Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Something For Me


The other day, I had some spare time during Reilly's nap.  Dinner was going, and the house was clean, and sometimes you just have to do something for you!  Especially with all the painting I do for other people, I love when I can paint something for us to enjoy in our house.


So I made these canvases for our bedroom.  It means "Infinite Love", since the word love is written within the mathematical symbol for infinity.  I loved that in incorporated love, and math, which both have to do with my hubby. :) 


Our duvet cover has navy and white stripes, so I incorporated those stripes into the canvases.  The stripes are white, and a very pale blue.  The lettering is a taupe color, because I love taupe.

The past several days have been busy ones, getting ready for one of my favorite holidays!  At 22 weeks, I'm really knocking out at the end of the day after chasing Reilly all day.  I'm feeling the pregnancy starting to take a toll on my daily activities, and trying my best to find that balance between doing what needs to be done, taking care of my babies, and taking care of my body.  

These busy days with my growing belly, and my hilarious little girl, are my absolute favorite.  I wouldn't trade them for anything, and have so much to be thankful for this season.

*Random Reilly:  She stands her crib after her nap and says "BETT! ARE YOU?!"  (Brett! Where are you?!)  She is too funny.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Guest Post - Daddy

So, our house is officially scary. I’m afraid of the dark. When I need to wake up in the middle of the night for my midnight snack, or go to the bathroom, or check the TV for a MNF (Monday Night Football) score, I tremble in fear. Here are a few reasons:




Abby’s Magic Wand

Playschool Bus

Singing Elmo

Any of the assorted pianos that are lying around the house

Anything else that Rei has that makes noise and scares the living hell out of you when you’re stumbling through the house in a twilight fog



I can’t tell you how many times I have jumped out of my skin because someone (Reilly) left their toy in the middle of the hallway/living room/kitchen/bathroom, and I stepped on it and it started yelling at me in the dead of night, or singing a song, or Beethoven decided to play his Midnight Sonata (ironic, huh?). No, Mr. Bus Driver, no one wants to ride your stupid bus at 1 a.m. (P.S. Reilly loves that bus, and thanks Mom and Dad for getting it for her. It’s a great toy, just not when I’m sleep walking). And no, Abby, no one wants to use your magic wand. All I want to do is pee, and then go back to bed, without getting serenaded by a concerto or a fugue.



Remember those movies that you see where there is a father who walks through the house and trips over toys/steps on roller skates/takes the curtains down with him? That is no exaggeration. If anything, it’s worse because they aren’t allowed to curse in those movies.



I love you to death, Elmo, but for the love of God, leave me alone in the middle of the night.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

That Thing You Do - 18 months

Yesterday, Hubby asked me, "Do you write down all these funny things she says and does? I think we should be writing them down."

So I said, "You mean like, on a blog?"

I sometimes think all I write about is the funny little things Rei Rei does.  But today, I'm recording some more, just in case we forget just how funny she was at 18 months.

1. When I am putting on her shirt, she says, "HAANNNDS?!", and then when she sees her hand again, she say "Hi, hand."  She does the same thing with her pants, saying "FEEETTT?!"

2. When I go in to her room in the morning, if she has a dirty diaper (poop, specifically), the first thing she does is wrinkle her nose at me, sniff the air twice, and then shake her head and say "Eww!"  I think it's hilarious that she does this, even though she knows the word poopies.

3.  If I am running around the house doing things, Reilly has taken to telling me, quite firmly, to SIT.  For example, I was feeding her apple sauce while emptying the dishwasher, and after the second run-back-to-her-highchair bite, she looked at me, pointed to the closest chair and said, "Sit!"

This morning, the same thing happened.  She asked for some muffin that I was having.  So I got her some and gave her a bite, but was eating mine standing up next to the kitchen table.  She pointed the couch and said, "Sit. SIT!"  I'm wondering if she has some type of sixth sense?  Is God speaking through her to make sure I take it easy?  Sometimes she freaks me out.

4.  She is obsessed with numbers.  LOVES them.  And my current favorite word that she says is "Num-maws!"  She points to the numbers on the screen at checkout, and then she pointed to the numbers while we were pumping gas!  She is her father's daughter.

5. She loves announcing when people are going "Pee-pees".  Anytime anyone leaves a room, she thinks they are going pee pees.  And every time I go into the bathroom, she says "PEE-PEES!" and follows me in and sits on her potty seat, kicking her feet.

6.  She still has an obsession with babies, still going strong, which is good since we're having one and all. At Mommy and Me, there are games, slides, children, ball pits, endless room for play - and she walks over the the only little baby in her baby carrier, and just gazes at her and blows kisses.  Thank you, God, for the only 18 month old who's life's goal it is to be a big sister.  She has no idea the fun that is ahead of her! :)


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Recent Snippets



Just thought I would update on some interesting things that have been happening recently.  Well, you may this they are interesting, some of them are just things!

