Florida

We just got home from our trip to Florida last night, and we had a great time. We were so happy to meet Callie, and we hadn't seen Austin in almost 6 months, which is WAY too long to go in-between seeing a toddler who changes constantly! Reese did great on the flight in both directions, which we were very thankful for. When we got to Florida, Reese and Austin were definitely happy to see each other, and Austin was excited to immediately show Reese all of his toys. They followed each other around all weekend and bickered like brother and sister. :) It was so cute to watch them together.





















Boys will be boys....and in hindsight, I probably should have stopped him from digging in Jacqi's landscaping instead of taking pictures, but he was having so much fun. :)







Callie is absolutely beautiful, and she is very laid back. I don't know if that's naturally her personality, or if it's just part of the parents being so much more relaxed with baby #2. I guess we will find out in June (if I'm able to be more relaxed this time around, haha). :) Callie's little features are so perfect and precious, and I just couldn't stop taking pictures of all of her little details. She is so tiny, and it was so nice to hold a sweet little newborn again. It definitely made me even more excited for June (and slightly terrified to watch the ordeal of juggling a newborn and a two year old, even though Brian and Jacqi really have things under control!).

I had originally included a photo of Callie's umbilical cord stump in this collage, but Jacqi & Brian think the umbilical cord is gross. Weirdos. :)



















We mostly hung out at Brian and Jacqi's house and let the kids play each day. Reese was so happy to be outside. She has had cabin fever since the cold weather arrived back at home. Austin has an awesome play area outside, and Reese wanted to be out there constantly. On Friday, we took Austin and Reese to ride ponies at the horse ranch Austin likes to go visit. Reese was excited to see horses, and she did great riding the pony. Unfortunately, our pony decided to be stubborn and refused to go any further at one point, and Reese got upset when she realized that the pony was giving her daddy a hard time and she didn't want to ride anymore. It was hard to get pictures of her riding since I was glued to her side to be sure she didn't fall off, but I got some cute ones of Austin, who is a professional pony rider!



















We were super sad to leave Florida this afternoon. We had to wake both Reese and Austin up from naps when it was time to go, so they were both a bit tired & uninterested in taking a picture with Callie before we left, but at least we got one.







When we got to the airport, Austin started crying, and it absolutely broke my heart. I still can't stop crying when I think about it. It was a silent cry, he didn't make a sound, but his lips were downturned and pouty, and he just had tears streaming down his face. I couldn't stop giving him kisses goodbye, and by the time we left, I was a mess. He wouldn't even look at Matt to say goodbye. So, so sad. Reese kept saying, "Bye Bye, Austin," for the next 15 minutes after we were in the airport. It really breaks my heart that these kids are growing up so far away from each other. Ugh, I'm crying again. Time for happy pictures.







Anyways, on a happy note, we have started (awake time) potty training Reese. She has been going in the potty for several months now, and she had gotten to the point that she was asking to use the potty regularly throughout the day. My work scheduled changed at the beginning of the year, and I'm now working Mon-Wed, so I have 4 consecutive days off each week, and I figured it was a good time to give potty training more attention. She has done awesome. She only had one accident each of the first two days, and she stayed dry the next 2 days after that. She has even done a great job using public restrooms (ewwwww, ewwwwww, ewwwww) with a fold up potty ring when we are out and about. I figured we would loosely continue to work on it in Florida, but when she stayed dry through our entire commute/flight, I realized that she was prepared to keep going. She did great in Florida as well, although she had an accident each day. We are still using diapers for naps and bedtime, and I don't see that ending anytime soon. We'll just see when she starts showing signs that she is ready for that step, but for now, I'm happy to be free of diapers during the day!

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!