Today's Conversations

Today in the car, I started asking Reilly a question, and our conversation went as follows.

Reilly:  Mommy, can you not talk to me right now, I'm talking to my sister.

Me: Okay..

Reilly: (Reagan is looking out the window, instead of at her.)

Rea Rea! ... Rea Rea! ...REA REA! ... REA REA!

(Reagan looks at her.)

Reilly:  Good girl, Rea Rea.  Um, we are going to the doctors. You have to be a good girl, and we might get a shot. Okay?

Reagan:  (squeels)

Reilly: Okay, sorry Mom, go ahead.

Then I started laughing uncontrollably at the conversation, and then she said "Sorry mom, go ahead!" like 3 more times, because she thought it was such a funny punchline.

She just loves going to the doctor, and thinks he's the greatest person.  Thankfully, we have never been too sick and she apparently doesn't mind shots, because she doesn't have any bad feelings associated with going there.  On the way home, she said, "Mommy, my through hurts, I think we need to go back to my doctors."  After we got home she took off her boots and said, "That was fun!" I hope this lasts, and carries over to Reagan!

Flashback Fashion

I get so excited each season to take out Reilly's adorable clothes, and see them come to life again on our little beans!

There's just something about the winter white furry vest/Ugg combination that makes the little bunnies look so snuggly!  Not to mention stylish. ;)

Do you remember what Reilly looked like in this little ensemble? 

Allow me to remind you. :)

  

Reilly was a little bit younger than Reagan when this picture was taken.  

 

I know I'm biased, but I think these are just the cutest little chunka faces I've ever seen.

I love looking at their baby pictures and comparing them!  My little sisters.

Speaking of sisters, Reilly has been singing "Sisters" from White Christmas all around the house.  I taught her to sing "Lord help the mister, who comes between me and my sister." Tee hee. :)

Babyface

This is what Reagan Kate looks like when she wakes up from a nap.

Birght eyed.  Bushy tailed. Happy and giggly.

I love going in to pick up this beanie when she wakes up.

Who couldn't love this babyface?  I just kiss those cheeks to bits.

I'm thankful for you, cutie face.

You and your sweetness.

Early Celebrations

 We started Christmas excitement early this year, but I'm loving it.  We have had so many chats about Christmas and Jesus and Santa and presents.  Reilly is asking so many questions and is so curious about Santa, what he brings, and why.  If you ask Reilly, she will tell you that Jesus is in Heaven and doesn't need his birthday presents, so he "gives them to the kids".  I just love it.

We went to an early Christmas party at Grandma's house!  We decorated cookies, decorated her little tree, and ate lots of icing and sprinkles.  We had so much fun!  It was good practice for the big show closer to Christmas!

 How cute are these little girls?? I can't take it.

 For the record, Reilly did have stockings on when the party started.  I'm not that neglectful. Ha. :)

The girls all wanted to wear pretty dresses to their Christmas party.  Too too cute.

And this little beanie is SO excited for her first Christmas!! 

8!

The Fleagan Bean is 8 months old!!  That is a nickname Meems made up - the Reagan Fleagan.  The other night at dinner, Reilly's prayer went like this:

Dear God, Thank you for Mommy and Daddy. And the food. Thank you for the Fleagan. Amen.

Well, this month has brought lots of changes!  She is sitting up so well.  She loves sitting up and playing with her sister, or watching Sesame Street with her.  We still use the Boppy whenever she sits up, more or less because I want to avoid falls and cries.  And because her sister is prone to very affectionate hugs, which often knock her over.

When she isn't sitting up, she is on the go!  She is crawling like crazy all over the place.  She will go for anything that looks interesting, and Reilly is a little pro at knowing what she can and can't have.  We are big on "my turn, your turn" since Reagan is "sharing" a lot of Reilly's toys now. She will even crawl down the hallway or in the kitchen if that's where I am!  It's the cutest thing.

Rea Rea has also started finger foods!  She had steamed carrots first, and she LOVED being able to eat by herself like a big girl.  Her smile was adorable when she successfully ate a piece!  She has also had steamed butternut squash, bananas, and most recently, Puffs.  It's so much fun.

She is starting to make more sounds!  She still loves "Gee" and "Ga" the best.  She is squeeling and giggling all the time now too.

She does the hilarious thing that we call "the swimsuit model".  When she is laying on the floor, and she hears something behind her that sounds interesting, she will tilt on her side, with her legs folded over each other like a little model.  She's such a funny bunny.

Her hair is getting longer!  Realistically, there's hardly any of it there yet, but people comment all the time on how thick it is.  It strikes me as funny that so many people comment on how beautiful her hair is, when it is still so short.  I think she has a beautiful head of hair in her future!

 She has many favorite things right now.  One is definitely her little kitchen, which she loves pressing and pulling and hearing all the sounds.  She loves chewing on anything, specifically Reilly's things (and bless her heart, she shares).  She also loves trying to get crayons and paper when her sister is coloring.  She gets so excited about Puffs, or feeding herself anything like a big girl.  But by far her favorite thing is when Reilly is making her laugh, or talking to her in their cribs.  It's Reilly's favorite too.  If I go in to pick up Reagan from nap, Reilly will say "Can you please put my sister down?"  Too funny, these girls.

