Friday, January 29, 2010

Our Lives in Pictures

Working hard to hold that head up


She thinks she is a supermodel


I sat Sam on top of Reese's back and she thought it was the funniest thing...she was belly laughing during this picture


She got her chubby little paw stuck in her golf bag


Always wanting to help...and eat while she is helping


Bruiser


Enough with that helping stuff...let me relax and watch a movie on Daddy's iPhone

Good News/Bad News

Good News:
Sam slept for eight hours last night.

Bad News:
I didn't get to enjoy it because Reese was up all night last night.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My Girl...

Yesterday we didn't eat breakfast before we went to Target so we bought some doughnuts while we were there...Reese picked them out. So, of course, this morning she wanted to eat them for breakfast again.

She is such a mess!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Mad Baby

This is what a mad baby Sam looks like. He cried like this for 1.5 hours today. Still not sure why. The only thing he wanted was to be held a specific way, rocked, and soothed by his paci. If I moved him at all he got mad. During this time we had to go pick Reese up from school. Once she was in the car and he could hear her, he stopped crying and just looked at her. Maybe he missed her today?

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Puddle Jumper

It rained A LOT today. Reese asked if she could go outside and play in the puddles (with Daddy's prompting). Daddy thought I would say no...I thought it sounded like fun. So I sent him out with her! Ha! What could it hurt? Rain jacket...check. Rain boots...check. And it wasn't too cold out.

Reese was thrilled. Look at the water dripping down her face.


When it rains our backyard has a river that runs through it. Perfect place for puddle jumping.




Before she went out I told her that when Daddy says it is time to come in that she has to come in without a fight. This is her coming inside...she was such a good sport.


How cute are those froggy feet?


Reese was soaked from head to toe. As soon as she came in I stripped her down, dried her off, and put her in her PJs to snuggle up on the couch with her Cinderella blanket.

Sam always misses out on the fun stuff!


Reese had so much fun playing in the rain. Thank you, Daddy, for making fun memories!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

He's Getting So Big!



Hey Little Man! I am so sorry I don't take nearly as many pictures of you as I did with your big sister! Everybody always said the second kid doesn't get as many pictures as the first. And they were right! I promise to try and do better. Love, Mommy

Thursday, January 21, 2010

What's in a Name?

I have meant to write this post for a while and just haven't gotten around to it. A lot of times people ask why we chose the names we did for our kids, was it easy, etc. So here goes...



Reese Elizabeth


When we found out we were pregnant with Reese we didn't even start discussing names until we knew the gender of our baby. Once we knew we were having a girl we looked in baby name books, looked online, and listened to names around us...or at least I did...and we knew we didn't want to name our kids after anyone specifically to avoid hurt feelings. One day I was on Baby Center in a name forum. One of the posts was about "names you liked but didn't use" so I went in to see what was listed. There were a bunch of messages but the name Reese stuck out to me. I filed it in to my mental list and went on. A couple of days later we went out to dinner and there was a little girl waiting with her dad. He was holding a bag with the name Reese on it. So now it was there in my face again. That weekend Lance and I sat down with the baby name book and both made a list of the names we liked. I had mentioned the name, Reese, to him before we made our lists. Once we discussed our list of names we both had Reese on it and we both really liked it. (I never associated it with Reese Witherspoon, in case you were wondering...I got that a lot early on). We continued to look at names but always came back to Reese. About a week or so before Reese was born we went to Barnes and Noble. While Lance looked for some books I went to the baby section and pulled out a few baby name books. I opened the first one to see what the name Reese meant and in that particular book it said "passionate". That word meant a lot to me during that time. The first time I went to the church that my parents go to the sermon was about passion and I fell in love with their pastor!! (He actually ended up marrying us a few years later.) When I saw that meaning it was like a sign. I am a horrible decision maker so I take any signs I can get!! I was set on Reese after that.

During our discussion of names we would obviously think of middle names too. With a short name like Reese we knew it needed a longer middle name. The only name we ever liked with it was Elizabeth so it stuck. About six weeks before I was due we went to Florida and visited Lance's grandmother. She wanted to show us something in her bedroom (I can't remember what) so we went back to her room. Above her dresser was her framed wedding invitation with her full name on it. Her middle name was Elizabeth. I was bummed when I first saw it. I had asked Lance if her knew anyone with that as their first or middle name. He had said no. When we got in the car to leave I asked him if he knew what his grandmother's middle name was and he said her maiden name. He had no idea. I tried to come up with other middle names for Reese but never found one that I loved as much. So we left it alone and I am so glad we did. I love her name just the way it is!!




