A Complete Nursery

We finally got things cleaned up and organized in Cate's room and thought you might want to see some more complete pictures of Cate's nursery. It won't be long before there is a little Cate in there :-) One month from today is my due date.
I also had my last shower over the weekend and my creative friends and family decorated some onesies for Cate. Here they are:

I have the awesome-est family and friends ever and I can't wait to bring Cate into a world where she is going to be totally loved by all of them. :-)

~Melody

Traditions

It's funny how having a baby is starting to bring back some traditions in both of our families and even creating some new ones (Eric and I have put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving every year since we've been married). On Christmas Eve, Eric's mom commented that she was excited to have a little one around next year to buy actual presents for (right now everyone just gets money). My mom said she wanted to make sure Cate made it into her Christmas card picture. And there were some other things brought back this year too.

Paintbrush cookies were a staple at Christmas time in the White house. It was fun to pick out the shapes we wanted and then with painstaking elementary school concentration, paint our cookies (just a plain cookie dough) with "paint" (made from egg yolk and food coloring). Then we'd take them home (we usually made them with my cousins at my grandma's house), each kid with their own tin full of cookies they had painted. I've always talked about them and how Eric and I should make them, but we've never gotten around to it.



This year, when we headed over to my grandmother's house on Christmas Day, we were in for a surprise...her and my Uncle Dave had made the dough for Paintbrush cookies and we were going to get to make some. Yum! While we weren't as attentive to detail as I was when I was a kid, it was still really fun to make them together. They still turned out just as yummy, and even though Cate's artistic talents may not be fully bloomed as an 11 month old, we're excited to introduce the tradition to her next Christmas too. Hey, my brother's first painted cookie ended up being a red, doughy blob (it was supposed to be a truck), but it still tasted terrific to him.

Here are our final cookies :-)Another tradition we'll be able to start next year is the advent calendar. My mom, aunt, and grandma all had the same homemade advent calendar with a Christmas tree on it. You hang it on the wall and below the tree are 24 little pockets to fill with small ornaments that you hang on the tree (it has buttons to do this). As a kid, my brother, sister, and I took turns hanging up the ornaments each day in December and fighting over who got to hang up Christmas Eve, the last ornament and always the angel that went at the top. My grandmother surprised us this year by giving us her advent calendar ("the original" as my mom calls it) for Christmas this year. She said it's no fun to do it by herself anymore and figured that we'd have fun bringing it to our house and hanging up the tiny ornaments with Cate and with Cate's brother or sister (someday). We absolutely love it and can't wait to put it up next December :-)

And special big thanks to my family for the new digital camera (our old one held a charge for about 5 minutes...it was one of the original Kodak Easyshares...so it was time). Aren't the pictures above nice and clear? And we'll definitely be posting plenty of Cate in just a few short weeks.

~Melody

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Riggs Style)

So, God keeps on blessing me when I least deserve it. For the first time since I've been out of high school, I have been able to enjoy so many wonderful aspects of the Christmas season without the dread of working retail. Walking into a store to buy something, and knowing I will never have to be on the other side of the counter again is a blessing beyond words. This is all in addition to having a wonderful job that is very flexible, gives me several holidays and off days, and has wonderful coworkers to boot. I can't think of many things this season that have really reached a "stress" point. It's truly a blessing.

To that point, next years holiday season will be even more blessed. Despite all the lack of sleep, and financial planning, and all the other undertakings we will have as new parents, it's so exciting to think of having a little one crawling (or possibly walking) under the tree next year. being so close is sort of surreal. You see all of the tangible reminders, and know it is coming, and you feel the change beginning inside of yourself, but there is a part that is just missing. This of course would be Cate in physical form with us, not still in utero. I'm sure I will ball when she is actually here, and I can't wait to be the man that she looks up to. I can't wait to treat her like a princess, and teach her what to look for in a guy, and how to avoid the wrong kind of guy. It's just going to be a great testimony of God's love for Mel and me. Our family is an embodiment of that love. How crazy is that?

In the meantime, it is still Christmas Eve, and I have some house work to do before we go enjoy some festivities. And then the morning we've all been waiting for. I think Santa did well this year for Mel and the girls. A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. :)

- Papa E

We are now officially qualified (?) to have a baby....

or at least to go into labor and delivery.

