On the Move!

Riley started crawling on Sunday and has not stopped!  She is a machine!  She seems to go straight for Hershey's water bowl or Hershey's ball which is so nasty.  We have to watch her constantly.  No more putting her down and walking away!  But she is super cute waddling around.

We are gearing up for Riley's first christmas.  She probably won't care too much about all the cool gifts she will get and just wants to play with the boxes and wrapping paper but it will still be super fun.  My parents are coming for Christmas and staying through New Years.  We plan on going to the Zoo and will definitely do a lot of shopping!  I can't wait!

Update on Callie our cat back in DC.  She has put on a lot of weight and went home with Matt's parents today.  We are very hopeful that she stays healthy and won't start another hunger strike.  Luckily Matt's sister is a vet and has been taking excellent care of her and the staff at the Clinic have been loving having a 'clinic cat' that hangs out.  I guess if things don't work out at the Emery's she can make a home out of the vet clinic. 

I wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy new year!!!

Hola La Jolla!

It's been a while since our latest post and well....we've been kinda busy.  First, let me just say that our move to California went surprisingly well!  We got a nonstop flight out of Dulles to San Diego and it was on time, we had all three seats in one row, and they even announced over the intercom on the plane that Hershey was on the flight!  Hershey did great.  She was waiting for us at baggage claim before our luggage arrived!  Riley was a perfect angel on the 6 hour flight.  She slept for about half of it and played with us the other half.  People around us commented that they couldn't believe how good she was.  That's our Riley Bear!  We got to our new place and settled right in.  Our stuff arrived two days later and nothing broke!  Amazing!  So all in all it couldn't have gone better! 

It didn't take long to adjust to life in Cali....especially living in La Jolla.  This place is amazing.  For those who this may relate to: I think of La Jolla as a combination of Destin, NYC and Bethesda.  I say that because its walking distance to the beach and many people retire here so everyone is in a good mood (like Destin), we can literally walk to like 20 restaurants and they are amazing places (like NYC), and we still have a neighborhood with treelined (palm trees that is) streets and a sense of community (like Bethesda).  So its the best all worlds.  Oh and you can't forget the weather!  Lordy...how could I overlook that?  It's wonderful here!  So put in your requests for the guest room now because I have a feeling we will be having many people visit us!

Her favorite "toy" is an aquafina bottle right now.

Our view from the rooftop deck!

The only thing that has not gone so well is that I had to leave behind Callie, my little calico cat that I have had since college.  I just didn't think she would take the flight and we are renting our place so we thought it would be best to leave her with Matt's parents who can love and care for her.  Well...I think she knew something was up because she started to look a bit thin.  But I thought that once she is settled in at the inlaws she will bounce back.  That did not happen.  Poor thing got down to 3.9lbs and couldn't even pick her head up or walk.  So they rushed her to Matt's sister's vet clinic about two weeks ago and she has been recovering there since.  She had to get a feeding tube put in her throat and they tested her for everything under the sun but nothing has come back!  So its not physical but mental.  They even tried acupuncture!  So finally she started eating on her own and is now up to 5.2lbs!  I am hopeful she will make a full recovery.  It was hard to leave her after ten years of always being with me (through my many moves and adventures) and to see her in such bad health, well, the guilt set in.  I must hope for the best and that she will adjust to life without me.  More to come on that.

We were lucky to have Matt's parents stay with us for Thanksgiving.  Our first guests!  It was fun showing them our new town! Riley enjoyed having them here as you can see from the pics!

Hershey loves running on the beach!

Life is great out in Sunny Cali!  XOXO

Adios East Coast

Tomorrow the movers come to pack up our stuff.  I can't believe we are moving!  It's hard to believe we will be living in La Jolla in a week.  Before moving Riley had a final photo session with Jacinta.  Riley wasn't really feeling the outside decor for some reason but she did much better in our house so here are a few of my favorites.  Riley will miss Jacinta so much.  She was so wonderful and caring; its one of the reasons this move is bittersweet. 

Riley with Jacinta...awesome picture

Look at those CHEEKS!

Before we leave, our friends planned the "Emery Fest" where we all met up one last time.  It was so great to see everyone and catch up before heading out West.  We will miss you all and thanks to Macey and Stu for planning the great event!  It was awesome!

