Hey There!

Here I am at the Hipskind's house. They just had a little boy named Logan. He's a cute kid. Anyway, Daddy was taking pictures of Logan, and I figured as long as there was a camera around I should go ahead and pose.

Arkansas Toddler Bags Elusive Woodpecker

DeQueen, Ark.
December 11, 2007

Just one day after a five year old Dewitt boy killed a 450 pound black bear while deer hunting with his grandfather, out of DeQueen, Arkansas comes an incredible tale of a toddler’s first bird hunt.

Jason Carlton, father of the toddler, said “I seen on the internet news where that kid in Dewitt done kilt him a big ol’ black bear. I figured it was time to get my kid in on the action” And so Jason took his daughter to their suburban DeQueen backyard to see if they could find anything for Riley Cate (14 months old) to harvest.

“We’d been sitting there for around an hour or so and ain’t seen nothing. We was running out of beef jerky and it was almost her nap time, so we was about to leave. Then all a sudden, out of nowhere comes this bird zippin through the trees like one of Satan’s bats. Cate reached right up, snagged it out of the air and rung its endangered little neck.”

They didn’t immediately know what they had bagged, until Jason consulted the internet to identify their kill. “At first we thought it was just a garden variety woodpecker, but holy smokes then we found out it was that Ivory Billed one everybody’s been so fired up about. I never thought I’d get a chance to see one killed, what with them being almost extinct and all. I’m just real proud of my little girl.”

When asked for a comment, the Nature Conservancy said that they were “appalled that such a thing could happen in today’s society.” Mr. Carlton replied, “I’m pretty appalled too. I didn’t think the stupid thing would be anywhere near society. I figured we’d have to go all the way to the bottoms to find something like that. But yeah, proud, amazed, appalled… that’s pretty much how we’s all feeling right now.”

The family has yet to decide what they will do with the bird, although they are contemplating a special dinner sometime soon. Carlton said, “I done breasted it out. If we mount it, the breast will be facing the wall anyway, so no harm done there. I’m guessing it tastes like owl, but we won’t know for sure until we actually roast him.”

Christmas Coooookies!

I had been feeling kinda crummy for the past couple days, but I'm feeling better now. So tonight we went over to Granna and Papa Joe's house to decorate Christmas cookies! I think this is some kinda tradition or something, but I sure don't remember doing this last year, because I was just a kid. Here I am going crazy with some sprinkles! If you look really closely, you can see them flying through the air above the plate. Did I mention that I love Christmas cookies? I think I got a little on my face. And you can't tell from this angle, but there's just a little bit of icing up my nose too.
And here I am all cleaned up again with Granna. A good time was had by all!

My Christmas Picture

So last week we went to Joanie's Flower Shop. Mrs. Joanie let us take pictures in front of her trees. Joanie's is the most magical place in the world (besides where Mickey Mouse lives, of course). But we had a good time with Hudson and all the Patterson kids too.

Cake Stats

We went to see our brand new doc last week, Dr. Busheme. She is so nice! She says I'm smart and just the right size! My weight is in the 40 percentile, so I'm a bit petite, but my height and my head are perfectly average! Here are some of the things I can do and say:

Point to Daddy's fake duck and say "Duh"
Point to Santa Claus and say "ho ho ho"
Sing the "baa baa" parts at the right time in Old McDonald, although sometimes it's a bit delayed
Dance by stomping my feet and shaking my tushie.
I can say "peeez" to ask for things and "tank oo" when I get them.

These are the other words I say all the time:
Bye Bye
Hi
Mama
Nana
Dada
Papa
Uh-Oh
OOOH (when I get a cool toy)
puppy
baby (even if the kid is older and bigger than me)
cracker (kacker)
Wow wow woooow (never just one "wow")
No
No maam (no mim)
bath (bah)
church (chuch)
chop
book
rock-rock (when I'm in the rocking chair)

These are the words that come along only every once in a while:
Cool
PawPaw
Aunt Jenn (An Jen)
Meme

I can also sign "milk" and "more"! They work like magic!!

Here are the things I get in trouble for: eating Cheney's food, falling on the floor when I don't want to hold Mom's hand and walk, standing up on the rocking chair, dropping food on the floor when I'm full, pulling tissues out of the box as fast as ever I can

Most of the time I'm a good kid, especially right now because I'm sick sick sick. I'm almost over my dry skinned eczema, but now I have a fever and I just want to be held all day long. Boo.

Riley Cate's Christmas Reading...

There are a couple things you need to know for this story to make sense: Riley Cate has about 25 words now in her developing vocabulary. If you point to a picture of Santa, or ask what Santa Claus says, she will (usually) reply, "Ho Ho Ho." She also knows how to say "please", which in Riley Cate usually comes out "peas". So, now that you're up to speed, let's begin tonight's story...

Melanie was sitting in the floor with Cate in her lap, reading the Golden Book version of the Christmas Story (no, not the kid with the Red Ryder BB gun, although I love that movie). It is a toddler-aged account of the birth of Christ. So Melanie gets to the part where the angel appears in the sky... and the angel is depicted in bright red clothing, with a wide belt around his waist, and bright light shining around his head. So Riley Cate points to the angel and says "Ho Ho Ho". No, Riley Cate, that's an angel, not Santa Claus.