Amidst some falling snow and slick roads yesterday morning, we made it to Good Sam for our childbirth class. It really wasn't as bad or as boring as either of us thought it would be. I think we would both agree that watching 1 birth was enough (they showed us about 4 or 5), but otherwise, it was pretty fun (maybe more so for Melody than for Eric since she got to lay on the pillows and pretend like she was having contractions while Eric learned how to rub her back and feet and arms for 2 hours).

We definitely feel a little more prepared as far as when do we actually need to go to the hospital (that part was freaking us out a little) and I guess this means we're qualified to have our baby now. Only 6 weeks left! She is moving and kicking and stretching like crazy. It's hard to imagine how life will be when she gets here, but we can't wait (even though it will be exhausting). As we look at our tree and wrap up our Christmas shopping, it's even crazier to think that this time next year we'll have an almost 11 month old toddling around the house!

~Eric and Melody

El Tour De Tucson

So, a month has gone by in the new job, and it seems like a dream. I can only thank God and pray that it continues to be a good career, with many future blessings. I went to Tucson in the middle of November with Team in Training as a Staff person, and had an amazing time. I think I had a total of 3 hours free time, but it was well worth it. The team did an amazing job (they raised over $100,000 with only 19 people for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and each one of them finished well under the time limit for closing the course). There were a few logistical things that were hectic (rental cars being foremost) but all things considered, for my first event, it went well.

It was kind of strange for me because it was the first time that I ever left my wife at home for more than 2 days on business. She's had professional development, trips to see her family in Hudson, and a few others that I couldn't attend with her because of my retail schedule, but now I have crazy flexibility. And with the flexibility, I have the tremendous blessing of being with my wife all throughout the week and all weekend. I've seen more of her in the past month than I did in our first three years of marriage. God is Awesome.

I will end with some cool pictures, and my Greg Lemond story (for those of you that don't know, Lemond was the first American to win the Tour De France and has a brand of bicycles named after him). At the beginning of the Tour De Tucson, the elite riders were given about a 5 minute head start. Greg pulled up in an SUV literally about 10 feet away from me and another southern Ohio staff member after those riders had already left the gate. When we finished snapping pictures of him, we asked if there was anything we could help with (since he was already more than 5 minutes late for the start of the race). He handed my coworker the keys to his SUV and asked her to give them to the race director so that it wouldn't get towed. (And yes, that is him in the picture to the left.)

BTW, for those snooty LA types that used to room with me, my brush with fame may seem trite, but to the rest of you midwesterners, it was pretty dang cool. ;) Peace Out.

- Papa E

Single Digits and the Holiday Season!

We're into the single digits now...nine weeks until Cate's arrival. Here's a shot of my growing belly. :-)

We got into the holiday spirit after coming out of our food coma from Thanksgiving. On Black Friday we got up at 4:30 to hit some of the sales and managed to pretty much finish our Christmas shopping. We even still had time to put up our tree!


And yet after all of that, we still went down to watch Santa and Mayor Mallory light the Fountain Square Christmas tree. It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And just a little over a month after Christmas means Cate's arrival!


~Eric and Melody

Cate at 27 Weeks

I finally got around to scanning in the most recent ultrasound pictures of Cate. They are of her at 27 weeks on October 26, 2007. The first one is of her profile:

She's definitely getting bigger. In the next picture she is facing towards you. I realize she's still a little alien looking, but we think she's pretty cute. :-)

Eric and I are both amazed at how so many people love her so much and haven't even met her. This weekend was my first baby shower, given to me by the wonderful women at our church. Cate now has all kinds of clothes, toys, bath essentials, blankets, and more (we also now have a high chair in our dining room, a monitor that my aunt joked about saving and hiding under the couch when she's a teenager and has friends over, picture frames and a photo album for the hundreds of pictures I'm sure we'll take). We're in awe at how fast baby "stuff" seems to take over one's house. And we are so grateful for the wonderful friends and family that are helping us get set up with all of the things we need for her. It's hard to believe that in about 11 weeks she'll be here and there will actually be a baby in the house instead of it simply looking that way.

~Melody :-)

The Countdown Begins!

Today is the first day of my third trimester...weird. I still don't feel like I'm all that pregnant-- mostly because I've been blessed with a fairly easy pregnancy and apparently (according to the doctor), the reason I'm not HUGE at this point is because of all the running and cycling I was doing right up until I found out and even some in my first trimester (until we had that whole dehydration issue).

Incidentally, we did have another little dehydration scare, but when we went to the doctor about a week and a half ago we were told there is nothing to worry about. They did another ultrasound just to check fluid levels-- it's all normal. I'll post pictures once I get a chance to scan them in somewhere.