1. I just finished making 51 Christmas ornaments to be sold at Woodloch, and now I have blisters.  But I'm so happy with how they came out!

2.  A few weeks ago, we had a ginormous snow storm.  We got about a foot of snow, made hot chocolate, watched Elf, and had our Christmas photo shoot.  Here's a sneak peek!



Look at our little cutie Elf!

3.  We see our baby via sonogram tomorrow!! It's Daddy's first time seeing baby.  He's going to flip, I know it.

4.  We turned Reilly's car seat back around to backward-facing, after being forward-facing for months due to the fact that they changed recommendations and the safety comparison is astounding. This video really helped us make our decision about turning her back around.  We'll see how the adjustment goes!  But then again, this is just a "because we said so" and "mama knows best" situation, so girlfriend's going to have to deal.  I think she'll be fine, as long as she can still see me in the mirror, and we still sing ABC's while we drive, and I still give her raisins.  She's not hard to please.

5. I honestly think I am going to get more sleep when I have a newborn than I am now.  I have literally...let me repeat LITERALLY...been up every hour to pee the past few nights.  EVERY HOUR.  From my experience, breastfeeding will sometimes give you a 2-3 hour stretch in the early days.  Cakewalk compared to my current sleeping patterns.  Upside: baby is growing and taking over my abdomen!

6.  Reilly started talking in short sentences!  Here are some examples:
When she is looking for something, let's say her Elmo doll:  "Elmo, are you??" ( Elmo, where are you?)
When something unexpected happens, like a loud sound:  "Uh oh, happened?!" (Imitating me saying "Uh oh, what happened?")
When playing peek-a-boo, or entering a room that I am on: "I see you Mama!"  (This one is obvious)
I also recently taught her to say "Thank you, Jesus." and she is so good at it!

And tonight at dinner, when Hubby and I sat down, (she was already eating), she folded her hands, put them to her head, closed her eyes, and said "Amen. Amen. (mumbled things we couldn't hear) Amen."  Then she opened one eye to see if we were watching her.  Then she continued.  I just looked at Hubby and said, "I think she just said grace.."  We agreed that whatever she was saying was probably better than anything we come up with!


That's what's happening around here.  Fun weekend ahead!! Gotta go tie ribbons onto ornaments!


Monday, November 7, 2011

Cuddly Morning Girl

Every morning, Reilly and I have a ritual.  We start with sleeping in as long as our bodies will allow.  I don't know how, but somehow Reilly has inherited my sleeping gene.  We sleep until 8:30 on a typical day, which is great for this fetus-growing-peeing-6-times-a-night-toss-and-turn-surrounded-by-6-pillows mama!  I'm never low on sleep, and never tired during the day thanks to all the sleep my babygirl gives me.  It also gives her a solid 13 hours, which is great for her little body too!

Then, we snuggle.  She says, "Change you!" and gets a diaper and brings it to me to change her.  Then she says, "Cereal? Elmo?".  We watch the last part of Sesame Street together, which conveniently is Elmo's World.  I give her cereal in her little travel cup, so she can eat it on the go.  While she watches Elmo, I stumble around getting coffee ready and have a little something to eat.  Then she sits next to me, like above, and we snuggle and watch Regis and Kelly.

This snuggle-fest doesn't always happen, especially on days we have somewhere to be or errands to run.  Then we try and get more of a jump on our day.  But I feel so blessed to have this routine with her.  It's funny to me how routine's change and evolve...what will our normal be a year from now?  Will it be similar, but with new baby breastfeeding with us?  Stopping and cherishing the little parts of our day are what makes me realize that this won't always be our routine, and even the typical parts of our day are precious.

Today I am thankful that God has allowed us to make these memories, and that Hubby works so hard so that my job can be to teach and nurture our girl every day.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Tee-tee!

 This was how our little Fairy Princess said "Trick or Treat" this Halloween!  "Tee-tee!" But she had that little wrinkle nose face, so it was all good.  She got the candy for the cheeks alone.
 Here she is with our little Jack-o-Lantern!  Daddy drilled the nose, since he has a broken hand and couldn't do the carving this year.

 She loved her Elmo candy carrier!  We gave that to her last month, and she was immediately obsessed, because it was Elmo and anything Elmo automatically is adored.  Including the Elmo balloon we saw hanging on the wall a the Dollar Store today, and an Elmo birthday card that she spotted while we were walking past the card aisle, not even actually down it.  She has an Elmo Eagle Eye, I tell ya.

 Here and her and Adeena with their Daddies!  Our little pink ladies.