Then later on, the angel announces peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Well, Riley Cate hears "peace" and immediately says "peas peassse pease."

Christmas is going to be a blast this year!

The Cutest Kid in the World? Maybe...

I thought this necklace of Mommy's would go great with my outfit for church today. I even did pretty well keeping my hat on, which is better than I usually do with hats. My general inability to keep a hat on is proverbial in these parts.

An Average Night...

Here I am in my own Riley Cate-sized chair watching the TV. Look who's on my TV... it's Mickey Mouse! I don't mean to drop names, but I met Mickey Mouse once in Florida. He's good people. And later on I had a bathie. Isn't this just the coolest towel ever? Look, I got a bunny head! This was a gift from Aunt Beth and Uncle Jason and cousin Sawyer and cousin LeeAnna. This towel outfit wins the award for the farthest traveled because it came all the way from Africa, which I assume is somewhere around Fouke.

I'm a Mess!

Here I am showing off my first milk moustache! It's a monumental occasion, and I'm glad that Daddy was there to capture it for the ages. I like this picture because it shows that me and Mommy have the same smile! Awwww... Here's a closeup of my milk face. Don't look, but my hair is a little crazy.
And here I saw Daddy's hat on the chair, and I thought it matched my outfit. What's Daddy's is mine, and what's mine is mine.

Hanging Out With Daddy-O!

This afternoon I hung out with Daddy. First, we drove up by the lake. Daddy said we saw a drake Bufflehead. I think it's some kind of duck, but I don't have the foggiest idea what a drake Bufflehead is. But I think Bufflehead is a funny word. Say it... Bufflehead. See? Well I think it's funny. Then we went out to the woods where Daddy hunts. I found this fern. Know what I mean, fern? Here's me with Daddy's deer feeder. Isn't Daddy nice, feeding the deer like that?
Here we are, back at the truck after our adventure in the woods. I was so famished that I was just about to eat some acorns I had picked up. And you can probably guess what happened next. Daddy put down the camera and took my acorns away! He did give me some Teddy Grahams on the way home, which I thought was a pretty good trade. The one acorn I actually tasted was pretty nasty.
And then after hanging out with Daddy I had to do some things with the girls. Here's me working on my twirling routine with the girls in Mommy's class. I'm so young that I'm in my own age group. I'm the best one in my division. I'm also the only one, but hey who's counting?

Look What Daddy's Been Up To...

And all this time I thought Daddy only took pictures of me. Hmmm... You can see more of Daddy's pictures at www.jcarltonphotos.blogspot.com.
I think I'm way cuter than that dumb ol' bird.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Here's me in the back yard playing with Daddy. I found these spikey things on the ground. Daddy said that they're gum balls, but I think Daddy is out of his head. They're the worst gum balls ever. But I'm proud of them anyway, because I found them. Sometimes, you gotta take some time out to study things very closely. And sometimes while you're studying things, you gotta put them in your mouth. And that's when Daddy takes those things away. Welcome to my life.
And here's me, just being cute!

Happy Halloween!

Here's me getting ready to go get some candy. All the businesses on the court house square give out candy to us kids! Apparently all you gotta do is put on some silly costume and walk up there. It's a pretty good deal I think. Here I am being a ballerina. From what I can tell, downtown DeQueen is pretty much like Disney World. There are too many people, I'm in the stroller, and Daddy is taking a lot of pictures. See, same thing. I was pretty excited about this one big rock that I found in the parking lot though. I love rocks. Rocks are cool.
Here's me with some other kids who were shakin' down the businesses for candy. These are the Patterson kids. Our Daddies are best good friends. See, there's Batman, a Dracula and a witch. The Dracula costume belonged to his Daddy when he was a kid! Evidently this whole candy racket has been going on for some time.

It's a Pumpkin Party!

We went to a pumpkin carvin' party Saturday afternoon. I was just a kid last Halloween, so I'm getting to enjoy it more this year. And my boyfriend Hudson was there too! We walked around and looked at pumpkins together.
Here's me and Daddy with a giant pumpkin in the front yard.
Here's me carving my first pumpkin. Actually I was helping somebody else carve theirs. But still, there was a pumpkin and carving involved. The rest is just details.

My Searcy Birthday Party

Here's a picture of me with Mr. Jimmy and Mrs. Shirley King. They're my Searcy grandparents. We went back there this weekend because they had a birthday party for me at their house! It was all kinds of fun. The weather was perfect and we had a cake and everything! The people in Searcy have known me since I first got borned. It was good to catch up and reminisce about old times. Like boy, when I was a kid gas only cost like $3.19 a gallon. I can't believe how people are just driving around buring gas like it was 2006 or something. People...

Party Pictures!

