Bring it on...

2nd trimester!!!

I'm 100% ready for my 2nd trimester.

I remember with my 1st pregnany waking up one early day in the 2nd trimester feeling rested and having energy... I'm TOTALLY waiting and ready for that!

Top 10 Things I Couldn't Live Without in

My 1st Trimester!

10. Home-made stove top popcorn

9. An afternoon nap

8. Honeycrisp apples

7. Workout motivation from Sandy...

(we usually just went and worked out our mouths... jibber jabbering)

6. Salsa-home grown and made from Amy's boyfriend or Steve

5. Harry Potter: books 1, 2, and half of 3.

4. Day-old stove top popcorn

3. This blog

2. Tiffany's ear, voicemail, and email :)

1. Loving kisses, hugs, and an occasional slap accross the face from Caitlyn and 'support of my craziness' from Ash (I totally quoted him... word for word. In context he said, "Erin... I'm trying my hardest to support your craziness, but it's really hard right now"... I was on the phone with him at work and thought it was about the funniest thing I had ever heard...Gotta love him for supporting me)

...And This is What...

the middle of the childless night looks like... I hope these pictures don't offend anyone...

I'm not 100% sure they are all 'blogger appropriate'?!?

Special thanks go out to the hosts...

I love Sandy and Ian!

Your Halloween party was the best I've ever been to...in my life!

...and I guess... this is what the morning after looks like!I love you sweetie... with all my halloweeny heart!

Another special thanks to Grandma, Pappy, and Aunt Scarlet for taking care of Caitlyn for the entire night!

PS... I think I'm still all hopped up on mountain dew!!!

This is What...

The beginning of a childless night looks like!

Emergency Phone Call

Caitlyn and I received a surprise visit from the Federal Way Police Department today. Caitlyn had just woken up from a nap and I was talking to Tiffany on the phone. Caitlyn was playing happily on the carpet next to me. Next thing I know 2 handsome police officers were knocking at my door. I answered and they asked, "Are you Erin?" I replied, "Yes?!?" They asked, "Have you made any phone calls today?" I said no even though I had been talking to Tiffany... then they told me that they had received a 911 call and when the operator tried to call back she just heard beeping noises. I was so incredibly embarrassed, I explained that my daughter had been playing with the house phone and she must have accidently called 911. I apologized a ton and they said that they just wanted to make sure that we were ok. Caitlyn then came around the corner holding my cell phone and the officers laughed and complemented her on her pretty pajamas! What an exciting morning!This photo is a reinactment.

Pumpkin Patch

What a fun Sunday! We took Caitlyn to her 1st ever Pumpkin Patch... it was a lot of fun watching her and all of the other little kids run around in an attempt to find the perfect pumkin. The weather was perfect and when we came home Caitlyn napped and we did some more yard work... which we actually love to do together! It was a wonderful fun-filled weekend!
Caitlyn now does the sign for 'more' and 'hungry'. I'm telling you, I couldn't be more proud!

Costume Party

Caitlyn had so many interesting friends today! She played with a pumpkin, scarecrow, mouse, monkey, the hulk, and buzz light year! We went to her 1st costume party... thanks to Avery Jeanne! We celebrated Little Miss Avery's 1st birthday a little early and my it was a blast... all the way from little pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin ice-cream, chex party mix, balloons, halloween tunes, cute party favors with little pumpkins and really sweet gifts inside from the 'ghostess with the mostest' (That's what Avery's t-shirt read after she took off her pumpkin costume). All the little kids looked so precious in their costumes... Enjoy the picsI really thought it'd be easy to get all the cute kids together for a quick pic... it wasn't!That's Avery (in the middle) with her boyfriend (on the left) and Caitlyn.

This toy rocks!

Caitlyn and Avery enjoyed some alone time to discuss all that has happened in the past year!They decided to share the rockin' toy with all the other kids.Mama lady bug and Baby lady love bug! (on this very bench... Caitlyn signed her 1st word... more! She really liked the ice cream)The hulk... he looks so strong here!Caitlyn's pretty full from the ice cream and looks tired (maybe cause she only had a 1/2 hour nap on the way to the party).
Happy Birthday, Avery Jeanne!!!

What a special party for a special girl. We sure are thankful to have been a part of your special day!

Happy Birthday, Han!

Happy 23rd Birthday to a wonderful sister! I love you so much and am lucky to have you as a sister and friend and Cocia to Caitlyn! We sure had fun celebrating with you and I hope that your day was as special as you are! See you tonight!

Caitlyn wants to be the 1st…

...To let you know
She is expecting an arrival of either
a brother or a sister.
May 3rd
Will be the expected day
that she becomes a sister!

Yes... We are expecting Baby Riggs #2!!!

For those of you who remember an old post in early August... we had our 1st night alone (Caitlyn stayed at Babcia and Dziadzia's so we could get ready for her birthday)... Well, we had an AWESOME night... if you know what I mean!!! I am almost 10 weeks along right now and feel amazing! I get the occasional woozy stomach and become real cranky without a nap... but other than that... I feel good.

Ash, Caitlyn and I got to see and hear our little peanut for the 1st time today... and it was perfect! He/She is growing at the right speed and had a heart rate of 179. I will keep you posted as my pregnancy goes along... stay tuned!

My BFF

Through many things we have remained the best of friends...

Red Robin

Harstad Hall

PLU

The Loft & the Lighted Box

Pinning Ceremony Co-Chairs

Graduation

Nursing
Engagements
Weddings
Pregnancies

Answering Machine Messages
Motherhood Happy Birthday, Tiffany Jeanne...

You are by far the best friend a woman could ask for! You have been by my side through many huge lifetime milestones and I thank you for your friendship!

Without you, I probably would have gone crazy!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Sweet Dreams!

