Happy 1/2 Birthday!

And another month has gone by! Six months old...oh my sweet Reese, you are such a joy to have around. Here is a recap of a few things I want to remember:

-Love to eat...started eating sweet potatoes, peas, squash, and bananas so far and has yet to meet a food you didn't like
-Still taking only 4 oz at a time, 6-8 times a day
-Sleep: getting better, we finally moved you to your crib (long overdue I know) and you are adjusting...you will make it about 6-7 hrs before waking up VERY happy, which is good, but normally that is somewhere between 1-3 am...hoping you decide to go a little longer soon
-Has found your voice! You find it very fun to see how loud you can scream, not out of anger or being upset, just for fun, you like to hear yourself
-Smiles 24/7...still the only time you are fussy is when you are tired/hungry; however, we have discovered you are not a big fan of crowds...we attended two different parties this past month and you stuck your lip out as far as you could
-Starting to have some separation anxiety and is picking up on strangers....you are still great with grandparents, aunt/uncle, and babysitter, but other than that you don't like unfamiliar people to hold you
-Brother/Sister Bond: if you could have a BFF at this age then that would be Ashton, you still respond better to him than to anyone and if you hear his voice you will strain your neck to see where he is
-On the move! You are rolling all over, back to stomach, stomach to back and you love the exersaucer where you can walk around the activity table (reminds me of when Ashton used to drag the whole table across the house when he was in it)
-Sitting up, sorta....you can sit up for about 10 seconds before you fall over but I can tell you are getting stronger and stronger
-Laugh: You have such a hearty laugh that is contagious!

Reese, you are just a happy girl! Those big blue eyes pull everyone in immediately. I am thinking you are turning into a daddy's girl because lately you cry when he leaves the room and light up as soon as he enters it. We love you so much and you make each and everyday brighter!

(We go to the doctor on Monday for our six month check up, and shots :( so I will post stats later)

Girls Weekend

While the boys are away, the girls will play! Casey went hunting this weekend and took Ashton along so while he was out hunting Ashton could spend a long weekend in Midland with his grandparents. He has had a blast, too bad I have been missing him like crazy. This sweet face has been the saving grace for me.

Quick update

I have been a little behind on posting. With the holidays time always seems to be lacking with everything to get done. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and are looking forward to the Christmas season. I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately so I will leave you with Ashton preparing for "Movember 2011!"

Five Months

Five Months! And another month has flown by, seems like it is faster than the last one. Oh Reese, you really are a sweetheart. Here are a few things I want to remember:

-Eating: Started on Rice Cereal/Oatmeal twice a day...you LOVE your food. When you see the spoon you start kicking your legs and then grunt between bites. You get a bit angry when it is all gone. You still nurse around 2-3 times a day and are taking a combo of formula/pumped milk (4-5 bottles) a day, but on the weekends we try to do more nursing...still only taking about 4 oz with each bottle, tried upping it but you just spit up more so we will stick with what works

-Sleeping: You don't want to miss anything so the babysitter calls you the Queen of Catnaps! You normally take a good nap in the morning for around an hour or so, then dose on and off throughout the day (about 2-3 30 min naps). Time change has done a doozie on you at night but we have managed to push bedtime to around 7 PM and you still wake up somewhere around 2-3, nurse then go back down for a few more hours which is good. Rarely do you get fussy but when you are ready for bed, you better put you down because you are done!

-Playing: You like tummy time and playing with these soft toy blocks, toys that light up/make noise and a purple pillow of Mommy's. You LOVE Mickey Mouse and smile at Ashton's stuffed animal and then hug him. We have started letting you play in the exersaucer that you can walk around in and play with the different toys and you love it. I think your favorite "toy" is your own hands and feet. Many times you will just be staring at your hands and get so excited. When you eat you are holding one of two things, Mommy's hand (which I love) or your own foot. Oh baby girl, I hope you can always touch your toes with such ease!

