Happy Birthday!!

It's Reagan's 3rd birthday. I have a 3 year old. Weird. We had a little party last night and here are a few pictures.

Teapot. Her signature pose.

Rea and mommy

Auntie Lael and Rea

Cousin Livia

Katie

The Belle cake

We were all really worried about the candles. Belle is quite flammable, you know.

A picture from today with her favorite present. A camera. A REAL camera. I'm sure I'll be posting a few of her genius shots soon as she's already taken a photo of everything she owns.

And what's a birthday post without a few baby pics.

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!!

Amen

Ahh, prayer time. The part of our nightly routine where Reagan jumps and wiggles like she has squirrels in her pants. Super hard to keep the spirit when you want to murder your kid. So, I thought of this help that has worked wonderfully. We call it our prayer board.

First, we thought of things we're thankful for and things we are asking for. The red writing is thankful and the green writing is need/bless. Then, I let her color them all in.

Next, I made a poster board with our opening and closing sentences and 5 spaces for each color. I attached velcro to the cards and spaces and made pockets to hold the extras. Did I mention that I had the cards laminated? Well, I did.

Voila! She loves picking out her cards for the day and it's really helped settle her down and say good prayers all by herself.

It's in the air...

I love fall. I love it because it means cute holiday decorations, yummy baking and tons of time with the family. We got a good start today with our holiday crafts and Reagan and I managed to get some cute stuff done this morning while E slept. We made....

Cute ghosts made from the girls tootsies. The smaller ones were made later from E's cute little fat feet which made way better ghosts than Reagan's freaky high arched feet. And I don't think you can tell from the picture but our ghosts have white sparkles on them because if your doing crafts with Reagan, something MUST be sparkly.

A family of pumpkins. I wish I knew how to rotate pics on here. Grr....

Some spiders made from Reagan's fingers. She drew the faces. Next year if we do these I'll let her cut. If I let her cut this year, these poor little spiders would have no legs.

I even got out my Halloween wreath

my fall garland

and my little pumpkins and yummy smelling candles

I love the fall.

Trips

The end of August brought our first road trip as a family of four. It went very well. Reagan's always been good in the car and this trip was especially good thanks to her new Nintendo DS games and backpack full of movies. Elisabeth decided to go through a growth spurt and slept all day and then slept all night. Nice. September 1st was my dad's moms (Nanny) 80th birthday party in Vegas. It was held at a cousins house and was a blast! It was casino themed and there were so many people there, it couldn't have been more fun. Unfortunately with all the fun having, no one took pictures. It was great to see so many family members especially Robert, Nanny's husband who had a stroke and passed away a few weeks after the party.

After Vegas, we drove to southern Utah to visit my grandma and Jared's grandpa who live about 45 min apart. Seeing my grandma was great. She's had some health problems these last few years and previous visits had been a realization that she's getting older and we might not have her too much longer. This visit was a definite turn around. She's more active than I've seen her in years and she seemed to be much happier. Jared's grandpa (Melco) is insane! At 90+, he still is going strong. Runs his ranch, works at the temple 5 days a week and lives on his own. I want to be him when I'm that old. He loved seeing Reagan and meeting Elisabeth for the first time. Family is super important to him so it was nice to have him meet some of his posterity. Elisabeth's middle name is Paige after Melco's middle name Page. We did get a few pics although they're mostly the last 20 minutes we were there but they're very cute.

She played this horse game so many times!

Tuckered out. Love those rolls!!

Grandpa Melco and Elisabeth

Aunt Lyne and Reagan

Reagan and Grandpa Melco

Jared, E and Grandpa

The Leavitts

Cute pic of the girlies

Good times with the family

What a fun trip!!

Oh and I got to see a college buddy of mine, Becca when we were driving back home. I think she gave birth to her baby a day or two after we saw her. Crazy!

We did see some of Jared's mission buddies and their families but if I haven't proved this already, we suck at remembering to take pictures. So thank you to the Larsons, Lewis's and Ellis's for letting us visit and crash at your houses!!

Yum

I've been making baby food. A lot of baby food. I never did this with Reagan. I think I was overwhelmed with the new parent feeling and making baby food would have been another thing on my plate. But I've decided to make my own food for Elisabeth for a few reasons.

1. The cost savings. Holy cow! I didn't realize how little it actually took to make my own food. I think I'm averaging about 8 cents a serving. I pay 50-75 cents a serving when I buy prepackaged foods. Wow.

2. The product. I know with baby food, especially stage 1 foods, the FDA is pretty strict on regulating what goes into the food. But how awesome is it to pick the freshest, most delicious peaches and give them to my baby? It's way awesome. And I can mix my own in season fruits and veggies. For example, my yummy plum/banana mixture I made or my fall veggie mix I plan on making in a few months.

