Lent

This year I am making my Lenten penance/fasting/almsgiving public. Why? Because I want accountability! Not only with the Lord, but with my friends and family. A few weeks ago I started a morning workout class entitled "Amazing Life" by Body & Soul Fitness. We begin each session (at 5:30am) with a scripture reading, a lesson, and then a prayer. All of our workout is done to contemporary Christian music. I LOVE IT. It has really brought me to see life in a new perspective. I do have an Amazing Life.

This leads me to Lent.... this year I am going to pray every day, and try my absolute hardest, to not complain. Yes.... me. No complaining. I'm serious! I really feel as if this will be a challenge for me, but I am ready to take it on with help from prayer. When I get up at 5am to go to my workout class I think "man, this is early!", but hey... I got up this morning! God decided to continue my lease on life! I have two beautiful children and an amazing husband. I have a roof over my head and food on my table. We have clean clothes and running water. Little things like that may not seem important - but to those that do not have those luxuries.... wow.

So, please remind me if you hear me slipping.... no complaining! Be thankful in all things!

For another perspective: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2011/11/patti-armstrong-be-thankful-in-all-things/

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Clayton at 22 Months!

Oh my goodness, we are getting so close to my baby boy being 2 years old! Cue Mommy cry-fest! =( He is growing up so fast and getting smarter and cuter by the day - if that is possible! Here are some highlights (or lowlights, ha!) from the past month!

- Knows these shapes: Triangle, Heart, Square, Circle (little harder on the circle)
- Knows these colors: Purple, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Black, Pink (So, pretty much all of them!)
- Speaks in full sentences all of the time and for the most part we understand everything, or most of what he says!
- Loves to wrestle with Sister, but tends to bite when he gets really excited.
- Already got one of the 2 year molars in! Has all the rest of his teeth besides the remaining 3!
- Knows his name is Clayton "Kaykon" and Sister's name is "Reagan E!" haha, it's too cute!
- Sings these songs in addition to the others: Jesus Loves Me, Mary Had a Little Lamb, the Go-Go song
- Now obsessed with his Reveille pillow, Angry Birds blanket, and Go-Go (Cat in the hat) stuffed animal and must have them with him to sleep at night or get ready for bed. Sometimes wants to drag them downstairs when he wakes up. But, he will sleep without them - such as at daycare!
- Will tell you whether he'd rather sit in a big boy chair or the highchair for meals
- Wants to read the Goodnight Aggieland book every night before bed, THEN the Pooh bear book. He even "reads" the Pooh bear book himself!
- Doesn't want to take a bath without Reagan in there too!
- New phrase: "Oh my gosh!" haha!
- Favorite word, still: "Nooooo"
- Went to Nana's house in California and was scared of the animals, haha. But did feed Laddie, her stallion, carrots on the last day and Leroy, the goat, some bread!
- Loves to color!!!
- Can do matching games where he matches a picture on the screen to a picture on a card!
- Still wearing all of the same clothes and shoes! Woo hoo - cheaper bills! ;-)

Love my sweet boy. Even if he is a little toot sometimes! He definitely knows how to express himself and is not lacking in the personality department! We just love him to pieces!

Nine Months!

(Pictures to come!)

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy gets a big F this month for not posting your birthday report until now. Next month I promise to get an A! ;-) We've just been so busy trying to get you and your brother healthy lately that time has just seriously flown by! We are ready for warmer weather and are hoping that will bring some healthier kiddos!

This month you really took off in your developments! You started cruising along the furniture and hardly ever just stay in one place, whether that is walking along something, or crawling! You follow your brother wherever he goes and can almost keep up with how quickly he changes from toy to toy! ;-) You also started walking behind a push toy this month! You don't like it too much because your arms get ahead of your legs, but you do alright! I'm sure this next month you'll really get the hang of it!

Verbally you started repeating bye-bye and waving!!!! We were so proud of you! You say "bu-bu" but wave at the same time, so we know what you mean! You also started giving us open mouth kisses this month! They are so sweet, but so slobbery! haha!

You still hate your carseat. This makes Mommy & Daddy very sad! We even changed you to a different one thinking that the new one we bought you was uncomfortable. Nope... no change! You do fine as long as it is not long distances, or if you can just take a nap. You also hate when we get your PJ's on after a bath. I guess we are just not quick enough and you are too cold! Once we are done you quit crying instantly! Too funny!

You and your brother have so much fun together and we love watching you day to day. His new favorite thing is to wrestle with you. We've had to get on to him a few times for being too rough, and one day he even bit you! Your first bite! =( He felt really bad afterwards though. We know it was just play but we still had to scold him!

Gia nicknamed you her Mona Lisa because you always have this little smirk on your face. You're a happy girl and we love your big smiles too, but your little grin is just adorable! When you and brother are playing you make this cackling laugh that is too funny!!! You have a pretty deep voice so Pop calls you Kathleen Turner.... you'll learn all about these two references later in life! hehe!

