Rice Party

During our break, we played outside a lot.  One day we got the bright idea to let Reese have a little rice party on our patio.  We gave her some scoops, cups, and spoons and let her have at it.  And she loved it! She played for an hour.  Which was very nice for Mommy and Daddy.  I'm so glad I save containers like this pancake mix pourer and the puffs container.  We even hid things in the rice, it was like surprise every time she found one!!

She's Cracking Me Up!

Our child, well, she is hilarious to say the least.  Lately she has been cracking me up with her antics and funny ways about life.  For one thing, she loves to give kisses.  You know the open mouth kind.  I love the kisses, but would prefer the closed mouth kind.  She'll get it one of these days.  But back to my point, the other day, she was passing out Daddy kisses left and right.  I wanted in on the action so I asked her if I could have a kiss.  She came over, kissed me, walked to her dad, kissed him, and back again several times.  She just had lots of love to go around.

She has also become a big lover of filling, scooping and dumping.  So we got out the spices and pots and pans and she filled the pans up with spices (in the containers) and stirred them around a little bit.  She would pretend to pour spices in, stir it up and then lift the spoon to her mouth saying, "mmmm."  Guess she watches me more than I think!

She's also become an avid outdoorswoman.  Not just enjoying the weather, but dragging her father by his hair across the room and pounding at the door until we open it.  Saturday's storm really put a hitch in her plans and she demanded to go out for hours.  I finally opened the door, put her out there and brought her back in.  She was done demanding after that.  She does love it out there though.  Especially when Daddy chips golf balls into the lot behind our house.  

She was a Daddy's girl this weekend.  Not that she hasn't always been a little but mostly if she wanted something, she came to me.  This weekend it was all about Dad.  She gave me the most withering glares if I came to get her from her nap.  She refused to even look in my direction and she saved all her smiles just for him.  I just hope she doesn't forget about me for good!

My little girl is getting so big.  She is becoming Miss Independent, helping put her clothes on and throwing trash away.  She still loves to read and lights up whenever we grab a book from her overflowing bookcase.  She grabs our hand and leads us where she wants to go but still tilts her head back and puts her thumb in her mouth when we cuddle her close.  We had a great spring break together, it just makes us count the days until Summer Vacation!

Spring Break

We have spent this week running around like crazy people.  But we have had fun.  And while we didn't get a chance to spend as much time with the people we wanted to see, we did get to see a lot of people.  We started off going to Maggie's gymnastic meet on Saturday.  That was just awesome.  This isn't the best picture, but I was pleased with the video so I'll be okay.

Then we spent time with my family.  We got to love on this cute little face.

We spent the day with Baby D at his house on Monday and had a great time playing with some new toys. I think this was the closest they came to one another the whole time we were there.  But they definitely agreed, they loved the jack in the box.  They played well those 5 minutes together, even sitting still while I grabbed my camera.  It was fun to watch them. 

Monday night I was able to catch up with my good friends Mary and Eric and their cutie pie, Clara.  I had missed them a lot.  And even though Reese had less than stellar behavior, she had fun with Clara too who showed her each of her toys and was very thoughtful. 

We came home on Tuesday, just exhausted out of our minds.  Poor Reese slept the entire way home and then took another 2 hour nap later that afternoon.  She played hard and had a hard time catching up.  I think she was glad to be home.  I know I was.

And now we are just enjoying our time together.  Playing outside and at the park.  I have a full-time walker now so she thought walking around with the wind blowing through her hair was just fabulous. 

Spring break, ahhh, it's the best.

A Cure for the Boredom Blues

Today was a day for boredom of epic proportions.  After about 6 snow days though, I finally got smart.  Yesterday as I left, I ran through the halls and begged, borrowed, and stole resources from anyone or anywhere I could find.  I went to Dollar General and bought a few things and we were set.  For today.  We have a whole new day tomorrow and it may get ugly. 

Just kidding, I have plenty to last us awhile.  We started off the day making play dough.  I found a great recipe for it on the internet.  My lovely assistant stirred (read: splashed) and threw ingredients in the bowl. 

We painted with pudding and some of it got in Reese's mouth.  It was one of the most hilarious things we've done.  We put her in front of the mirror before she took a bath and she screamed and screamed, I think she thought she'd been massacred!

We made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  And we finished our Valentine's Day cards! 

Our boredom blues were stifled for the day, and we are hoping tomorrow will bring a little relief to the snowed in feeling we have today.  Maybe a walk or a run around the back yard with the dogs will help.  Stay tuned for our Wordless Wednesday featuring our Pudding Paint and when the snow stops Dustin has a really cool time lapse picture of how much coverage we got! 

