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!!

Forts are awesome

We built a fort today in Reagan's room and after her spending about an hour in there, by herself, reading books to her animals and playing, I'm wondering why we didn't do this sooner. She's been having a blast in it and I must admit, I had fun in the fort too.



Baby #2 is doing great. Did I mention she's a she? Well, she is. Lots of kicking, punching and overall wigglyness which is fun. Reagan is very excited about a baby sister although we are anticpitating different feelings once she's here. We'll see. I'm just about 5 months along and will probably post a ticker countdown soon. Right now, it still seems forever away and I'm afraid a ticker pointing out just how many days are left (125 today) will make me go bananas. I know that I'll get closer and it'll seem like I could use another few months but right now we just want her here.

Where's Daddy?

Occasionally when Jared is on shift I let Reagan sleep in my bed. She's a major chase you around the bed all night snuggler, so this doesn't happen too often. I did let her the other night though because she had been missing her daddy pretty badly all day and needed something special. The whole night we were sleeping she kept waking up and asking for daddy. I kept telling her that daddy was still at work, he'd be home in the morning. The last time I heard her ask for daddy and I reassured her that he would be home when the sun came up, I heard the tell-tale thump of her sliding out of my bed. I waited to make sure she wasn't going to walk around the house since it was pitch black and didn't hear the pitter patter, so I went back to sleep figuring she'c crawl back into bed when she realized she couldn't see. I woke up in the morning and scanned the bed for a little morning snuggling from Rea, but she was nowhere to be found. I went out to the living room where Jared was and asked if he had seen Reagan, which he hadn't. Slight panic as we started saying her name throughout the house until we got back to our room, where we found this...




I guess she didn't make it too far in her searching for daddy quest. Too cute!

In the buff

So, Reagan's latest thing is stripping. Not stripping during the day when I'm watching her, stripping after I put her down for bed. And not just her jammies, diaper too. You can see the problem this presents to a non-potty trained child. Well, not really a problem to the child but to her mom who does the laundry. So now we sleep in backwards jammies where she can't reach the zipper. Looks a little like she rides the short bus, but problem solved. For now.

Woopsie

With all the baby hoopla, I forgot to post Reagan's 2 year old stats and stuff last month. Here they are for those of you who care:

Height: 34 1/2 inches
Weight: 23.2 pounds

Still a runt, but we love her. She loves dress up, tea parties, Disney princess movies, painted fingernails and toenails (which always have to coordinate), gym at the YMCA, swim class, coloring, grandma's new puppy and playing with her nusery buddies.
Reagan is a joy to have around, she's always making us giggle with all the crazy things she comes up with. She loves to learn and we are currently working on the "teens" in our counting. She loves learning Spanish words and is starting to use some of them in conversation.
We are both excited and nervous to bring another baby home to her, she can be a little possesive, but I'm sure it will all work out.

Ahhh, human again

I'm finally back to feeling like myself again so, let's announce. We are expecting our next baby! I've been hestitating telling people because my paranoid self thought that since we waited for what seemed like forever to be blessed with this one, that it would be taken away. I know, I'm a weirdo. But, as we see the gleaming light of 2nd trimester, I feel a little less worried. We are due mid June which I am excited about. With Reagan being born in October, summer was not so much fun around here with no AC so I'm happy that I won't be sweating like a pig all summer long. Yay babies!!

New Moon

We are in the theater right now for a Twilight and New Moon double feature and I'm pretty sure this will be better than the last movie we saw. Just a hunch. ;)

The Box

Dearest moviegoers, friends and random strangers who read this blog. I feel it is my duty to warn you about the worst movie ever!! Jared and I wasted 20 bucks tonight seeing this movie and feel ripped off. I think we would feel the same even if the movie were free. Ripped off of 2 hours of our lives. The movie was plotless, confusing in the not fun way and overall completely devoid of any entertainment. To quote my friend Wendy who was unfortunate enough to see this movie too "...save your cash on something more worthwhile, like a root canal." Horrible!!

a childs prayer

So, it was Reagan's turn to say the prayer the other night and it went a little something like this,

"Dear Father, thanks this day, love mommy, daddy, Koda (our dog), Harry Potter, Tinkerbell, hats..." the rest of the prayer was filled with items she saw around her room while saying the prayer. It was so funny. I'm so glad that Harry Potter ranks so high on her love list!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Yay, Reagan is 2! It's kind of insane but we'll go with it. Love you peanut!

First day home

Loving her duck



Last years birthday

Oh, summer

I know I've been MIA these past 2 months, so here is a picture feast for you! We've had a great summer, mostly hanging in the pool, playing at the park, going to the zoo, remodeling the house and a fun family reunion in South Dakota. All the pictures are from the reunion.


Most of the troop

We took a train ride to this cute little westerny town mostly visited by bikers (Sturgis is nearby). Very interesting folk.

Reagan and her 2nd cousin?? Chase riding the horse.

They were histerically laughing the whole time, it was so funny.

Home base for the reunion. Loved the 4 wheelers!! All of the cute pics with Reagan on them are currently residing in my parents camera which, when finally freed, will make it to the blog.

The hiking group

Just a cute one of the peanut

Rea and Grandma at Little Big Horn

Jake, Adam and Reagan at Devils Tower, this crazy mountain in the middle of nothing

Me and my bros, Jake and Adam

Junk in da trunk

Me and my dad at this cool waterfall

Rea and Jake taking a break during our bike ride

Reagan and Mommy

The biking group

Jared stayed home from the reunion to do some major remodeling and because he went hunting the week after we got back, thats why he's missing from all the pictures. We are glad to all be back under the same roof now!

YUM

We love summer. We love popsicles. We love a 12 pack of twin pops from Fred Meyer for 88 cents.

p.s. We have been up to a lot lately and I promise to get some good pictures up soon!

YIKES

So, I guess we are officially potty training. I've been thinking about it for awhile, even buying Reagan her own potty a few months ago. I wanted her to get used to the potty before we made her use it. She's loved it and anytime Jared or I go into the bathroom, she follows and sits on her potty. I've been hestitating though because she's so young and I wasn't sure I was ready but there's something quite nice about the thought of no diapers for awhile. So, last night we thought we'd try it for real and she sat on the potty, we read some books and it happened! She was super excited and we tried to make a big deal about it so that she'd know how good it is to use the potty. She even got to celebrate with 2 M&Ms. She's gone twice already today and now it seems that she gets M&Ms everytime she goes, whatever works.
If any of you have any tips for potty training, I would love to hear them!! Yay, Reagan!!

SWIMMING!!

Reagan is a swimmer!! My dad bought this awesome life jacket and she is doing so well in it. This was her first time swimming independently. She LOVES swimming and if we're not in the pool, she's asking to go in the pool. Please ignore me and my mom's high squeaky voices, we really can't help it.

18 Months already

Reagan had her 18 month checkup yesterday and is doing great. She's even getting better with getting shots. Lollipops are the best!!


Stats:
weight: 21 lbs 4 ozs 9th %
height: 33 in 82nd % (where she gets this, I have no clue!)


She loves reading books, playing outside at the park, eating bewwies (berries), watching veggie tales movies, coloring, putting pretties in her hair, nursery at church and saying prayers. She's very cute with the prayer saying. She'll say "pway" and fold her arms and bow her head but still keep her eyes open to make sure we're doing it too. I'm glad some of the good things we're trying to teach her are catching on!!

i love birthdays!!

Some sweet gifts for my birthday! Thanks guys!!



except I got the cooler sing along dvd, yay



the best book


now, i have no excuse