Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Reagan & Riley: Side-By-Side
Riley and Reagan look so much alike to me, that I frequently bring up Reagan's baby pictures on the computer and compare them. I think Riley will have smaller eyes (and maybe they'll be blue?) but other than that, they seem identical to me :)
Reagan:
Riley:
Reagan: "Mom, it's ok! I can hold her while I stand up - I'm really strong."
Me: "Honey, its not your strength I'm worried about... please leave Riley on my lap while you hug her."
Reagan: "Ok, but maybe you should take a picture of us since we're so cute."
How Grant loves his sister:
I've been trying to get a picture of Riley's smiles, but this is the best I could get. Her smiles are still fleeting and so is my camera battery.
Reagan:
Riley:
Reagan: "Mom, it's ok! I can hold her while I stand up - I'm really strong."
Me: "Honey, its not your strength I'm worried about... please leave Riley on my lap while you hug her."
Reagan: "Ok, but maybe you should take a picture of us since we're so cute."
How Grant loves his sister:
I've been trying to get a picture of Riley's smiles, but this is the best I could get. Her smiles are still fleeting and so is my camera battery.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Reagan and the NCAA
This year I helped Reagan fill out an NCAA bracket. She picked Michigan St. (a #2 seed) and Portland St. (a #13 seed) to go to the final game... Portland St. is already out - sorry, Reagan :(
This is a picture of Joel helping Reagan highlight which teams she got right and wrong.
The nice weather this weekend was such a treat for us! The kids spent lots of time on the swings.
When Reagan is outisde, she spends 75% of her time sitting and swinging on the "yellow swing". Here, she's generously letting Grant swing on it - and Grant is really proud of himself. :)
This is a picture of Joel helping Reagan highlight which teams she got right and wrong.
The nice weather this weekend was such a treat for us! The kids spent lots of time on the swings.
When Reagan is outisde, she spends 75% of her time sitting and swinging on the "yellow swing". Here, she's generously letting Grant swing on it - and Grant is really proud of himself. :)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Spring Cleaning
It started innocently. I wanted to clean out the dust and cobwebs on our screened-in porch. Since it was 70 degrees outside, I thought the kids would have fun helping me... I got them a bucket of warm water and put Reagan in charge of washing the table and the wooden furniture. Grant will do whatever Reagan does, so it wasn't long before he was washing things, too.
Feeling satisfied with myself and my parenting prowess, I fired up the vacuum and started to attack the cobwebs. It was less than two minutes before I turned my head to check on the bucket brigade. Grant was sitting in it and Reagan was frustrated that he was taking up all the room and she couldn't get more water on her rag. I had planned on them spilling the water, but I didn't think about Grant sitting in it.
It was warm and I was unwilling to give up cleaning so soon, so I took off his socks and pants and let the fun continue. It wasn't long before Reagan was wet and wanted to take off her clothes, too.
Since I was done cleaning, I got her a towel and let her strip down. I left the kids alone upstairs while I went to the basement to get them dry clothes. By the time I came back upstairs, I found Reagan out on our back deck riding a plastic bike. (To get the full effect, you should know that we 'rescued' this bike from our neighbor's dumpster - it still works great and sound of the rocks in the hard plastic tires brings back great childhood memories :)
Instead of getting her dressed right away, I took a picture.
Our neighbors have been trying to sell their beautiful, expensive house for over a year. I have wondered more than once if their proximity to our house has been a hindrance to the sale of theirs... now I'm sure of it.
Feeling satisfied with myself and my parenting prowess, I fired up the vacuum and started to attack the cobwebs. It was less than two minutes before I turned my head to check on the bucket brigade. Grant was sitting in it and Reagan was frustrated that he was taking up all the room and she couldn't get more water on her rag. I had planned on them spilling the water, but I didn't think about Grant sitting in it.
It was warm and I was unwilling to give up cleaning so soon, so I took off his socks and pants and let the fun continue. It wasn't long before Reagan was wet and wanted to take off her clothes, too.
Since I was done cleaning, I got her a towel and let her strip down. I left the kids alone upstairs while I went to the basement to get them dry clothes. By the time I came back upstairs, I found Reagan out on our back deck riding a plastic bike. (To get the full effect, you should know that we 'rescued' this bike from our neighbor's dumpster - it still works great and sound of the rocks in the hard plastic tires brings back great childhood memories :)
Instead of getting her dressed right away, I took a picture.
Our neighbors have been trying to sell their beautiful, expensive house for over a year. I have wondered more than once if their proximity to our house has been a hindrance to the sale of theirs... now I'm sure of it.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Weekend Fun!
