meeting baby riley!!

so today was the big day...frank and the kids and i packed up early this morning and headed up to syracuse for the day for the long awaited moment of meeting the newest addition to the rutherford family, baby riley! frank made an amazing lasagna and i put together a plate of cookies...being slightly experienced in the whole "new baby" thing, we sort of have an inkling as to what new parents really appreciate!! and because no one knew whether riley was going to be a girl or a boy, i had gone out shopping the day after she was born and bought a few (just a few) outfits...and her 1st christmas present - her very 1st cabbage patch doll!! considering the fact that kelly and i have known each other since kindergarten, it seemed only appropriate that i get her baby girl a toy from our generation, and this year is the 25th anniversary of cabbage patch!

this is what i would look like as the mom of 4!! my boys loved her, so maybe someday we'll get lucky and be blessed with a little girl to add to the mix!

cenzo couldnt get enough of her...he kept crawling over to me while i was holding her and petting her hair and kissing her on the head, he was overly concerned when she was crying during her diaper changes, he had to peek over kelly's shoulder to make sure the baby was ok!...it was the cutest thing!! but also crazy for me to think that tuscan was only 5 months older than they are right now when i brough matteo and vincenzo home! i dont know how i did it!

matteo enjoyed having someone else to play with him, there were a few times today that he got aunt kelly to "walk" with him and he had the biggest grin on his face everytime.

tuscan was the cutest about the whole thing though. in the car on the way there he kept reminding us that we had to be quiet because the baby was going to be sleeping. then when we got there he was all interested in her swing and wanted her to be in it. he also had a moment of regression and decided to relax in the popysan seat (kelly is borrowing ours, so i guess it looked familiar to him!) but that was only after kicking back on the couch with a bag of wavy lays and a movie! he is such a boy...

it was an awesome day though, it just felt so natural to unload my van full of family into kelly's house, just a week after her baby was born and spend the day with them. kelly and i have been through so much over the years and in the end we always land right where we started - thats what true friendship is all about. i am so grateful to have her in my life and so happy to be able to share in this special time with her. i love you kel, and i am so proud of you!! riley is beautiful and i know you are going to be an amazing mom, i can already see it!! congrats to you and kennie...and may god bless you in everyway!