Shopping with the Girls

 Reilly loves going shopping with me.  Even though the only kind of shopping we do is food shopping, she still loves it.  When I tell her we are going shopping, she says, "Food shopping with the girls?".

 This past week when we were on Long Island, I had to teach her that sometimes there is "food shopping", and sometimes there is "fun shopping". 

 The other day when we went shopping, she insisted that she had "Rei bag" (which contained a tiny book, and a box of raisins), and "Rei scarf" so she could match Mommy.

She's one stylish little chick, this girl.  She's ready for shopping with the girls!

Reilly's Day - Decorations!

 Reilly's birthday party was so perfect, and so much fun.  She is still talking about it, and asking for all of the guests to come over again.  She loved having so many of her favorite people all together.

We kept the party smaller this year, being we had 2 kiddies to keep occupied this year while preparing/cooking/cleaning, and that was tough as it is! 

I was so happy that the day was all about Reilly and her favorite things, and I think she really felt it.  She had the time of her life.

We had Elmo balloons, and a "Reilly's World" banner that I made to mimic Elmo's World.

 I made a Sesame Street-esque sign, that we could hang in the girls room after the party.  And of course we had goldfish, Reilly's favorite, and Elmo's little pet.

 We had lots of Elmo goodies, like party hats, banners, and blowers, thanks to Aunt Mimi and E!  And I made Elmo cups with help from Nessa. :)

 I made some bubbles and had a "Bubble Station" for the kiddies, so they could be independent little 2 year olds and spill as much as they wanted to.

 We had an Elmo Reading area, and we realized we have an obscene amount of Elmo and Sesame Street books.

 We had Reilly's banner, which said 2 this year!

Pretty tables, water table, and the little babies tent.

Elmo cupcakes, pretty much my pride and joy. :)  And they made our girl smile which was the main point.

 Elmo fruit platter, with apples, blackberries, strawberries, and canteloupe!

 

 Reilly loved having the whole day being Elmo themed, she totally just got it this year.  More pics of the party fun coming soon!

Goodness Gracious!

Hubby and I, throughout the day and night, will often say the same sentence to each other.

Honey, just look at her.  You just have to look at her.

Then the other one walks over, and we look at her.  And then we usually smile and laugh.  And no other words have to be spoken.

I mean, goodness gracious.  I think that face just says it all, don't you?

Her Day

 Mother's Day fell on Reilly's birthday this year, and it was pretty much the funnest day ever.  We shared the day, pretty much doing every single thing that she loves to do, which in turn made me the happiest mama ever.

We started the day with a room and house full of balloons.  We think we will always have balloons in the house, because of the crazy amount of joy that such a simple thing brings to her!

 

We opened presents, and wore pretty dresses.

 We went out for ice cream, and went for a stroll. I got blackberry and coconut frozen yogurt with chocolate sprinkles, and Reilly got Daddy's classic order - twist with rainbow sprinkles.  Can you look at the cup Reilly is eating?  That size is called a "Baby" and it is $1.00!  She somehow ends up with the hugest "baby" size everywhere we go. Must be the dimple.

We got spoiled by our handsomest man!

We played in the park and went down the slide.

We blew lots of bubbles, and chased them around.

 We spend the whole day together, and breastfed in the car.  Oh wait, that was just me. :)

We watched "Big Bear" and colored on the new easel that Daddy built!  (How talented is her Daddy??)

We had pasta with Mama's homemade sauce, meatballs, and avocado, cucumber and tomato salad for dinner! With lots of Pecorinno cheese on top.  Reilly's favorites.

And then, we had Dirt for dessert, which we called "pudding" to prevent confusion and actual soil-eating experiences this summer.  I make my Dirt with just chocolate pudding, fresh whipped cream, and crushed Oreos.

Double Stuf, obviously.

 Here is the girl who rarely ever has sugar, devouring her dessert. :)

I put a Reese's cup in the bottom, to hold in the candles.  I told Hubby I would just eat it when she finished.

Except that a few minutes later, her face was in the bowl (above), and she looks at me with this exhilarated expression.  Then she said, "Mommy, I bite it! Look."  I looked in the bowl and saw the Reeses cup, dug out from the bottom, with a teeny little 2 year old bite taken out of it.

Girlfriend ate the whole cup.

I was so excited for her all day.  She had all the raisins she wanted, and goldfish crackers in the car.  She is always so good, no matter where we go, or where we take her.  I was so happy that we could devote a whole day to things that she loves, places she loves to go.  That's what birthdays are for. :)

(Sidenote: She loves birthdays, because her Big Bear movie is about a little girl's birthday party.  I think she almost thinks that "Birthday" is another holiday like Easter was.  She kept telling Hubby and I Happy Birthday all day, because that's what everyone kept telling her.  Cutest thing ever. )

Reagan and Daddy

 Reagan is happy anywhere she is with Daddy.  Much like her big sister.

 Her and Daddy like to chill together on the couch, and take naps.

But the other morning, I found something that even I wasn't expecting.  I woke up at 8am (which is odd and unprecedented), and Reilly was still sleeping (again, odd), and the whole house was quiet.  Needless to say, this was all odd.  Reilly had gone to bed late, so that solved one issue.  But where is Daddy and Reagan?

He will usually give her her early morning bottle to let me get a stretch of sleep, then put her back to sleep in her crib.  But this morning was different.

This morning, I found this:

Twinsies. Sleeping soundly.  Being adorable.  I woke the one on the left by taking this picture.

These two make me laugh. :)

I'm TWO!

