My new room update

Hi from my hiney... CLASSY huh?Just wanted to update you on my new room. Mommy and Daddy made some decisions this weekend. First off I am definitely leaving my old room behind. It only had one window, so my baby sister will be able to sleep soundly as opposed to my new room which has 2. Second off Mommy and Daddy have decided not to try to move me to my big girl day bed until they know for sure I'm ready. This in turn means I'll need a new crib/converter that will turn into a sweet mini-me day bed when I'm ready. Here it is. Imagine it in antique white and without that heinous bedding.

Rather... imagine it with this ADORABLE bedding.

It's so sweet and grown up, and Mommy is in lurve with it! It should be here in a couple of weeks, so Mommy can match paint and come up with a FABULOUS scheme... oh the excitement of it all! The goal is to have my new room and Deuce's room all done by Mother's Day. Her room will definitely resemble my room now, but Mommy is hoping to make some cute changes for her. We don't want her to be born already suffering from a 'hand-me-down' complex. LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

Mess head

Spaghetti and cheesecake... one word... YUMMY!

Read!

Rachel here. Well, Reese definitely seems to be on the mend. She still has a bit of a runny nose but is a lot less restless at night. There are a couple of blogs that I read that show adorable pictures of their children while they are sick. The little ones seem so calm, quiet, and very cuddly. Granted Reese hasn't really been HORRIBLY sick, but she has never been like these sweet cuddly children. She goes 100 mph 24/7 no matter what. Maybe one day she'll cuddle with us. :)

Some of her new 'tricks' are really starting to crack me up. She LOVES to dress up, which is hysterical because we don't really have a lot of dress up clothes for her, so her options are quite ridiculous. She likes to wear bibs, which she doesn't even use... I just found some while cleaning the kitchen, her winter hat and mittens, and her tutus. Guess we'll be looking for some real costume type things in the near future. She's also always been a book kid. She used to run up to you with a book, sit and listen to maybe 3 words tops per page, and then we were on to the next. Now she'll grab a book, run up to you, sit in your lap, and say "READ." The "read" is new within the last couple of days, and I crack up every time I hear her little voice say it.

She's also as mischievous as ever. We took some of her birthday money and bought her this sweet little Melissa and Doug piano, which she just loves to beat on. Today she decided to tear the scale label off and run up to me with it saying "uh oh!" I took it from her, went and got the tape, and had her come in with me to fix it. I kept saying that was naughty what she did and it hurt the piano which was bad. She kept repeating after me "naughty... bad"... "naughty...bad." It was super cute. She really is such a sweet little thing!

Runny and clogged all in one...

... I just don't get it. How can my nose be running one second and the very next... clogged and crusty?

As if that wasn't bad enough... I now have 3 count them 3 molars coming in at the same time... that Mommy can feel anyway. Mommy can tell I'm uncomfortable, but I'm hanging in there. Give me baths and let me brush my own teeth, and you won't see a tear from me. :)

I've been jipped

Mommy definitely jipped me on seven words, so I thought I would share. I also know the words banana, night night, pretty, all done, bath, fish, and frog... gosh Mom way to make me look like a bonehead. ;) That brings me up to 32!!!

I'm also coming down with a lovely cold. Mommy got a super cute picture of me playing with my tissues, but the camera is on the fritz... what else is new? Definitely don't be surprised if we don't post for a while until I'm on the up and up again! :)

In this corner...

... weighing in at 23 lbs 11 ozs and 32 inches long... REESE PATTISON! That's right... I went to the pediatrician today. My weight puts me in the 50th percentile and my length is in the 80th percentile. Everything checked out wonderfully... so wonderfully in fact I don't have to go back at 18 months... the doc doesn't need to see me until about 20 months... YAAAAY! I did great with my shots too. I got the MMR and my second flu shot. The flu shot went in without even a flinch... MMR... got a little grunt and whine, but NO TEARS! I'm a big girl! My umbilical hernia is still in full effect. We keep praying it closes on it's own to avoid surgery, but it's not looking promising.

