Reagan's First Birthday!

 This weekend was Reagan Kate's first birthday party!!  It was SO much fun, so I thought I'd share a few million pictures. :)  Once the party started it was really hard to take pictures, so most of these are before or after the party.

 

The theme for our party was "Our Lucky Charm", since her birthday is in March we did a shamrock/green/St. Patty's/lucky charm theme!  Lucky Charm as in the cereal, not as in like rabbit's feet.  Our day started with Daddy eating a bagel, and his girls swarming him for bites. 

 Then it was time for the little beans to get dressed!  I mean, I could just melt looking at that face.

 

Thank you for getting me dressed, Mima!

 Big sister and I, sneaking tastes of dessert in the morning.  We are such rebels.

 Our day was filled with family and friends, and lots of love for our little beans.  I will always remember this day by what a little angel girl Reagan is.  She was happy and smiling the WHOLE day.  Like, she never even whined.  And she skipped her must-have afternoon nap, too!  She is such a little bundle of sweetness, that it's kind of hard to put into words.  (Both my parents and Hubby's parents tell us how Reagan's temperament is EXACTLY how he and I were as babies. So happy, so laid back, so easy going.)

We had lots of yummy things to eat, which I will show tomorrow.  We had lots of fun decorating and celebrating our tiniest family member.

 Hi friends!  Welcome to my party!

 Hubby and I love these pictures of us and our girls, but we were deciding if it's odd to have a picture of our family, with a picture of our family in the background! Ha. I still love it. :)

 Mima and Papa came to visit for the weekend! As did Mimi, E, and Uncle Matt.

 Balloons made Reagan kick and wiggle. :)

 Mama and Daddy love you, patootie!

 Beansie ate up a storm, as usual!  She loved her pasta salad.

 And her first taste of cupcake!  And all sugar in general!

 This will always be one of my favorite pictures.  I mean, you couldn't even plan a picture this perfect. Love that little angel face.

 Yum Yums!

 Big sister helped us open presents!  And she even got a few too. :)

 Big girls, just chillin' with their cookies post-party.

Our girls came over when it was close to bed time, as you can see by the babygirls body language. :)  It was a fun-filled day, ending with some wine and our first Beauty and the Beast viewing!

Happy Birthday, our sweet sweet baby.  We had the best time celebrating the first year of your beautiful life.

ONE!

 One day, you might get sick of me telling you how sweet you are.  But I can't find a better word to describe you, little bean.  You are such a sweet, gentle, happy little soul.  You are Reilly's perfect little sidekick, and boy does she love having you following her everywhere she goes.  You bring happiness to every room you are in, from the moment you enter it.  Whether it's by your adorable little faces, your giggles, or your sweet, calm disposition.  Anyone who spends longer than 10 minutes in the same room with you will comment on what an amazing little baby you are - so content, so happy, never complaining.

I just re-read what I wrote when you were one month old, and was once again struck by the similarities to how you are now.  You still love when your sister sings to you.  You are still the BEST sleeper.  Like, seriously.  You sleep 12 hours a night, and take 2 naps a day, each 2 hours long.  But then again, Mama would do the same if given the chance!

 And the reason you are such a good sleeper, is because you are such a good eater!  You fill that little tummy up, and then are ready to get your beauty sleep.  You had only breast milk until 6 months, and then started eating real food purees.  Since the moment you started eating real food, you have never ever spit out one bite!  You have loved everything you ate.  And now, you are eating totally table foods (and have been for a few months now).  You get all giddy when it's mealtime!

 You are the most excitable little thing.  It's not hard to make you smile or giggle.  You start your day babbling and shrieking happily in your crib, and end your day with your little thumb in your mouth and your head on Mama or Daddy's shoulder.  (For the record, I will be totally fine with you sucking your thumb until graduation.  Seriously the cutest thing ever.)

 You are such babbly, chatty little thing!  You have so many conversation with Reilly and I every day.  You love being one of the girls and being involved in all that we do. 

 You are just a little piece of heaven, baby.  If you are in our arms, you are happy.  If your sister is near you, you are giggling.  If you see your Daddy, you squeal.  And I hope that you always rub your eyes and cheeks when you are sleepy the way that you do, because it just makes us melt.

