Riddle Crew

finally a family photo!

2008-05-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Merrik!

2008-05-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to spend much time with Merrik today-his 3rd birthday-but I did get everything ready for his party. Note to self: don't plan a birthday party for the day after their actual birthday! I know he had fun today and I did let him open a couple of "educational toys" from me this morning. I baked his cake for tonight, cupcakes for the party, made all the favor bags and decorations for his "Dinosaur" birthday party tomorrow! See you soon, Merrik. I love you so much!

Prints from this blog.

2008-04-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

For those of you hardcore fans (ie: aunties, grandparents etc) who want to make prints from my latest images, you can click on the images in this blog and it will open up a larger image in it's own window which you can then print from! Remember all images are copyrighted though and may not be used without my permission!

Hot Toddies

2008-04-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Whew it's been hot here. The last couple of days were blazing even here at the beach. Our house warms up quick in the afternoon too with those huge plate glass suncatchers we have in the back. So the other night we decided it was a great opportunity to play outside on our new "sidewalk." Last night we enjoyed dinner on the patio too.

Du Bist Mein Kind

2008-04-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

File Archive

2008-04-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

So I've had to start saving all the photos into a "family" folder instead of dividing them into folder by person. I used to separate things out into JnK (Jim and Kris) and Merrik folders but now everything goes into the Maliea and Merrik folder inside the family folder. I still need to figure out a way to label all the photos better. I do resave all the images full res that I've edited in post with a tag of who's in the image then I also save them as lo res versions in a separate folder. There's got to be an easier way!

Maliea's Tea Party

2008-04-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

My mom threw a wonderful tea party to welcome Maliea into our family. It was fun but nobody drank any hot tea because it was so hot! We had finger sandwiches that my mom made and cookies-it was quite retro.

Beach Days!

2008-04-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Even though it was still cold and windy we all packed up and went down to State Beach for the afternoon. It was great to get out and just hang out outside. I miss being outside all the time like we were when we lived on the boat. We made tunnels and ramps for the trucks and Jim and Merrik flew a kite and got it to stay up by itself. What a great way to wrap up Jim's last days of paternity leave.

Big Brother Love

2008-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Gramma Pancakes

2008-04-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

We went to Coronado for the weekend and Merrik and Gramma made pancakes on Sunday morning. Merrik loves the process of making, baking, cooking etc but doesn't always eat the end product. He'll want to make smoothies, muffins, cookies, waffles, french toast etc at home but as soon as the product is complete he is
distracted and moves on to anything else that is a fun learning experience.

The Midway

2008-04-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we visited the Midway Museum in downtown San Diego. It was cold and windy out so we decided to venture out to spend the day mostly inside. We took the ferry across from Coronado to downtown then walked to the ship. It was a lot more interesting and had more to see than any of us realized.

Here are the guys in the brig-
Maliea slept in her carrier the whole time-
Gramma, Dad and Merrik try out the ejection seats-
Merrik loved the buttons and switches in the cockpits-he tried them all--
This is a shot at the controls-

Oh Baby

2008-04-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Disneyland

2008-04-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we went to Disneyland for the day. It was Merrik's second visit and he loved it so much more this time. He and Dad went on Dumbo, Autopia, Go Coaster, Casey Jr. Train and Disneyland Express and we all got to go on Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Astro Blasters, Tarzan's Treehouse, and Finding Nemo. It was a long day but well worth it. Maliea only spit up all over everything once! Merrik only melted down once until he had some food-and he actually ate really well! We ended up leaving around 11:00pm and by that time Maliea had had it-she cried all the way home and Merrik cried not wanting to go home! I was so busy with Merrik I didn't get to take many pictures. I didn't even get one picture of Maliea on her first trip to Disneyland at 3 weeks old.

Temptation

2008-04-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

Merrik can't keep his hands off Maliea.

What's in a Name?

2008-04-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

Many of you have inquired about Maliea's name: pronunciation, spelling, meaning. So I thought I would publish a post explaining the elaborate process through which her name evolved:

We started out with the name Maile (MY lay) along with many others and evolved it from there. We liked Maile but didn't want her to be called Miley which could easily happen with a unique name like Maile.
So we looked at Maile (a Hawaiian word for the vanilla scented plant from which leaves are used for leis for royalty) and came up with Mailea (my LAY uh).
Mailea is unique and isn't on any US baby name lists although it exists in other countries.
The breakdown would be:
Mai - (MY)- Japanese or Scandinavian for treasure, flower, singular, brightness (different sources); Greek derivative meaning Pearl; Chinese for ocean or elegance
Lea - (LAY-ah)-Hawaiian goddess of canoe makers; Hebrew for Delicate

Then we started to have issues with her being teased with a name like "My Lay ya" and we didn't particularly like the MY sound. We really wanted to stick with an M name to go with Merrik and Mollie came up but Mom wasn't overly thrilled with Mollie either because she wanted a "pretty" name for her daughter not just a cute name.

So, in the hospital, the night before we were to go home we looked at more names in the same family of Maile and Mailea:

Malia-The girl's name Malia \m(a)-lia\ is pronounced ma-LEE-ah. It is of Hawaiian origin, and its meaning is "perhaps, probably". Variant of Mary. Also a Spanish variant of Maria.
Malea-a Filipino name also spelled Malaya meaning "free"
Malie-(ma-lee-eh) Gender: Girl Name; Origin: Hawaiian; Meaning "tranquil; calm." An official form of Molly in Hawaiian when the Hawaiians were forced to adopt "Christian" names.
So we ended up with Malie plus an "A" pronouncing it ma-LEE-ah but spelling it in a unique and prettier way than Malia and came up with MALIEA!