Pretty much since the day you were born you've been teething, haha, and your two top teeth have still not come in. Some days are worse than others where the drool just pours out of your mouth. Lovely, huh? We keep bibs on you if we want to make sure your outfit stays nice and dry! Hopefully they'll come in soon and you can be relieved of the pain for a while!

You still only get to eat the Stage 2 Gerber baby foods since you can't tolerate any real solid foods. You eat nearly a whole jar or cup each time! Your favorite is pears. You take a bottle of 6 ounces every 4 hours during the day as well. Sometimes you go a little longer if you had a lot of food, but we need to fatten you up anyway so we don't mind feeding you!

Speaking of - at your 9 month appointment your stats had dropped off significantly. Your doctor said it could be from the throwing up, or it could be the way you grow. You only weighed 17lbs 3oz and were 26" long. You went from the 42% in weight to the 22%, and the 43% in height to the 13%. Your head went from 25% to 12%! You just shrank right up! We are hoping everything will work itself out but we don't know yet - you're still puking! More to come on that in your next monthly letter!

You still wear 6-9mo clothes and are now a size 3 diaper. Shoes - ha - not sure! ;-) We don't ever put you in shoes. Those are just pointless for babies! You still get up once a night at least, sometimes more... but other times you sleep all night. It's random! We feed you though when you wake since you are still so tiny. Need to fatten you up!

You are so precious and we love you so much. It kills us to see you struggle with your tummy, or whatever the issue may be. We are working on it, I promise! We love you, sister girl! Happy Birthday!!!!

Love,
Mommy

2012 in Pictures

Well, since I am postponing Reagan's 9 month update until I can take her pictures tonight, I figured I'd copy a blog post that I read the other day! The author did an update of her year in pictures! I don't post many pictures on the blog besides their monthly updates, so I thought this would be fun!

January: Snow!

February: Mommy's Cupid!

March: Clayton is ONE!

April: Reagan is born!

May: Mother's Day and TWO babies!

June: Father's day and TWO babies!

July: Two Firecrackers!

August: Meeting Gloria!

September: Aggie Football starts!

October: Ghost and Ghostbuster!

November: Aggie Football with the whole family!

December: Our first Santa visit!

A New Year...

Poor blog.... it's been a little deprived lately. We are so glad to see 2012 come to a close. Not only was it a terrible end to the year for us, it was also terrible for our dear friends and Goddaughter. Thankful that everyone pulled through and is now (mostly) well! Whew!

This year will be exciting for many reasons! Clayton and Reagan will turn 2 and 1 in the Spring. Kevin & Sarah will get married in June. Gloria will turn 1 in July. My dad will be 60 in July. And, I'll get my Aggie Ring in November! WHOOP!

Ready to see what the new year will hold. Praying that it brings nothing but happiness to all of our friends and family!

Clayton at 21 months!

We have hit the terrible two's! Ok, not really, but sometimes it feels more like we have a full-fledged toddler rather than a baby! Clayton continues to amaze us with how smart he is. Seriously, it's scary sometimes! My mom seems to think that we'll never be able to keep him entertained enough in school since he'll be so far ahead, lol. He does come from some pretty smart family! Here are some highlights from the past month:

- Sings these songs by himself: The ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells (main part only), The Bearkat song

- Can identify the letters B, C, D, H, J, E, and T. Probably could do more but doesn't have the attention span!

- Can put together baby puzzles in no time flat!

- Doesn't want to sit in a highchair very often. Would rather sit in a "big boy" chair.

- Eats everything with a fork or spoon

- Would just eat ranch as a meal if we'd let him!

- Obsessed with candy... Thank you, Christmas! Asks us for candy all of the time. Favorite is M&M's!

- Throws trash away by himself, even things that are not trash to us but that he thinks are!

- STILL obsessed with tractors.

- Wants to read the Winnie the Pooh book every night before bed

- Knows what things are his and what are Sister's and does not often want to share!

- New favorite thing to do on our phone is scroll through and look at pictures and watch videos

- Met Santa for the first time and did not cry! But sure did not like him!

- Talks in complete sentences. Sometimes we don't always understand what he is saying but most times we fully comprehend!

- Loves to scold his Sister.. "Sisteerrrrr... No! No!", haha. 

- Understands time out, but seems to enjoy it so it is not much of a punishment!

- Loves to run and he'll tell us, "Run! FAST!". 

- Knows everyone's name at daycare

- Loves to tackle Sister and make her giggle

- Still not very interested in going poo-poo on the potty. More interested in hiding from us. Oh joy.

- Thinks it's hilarious to "tooty"... all boy I tell ya!

- Still wearing 18 month, size 3 diaper day/ 4 night, 7 shoe. Not much growth happening!

I'm sure there are tons more things he has done. It's so hard to keep up with him when he changes every day and learns new things. His Sister does the same. It is hard to watch my babies grow up so fast! 

Love my sweet sweet little stinkeroo!

Eight Months!

