AAAAAAAAmen

The other day I mentioned that one of Reese's new words is AAAAAAAmen. Here is the story...it is from when I was really young...like younger than ten (don't remember when exactly):

After the food was blessed and amen was said, a friend of my dad's would say, "And all God's children say AAAAAAmen." So we carried that on with us and would teach it to our cousins. So each morning before breakfast (my aunt kept us before school) all seven kids would hold hands and bless our food and then say "And all God's children say AAAAAmen". When we would say "AAAAAAmen" we all raised our arms up on the "AAAAA" and down on the "men".

So we started doing this with Reese. Here she is during the blessing. We tell her to bow her head and put her hands together. This is what she looks like. I can't open my eyes when I am praying because she makes me laugh every time. She looks like this and is just staring at me.


Then when we say "AAAAAAmen", this is what she looks like...but usually with a huge grin on her face. And then wants to do it "a-gen, a-gen" (translation: again).

And yes, you have to say "AAAAAAAmen" while dragging out the A!!!

Wii Fit

This weekend Lance bought a Wii Fit. It is really cool and fun! Our Wii ages were crazy! Mine was 41, Lance's was 43, and Reese's was 20. Haha!! Hopefully we can bring those down. There are a lot of fun exercises. Today I did Super Hoola and got 847 spins!! Super Hoola is three minutes worth of hoola hooping and I didn't know three minutes of hoola hooping could be so tiring. I think the step aerobics is kind of lame and can't wait until I open the more advanced version. I like the yoga poses too!! It has been fun and hopefully it will help get me up and away from this computer at least 30 minutes a day!!



Reese had fun watching and copying Daddy.

Then she decided she wanted to "play" too. Here I am helping her with the balance test. This is what determines your Wii age along with your BMI.

Friday I gave Reese some playdoh to play with...this was her reaction. Terror. I don't know why she was scared of it. She just cried and had the biggest tears rolling down her face.

So cute!

Crayon Roll up

While we are at the doctors office the other day I was trying to entertain Reese any way I could. Finally I pulled out paper and a pen from my purse and let her color. I decided it would be nice to have some crayons in my purse for such occasions since there is paper on the table in the patient rooms. I remembered seeing a "Crayon Roll-up" online so when I got home I went on an internet scavenger hunt...and found this.

So I made one. This is the first one I made. This is what it looks like from the front.


This is what it looks like rolled up and tied. I gave it to our neighborhood friend, Emma.

The next day I made another one. It was much easier to make since I had already made one.


Here is this one rolled up. I rolled it so the crayons were on the outside this time.

I love these!! What a great idea some one had when coming up with it. It fits perfectly in to any purse when it is rolled up and you can make them as cute as you want!!

And here is Reese helping me out. She is such a good helper!!

Where were you?

My Aunt did a cute little post for her granddaughter the other day after the inauguration...a kind of "where you were" moment. So I am stealing her idea for Reese...thanks "favorite Aunt Cathy"!!

That morning Reese found the bag of bows that our friends gave her. She pulled the biggest white bow out of the bag and put it on top of her head. I asked if she wanted to wear it and she said yes...so here she is...with her gigantic bow on her head.


While I watched the inauguration, Reese watched Elmo on the computer...we both win.


Witnessing History Watching Elmo

Old Navy!

If you are shopping for some inexpensive kids clothes, look no further than Old Navy! We went to Old Navy Sunday night to buy Reese some new clothes. She is quickly outgrowing her current wardrobe and was in some desperate need for new shirts and shoes. I had my reservations about shopping at Old Navy for her because in the past the sizes just didn't work. We would buy in advance for her but by the time it came around to her wearing her new clothes they were too small. Now that I know that I can buy bigger sizes than she wears in other brands. We bought 70+ dollars worth of clothes for her for $22!!! That is right! We save $50!! ALL of their sale stuff was an additional 50% off. She is set for a little while with tops!! Woohoo!! The bummer in all of this?? I had to buy her size 2T! Can you believe that??

After that we went to Target to get some shoes. We bought two pair for $20. I am also waiting for a new pair of boots to arrive anyday now that I ordered online. I think she is set for a little while now with shoes too.

Next thing I need to get her are some new dresses. This past Sunday she wore an 18 month dress that fits everywhere but in the length. It was a little short but we made do!! She has a long torso and short little legs...thanks to her Daddy!

Hopefully I can get some pictures up of some of the new clothes we bought this weekend!

I find it...

humorous that as I log on to Facebook this morning all of the statuses have to do with the inauguration today. Most of the supporters of Obama say they can't wait for today and to get rid of Bush and waiting for a CHANGE. The republicans are being supportive of Obama and praying for our nation. What a difference!! OK so that might not be true of all but I saw it on several!

Today I have a free pass to watch TV (or at least leave it on) all day. I definitely don't want to miss the events of today. Whether you were a supporter of Obama or not you cannot minimize the historical event that are to take place. My kids will be learning about this in school one day as such a huge turning point in the USA. I plan on seeing it through so that I can discuss it with them.

