Happy Birthday....

Last night, we were having a little "birthday party" for two of the girls baby dolls. Tommy, Addison and I sang Happy Birthday to them, and then clapped at the end. A few minutes later, you could just see Reagan's concentration. The little wheels were turning in her head. She looked at us and said, "Hap Birf Day!". They she clapped her hands and said, "Yeah!". Yeah indeed, she is getting really good at talking! That was her first time to string so many words together!

Another cute thing.....we met Uncle Mike at Chick fil' A for a quick lunch today, while he was on his break from work. Mike carried her to the car and then said good-bye. Reagan was so sad all the way home. She pointed out the windows and called for Mike the whole way!

Three Times the Fun!

We have two Big Sisters in our house now! That's right!!! Baby Guess #3 is on the way....expected in late March. We couldn't be more excited, especially Addison. She was thrilled when we told her the news. She asks me daily when the baby is coming, she was just smitten with the ultrasound picture of the little bean, and she kisses my belly every night.

We expect life to be just a little more crazy but a lot more fun! If you are already a Mommy of 3 very little ones, you can tell me if I have that backwards. Maybe it is a lot more crazy and a little more fun!!!

Dance Recital

We had so much fun at Addison's recital on Saturday. She looked so precious and she did a great job. I honestly didn't know how exactly everything would come together, but they were just precious. The recital was a little over an hour long....I bet backstage was CRAZY, where they had all the kids waiting before and after their routines. At the end, they put all the little girls in a line and each one got a turn to run across the stage by themselves and do the leaps they had learned in class. This went great, until one of the little girls in Addison's class stopped in the middle of the stage. She liked the spotlight and couldn't be persuaded to leave. She caused a bit of a train-wreck.

We asked Addison if she liked the recital and she said yes!!! But, she said the tights were too hot, so she wasn't going to do ballet anymore!

Dance Class

Tuesday was Addison's last summer dance class. She has her first recital on Saturday. For the final class, her teacher, Miss Corey let us all come in and the girls got to perform their favorite dances for us. They got really silly when we came in, but they were just precious! Addison forgot her steps several times, because she was posing for me and telling me to take her picture.

Reagan sat quietly on the bench beside me for a few minutes, but then decided she was not going to miss out! She then entertained all the moms by trying to mimic the big girls and doing her own sweet little dance moves!

Another Little Diva

Looks like we have another little fashion bug on our hands. Sunday morning, after her bath, Tommy had Reagan on the stool in the girls' bathroom brushing her hair. She opened Addison's drawer and grabbed a head-band and bracelet. She put both on, told Tommy she was, "Happy", and took off. Too bad she didn't get anything more than accessories on before we got the camera out!

Daddy Games

The girls love for Tommy to wrap them up in their big, soft blankies and swing them around the room. They are always laughing and smiling through their turn. As they wait for their sissy's turn, they are already down in the floor, lying on their blankets, getting into position. They are so blessed with such a fun, loving Daddy!!! He is always up for their wild games!!!

Radio Mishap

I am always really careful about the radio in my car. It is almost always on one of the girls' Veggie Tales CD's, maybe occasionally on the Christian Radio Station, though if I try to change it, Addison usually protests and we go right back to Veggie Tales.

Yesterday afternoon, I had gone to the grocery store by myself and put it on a country station. Then, last night, we all got in my car together to go out for ice-cream.

I have no idea what they were talking about on the radio, or what the context of this statement was, but literally, the very second I turned my ignition we hear a man's voice saying, "He likes to look at naked girls!". Um what??? Tommy and I glanced at each other and that is all we heard because I had already turned the volume down.

Unfortunately that was all it took. A split second later, Addison starts laughing in the backseat and saying, "Why did that boy say he likes to look at naked girls?" Very nice....certainly not the conversation we planned to have with our 3 year old. I will have to be even more careful!!!

It breaks my heart that as my children become more aware of the world around them and exposed to more and more situations, I can't shelter them from everything. This is the least of what the world will someday bombard her with. I pray that someday, when I can no longer do it for her, that she will choose to shelter her own eyes and ears, and keep her thoughts focused on Christ.

Meet the Teacher

Addison starts preschool next week and Friday we all went to meet her Teacher. She loved seeing her classroom and coloring an apple with her name on it to hang on the bulletin board. She played with all the toys and got comfortable in her surroundings.

Monday we will take her for the real thing. She is so excited and definitely ready for this. She will go without any problem. The tears will probably come from Reagan and I. Me, because I have never dropped Addison off at anything like that. Yes, she has always gone to church, but I am in the building! Reagan may cry because she doesn't get to stay. That girl loved the preschool room. She played with everything whilel we were there.

Funny we have had such crazy weather the last few days. It was only 50 degrees, so Addison actually go to wear some of the school clothes I had gotten her for fall.

Snuggle Session

Addison way lying in the floor last night and Reagan walked up and sat right on top of her. It was so sweet, because she usually only does that to me! Addison was excited to get all the snuggles from her sister. They cuddled and kissed for awhile. Then Addison said, "Okay Reagan, I am done sitting like this!". I know from experience she gets a little heavy when she is straddling you!

