Attached

When Reese was little, she loved her pacifier.  In fact, she slept with one in her mouth and one in her hand.  As she got older we limited when she got to have it.  Instead of all the time, she could have it in the car and in her bed. 

We eventually took it away in the car and it was only for bedtime.  Right before she turned two we took them away all together by having her give them to our new friend Connor who was a baby because “only babies need pacis”. 

Reese struggled with no pacifier for about a day and then would only talk about it occasionally.

I DREAD thinking about getting rid of Sam’s pacifier!  I truly think he needs to get rid of his earlier than we did with Reese because he got all of his teeth so early.  BUT…he is SOOOOO attached.

It is something that we really try to limit.  In fact, I have already removed them from the car and try to keep them in his bed.  However, the second his feet hit the floor upstairs he goes straight to his room, reaches through his crib, and grabs his paci and doggy blanket.

They bring him comfort.  Because he seems to be much more shy than Reese was, I tend to give in to him bringing them places where I know he will be uncomfortable.  They are his security and seem to help him not be as upset when I leave him places.  In fact, I think that is the trick our babysitter uses to get him to calm down.

It is going to be a battle of wills when it is time to get rid of the pacifier.  I don’t think it will go as smoothly as Reese’s transition did.  I have a friend who cut her daughter’s pacifier.  That may work for Sam because he understands when things are broken.  He also likes to throw things in the trash for us so that might be the route we have to take. 

Reese’s First Haircut

For the first time in three years, eight months, and one week, Reese got her hair cut.  Her hair always grew perfectly.  It never looked shaggy.  However, it eventually got to the point where it was getting hard to comb through and tangling pretty easily.  After many mornings in a row of fighting with Reese and her hair, I made an appointment to get her hair cut.  I went back and forth between taking her to the guy who cuts my hair and to one of the kids haircut places.  I was worried about taking her to a kids place because her hair has never been kid hair.  She has always had adult hair so I decided an adult haircut salon would be best for us. 

Reese has been very excited about getting her hair cut.  Before getting her hair cut today we went with Lance to get his hair cut.  This actually worked out perfectly because she got to see everything that happened.  When we finally got to the salon for her turn she couldn’t wait! 

She was very quiet the whole time but was perfect.  She did everything she was asked to do.  I think her favorite part was getting her hair washed.  She looked like she actually enjoyed it.  At home that is our most dreaded time of the week.  I wish I had my camera during this time because she just laid her head back, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the pampering. 

When we got to the chair I was going to sit down in front of her but Ben asked me to look at something.  She looked at me and said, “Sit down, Mommy.”  Ha!  The entire time she was getting her hair cut she had a sly little grin on her face.  She just loved it!  She asked me if we could come back every day after soccer to get her hair cut.

Overall, she got about two inches cut off and thinned the front out just a tad bit to help it curl some.

   

I am hoping this helps us maintain it a little easier.  And I am so glad she loved every minute of it.

Celebrating Reese

Since Reese has a summer birthday she never gets to celebrate her birthday at school.  She loves celebrating her school friends birthdays and comes home so excited for them at the end of the day. 

This week was Reese’s turn at school to bring snacks. It will be her last time bringing snacks in for the school year so I asked her teacher if we could have a “Celebrate Reese” day in lieu of a birthday celebration (that she wouldn’t get to otherwise have). She agreed and Reese was beyond excited.  We went out last week and bought Princess plates, napkins, cupcake liners, and an ‘R’ candle.

Yesterday afternoon we made the cupcakes.  She lined the pans and then looked at me and said, “This is so fun!”.

Reese was thrilled that Lance was going to work from home this morning so that he could join us at school to celebrate.  The kids were, obviously, excited about cupcakes and they all sang “Happy Birthday” to Reese while she had a huge grin on her face. 

Sam had been eyeing the cupcakes since yesterday so when he was finally able to dig in, he didn’t hold back!

We had fun celebrating our little munchkin at her school today!  We are so blessed with a great school and a sweet teacher who didn’t mind a little disruption today!

March for Babies

It’s that time again. 

We are doing March for Babies once again.  If you can, please donate to this special cause.  We feel so blessed to have healthy babies and we wish that for everyone!

There is a link in the side bar to donate through.  Thank you so much for your support…and pray for nice weather this year!!

Busy, Busy Weekend

Whew!  We have had a busy weekend!  Bright and early Saturday morning Reese started soccer.  It is a parent/kid program and it is basically just soccer lessons.  They teach soccer basics which is good for the kids and parents.  Lance doesn’t know anything about soccer so he was soaking it all in too.

Each kid got a t-shirt and their own soccer ball.  The coach said, “You can’t call yourself a soccer player if you don’t have your own soccer ball.”  Reese’s friend, Emma, from the neighborhood is playing too.  While we waited for all the kids to arrive we ran from goal to goal kicking the ball.  I think the girls liked this the best.

Finally the lessons started.  They had to squeeze the ball between their feet and try to jump.  Then we played helicopter.  Reese had to squeeze the ball between her feet while I spun her around.

Later we practiced kicking the ball properly.  Reese has a really good, strong kick but when we tried to follow the coaches exact directions it kind of tripped her up a bit.

