Standing Strong

Reese's new trick is that when she is standing up and holding on to something she will throw her hands in the air like a champion and stand for a few seconds not holding on to anything. It is so funny. It happens so fast that I have not gotten a picture of her yet...hopefully I can snap one soon.

My view

Oh Snap!

This past weekend at the beach we were all snapping to some music and being silly. Reese kept watching all of us snap and decided to do it herself. Here she is snapping...so funny!!

Three beach days and a wedding

We are back from a beautiful, long weekend at the beach. We went to Pensacola Beach on Thursday and came home today. Each day was gorgeous with the usual rain Friday night. It was really windy most of the time and the tide was too strong to get in the ocean...not to mention the million jelly fish that were in the water thus a million more washed up on shore...as you can see in the picture to the right. Friday we just spent the day at the pool and waiting for Becca to arrive. That evening my aunt, uncle, and grandmother came and had dinner with us. Saturday we took Reese over to the beach for the first time. She ate the sand more than she played with it. Then we spent more time at the pool that afternoon. Reese LOVED being in the pool whether she was being held or in her float. Sunday we played more in the pool and then went to my cousin's wedding. It was a gorgeous wedding and ceremony...and probably the fastest wedding I have EVER been to. Reese only squealed once during the ceremony so that was a bonus. The reception was a lot of fun. Reese started getting sleepy around 9:00 (Atlanta time) and eventually fell asleep while the party was going on. Then today we made the six hour trek back home. Reese was so good in the car both ways. We know she was miserable and just wanted to be out of her carseat. We are happy to be home and we are glad to have had such a wonderful vacation!!

Here are some pictures in no particular order!! Hopefully I can get more to show from my mom's camera! We always grabbed it first to take fabulous pictures!!

Reese and Daddy's arrival shot


So happy to finally be out of the car


Checking out the view


After dinner Saturday night...On the boardwalk


Bryan and Amy...Reese was mesmorized


At the wedding reception...isn't that a gorgeous view??


Our view from the condo


Our goodbye beach picture


Goodbye beach picture with Aunt Becky...it was so windy Becca thought she was a super model


On the beach with Daddy


Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought and are fighting for our freedom! We appreciate ALL of your sacrifices!

Pinching Pennies

Rising gas and food prices are really hurting us! Can somebody please make it stop??

Whoa, is the weekend over already?

We have had a super busy, busy, busy weekend. Friday Lance and my dad went to the AT&T classic while Reese and I hung out as normal. The difference in this day was that Lance had to work that night so Reese and I had even more alone time that evening. After putting Reese to bed I watched the movie P.S. I Love You. It was super sappy and I loved every minute of it...with out having to hear Lance make fun of it and me!! Loved the book more but the movie was good too. Lance got home around 3 am and then worked until 4:30am. Finally he came to bed and Reese woke up three hours later. I tried to keep her quiet for as long as possible to let him get some sleep because I knew we were going to be busy the entire weekend. Saturday afternoon we had Reese's baby dedication with our church (not sure why they have it on Saturday). It was nice and we got some super cute pictures of Reese and the rest of the family. After baby dedication we went to lunch with my family and then headed out to watch Brody's baseball game and then Lance's grandmothers viewing. We spent a couple of hours visiting with family and then Reese had had enough so we headed home. Sunday we got up and ready for Lance's grandmothers funeral. After the funeral we went to one of his great-uncle's house and spent a couple of hours there visiting with family that he does not get to see often. Three of his cousins came back to our house with us to spend more time together. It was a lot of fun visiting with them because they are from Texas and we never see them. This morning Reese had a doctors visit for a vaccination...she is 10 months old today...can you believe it?? She weighed 21 pounds and 6 ounces with clothes on. After her doctors visit the five of us headed down to meet Lance for lunch, shopping, and a little more visiting time. We really had a great time with all three of them. They were so sweet with Reese and she definitely loved all of the attention!! I got a picture with her and two of them. Some how Karen escaped with out getting her picture made with Reese. Hopefully we will get to see them again soon...quicker than the three years it has been this past time.

Mommy and Reese at Baby Dedication

Aunt Becky and Aunt Leah with Reese at Baby Dedication


Nana and Granddaddy with Reese at Baby Dedication


Three Generations of Edwards...Pop, Daddy, and Reese


Reese eating some chocolate cake...that she loved...


David reading Reese one of her favorite books...she looks mesmorized


Playing with silly Deann at lunch...she loved her cousin!! That is Karen in the background...I guess she made it in.

A first for me...