Reagan really loves Addison lately! After all the snuggling last night, Addison was sleeping in this morning. Reagan kept trying to go down the hall and open her door. She was saying, "Night-Night" over and over again, because she knew Addison was still in bed. Tommy brought her to me, which would normally solve everything, but she just sat in my lap and started crying, "Sissy!". It was so sweet we gave in and let her go wake Addison up.

Homemade Playdough

This is my latest public service announcement. If you are making homemade playdough with your children, you should know this. Cream of Tarter and Tarter Sauce ARE NOT the same thing!!! Now, it is a well known fact that I am not a cook, but who would have thought? CREAM of Tarter is actually a powder found in the spice section. 3 trips to the grocery store and one large bottle of Tarter Sauce that we will NEVER use and I got it all straightened out. Despite it all, we had a great time making the playdough and even more fun playing with it!

Gymnastics

Okay, so the Women's Gymnastics is the one thing in the olympics that I love to watch! I wanted to watch it with Addison this year. But.....it has been on from 10:00 to 12:00pm! What in the world???

I let her stay up until 9:30 thinking it would start any minute, but it is now 10:00 and no gymnastics yet. Poor gymnasts. Talk about a home field advantage for the Chinese!!! These girls probably aren't used to doing all this tumbling in what is the middle of the night to their little bodies.

Thankfully, a friend got us tickets to the Gymnastics Showcase which is coming to town in October. We will get to see Shawn Johnson and some of the other Olympic Gymnast perform live....and at a decent time of day!

Hopefully my girls will sleep late in the morning. Summer Olympics doesn't happen often enough, so I am waiting it out!!! Everyone else is asleep, but Maggie Dog and I are watching to see who takes the Gold!!!

Reagan's First Painting

We set the girls up to paint pictures tonight, and it was Reagan's first time. She was having a great time, until she dipped her paintbrush in the water for the first time, after she had paint on it. She was pretty distraught when the brush turned her water blue. She looked at us with her signature brows furrowed and shrieked, "Oh-No". Tommy was the better parent here. He convinced her that it was okay, while I was busy laughing.

Nostalgic

I always get nostalgic when Reagan wears an outfit handed down from Addison. It makes me think of Addison at 1 1/2 and also makes me look forward to where we are headed with Reagan. She wore this little purple suit a few days ago....it is still really big on her. She also happened to have little purple pigtails, just like Addison used to when she wore it. Remembering Addison in this, made me go hunt down pictures.

The pictures of Addison in this car are some of my all time favorites of her. She was quite the ham that morning! Reagan wasn't nearly as eager to pose for the camera, on this particular day, but she is still cute!

We Lost our Mommy!

Tommy took the girls outside yesterday, while I stayed in for a few minutes. I heard through the window when Addison said, "Oh no, we lost our Mommy!". Tommy asked her what we should do. She replied, "I don't know, who will do all the cleaning and dinnering?".

At least she didn't say, "Who will do all the cleaning and drive-throughing!".

Before 1:00

1. Reagan pottied all over Mommy's car, because I let her ride to the pool in a swim diaper. I know better than this!!!! I always change her there, because I know swim diapers are useless except in the water. The one time I don't, I was reminded of that lesson!

2. Addison locked herself in the bathroom. She was trying to keep Reagan out. She managed to lock it, but couldn't figure out how to unlock it. It took a good 20 minutes of talking her through it to get her out!!! New rule....no locking doors!!!

3. Reagan colored all over the guest room wall with a crayon. Funny Addison did that at the exact same age! She was so proud of herself.

It is shaping up to be quite a day......

16 Months

Reagan turned 16 months old today! She is so much fun. She is at what must be the cutest stage ever. She runs all over the house and all around outside just exploring the world around her. She loves to pick up bugs (thank you Addison). But with big sister around she is lucky to get her hands on one. A few weeks ago, she finally had her treasured roly-poly in her hand and then ate it. Just when I thought she was done putting everything in her mouth, she eats a bug!!!

She loves to ride on the tricycle and have me push her. She loves to "ride" sissy's scooter, and she loves to play with water, dirt and rocks in the backyard. She could mix "soup" out there for hours. Her favorite toys right now are books, babies and the magna-doodle.

Reagan's vocabulary just grows and grows! She surprises me with new words all the time. A few this week are monkey, naked and hot-dog. My favorite new word is "okay". She uses it to answer yes to a question and it is so sweet. This weekend, in the hotel room, I gave her a few coins and asked if she wanted to throw them in the fountain outside. That was the first time she used "okay". It melted my heart. I then went to get my things ready to take her outside and came back to find she had climbed in her stroller and was shouting, "GO, GO!".

She is such a cutie and we are having so much fun with her!

A Funny!!!

A few days ago Tommy told Addison that she shouldn't sit on the arms of the couch, to which she replied, "My Mommy lets me do that!" Tommy then said, "Well, shame on Mommy!". Her reply......"I didn't see any shame on Mommy!".