Cate is measuring average size for how far along I am. She is also moving around like crazy! If I'm still for more than 10 minutes, she starts wiggling around in there. It won't be too long before she's out of wiggle room and has to wiggle her way out.

The reality of becoming a mom is definitely setting in. In a good way though. I'm excited for her to be here and I'm ready for the awesome responsibility that is being a mom. In the beginning, I'd go back and forth between being ready to be a mom and thinking that I was way too young and immature for this. But in the past 7 months God has blessed me with a peace and understanding that everything is going to be fine. There is no perfect parent, but with His help and guidance, Eric and I will do our best to raise our little girl.

We received another blessing not too long ago as well. As many of you know, Eric had been sort of casually looking for another job. He loved where he worked, but retail hours aren't exactly the best when you've got a family at home. Back in August he gave his resume to the Executive Director of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (both of us have run marathons through their Team in Training program and I was training for a century ride before I found out about Cate and had to quit about halfway through-- apparently crashing at 25 mph isn't so great for baking a baby). He knew there were some openings with Team in Training and figured it couldn't hurt to let someone know he was interested. As of Wednesday, Eric will be a Campaign Manager for Team in Training with his primary focus being on the cycle program. And he couldn't be more excited. He even gets to go with the cycle team to the century ride in Tucson in a couple of weeks! Aside from some weekend travel and some evenings during recruiting periods, he'll work mostly normal 9-5 hours. And he won't have to miss a Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter again!

So as we countdown these last 12 weeks, we continue to thank God for everything he's blessed us with and the blessing of our daughter to come. At this point we're just a couple of baby showers, a labor and delivery class, and a little under 3 months away from becoming a family of 3!

~Melody :-)

Bengals Mania (Eric coming into his manhood)

So Monday night, Mel and I got the chance to go to Paul Brown Stadium and tour the facilities, including the players locker rooms. It was amazing to see. I'll share a few pictures. A few stats:

The Box suites start at a minimum $50,000, and go close to $100,000 the closer it is the the 50 yard line. That doesn't include tickets or food. (view from the box)

Mel and I were pretty amazed as well to see Bible's in several of the players locker spaces.

Willie Anderson has the Largest size foot in the NFL Franchise (19 EEE) You can almost fit both of Mel's feet in one of his shoes.
How did the game go tonight, coach Riggs?

For those of you that know me even a little, your probably understanding a little about the subtitle of this blog. Even as little as a year ago, my first choice on TV probably wouldn't have been to watch sports. This season, I am addicted. I have found myself listening to every game of the American League Championship series on ESPN radio and 700 WLW, and watching more college and pro football than I ever did in the past. Maybe it came with the advent of Satellite TV in our house, but I am actually interested in ESPN news. I am coming into my manhood, at a late stage, but it is good. Go Bengals!! (And Redhawks!!)

- Papa E

What's one foot long and weighs two pounds?

lots of things. Carnival Hot Dogs are sometimes a foot long. Grocery store tiles as well. A Wii is three inches short. A barbell isn't even up to snuff. An acorn squash is about two pounds but isn't as long. A bottle of diet coke is almost the same weight. A small puppy could be both one foot long and two pounds, but zoey is about twice as long and closer to 9 pounds.

In case you haven't caught on yet, my unborn baby daughter has reached a new stage. She can now smell, hear, and distinguish light from dark. And she is around a foot long and two pounds. She is actually developing likes and dislikes in food.

And one day soon, she'll be graduating high school. It's just strange that we are having this baby that seems so small, and helpless, and she is going to be just like us one day. It's completely mind-boggling.

And I can feel her kick like crazy right now. Are soccer games in our future?

More to come soon.

For now I leave you with this.


- Papa E

New Ride

I know you can't see the baby bump as well in this picture, but you can see the new ride to tote Cate around. :-) We came to the realization that in both of our other cars, not much fit once you had both of us, a carseat, and a stroller. Not to mention the other things we're going to need to haul around when we're taking Cate to Hudson and later to Atlanta to visit to my parents. So we traded in our Saturn Ion Coupe and got a Dodge Caliber. It's not a ton bigger, but all the baby stuff will fit in the trunk and it sits up just a bit higher.