Happy Eight Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy is once again late posting this.... December/End of November was ROUGH! We are glad to see a new year here! You grew and changed so much this month and it has really made Mommy sad! No more little baby Reagan! You crawl so fast now and go wherever you please. You follow your brother around all of the time and even will follow us if we leave the room. Your big accomplishment this month was that you started pulling up right after your 7 month birthday. First you would only pull up on things that were shorter than you in crawling position and you would sort of "climb" onto the higher things from there. Well now you put your arms way above your head, reach for something, then pull with all of your might until you are standing!

You are getting so good at keeping your balance and love to let us hold your arms and let you walk. You are not a huge fan of walking behind a push toy yet because you'd rather chew on the handle! However, you love to walk around in your walker! Sometimes Brother thinks he needs to push you instead of you doing the work and away you go like a roller coaster ride! ;-) You laugh and think it's fun!

You started dancing just after your 7 month birthday also! Mommy mentioned that Brother danced on his 7 month birthday and you must have heard me and thought "Wow! I should do that too!". It's cute to watch you shake your booty! ;-) You and Clayton love to dance together to music and you will dance while he sings along to songs!

This month was rough because we were all sick. Even since probably October some time you developed a little cough from what we assumed was drainage in your throat. Well, you have a pretty weak gag reflex so if the cough tickled you the wrong way you would throw up. And we mean throw up everything in your tummy! We still don't know when you will throw up or when you are ok. We're looking in to why you continue to do this. It's been rough on Mommy & Daddy and it really upsets you as well. Hopefully it will go away soon. Nana says that you will probably outgrow it by the time you turn one... man, that's only 4 months away!

You are a pro at eating solids but we cannot feed you anything that you must chew because of your gag reflex. Anytime we feed you puffs or something like that you gag and throw up. Oh joy! You really don't have a favorite or least favorite food though! We did try to give you some grownup sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving and you made the worst face ever! It was hilarious! But you love baby sweet potatoes, so who knows! ;-) Silly girl!

You started babbling this month. You say "bababa". You still blow raspberries alllll of the time and you drool allll of the time! We have to keep bibs on you a lot because you soak the front of your shirts! You and your brother still have so much fun playing together. It's so fun to watch you two. He loves to wrestle with you and you put up with all of his crazy boy antics!

This month you also started to lean to people when you wanted them to hold you and you outstretch your arms. Also, you clapped for Gia when you were playing patty-cake with her! And, Mommy got you to wave once to yourself in the mirror! Those are not every day occurrences yet  but you are getting so big and smart!

You are wearing 6-9 month clothes and still wear some just 6 month clothes. You're pretty petite! We will go to the doctor next month to see how much you weigh and what not! You wear either a size 2 or size 3 shoe depending on the brand, and are still in a size 2 diaper but not for long.

Your pictures this month are a little interesting... Mommy & Daddy's good camera was broken so we had to use our old junky one, and Mommy took the pictures by herself with Brother "helping" us. Haha. Enjoy the outtakes!

We love you so much, Sister Girl. You make us so happy and we are so blessed to be your parents!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 20 months!

I can't believe that my baby boy's monthly age now begins with a two. He's growing up so fast! This month he continued to amaze us with how smart he was. Seriously, I think the kid is going to be in Kindergarten when he's 3! Ok not really, but he is dang smart! Here are some highlights from this month!

-Can count to 10 by himself, if you say the first number he'll continue on

-Sings "Twinkle Twinkle", "The Bearkat song (The Garden City Alma Mater)", and the Alphabet song all of the time!

-Can get to G by himself in the alphabet, almost knows all of the letters when singing the song

-Puts together 3+ word sentences

-New favorite thing is to give us "ugs" (hugs) all of the time, especially Sister!

-Loves to "color pictures". His words!

-Knows all of the motions to "Itsy bitsy spider" and sings along

-Loves to play ring-around-the-rosie

-Obsessed with the Aggies. Anyone playing football is the Aggies and he will say "Go Aggies! Whoop!" at the TV as loud as he can. Every time he sees the block aTm or maroon he says Go Aggies Whoop!

-Almost always eats with a fork off of a plate

-Will hardly drink anything besides milk, but we don't offer juice

-Has to watch "Go Go" every morning. Go Go is the Cat in the Hat and he knows all of the words to the song and the characters names. But, that's the only TV we watch!

-Favorite food is cinnamon rolls. We eat them every weekend! =)

-Got to go to his second Aggies game but didn't do as well as when he was little! It was a struggle to keep him still!

-Loves to climb on everything by himself

-Almost has all of his teeth, minus the two year molars. The top and bottom canines are in and growing.

-Still wearing 18mo, size 3 diaper day/4 night, size 7 shoe. Big feet!

-Likes to blow his nose by himself and actually is good at it!

-Wants to wash himself in the bath, and loves having bubbles in the bath!

-Starting to learn the sign of the cross. Knows "Father" and "Holy" but not Son or Spirit, haha.

-Loves loves loves his baby sister and is SUCH a good big brother!

We love you so much, Clayton Scott! But, can you please stop growing up so fast? And stop thinking you're three already! ;-)

Seven Months!