The Broadmore

Sunday night, we got to head with Tommy to Colorado Springs for the last day of the Senior Open Golf Tournament and a night at the Broadmore Hotel. Coke was a sponsor of the event, so they had several rooms and Tommy was playing in the sponsor's tournament on Monday. We had such a great time. The Broadmore is a beautiful, old, historic hotel set in the mountains of Colorado Springs. Their service was amazing and we were so glad to get to go!

Things did start out a little rough though! We had two tickets to the golf tournament and were headed there after we arrived. We didn't actually expect to watch any golf, since the girls were with us, but we were headed to Coke's hospitality room and thought we might need them. Addison wanted to hold a ticket and she was doing a great job...until a huge gust of wind come out of nowhere and blew the ticket right out of her hand. Unfortunately we were on the bridge, crossing over their lake. We stood there and watched our ticket float away! Like I said, thankfully we weren't planning to watch any golf!!!

The girls loved the hospitality room. Tommy was able to visit with his customers while the girls ran around sampling all the snacks and playing in a fountain in the middle of the room. They were a big hit.

When that closed down for the evening, we headed out to explore the hotel and ride the paddle boats. We had a great dinner and just really enjoyed our family time. Monday morning, Tommy headed out to play golf while the girls and I hit the breakfast buffet, playground and pool.

Here is another funny side story. While Tommy was golfing I took the girls to feed the ducks, geese and swan that live in the hotels lake. I had seen a sign that said, "Do Not Feed the Water Fowl". Somehow, in my mind, I never connected "Water Fowl" with ducks, geese and swan. I really didn't mean to break the rules, I just didn't realize THEY WERE the "Water Fowl". Why doesn't the sign just say, "Don't Feed the Ducks and Geese."? I didn't realize we had done anything wrong, until Tommy was looking at the pictures tonight, saw that we feed them, and told me I wasn't supposed to. Oops!!!

Relaxing by the Pool

If you have ever been swimming with 2 small children, then you know I use the term relaxing loosley! But, we had fun anyway. After a quick morning nap for Reagan, the girls and I headed to the pool at the Broadmore. It is beautiful, with an infinity edge that over looks thier lake and the mountains. The water was surprisingly warm for Colorado. We had a great time swimming. They even let me sit in a lawn chair for a few minutes while we ate lunch by the water.

I am not usually one to notice scenery in a picture, but look at the clouds in the last picture. Everything there really was breathtakinly beautiful!

Dressing-UP....3-Year-Old Style

Addison busied herself around our hotel room this weekend, playing dress-up in the bathroom. She said she was a "Fire Lady". The towels she has on with my shoes really made us laugh!

The Sleeping Beauty Bear was a treasured prize from a birthday party at Build-A-Bear earlier that day. It was her first birthday party since we moved here, and possibly the highlight of everything we have done in Colorado so far! She looked forward to it for weeks, and has even had a count-down on our refrigerator!

Dressing - Up

Reagan loves shoes right now! Hats too!!! She rummages through the baskets of shoes in our entryway and always has a different pair on. Yesterday it was Addison's snow boots. She usually just wears one of the shoes, but she couldn't get around very well without both boots. She topped her outfit off with the purse and hat she found in Addison's bucket. She has the CUTEST, big "cheese" smile that she has been doing lately, but I can't seem to get my camera to go fast enough to catch it.

Reagan's personality is cuter everyday. She runs around the house screaming happily in a very high-pitched, very girly squeal. She loves to have her sister or one of us chase her while screaming along! She will say almost any word you ask her to. My favorites right now are Brenna and Ava. They are two little girls down the street. She points down there and screams, "BrenBra, Aya" over and over again. She would stay outside forever, and screams, "Outsiiiiiiiide!" with such passion it cracks us up. Yesterday she spotted a baby bunny outside and went after it. Of course, the bunny took off as soon as she got close. She was heart-broken!!! She cried and cried for at least 15 minutes! She was so sad about that bunny. She is the youngest of about 8 little girls on the street, but she keeps up quite nicely!

Big Girl Breakfast

I am not sure how much longer the high-chair is going to last around here. Reagan has been able to climb out of it for months. If I am not fast enough getting to her, when she is done, she will throw her plate in the floor (we are working on this, but in the mean-time, thankfully we have a dog) and stand-up. Lately, she squirms her way out of the high-chair and runs right to the chair next to Addison. Although it is a tall, counter-height table, she pulls the chair out and climbs up. She then motions for her food to be moved over there! It is too cute!!!

I think Reagan must be growing suddenly, because she is so very interested in her meals right now! Having her actually eat, sure makes meal-times for pleasant....it even allows for me to actually sit down and eat for a second. Good thing since between Tommy's travel and work schedule he has been home for ONE meal out of the last 16!!!

If you are wondering why Addison has both cereal and waffles in front of her, it is because she almost ALWAYS chooses one thing to eat, and then is more interested in what I have. Although I had offered her waffles, she didn't want them until they were in front of me. She does this all the time, especially at restaurants. The ice-cream shop is the worst. She will choose pink every time....because she likes the color. The flavor, however, she isn't that fond of. She takes a few bites of pink and then comes after my chocolate!