Beth, Me and Macey

Nory and Me

Matt, Star, Rob, Leslie, Me, Wendy, Matthews, Bagel

Me, Josh and Macy...Josh is dressed up as "John Boehner"

We will miss everyone so much. We have lived here for 5 1/2 years and have made such wonderful friends.  I said good-bye to my office on Friday and all the people I have worked with and serviced for 5 years.  I will miss Bethesda Naval (I cannot call it Walter Reed at Bethesda yet).  That place does such wonderful things.  Everyday we see the effects of the war...its humbling...very humbling.  We eat lunch at the Wounded Warrior Cafe which is located in the barracks where the amputees stay.  Nothing will make you feel silly for complaining about things like getting a full fat latte instead of a nonfat latte like seeing a triple amputee getting lunch with his wife and newborn daughter.  Nothing.  I will always remember my time at Bethesda Naval and I hope I made some little difference there. 

My next post will come from California!  Like...for sure!

The Latest with Riley Elizabeth

Riley has been busy!  She has learned to roll over:

She has learned to sit up on her own:

She has learned to eat rice cereal:

We couldn't be prouder.  She is growing up so fast that every day is something new.  She loves to make a bunch of sounds and, at times, loves to scream in laughter.  We love it!  She is already in 9 month clothes and is only 5 1/2 months old!!  It's crazy!  We are loving every minute with her.  

**If the video's don't work I will try again later. :(

Baptism was a success!

Riley got baptized on September 18, 2011.  This was her first time at church and she basically slept during mass.  During the Baptism Ceremony she was wonderful.  She didn't cry or act up at all.  She was getting a bit heavy for me since I held her in an awkward position for about 20 minutes.  My arms hurt the next day!  Thanks to those that attended and a special shout out to her Godparents: Mike and Brooke Sakraida!

After the Baptism Ceremony Riley's grandparents had a party for her.  Family and friends had a great time over Grandma and Grandpa Emery's house.  Riley was blessed to get some gifts to celebrate her special day and I would say that the gift that made us all fall in love with her all over was the owl costume Jacinta got her. 
WARNING: THESE PICTURES ARE SO ADORABLE YOU MAY HAVE TO LOOK AWAY TO SHED A HAPPY TEAR SO HOPEFULLY YOU AREN'T AT WORK. :)

Macey and Riley

Brooke, Kelcey and Riley

We love her so much!
Looks like we might sell our house!  We got an offer and after a bit of negotiation we may have a final deal!  More to come on that!  La Jolla here we come!!!!!

House For Sale

Our house went on the market September 7th and had its first open house on the 11th.  Getting the house ready with a baby, a dog and a cat was a feat!  And it seemed like everything that could go wrong did right before the house was open.  We did the best we could and hopefully we have it priced right to move.  Check out our listing:
The Emery's House


The house is staged and in mint condition.  This is the last thing that is unanswered for us.  We have a great rental waiting for us in La Jolla, we both will have wonderful jobs, and the move itself will be taken care of by Matt's company.  So I am thinking positive when it comes to selling the house.  We have an amazing house here and anyone would be lucky to have it.  Another open house is scheduled for today and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that its the last one! Now its time to get ready for Riley's long awaited Baptism!  Pics to follow!

First Flight and Vacation

For the holiday weekend the House of Emery went to Destin, FL.  It was Riley's first airplane ride and she did wonderful!  The people around us had no clue there was a baby in the seat since she was a perfect angel.  She slept for most of the nonstop flight from BWI to ECP and waited until the end to deuce. I got visit with some old friends, Tiffany and Hector.  I haven't seen them in a while so we met up at our old sushi place, Sakura, in Destin.  It was so great to see them!

Riley got to experience the beach and the pool.  The water was rough in the gulf and there were jellyfish everywhere so we did not get to dip her toes in the sand or the water.  But she enjoyed it for the most part.  She loved the pool though.  That completely wiped her out for the day.

She loved spending time with her grandparents at their place and also got to visit with my Aunt Paulette and Uncle Paul which was wonderful. 

It was our 4th Anniversary so we stayed at the Hilton in Sandestin for a little getaway.  It was wonderful although the weather could have been better.  We didn't get much sun in on this trip.

Riley finally got to meet her godparents, Mike and Brooke Sakraida.  They were staying in Pensacola so we drove over to visit with them.  Riley was a big hit.  She has been such a great baby the whole trip.

Even the plane ride back was fine.  We brought an 8oz can of formula and of course at the dinky airport in Panama City they made Matt basically go through a strip search for us to bring it on board.  We had no problems in Baltimore but at in Panama City they patted down Matt and searched every inch of his briefcase and bags.  It was not fun to watch so I can just imagine going through it.  But Matt is a good sport and did fine.  We boarded the flight and off Riley went to sleep.  She even slept through the landing!  There was another baby on board that was intolerable.  The baby in the back was screaming the whole time.  Once we landed all the passengers around us commented on how good Riley was and couldn't believe she slept through everything.  That's our Riley!  She is just so precious!  She is so alert now and loves playing in her jumper.  She just jumps and jumps all day.  Loves it!