 You girls will be best friends, I can see it.  When one laughs, the other laughs. When one screams, the other screams.  It's hard to believe that it's only been one year since we have been singing our "Her Name Is Rea Rea" song to you.  You are a blessing to us each day, and we are so thankful for you sweet Reagan.

Happy Birthday Angel!!

Papa!

 Today's is Papa's birthday!! :) Man, do we love our Papa around here.  It's funny to think that it has only been 3 years that he has been playing the role of "Papa", because it seems like Papa is who he was always meant to be.  He positively glows in his role as Papa, and adores these girls like I've never seen any other children adored.  And they sure know how much they are loved.

Here are some things that Papa loves, according to Reilly.  This is straight from the two year old's mouth, word for word, prompted only by questions like "What does Papa love?"  and "What does he like to do?" :

 Papa loves me. Papa loves Rea Rea.  Papa loves my bed.  Papa plays toll bridge, and gives me prizes, and goes to get the ice cream man for me.  Papa loves to eat gum!  Papa loves to eat food, like ice cream man.  Papa goes to work to coach.  Papa loves Mima!  Papa likes to coach.  Papa takes me to Penny Lane and to the stores.  We just play and have fun!

You are an amazing Daddy, and we all love you so much!  Have a wonderful birthday, we can't wait to celebrate with you.

Our Deer Friends

So we love deer around here.  Yes, Hubby is a hunter, and we eat the meat, blah blah blah.  But we still love them, and love when they come around the house, and love watching them.  (It's not that weird - think eating eggs, but still loving petting little chicks. See? I'm right. ;) ) I'm pretty sure the love comes from the fact that I didn't grow up surrounded by them, and there is still a magic associated with them for me. A magic that of course, intensified with the little chickies and how fascinated they are.

Now, we moved from the middle of the woods to slightly-less-in-the-woods.  Still very rural, but now we can see other houses.  And there are many more deer!  The deer love our house.  They come so close, and Reilly loves watching them.  This little fella does this all the time - just stands on our front lawn and watches use through the front door.  It's like he is as interested in us as we are in him!

 See? He's still watching us. Hi buddy!  Reilly names them "Reilly Deer" and "Reagan Deer".

 It's a fun little pastime we have, watching the deer run and play.  They actually play in out yard, running in circles and chasing each other back and forth.

Another favorite thing I have about our new house is the sunsets.  Where we use to live was extremely beautiful, right near the river - but it was in the valley.  I realized after living there a while, that living in the valley meant never seeing the sunset.  The sun dipped behind the trees and mountains in the afternoon (at 2:00 in the winter), and then it was gone.  Our new house is right near a lake, and we watch the sky light up with colors every single night while we eat dinner.  It's such an amazing blessing that we never even knew about when we bought the house.  From 4:00-6:00, which is usually a tough whiney-kids-end-of-the-date-dinner-making-waiting-for-Daddy time (as all stay at home Mama's can attest to), has now become my favorite part of the day.  It is so stunning.  And every night at dinner, Reilly talks about all the colors she sees in the sky.  I am so grateful for these beautiful little experiences that our girls will grow up with as normalcy.  If I can teach them to observe and appreciate the little, the beautiful, the natural things that God has given us, what an accomplishment that will be.

The Best Ever.

 

So recently, I have been blessed with, like, the best birthdays ever.  EVER.  This one did not disappoint.

Last year, my sister and amazing family threw me a glorious surprise party.  I literally floated through the whole thing, as much as one can float when 7 month pregnant.  I still think about it and feel overwhelmed by how much thought and effort went into every detail.

This year, I had the perfect amount of celebrations, and the perfect kind.  I went to visit my family, had home cooked meals and fro yo, and lots of yummy wine.  Then back in PA, we had a relaxing day, and my parent's took us to dinner at my favorite place.  It was such a nice meal, one of the ones that becomes a memory right away.  The girls were amazing, and allowed for us to have a nice relaxing time.  There was a guitar player, more delish wine, and such good food.  Followed by dessert and wine in a french press - my fav!

 At one point, Reilly started having a heart to heart with Mima and saying the sweetest things.



Mima started crying, as per usual, and Reilly was so enthralled with the fact that she was crying.

