Wow

Rachel here. I'll be damned if this isn't MY child...

Too much

Rachel here. Every day/night before Reese goes down for her nap or to bed she kindly gives me a kiss. She gives Bryan a kiss. Even little Emma Grace gets a kiss. If you're visiting... you too will get a kiss from our sweet girl. But this... this is a little much. I swear to you she does this... WITHOUT being prompted...
Perhaps we should take this as a sign that we watch far too much television?

Prisoner

You all and your silly swaddling... I CANNOT be contained!

Mush!

The next generation

So Auntie Lu and Amy B came over today for a mini playdate. Seriously could these kids be ANY cuter?

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Houston!

ALY!

Can't you already smell trouble? ;)

My new ride

Check it out people! I done got my drivers' licence! Holler!

Super Nana!

Nana came to visit us this week, and we had a blast! Not a lot of pictures were taken because seriously people there are only so many pictures you can take of us a) shopping or b) eating. ;) Fun was had by all, and we miss her terribly already!

The stats

Rachel here. So Friday we took the girls into the ped's office for a check up. It was technically Reese's 18 month. Back when Reese had her 15 month the doc said he didn't need to see her again until she was 20 months. Then when she turned 20 months, we missed our appt because we were in Iowa... so alas... her 18 month appt turned into her 21 month appt. :) You'll be happy to hear she weighs a whopping 26 lbs 8 oz. and is just shy of 34 inches tall. Dr. McElroy said she is developing quite well. Her allergies and umbilical hernia are both on our radar. We're still praying that her hernia closes! Her allergies are such a pain! She has an added friend... a sty! Doc said to continue giving her Claritin and added a warm compress daily for her eye. I asked him the recommendation for actually getting her to stay still for the compress... he kindly went on to the next topic and smiled... meaning we're on our own to be creative. :) B's idea... he made 2 compresses and put one on his eye to try to get her to mimic him (she's mimicking EVERYTHING these days, so we thought this was the GREATEST idea)... she was on to us... she looked at him with this crazy look and then yelled "no." Good times.

Little butter bean Emma weighed in at 9 lbs 3 oz. This is FANTASTIC news and lets ME know she's getting what she needs from me. Her 4th day of life she only weighed 6 lbs 10 oz, so we're REALLY happy with her growth. She's already outgrown her nb diapers (we have loads to exchange that we haven't opened yet) and is starting to outgrow some of her onesies. I went ahead and dug through my 3-6 month bin last night and pulled out the warm weather items that I thought she may be able to wear before it gets too chilly. She's such a sweet little addition to the family! Exciting news... last night we put her down for bed around 840 after her bedtime feeding... she woke up at 130 to eat and then not again until 530! What what?! We're celebrating because it may not happen again for a while! :) She's changing so much everyday and is starting to turn into quite the cutie... as opposed to a little old man. ;)

Gpa and Pearl meet Emma Grace

Emma Grace here. This weekend my Grandpa and Pearl came to meet me! We had a blast! Thank you so much for all the hugs and kisses!

Cha-ching

Pearl's work friends were lovely enough to send my sister and I Tootsie Roll banks FULL of quarters! I'd like to thank those kind folks for both: being SO kind and generous to us AND for providing me with hours of endless entertainment!

What...

...do I have something on my face?

The Duck Pond part 457

What else do we do on a pretty day? Why we go to The Duck Pond of course, but this time I had Grandpa and Pearl with me!

And alas...

P.S. Thank you Grandma and Grandaddy for the cute VT gear!

Just like Daddy

It's Saturday... you know what Saturday means? That's right folks... time to mow the lawn!

Reese Picasso

While Daddy has been out of town, Mommy has gotten a little adventurous. She's letting me paint people! And we're not talking about that "Color Wonder" shenanigans... I'm talking REAL paint!

The mall

One of my favorite places to go is to the playground at the mall. Mommy likes it too because there isn't much I can hurt myself on without her being all up on my jock. Not to mention it's air conditioned. :) Last week Mommy's good friend Amy D met us there and hung out for a couple of hours. Mommy could not have been more grateful for Amy because I can be a handful ( I know people go ahead and lift your bottom jaws off the floor now), and now with the sister... outings are few and far between unless Daddy is home.

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

Here is what I looked like last night before going to bed... in case you forgot. ;)

I went to bed around 730 but didn't fall asleep until almost 9 because of my cold/allergies. I guess we'll find out Friday what is wrong with me. Mommy has been giving me my Claritin and filled my humidifier last night but said if I wasn't feeling better in the next couple days, she may try to schedule my appt for sooner. I was up every few hours crying. This was also conveniently when Mommy was feeding Emma, so she couldn't come right to me. By the time she came in to see if I was okay, I had already fallen back asleep. Hopefully we'll have a good day today. It looks like it's going to rain again, but maybe Mommy can get me outside before/after that! I love and miss you!

xoxo,

Reese

P.S. Emma thinks she has something important to say...