My Baby

In a few short days my baby will be one! One! I can hardly believe it myself. A whole year of this crazy kid has gone by and I can't believe it happened so fast.

In this short time I have learned a few things. Maybe I should say a LOT of things but a few that stand out the most. Mostly I just learned that my baby will always be a baby in my eyes.
She will always be my baby born 6 weeks early who ate from a feeding tube for 10 days. I just can't help it she will always be.

I have also learned that the work really doesn't lessen but it most definitely increases. Wrestling a baby into a pair of tights and Mary Janes while avoiding knocking all the items on the changing table is no small feat. Keeping her from standing up in a slippery tub or drinking the water that she probably peed in is like an act of God.

I have learned that if we make a mess there is a compass inside her brain that leads her directly to it. Pumpkin goo, overflow from a backed up drain, paint, it all finds it's way on to her hands, feet, and clothes. A bathtub with two inches of water in it, can still pack a pretty good splash. And don't even think about food with sauce on it, white or red every inch of baby will be covered in it...don't forget the ears!

I know now that fingers smash, lips bust, and heads bonk faster than anyone can grab an arm shield the fall. That thinking, "oh there's nothing in there she can get to" is a sure-fire way of making something messy appear from out of thin air. And that even the sturdiest things can tip over with surprisingly little force.

I also know that watching my baby kiss her bunny because she loves it so much is beautiful. That the maddest you can absolutely be will ultimately provoke the cutest grin and chuckle which in turn causes Daddies to melt like butter. Watching a little girl clap her excitement or point to something that makes her happy is like a small present each time. Witnessing a first moment of discovery is priceless.

Yep, I've learned a lot this year. And thank goodness I have a lot more ahead of me. But boy, they better slow down, this first one went a little quick for my taste, that's for sure!

Wordless Thursday

Gangsta

For those of you who follow Pioneer Woman the way I do, you might find this funny that both of our posts today are titled this. Mine is somewhat titled that because of her's but also because of me too.



You see, Saturday, we took this picture of Reese.



And all I could think that day was, "Damn it feels good to be a gangsta." You know, from the movie, Office Space. It just popped into my head and I thought it was funny and she looked a little ghetto with the open zip up hoodie and the hat.

But then, Ree, over at the Pioneer Woman, quoted that exact line from the movie and I just thought it was too much of a coincidence not to mention it. I NEVER quote that movie or even think of it for that matter and twice in two weeks! Well, it must be a record.

So, I thought I would leave you with my little "Gangsta" today for you to enjoy. She looks pretty cute and this was a great excuse to blog.

Wordless Wednesday

My Kid

Take a look at this picture. It is of a kid I barely even recognize. She is so tiny here. I just can't hardly even remember the no-hair barely holds her head up stage. This picture was taken the first time she ate cereal or anything more than formula for that matter. She just kind of looked at us like, "seriously? What IS that?!" My goodness that seems like lifetimes ago. Especially when tonight we fed her a full-blown meal. The kid is an eating machine! A long, long way from the 3 bites of cereal that she mostly wore this first night.

Raising this kid has been a fast ride so far. In one year she has come so far. If I blink she is suddenly doing something new. She is getting big so fast and each stage presents a new problem but, more importantly, a new joy. Sure, the little monkey can make it to the cabinet doors before I can even get myself off the ground. But she can also crawl into my lap and put her head on my shoulder pretty fast too.

It is a lot of fun looking back at where she's been to see how far she's come. We just keep plowing ahead making memories of how fun this new stage is. Because big or small, cranky or laughing, covered in food or clean, I look at those brown doe eyes and they always make a sucker out of me!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

The First Spaghetti

Spaghetti: making messes since 1854. (I have no idea on that date, I completely made it up).

Every kid has a picture like this. Every kid has made a gigantic mess of this fine cuisine once or twice. But it is definitely a crowd pleaser for a reason. Tonight was our night and we really enjoyed it.

We had once gotten Reese a little toddler dinner of pasta and tomato sauce and it turned out to be one of the biggest eating disasters we've ever had. She was a complete nightmare and refused to eat. Even worse than the applesauce fit. I wasn't in too big of a hurry to try it again. So then tonight when I made dinner I had a separate dinner lined up for Reese just so we didn't have to deal with a huge fit on a week night. Just for fun I threw in some rontini that she could pick up herself and put it on her plate. And can I just say, she LOVED it! She scarfed that rotini like it was her job. We couldn't refill her plate fast enough. Not to mention the gargantuan amount of green beans she ate along with it.

Needless to say, it turned out to be quite a mess. But it was a fun mess. We even found sauce on her diaper; Lord only knows how it got there! She really enjoyed dinner tonight and the dogs really enjoyed the leftovers. It put us all in such a great mood and we ended up having one of the best evenings we've had for awhile. Spaghetti was a success and tonight's leftovers will just be eaten in the nude!