Next they played a game where they ran around flipping over cones first with out their ball and then later while kicking their ball.

“Go Tis-E"!”

Water break

The next activity was probably the funniest.  They were supposed to throw their ball up in the air, try to clap one time, and then catch the ball.  We had to focus on just throwing the ball up and catching it.  Ha!  Reese caught the ball with her face a couple of times.  When I would giggle at her she would say, “Stop laughing at me!”, with a huge grin on her face.

Finally we got to practice kicking the ball in to the goal.  The coach said soccer goals are rare so when we score we have to really celebrate.  He taught the kids to do the airplane when they scored.  Reese thought this was funny.

After soccer we spent some time at “Touch a Truck”.  It was kind of lame but it was nice to be outside on such a beautiful morning.  After that we headed to lunch at Reese’s favorite spot, Taco Mac!  We sat out on the patio and it was perfect.

After naps, it was off to Connor’s birthday party.  Her party was at Gymboree.

Reese and Sam both seemed to really enjoy themselves.

We saw lots of friends and got to catch up with some we hadn’t seen in a while.

It was an Elmo themed party so Reese wore her Abby Cadabby shirt from the Elmo show we went to before Sam was born.

Everybody slept great last night and then we got up bright and early to go to the early service at church today.  After church we went to Champion Kids for Wes and Tucker’s birthday party.

The kids always have so much fun there.

It is nap time once again and it seems to be quiet upstairs.  Hopefully everyone is resting well because I am thinking about taking a nap too!!  I am worn out.

GNO

Friday night Reese and I had a girls night out. She was so excited to have some time alone with me.  All day she asked if I was excited. A local private school did a production of Beauty and the Beast.  We had a great time.  We met some of Reese’s friends there too.  The girls had a great time dancing in the aisle to the music and enjoyed the show.  The show was done really well and Belle and Gaston were wonderful!  We didn’t get home until 10:00 so it was a late night but Reese was a trooper.  It was a special girls night!

Recent Pictures

Chick-fil-A milkshakes…

Posing before church

Sam not wanting his picture taken…as usual

Swinging and enjoying the beautiful weather

Entertaining himself

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Reese had picture day at school today and I had a hard time finding something that was green, picture appropriate, and inexpensive.  I went to several places to find something and finally found this cute little dress at Carters.  She wore a white cardigan over it this morning since it was chilly. 

Sam refuses to have his picture taken anymore so I only have a picture of Reese.  But he had a cute little polo on that matched the green on Reese’s dress.  I was able to grab a picture of him sitting at the table (without his shirt on).

A friend of ours gave us some cute shamrock cookies last night for the kids so they had those after lunch.

A while back I told Reese a story about when I was in Kindergarten a leprechaun came to our class room while we were gone and made a huge mess on St. Patrick’s Day.  She loved that story and talks about it a lot.  Well, today while Reese was at school a leprechaun came to her bedroom and made a huge mess.

He threw books all over the floor, dumped laundry over, pulled dress up clothes out of her toy chest, turned pictures over, flipped over her clock and rocking chair, and knocked Barbie’s over in the doll house.

When she first walked in to her room she said, “Hey! What in the world? I just cleaned up my room this morning.”

It was too cute to watch her react to this. Here is what she had to say about it.

When Daddy Works Late…

This is how the kids play with him and tell him good night:

Thank you Skype!

Special Day

We all had a special day today.  After a quick breakfast at Chick-fil-A, the kids and Lance headed down to the zoo.  Lance said they all had a great time and bought us a season pass so we could go back when ever we wanted.  Lance said Reese actually enjoyed petting the animals in the petting zoo.  He said Sam wanted nothing to do with with the petting zoo.  While they were off enjoying the nice weather outside, I enjoyed some time with my mom and Becca at Spa Sydell.  We all got a one hour massage and it was so fabulous.  However, I am pretty sure time goes at warp speed during a massage.  How can sixty minutes go by so fast??  After everyone enjoyed their morning, the whole family got together for lunch to celebrate Becca’s birthday.  I am so glad Lance got to spend time with the little monkeys alone and I had some girl time!  What a special day!

Our Little Ballerina

Today was Parent Watch Day at Reese’s ballet class. Reese was SOOOOO excited that I was going to be able to come in to her class and watch her today.

Before the class the teacher did a little talking before they did any dancing.  This picture just cracks me up!!

Finally it was time for them to show the parents their dance.  They will be doing this dance for their recital in June.  I really think they showed this to the parents so the parents could help out at home.

There are eight girls and one boy in her class.  The little boy actually did the best out of all of the kids.  He remembered everything and knew what everyone else was supposed to be doing too.  The teacher on the left is the head teacher and is holding the place of a little girl who was not there.  The one on the right is the assistant.  She will actually be in the dance dressed as Sleeping Beauty (and to remind the kids of the choreography).

They are dancing to “Once Upon A Dream” from Sleeping Beauty.  Here they make a castle with their partner.

They were so cute.  I am glad I finally got to see her in class.  There is no parent viewing area so I have never seen her doing any of this.  She really LOVES ballet and I feel a little bad about having not started her earlier.