3. The waste. I'm a big recycler and try to do my part for the environment. I'm not crazy granola (hello, I drive an Expedition!) but I try to do good when I can. For making my own food, I buy food in bulk, freeze in ice trays and then seal the frozen cubes in vacuum bags. I purchased the ziploc hand pump set for 3.99 and a bunch of quart size baggies. The baggies say not to reuse them but I don't see why not. Probably a ploy by Ziploc to get more of my money. The bags are perfectly reusable! Just wash them out! So, my total waste for this project is the packaging the food comes in, if any. That's cool.

4. It's fun. I've thoroughly enjoyed making all this food. It's fun coming up with flavor combos and I can't wait until Elisabeth is older and can eat more variety. Oh, the possibilities!

So far I've made green beans, peas, carrots, peaches, plums, bananas, mango and I've frozen up some avocado slices. The hardest part is waiting for the ice trays to freeze so I can make more food. The website I used was wholesomebabyfood.com. I really like this site, it tells you how to cook the foods and has different recipes. Yummy!

New

Reagan got her first haircut today. It's been looking a little scraggly at the ends and we'd never cut it, so we decided it was time. And by "we", I mean me and my mom. She was going to give it a little trim but we opted for a real salon professional and I'm so glad we did. Myra is awesome and was so good with Reagan. It turned out adorable and Reagan loves it. Here's the trip to the salon:

The before shots





The "cape"


The first cut


The wash


Being so good at staying still

and cue the cuteness!!!

Buh bye swing

With Elisabeth being colicky her first few weeks of life, we found the only way she'd sleep was swaddled, in her swing with white noise playing. Now that she's starting to be a normal happy baby we are making the transition to her crib. Oh, and the fact that we'll be on vacation in 3 weeks and won't have the luxury of a swing. She's awesome. She's in her crib for her daytime naps and most of the night. She still needs a little help getting to sleep around 7 or 8 pm, so she gets to swing but we're definately making good progress.

Elisabeth is almost 2 months old already which is crazy and very welcomed. She was a rough little stinker for awhile so we're all happy that she's growing out of her fussy stage. She loves her bouncer and her activity mat. She ADORES her big sister! Reagan can always make her smile. Not that she's at all stingy with the grins. She has the cutest toothless smile! Unfortunately, she is suffering a little from second child syndrome and I don't have as many pictures of her as I did of Reagan at this age but I will be making a conscious effort to take more. And not just with my phone.

Here's one of the little champ sleeping away in her crib.

And one of Reagan too. You can see the remnants of her first black eye caused when you sit on the dog and she stands up really quick and you get whacked in the face with a dog tooth.

July 4th

We had a great 4th of July. Once again we made the long trek across the street to our neighbors who through an awesome party every year. Jared was on shift so it was just me and the girls. I was a little nervous but we were only across the street from our house if I needed to bolt. They had lots of yummy food, games for the kiddos and tons of fireworks. Elisabeth slept pretty much the whole time. It was a little chilly so she was bundled up and snuggled the whole time, hence, no pictures of the babe. But, plently of cute ones of Reagan who loves parties especially ones where she gets to eat chips, cupcakes and rootbeer for dinner and watch a pretty cool fireworks show until 11pm. Sorry these pictures are small, they were taken on my phone and I'm not smart enough to figure out how to make them bigger on the computer.

Reagan was pretty excited to have her very own cup with her nap on it.

Playing with Tad



Pinata

Sparklers

Prime fireworks watching spot. Complete with heated seats and earwarmers! Thanks Chad!

Birth Story

Disclaimer** this is probably way more info than anyone wants or needs to know but I want it written down somewhere before I forget.

I was due on Monday June 14th. I went in to my weekly checkup on Tuesday the 8th in which my dr told me I was 1 cm dilated but my cervix was still really thick and far back. He didn't want to induce me for another week, so he had me schedule an appt and said he'd be surprised not to see me at my appt the next week. He did strip my membranes though just to see if that would get things started. Ouch! I hadn't had that done with Reagan, not a good feeling. 2 days passed and I hadn't had any affects from the membrane stripping- no blood, no contractions, so we didn't think anything would happen. About 3:00 pm I noticed that I was losing my mucus plug but this didn't really mean much since you can lose it weeks before delivery. Jared had dive class that night and about 20 minutes before he left I had a contraction at 5:40pm. He got all excited but it was my first real contraction so I wasn't too sure it was really real or just wishful thinking. I sent him to dive class and he sent our friend Sarah over who is a massage goddess with some weird oil that's supposed to soften the cervix. We did the oil a few times and Sarah left. I had another contraction about 8:40 which got me a little more excited. Jared came home about 10:00 and I had had 3 real contractions by then. After we went to bed they started coming about every hour and getting stronger. At 2:00 am they started getting about 20 minutes apart and getting quite uncomfortable. I walked around the dark house for an hour and a half until they were about 5 minutes apart. I called L&D and they told me to take a bath and if the contractions got worse or stayed the same to come on in. I woke J up and told him that I was in labor and would be taking a bath. My nice relaxing bath lasted about 10 minutes because I started having really painful contractions about 2-3 min apart. Freaking out commences. I worry that I've waited too long and I'm going to not get to the hospital on time. We call the hospital and tell them we're on our way and call Lance, Jared's dad, to come over and stay with Reagan. This was about 4:00 am, I think? Still having contractions about 3 min apart and silently in my head freaking out about the strength that these contractions are getting. We hop in the car and head to the hospital. Jared uses the "my wife is in labor" excuse and runs red lights and speeds through town to the freeway. By now, I couldn't care less- just get me there. We valet park *awesome* and sign in and head on up to L&D.