These days I enjoy running like a mad woman, climbing on anything and everything, and hiding from Mommy and Daddy by putting my blanket over my head. Arts and crafts are one of my favorite past times. I love to color, paint, and decorate pictures with stickers. I made Daddy a beautiful sticker picture for Valentine's Day. Play-doh is a great attention holder as well. Mommy bought me a mini Magna Doodle, which I LOVE! My motor skills are definitely up to par. Having Mommy and Daddy read to me is also high on my entertainment list.

As far as language. I know 25 words now: dada, daddy, mama, nana (which is what I call Mommy), shoes, socks, eyes/nose/mouth (which I can now identify with no problem on other people... if you ask me where my own eyes are though, I still point to my ears), duck, dog, hat, tree, baby, bye, hi, hello, balloon, diaper, yes, yeah, weeeeeeee, uh oh, hot, and no. I can also do the animal sounds for a cow and monkey. I'm pretty good at repeating animal sounds after people, but those are the two I know without help.

Sleeping has become WONDERFUL. It used to be once I was asleep I was asleep... no problem. However, Mommy would put me down for my naps or for bedtime, and I would play and play for hours before falling asleep. We finally decided it was time to take away one of my naps during the day. We now wake up between 730-800 am, lunch at 11, nap from 12-3, then bedtime at 7. It now takes me a whopping 10-15 TOPS to fall asleep at nap time and bedtime. Mommy and Daddy couldn't be happier. :)

I have my 4 bottom front teeth in, 3 of my top front teeth, and 2 of my 4 front molars have broken through. Mommy saw my 4th top front tooth trying to poke through this morning, and the pediatrician said a couple more of my molars will be coming in soon as well. God bless baby Tylenol and teething tablets otherwise I may be dreading life. I haven't gotten overly cranky, but it's hard for me to eat sometimes (I eat anything and everything I can get my hands on), and I rarely let Mommy take on the task of brushing my teeth. I let her every once in a while but prefer to do it on my own.

That's me in a nutshell! In the next couple of months we're going to be practicing with my potty, working on my big girl skills (sleeping in a big girl bed), and getting my baby sister's room all ready. I CAN'T WAIT! She'll be taking all of my furniture, while Mommy, Daddy and I work on creating the perfect big girl bedroom for me. :)

And in this corner...

... weighing in at 5 lbs 13 ozs and 19 inces long... ALY FUNK! Happy one week birthday!

Now don't get me wrong... I am madly in love with all of my "boyfriends," but there is something about having another little girl thrown in the mix that makes me smile. Isn't she super sweet? I just love her. When Auntie Lu and Uncle Funk were in the hospital Mommy and I went to visit with them. Mommy held onto Aly for over an hour... you wanna know how I reacted???

Yep, that's right... calm and carefree. Mommy is hoping this is a great sign for when my baby sister makes her grand entrance. We'll see though.

Aly I can't wait to be lifelong friends and for you to run around and play with me!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day Daddy took Mommy and me to the mountains of Tennessee. We had an adorable cabin and had lots of family time. This time of year is always hard on Mommy and me because Daddy is out of town for 2 whole months. While we do get to travel with him, he goes into work around 8 every morning and then is home around 1 am. He can come home to visit us at lunch and dinner, but 2ish hours a day with Daddy just isn't enough for us.

We started our trip Saturday morning. Daddy took Mommy and me to the outlets. We bought some lovely little outfits for me for next winter and a couple new things for my baby sister. Mommy even turned all geek on me and bought my baby sister and I matching fleece hoodies... and it starts. :)

After shopping, some lunch, and a nice little nap back at the cabin, Mommy and Daddy took me to the aquarium. It was really fun. I'm all over the place, so Mommy and Daddy kept me in my stroller most of the time... there were too many people there to set me free. When we got to something super stellar cool though, I was able to be out and about. They had this really nice conveyor belt that you could ride. It took you through a glass tunnel where all sorts of fish and sharks swam over you. It was really neat and definitely the highlight of the aquarium.

We left soon after that for some dinner.

Then it was back to the cabin... and bedtime for bonzos. I slept like a champ while Mommy and Daddy worked on a name for my baby sister. They came up with some great options, now it's just time to choose. (And for those of you that care... we will be "going all CIA on it" again this time around. It's a secret!)