Here's me and Carson playing. I'm not sure exactly what we were playing, but it was something. And it was some kinda fun, lemme tell you. Here Mommy was cutting my very own peice of princess cake. Keely was making sure Mommy cut it straight.
Daddy loves to watch me eat cake.
Here is my very own big girl purse that Ms. Latricia got me.
And here are the kids who were at my Searcy party. It's cool to have friends in far away places. Mommy and Daddy said that I even have friends in Africa! I'm not really sure where Africa is, but I think that it's somewhere past Texarkana, which means that I'd probably fall asleep driving there.

My Big Birthday Party!

Our friend Mrs. Janice is a stylist, and she came all the way from Searcy to give me my first haircut! Well, actually they came for the party, but as long as she was coming, she brougt her stuff. I didn't cry like some kids do for their first haircut. I was pretty much ambivalent about the whole thing. See, I had to get my hair did because I had boys coming to my party! Daddy titled this picture, "And So It Begins..." This is my friend Hudson. Older boys with cars are sooooo dreamy.
Here's the cake that Mommy made just for me! Can you see? It's a hayride with Little People!
Here's me with my cake. Daddy had to help me blow the candle out.
I got lots of neato presents. This is a Disney Princess tea set. Daddy says that I serve the best air tea in the Four States area.
We had a great time at the party. There were about 30 people here. Some drove all the way from Searcy, Bryant, Texarkana and even Oklahoma. Thanks everybody!

It's somebody's birthday, it's somebody's birthday, whose birthday is it?

It's my birthday! I've been around for a whole year! And I've already lived in two houses! Tonight was my birthday with the Carlton family. And tomorrow I've got a party with the Ross family, and then ANOTHER party with almost everybody I know. I think there will be about 2000 people at my house. I'm not sure if that's exactly how many, but I know there will be a bunch. Here's me opening a present from Abbie. It's my very own baby doll and I love her! Here's me opening another present. The card has my name on it! I love birthdays...
Here is Granna helping me open an outfit from Uncle Rich and Aunt Jen. Granna had to help me because I couldn't put my baby down to use both hands.
This is about the coolest thing ever! It's a fridge farm magnetic animal set. You put it on the fridgerator and it's got all these animals and it makes noise and you can take it off the fridge and carry it around.
Last but not least, Mommy and Daddy got me my very own kitchen! And Mommy picked out a huge box of pots and pans that are just the right size for me! And there was this huge box of play food. I thought this donut was real, but it was just for pretend. I can't wait to start cooking.

Take your daughter to work day...

Okay, so it wasn't officially take your daughter to work day, but I did get to go hang out with Daddy at the radio station for a while yesterday. Here I was helping Daddy tell everybody what the weather was going to be like for my birthday. And Mrs. Anna gave me this sucker. It was yummy and I got it all over myself! Being on the radio is really stressful, and when I got home it was all I could do just to stay awake. So I got my bottle and my blankie and just laid out right there in the hall floor. But Mommy saw my plight and put me into bed for a nap. I love Mommy...

Disney, Day 4: Epcot and a Princess Dinner! Yay!

Riley Cate here with your next installment!

On this day we went to Epcot. I was adorable. I mean, before I could hardly get through the gate, castmembers were wanting to take pictures of me with their cell phones! I felt like dang ol' Dakota Fanning or something.

Actually, the pictures up there are from later on the day, but I wanted to set the mood for ya. After we first got there, we runned over to get a Fastpass for Soarin'. That's something I can't ride, but it's supposed to feel like you're hanged-gliding over California. Mom says it's way cool. As you can see below, they wouldn't even give me a Fastpass. But I think being 40 inches tall is probably overrated.

Here's something I DID get to ride and it was totally cool, dude! It was The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends! We rode in a clam shell through a big tank and Nemo and the gang were really in there with all the not-cartoon fish! Daddy had to close his eyes when we went through the East Australian Current with Crush because it was making him feel a wittle woosy.
Oh, and after the ride, we got eaten by a shark! Look at me. I know those teeth are Disney-created.

After we got spewed out of the mouth of the shark, we ate lunch in Morocco and watched a belly dancer! And I ate cous cous!

Later on that night, me, Mommy and Daddy took Carson and Keely to Mexico to ride their new Donald Duck ride and then we all got to eat dinner with the princesses at Akershus Castle in Norway! Below, you will see that I did not care at all about Cinderella, even though I think my Mom and Ms. Amanda almost cried when they saw she was there!
Um, I really didn't care too much about meeting Jasmine, either. She looks like she's waited her whole life to see me, though!See. Snow White. How hard was that and why couldn't I just meet her in the first place?
I had a bit of a meltdown before dessert, so Mom took Keely and me to some exhibit in China about statues that guarded graves. Whatever.

Then we all went shopping in Germany and I snuggled with this bear-friend for a few minutes. Mom and Daddy talked about getting him for me, but then I threw him on the floor, so they didn't.

After the fireworks, we had to do a little shopping. While we were there we got chosen to have a magic moment! Mommy thought we were gonna get to spend the night in a castle or something. We got to do the hokey pokey with gloves on. That's just as good, right?

And then it was off to the hotel and bed, except I fell asleep in the car after my busy busy day! Join us tomorrow for some pics from our day off and the grown-ups date night!