Reese is FOUR

Our firstborn baby girl is four today.  Seems like yesterday I was lying on the delivery room table anxiously awaiting their arrival.  How time flies.  Reese seems like she's already four.  I've had to remind myself for the past few months that she was still three because she acts so grown up sometimes.  Our Reesie is one of a kind and she is the little rock of our family.  Here are four things I treasure about Reese:
1)  She has such a sensitive side that will surface so unexpectedly and take you by surprise.  It's such an endearing quality.
2) Her little quirks and idiosyncrasies.
3) Her love for our family.  Each and every one of us.  She is such a caretaker.
4) She is smart as a whip and has a memory to back it up.

And here are four photos of Reese that I love:

I'm so excited....

and I can't wait for the morning.  R&R's 4th birthday is tomorrow and we decorated their bedroom after they fell asleep tonight.  I will snap more photos in the morning but I couldn't resist taking one tonight after we were done.  Good thing they are the heaviest sleepers and didn't see my flash going off.  I know I said it already but I am SO excited to see them when they wake up!

Breakfast @ Joe's

We met Misty, Liz, and their kiddos @ Joe's Farm Grill this morning for breakfast for Liz's birthday.  Apparently they give you a $10 credit on your birthday, which is a nice treat and their food is so amazing.  I'm a big fan of places that you can eat and the kids can run around and play.  Joe's is one of those places.  We had a wonderful time eating inside while it was chilly outside and then it was time to move outside with the kiddos so they could run and play.  What a fun morning.  I'm so there for my birthday next year!

The crew

Mr. Blue Eyes

"Wait for me, guys!"

"I wonder what will happen if I shake this tree?"

Feels like Winter

We sleep with our windows open right now but I think that stops tonight.  I woke up and the thermostat in our kitchen said 69 degrees.  It was CHILLY!  We have 2 drawers of pajamas for the girls.  One drawer is the summer stuff like nightgowns and lightweight cotton PJs; the other drawer is the fleece, heavy duty PJs.  We were all cold this morning so the girls disrobed and put on their fleecy footie jams.  The jammies are size 4T so they should fit perfectly, and they do, except for this one area:

 Hello, Bigfoot.  Look at that foot inside there.  I told Mimi that it looks like a sausage stuffed in its casing.  The girls are wearing size 11 shoes and I'm sure that most 4 year olds don't have feet this big.  Our girls are the exception.  We are in the middle of a growth spurt because they are eating like horses and outgrowing pairs of shoes at light speed.  I thought we would wear these PJs this winter but I don't think that's happening unless we cut out the toes.

Family Feature Day--Ryan

 Ryan's Family Feature Day was November 4th and she was really excited about the big day.  She wanted Mimi to come to the classroom for a visit and couldn't wait to show off her baby brother.  We made a poster with some photos of Ryan and her favorite things.  I didn't get a picture of the poster but here are a couple photos from Ryan's special day:

Ms. Ry in the spotlight

Showing off baby brother.

Family Feature Day--Reese

Each week at preschool they feature a student for the last half hour of class and Reese's day was October 28th.  It happened to also be the day their class celebrated Halloween so the kiddos were all dressed up as storybook characters.  Reese wanted to be Belle because her favorite color is yellow.  She had 2 requests for Family Feature Day:  1) That our entire family be there and 2) She wanted to talk about her toy farm animals.  Cory, Ryder, & I showed up around 10:30 and the class was decorating cupcakes and finishing their Halloween crafts.  It's so much fun to see what goes on inside their classroom.  They love preschool and Reese was SO excited to have us there for her special day.

Daddy & Batman baby

Sugar overload!

"Do I have anything on my face?"

We read two of her favorite animal books.  Notice her farm animals lined up on the chair next to us.

Ten Months

Wow!  This time of year always goes by so fast, but October flew by at record speed.  Our baby boy is 10 months old today and I feel like I was just writing his 9 month post last week.  Little man is a ball of fun and energy.  Everyone loves to be around him because he's such a happy baby and full of such personality.  His mobility is insane as he crawls all over the house and loves to stand up and cruise around the furniture.  Mr. R has recently figured out how to get off the couch with ease and grace.  When he's sitting there with his sisters and decides he doesn't want to be on the sofa anymore he crawls towards the edge and puts his hands down to catch himself.  It's funny to watch.