Happy Seven Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy is a bit late posting this. Things have been so crazy around the house lately. Partially due to the fact that you are CRAWLING! You broke your brother's record, haha, and started crawling at about 6 1/2 months old. You were getting so frustrated by not being able to move and then all of a sudden you were off! You love crawling after things. Your brother even gets down on his hands and knees and crawls with you sometimes! You are starting to get a bit of a temper though because you have a tendency to crawl for things you should not have. Once you reach your destination and that item is taken away you cry! Poor girl! All that work for nothing! ;-)

You and your brother continue to love each other. You took your first big girl bath and he joined in on the fun! You two sat in the bathtub splashing and laughing for a long time! Mommy loves to watch you two interact. Your brother has been a great big brother. He asks for you first thing every morning. He loves to give you "ugs" (hugs) and kisses. He will just randomly go love on you without us even prompting it! It's the sweetest thing ever!

We started feeding you solid foods and you have loved everything that you tried! Even if you don't particularly love something, like peaches, you will still sit there and eat! You are SO much better at eating than your brother was. We were pretty sure he was going to starve once we took the bottle away, haha! Eating the solid foods does not change your bottle routine though. You are finally back to eating 6 ounces every 4 hours. At daycare though you are a stinker and usually only eat 5 ounces every 3 hours. It's probably because you're too distracted to eat! You love to see what everyone is up to!

It is still a struggle to get you to sleep through the night. You are still waking up once, anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30. You only want to have a bottle and then you go right back to sleep. It's really not that bad, but Mommy would sure LOVE a full night's sleep! If we had the energy we would start to wean you.... it's coming soon, just not sure when! Maybe over the Holiday's before we start traveling all over the landscape! At least you go to sleep really easy around 8pm and then we wake you up to get ready for daycare at 7:30. On the weekends you wake us up around 8am. You still nap pretty well during the day and are finally starting to get into a routine where you are awake 2 hours, take a nap, awake 2 hours, take a nap, etc.

Your two bottom teeth FINALLY came through this past month! Unfortunately for you they came at the same time. You've been teething for all eternity though so it wasn't that different! You love this little gel teether that we got you. It makes those teeth hurt less! We have given you teething tablets a few times and they have helped as well.

You are such a fun and bubbly girl. You give us the biggest smiles when we go wake you up in the morning or when we come pick you up from daycare. We love your greetings! You smile at everyone you see and are just so happy and pretty! This was one of our favorite things about your brother as well. We love that we have such social babies! You're also still the queen of raspberry blowing. You crack us up. You're always blowing raspberries and soaking your shirt, haha! It's the staple of your personality!

You are wearing 6 month clothes and are about to move up to 6-9mo clothes. You still wear a lot of 3-6 because you are just a tiny girl! Well, not that tiny! You have a big Buddha belly! Haha! You don't wear shoes yet but I think you fit into a size 3. Mommy has not been the best about properly accessorizing you! ;-) We still have you in a size 2 diaper but are about to move you up since they are getting a bit snug! Your hair has gotten so much lighter this past month. The hair growing in on the underside is very blonde! Now your hair is about the same color as your brothers, a dirty blonde to light brown. It is definitely not the dark dark brown that it was when you were born! Your eyes are still a piercing shade of blue. You are just so gorgeous and Mommy and Daddy can't get over how pretty you are!

We love you so much. We can't say it enough how happy we are to have you in our lives. We love you, sister girl! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Pretty Prints = Pretty AWESOME!

My BFF has an etsy shop that she recently made her full time job. She is so talented and has been working her little tail off to ensure that she is making her customers totally satisfied! Just this past week she hit 1000 sales!! So, you know, she's kind of a big deal! ;-) I am a terrible friend to you all and did not get this posted while she was having a sale for her success of hitting 1000 sales, buuuuttt... you should still go check out her store and buy some awesome Christmas presents for your family and friends! The prices are super reasonable! She also does custom prints so if you do not see something on there, or if you see something but you want different colors/fonts/etc, then just send her a message and she will work with you.

Go check out Cristina's shop - Pretty Prints Shop - on etsy today!!!!!!

Clayton at 19 months!

Well, the day has come where I just can't keep up with all of the new and exciting things that Clayton does and learns, because this kid is phenomenal! Ok, I may be biased, but seriously! He learns new words, does new things, remembers EVERYTHING.... and this is daily or hourly! I was keeping a "note" on my iPhone that had every little change he made, but I just can't keep up anymore! Plus, I must admit, I left it open on my phone one day and Clayton deleted it. Haha! Here are a few highlights from his month!