 

 She is the funniest little chickie.

 Little twinsies!

 Daddy and his little angel. :)

 After dinner, Hubby surprised me and took me my favorite (our town's only) wine bar!  He had planned for our good friends to meet us there, and the night got even better.  We had such a great time, laughing and eating.  And I had one of the best desserts of my life!  Yes, I had 2 desserts, it was my birthday. :)

After that, our night still wasn't over!  We went to another place, where my besties were waiting to dance and celebrate!  It was such an awesome night, made even better because of all the quality time I got to spend with people I love so much!

11!

 Okay, so who can't believe this little beanie is turning one next month??  I can't!  It's so funny to me how little she still seems...I know that she will be one, but she seems so much closer to a baby than Reilly did when she was turning one.  Maybe it's because she is the baby, so therefore, she will always be a baby in my mind.  Well, here are some little fun facts about 11 month old Reagan Kate.

 She MOVES.  Anywhere she wants, and very fast, in her army-crawl fashion.  She also climbs!  She can sit up from laying down on her belly now, so she is puller herself up onto chairs, baskets, basically anything she can hold onto.  Especially is she sees a rogue Cheerio that she is trying to capture.  It's funny how determined she is.

 She is the most easygoing baby, ever.  Some people would say that since Reilly was such a good baby, that we would never have another who was the same way. (I know, really nice to say to a new mom, right?!)  But Reagan continues to be just a little lovie blessing.  She giggles in the morning when she wants to be picked up.  Literally.  We don't hear her crying, we hear her laughing at her sister.  She lets us know when it is 7:00 pm on the nose (or 6:45 if she had a particularly exhausting day), by rubbing her face with the back of her hand, and sucking on her thumb like it's her last meal. :)  Cutest thing ever.  And we sing a song, put her in her crib, and she snuggles to sleep.  She is a little angel, and I tell her so every night and day.

 Speaking of sleep, Reagan loves it.  She's just like her mama was/is.  She take 2 naps a day, each 2 hours long most days. Then she sleeps her good 11-13 hours a night.  I mean seriously - girlfriend loves her beauty rest. :)

 I can't even take how my heart bursts when she smiles at me.

Some things Reagan Kate loves: playing with her sister.  Playing ANYTHING with her sister.  They sit in her room and scream back and forth, Reilly walks down the hallway and says, "C'mon Rea!" and she follows after her, laughing the whole time.  This goes on, up and down the hallway.  They sit in the playroom together and empty our toy bins, happy as clams.  Reilly brushes her hair.  Reilly bring her her favorite toys.  Listening to them together when they are playing "by themselves" is the sweetest thing ever.

She loves little lighting up toys, or anything that sings or makes music of any kind.  This includes remotes and telephones.  But nothing goes in the mouth - so different from our Reilly!

She loves sucking her little thumb, and being rocked and sang to.  She is a little snugglebug.

She loves when Daddy comes home.  She giggles and flaps her arms around in excitement, right alongside her screeching sister.  All that, and a hot meal?  Quite the homecoming this guy gets. ;)

She LOVES bathtime and the water.  Especially because it means time with Reilly and Daddy.

 Little chicken is literally so happy.  She is the most content baby, and will sit quietly in a restaurant, grocery store, pretty much anywhere.  The only times she makes any noise, is when it is time for a meal, time for her nap, or she sees Mama and realizes that Mama is doing something fun and exciting (like making lunch!) without Reagan on her hip.  The nerve!

Another fun Reagan fact - she has adult hair.  Honestly, look at that gorgeous head of hair!  I've never heard of an 11 month old getting so many compliments on her hair.  Strangers and constantly commenting on how beautiful it is.  Its so shiny and wavy, but she has had adult hair since birth!  It's so funny.  It's going to be so fun to see how it grows.

She started shaking her head back and forth (like "no"), but only when she it trying to be silly and play.  It's the funniest thing. She gets this smirk and lowers her head down, and shakes it, waiting to you to do it back to her. 

It is actually a challenge to not pick up this little muffin and squeeze her and kiss her all the day long.  We love you in the moon, Reagan Kate.  You are the cherry on top of our family.  You, Reagan Kate, are an angel.  And don't you every forget it.