I'll start by sharing the very exciting news we got today. I had an OB appointment, and they wanted to do a quick ultrasound check. When the tech saw the baby, she said that she could clearly see the sex, and asked us if we wanted to know. Of course, we did, and....IT'S A BOY!!!!!! We are SO excited! Reese has learned to say "baby brother," and it's so cute. Matt went out and bought some blue bibs and onesies after work. Time for me to plan a nursery!

It's been awhile since I updated. We have been so busy with the holiday season. It has been a blast this year. A few weeks ago, we used our Brookfield Zoo membership to go see their holiday light display. It was so much fun. When we first got there, Reese was really quiet & intimidated by the people and characters (dressed up as Frosty and Rudolph) and she didn't seem to want anything to do with any of it. I don't think she realized where we were until she saw the penguins. All of a sudden, something clicked, and she started asking for monkeys over and over an over until we made our way to the monkey house. From that point on, she had an absolute blast. We ended the evening with her giving SEVERAL high fives to Frosty and Rudolph, and then crying, kicking, and screaming when we had to finally drag her out of there.





We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Reese was so much fun. She loved opening presents, and she REALLY loved all of the attention that she got everywhere we went.







Christmas morning was the best. Ever since we started dating, it has been our Christmas morning tradition to have Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. This year, I decided it was time to step it up, and I made them from scratch. They were delicious, and I even let Reese try one, despite my usual efforts to keep sugar out of her belly. It was Christmas, after all. :)





After breakfast, we moved on to opening gifts. Reese loved tearing into the paper, and she even seemed to be excited to see the gifts themselves.







Reese was very excited to open her stocking, and her excitement grew exponentially when she found a container of puffs inside. Her eyes were like saucers when I opened the can & handed it to her and let her eat right out of it.









Matt had bought and wrapped a gift for us to give Reese a few weeks ago, and he wouldn't tell me what it was until she opened it. It ended up being all 5 Yo Gabba Gabba beanie babies (from a cartoon on Nick Jr. that Reese LOVES). She was so happy, you would have thought she opened a box of magic. She has been taking them everywhere with her.



Reese's big gift from us was a homemade play kitchen. We have been working on it for the last month, and I'm happy with the way it turned out. Most importantly, Reese LOVES it, and she is playing with it all the time.







As usual, Reese got spoiled rotten by both sets of her grandparents. Here are some pictures of her enjoying Christmas at each of their houses.





Mary made Reese a beautiful sweater and hat, and Reese didn't want to take the hat off while she finished opening presents.



My parents got Reese musical instruments for Christmas, and she loved them, but she really loved the box they were in.











We are very blessed to have such wonderful family to spend the holidays with, and we have enjoyed all of our time with everyone!

Big News!!!

For those of you that we didn't have the pleasure of seeing over the Thanksgiving weekend, Reese has some big news to announce:



Reese is going to be a big sister!!! I am 12 weeks pregnant, and Baby G #2 is due to arrive June 12th. I've already had a handful of OB appointments, and baby looks great. Reese is getting well acquainted with the staff at the OB office, and she has finally stopped screaming bloody murder anytime someone tries to touch me. We are extremely excited about the new addition to our family. Well, most of us are, anyways.



We had a strange/cool occurrence a few weeks ago when I had my 6 week ultrasound. I had the ultrasound sitting on the kitchen counter, and I held it up for Reese & asked her what it was. She smiled really big, pointed, and said, "Baby!" Now, keep in mind that at 6 weeks, the baby looks more like a gummy bear than an actual recognizable baby, and Reese has never seen a picture of an ultrasound. All of my ultrasounds from my pregnancy with her are packed away in a pregnancy book. I have no idea how the heck she knew what it was, but I held it up for her several times throughout the day, and it got the same reaction each time. I'm going to chalk it up to her being an absolute genius! ;)

Our Thanksgiving weekend was a quick blur, with 4 family celebrations in 3 days. It was fun to dress Reese in her Big Sister shirt and watching everyone's reactions to reading it. It was great to see everyone, and Reese had a blast soaking up all of the attention she could get. We also went to the Ringling Brothers Circus on Friday, which was really fun, despite Reese's lack of a nap which resulted in her wanting to lay on the floor through almost the whole thing.

On Sunday, we finally had a day at home to relax as a family. We started getting our Christmas decorations set up, and it was so much fun to have Reese's help. She liked the lights, and she really enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree. She also enjoyed putting anything else she could find in the tree (the bubble wrap the ornaments were wrapped in, the boxes they were stored in, etc.).







She liked laying under the tree, and you can see her decorating masterpiece of miscellaneous items above her.







Well, I think that's it. Hugs and kisses for everyone!