18 MONTHS!!

Reese is 18 months old today!! How is that possible? I took her to the doctor this morning for her check-up. She weighs 26.6 lbs and is 32 1/4" tall. That is 79% and 76% respectively. She did so well at the doctor. They said she was right on track with everything and we are so happy to hear that. She got one shot and had her blood tested for any iron defiencies. She didn't cry when they pricked her finger but she was not happy when she got the shot!! After both of these they put band-aids on her finger and leg. She was so excited about the band-aid on her finger and couldn't wait to show Daddy. When we got in the car she took the band-aid off so I took it away because EVERYTHING goes in her mouth. She cried "da-da" all the way home. I think she was afraid she was not going to be able to show him her finger. So when we got home I put the band-aid back on and she ran in to show him with the biggest smile on her face. She was so proud of that band-aid.

Yeah...we have made it 18 months!!

Grocery Shopping

Today I set up a grocery store for Reese to go "grocery shopping".


She picked out the things she wanted and put them in her grocery cart...she bought everything.

Uh-oh, we almost forgot baby.

Baby needed a snack from all that shopping.

Then it was time for baby to go for a ride.

Boring

We are kind of boring around here this week. Nothing much to report. We are definitely excited about gymnastics tomorrow. Lance asked Reese if she was excited about it and she said "play". At least she remembers...and at least she thinks it is playing and not torture!

My favorite hair-do by far!!

Two Words

Reese has started combining two words. It is fun to hear her and know that she understands a lot more. A lot of times she puts the word "yes?" after other words. For instance, when she wants to watch Elmo she will say, "Elmo, yes?", as if she is asking us if she can watch Elmo. She also likes to say "Yeah Daddy". I am not sure why she adds Daddy to the end of yeah but she does. Her new word that she loves to say is "Amen"...but it is more like "AAAAAAA-men". So cute!! I just know that by the time she is two she will be talking in sentences. It is amazing to see her learn all of these new things!!

Two Firsts

So far today has been a good day. This week Reese has been kind of grumpy. Each morning she wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, immediately wants to watch Elmo, when I say no she pitches a fit, and we start all over the next day. Last night I prayed that she would wake up smiling this morning because I didn't think I could take another day of her being grumpy. So far so good.

This morning Reese had her first gymnastics class. It was so much fun and I think she is really going to like it. She, of course, didn't want to leave and kept saying play as I was trying to get her ready to leave. There was a little girl there today who was just a week or so younger than Reese and it was also her first time. Her mom was kind enough to take some pictures of Reese and send them to me. They are too cute.

Reese is on a trampoline lane. They jumped up and down the lane.


Here we are on a trampoline that was really bouncy. I think she liked this the best.

Reese in the pit. She liked being dropped in to the pit and then also liked stacking the blocks on the edge so we could knock them down. That is the teacher in red.

Walking on the beam. She did surprisingly well on the beam...even the normal sized ones.

She was always checking out what the other kids were doing.

At the end of class they all got stamps on both hands and feet. She thought that was really cool.


After gymnastics I went to Target to buy Reese a booster seat. The highchair has been driving me crazy so I decided it was time to move on. Doesn't she look like such a big girl sitting at the table??

Wordless Wednesday

Birds

I am trying to read...be more productive with my time then blogsurfing, etc. But this is about to drive me crazy. There has to be 100 birds in our backyard making noise. They are so loud and I am afraid they are going to wake Reese up. I can't concentrate on what I am reading with all of this noise.


As I was uploading this video I noticed that most of the birds have flown across the street and are in my neighbors yard and on their house. There has to be more than 100 birds. What are they doing??

She's gonna hate me...

Reese is seriously going to hate me one day for this. Recently she has gotten in to the habit of fighting me when it is time to have her diaper changed. If Daddy is around, she will run to him and try to hide. If no one else is around, she just runs away or screams when I try to change her diaper. So the other day Lance told her that if she didn't want her diaper changed that she was going to have to start using the potty. Then he asked, "do you want to use the potty?" and she said yes. She got up and walked to the bathroom and opened the door. She still had her pjs on so I took them off, took her diaper off, and set her on the potty. This was her first time on the potty and she thought it was hilarious. She didn't do anything and I really don't think she is ready to potty train but I had to share the story!!
**We have a picture of her on the potty but I don't think it is appropriate to put on the internet since she is completely naked.

Starting right

So I think we have started our new year off right. We have had a lot of family time and a lot of Reese time. I am not sure what she is going to think when Daddy goes back to work full time again after these fun couple of weeks. Yesterday afternoon was gorgeous but cold. We wanted to get out of the house for a little while so we bundled Reese up under several layers of clothes and went to the park. It was surprisingly busy. We took her new stroller and let her push it around the smaller loop. About half way around she was done so Daddy had to carry it. She saw the playground and kept saying "play" so we let her play for a little while. She loves playing and watching other kids. She has learned how to get to the slide and go down on her own. But she also likes to go on the big slides with Mommy. When it was time to leave she pitched a royal fit...terrible twos...here we come. Today Reese and I met our neighborhood friends at an indoor playground. It was really fun and neat. The perfect place for a rainy, cold, and yucky day. They had a bunch of toys, play sets, a jumpy house, a bubble machine, and fun kids music blasting through the speakers. The girls really had a great time. Again Reese pitched a fit with leaving...what am I going to do with her? I am so glad we got to go to this fun place today though. It was a great find.

Here are some pictures of Reese from today. They are with our old camera...notice the difference from our new camera pics!!

Going the wrong way on the slide.


Looking out the house window.


Window number 2 checking out the bubbles

Playing in the bubbles