- Knows the colors: blue, green, red, purple, sometimes orange.
- Can count to 4 by himself
- Favorite activity is walking to the pumpjack by the house and telling us that the pumpjack goes "up and down", and then he does the motions himself of up/down.
- Weighed 24 lbs (23th percentile) and was somewhere around 31" tall (24th percentile) at his 19 month checkup. His head was only the 15th percentile, hehe. Our doctor likes to do 19 month to encompass 18 and 20 in terms of development.
- Scored all "excellent" on his development checklist at the doctor and got a 23/23 on the Autism assessment. That's awesome! No worries with this kiddo!
- Can easily say over 100 words. Repeats EVERYTHING you say. Luckily no cuss words yet since we hardly ever cuss!
- Was a Ghostbuster for Halloween! (Little Sister was a ghost!)
- Loves, loves, loves CANDY. What a little sugar hound!
- Eats with a fork (spork really...) and does a pretty good job! Yay!
- Tries to put his shoes on himself... getting close!
- Puts full sentences together. Noun, verb, etc! Exciting! Today he told me "Nana color pretty!" while looking at my mom's sidewalk chalk art on the concrete! ;-)
- Still wears a size 3 diaper, size 4 at night. Size 6 shoe (getting small). Size 18mo pants and shirts.
- Is obsessed with the Bearkats. Tells us everyday, "Go bearkats! Go fight win!"
- Says "whoop" when we show him the gig 'em sign and says "whoop" when he sees the Aggies on tv!
- In the alphabet song knows all the rhyming ones: g, p, v, z, and then "me" at the end when you say "next time won't you sing with me". Also knows ABC and the beginning
- Can walk up the stairs by himself
- Still obsessed with airplanes and tractors.
- Favorite food is probably mandarin oranges! Or green beans!

I'm sure there are so many more things. Clayton just amazes us day after day. We never know what he'll come up with next! He is still a wonderful big brother and truly looks after his little sister! We love him so much!!

Six Months!

Happy Six Month Birthday, Reagan E!

We can't believe that you are already HALF of a YEAR old. Oh my goodness. Time has just flown by. This month you really transitioned into a "big girl" instead of just a little baby. You started sitting on your own for extended periods of time and have been so happy with your new found talent! You love to sit and play with toys, mostly anything that you can also chew on! Poor girl, you are STILL trying to get your bottom teeth in. You've been teething for  forever, but lucky for us you just drool. No added fussiness or anything like that! You love your exersaucer but you prefer your Baby Einstein activity center because you can bounce! You and your legs are so active! When we hold you in front of us you just kick and kick and kick! When you're getting changed you just try to eat your toes or you instantly roll over! It's becoming quite a challenge to get a new diaper on you!

You are starting to enjoy bathtime, especially since we bathe you and your brother together a lot of nights. We still put you in your own private tub so that you can sit without slipping, but we just put the little tub inside the big bath and share the water! You love to play with your brother in the bath, and you don't mind when he pours water over your head or splashes you! You love to kick the water, just like you love kicking out of the water! Such a bouncy girl! We thought your brother was super active, but it turns out you are just like him - guess you are too!

There were a few times this month when, while on your tummy, you would get up into the crawling position. Oh my! We're not ready for you to be mobile! You also love to "plank" when you're on your belly. You pull your belly off of the floor and just stand up on your tippy toes and fingers! It's funny to watch you! You get so excited and really start to move!

Gone are the days when we could put you in one spot in your crib, cover you up, and you'd be good for the night. Nope! Now you scoot all over the place even though you sleep on your tummy every night! We never know where we are going to find you! Good thing you wear footed pj's so that you stay warm! You still are not sure that sleeping through the night is your thing. You go to bed around 8:30-9 but often wake up around 5 and want a bottle. Now, we know that we are spoiled in just getting you to sleep 8 hours straight, but we were hoping for 12 by this point! Some nights you will take your paci and go back to sleep without a problem. Most nights however you just want to eat and go back to sleep - you little chunky monkey!

We haven't started you on any solid foods but we are about to! This weekend we will start with veggies and fruits! Yum! You take your cereal well so we are not worried about your eating habits. Your bottle habits are unusual though! Some days you will go 4 hours eating 6 ounces  each time. Other days it's 5 ounces every 3 hours. Some days even worse at 2 ounces every 2 hours. It just depends on your mood I guess! There were a few mornings this past week that you were spitting up your entire morning bottle. Mommy figured that it was from your drainage at night and so started getting those boogers out before feeding you and it worked! Don't you love that information! ;-)

You are still such a smiley and happy baby. We get so many comments on how much you smile and how you are just as good natured as your brother! You still have your moments when something (usually your tummy) is bothering you and you just want Mommy, but it's not that often anymore! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful and happy baby girl!

Toy wise you love links, your crinkly book, and anything you can "pank". Just like your brother! Pretty much anything you can chew is a big hit, including your paci! You like to take it in and out of your mouth and chew on the nipple. Big brother will occasionally share his piano with you so that you can play us some songs, but he mostly just goes and steals it back after a little while. We even have two but he still doesn't share well! Typical!

Your brother still adores you. He now calls you "baby sister" a lot. It's super cute. He kisses you all of the time. He even shares toys with you - sometimes! We love to watch you two interact and laugh with each other. He is still your favorite person to laugh at and we love it! We know that you two will be such good friends - or well, we sure hope you will be!

