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.