Holy Cow!!

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog since Riley was born! Obviously I've been swept off my feet by that sweet little baby! So much to update y'all on so I will start with my favorite one and then add a little each day until you're all caught up. My Riley is now 5 1/2 months old and is the sunshine of my life! Chris, Jess, Steven and Riley have moved to an apartment in Corona that they share with Jessyka's Nana. I'm so happy now - they are right on my way home so I can stop and see her all the time. But also, I have been very lucky that I get to keep Riley as least 1 weekend a month so I do get my quality time with her too. As you'll be able to tell by the pictures that I'v posted, she has the best of her Daddy's genes! Everytime I look at her, I see her Daddy at that same age! She is a very happy baby - loves her Daddy, thinks her Papa is about the funniest thing she's ever seen, likes it when her big brother makes her laugh and likes to play tummy time with her Mommy. Of course NanaKaki's favorite time with her is right before she falls asleep when she cuddles up in my arms! It's all I can do to keep from just bursting into tears! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last 5 months...

My first Mother's Day as a Gramma - Riley is 4 days old
Nana Kaki is always kissin' those cheeks - Riley at 4 weeks
Again with the cheeks - I can't help it! Riley at 6 weeks
Riley with her Great-Aunt Shirley. Here she is 3 months oldMy favorite time... right before bedtimeHere she is laughing at her Papa... She just melts my heart!!! Napping with Nana
Playing in her new walker - 4 months old Riley and her Daddy!! Look at that face!!!

Riley last weekend trying to figure out what to do after she gets up on all fours!!

I'm a Gramma!!!!!!

Riley Lynn O'Farrell

9lbs 2ozs 20 1/2 inches

May 5, 2009

10:08 am

After a full day of induction, a good nights sleep and 2 hours of hard labor the next morning, Riley came rushing into the world in under 30 minutes. I guess once she decided to make her arrival she was in a hurry!! Chris did awesome through the whole labor - rubbing Jessyka's back and feet and being very encouraging. The delivery happened so fast he didn't have time to realize what was happening! Jessyka is my hero - she delivered that baby naturally, without an epidural and not a single cuss word came out of her mouth!!!!! I got a nice surprise when at the last minute the nurse snuck me into the delivery room so I was present for her arrival as well! It was a very emotional day - not so much because my granddaughter was born (which of course is just mind-blowing) but more about seeing my son become a father. You realize that your job is now done and it is his turn to take what you have taught him and pass it on to his daughter. Wow!!! That's heavy!! Anyway - I have a few pictures that I took with my phone but will post the others from my camera later. The miracle of life is just that....a miracle!!!

At last - pictures of the shower!!

I've been promising pictures from Chris and Jessyka's shower, so here they are. We had a great lunch, they got tonz of stuff for the baby and everyone had a great time. Now we're just waiting for Riley to decide to come out and meet us!!! Waiting...and waiting...and waiting!!!!!

The cake was made by my friend Brittany Suzano. Isn't it adorable?!! It was delicious as well!!

Mommy and Daddy to be...

I love this picture of Jessyka and her mom!

My babies....all grown up!!

Jessyka's Family:

Jess, Chris, Sister Carissa, brother Robert, Dad Ken, niece Lexy

Mom Cynthia

Chris' Family:

Me, Gramma Grace, Jess, Chris, My Mom, my sister Shirley

Amy & Shirley's daughter Shelbey

Willie got a haircut!!

Well - no baby yet so we had nothing to do but clean the house this weekend. All our friends were out at either the Laughlin River Run or at Stagecoach in Indio. The most exciting thing we did all weekend was take Willie to get his first haircut of the summer. We get him shaved during the summer cause it is just too danged hot for him to have all that hair. Then about late September or early October we get his last haircut and let it grow out for winter to help keep him warm. He had so much hair by now he was miserable! He felt so much better afterward! Besides that, we got the house cleaned in preparation for Bill to come home on Saturday. He's been gone a month and I have a list of honey-do's a mile long!!! He'll be busy for awhile! So now... we're back to being on babywatch!!! Anytime you're ready Jessyka!!!!

Before....

After.... So much better!!

More on P.O.T.

I just relooked at my pictures from P.O.T (Primary Officers Training) and was reminded of what a great time I had. I got the opportunity to meet Jim McCaslin, President and COO and Steve Phillips, VP of Quality at Harley Davidson Motor Company. What great guys! They were very open to talking with everyone and answering tons of questions. I just love Steve to pieces - he's very down to earth and truly cares about the rider's concerns and opinions.