Today I had full intentions of going to the park. On our way there a church near by was having a consignment sale so I pulled in. I have been thinking about getting Reese one of those toys she can stand up behind and use it to learn to walk. So I thought I would see if they had any. And they did. So I bought one. I also bought one really cute outfit. I have never bought anything from consignment except for costumes that I may have needed for a party. I have a little bit of a phobia about that...especially for Reese. But I sucked it up today and bought the toy. When I got it home I scrubbed it down real well. I will also wash Reese's new outfit several times before putting it on her.

Here she is figuring out how to use this thing...


I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me...


Last night we had dinner with my cousins. This is the only picture I got while we were there...bummer. Maybe we can get one with them the next time we see them...in their wedding getup!! They made us a FABULOUS dinner that we greatly appreciated! And we can't wait to do it again. This is Reese's new face by the way...not sure what it is.

Congrats!

My cousins had a new baby girl today! Here name is Ava Michelle and she is super cute! We can't wait to meet her! Congratulations Michael and Zoe!!

*Sigh*

Letting Reese cry it out hurts. When she is screaming it makes me want to cry! We know this is the best thing for the future but it hurts right now. The last two nights she has fallen asleep in 25 and then 20 minutes. Whoever said this was going to only take a few nights was WRONG! This is going to take weeks I think! Today I did let her cry it out for her morning nap and it only took a minute, literally, for her to fall asleep. That was great!

Learning, Learning, Learning. It is amazing at how much Reese is learning. She can say Ma-Ma occasionally...I think when she wants something. She can stand up just by leaning her hands on something instead of pulling herself up. She finally pulled up on the coffee table last night. It is higher than most of the other things she pulls up on so it took a while to get it. I have been giving her some YoBaby yogurt this week and she seems to like it. It took a little bit of time to get there because the taste is so different from any of her other foods. After she eats she likes to have the spoon so that she can put it in her mouth. She has also learned a bad habit of pitching a fit when she doesn't get what she wants. She hands me books that she wants to read. When I ask her where her duck book is, she can find it. Having two paci's is better than having one. She likes to have one in her mouth and one in her hand. Sometimes she will switch them back and forth. She is much more clingy right now than she has been. She has learned that if she holds on tight to my arm I can't put her down. I definitely think these past few months have been my favorite of her life so far. I can't believe she is going to be ten months old next week.

After eating some yogurt


Putting the spoon in her mouth...and relaxing


She likes to help do dishes


Checking out the world


My View

Sleep

So here is a recap on getting Reese to "cry it out"! Sunday night I didn't have to let her cry it out because she fell asleep during her bedtime feeding. Last night I left her to cry it out and she only cried for about 20 minutes this time (ten minutes less than Saturday night). Naps are a different story. I think we are going to have to work on those later after we get the night time down!!

Here are some sweet pictures...

She can pull herself up to standing on some things like her little music station. No, she doesn't have on a crop top...I had to tuck her shirt away because her knees would catch on it when she was crawling.


Too cute in her giraffe dress.


This is a dress some friends of ours brought back from Guatemala. I got so many compliments on it the day she wore it. Isn't it precious?

Wonderful Weekend

Friday, Reese and I headed out to Gwinnett for Relay for Life. First, we met my mom at Discover Mills and shopped for a couple of hours. After our shopping spree we headed over to the fairgrounds not thinking traffic would be bad yet. Last year Lance and I sat in traffic for two hours trying to get there. This year we sat in about 30 minutes of traffic...so not as bad. We got to the fairgrounds around 4:30 and there were already tons of people there. I think Gwinnett's relay is the largest one...they raised over two million dollars. That is amazing. The first time I went to Relay for Life was in 2004. We stayed late enough to see the Luminary walk at 10 pm that year and it got me hooked on this amazing fundraiser. It is a very emotional walk that is in memory of some one who has been lost to cancer. During this walk every one at the fairgrounds stops what they are doing, luminary bags are lit, and the families/friends walk while the grounds are completely silent. It is kind of like a moment of silence. That is the only year I have been there for that. It is too sad!! We are always there to see the survivors walk at 7pm. I think this walk is just as emotional but in several different ways. During this walk everyone on the fairgrounds stops what they are doing to watch the survivors (all have purple shirts on) and their caregivers walk a lap around the fairgrounds. Every one watching claps during the entire walk. No matter what I tear up each time. This year I think it was a little different for me. Seeing the amazing, brave kids with their purple survivors shirts on really hit me. We saw one baby that was younger than Reese with the purple shirt on. How is that possible?? I can not imagine being in that situation! While we were their we enjoyed buying drinks and food from the different schools. All of the money raised by the schools and organizations goes to Relay for Life/American Cancer Society. If you have never been to an event like this, GO! It is amazing! We ended up leaving around 8:00 or so and headed to my parents house where Reese and I spent the night. We woke up the next morning and spent some time with my mom for Mother's day.

