The Happiest Eater!

This is Reagan Kate.  She is the happiest little eater in the world.  This girl loves everything she eats, and has never once not cleared her plate.  She eats everything from grilled asparagus to hummus and veggie wraps to baked eggplant. 

 I actually can't even tell you what her favorite food is!  She literally acts like every food is her favorite, she shows no preference whatsoever.  What a little blessing she is!

 She just learned how to pick up a fork by osmosis I think - we gave her it, and she used it. Little pro!

 She still prefers her hands sometimes though. ;)

 She is happy as a clam every time she is in that seat!

 Hi Mama!

 And just when she clears her plate, and I think she can't get any cuter...

 She touches her clean clean hair with her messy messy hands!  Every night.  Awesome.

But then she gives me her "all done!" and I melt again.  This babygirl is certainly a charmer.

We are so thankful for your happy eating little dollface!

A Glimpse into the Future

I found them going through Mima's pretend "make up" bag.  Reilly was putting on eye shadow, in a freakishly accurate fashion, especially for someone who's mama wears eye shadow approximately 4 times a year.  And Reagan was studying a nail file, and then decided sucking on it would be best.  I'm sure it won't be the last time I find them in their room together with make up strewn about. :)

Father's Day on the Farm

 When we were going to Disney, we flew out of Philly and stayed over at Hubby's cousins house the night before.  It happened to be Father's Day, and they made the most wonderful day for us!  It was so relaxing, so enjoyable..the perfect start to our vacation.  We kept joking that Reilly was loving it so much, that she wasn't going to want to go to Disney!  She really didn't want to leave, it was her paradise.

First of all, before we left, Reilly needed the low down on every single moment of our trip.  She is more curious and thinks things through more than I did as an adult.  Here's what I mean.

When we went to Disney when I was 19, I never asked what airline we were flying, how we were getting to the airport, where we were flying in to.  I mean, I guess I asked when we were on the way to the airport.  Hey, are we flying Jet Blue?  Oh, cool.  But other than that, I never worried about the specifics of travel - my parents had it under control.  I especially didn't think about it when I was three.   But this is how mine and Reilly's conversation about Disney went:

Mama:  We are going to Disney World!
Reilly:  Wow!  Are we going to drive there? (Really weird first question, I thought.)
Mama:  Um, well...no.
Reilly: OH, we are going to walk?
Mama:  No, we aren't walking...
Reilly:  So...we are going to drive.
Mama:  Well, actually...we are going to fly!
(I was not planning on springing the whole "we are going on a plane" thing on her so early, but she kept persisting!)
Reilly:  Oh..does the plane pick us up at our house?
Me:  No, we have to go to the airport to get on the plane!
Reilly: Okay, where is the airport?
Me: It's in Philadelphia.
Reilly:  How are we getting to Philadelphia?
(I'm really not kidding...this is word for word.)
Me: We are going to drive there.  Well, actually, we are first going to go to your cousin Rowan's house, then the next morning we are going to go to the airport.

You get the idea.  She gave me the third degree to say the least.  The convo went on with her asking if the plane lands IN Disney World, me having to explain airports again, then explaining how we had to take the magical bus from the airport to our hotel.  We had the conversation about 25 times before we left, detailing every single travel detail of the trip.  By the time we left, she was very familiar with our route. Drive, Rowan's house, play, sleep, wake up, drive, airport, plane, fly, airport, bus, Disney.  Girlfriend likes to know what's happenin'.

So by the time the day arrived to "go to Rowan's", she was extra pumped.  Even more so when we arrived, and she found out she lived next to a farm with real horses and ponies!

Here are the girls with all their supplies.  Reilly found Rowan's horse stuffed animal, and carried it around all day.

 How pretty are these girls?  They were two peas in a pod!  I mean, their dresses, their bows, their love of princesses and pink and all things pretty. 

 Not to mention the sweetness!

 Rowan showed Reilly how to take care of her pony, and how they first have to brush her.

 

 She took her job very seriously!

Reagan was not so sure at first, our timid little babygirl. :)

I love her little "whatchu lookin' at" cheeks.

 

But of course, she warmed up!  Yay Rea!

 And then Reilly got her first pony ride!  She was so excited.

 Then Reagan got in on the fun!

 Cutie faces.

Reagan's turn on the pony!!

 I can't handle how she is holding on, and her proud little pony girl face!!

 I almost filled my memory card before we go on the plane. ;)

 Sweet girls!

 We spent the rest of the day playing outside, taking naps, having delicious meals, and relaxing with family.  And of course getting excited for our trip!  Thank you so much for our wonderful Father's Day, Janet and Jason!

Pride&Joy

It's official!  The little bean has started walking!!  We knew she was close.  At 16 1/2 months, she is starting to take her first independent steps, and we are so proud.  Both of our girls took their time learning to walk, but it feels just right to us.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to have her walking at 11 or 12 months!  It's just not what I'm used to, so this seems so normal to us.  Just like her sissy, she is just so content with her life of being carried by mama and crawling after her Rei Rei.  