As for the WILD THINGS shirt and lovely spandex pants-- it was finally cool enough to go for a bike ride, so this is me pre-ride. I haven't been on my bike since we got back from Hilton Head since I had to watch the whole dehydration thing. In fact, I really couldn't do much of anything when it was hot out. So now that the temperature is down, I can finally get back out on the bike a little (running is out at this point since it makes me uncomfortable, but I usually get a walk in every day if it's not too hot). Thank goodness bike clothes are stretchy and I'm not too big yet. We went down to Lunken Playfield and rode the flat path around the airport (it's about 5.5 miles). It was absolutely wonderful to do something semi-active (we didn't ride that fast or far) outside again. I love that fall has finally come!

~Melody

She's popped!

Maybe it was the music of last week's Pat McGee Band/Josh Kelley concert (which was awesome by the way) that made her dance a little farther out. Or maybe it was our relaxing trip to spend time with Melody's family in Hudson that encouraged her to somersault forward. Whatever it was...Mel has a pregnant belly now.



This is the belly at 23.5 weeks. At our doctor's appointment on Monday we were told Cate is measuring right where she should be and Melody's gaining just the right amount of weight.

We also are most of the way done with the nursery. There are still some finishing touches to add, but we thought we'd share a few pictures.


We still have a few things to do, but you get the idea. It's all ABC and animal theme with primary colors. We figure she'll be wearing enough pink that she doesn't need it in her room.

So we're at about 3 months and 3 weeks until the due date. Things are definitely falling into place. Keep praying that both Mel and Cate stay as healthy as they've been so far.

~Eric and Melody

Some songs we've been listening to...

My sister told me to get on iTunes and buy the song Capri by Colbie Caillat (whose single Bubbly currently plays on my iPod every time I get in the car because I love it so much. She wouldn't really tell me why I needed to download it, so I looked up the lyrics, downloaded the song, and love it as well. So here are the lyrics in case you don't feel like downloading the song. :-)

Capri lyrics

She’s got a baby inside
And holds her belly tight
All through the night
Just so she knows
She’s sleeping so
Safely to keep
Her growing
And oh when she'll open her eyes
There'll be no surprise
That she'll grow to be
So beautifully
Just like her mother
That’s carrying
Oh Capri
She’s beauty
Baby inside she’s loving
Oh Capri
She’s beauty
There is and angel growin’ peacefully
Oh Capri
Sweet baby
And things will be hard at times
But I've learned to try
Just listening
Patiently, oh Capri
Sweet baby
Oh Capri
She’s beauty
Baby inside she’s loving
Oh Capri
Your beauty
Just like your mother
That’s carrying...Oh Capri

Some other songs on our "Soundtrack for Cate" include Father and Daughter by Paul Simon, Daughter by Loudon Wainwright III, and "Gracie" by Ben Folds (which Eric sings along with and changes Gracie to Catie).

Capri aside, Colbie Caillat's music is awesome if you're looking for some new tunes!

~Melody

Tangible Evidence

So things started sinking in so much more in the last month that we are having a baby. While it's all real, it all kind of seems like a dream. When we went for the ultrasound, we saw Cate yawn which made her seem more human and less amoeba like. Then I started feeling her kick on the outside of Melody's stomach, which was such a crazy feeling (I can't imagine what it feels like for Mel to have that happen all day long). And we are rounding out our nursery, with a few more finishing touches. We always thought that that room may one day be a nursery, but never thought it would happen so soon. God is wonderful.

It also struck me as odd. I remember thinking of parents as a child and thinking how they seemed old, and in a different area of life that I would never really reach. I also thought of my grandparents as always older, as if they just always had the gray wisdom I knew them for. Now I am getting to see my parents and Mel's parents age with grace and become grandparents, and it is rather surreal. It is an area of life I didn't think would come so soon, but I am ever blessed with its arrival.

Enough with the waxing philosophical. Only 4 more months till Cate is here. We'll keep you all updated.

- Papa Riggs

Catherine Riley Riggs

Here you go...we finally got them scanned, the most up-to-date pictures of our baby girl, Catherine (Cate) Riley Riggs! Her feet are up by her head in both pictures, but in the top one her face (skeletal looking at this point) is facing towards you and in the lower picture you're seeing her in profile.