Papa this one is for you...It says "Give Prostate Cancer the Finger"

Saturday we headed to lunch with Lance in Alpharetta and then off to celebrate Ocho de Mayo (my girlfriend Kristin's birthday...I know Saturday was the 10th but her birthday was the 8th). She had an "Adult Field Day" full of games and fun. We had a great time visiting with all of our friends, many of them had not met Reese yet. Then that afternoon Lance's mom and aunt stopped by on their way home from Chattanooga. We did a little celebrating of Mother's Day with some entertainment by Reese and Wii playing by Lance and his aunt. That night I had decided that I when it was time for Reese to go to bed I was going to let her "cry it out". I was really nervous about this but I knew it was the best thing for her and me. She needs to learn how to get herself to sleep. So after I feed her one last time she was almost asleep and I laid her down in her bed. She is safe their, no blankets, no toys, nothing to hurt her. She pops her head up just in time to see me walk out of the door and starts to scream. I am not talking a little crying...full on bloody murder scream. I go to the bathroom, say a little prayer for strength, and head downstairs. I turned off the monitor downstairs, I can still hear her screaming, I turn up the movie we are watching, I can still hear her screaming. Finally there is some silence, screaming again. Thirty minutes (+/-) after laying her down in her crib there is silence. I give it about five minutes and there is still silence. I go upstairs and she is ASLEEP!!! We did it! We made it.

Sunday was obviously Mother's Day. Lance got up, made breakfast, and got Reese out of bed and changed. He and Reese gave me some fabulous shorts and shirts that I desperately needed. We went to church, lunch, and some shopping that afternoon. Oh yeah, and we had to get the house baby proofed because (in maybe the two minutes it took me to go to the bathroom) Reese figured out how to open the cabinets in our bathroom and decided to play with the oil that Lance uses to grease his electric clippers with. Nice! On the bottle it says "is very harmful and possibly fatal". Just what we needed! Luckily she hadn't put it in her mouth which is unusual for her. She had just squeezed it all over the floor and her pjs. Now we have all of the cabintes locked and gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Other than that excitement my first Mother's Day was perfect!!!

Teeth

A Tale of Two Stories

Date: Tuesday, May 6th

Time: 7 PM

Story: Lance was running late Tuesday night. I was letting Reese navigate the downstairs like normal. She usually goes in to her playroom and plays. She will come to check on me occasionally or I will go to check on her if she is quiet. All of a sudden I hear a loud smack on the hardwood. I run in to the foyer to see Reese pushing her self up off of her face and starts to scream. What in the world did she do I wonder to myself. She doesn't have that far to fall so she shouldn't be screaming like this. She will occasionally push herself up to standing at the bottom of the stairs but that is still not a far fall...nothing she hasn't done before. While she is still screaming Lance walks in the door. She stops for a second and then reaches for him. He takes her and she screams some more. She apparently wasn't getting enough sympathy from me. She eventually calms down and we start her bedtime routine. She goes to bed as normal and then around 11:30 wakes up...and doesn't go back to sleep until 3:00 AM!!

Date: Wednesday, May 7th

Time: sometime in the morning

Story: With a bruised cheek, Reese is playing in the playroom while I am busy packing up some dishes. Today I am keeping a more watchful eye on her. She crawls towards the stairs...I still have my eye on her. She rounds the corner and I let her go. No need to follow her like a hawk. So I think. I give her a few seconds then quietly proceed...with camera in hand. She has learned to climb the stairs!! How in the world?? I carefully take her picture and then quickly remove her from danger. We go upstairs, put on some clothes, and then go out to buy gates for the stairs.

Date: Thursday, May 8th

Time: any time

Story: Reese hasn't really noticed the gate yet...we will see how she likes being kept out!!

Weekend Wrap-up

This past weekend Lance and I went to a 70's themed shower for Adrienne and Erik. We had a blast!! Check it out...

Me and Lance ready to party


The wedding party (minus a few)


Me and Adrienne...we have a picture very similar to this from high school...different outfits though


Me and Lance again...after he busted out of his shirt...too bad you can't see the bell bottoms...they rocked...


And no blog is complete with out pictures of Reese. She can occasionally pull herself up to standing. Here is one of those times...banging on Daddy's tv...he is not going to be happy about that.


Thinking about the beach...

She'll know

She'll know when she reads this...

"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."

Sisters

Today at church one of the kindergarten girls looked up at me during our large group time and said, "We are sisters." She smiled real big and I said, "We are?" She said, "God is our Father so that makes us sisters." I gave her a big smile back and said, "Well, I guess that means we are going to have to start doing family stuff together." She laughed and we continued to listen to the storyteller. A few minutes later she looked at me seriously and said, "Who is our mother?" Luckily the storyteller started to pray because I wasn't sure how to answer that question with out creating more questions. This made me realize that I have a lot to learn before Reese is old enough to start asking questions like that.