Luckily for us it was a quiet morning in the hospital so we got checked in and hooked up pretty quickly. I was checked and was 5 cm dilated and ready for my epidural. Props to all those ladies who go natural, but I am not that brave and I'm kind of a wimp. The anesthesiologist (sp?) was with someone so we waited for him. And waited. And waited. And freaked out a little more with my contractions getting stronger and me getting wimpier. Before the epi, they checked me again and I was at 7 cm. The drug dude (easier than trying to spell that word again) finally got there and hooked me up. He was way worse than the awesome lady I had with Reagan. Now I know why some people are afraid of needles in the spine, they can hurt. He said that I would be "real comfortable" which kinda made me nervous. How much are you drugging me?? I did get pretty comfie to where I wasn't feel much of anything. Napped a bit and called all the parents to get to the hospital soon. And then I stalled. I stayed at 7 cm for a few hours and my dr decided to give me a little something to get me started again. By the time he was all prepped and ready to administer he checked me and I was suddenly at a 10 and ready to go.

Only problem was I was still "real comfortable" and felt absolutely no need to push. This was way different than with Reagan where the epi had worn off a bit by labor time and I HAD to push. This was about 11:00 am. So, I pushed and pushed. I thought it would go a little quicker being my 2nd but apparently I wasn't pushing hard enough. Stupid drug dude!! My nurse was awesome though and helped me push harder and even said that if I kept pushing that hard, the baby would be out by noon. That was so cool because I was using the clock as my focal point and noon was only about 30 min away. I could do this. So, I pushed through the non pain and had Elisabeth at 12:04 pm. It was so weird pushing and not feeling much. They even had me wait through some contractions to let them build and I was able to do it. I remember with Reagan that there was no way I could not push when contractions hit.

Jared got to deliver once again. He delivered Reagan so our dr was really comfortable with him doing it again. J did AWESOME and I had zero tears and didn't need an episiotomy. After the baby came out our dr just let him keep going. He massaged the placenta out and got to kind of play with it. Its actually really interesting. Me, being in very little pain actually got to pay attention this time to what happens after baby.

The whole experience was great, except for the epi being too high- I would've liked to feel a little but we got a sweet baby girl out of it. We named her Elisabeth after my middle name and a bunch of Elizabeths on my moms side and Paige after Jared's grandpa's middle name Page. She's super cute and is so tiny- you really do forget how little they are when they come out. She had a little jaundice but fought it on her own and we didn't have to do the light bed again. She's been a pretty good baby and we're loving her like crazy.

Here's some more recent pics of our little jelly bean!!

Baby!!

Elisabeth Paige Leavitt

born: June 11th

weight: 7lbs 6oz

height: 19.5in

We had a great labor and delivery that I'll post about some other time. But here's a cute picture for everyone to enjoy!! Definately more to follow.

Baby Blocks

I found this cute and easy craft at makingitfun.blogspot.com and the results were great. I was bored and looking at some baby craft blogs and was checking out the shoes on this one but they seemed a little intimidating so I tried out the blocks instead. She has tons of stuff I really want to try but my limited sewing skills always make me wimp out. I made 4 blocks in a few hours, obviously getting quicker with more experience. You can't tell how cute these blocks are from the picture. There are 4 tags on each block but you could always add more. I also stuffed the crap out of them because I thought they looked cuter with a little more plump. I made mine 5x5 because 4x4 seemed a little small. I thought the directions seemed a little confusing but I figured it out and now they kinda make sense. I loved making them because I used up a bunch of cute scrap pieces that didn't really have anywhere else to go and I had all the supplies handy. *Note: I did NOT use the bells. Not only did I not have any on hand, who really needs another baby toy that makes noise??

If you have any fun baby/toddler/easy sewing craft sites to recommend I would love it!

Books

So, we are looking for some good recommendations for some new books to be added to Reagan's and future babies collections. Just wondering what are some of your favorite books? I posted this on Facebook too so let the lists commence!