Two years.  These past two years have been the best and funnest of my life, and hubby's too.  Everyone always told me that I should be living up my twenties, and not settle down with the one I fell in love with in high school. (Well, "everyone" except those who really cared about me told me that.)  But as I am 25, and look at the last several years, especially the last 2 with our babygirls...I am more convinced than ever that this is living.  Having our girls is the greatest blessing thus far in our life, right up there with finding each other.

And it all started 2 years ago, when our angel Reilly was born.  It really feels like yesterday.  And I can't imagine what my days would be like if I didn't get to spend them all with her.

Reilly,

You are the happiest little thing.  You start your day happily hanging out in your crib, literally singing to yourself, until you decide it's time to get up and you starting jumping and calling for Mommy.  It is the most joyful way to start the day, listening to you sing and talk to yourself in the morning.

You LOVE music!  The funniest thing is that  when we get in the car, she'll say, "Mommy, dance?", which means she wants me to put on the music.  Her next sentence is always, "Louder, mommy?" She's a little pip. Her favorite songs right now are Someone Like You by Adele (she calls it "You"), Moves Like Jagger, I'm Glad You Came, and We Are Young (which she calls "Fi-Yaa").

 

You are the best little eater.  Her latest thing is "Rei do it!" - she wants to do everything herself.  Even try to eat soup, which is challenging!  She loves all fruits (except pineapple), "Mommy cereal" which means cereal with milk, any and all veggies (she asks for them for breakfast), PASTA all day and everyday if she could, pizza, yogurt, edamame, avocado, eggies, and salad with "dip".  She also loves when we have "frozen yogurt" for breakfast with granola ("nola"), which is actually just frozen fruit in our Yonanas machine.

Your personality is unlike I have ever seen.  She is HILARIOUS and loves to entertain.  She loves being a ham, and thrives on making people laugh.  It's unreal.  She definitely has her Daddy's outgoing, bubbly, silly personality.  Listening to her and talking to her is my favorite thing to do.

You loves people, all ages.  She will engage perfect strangers in conversation, and say "How are you?!" to get them to talk to her.  She loves children, and loves making friends and playing with kids of all ages.  She has no concept of word "shy", so she'll just talk to any children and totally not get if they don't want to talk back to her.  She loves making friends!

You are the smartest little girl Daddy and I have ever seen.  You amaze us daily.  You love you letters and numbers, and lately you are obsessed with counting mailboxes and telephone poles when we drive anywhere.  You start laughing when we get to high numbers - your favorite is 46!  :)  You can tell us anything you need, and exactly how you are feeling.  It amazes me how you are using such full sentences already.  This morning, you said "Oh Mommy, I hurt my finger!".  I couldn't believe how grown up you sounded saying that sentence. You have the most insane memory ever, and you are freakishly observant.  If I tell you it's time to go to the store, you will remind me to put on my shoes.

You have the sweetest little soul.  You can tell when Mommy is mad or upset, and you will come over and say, "You okay mommy? You happy now?" and give kisses.  You know right away when you have done something wrong, and will say you are sorry right away.  You will even say, "Rei go to room, don't move?" which is where you go to "think" when you get in trouble.  When I go in to talk about what you did wrong, and say "Do you know why you are sitting in here?"  You will say, "Well, I think, because I no listen."  I have to stifle a smile when you respond like this to me, so seriously.  When Reagan cries, it makes you sad, and you immediately go to rock and sing to her.  You will pray for anyone and everything, and I can't wait until you can truly understand how important the words you say to God are.

You love your books - anything with Elmo or Sesame Street, "But Mama", Suppertime, Brown Bear and "Buggies" are your favorites right now.  You can read all of your favorites yourself, and will get upset if Mommy tries to read those to you - "Rei read it!" you will say. You love puzzles, your dolls, bubbles, and doing anything outside.  Your favorite thing to do is go to Mantown with Daddy, and your little adventures outside.  You LOVE water, I can't wait to see you in the pool and water table this summer!  You also love you iPad apps, which are limited to when Mommy is making dinner.  You love dancing, and watching your Wee Sing videos, which you call Big Bear, Candy Mountains, and Sillyville (Lori-Scott).

You as a big sister is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen.  Your first words every day are "See Reagan, watch Elmo?".  The two loves of your life are Elmo, and your sister.  I am so impressed with how you care for her and protect her already, and am so excited to watch you two grow up together and lean on each other.

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet angel.  I hope you will always know how much we love you, it's more than we could ever ever express in words.  Seeing you happy is our favorite thing in the world.  Being your Mommy and Daddy is the most wonderful privilege God has even given us.  We love watching you grow.  Thank you for being sweet, silly, wonderful you.

Being a Mommy

To me, being a mommy is being spit up on, peed on, drooled on, and bled on (don't worry, it was just a pinky toe scab from playing outside), all in one morning, and still being completely filled with that gitty - can't help but giggle - can't wipe the smile off your face - last day of school - going on vacation - first ice cream cone of the season kind of happiness.  That is the happiness that being the mommy of my hubby's babies brings me.  And it is a blessing that has been beyond my wildest dreams. 

In case you were wondering, that morning described above, was today.  :) 

Thank you God.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Times a million.

Spending today celebrating the one that calls me mommy - our beautiful 2 year old babygirl!  I am so happy, it feels like MY birthday. :)

Tummy Times!

I decided that nothing is cuter than this baby doing "tummy times" as Reilly calls it.  Between her big round eyes, and her chunkies hanging to the floor, I can't even deal. :)