She is just the most content little babe, and I just can't say it enough.  If I look at her she breaks into a huge smile.  You are a joy to have in our family, little bean.  You make our house so happy.

These Friends

 I have some amazing friends in my life.  I have a handful from childhood, high school, and college that I still consider myself lucky enough to know and to have in my life.  These are the kind of friends that everyone should have...these friends make the word "friends" seem inadequate.  The kind that surprise you on a Sunday on their way home from church with a latte.

 

And the best part is, they didn't even know you needed a lift that day.  And they came anyway.

 

 

 Did I mention it was a Mocha Raspberry Latte?  Yes.  Yes it was.

 I'm thankful for how much they love me.

I'm thankful for how much they love my babygirls.

On a separate note, let's talk about how we all make the same face when we laugh.  Even the 2 year old.

 Sometimes a little girlfriend time is all you need.

 I am so grateful to have special people like this in my life.  These are the kind of friends that you know are forever.

This Halloween

 This Halloween was a little bit...crazy!  There were hurricanes, power outages, transferring the contents of our 3 freezers to one with power, packing for our family to be in separate states, and a last minute drive to New York.  This was before the wedding In Virginia, weekend of no power in New York, has shortage, and traveling from Virginia to New York with gas cans in our trunk.  PHEW. But that's another story for another day.  This story is about our cuties in their costumes!

 At first I thought that our Halloween costumes did not have a "theme", but not until I put them on, did I realize that they DO!  The letter E!  This Halloween was brought to you by the letter E!

 The elephant costume that Reilly wore for her first Halloween just HAD to be worn by Reagan.  I mean, that little hole between the ears was meant to have Reagan's face in it.

And have you ever seen a prettier little Elmo Ballerina??

Sister lovies.

Cheese!

Our Halloween may have been hectic, but Daddy had a day off, and we still had a fun day of going out to breakfast and running around town a bit.  We had fun with our cuties, even without power!

The Princess and Her Froggie

 Every time Reilly and her Daddy go outside, and I mean EVERY time, Reilly asks him to find her a froggie.  She's obsessed.  She loves big ones, tiny ones, frogs and toads alike.  We have long since established that this is Daddy's little game, and Mommy has no part of it except picture snapping.  I will told the tiny ones, but only until they move then back into the wild they go.

The other day, she became particularly attached to this guy.  It's been getting to the time where we had to tell her that the froggie's go to sleep for the winter, but we found this guy sticking it out in the chilly weather!

 Man, did she love him.  Hubby said she kissed him no less than 94 times.  Awesome.  She hasn't gotten any kind of weird frog warts, so we're good.

 She knows that these things make me squirm, so she'll go "Mommy, you want him?!" and hold it out to me and giggle.  It's a little game she plays.  She does it with bugs too.  Thanks girl, take Daddy's side, I see how it is!

 Then Daddy came over and said, "Look Rei!  I found a worm!"  And she shared his excitement. 

 You see, I can put a ballerina bun in her hair.  I can put a frilly pink coat on her.  I can even put leopard printed rainboots on her.  But she's still going to want to run outside, jump in the puddles, and play with froggies.  :)

 This is her saying "Awww, my cute little froggie."

 I love her fearlessness and adventurous side.  She is the perfect mix of girly and country. 
The perfect mix, of Mommy and Daddy. :)

Papa Mommy!

Last week, we had my grandma come visit for a few days.  Reilly calls her "Papa Mommy", because that was how we explained to her who she was when she first met her.  The name stuck, because she loves her Papa and loves her Mommy, so was therefore fascinated to find out who PAPA'S Mommy was. :)

 

 And Reagan loved cuddling.  Speaking of LOVE, I could eat her face in this picture.  I just can't handle her. 

We had such a fun visit. Grandma loved spending time with the little angels, and talking often about me at that age.  It blew my mind to think that her coming to stay at my house, would be the same as me going to visit Reilly's daughter one day, and holding HER kids.  WHAT.  Will that really happen? The thought is crazy.  My mind can't comprehend the circle of life that far into the future.  It really is a miracle.

Papa Mommy and the girls and I went into town and walked around, and went to lunch at my new favorite place.  Grandma loved it, which  I knew she would.  We both had Ghirardelli hot chocolate with steamed milk and fresh whipped cream with our meal.  Seriously?  How could we not love this place?

Grandma passed down her ice cream obsession, and fresh whipped cream obsession to me.  I'm convinced it's passed down genetically, because the loves of these things runs that deep.

We played in the park and it was STUNNINGLY beautiful with all the trees changing color.  Great day to forget the camera, but we have our memories. :)  Grandma talked about when she was young, and I love hearing those stories.  I could listen to them all day.  She talked about going to school, getting her Doctorate, teaching, her time as a principal, going through the depression with her family, what her father did for a living, and my Poppy ancestors as well.  I love hearing where we come from.  I come from a line of shoemakers, interior designers, teachers, and musicians.  I'm grateful for the quality time we all got to spend with her, and I hope we get to do it again.

I keep looking at these pictures and imagining how it would feel to watch Reilly's children raising their children.  I can't stop trying to imagine it, but it's like trying to imagine eternity to me.  My brain can't comprehend it yet.  But I do know that when I get to that point, spending time with my children's children children...will be pretty amazing.  I'm happy we could give that gift to my grandma, who has always done so much for us.  We love you Papa Mommy!