Wordless Wednesday, Ooops, I mean Thursday

Sorry, this Labor Day week threw me off!

10 Months

Reese turned 10 months old yesterday. I just can't believe how time flies. This time last year we were at the lake and I was crying over my swollen feet and lack of alcohol. And here we are a year later and I'm back to the booze.

Anyway, yesterday was a big day of milestones. She of course turned 10 months but she decided to celebrate by getting another tooth, saying her first consonant sounds of ba ba ba and da da da. She is saving Ma ma ma for the next one so that it can be her first word that has meaning. But she also began standing up completely on her own too!

We have seen her gain so much independance and she has become so scientific. She studies everything and usually runs the mouth test on most objects. She can feed herself and eats almost everything we eat. And of course, applesauce is still her favorite. She really loves to help me put on my make-up in the morning and to tip over her toy box.

Each passing day, our little stinker has won our hearts a little more. She lays her head on our shoulder and all transgressions are forgotten. Her giggles are like little rays of sunshine and to say that we live for that huge two-tooth grin would be an understatement. So, happy 10 months of Reese and to thousands more milestones to celebrate!

Wordless Wednesday

The Color Book

It's no question that books are an important part of our family. Right now actually we are all 3 reading and that is a pretty big accomplishment getting Dustin to read. I've mentioned in the past how much I like Sandra Boynton or many other books but I've never really talked about how much I love the process of reading to Reese.

When she was really little I laid her on the bed and let her look up at the pictures. When she was that size I could read 10-15 books at a time and she'd stay engaged in them for a long time. She'd laugh at the silly voices I'd make and we would go to the library for more books every week.

Now that she's a little older the way reading looks is a little different. We usually sit down sometime in the evening after dinner and get out a few board books. She beats on them and feels the pages and textures. Sometimes she eats them and sometimes she just sits patiently and lets me read her a few. She is an easy audience because she can sit still for several books without getting antsy. We read a book several days in a row before we switch out and get a new pile. And we've read every book in our little library about 300 times. I even recited one of our favorites for a friend today. (Right now my mom is reciting, "I hit the ball, I made it fly, I hit the ball oh my oh my.")

Anyway, my point is, reading is important to us, people read to learn, to enjoy pictures, stories and snuggling time with our loved ones. Most of the time we read for enjoyment. I always hope she is learning but at this age, and while she doesn't talk, it's hard to see if she's getting anything from them....that is until tonight. Tonight we read a book about colors. Each page has a bunch of pictures and the reader picks out the object that is a certain color. The first page was yellow, I told her to point to it and I'll be danged if she didn't point right to it. "Sure, I thought, but let's see if she can do it again." Red was next and again, right to it. We turned the page again and this time it was a green grasshopper. That little stinker went three for three and picked the color out each time.

I guess all this reading has paid off. She IS learning something, she IS paying attention and Mama IS so happy at the Baby Einstein I have here at my house!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Bath Time

Reese loves bath time. It is such a fun job and we really look forward to bath night every other day. Tonight we put a few bubbles in and probably a little too much water because she kept trying to drink it. But it turned out to be very exciting to splash around and play with them. She looked adorable and we couldn't help but snap a few shots.

Wordless Wednesday

9 Months

Wow! 9 months already. Time has flown by! I can't believe how much Reese has changed and grown in these few months and especially over the summer. She has become such a happy, interactive little girl and I just can't say enough about how sweet and fun she is.

In just a few short months she has learned to do so much. Crawling, clapping, holding her own bottle. She can smile and laugh so bright and sweet it could melt even the hardest of hearts. She can throw a fit with the best of them too but funny how a Momma only remembers the best parts of a baby. She sits mild tempered in restaurants and can ride in a stroller for hours, content as a girl can be. She brings books to my lap and we sit and read and touch pictures several times a day. She loves banging on colored rings and her stacking cups and jumping in her jumperoo. She falls asleep in the car and then lays her head on your shoulder when she gets out. She growls like a grizzly bear but then cackles when you do the same. Her favorite game is a tie between peekaboo and pat-a-cake. But the most fun of all is bathtime.

We had our 9 month appointment today for her. She weighed a whopping 18 lbs and was 26 inches long. That's a lot of growth in 9 months and I'm so proud. She's a good eater, she'll eat anything from pesto to beets to whipped cream.

All in all, I'd say we have a happy, healthy, BEAUTIFUL baby. She makes our life a lot brighter and a lot busier. So, enjoy a few pictures of my beautiful baby girl. I think you might enjoy them as much as I do!!