Jim McCaslin, WildKat, Steve Phillips

The first night that everyone got there we had a Taco Night at our condo. Edward, Margie and I had been to previous POT trainings so we knew what we were in for. John, Shelley and Alicia were first timers. We tried to tell them that as soon as breakfast was over the first day, it was non-stop until the closing on Saturday afternoon. I saw John after his first class (which was Understanding Risk with the HD lawyer). Very intense class - he came out and quit right there on the spot! - well, he felt like it but he stuck it out. I don't think anyone really knows what is involved in running a chapter of HOG (Harley Owners Group). At the end of the first night, HOG puts on a great dinner party for everyone. We had a very cool surprise this year. Willie G. Davidson (grandson of THE Davidson), his wife Nancy and his daughter Karen made an appearance. They were in town for the Country Music Awards that were taking place over at the MGM and decided to stop by and say hi. What a treat!!!

Edward-Director, Kat-Asst Director, John-Treasurer, Alicia-Secretary

Next blog will have pics of the baby shower...I promise!

Well - You can tell by the date of my last post that I've been a busy, busy girl!! I'll try to give you little snippets of everything that has happened and get ya up to speed. Right after my last post, my Dad fell and factured a bone in his spine. So off to Florida I flew with my sister Shirley following closely behind. Got there expecting the worst but actually it all turned out good. We had a chance to see first hand how Dad was doing and luckily it turned out to be a small fracture in one of the bones right above his tailbone. So the only thing we could really do was dope him up and let him sleep it off!! But - because of all the medication he was on he couldn't give blood to prepare for his knee replacement that was already scheduled for April. I had a cold and was on medication so I couldn't donate on his behalf (;-}) which left my sister to save the day. Of course you'd think they were cutting her arm off!! She milked that one for as long as she could!!

Then I was home for a week and left for Vegas for my Harley Primary Officers Training. Decided to take Amy with me. She hung out by the pool at our condo for two days and explored the strip with Mike and his kids. The rest of us - Edward, Alicia, John, Shelley, Margie and I all went over to the Red Rock Resort and were in leadership training sessions for two days. By Saturday, we were all exhausted so Shelley, Amy and I decided we needed a night out. We went over to the Hofbrauhaus which is a German restaurant that celebrates Octoberfest all year long! It was a blast and the food was great! They even had an Oompa Band with cute guys in leiderhosen (sp?).

By this time, Bill had left for Florida again. This time around he'll be there for a month (returning on May 2) to stay with Dad while he has his knee replacement surgery. He had it on April 16th and everything went very well!! He's in the rehab center now and is responding really good to therapy. Everyone is impressed with his drive to get home. Actually we all know it's cause he wants to get back to Sandra who is his evening home health aide. He just loves her to pieces!! Amy and I have been surviving okay as bachelorettes but I'm ready to have Bill home again - I keep forgetting to make the coffee before I got to bed! Nothing is worse than an empty coffee pot at 4:30 am!!!!!

Well there is lots more but I'll have to catch you up on the rest later. I'll have pics of Chris and Jessyka's shower by then. Love to all.....

Bullhead City initiation

Well - I am officially a part of the Bullhead City community! Amy and I went up with my girlfriend Linda and her granddaughter Brittany for a relaxing weekend away. What a blast!! Got up there late Thursday night, got into my pjs and that's was it! We did go over to Harrah's in Laughlin on Friday morning for breakfast - Amy thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fountain and the strawberries! On our way out I stuck a $5 bill into a slot machine and walked out with $10.50!! That was the extent of my gambling... It was still exciting. Then it was back home and into the pjs. Then on Saturday, Linda had an urge to go to the Goodwill to get a lamp. I was completely comfortable in my pjs so....off to Goodwill we went! I couldn't believe it - I was actually shopping at the Goodwill in my pjs....and no one even noticed!

I had a little scare when we got home - was going through the morning shows before I left for work trying to decide if I needed to DVR any of them. Lo and behold my Tom Jones was going to be on the View!!! Although I will be seeing him on March 10 and again in Vegas on April 1, I had to record him. Well I got a call telling me that he had gone all gray! Oh no - what was I going to do? Would he still be the same sex-bomb of my dreams? Would the gray hair ruin my fantasies? What was he thinking - how could you mess with perfection?!!! I raced home to watch the show and sure enough.... the toes still curled!!!! He even growled at the end of It's So Unusual and I about lost my mind! Now I can look forward to his next two shows with the same anticipation that I always do....

One last thing for this update... I have to brag about my beautiful niece. Shelbey will be 10 in September and I just love her to pieces!! My sister sent me a picture of her and her Daddy on their way to the Father/Daughter Valentine's Day Dance and I just have to share... Aren't they precious?!

That's all for now - will check in with y'all again in a couple of days.