But my growing belly is sure glad that she has discovered walking!  ;)

But I forgot the best part about when they start walking.  Even prouder than Daddy, Mama, and Rei Rei...is little Reagan baby.  She is so so proud.  The pride on her face, and how she lights up with joy, is the BEST part of her walking. 

 

She makes this face every time she stands up independently.  She is imitating the face I am making at her, and it kills me. :) 

My proud little puppy girl, standing so tall!  She fully expects to be applauded every time she stands up by herself. And I mean, how can you not with that face?  So we will just cheer for Reagan walking until she's two, and cheer for Reilly peeing on the potty until she's 4.  No big deal, totally normal.

She's just basking in the awesomeness that is herself.

And here is Mama trying to get her to take some steps.  :) She decided she would crawl to me.  Walking only occurs on her watch these days.  We'll get there!  But we know it's on the way!  Running, chasing, here we come!

Pool Days

 These days, if we aren't at the "big pool", we are in our yard surrounded by all kinds of water.  We have packed up and headed to the big pool 4 out of 5 days this week, and Reilly said today as we arrived, "I LOVE going to the pool every day!"

 We have our little system where we play with our pool toys, Reilly makes friends and socializes (today she walked right passed the 4 year old girls playing together and went right up to the pair of 10 year old boys flipping around on the stairs! That girl, I swear. And don't you know, they loved her.), when we get tired we go to the grass and have our "picnic" snacks.  And today we all shared some "ice cream nuggets" too!  It's too easy to thrill these girls, since we pretty much get excited by the same things. :)

 We come home and have nice naps, then lots of fruit while we wait for Daddy to come home.  Man, are we loving the no rain!

We are somewhat sweaty at home without central air (especially when I have to put the oven on - why isn't watermelon for dinner acceptable?), but boy are we thankful for our pool days!

The Best Day Ever

This was, the best day ever, as proclaimed by Reilly bella. :)

We actually went to Hubby's grandparents house for brunch, came home for naps, and had our family adventure in the afternoon.  I packed up chicken sausage and veggie shish kabobs, corn on the cob, some cucumber slices, and of course s'mores fixins, and we headed down the road to our development's pool and lake area. 

 

 Here's Daddy's little twin, who's little nose gets beads of sweat the instant she is outdoors!  This was RIGHT when we arrived at the pool, before she even got out of the stroller.  Little angel face.

 

When we got to the pool, we swam and swam as the sun started setting. Then Daddy headed over and started the grill going.  They have an awesome area with tons of grills and picnic tables, right next to the lake.  The babygirls played in the sand while Daddy cooked!

 Reilly said, "Mommy, now I'm going to look sleepy while I play with the sand and you take my picture."  Hm. I never tell her what to do when I photograph her like this! (Aside from saying "Smile!")  She is such a little actress!  I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, she just kills me.

 Beansie was having an appetizer of cucumbers after her swim, and keeping Daddy company.

 Daddy the grill master!  Look at that lake - I love our new community.  #weliveonvacation

 What do you see, babygirl?

 You will never see happier pictures of my kids than when they are eating corn on the cob.  Man, do they love it!

 After we played a little "What Time is it Mister Fox", we started on dessert.  Reilly had her first s'more, Reagan had her first roasted marshmallow!  (Unbeknownst to Mommy!  I turned around and she was chowing down.  It was at this point, that I knew baths were necessary and imminent.)

Marshmallow face.  She wants that s'more!

 She settled for a regular graham cracker. :)

 Reilly's s'more face.  I may or may not have recited the entire sequence from The Sandlot when explaining to Reilly how to make one. 
Me:  "Then, you STUFF!"
Rei: "Mommy, what do you mean "stuff"?"

 We. Love. Roasted. Shmallows.

 Post-Shmallow, we had a dip-in-the-lake in order to get the wet sand out of the many baby rolls. :) Check Reilly out dancing her way back from the lake.  And Daddy of the year right there, people.  Handsome man with a naked baby, coming through. Could be the best pic of the night.

After we were clean, dry, and changed, we went on the swings.  This is when Reilly asked why we were awake so late at night (7:15!), while laughing hysterically on the swings.  Then she proclaimed it to be: The Best Day Ever. (Definitely a Rapunzel quote. Yes, she's 3 and she accurately incorporates movie quotes into her daily life.  It's a family trait.)

 After bathtime, I found them in the playroom picking out books and reading together.  One of those moments when you just want to stare at them and keeping thanking God over and over again.  And hope that they don't notice you, lest the moment be gone. Reagan was pulling each book off the shelf and handing them to Reilly and saying, "Thank you!" after every book she threw at her.  ("Tanka!")

Reilly, I agree.  Definitely "Best Day Ever" status. :)