 So, I dressed up to match my girl.  I had to do it - I already had the wings!  I made the tutu using just ribbon and tulle, and no sewing machine!  It was super easy.  My "crown" is actually one of Reilly's headbands. :)
 Family on Halloween 2011!

And here are some of the kiddies before trick-or-treating!  One day they will learn to look at the camera..hehe.
 A Fairy Princess, a dinosaur and a crayon!



I felt bad, because Reilly kept pointing to Greg and saying "Ew."  It may have been because we have a book with a lizard in it, and I might have pointed at it and said "Ew."  I don't teach these things on purpose, but when I see a lizard, I just think it's gross, so I voice it!  I had no idea it would set in, let alone transfer to an actual child dressed as a dinosaur!  Anyway, Gregory, my apologies!  Reilly really enjoys your company, she doesn't think you are "Ew." :)

Even Daddy dressed up!  I made him this t shirt, since he is a math teacher.  Get it??  We decided he will wear it every year to school and be "That Teacher" who always wears the same shirt on Halloween every year.  Before he knows it he'll be in sweater vests.

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Pumpkin Farm

Recently, we took a weekend trip to a pumpkin farm/petting zoo/amusement park outdoor extravaganza. It is a haven for little ones!  We had so much fun.  There was SO much to see and do!  Here is Reilly and Daddy, on a massive pumpkin!

Reilly has gotten her fill of head-in-the-cheesy-cutout this season!  She is just so hard good at it!


Reilly and Mama, petting the goats!  She got a kick out of them, he stuck his head through that window and she was giggling up a storm.

Here we are strolling through the pumpkins..I love that she is old enough that we can hold hands and stroll now.  She's such a fun little toddling toddler.  Every time we put her down, she says "Hand!" and reaches up to hold our hand.

And despite this picture, I swear I am almost 5 months pregnant.  I was closer to 4 in this pic, but my belly is hiding!



They had this adorable ride called the Kiddie Cattle Car or something...it was so much fun!!  She loved it, and was trying to steer the wheel.  Halfway through the ride, I thought she said "Down!" and got nervous, because we clearly couldn't get off a moving vehicle.  But then she said "Moo!" and I realized she said "cow"!  Little smarty pants.

This is me being REALLY excited, because she started waving at Daddy.
We fed duckies, and massive mutant fish that were three times the size of Reilly.  This was her favorite part I think.

Then we measured Reilly, and found out she was 2.5 feet tall!


After picking some adorable pumpkins (yes, I think pumpkins are adorable), Reilly was flat out pooped!

Poor bubba!  We had a good nap on the way home!

But of course, after hours of being all over this giant place, I realized after our long walk back to the car that I didn't have my phone.  I had dropped it somewhere.  And of course, it had started to rain.  But my Hubby just said, "You stay here, I'll retrace our steps."  He is so patient.  But then, I suddenly remembered hearing a weird sound when I was on the cattle car!  I heard something fall, but didn't see anything and it didn't occur to me that my phone was in my pocket.  Mommy Brain at it's finest.  So thank goodness I remembered this at the last second, and he didn't have to go search the entire premises!

All in all, it was a great fun-filled day. I love watching Reilly have such fun and enjoy all these new experiences!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

So Many Teeth!


Okay first of all, I could just die laughing every time I look at this picture.

She just cracks my up, in her little undershirt and pigtails!  One of Reilly's favorite activities is brushing her teeth.  When she sees a toothbrush, or sees us brushing our teeth, or hears the faucets, she says "Ah, Ah Ah!" and points to her teeth.  She loves it. 
And just the other nights, while we were putting her to bed, I found 3 WHOLE TEETH in her mouth that I didn't know about!  She has had to front top and bottom 4 for a while...but then she just up and got 3 molars without even telling me.  The nerve.   I find it shocking that she could just have grown so many teeth without me knowing.  But she never really got fussy with any of her teething, so I guess this was no different. We have so much more to brush now!  Lots of fun ahead with our big girl molars!

Pigtail Princess

The other day, during breakfast, I realized that Reilly's hair was looking very long in the back.  I got excited a thought that we might be able to try pigtails!  This was our very first attempt.  I am so excited that she made such a hilariously adorable face, to match her hilariously adorable pigtails.

After this, we had a bath and made neater ones.  Then we went out to town, and she and her hair got lots of attention.  Friends and strangers alike admired her hair, and each time we told them it was her first day with pigtails.  And each time she gently stroked her hair and smiled her charming smile.

The next day, I told her "Reilly it's time to do your hair!"  And her response was simple. "Pi-tails?"  Clear as a bell.  One day after she ever heard the word pigtails, she was now requesting them as a hair style.  Girlfriend learns quickly what ups her cuteness factor, I tell ya!