final girls night out at Angela's pizza to say goodbye . Amanda couldn't make it but we had a good turnout and enjoyed lots of chatting, laughing and of course, eating good food.

Girls Night Out

Me and my Becca Boo

This is my "I'm mad at you guys for leaving me" Face.

I will miss these amazing, wonderful and awesome ladies.  I will try to be brave and not cry every time I pass their empty houses.  It's tough being left behind but I'm happy for them and know they will do great things and be a huge blessing to everyone who meets them.

Camden at 6 months

6 month stats:

Weight: 18.5 lbs (What Teya weighed at 12 months) 65th percentile
Height: 27.3 inches  75th percentile
 He wears 9-12 month clothes and is growing out of the 9 month stuff fast!

Favorite Foods:
Mama's milk (he absolutely refuses to take a bottle)
Rice cereal with formula
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Squash
Pears


Least Favorite foods:
peas
prunes
peaches

Nicknames:

For a few weeks we experimented with calling Cam by one of his middle names, Kekoa, to see how it fit him. We love it as a nickname but we kept going back to Cam so that's what we're sticking with. He still has many nicknames though, including, but not limited to:

Cam- Cam man

Little T

Koa, Koa bear, Ko Ko puff, Cooey Ko Ko.

Tootie-Tootie boy-Tooter-Toots

Gooey- Goo-ster- Goo Goo

Chubby wubby, Chub Chub

(in case you were wondering, most of the nicknames were given to him by the girls ; )

Cam is a social little guy and a shameless flirt. I thought all those smiles were for me because he thinks I'm so special but apparently he gives them to anyone who will look his way and make eye contact.

He can roll over both ways now, so when we put him down he just rolls all around his crib till he's wrapped up in his blankey, then he pops in his thumb and passes out.

He has 6 pearly white chompers in that little mouth of his! The bottom two came in a couple months ago and the top erupted a few weeks ago with 4 at the same time!! Makes for a a rough night of sleep but you gotta love that toothy grin!

He's got enough hair to rock the faux hawk now. Little rebel!

He's still not sitting up too well on his own but he'll do the bendy lean thing for a few minutes before he face plants or falls over.

This picture makes me laugh because it's so Cam. The big dark brown chocolatey eyes with the long eyelashes, those fat pouty lips and the ever constant drool.  Love that baby : )

He continues to be beloved by his sisters and is getting used to their constant smothering. In fact, I think he gets a little sad when they're not around to kiss on him.

We sure love our little Camden Taber Kekoa and can't get enough of his squishy awesomeness : )

Bonus: Click Here for a 15 second video of him burning up some energy in the Johnny jump. One of the best baby gear inventions ever.

Fitness University: Finals Day

After 8 weeks of Fitness University running clinics the kids got to show off their skills on Finals day last weekend. 

All the kids got  Fitness University graduation T-shirts and running bibs then headed off in their age groups to do a warm up lap.

Parents had to stay off the track and sit in the stands except for those of us with 3 year olds. We got to be down on the field with our kiddos to help their coaches keep them contained. 

Brinley doing her warm up lap

The first event was the 9 year olds doing 3/4 mile (3 laps) so they kept the little ones entertained at the snip-its tent with hair painting. Brinley got hot pink swatches with blue sparkles and Teya went for an orange pony tail with gold sparkles.

Then it was time for the 3 year olds to warm up. They had a super energetic fitness instructor up there leading the kids and she was great! 

When they were finished they lined up for their 100 yard dash. Brinley was adorable and I got a short 19 second video of her running into the finish line. Love how she gives me a big cheeser smile as she passes me. You can tell she was enjoying herself.

At the finish line they were rewarded with fancy medals

They also had a food tent with bagels, oranges, juice, and more water. Brinley filled up on the oranges.

 Teya's 400 meter wasn't till near the end so by the time she was up the clouds were gone and the sun was blazing down. She still ran strong and finished with a kick at the end. Here's a little clip of her starting out.

There she goes, looking controlled and confident.

Here she is about half way through, right before the kick.

And this is her kicking it in at the end, passing the other kids who stopped to walk. Her goal was not to walk the whole time and she did it no problem.

All smiles at the finish line.

My proud little runners with their shiny new medals. 

We came home and had peanut butter toast with bananas (a great pre or post run snack) and talked about how sad we were that it was all over.

Teya said, "I'm going to miss fitness university, but maybe we can still go to the track and run just by ourselves." 

The purpose of the program is to get kids excited about being active. I'd say mission accomplished!