Sunday was spent stopping at a couple of shops, some lunch, and then our long ride home to the Burg. Oh and what trip to Tennessee would be complete without a coonskin hat? Don't worry all you PETA supporters (we're green earth friendly people too)... it's totally faux. :)

My new baby

We went to the doc today for Mommy's 20 week ultrasound... you know what that means...

That's right world... I'm having a baby sister! We're super excited! Mommy and Daddy already said I could name her. It's too close to call right now... I'm thinking either "Dog Socks" or "Duck Shoes". I'll post a poll later. ;)

While she still looks like a little alien in this picture... we thought she was still pretty cute.

Oh and here is Mommy with her buddah. She's still getting sick, but is otherwise pretty comfortable. I like to play with her belly button and am starting to say 'baby' more and more. I'm getting very good at feeding my baby doll her bottle and giving her her paci, so I know I'll be a great helper come June/July.

Looks like Mommy will be packing up all the little boy clothes she bought the other day at her big sale. Maybe next time... GIRL POWER! :)

Jackson my love

Sunday we met the Coles in Roanoke for some brunch. I got to see my Jack. This was about as close as we got to one another:

We had a blast blowing one another heartfelt kisses.

Mostly though... we just ran around and flopped ourselves on the ground... Good times. :)

Holy Mackerel!

Rachel here. So I get this email from the owner of 2 of the Once Upon a Child's (a second hand children's clothing store... they are super selective about what they will buy back from customers... a lot of the items they have there still have the original tags on them... so you can get some AMAZING things) here in the valley that says February 7th (today) is the "Grab Bag Event". What is a "GBE" you ask? Basically you fill one of the bags they provide you with with as many clearance items as you can for only $10. Now Reese has a disgusting amount of clothing, so if Baby #2 is a girl, we are completely set. Sadly the sale was scheduled before our finding out the sex of the baby...this coming Thursday... "Bryan, what if we have a boy???? I should go to this sale and buy boy clothes!!!" Surprisingly he was gung-ho about my plan... after all, if it's a girl, we would only be spending $10, and I have friends who have baby boys, so I can always pass along the wealth! Now I needed a plan.

The sale started at 10 am. I was going to hit up the one in town AT 10, then make my way to the second one in Roanoke. There is a 2nd one in Roanoke, but it's not owned by the same lady, so I wasn't sure if they would be doing the sale as well. To my surprise THEY WERE! 3 stores... $10 each... TOTAL SPENT $31.50.

Here is the breakdown:
Merchandise~36 shirts, 2 coats, 8 pairs of pants, 23 onsies, and 8 one piece outfits
Original $$ Totals~ $124.50 +$38.50+$155.50 =$318.50

MY SAVINGS $287.00!!!!!!!!!

Check out my loot!

If it's a boy, this should DEFINITELY get us started! :)

Play-doh!

Yesterday Mommy let me play with some Play-Doh while she was doing the dishes.

I ate some. I'd be lying if I told you it was tasty, but boy was is liberating!

(Look at those honker teeth! Mommy apologizes to me daily for that gap... sigh.)

This weekend Mommy and Daddy will be making some edible play-doh with me. :)

p.s. I also continually licked my crayons today while coloring a picture for my daddy... Mommy is afraid I'm going to be "one of those kids"... you know the glue eating, chapstick munching, paint chip licking kind.

Snow

Mommy let me play in the snow before dinner tonight for the FIRST TIME! It was sooooooo cool! All I really wanted to do though was walk laps around the backyard. It was exhilerating!

Self feeding part deux

Look what I did ALL BY MYSELF!

(Well, I'm not gonna lie... Daddy helped me put the corn on the spoon a couple of times.)

Kabuki

Saturday night Mommy and Daddy took me to Kabuki with them and their friends for dinner! Kabuki is a hibachi style restaurant (where they cook the food right there in front of you). Mommy and Daddy were POSITIVE I would have a blast and clap and scream the entire time, so they were sure to bring the camera. This is how I looked the ENTIRE time our chef was cooking our meals.It wasn't until he was done cooking, and I was done eating (super yummy food... I had SHRIMP!), that I came back out of my shell and wanted to party down!