Caitlyn just wanted to say, "Good Night!"

Dance Baby, Dance!

First of all... this is the 1st hair thingy that has stayed in Caitlyn's hair for more than 3 seconds!!! and Second... we are listening...scratch that... ROCKING OUT to Dance baby, Dance (bouncy beats for little feet, by fisher price). It is by far Caitlyn's favorite music to dance to. Picture this: the music turns on and something takes over Caitlyn's little body forcing her to raise her hands above her head and sway back and forth... then side step across the room, then does about 7 lunges and then she walks back to the stereo with her hands above her head again as if she was praising the music... almost fist pumping to the beat! It is hilarious to watch... and when I join in, she stops what she is doing and looks at me like I am out of my mind... I love her and her pretty hair and her lovely dance moves. If you don't already have Dance Baby, Dance... go and buy it ASAP!

Girls Night Out

Ash had his 2nd boys only poker night so us girls took advantage and went out for dinner and drinks. Hanging out with just girls is so much fun and much needed sometimes... so thanks girls for a fun night!

Toothless Fairy?!?

Right before we all left for PA, I had breakfast with Tiffany. After breakfast we went to a cute little boutique called my petite pea to do some shopping. I ended up buying Caitlyn a onsie that read, "Toothless Fairy". Well, She wore the onsie for the 1st time last night and sure enough... the toothless fairy came and gave Caitlyn her

FIRST TOOTH!!!

I went over to my parents house today to have lunch with my Dad and he asked if Caitlyn had any teeth yet... I laughed and said no. He decided to check anyways... and there it was! He knows the rule about whoever finds your baby's 1st tooth... so he we went out and he bought Caitlyn a new pair of shoes!

What a fun day...

I am totally excited and proud of her tooth!!!

My tooth envy can be finished now...

cause I have a baby with a TOOTH!!!

I hope those that read this post can feel my excitement jumping out of the computer screen!

Another Trip to PA

From Left to Right-Top Row: Ksavera, Jon, Caitlyn, Ash, Cocia Sonya. Bottom Row: Cocia Mary, Babcia, Cocia Betty (all wearing sunglasses from the 1994 Rychlinski Family Reunion)

This time I went with Caitlyn, Ashley, Ksavera, Jon, Mandy, and Hana. We all had such a great time... thanks to all our family there who were so welcoming. It really is great to have such a big and loving family!!! We stayed fom Saturday to Saturday and were to there to help celebrate my Babcia and Dziadzia's 59th wedding anniversary!!! We were able to enjoy so many things when we were there... let's see... the best way to blog about it would be a list!!!

10. Woodpeckers, McKenzie's, and Buffalo Bills

9. Swimming Pool dance Parties

8. Bon Fires

7. Pizzas so big that the pizza box could burn for days in the fire pit

6. Holy balls, egg toss, and the famous quarter game.

5. Indonesian Food, Wings, Subs, limoncello (made by the master of limoncello), Rhubbarb Pie, and other freshly baked goodies

4. Amazing Hospitality

3. Pittsburgh Strip Food Tour

2. Watching the Rychlinski Family Reunion video of 1994

1. Fun time spent with family!!!

There were so many great times shared by all of us. Hopefully this list sums up most of them. Enjoy the pics and we will start planning the Rychlinski Family Reunion of 2010!

Serious Steelers Fans... I know Caitlyn looks like a boy, but she was wearing the cutest little shiny black mary janes which dolled her up a tad... in this pic she looks like she would bleed black and gold!!!
This here is the famous quarter game, I wish I would have taken more pictues of it, but I was so busy laughing so hard that I was crying! The object was to carry a quarter between your cheeks and drop it in this cup! Ksavera dominated this year and I came in a very close 2nd place... I got extra style points too for attempting my cousin Kane's famous crab walk move!

Daddy and Caitlyn enjoying some sunshine by the pool.

Babcia gave Caitlyn many horsey rides... ocassionally the horse would get a little wild!

Dziadzia was rehabilitating after a fall so we all went to visit him. We totally should have brought him a beer cause he was pretty upset with my cousin Ed for not sneaking one in.

Last but not least... the Rychlinski Kids with Babcia and Dziadzia!

Camping at Lake Trask

This Labor Day was my 2nd official time being able to celebrate the real labor day... being that I have been in labor... wink wink! We celebrated at Lake Trask. Ash's family has property up there. We've almost gone every single year since I have known him... about 9 years now (last year we missed the kite festival for the 1st time in over 20 years and Lake Trask due to the arrival of the lovely Caitlyn Leigh). We drove up on Saturday night and stayed til Monday. I'm not really into the whole outdoors thing... but I didn't wanna let Caitlyn down and I showed her that woman and spiders can coexist in the wilderness! Camping was a little difficult with a 1 year old... she loves rocks and dirt in her mouth! I couldn't turn my eyes for a second without her eating something new! The first night should only be recapped with a few words... poker, spiders, hurt thumb, hiccups, sneaky gas, sneaky snacks, and laughter so hard you can't breath.

The next day, we spent some time down at the lake where there was a carnival and Caitlyn won her first cake walk! While we played, Grandpa and Gary built a new bridge to connect some of their property. They decided that all the new additions would be named after their grandchildren and so the new bridge is named... Caitlyn's Crossing!

Aunt Scarlet walks with Caitlyn for the 1st time accross Caitlyn's Crossing.

Gary posing by the finished bridge.

Caitlyn checking out the wilderness!

Traveling through the rough terrain on her way to the carnival.

Cake walk... I won, I won!

Playing with Dad in the bouncy toy.

Fishing with Dad... she caught a blue bracelet!

Me... the Camping Queen... and my family!

Pappy shows Caitlyn around the property.Caitlyn, after a long couple of days in the wild wilderness!