Samuel Dane

As you probably recall from my posts while pregnant with Sam, we had a really hard time finding a boys name that we liked and could agree on. There was so much pressure to have a cute little boys name that would also be great as a man. I really liked a lot of names that were more nicknames. I settled on one name and had a really hard time liking anything else. I became so worried that we would never pick out a name for the little baby cupcake that I would pray about finding a name for him. One of the many times I was sitting at the computer looking up names I thought of Samuel. It was a great man's name and what a sweet name Sam was. I immediately went to our baby name book to look it up. The meaning was "heard from God". There was my sign. I suggested it to Lance that night and he said he liked it. We both thought about it for a few days and eventually decided that it was the perfect name. To this day I have never called him Samuel. He is and will probably always be Sam to me. The only time I use Samuel is for legal reasons...insurance, birth certificate, etc. We occasionally call him Sammy when we are talking in those annoying baby voices and playing with him. Reese almost always calls him "Baby Sam" because that is what we called him when he was still in my belly. She was the only person that knew his name...until the night I checked in to the hospital and Becca was staying with Reese. Becca called me that night and said, "I think Reese told me what the baby's name is." I asked her what she had said and Reese had been talking about Baby Sam. So Becca and my cousin, Lissa, found out the name before he was born.
The middle name was easy. When I was looking up names I came across Dane. It means, "Man from Denmark". My maiden name is Denmark (yes, just like the country). Since I am one of three girls in my family, our last name isn't going any further so I thought I would at least pay tribute to the name. Lance was ok with it so we just found a first name that fit.

So there you have it. That is what's in our names.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Slacker

I am such a slacker right now. I have no pictures to post and really nothing too exciting to write about. Sooooo, I will just do a recap of the past couple of days.

I am super excited because my mom just bought an embroidery machine and I was able to take a class on it with her this past Sunday. Watch out people...everything is going to be monogrammed soon! I can't wait to make some cute things for the kids! She also has a pleater (sp?) to do some smocking. That is the next class we will take.

Yesterday Lance had the day off of work so we did all kinds of fun things... In the morning we had our vitals checked for our life insurance. After that we headed to take Lance's car to get the oil changed and then out to breakfast. While Lance got his haircut I took the two little monkeys to Target to grocery shop. See, I told you it was a fun day!

Oh yeah...Sam turned 10 weeks old yesterday!! Wow!

Reese had school this morning. She seriously loves going! I know I say that all of the time but she does and I am so glad! I spent all morning trying to track down Sam's social security card because we still have not received it in the mail. Talk about a pain in the butt! The automated recording for the social security office is HORRIBLE! It actually hangs up on you if all of the operators are busy! After naps we went to the park to enjoy this beautiful day. I got in a great walk and then Reese got to run around and play. Tonight Justin stopped by on his way through Atlanta and ate dinner with us. It was a nice but quick visit.

Today Reese is officially 2.5 years old! Really, wow!

Reese was telling me about school during lunch and she said her friend "Kaden got a haircut just like my friend, Daddy". She always calls family members friends. Too funny!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Babies and More Babies

Right now I know nine girls who are pregnant (that I can think of). Yesterday I celebrated the upcoming arrival of two of the babies.

In the morning I helped host a shower for my friend Amy's second baby boy. It was really simple and sweet. Look at this amazing cake...


I didn't get a whole lot of pictures but I wanted to share a few of the nice touches. We had it at one of the hosts house and she set up this beautiful arrangement on the table.


And made these sweet beautiful butterflies for the glasses.


It was a great shower and Amy got some wonderful and special gifts just for this baby.

********

As soon as I was done with the morning shower, I ran home put the family in the car and headed out to my grandparents house. My Aunt Cathy is in town for a visit so the whole family was gathered together. Her daughter, Tricia, is expecting a baby boy in March. Since they live in Florida we are not going to be able to be at any baby showers for her. So we decided to have a "Surprise Grammie Shower" for my aunt.

She, of course, was so excited to receive some fun gifts for her grandson.


We told her that, yes, she has to share these gifts with her daughter!!


Reese was most excited about this...


Where did Reese go??


Oh...there she is...


Reese got to sit in this cute little desk. We also pulled out a VCR so that Reese could watch Beauty and the Beast on VHS!! She loved it and sat like this for a long time. I hope Disney will release the DVD version of it from the vault before Reese is too old!!


Grammy must have been saying something funny here to Sam. He loved being held and talked to as much as Reese loved entertaining everybody!


We had such a dun day visiting with our family!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Out and About

FINALLY!!! It was warm enough for us to go outside today and we took full advantage of it. After naps we headed to the park. It has been months since we have been there for a walk. We got there later than I had planned on so I only did one and a half laps so that Reese could play. Lance wasn't getting home until late so I wanted to spend as much time with her running around as possible. She had a great time! I am so thankful for this "warmer" weather. Hopefully we can do it again tomorrow!

While we were walking a man with crazy hair and a grimace on his face walked by us with his two dogs. I always smile at people as they walk by but this guy was kind of scary...so I smiled anyways...he did not smile back. When he was right beside me Reese and I had this conversation...

Reese: (very loudly) Did you see that man?