My Grandpa turned 95! He's really not as scary as he looks in this picture :)
Grandpa telling the story of the doll's head:
Putting together doll toys that my mom got for Reagan:
My 2nd cousin, Hunter, my Grandma, and Riley:
Addy, Reagan, and Riley:
How Grandma and Riley spent part of Sunday afternoon:
Grant:
All 9 Grandkids:
5 in the tub:
Grandpa telling the story of the doll's head:
Putting together doll toys that my mom got for Reagan:
My 2nd cousin, Hunter, my Grandma, and Riley:
Addy, Reagan, and Riley:
How Grandma and Riley spent part of Sunday afternoon:
Grant:
All 9 Grandkids:
5 in the tub:
Friday, March 13, 2009
Reagan
Reagan is ever the little mother, my helper, and a drama queen. Her favorite thing to do is to help -- help cook, help with laundry, help Grant, and help with Riley. She's really a great kid. :)
She also keeps assigning herself "chores". She thinks its her "chore" to feed the cat and let her outside when she begs. Its also her "chore" to fold the bibs and washcloths in the clean laundry. Today she assigned herself the chore of throwing the dirty diapers in the diaper bucket out in the garage. I get nervous every time she gets a new chore because she gets offended if you do it for her. :)
Reagan helping Grant learn to walk upstairs like a big kid:
Reagan helping give Riley a bath:
Reagan with the apple pie she helped to make yesterday:
Reagan has also turned into the Rules Police. As the responsible, first-born, she takes everything I say as a rule and takes it upon herself to enforce those rules on everyone (including Mom and Dad).
Yesterday I had to run to HyVee to pick up some medicine. It took some effort, but I finally had all 3 kids fed, clean, and loaded in the car after lunch. We were about halfway there when Reagan asked me to turn off the radio. I told her I would put it in the front so she couldn't hear it, but that I wouldn't turn it off. (Seriously, I earned my radio time - turning it off wasn't an option.)
My favorite conversation this week with Reagn went like this:
Reagan: "Mo-om! I can still hear it. Can you please turn the music off?"
Me: "No Reagan, I'm sorry."
Reagan: "But Mom, I think you are just thinking about yourself and not thinking about other people's feelings."
Me: (lauging) "You're right, Reagan. That is exactly what I'm doing."
Reagan: "Then why are you laughing about it?"
She also keeps assigning herself "chores". She thinks its her "chore" to feed the cat and let her outside when she begs. Its also her "chore" to fold the bibs and washcloths in the clean laundry. Today she assigned herself the chore of throwing the dirty diapers in the diaper bucket out in the garage. I get nervous every time she gets a new chore because she gets offended if you do it for her. :)
Reagan helping Grant learn to walk upstairs like a big kid:
Reagan helping give Riley a bath:
Reagan with the apple pie she helped to make yesterday:
Reagan has also turned into the Rules Police. As the responsible, first-born, she takes everything I say as a rule and takes it upon herself to enforce those rules on everyone (including Mom and Dad).
Yesterday I had to run to HyVee to pick up some medicine. It took some effort, but I finally had all 3 kids fed, clean, and loaded in the car after lunch. We were about halfway there when Reagan asked me to turn off the radio. I told her I would put it in the front so she couldn't hear it, but that I wouldn't turn it off. (Seriously, I earned my radio time - turning it off wasn't an option.)
My favorite conversation this week with Reagn went like this:
Reagan: "Mo-om! I can still hear it. Can you please turn the music off?"
Me: "No Reagan, I'm sorry."
Reagan: "But Mom, I think you are just thinking about yourself and not thinking about other people's feelings."
Me: (lauging) "You're right, Reagan. That is exactly what I'm doing."
Reagan: "Then why are you laughing about it?"
Thursday, March 12, 2009
5 weeks
It's hard for me to believe, but Riley is already 5 weeks old. She hasn't smiled for us yet, but Reagan and I have been working on her.
Riley is still in danger from Grant nearly every day. He really likes her and will look around for her if he doesn't see her right away. His favorite thing to do is "hug" her. (He does the same thing to the cat, except the cat can run away.)
Riley is also starting to develop the "Bartlett comb-over". Reagan and Grant both had one, and I would have been surprised if we had a baby without one. I expect that it will get much longer in the next couple of months. :)
Reagan at 4 months:
Grant at 4 months:
Friday, March 6, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Want to Go With Me?
Becky Tirabassi spoke at the Cornerstone Women's conference last spring. She is a great, motivating, and funny speaker who I really connected with... I think I only absorbed about half of what she said so I am planning to go listen to her again and I'm looking for a few friends to go with me... The Conference is at Prairie Lakes Church in Cedar Falls on Saturday, April 4th (8:30am to 1:30pm).
More information and registration is here.
So if you are going or if you want to go, leave a comment or send me an email... If you go, you won't regret it - I promise :)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Just Another M-M-M-Monday...
Motrin Monday (I keep thinking that Grant is getting his eye teeth and so I keep giving him Motrin. The Motrin seems to help, but its been like 3 months now... How long can teeth take -- or is he addicted to Motrin?)
Marble-Works Monday. (Remember how I said we keep looking for "new" toys to play with? This is one of them.)
Motherly Monday. (Actually every day is like this. I just included this picture as proof (when compared with the similar one from 3 weeks ago that Riley is growing. :)
Lastly, this is a picture from Sunday. Joel made this tower for the kids while I was sleeping in. The top level is for him. The level near Reagan's head is for her and there is a lower level for Grant to put marbles in. Joel was very proud and the kids had a lot of fun. :)
Marble-Works Monday. (Remember how I said we keep looking for "new" toys to play with? This is one of them.)
Motherly Monday. (Actually every day is like this. I just included this picture as proof (when compared with the similar one from 3 weeks ago that Riley is growing. :)
Lastly, this is a picture from Sunday. Joel made this tower for the kids while I was sleeping in. The top level is for him. The level near Reagan's head is for her and there is a lower level for Grant to put marbles in. Joel was very proud and the kids had a lot of fun. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)