She's at about 20 weeks here, halfway there. I'm at about 22 weeks now. In fact, her due date is 4 months from this Thursday! The time is starting to go much faster. Eric started painting the nursery today and will probably finish it tomorrow. We have a crib, changing table, rocking chair, and dresser all ready to move in. And her bedding is adorable. Hopefully we'll be able to post pictures of the nursery soon....check back :-)

~Melody

One thing we love...

is the dollar bin at Target. This week's find: all kinds of "The Office" stuff. Post-it's, pens, pads of paper, pencils, etc. Eric is quite fond of the Dwight Shrute pens :-)

On the other hand, I found their Halloween decorations to be worth the few dollars I spent. My mom always decorated our house for the different holidays. She'd put out little decorations around the house and special holiday-themed hand towels in the bathrooms. I mostly remembered her doing this at Halloween and Christmas, but I know she had little decorations for Valentine's Day and other holidays as well. She even used to send me window clings and little decorations for my dorm room in college (unfortunately those didn't make it past my college years).

So I decided that it was time to start decorating our house for more than just Christmas each year and bought a few little Halloween decorations to put around the house. Not sure if it was nostalgia that prompted me to decorate or Cate's influence from the womb, but I have to say it all looks pretty darn cute. And by the way...I promise we'll get Cate's newest picture up soon. And hopefully some nursery pictures soon too (we're workin' on it).

~Melody

Looking for Something to Do?

Check out the Cincinnati Museum Center's "Real Pirates" exhibit. We got the chance to go down to the Museum Center last night for educator appreciation night. Our $5 tickets got us into a showing of the SEA MONSTERS Omnimax show (which will be open to the public in early October) and the Pirates exhibit. The exhibit has some really cool artifacts recovered from a real pirate ship near Cape Cod. Being the geeks that we are, we did the treasure hunt through the exhibit and got replica pirate booty at the end :-) And yes, being the immature people we are, we did laugh every time the exhibit referred to pirate booty. :-) So check it out if you get the chance.

We also scoped out the Children's Museum which has an entire area just for infants and toddlers. We can't wait until Cate is old enough for us to take her to some of these places (but trust us, we're in no hurry to see her grow up...shoot, she's not even born yet).

All Is Well

It turns out that Melody was dehydrated on Wednesday. Her fluid levels were back in the normal range and our baby girl (yes, we know for sure it's now a girl) was quick to show off her rear-end for us (but wouldn't let them get a shot of her face with the cool 3-D technology). Oh well.

So as soon as we get to a scanner, we'll be sure to post pictures of her. Her name is going to be Catherine (but we'll call her Cate) Riley. We're super excited to meet her but in the mean time our goal is to keep both Melody and Cate healthy and growing.

~Eric and Melody

Pray for Baby Riggs

As many of you know, yesterday was supposed to be the big day when we'd find out the baby's gender. I was feeling great and we were both excited, but when it came time for the ultrasound, things were really fuzzy. The ultrasound tech could see the heart beating, the bladder, the kidneys, feet, hands, etc., and was pretty sure of the baby's gender (some of you already know and we're not posting it here just yet for the reasons below).

However, the reason the ultrasound was so unclear was because my level of amniotic fluid was low. The doctor assured me that this is NOTHING to worry about right now. I'm not leaking any fluid, so it could just be a matter of the baby not having peed all day (I know that sounds gross, but that's what it is) or me being dehydrated (even though I drank a lot of water yesterday, I was on my feet teaching straight through the day and despite the air conditioning, my room is a little warm-- not to mention the stress and anxiety of having Open House last night).

So...tomorrow I'm going in for a high resolution ultrasound. This will basically allow the doctor to see if yesterday was just a fluke or if there is a reason the baby isn't producing as much fluid as they would like to see. It will also confirm the gender for us better than yesterday's picture. The low levels of amniotic fluid also explain why I'm not showing as much considering I'll be at 20 weeks this weekend.

Please pray that yesterday was just a fluke and that everything will be normal tomorrow. I know you are all praying with us for a healthy baby, and I'll be sure to let you all know how tomorrow goes. I've taken it easy today (sitting at my desk a lot while my kids work in partners) and the doctor excused me from work tomorrow so I could get extra rest and hydration before the doctor's appointment.

~Melody

We've come a long long way together. . .

So, I would really like to know how I got from this,


to this,


Let me explain. The top picture is of my incredibly dorky self the night I met the beautiful woman that is now my wife and the mother of my unborn child. It was a little invention we then liked to call the "Holy Roller Derby" for all those who were involved in such random acts of Christian fun. We had seen each other around campus, and other places, but this is when we first officially met. How did I end up married with a house, a job and a kid on the way after that? Because of two things; 1) the grace of God, and 2) the patience, character and love of the most wonderful woman alive. If we didn't meet that night, then it all may never have even started. Thanks to God for making me look like a complete idiot, and starting me out on the best years of my life.

