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!!

Sweet Babes of Mine: Chubs and Stretch

Oh these boys are fun!! So much fun in fact that I haven’t even had time to update this blog in the last few months! I’ll do my best at a quick catch-up now:

We spent the latter part of the summer adjusting to life with two kiddos and eventually fell into a sort of routine. We took a family trip to Yachats and a longer trip to Gold Beach. While in Gold Beach, Reid, Nate and I went on a white water jet boat adventure! I would have never thought about doing this with a 2-year old, but my Aunt Mary Ann wanted to take her grandsons and Nate and I really wanted to go. Reece was not even 6 weeks old and I didn’t want to overwhelm my Mom with the two kids for the entire day, so I looked into whether or not taking Reid was an option. They said they have little people on the trips daily and better yet, he was free! I wasn’t sure if he would love it or be scared at the speed, rapids and spinning of the boat. He LOVED it and we had a fabulous time! Every time the boat would spin, he would say ‘more!, more!’ and the more wet we got, the better! This was an all-day excursion and he finally gave up in the most intense white water part of the river and took a nap on me. The best part of the whole adventure was that Grandpa Don was about 35 miles up-river fishing for the week. They anchored their boat in the middle of the river for the morning fishing excursion so that the jet boat would get right next to them once we made it that far. Reid was so excited to see Grandpa Don and Mama Linda and Grandpa Gary that he didn’t seem at all baffled at the fact that we had driven 5 hours and taken a two-hour boat ride just to see the people we see at home all of the time! Grandpa loved seeing Reid and even joined us at our lunch stop at Agness!

Nate went back to work in late August and I went back in mid-September. I was VERY ready to go back to work and get settled back into our routine. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my little men like crazy when I am gone, but I am not cut out to be a stay at home Mom and have the utmost respect and admiration for those that do it and do it well. It is literally the toughest job you can have! I was able to keep my part-time status at work and recently added a position to my department that will eventually help with the workload and will be necessary moving into the future. Things are quite hectic in my office, but I do like it that way 

We traveled to Eagle Crest in October and spent a week there with the family. It was beautiful and cold (in the teens at night) and we had a great time!

I can’t believe it is November already and the Holidays are right around the corner. The boys are both growing like weeds. We took Reece to the doctor last week and he was 17 pounds, 26 inches long and 90th percentile in both height and weight. He is a very big baby and is right on track developmentally. He sleeps very well at night, from about 8:30 until 5 a.m. when he eats a quick bottle and goes back down until 7:30ish. He naps three times a day; a short one in the morning, long nap between noon and two and another short one in the late afternoon. He likes to nap during the day in his swing and because he is spoiled and such an easy baby, we let him  At night he puts himself to sleep and has been in his own crib since he was two months old. He’s a happy little fella, but will let you know when he is ready to eat and/or sleep. Those are pretty much the only two things that get him riled up!

Reid is growing like a weed. We constantly get comments from people telling us how tall he is for a 2 year-old. He’s a bean pole, too, just like his Daddy. His talking and comprehension are just amazing; I can’t believe the things he picks up half the time! He started attending Beaver football games with Nate this year and absolutely loves it! They are usually right during his nap time, so he is in the habit of crawling up on Grandma Sheri’s shoulder and taking a snooze. He is a very good boy, but he is two after-all, so that always makes it lively and interesting around our house. He really enjoys having play dates and we try to get together with friends frequently for dinner during the week and let the kiddos play. Reid went to his first movie a couple weeks ago with Grandpa Dale and watched the whole thing! He also loves to watch the Polar Express at home and is excited to go on the ‘real’ Polar Express in December up in Hood River!

Other than that, it’s life as normal around the Neuschwander house….but really, does ‘normal’ exist? We are just enjoying a lot of ‘firsts’ together as a family of four 

Pictures!!

It's a Boy!!!!

Reece Nathaniel Neuschwander has arrived!! Born at 3:57am he was 7lbs. 11oz (born on 7/11), and 20 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely precious and mom is doing awesome,only pushed for about 35 minutes.

Nicole and Nate have requested that if you would like to come and visit them please do so after 3pm on Monday.

Moving Quickly!!

Dr. just broke Nicole's water and she is now 8-9cm. Woo hoo!! By the time most of you read this baby will probably already be here!!