I guess I should post a few of our favorites:

The Seven Silly Eaters
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight
Any Mercer Mayer books
Any Laura Numeroff books

Thanks!!

finish line ahead *woot woot*

Ok, I know I still have a few months to go, but we are getting close to meeting this little kiddo. I have less than 12 weeks, less than 80 days and it's getting pretty cozy here in my womb so I am feeling that the end is soon and am so grateful. My first pregnancy was wonderful. Very little discomfort, lots of free time for naps and not a whole lot of heavy lifting. Prenancies with a 2 year old are a little different. Now that Reagan is in a big girl bed there are virtually no naps unless she's exhausted and happens to give in to one. She's also decided to be much more clingy. I'm guessing she's starting to realize that she'll no longer be the only kid and is trying to get in as much mommy time as she can. While this is so cute and sweet when we snuggle on the bed reading books, it is not so cute and sweet when she refuses to walk and wants me to carry her. She's not too heavy but still, you have legs- use them. Insomnia has started to creep back into my nights. I realize this is preparing me for nights with a newborn, but come on, it's baby number 2. I don't need reminding about how crazy those first few months are. Let's just sleep, mkay? Ok, enough venting. I'm sleepy, sore and just ready to be done. Blah, blah, blah. Can I tell you about my awesome kid?

Reagan's transition to big girl bed has been absolutely flawless. Seriously, this kid is crazy. Our first night, she got out of bed a bunch of times and I was prepared to have this be the norm for awhile. Well, she hasn't gotten out of bed at night since. She hasn't once asked for a bink or ni nite. She's never been caught playing with toys when she should be sleeping. She goes down willingly every night and gets up at a decent hour every morning. I love her! She has been so good at this, I'm baffled. I'm hoping that her being so cool doesn't mean that I'll have a little terror on my hands with the next one, but could I really be so lucky to get 2 great kids? I guess we'll find out in a few months. I'm so grateful to have such an obedient child. It makes life a little great when I can just have fun and don't have to worry about disciplining her all day. Don't get me wrong, she does get into her share of trouble but she's really all about making me happy and doing what's right. I hope that lasts forever!

hooray, spring

Today's bath consisted of,

a little of this:

a whole lot of this:

some scrubbing with one of these:

and a pretty strong temptation to throw in a splash of this:

and I couldn't be happier!
I love days like the beautiful one we had today where Reagan was literally outside all day. By bathtime she was the grimiest, stinkiest, sweatiest, sandiest, chalkiest, squashed with her bare feet buggiest kid and I love it. We will be sleeping good tonight!

Big Girl

Someone slept in one of these bad boys for the first time last night...




And the results were awesome...

We'd been hyping up the big girl bed for about a week before she tried it out. We bought new sheets, blankies and a heart pillow she picked out for herself. *Side note: I loved that she picked out the on sale heart pillow instead of the twice as much Tinkerbell pillow. Fellow bargain shopper in the works??* We explained also that big girls beds are no place for binkies or ni nites. I have no problem with her loving her ni nite and sleeping with it until college. Our dear friend Gena crocheted it for her and it is soft and beautiful. The problem is the last few weeks she has been sticking her fingers in her ni nite and twirling them until she wakes up screaming her head off because the blanket is stuck on her now purple finger. So, sorry ni nite, you have to go hang out in the closet for awhile.

Yesterday, we went and picked up the bed, set it up and got everything all pretty. She was so excited! Daddy was off teaching a dive class for the night so it was me versus the 2 year old who is sleeping for the first time with no bink, no ni nite, in a brand new bed that she has no problem getting out of. Thanks, daddy. ;) We ate dinner and did our usual bedtime routine. We snuggled in the new bed under the new covers and read books for almost an hour trying to wind down from the new bed high. Finally, 8:00 rolled around and it was time for sleeping. We kissed and hugged and said goodnight. I closed the door and went to go watch some silly girl show that Jared has no interest in. About 10 minutes later I hear a thump, pitter patter and as I get up, a running back down the hall to her room. I've watched Supernanny enough to know that she was trying to get me to play a game with her so I silently took her back to her room and put her in bed. I would love to say that this was all it took but we did this about 10 times the next hour. I remained calm and just put her in bed everytime, Jo would be proud. 9:00 rolled around and Jared called to check in. I hadn't heard from her in awhile so I peeked in and found this...

Success!!!!

She slept in her big girl bed without a peep, without a middle of the night cry for a bink or ni nite. It was crazy! I was planning on being up half the night but she was a rock star. We did have to move her from the edge of the bed a few times but a newly installed bed rail should do the trick tonight. She did get up a little too early, about 6:00, but it's hard to be mad when she gets up early to climb into bed and tell me all about how excited she is to sleep in her new bed and how much she loves it. We'll see how tonight goes. Wow, this is a ridiculously long post, but I love this kiddo and am so proud of my big kid!!