-People: You really recognize everyone now and your own name. It is still very apparent that you idolize your brother, Ashton, and he does the same with you. I am not going to deny that I have used your charm to get him out of a bad mood because when he looks at you he can't help but smile and busts out with "Hey Reesy Peesy!" I LOVE how you and him interact with each other and pray it is always like this. He is already a very protective big brother and you are the apple of his eye!

-Other tidbits...you are in 3-6 month clothing, some 3 months still fit, size 1 diapers...getting ready to move to size 2, has lost a considerable amount of hair but still has some on top, and above all else you SMILE ALL THE TIME! When you wake up you stretch out and then when you see me, you grin from ear to ear. Our mornings together are my favorite time of the day and on the weekends when all four of us climb into Mommy and Daddy's bed I am in heaven! Oh Reese, we love you so much!

Oh what a face!

Everyday when I see this precious face, all I can do is smile! Oh how I love my little girl!

Movember

This year my husband donated his face to raise money for Men's Health. While "Movember" is technically the whole month of November, his team started on Oct 22....thank goodness considering our family pictures were today. The team raised over $16,000 which is very impressive for their first year. I wanted to make sure I documented the before and after of the "stache." I think Reese is going to miss playing with that funny thing on her daddy's face, oh well, there is always next year!

Fingerpainting, sort of

This brings finger painting to a whole new level. Very thankful for the Crayola WASHABLE Finger Paint...provides loads of entertainment!

Long Overdue

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. On Halloween night, when Ashton was collecting quite a stash of candy, Reese got to have her own treat...cereal! She absolutely LOVED it and has enjoyed it ever since. She grunts as soon as the spoon goes away from her mouth and gets angry when it is all gone, what can I say, the girl likes to eat! She has been eating it for about 2 weeks now, once a day the first week and now twice a day. I just let her try baby oatmeal as well. She seems to favor the rice cereal for now, but I have a feeling when we start with some veggies and fruit soon she will be in heaven!

Cookies!

I decided it was time to create a new blog dedicated to cookies. As many of you know I have developed a hobby in the last year and a half in baking/decorating sugar cookies. While I do sell them to friends, I really do it because I like it a lot. That is the dream job in my opinion, doing something you love where you can have fun. So check it out: http://crashincookies.blogspot.com


The name is for Casey Reese ASHton and Natalie of course. Hope you enjoy!

Before and After

So by no means was this Ashton's first haircut, but it was a way over due one. Ashton did great the first time I brought him to get his haircut but then it seemed to be a downhill experience. Luckily, Casey's mom has stepped in the past two years to keep his hair trimmed and we are very thankful for that. With family pictures coming up soon I wanted to get Ashton a "Big Boy" haircut so I brought him to my hairdresser Jenny to let her work her magic. Ashton was awesome and sat in the chair and let Jenny go to work. See for yourself her "magic!" I can't believe how big my little boy looks now!

Before:

After:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We had a great night with Mo, Mimi, Uncle Mark and Aunt Jac helping Ashton and Reese celebrate Halloween. Ashton was our very own UPS man (or the Oop-us Man) as he called himself, and Reese was a Lil' Pumpkin. Ashton was very excited about Halloween and even made his own box to go with his costume complete with stickers and even some UPS packing slips. This year was a lot of fun since it really was the first time Ashton seemed to understand what was going on. Last year he went to the doors but just stood there, this year he would say "trick or treat" then after receiving his candy he would say "thank you!" which made his Mommy SO PROUD! We practiced that and it seemed to work! Apparently at one house Ashton was so used to people giving him two pieces of candy and this man only gave him one, so Ashton proceded to reach into the bowl and help himself to his second piece; at least he said thank you right! We had a great night and were very thankful that our family good be with us.

Two new posts

Check out my two new posts below!

Pumpkin Patch

With Daddy off hunting for the weekend, Mommy and Mimi packed up the kids and headed to a pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time. Warning: Picture overload!