We still have you wearing 3-6 month clothes and you probably will be for a few more weeks at least. The 6-9 just look like they are going to swallow you whole! You wear a size 2 diaper and Mommy has no clue what size shoe you wear because we hardly ever put you in shoes! The only ones you wear were handed down from a friend!

At your 6 month well-check you weighed 15lbs 11oz and were 25 3/4 inches long. You are in the 45% for weight, 52% for height, and only the 26% for your head circumference. Hey, that's up from 8 at birth! ;-) The doctor said that all of your developments were outstanding... which of course we knew! You're so smart and strong!

We love you so much, sister girl. You are more than we could have ever dreamed of. We love watching you grow and develop into a beautiful little girl. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 18 Months!

Oh my goodness gracious.... I must stop for a moment and not cry from the thought that my baby will be two in less than half of a year. Oh my! Clayton has continued to amaze us with how fast he learns things, how he remembers EVERYTHING, and how just darn cute he is! Here are some highlights from the last month:

- Puts two words together now! Tells everyone "hi/bye" and their name. Ex: Hi Daddy!
- Says: towel, play, Charley, aw man, big tractor, "Pop voovoo ride!", blocks, hug, Ok!, truck, chalk, color, keys, knee, rain, goat, night-night (old one), pretty, ah-choo!, candle, purple, Revy (Reveille), orange, rock, Yee haw!, juice, cool, hat, alright!, oh boy!, whoa cool!, pump jack, bearkat, go bearkats!, candy, Granny (Nanny), Here sister! (or whomever!), Ok sister!, baby (dolls are baby's), mine (we hate this word!)
- When we cut the tip of a paci to see what he would do he took it out, shook his head and said "Oh no, babi!", then asked for another one!
- Loves to sing! Favorite songs are "Doe, a deer" (which he knows movements to and knows that Me comes after Ra), "Old McDonald" (sings e-i-e-i-o in key after you say Old McDonald), "Itsy bitsy spider"
- Knows and does all of the motions to "patty cake" by himself
- Made Sister laugh and laugh HARD! Makes her giggle all of the time!
- Pooped on the potty a few more times! Yahoo!!!! Tells us when he has pooped most of the time though..
- Said that "b" came after "a" and "c" came after "b"
- Knew which truck was the red tuck in a whole pile of cars
- Knows blue, purple, and red (Sometimes confuses green with blue)
- Picky eater with textured foods! Won't eat apple sauce, oatmeal, potato soup!
- Asks for "candy" all of the time!
- Knows who drives which vehicle (Mommy's car, Daddy's truck, Pop's truck)
- Wakes up and asks for "go go" which is the cat in the hat TV show. We only watch it when we're getting dressed in the morning for daycare
- Wears mostly 12 month pants still because 18 months fall off his waist! Still size 3 diaper, size 6 shoe, mostly 18 month shirts
- Loves, loves, loves baby sister
- Runs the iPhone better than most adults and has his own! We took one of our old ones and turned it on airplane mode then downloaded his favorite apps: Elmo calls, Johnny tractor, anything Fisher Price, pre-school memory game, PBS kids. He can push the home button, slide to unlock, find his app, play it! Then when he is done he hits the home button and then the lock button on top. Smarty pants!!!!
- Loves wrestling on our bed
- Loves to "honk" people's noses!
- Obsessed. OBSESSED. With tractors!
- Gets quiet when we tell him to look at Jesus on the cross during church. He repeats us that it is "Jesus" up there!

I'm not sure I will ever be ok with him growing up, but it is SO fun to watch him change. He is just so stinkin' smart and cute! We love him to the moon and back!!!!

Five Months!

Happy Five Month Birthday, Reagan E!

You are no longer just a little baby! You're on your way to being a big girl! You are getting so good at sitting and can stay in upright in your boppy pillow to play with toys for a good while! You still roll over all of the time from back to tummy, and this month you started rolling from tummy to back! When you do it scares you and you cry! I don't think you understand why you're now looking at the ceiling! You can also stand flat footed really well! Mommy let you hold on to the table one day and you looked so big! You hardly spend any time in a bouncer anymore. Now it's just in the exersaucer or playing with toys on your tummy or in your bumbo.

After you received the green light to start solid foods at your 4 month check-up we began to feed you rice cereal. You sit in the high chair and look so tiny compared to your brother who takes up the whole chair! We have to strap you in or else you just lean over and chew on the tray! You actually like the rice cereal, unlike your brother who hated it! You normally eat the whole bowl! We feed you about an hour before bedtime, which is around 9pm.

Once we started the rice cereal, just as we did with your brother, we moved you to your crib upstairs! You were great right from the start! We do still battle to get you to try to sleep on your side or your stomach since we're still working on your head shape, but you do well with your pillow that is helping it round out! You now sleep from 9 until about 5, or sometimes later. Mommy then feeds you and you go back to sleep! There have only been a few times that we have gone longer than 8 hours between bottles, so we just make sure to try to feed you right before you go to sleep! You absolutely love this swaddle blanket that our good friend Melissa gave us before you were born. It's a light weight muslin material and you just love to hold it and put it over your face. Mommy bought another one just like it so that we always have a clean one!