Me: Yes, he was walking two dogs. (trying to let him get as far away as possible because I knew it was going to be a bad conversation)

Reese: Yeah, with his crazy hair and mad face!!

I just had to giggle. What could I say to the truth??

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Maaa-meeee-a

I was thinking of a post to write about how many times I heard the word "mommy" today. And by mommy I mean "maaa-meeee-a". But then I read this post and decided that I am going to miss this too one day!

Maybe we can just reduce the number of "maaa-meeee-a"'s through out the day??

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

My Life...and I Love It!

This is what I looked like at BJ's yesterday. This is the Cadillac of grocery carts!! It was perfect...minus the hard turns and trying not to hit anybody or anything.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Well Visits

Reese had her 2.5 year well visit today with the pediatrician. She did so well considering she received two shots. I had only planned on her getting one but there was one that hadn't been available for a while and they finally had it. She obviously wasn't happy about these shots but she was excited to get a toy out of the treasure chest! She chose bubbles. Today she weighed 33.4 lbs (91%) and is 36 1/4" tall (71%). Since Reese turned two she has gained one pound and grown 2.5 inches. She is reaching (more like exceeding) all of her milestones. The doctor said, "By the time she is three you should be able to understand 75% of what she is saying and she should be putting 3 and 4 word sentences together." I just giggled when she said that! She obviously isn't around Reese much! LOL! As we were leaving, Reese was telling me something and the lady behind the desk said, "I bet she is a chatterbox!" All I said after a laugh was, "Always!" The girl doesn't stop talking...ever!

Sam had his 2 month well visit today. And boy is he still a growing machine!! He weighs 12.13 lbs (75%) and is 23 1/4" long (62%). That's right people...he has gained three pounds in one month...and five pounds since he was born. Poor guy still has a tiny head though! However, it is slowly but surely gaining size and percentages. Today it measured 15 1/4" (21%). He did not receive any vaccinations. I am doing the same revised schedule with him that I did with Reese so he will not get any shots until his 4 month well visit. He was such a sweet and happy baby today (until Reese was crying after her shots). He is smiling and interacting a good bit now. I just love when he gets excited about something.

Reese is still loving being a big sister. She occasionally has her moments but overall is a very good and helpful big sister.

This is what happens when you leave Daddy alone with the kids...

Sunday, January 10, 2010

TWO MONTHS!

Yesterday Sam turned two months old!! Crazy! He has his well visit tomorrow. I can't wait to see what his stats are!!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Let It Snow!

It snowed this afternoon...and yes, we were excited! Reese was napping during most of the snow falling so I was afraid she was going to miss it. When she woke up from her nap another snow fall started up again so I took her out to play in it! She had a lot of fun for about 20 minutes and it was a fight to bring her back inside.

This chair had fallen over so it had snow on the back. Reese had fun drawing on it.


Not a great picture of little bit but I thought it was neat how a big flake fell right as I was snapping her picture...check out the big white circle at the bottom.


All decked out in her warm gear!


And this is what Sam did while Reese and I played outside. He stayed cozy and warm!!


I have some video I took with our new Kodak video camera (the Kodak version on the Flip). However, my computer is a piece of junk and freezes up when I try to use the USB port in the front. Since I can't reach the ports in the back I will have to load them on Lance's computer later! Check back soon!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Picture Day

Right now the hubs is watching GT football and they are losing...I will sit here and give you a post of pictures because the alternative is not fun!

Bling-Bling


This is the life!


Brrr...it's cold out!!


What??


Such a ham!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Monday Fun Day!

This morning we had a bunch of mommies and kids over. It has been several weeks since we all got together because of the holidays and we missed everyone so much!! It was loud, tons of conversation, eating, and just what this soul needed. I didn't take one single picture and I wish I had. The kids all seemed to have a blast seeing each other again too.

I am so glad to be getting back in to a routine after having Reese out of school for two weeks. She goes back tomorrow and she is very excited. I am going to try to catch up on laundry tomorrow. Some how the laundry just builds and builds. I think Lance hides his laundry somewhere during the week and then dumps it all in the basket at once. And I feel like I do laundry everyday. I have two loads (one clothes and one sheets) that still need to be folded from last week. I never let that happen but somehow it has. We will see how it goes...

Saturday, January 2, 2010

This Past Year

In pictures...

It is amazing the transformation Reese has made, the fun things we have done, and the excitement we have had over the past year.

Reese's hair alone has changed the most.




Her fun personality has really started to shine.




She found out she was going to be a big sister...happy, huh?


She went to a Tech game with Daddy.


Her imagination really started to take off.





And she turned TWO!


Reese started preschool.


Made some new friends and enjoyed the old!


She is a riot!


Wanted to be a cowgirl.


Became a big sister!


And fell in love!



What an amazing year! Hair growing, teeth coming in, potty training, big girl bed, big sister, baby brother...LOVE! What a great 2009! We can't wait to see what happens in 2010!