I only have a few pictures to share, but I figured I would update the blog really quickly while Reese is doing laundry. Actually, she is emptying the laundry basket, refilling the laundry basket, emptying the laundry basket...you get the point. :)



Reese has had a couple of fun weeks. My parents have been down in Florida visiting Austin (oh, and Jacqi and Brian, too), so Mary (Matt's mom) has been watching her during the day. She has had a blast with Grandma Mary. I love seeing how excited she gets to see each of her grandmas. Each morning when she hears the garage door open, or the knock at the door, she yells, "Grandma!" and goes running to see them. Mary arrived one morning while Reese was still in her crib, and I thought Reese was going to jump right out. She was bouncing like crazy, impatiently waiting for me to hoist her up and take her downstairs. Reese became obsessed with the watch that Mary was wearing this week (it was like a slap bracelet with a watch face). Mary let her wear it while she was here, and each night after Mary was gone, Reese was still grabbing her wrist, and asking for the "clock".

The poor dog can't get a break from Reese's affection. Reese is constantly loving on her, which is sweet, but we're still working on teaching her how to be gentle. Bailey is 9 years old now, and she doesn't always appreciate Reese piling herself on top of her. She loves sharing her toys with Bailey, and she will often take a whole pile of toys, one by one, and lay them next to her. Bailey loves it, as you can see. As you can also see in the background, I had to quickly jump up after taking this picture when I realized that Reese was getting ready to share her stroller with the poor dog.



The other day, Reese took all of my towels out of the kitchen cabinet to cover Bailey with "blankets".



Along with taking all of her toys to the dog, Reese is also going through a phase where she loves to make piles of her toys in random places. She will take all of them and make a big pile on the sofa, on her chair, by the stairs, or sometimes on Matt and I. The other day, she sat in her chair, and she kept saying, "Please, please." I had no idea what she wanted, but through lots of questions, I finally figured out that she wanted me to pile all of her "babies" on top of her.



Reese is still saying new words each day, and we are constantly amazed at the things she comes up with. We have noticed her using more two word phrases. She has also been singing a lot, which melts my heart. It's so sweet to hear her soft little voice gently singing out some jumbled words. She still loves to dance, and her latest move is her "ballerina twirl". She puts her arms out and spins in a circle. It's pretty awesome.

Reese is also getting really good about knowing what she is supposed to have and touch, and what she isn't. Unfortunately, her self control still needs some work. :) She will frequently go up to something (my cell phone, the dog bowl, etc.), and say, "babies, no," meaning that it's not for babies, which is what I always tell her. Sometimes she will walk away, but other times, she just can't control herself, and she will continue to take my phone or splash in the dog bowl while saying, "no." Oh well, she's learning. :)

Reese and Matt had fun playing with each other through the sliding glass door yesterday. She thought it was hilarious, and she wanted to give him kisses through the door as well.





She is getting sillier by the day, and she is learning how to tease. She loves coming up to us and offering something, and then laughing and running away. The other night while we were eating dinner, she kept holding out her fork and asking for help when she was having trouble getting a bite. She would hold out the fork to me, I would reach for it to help her, and she would pull it back, smile, and say, "noooo," which really sounded like a long meow. She would then point her fork to Matt, and say, "Dada!" Matt would try to help her, and she would do the same thing to him. It's pretty funny to see her try to make us laugh.

She has also been acting silly while she uses the potty. Often, her clothes from the day before will still be laying on the bathroom floor (don't judge me!). She always asks for the socks, and she wants me to put them on her hands. She also wants me to put her pants on her head. She thinks it's hilarious (she's right).



She likes to clap her hands together with her socks on them, and she likes to put her hands on her face and say, "Oh no!"



I constantly wonder what is going through her head. The other morning, she woke up crying, which is unusual for her. I walked into her room and asked her what was wrong. She pointed to her head, and said, "Hat." Puzzled, I asked her if she wanted to wear a hat. She nodded, and said, "Yes. Please!" I opened up her closet door, found a hat, and put it on her head. She was happy as could be. I have no idea why she woke up so upset and wanting a hat, but it made me laugh!

A rare picture of Reese looking at the camera AND smiling:



I gave you a picture of me smiling, Mama, what more do you want?!

Happy Halloween!!!

Reese had a great Halloween. She dressed up as a bumble bee, and she thought she was pretty cute when she saw herself in the mirror. We have been working on teaching her to "buzz" for the last couple weeks, and she finally started doing it today, just in time!!! She enjoyed watching all of the trick or treaters come to the door. My mom, dad, and Grandma Betty came over tonight to see Reese in costume, and she had a blast spending time with them. They brought her over some Halloween balloons, and Reese went CRAZY over them. They kept her busy most of the night! We carved pumpkins yesterday, and Reese had so much fun. She loved touching all of the slimy pumpkin guts, and she really liked stepping on it & making a mess. She was very excited when we lit the candle & turned out the lights so she could see the final result. Today was actually the second time Reese got to wear her costume. Matt's parents had a Halloween party a couple weeks ago, and she got to wear it over to their house, too.
I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!!