Dear Daddy,

I love you!

Oh Mommy wanted me to tell you that you owe her 5 diaper changes as of 850 this morning from last night (and that's just from me). She is also thawing out some of my milk from the freezer, so she said you need to be ready to give me a feeding tonight because she is "too pooped to party." You should also buy Mommy something pretty because Reese is being less than enjoyable! Ewww... I think I smell her... gotta go!

xoxo,

Emma Grace

Comparison

Rachel here. Sometimes I think my girls are identical!

And other times I think how on earth can these two be related?

1 month... say huh?

Well hello there! Emma Grace here! That's right! Mommy said since I'm 1 MONTH OLD I get to start adding my two cents to this here blog. Aren't you excited?! So here is the famous monthly shot:

(Thank you Nana for the super cute angel bear... Mommy says she is going to be my bestest buddy for the next 11 months!)
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Lemme tell you a little bit about how I am at 1 month old. My sister and I have a ped appointment this coming Friday, so we'll have all my current measurements for you then. Besides looking EXACTLY like my daddy (which Mommy thinks is quite frightening. She says she loves him and he is very handsome, but his face on a baby girl scares the bejesus out of her!), I have a dimple on my left cheek, which Mommy has yet to catch on camera. My smile is also pretty cute (also hasn't been caught yet.) The family realizes this smile is just me and my gassy issues, but they think it's cute nonetheless. :) Everything about me seems to be just perfect.

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For the most part Mommy and Daddy say I'm a good baby. During the day I was sleeping an obscene amount, which caused me wake up a lot at night. As the days and weeks go by though I'm staying awake longer and longer during the day, which in turns makes me sleep a little longer at night in between feedings. Mommy has been working extra hard to get me to eat every 3 hours. Occasionally it's a little more/less. She's doing the EASY method with me as she did with my sister. I wake up and Eat, then we do an Activity (which right now is swinging, sitting in my papi, or most of the time being held), Sleep (which is usually an hour before I am to wake up again), and then Mommy is supposed to have some You time, but that time is dedicated to entertaining my sister one on one. Last night I surprised Mommy and Daddy with 4 straight hours of sleep, so I know they were quite grateful! They aren't holding their breath though on me doing that regularly anytime soon. Mommy is breastfeeding me, so my waking up often can be kind of hard on her. She's hoping in the next few weeks I can give her a longer break at night or Daddy will have to start taking a shift and feeding me a bottle. He's SOOOO excited! ;)

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As far as any milestones are concerned I can focus my eyes on faces that are in front of me. My grip is killer, as Mommy can tell you first hand. I love to squeeze her finger while she's feeding me... occasionally I like to pinch her too! :) Everyone is anxiously awaiting my first real smile and all the super fun things I'll be doing in the months to come.

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P.S. Guess what my sister did while Mommy and Daddy tried to get my picture taken?! She is such an attention hog! Something tells me though once I can move around a little better, we're going to be the best of friends! I know Mommy and Daddy can't wait!

Tweetsie Railroad

Soooo originally this weekend Grandpa and Pearl were supposed to come and visit my sister and me, but there was a change of plans and they weren't able to make it. What on earth is a young family of 4 who is going absolutely stir crazy in their home to do? Why go to "Tweetsie Railroad" of course! :) "Tweetsie Railroad" is a kind of amusement park for little kids. There are tons of really fun things to do, but we had to drive 3 hours to Blowing Rock/Boone, NC to get there, so I was anxious to say the least when we finally arrived.

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The big train had already left when we got there... it leaves the station about every half hour, so I had to settle for this little guy until the real one came back around.

We hit up his friend "Tonka Truck" while we were at it.

Soon my chariot arrived.
I was SO excited to FINALLY get to see/ride it! Mommy and Daddy had been promising me ALL morning... I was beginning to believe it was a farce!It took us on a long adventurous ride. One where we saw a real life cowboy brawl! Check out the view Daddy and I had:

Here was Mommy's view (let's just say she was none too thrilled... this woman literally STOOD in front of the remainder of the passengers on the train so that she could VIDEO TAPE the whole show on her cell phone! WHAT?!):

After our ride we posed with the conductor... soooo cool! I love trains!Besides hopping into a covered wagon and getting a new drum:I fed the goats:

but I rode some rides too!

I can not wait to go back to "Tweetsie Railroad!"

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P.S. Here is what my sister did. ;)