You found your toes this month and it is so funny to watch you grab them every time we lay you down! You definitely "help" us change your diaper by doing this, haha! You can't reach your mouth with them yet, thank goodness, but you sure hold on to them tight with your fingers! One of your favorite activities is still blowing bubbles at us. Your brother loves to tell us when you have a bubble on your lip! ;-)

Speaking of your brother... you think he is the best thing since sliced bread! You smile so big every time you see him. This month you had your first BIG laughs. You both spent a good 5 minutes just belly laughing at each other. Mommy was nearly in tears - and I was the only one who heard it! You did give us another round of a few minutes where you two were "wrestling" and laughing. Daddy got it on video and it is adorable! He LOVES that you go to daycare with him, but it has been an adjustment. If you wake up during nap time and he hears you then HE wakes up during nap time and says "Sister! Wake!" haha! He watches out for you already though. We know he'll be a great big brother, even if you disagree with us later in life!!

You are still such a beautiful little girl. Your hair has neither fallen out nor grown in, hehe, so it is definitely looking a little thin! Your bangs in front are long and Mommy has to push them to the side! Your eyes are still such a gorgeous light shade of blue. So pretty! We just moved you up to 3-6 month clothes. You do still wear a bunch of your size 3 clothes that are from Carters. Your feet were outgrowing your PJ's and your body was outgrowing your onesies so that's why we bumped you up! At your 4 month checkup you were in the 68% for height and 42% for weight! We also just moved you up to a size 2 diaper as your others were getting small. Big girl! Growing fast! You have the cutest chunky thighs!

We love you so much and couldn't imagine life without you! You are such a perfect addition to our family! Happy Birthday my sweet Sister-Girl!

Love,
Mommy

So I don't forget...

Life has been "happening" too fast lately. I feel like I can hardly catch my breath, but I want to ensure that I remember all of these treasured moments that are taking place. Reagan's 5 month post has been written for about a week but I haven't had time to edit her photos and upload them... so there it sits. Our house has been FULL lately: Full of laughter, full of people, full of messes, full of love.....

We had Reagan's baptism this weekend. It was so much fun to have everyone come in and celebrate with us. She was beautiful in the dress that her Gia adorned for her. This will be a whole other post by itself, but I just had to mention how fun it was and how glad we are that our beautiful baby girl is now a member of God's family.

Reagan and Clayton are interacting so much lately and it just MELTS my heart each time I see them playing. Reagan gave us her first belly laughs at none other than her big brother this past month. She loves him and he loves her. He asks for her every day. He watches over her at daycare. He gives her kisses and hugs. Last night I put them in the bath together, using Reagan's whale tub inside Clayton's big tub! It was so fun! My intent was to quickly get them both bathed since Darren wasn't home but half way in they began playing and laughing so hard. I video'd them for about 6 minutes before my camera said I was out of memory. It was the most precious thing! They are going to be such good friends, and yet such big enemies! ;-)

We love both of our blessings from God so much. I know that life is crazy right now since I am taking 6 hours of grad school, working full time, and taking care of my two babies... but it is SO WORTH IT. Wouldn't change anything for the world. I am so happy with my wonderful family!

By the way... wouldn't be near as happy if I didn't have my wonderful husband helping me along the way, and making me feel like the most loved woman on this planet. =)

Clayton at 17 months!

Oh my goodness.... Our little boy's vocabulary took off this month! He is now saying well over 50 words, over and over. We can't believe how smart he is, how quick he picks up on things, and how much of a parrot he is! We just adore him! He is so much fun! Here are just the things that I managed to write down so that I would remember! ;-)

- Can tell you where they are on his body, and say, these parts: Nose, ear, eye, mouth, head, pupeck (belly button), hiney, wee-wee (Nana's term!), toes, teeth.
- Puts together sentences! "Thunder all gone", "Sister bite!" (trying to give his sister a bite of his food), "Bye daddy!", "Sister wake!" (at daycare when she wakes him up!)
- Loves to have races now thanks to Miss Liliana! We say "ready" and he says "Two, go!". haha... kind of gets those mixed with one two three - which he can also tell you in succession!
- Loves to sing the apple song. Tells us that baby comes after apple and cookie comes after baby. (It's a song to teach the abc's and their sounds)
- Calls Pearl when she gets a few steps from us on our walks. Pearl is "Puuhllll"
- Can run our iPhone better than we can! We can slide it open and he will slide the pages to find his game then press the button to start his game!
- Went poopoo on the potty once! Will tell us when he has to go or when he has already gone by saying "poopoo" and grabbing at his diaper. Runs to the potty and says "peepee" and "poopoo".
- Says: flower, bee, uncle, beer, chicken, love you (wo wo), milk, car, bless you, hungry, dog, waffle, Piper, Gaga (Andrea), truck, ride, go, drive, diaper, poopoo, sticker, ball, puffs, no, Elmo, more, get, bird, oh no!, move (moo), sorry, cow, big, pool, swimming (mimin), open, round, all gone, Sarah (rara), broke
- Makes a smacking noise when he gives us kisses
- Knows "see ya" means bye! We say see ya and he tells us bye!
- Tells us "no".. quite often! Will tell other people/kids no when they are doing something he doesn't want them to do!
- Can eat yogurt with a spoon by himself!!
- Gave Liliana kisses when we visited them.... match made in heaven! ;-)
- Raises his hands and shrugs his shoulders to say "all gone"
- Please and thank you are immediate words when he wants anything!
- Anything in a can or a bottle that Daddy drinks is a beer. He will say "beer.. mmmm!!" haha. Apparently he likes the taste of beer!
- Still mostly 12mo clothes, size 3 diaper, size 6 shoe. Some 18 month like PJ's and some tshirts
- Likes to call people on the phone... until they answer! Then he gets shy and won't talk!
- Still loves his sister so much. Knows her cry and gets upset at daycare when she cries.