Nana's Home from Africa!

2008-04-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sweet Angel

2008-04-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Maliea-five days old

2008-03-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

Our Beauty

2008-03-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Merrik or Maliea?

2008-03-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Announcing Maliea Elizabeth

2008-03-28T19:13:00.001-07:00

We are very excited to be home from the hospital with our beautiful little girl. Merrik is loving every minute as big brother and is having fun with his new baby sister.

Maliea Elizabeth Riddle was born March 25, 2008 at 13:07. She weighed 7 lbs 7oz and is 19.5" long.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Pirate Park

2008-03-12T21:02:00.001-07:00

We met Marley and Quinn at Pirate Park today and Merrik had a ball swinging. He is getting very daring.

Contractions!

2008-03-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

I had contractions last night for about 2 hours. Obviously false labor but so odd because the night before I didn't feel baby girl at all and worried. So, yesterday I went in to have her monitored to make sure everything was alright. As soon as the put the monitor on my belly she was rolling around all over the place! Then I had a major contraction. I didn't have any inkling of labor pains when I was carrying Merrik and I went all the way to 40 weeks.
She is probably getting so big she can't move around as much in there.

Jacuzzi Party

2008-03-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

Merrik spent 2 hours swimming in the jacuzzi at Aunt Cindy and Uncle Greg's house.

Our waterboy

2008-03-03T12:54:00.001-08:00

Merrik has been in swimming lessons since he was 7 months old and now nearly 3, he can swim all the way across the pool by himself (if he feels like it!). He swims a ways then rolls over, then swims more and rolls over until he reaches the other side. He loves the water but doesn't always love being told what to do in the water. Play time is his favorite but he is an awesome swimmer when he puts his mind to it.

Morning Boys

2008-03-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

February Beach Day

2008-02-26T11:11:00.001-08:00

SAHD

2008-02-24T11:03:00.001-08:00

Merrik loves when Dad stays home on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend we all played outside and did some yardwork. Then we went to the park before it started to rain. Fun times with Dad.

Merrik's Room

2008-02-20T19:24:00.001-08:00

Before and After

2008-02-18T11:57:00.001-08:00

Our happier home...

Modern Day Boob Tube

2008-02-13T10:11:00.001-08:00

I'm Back!

2008-02-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

I got my camera back after a torturous 5 weeks. So be forewarned that this post will include a load of images. We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific yesterday because we have all been suffering from cabin fever-illness, cold and rainy weather has kept us close to home. Here we go...

Deep in Thought

Watching the tidal surge

Puffins!

Finally eating-a hot dog (bun!)

Check that out

Ray fascination

Here he comes again

At the tidal pool

Let's go see the sharks again

Freedom

2008-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Tiki was out all night last night. He must have had a ball. It's been years since he's been out on the prowl like that. The only times he's been out in the last few years is when he escaped out the garage door and rolled around in the dirt a little bit. But all night is huge! We stopped letting him go out at all after his girlfriend was killed by a coyote then we said, "That's it! No more prowling around outside." It was just too stressful for us to get him back in every evening!

Reworked Merrik Photos

2008-01-25T08:43:00.001-08:00

Rainy Days

2008-01-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

I am still without my camera. Stuck in limbo between a broken Nikon and wanting a new camera but not willing to put out the money. I did borrow my mom's new camera just to capture a few shots before she headed to San Antonio for the weekend, but it didn't satisfy my craving. I can't believe the shots I've missed of Merrik in the last 20 days. He has been sick and it's raining (yes, finally!) so we've been stuck at home with plenty of time to experiment with new ideas and techniques. So I've been reworking some existing images. I think post production work is my favorite anyway so it satisfies a creative outlet. I have also designed a couple of new websites that will be up soon.

Concentration

2008-01-23T16:41:00.001-08:00

Merrik has something to say

2008-01-21T11:38:00.001-08:00

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Boys Day Out

2008-01-21T10:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, Dad and Merrik had a boys day out. They went to a football party in Huntington Beach. It was great! Mom got to go to a yoga class which is at a crazy time - 1:00pm on Sunday!?

Baby Girl Riddle

2008-01-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Last week mom went in for another ultrasound. Baby Riddle is definitely a girl. She is average size with long legs. This is a photo of her face. What cutie pie. Everything looks good so far. Just another couple of months to go then we have to pick a date for the c-section. Nana will be in Africa until the 31st of March so hopefully Baby Girl Riddle won't be too anxious to come out before then!

It's Gonna Be a Girl

2007-12-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day we found out that we are expecting a baby girl. Upon opening the envelope that contained the revealing ultrasound, the entire room responded in loud cheers. We are just very excited about having another little person in our family and pray for a healthy, happy baby. Another baby in our lives is truly a magical gift that we cherish.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Another holiday season is upon us and once again I am faced with the dilemma of how to give gifts to everyone who has touched our lives and the desire to keep our family uninvolved in the consumer lifestyle. So, this year we created a Christmas card that is a gift too. Putting our talent and time into designing and handmaking a card that we hope will bring beauty and joy to others' lives is a way we share a little bit of ourselves. Merry Christmas everyone.