Oh, and for those of you that want them, I've got incriminating photos of others that night too. But I'll protect their privacy, so you'll have to email me to see them.

- Papa Riggs

Weekend Getaway

We spent a wonderful 2 days this weekend in Maryland for Andrea's wedding. Originally we had planned to drive, but got a great last minute deal on a flight and rental car, which meant we could spend more time in Maryland and less time in the car. It was great seeing everyone from Miami again and Andrea's wedding was one of the most fun weddings we've ever been too.

We arrived Saturday morning and were able to hang out with everyone by the pool for a little bit.

Then it was off to the Cove Point Lighthouse for Andrea and Brendan's wedding on the beach. There is nothing better than sinking your toes into the sand and watching your friends get married. Here's a couple of shots below.




After the ceremony, it was off to the crab shack for fresh and yummy crabs!
And then later that night we all hung out on the Solomons Island boardwalk.
It was hard to come home last night. We wished we could've stayed a little longer and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze and perfect temperatures. We'll definitely be back to visit longer. You can see more pictures on our Flickr site.

An Invasion of Wii Proportions

A couple of weeks ago we traded in the XBox and the PSP and managed to get our hands on the Wii. For those of you that ever actually turned the controller on old school Nintendo when you were driving or tried to make Mario jump by jumping with the controller, you can now play like this. In fact, you use your arm movement so much to control what's going on, that we are convinced you can develop "Wii Arm" or "Wii Elbow." Don't worry, Melody's sister will be able to treat it when she becomes a physical therapist. And since Wii's are in short supply right now, it's not exactly a common ailment.

So whenever your around come on over and play Wii with us. We're close to "pro" status on bowling (too bad we can barely break 100 at the real bowling alley-- the weight of the ball isn't in the control, only the motion, maybe that has something to do with it). We've got Wii Sports, Wii Play and SSX Blur. We rented Cars over the weekend, but we're holding out for Melody's favorite...Mario Kart.

Don't forget, on Wednesday, 9/5, we should find out the gender of our other "wee" one. We'll try to let you all know as soon as we can. :-)

We'll keep you posted...

As many of you are aware, Eric has been trying to find a job outside of retail since the beginning of the summer. While he loves his job at Walgreen's, he wants to be able to be home regularly in the evenings, on weekends, and on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. He'll eventually get to that point with Walgreen's, but not for a few more years because of the way their management program works.

Eric has applied at a few different places and the job he'd most like to hear back from is one as a music director at a West Chester retirement center. This job would not only give him the schedule he has been looking for, but also allow him to do what he loves- music.

So we'll keep you posted on what happens. Eric is fine whether he gets a new job or not. Whatever happens is God's will for him and he trusts in that whole-heartedly.

Master!

This Saturday, after 3 summers and two school year's worth of work, I finally earned my Master's Degree! My research was on teaching students to use the writing process in timed writing assessment environments...I'm sure that sounds very interesting to all of you non-teacher people. But I loved doing it, loved my classes, and graduation was sort of bittersweet as my time at Miami, both undergrad and grad school are now a part of the past. I'm sure I'll be up for the odd OWP (Ohio Writing Project- the program I earned my Master's through) class now and then, getting credit hours for professional development. And Eric and I are planning on getting to at least one Miami football, basketball, and baseball game this year. Of course Baby Riggs will be a Redhawk fan.

On a side note, I thought about re-using my robe to dress up as Hermione from Harry Potter for Halloween at school this year. Then I had to rethink that a little. I mean...a pregnant Hermione would just be wrong.

~Melody

Welcome to The Riggs Family

Hey everyone! Welcome to our blog. We figured that since most of you stay pretty busy and we do too, that this would be an easy way to keep you updated on what's going on in our family. As many of you know, we're expecting our first child in January. We're really excited and feel incredibly blessed to be adding a third to a number (or a fifth to our number if you count our lovable cat, Sierra, and crazy dog, Zoey). Below is a sneak peek of our kiddo at 11 and a half weeks. He/She was doing somersaults during the ultrasound and seemed to love being the center of attention....we're definitely in for it.
At our last doctor's visit, the little one decided to be cooperative and the doctor had no trouble locating the heartbeat for us to hear. It was amazing! If all goes well and the baby continues to be cooperative, we should know if it's a boy or a girl on September 5th. While surprises are fun, we really want to know what we're having.

So keep checking back, feel free to leave comments, advice, whatever, and we'll try to keep this updated as much as we can!

~Eric and Melody