The babbling continues with words like "Mamama", "Dadada" & "Bababa".  He's doing some signing when he eats but gets 'all done' & 'more' confused so we're still practicing.  Fave foods are bananas, strawberries, grapes, beans, carrots, applesauce, mac n cheese or any small pasta noodle that he can pick up, raisins, & cheerios.  He loves it when we "chase" him while he's crawling.  We say, "I'm gonna get you" and he screams/laughs and crawls away as fast as he can.

Everyone comments that he'll start walking soon but I think he's still got a few months.  He really enjoys crawling and if it ain't broke don't fix it.  I am loving every minute with our baby.  Some days I want to stop time, other days I can't wait for all the fun adventures that lie ahead, but most of the time I am just living in the moment with our little boo who we adore so much.

Ryan Team Client Appreciation party

My dad throws a client appreciation party each year as a way to say thank you to our clients who have been so loyal throughout the years.  The past 2 years have been at Marley Farms and we always have a great time.  The girls love the petting zoo and the pony rides.  It was such a fun party and we had a blast seeing friends & family.

I should know better

I got Toy Story 3 at CVS for SO cheap.  Seriously, it was $3.99 after discounts and the girls were really excited to see it (or so they said they were).  I thought this would be okay to watch at home as you know that our girls don't like going to the movies.  You may remember this post from the summer.

We popped Toy Story 3 in the DVD player and sat down to watch the movie, just the three of us.  It has some really cute moments throughout but I think when you watch it for the first time there is a huge feeling of sadness throughout the entire movie.  The little boy, Andy, has grown up and is going off to college.  It's all very bittersweet and a bit melancholy.  The toys are potentially going to go to the attic or be given away to a daycare center.  Then there's this bear in the movie called Lotso and he is M-E-A-N.  He lost his original owner and is bitter about it.

Long story short:  the girls and I cried on and off throughout the movie but we kept hanging on thinking it would be a happy ending.  I guess you could call it a happy ending when Andy gives his toys to a little girl that will play with all of them but the leaving for college part traumatized my girls.  Reese kept saying, "What's college?  I don't want to go there!  WHY is he leaving his family and his toys?!?" OY!!  Next time I want to have a warm fuzzy moment with my kids and watch a Disney "kids" movie, remind me that our girls are still babies and should not be watching these kinds of movies.

PS<> I do like the movie and maybe I just needed a good cry, but holy heck, I was kind of a hot mess when that movie was over.

A new fave toy

Gotta love the Cozy Coupe.  R&R each had one and we've since sold one but kept one for Ryder.  His legs are a bit too short to pedal on his own but, man, does he love this toy.  He crawls over to it and squawks until we put him in the seat and then someone has to push him around.  If we stop pushing, he squawks.  If we take him out, he yells.  It's usually outside but sometimes I have to bring it in because he just can't get enough.  PS<>  Don't tell him that it's pink & purple :)

Here he is squawking because the wheels aren't moving

"Hey, Ladies.  Wanna ride?"

The tradition continues

If you are part of our family you must love Mexican food, especially burritos.  It's a requirement.  The girls started when they were about 18 months old but Ryder is moving full steam ahead in the food department and anyone that knows him is aware that he refuses baby food.  So why not try out a homemade burrito?

Thanks, Mom.  What's this?

Let me check this out and decide.

Okay, I'll try it.

I think I'm going to like it.

Little Polar Bears

We were playing outside today and the girls kept asking if they could go swimming.  It was hot today but the pool is still C-O-L-D.  After some convincing pleas and a bit too much whining for my taste, I opened the fence and waited to see what they would do.  Ryan jumped in and I couldn't believe it.  She actually swam around a bit and then Ree jumped in.  I had to photograph the moment.  I was cold just watching them.  A warm bath came just minutes later.