Baby #3

It is no secret that my parenting standards have um... relaxed. In fact, as I've been thinking about Baby #3, I've started feeling very sorry for her 'place in line' and she's not even here yet.

Here is why I think you should feel sorry for her, too:
--> Her name. The poor girl doesn't have a name yet. With Reagan, her name was chosen when I was barely pregnant (Ronald Reagan died about that time). Reagan had painted wooden letters hung on her wall even before my third trimester. Grant didn't get painted letters, but he at least had a name by Trimester #3.

--> Clothes. When I was pregnant with Reagan, I bought an entire new wardrobe. You have to - it's so exciting. With Grant, I bought several new shirts and a couple pairs of shorts & capris since I didn't have much to wear in the summer. With poor, unnamed, Baby #3, I bought 2 zip up hoodies and asked for wool socks for Christmas.

--> Clothes (again). She'll be wearing clothes I saved from Reagan 4 years ago. Reagan was born in the spring, and my thinking is that if I can get by until then, Baby #3 will have plenty to wear. (A baby can wear pj's for a couple of months, right? Good. Because I borrowed a bunch from Erin :) Of course, I haven't dug out any of these clothes I am assuming I saved, so I'm not quite sure yet exactly what Baby #3 will be wearing. (For perspective: Reagan's clothes were washed, organized, and hung in the closet before Trimester #3.)

--> Pictures. Reagan has nearly 2 baby books filled with pictures. Grant's book still sits empty with the plastic shrink wrap on it. (Sadly, I haven't even ordered any prints of our digital pictures in nearly a year.) I hope we remember to bring the camera to the hospital for the birth of Baby #3! (Seriously.)

As much as I am excited about the arrival of Baby #3 (really - I am!), it has kind of snuck up of me and I feel like we're not ready for her to be here yet. I thought of all this yesterday while I was vacuuming out the van. Because I felt like cleaning out 6 months worth of cracker crumbs and discarded raisins, I got nervous. Her day has been getting closer and closer while I haven't been paying attention.

Christmas: Take 2

Merry Christmas!

Ever feel like you have the best family? I do all the time -- especially the last two days :)

On Christmas Eve we had a special supper of "roast beast" and fresh pineapple and then packed up the kids, the party mix, and the hot chocolate cups and drove around to look at Christmas lights. Looking at Christmas lights is not really all that fun for a kid like Grant (hence the food) but for Reagan it was just a great excuse to talk and talk and talk...

Joel and I had fun wrapping all the presents last night and listening to Christmas music. Reagan had a hard time falling asleep again :)

This morning was fun - Reagan is the perfect age for Christmas and Grant was excited because Reagan was excited. :)




After lunch Daddy took them out sledding in the new sled.

It wouldn't be Christmas without matching sweaters...

The day ended with a bubble bath and new soap crayons. :)

These are pictures of Reagan from the last two days. She is perfecting the art of the 'fake' picture smile. You can see, she's not quite there yet :)
These are pictures of Grant - he is always making me laugh :)

Santa Claus

Reagan asked to talk to Santa this year. Since we were spending an extra night in CF, it seemed convenient to take a family trip to the mall to talk to Mr. Claus. I nearly had to drag Joel out of the house and when we got there, I realized by the expression on her face, that Reagan had rarely been to a mall. There was a fountain that we had to visit twice and piano that played itself. She was so excited :)

Her particular request of Santa was a "princess lamp". She saw it when we were shopping at Target about two weeks ago. It is probably 2 feet high and has pink "fur" and pictures of Disney princesses all around the lamp shade. If you've asked her lately what she wants for Christmas, this is the lamp she will tell you about. I have no idea what endeared her to this particular object, but the bad news is that she is not going to be getting it. I have several reasons why not to buy it: it is expensive, Grant will break it within 2 days, and the real question -- what would she do with it??

All that being said, I feel like I'm taking a big gamble by not getting it for her. What if she is devastated on Christmas Day? But then I keep thinking that she's only 3 -- there's a huge chance that she won't even remember that she asked for it... I guess I'll have to let you know how it goes :)

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures -- Santa was a good sport to let me take it. What a difference 2 years can make. :)

Christmas Adventure: Take 1

This weekend was our 1st Christmas celebration in CF. Because of the weather on Friday, Joel skipped work and we headed to CF at noon.

Reagan was so excited to open presents on Saturday that she was up from 1am to 3am on Friday night. I fondly remember being that excited about presents when I was a kid, but to be the parent on the other side wasn't nearly as much fun!

Here are some pictures:












While we were celebrating Christmas and spending time with family, there was a Blizzard Warning... Once the roads were cleared, the road to our house was still full of snow. We stayed an extra day in CF and Joel "commuted" to work on Monday. Dave was kind enough to drive the kids and I back to Ames on Monday night (before it snowed again Tuesday & Wednesday!). We were prepared to hike in (really - we brought 2 sleds and packed the pillows in bags!) but by 5 o'clock, our road was cleared and we were able to drive right up to the house. :)

Joel was disappointed that we didn't have an adventure. I was not. When you're this pregnant and facing the prospect of hiking home in 3 foot drifts, dragging your luggage to your house on a sled, carrying a 25lb toddler and listening to your 3-year-old telling you how cold she is, you'll settle for boring. You just will.

The Sprinkler

Before heading to Grandma's house for the weekend, Reagan helped me make some Spritz cookies... She lost interest after two cookie sheets and left me to finish the rest by myself. Being the "Sprinkler" sounds like fun, but it's actually not all that exciting without a 3-year-old to keep you company.

