Big Boy, Baby and Brotherly LOVE!!!

Tis’ the season for Valentines and I’m soooooooo thankful to have not one, not two, but THREE wonderful men at home to share Valentine’s Day with!!

Things are still quite hectic around our house, but basketball season is (finally) winding down. Reid, Reece and I have had a lot of quality time over the past few months, but we are very excited to have Daddy around each night again. The boys have really enjoyed going to the Rebel games this year and are very well-behaved. Reece, unlike Reid at his age, just sits on my lap and watches the game. He enjoys dancing to the band and just people watching. I catch him smiling at random people all of the time; he is such a happy baby! Reid likes to watch the game as well, but wants to run around upstairs at halftime. This usually works very well because he gets a lot of exercise right before bed 

Hmmmm.....what's new and exciting??? Well, Nate and I are going to get away for two nights in March to a resort in Sisters. We have our own little cabin reserved and will go out to dinner, enjoy complimentary nightly cocktail parties, the spa, movie house and spend time doing some trail hiking and whatever else we come up with. It will be some nice time away since we’ve only had 1 night away together in the past 3 years!!! I’m not however foolish enough to think that I won’t miss my little guys like CRAZY the entire time, but I know that we will have a nice time away! Other than that, future travel plans include a long weekend at Eagle Crest, Klamath Falls and 10 days in Hawaii toward the end of summer….CAN’T WAIT!!! We love to get away and am very thankful that my kids are such good little travelers. They will sleep anywhere and car / train / plane trips don’t seem to faze them. I haven’t had Reece on a plane yet, but he’s pretty laid back, so I think he will do great!

Speaking of new and exciting and love.....we've entered a stage in the boys' lives that I wasn't really prepared for and that has somewhat caught me by surprise. I often reflect on my relationship with each of them and our relationship as parents of two boys, but I was not prepared for the pulls my heart strings would get each and every time they interact with one-another. It is the most amazing thing in the world. They are completely in love with each other.....Reece only wants to be by Reid's side every waking minute of the day and Reid will tolerate any amount of hair pulling and face grabbing Reece can throw his way. I wash his hair in the tub and I get tears, but Reece pulls his hair out and he just smiles.....Brotherly love....one of the sweetest things I've ever seen......

Half-Year Celebrations!!

As we wish ourbouncing baby boy happy 6 months, we can’t believe our big boy is creeping his way toward 3!!!

Here are our stats as we hit this milestone:

Reid:

No official weight or height as we thankfully haven’t been to the doctor much lately. He is a beanpole with long legs; built just like his Daddy and pretty much talks about anything and everything. He’s developed quite an opinion, especially about where we are and aren’t going in the car. He also likes to be in control at stop lights….’stop Mommy, stop!’……’go, Mommy, go!!’ and my favorite when I made a right-hand turn on red…..’Mommy!!! No, STOP!!! The light is RED!!!’……yeah, try explaining that to a two-year old 

His favorite errand to run is anything at Fred Meyer, because they have ‘red carts’ – the ones that you drive. Though he used to love Costco, he now tries to talk me out of going there due to the lack of ‘red carts’. If I tell him that he can sit in the cart part of the cart (rather than in the seat that toddlers are supposed to occupy), he usually thinks Costco is cool again. As with so many things at this age, it is all about presentation  Reid is an awesome big brother and enjoys playing with ‘Baby Reecey’.


Reece:

Not sure if it was what he wanted, but Reece got his two front teeth for Christmas this year. For the most part, he’s handling teething pretty well, aside from a few earlier-than-normal mornings and the occasional need for baby Tylenol. His two little front bottom teeth are a very cute addition to his smile and I think we have other teeth close behind. Except for when his teeth are really bothering him, he is a very happy, easy-going boy! He sleeps and eats very well, which is something that Nate and I still can’t quite believe. Most nights he is in bed by 8 or 8:30 and doesn’t get up until sometime between 7 and 8. He will occasionally wake up in the middle of the night and talk to himself for a few minutes before putting himself back to sleep. His new thing right now is that he is a tummy sleeper and stays on his stomach all night…..freaks me out, but if I roll him over he rolls right back onto his stomach. Guess that’s just the way it is going to be!

He’s eating solids and has been since 4 months. So far, his repertoire includes green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, pears and peaches. Tonight we will add corn and kiwi to the mix. He seems to like most all food, but prefers rice cereal to oatmeal and vegetables to fruit (though I’m sure that one will change soon)  He is developing quite a personality and even starting to communicate with me a little bit. I know when he sees what he wants and though it’s usually a bottle or his cereal, the other night he made the same noise when he saw his bed (meaning he was ready to go to bed). He loves playing with toys and is starting to sit up really well. Can’t quite leave him on the floor without pillows yet, but he is very close. Most of the time he gets too excited playing, which causes him to topple! His absolute favorite toy is Reid and he would follow him all over the house if he could figure out how. This too will change and poor Reid will have a shadow here in a couple of months (I’d imagine the cats won’t like this either). His second favorite toy is a metal dump truck (because all 6 month olds should play with metal toys) with a load of wooden blocks. He can’t get enough of this toy and can reach it really well from his Bumbo. Sadly, Nate and I put his baby swing in the attic last night and brought down the walker. While this is exciting and certainly frees up some more space in the great room, it is bittersweet at the same time……he’s growing up….sniff! We go to the doctor for our 6 month check-up on Tuesday and I expect him to be in the 20 pound range and will be anxious to see his height, as he seems to have gotten quite a bit ‘taller’ lately. He is wearing size 12 month clothes now, which means that Mommy is cleaning out his drawers with rapid frequency these days….what a task that is!!

As for the Nate and I, we are just enjoying life with our little men. I’m very busy at work and Nate’s schedule is quite hectic with basketball, but we both love what we do and are extremely grateful to have good jobs and that we are passionate about what we do. We are looking forward to some small trips this spring and Hawaii this summer!!