What a month it has been. We are so blessed with such a smart, fun, cute, sweet little boy! Here's to what the next month will hold! Love you my Clayton Scott!

Four Months!

Happy Four Month Birthday, Reagan E!

You are growing and changing daily, and becoming more and more active! This month you have really tried to master rolling over from back to front. You are so close! You have rolled over everything except one shoulder! It won't be long until you can finally get over that shoulder and make it all the way onto your tummy! Now when we put you down you sit there wiggling and trying to roll. This makes you turn in circles! One day you made a full 360* around your play mat! It was really funny to watch!

You gave us your first giggles this month and they are so sweet. You don't belly laugh quite yet like your brother did, but we've decided he's a special breed of his own! ;-) You are more reserved than he is and we love that about you! You are our quiet little beauty! Well, not that quiet! You still LOVE to sit and talk to us. Now you are even blowing raspberries! You love to be talked to and light up with the biggest smile when anyone leans down to talk to you or smile at you. You're such a social butterfly and love everyone!

This month you finally started to appreciate your toys. We bought a toy bar for your car seat and you love pulling on the different toys and spinning them. You also love to play with the toys on your bouncer and can pull the chain to make the frog play music! You are finally starting to tolerate tummy time, but it is definitely not one of your favorite activities! Like any girl, you love to look at yourself in the mirror, so that helps pass the time when you're on  your tummy!

We were quite busy this month with several weddings, reunions, and just vacationing in general! You traveled to New York again, and you traveled to Lake Granbury! You went swimming for the first time in the lake! You had been in Pop & Gia's pool before, but you don't like the cold water so you were never submerged. However, the lake water was really quite warm so you didn't mind it at all! Pop and Daddy took you around in the water. You even got to go on your first boat ride on Cousin Brian's boat! You fell asleep after a few minutes out on the water!

You have turned into a drooling machine! The whole gnawing on your hands thing has taken on a new meaning this month! Now you slobber all over us! If we are holding you upright on our shoulder our shirt will be soaked when we move you! Maybe it really is teeth coming in! Most babies don't get teeth until 6 months though, so we will see! Nothing is poking out quite yet!

Getting chunky!

We are still battling your tummy but it is not near as bad as it used to be. We switched you from the soy formula to just a sensitive tummy formula and it seems to be a lot better. You were having pooping issues on the soy, just like your brother did. We were glad when we switched you that you regulated out pretty fast! Don't you just love Mommy for telling you this?!?!?! We are still making sure that we feed you more upright and that you are not laying flat right after you eat. This is helping as well, so that is good news!

We moved you up to eating 5 ounces at a time just about a week ago, but we are about to move you up to 6 ounces! You've been eating a bunch lately so you are probably going through a growth spurt! We normally feed you every 4 hours but the past few days you've been going 3 hours between feedings. You're still waking up to eat right at 5am every night, regardless of when you last ate or when we put you down to sleep for the night. You're in quite a pattern! At least it's predictable! Here soon though Mommy will take away that night time feeding since you won't need it anymore!

You're still wearing all 0-3 clothes but they are starting to get too short. You're much more petite than your brother was! We still have issues getting hats and shoes to fit you as well! Guess you're just tiny! We still have you in a size 1 diaper but will be bumping up to a size 2 soon. They are getting a little short, but not bad! Mommy has lots of cute 3-6mo clothes for you, so hurry up! ;-) hehe... We won't go to the doctor for another week and a half so we don't have your stats quite yet! Your hair is starting to get lighter and you have some blonde streaks in the back! Mommy calls them your skunk hairs, hehe. Your eyes are still a stunning shade of blue. Watch out boys!

Just as last month your brother completely adores his "dider". He smiles every time he sees you and gives you so many kisses. We are so glad that he has been so sweet to you. Wellll... 99% of the time! There are moments when he hits you! Whenever you cry he will run over to you and try to give you your paci. It is so sweet!

We love you so much, sister girl! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! Happy Birthday!

I know this has a sunspot but I just love it!

Love,
Mommy