This is just a random picture of the two kids... I was trying to get a picture of Reagan's "shiner" and Grant (who will never stand still for a picture) was curious about what Reagan was doing and decided to insert himself into the picture... :)

Just for Fun

Father and son... :)
(Thanks, Sands!)

This is conflict resolution at our house:

Reagan has something Grant wants.

Reagan raises it above her head so Grant can't reach it.

Grant grabs her around the waist so she can't walk away.

The conflict ends in a grunting, screeching, frustrating, stalemate and then mom comes and breaks it up (or takes a picture first, and then breaks it up).

Snoblower, Gingerbread House, & Outside Fun

Snowblower = Joel's new toy. After 7 years of shoveling, Joel finally got the biggest snowblower Lowe's sells. It has all the bells and whistles and I think it weighs more than (third trimester) me. It will throw the snow from our driveway over our house and into the neighbor's yard (ok - maybe not quite that far). Joel isn't wearing gloves in the picture because it even has heated handles. Remember Tim Taylor? This is the snowblower he would have chosen, too.

Gingerbread House = Reagan's new toy. I don't know where she saw one, but Reagan got it in her head that she really wanted to make a Gingerbread House. I downloaded a pattern, a recipe, and the directions from the internet and then realized I didn't have enough molasses. I put Reagan off for a couple of days and when we were out shopping for the snowblower, I came across this kit at Sam's Club. (This was a lucky break because by then, pregnant mommy didn't feel like baking the house from scratch and had eaten most of the licorice and gumdrops that were to be the decorations...)

This is Reagan decorating the walls and roof last night, and then Reagan with her finished product this morning. The kit even came with six snowman ornaments that she decorated this morning. She was so proud. :)

Outside Fun: It was 45 degrees today so we took the kids outside to play for awhile... Reagan learned to how to sled and make a snow fort in under an hour. Lastly, I forgot to take a picture, but Joel (nearly) finished our new front deck (he was short three boards). It looks great and it will be so nice to be able to use our front door again!

A Tribute to my Friend

Last night in the night, my faithful friend, Fred passed away... I really loved this cat and I've been weepy today whenever I think I about him. Indulge me as I remember him - this is therapy to me... :)

He became my family's pet in 1991. My Dad got him when he first moved out and when he moved back in, Fred became a member of the family. I remember many nights, Fred sleeping in the corner of my waterbed, by my feet, when I was in high school.

Joel and I adopted him in 1999 when my Dad didn't have room for him in his Gilbert apartment. Fred had two annoying things about him - he meowed alot (which was annoying in our apartment and also not good, since we weren't allowed to have pets) and he always wanted to sleep on or next to someone's head at night.

The first night Fred lived with us, he made the mistake of trying to snuggle up next to Joel's face. Joel didn't grow up with pets and it was a startling thing - a cat smothering him while he slept... Without knowing what he was doing, (or what was trying to smother him) Joel grabbed Fred off his face and threw him. Fred wasn't hurt, but I was horrified... :)

For the last 9 years or so, I've given Fred a dedicated pillow to sleep on -- it is above my regular pillows and we had an understanding about who got to sleep on what pillow. My allergy doctor thought this was the worst idea she's ever heard.

Fred was as faithful to me as anyone probably ever has been (save Joel :). Since he came to live with us, he was clearly my cat - he followed me from room to room and most of the time, he would be in the way. If I would try to change the kids' diapers, he seemed like he would always be between me and the baby. He's the type of cat that would lay on a gameboard if you were playing a game or would be right in the middle of the wrapping paper while you were opening Christmas presents.

Freddy loved to lay under the Christmas tree (and chew on the branches and light wires), so last night when I knew it was time for goodbyes, I laid him on a comfortable blanket and let him spend his last night there. I hardly slept all night for thinking about him and before Joel left this morning, I sent him up to check on him. I just couldn't do it.

Fred was such a good friend to me. He sat next to me when I cried over things in high school, cried over my parents' divorce, celebrated our new house where he could roam outside, and he was there waiting to meet them when we brought each of the kids home from the hospital. I loved this cat and I am going to miss him. So much.

Spike

If you put yogurt in your hair at breakfast and ketchup in your hair at lunch, you won't smell great, but you will look like this: (after your mom uses the washcloth to try to wash it out)

Winter Wonderland

Sometimes I feel like we live on the Alaska tundra instead of less than 5 miles from a town of 50,000 people. We've had very little snow this year - the last snowfall was maybe 3". This is what the wind does to our driveway (and yes, that cat is crazy):
Reagan is always asking to go out and shovel - even if we only get a dusting of snow. I love her helpful spirit. Its just that I don't like the 10 minutes it takes to get her dressed so that she be outside for 6 minutes, come inside, ask for help getting undressed ("I need help - I'm too COLD!"), and then ask for some hot chocolate. On the up side though, she can spread her fingers out to help get her gloves on and this is an improvement over last year. :)

Reagan and Grant have begun to cooperate. I say begun, because the times are still precious enough that I take notice when they are working together. Today they held hands and spun around in circles while dancing to Christmas music. What could make a mom happier? :) (Soon after that, Grant got mad at Reagan and grabbed her around the waist to try to pick her up and move her out of his way.)

This is a picture of them getting along nicely in their bath. (Reagan usually won't take a bath with him because he crawls on her and takes her toys.) Reagan is washing Grant's hair and he is allowing it by ignoring her. And see - here's what I'm talking about - the kids play nicely together and Dad runs for the camera... :)