Happy Birthday to Reese!!

Reese has been patiently{kind of} awaiting her birthday for months!! So, of course we had to thoroughly celebrate this year... 4 times to be exact!

We started with candles in our blueberry muffin!

I'm not sure she knew what to think. And I know she wasn't ready to wake up. In the mornings, she usually says "Can I sleep a few more hours? I'm not ready yet!"

Her second celebration was at school with cupcakes! She loves her new class and was so excited to share cupcakes with her friends.

Tuesday night we had family over for Dora cake! Since her real party wasn't until Friday I felt guilty making her wait for cake!! So we ate cake! And sang "Happy Birthday" for the 3rd time! And opened a few gifts :)

Reese is a pro at modeling her gifts.

Friday night was the big shin-dig!! This is the first year we have invited Reese's friends to her party. We have so many cousins, aunts and uncles, usually that's a big enough party. I think, no, I know Reese LOVED it!

I think we did a pretty good job celebrating our little birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Reese!!

Age: 3

More like 3 going on 13!

Our sweet baby girl is, well, not really a baby girl anymore! She is a smart, loving, slightly sassy, music loving, outside playing, dancing, sweets eating 3 year old!! She can remember anything, especially the things you don't want her to remember. She continues to love her Su-Su an unreal amount :) Only weighs 27 pounds and can eat her weight in pizza. Has the funniest vocabulary - not only knows a wide range of words but has a peculiar way of pronouncing some words like book, or boak around our house. She still has a few regular episodes of "crazy lady hair!" She refers to adults as either "mommies" or "daddies" and has an imaginary friend called Jacob {which is a girl because her Su-Su said she wasn't allowed to call boys on the phone even if they are imaginary.} Most importantly she has began to say her own night time prayers and knows only good kids go to Heaven. She actually asked tonight "what will Jesus give me when I get to Heaven? Maybe a balloon?"

Being a mommy is hard. It is tiring and it is wearing. But it is rewarding. Very selfishly rewarding. When you see such a sweet girl grow and learn it is an honour. One I'm pretty sure Robert and I don't always deserve. But luckily God gives us more than we deserve. I say this every year and I'll say it again, I think this year will be the best one yet!

We love you Reese!!

What are ya'll doing?!

Background: We are swimming at my sister's sister-in-laws. Everyone is in the pool, except Cabe and Reese. I find them in the tree house...

Looking fairly guilty...


What are ya'll doing?



Reese is just grinning and Cabe starts explaining "Well we just came up to play but then..."

WE FOUND THIS FROG!!!!"

Put your dinner dishes away...

We have been working with Reese on indepencence, or responsiblity? Maybe both?! She is such a smart little girl...when she wants to be! But she is also very babied, to no fault of her own :/ Anyway...we have started asking her to pick up after herself and get her pajamas out on her own - just little things. Tonight, I asked if she was done with her dinner and she said yes. I then asked her to get her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She be-bopped around and came back in the kitchen with her plate and very obediantly put the plate in the dishwasher. I was so proud! She didn't whine, just did what I asked. Then she said..."Now what do I do with my pizza?" She had gotten her plate and put it away but I didn't say anything about her pizza, so it was still laying on the table. Oh kids... always entertaining!

"Hoppy" Easter!!

Reese may not have been a fan of the live bunny but she was loving the one that left goodies in her eggs!!

Action Shot - Right when she spotted her basket!

Checking out the bath paint.

Su-Su and Granddaddy stopped by and brought eggs that Reese could bust open. Luckily for my dad, they were filled with confetti - not yolk!

After church, we did a little lunch and egg hunting at Mudders.

Reese and Kathrine had to strip down for the egg hunt because it was a little hot but we won't complain since it was a pretty day!

Belle's 2nd Annual Egg Hunt

Anna "ya-ya" and her mom hosted their 2nd egg hunt for all of Annie's kiddos. I love that they have all the kids over - and by all I mean like 20 kids under 5!

Reese did a lot better this year but she will need some more practice before she can really compete with some of the boys. :) She really had more fun blowing bubbles with Mary Denton.

Robert even joined in the fun! He got to hide the prize green egg...guess which kid found it...

Seriously...

So I decided to have Reese's pictures made during an Easter "mini-session." Our last family pictures weren't a total success {really just the solo shot of Reese. She wouldn't cooperate unless Anna Laura's dogs were in the pictures. I loved our family picture.}

This is what we came out with this time...

It's like she is saying..."you really want me to touch this thing?!"

Emily did such a great job and I really look forward to using her again! And by the time we were leaving, actually we were in the car around the block, Reese said "hey mom, where's that bunny?"

Little Man Brower

Guess who came to play?!

Mason!

John and Robert played golf on Saturday {and Crissy was in NYC!} so Mason and Reese had the ultimate playdate!!

Lots of swinging, playing and snacking!! We love having Mason to play and can't wait for all the fun in years to come!!

GO LUCY GO!!

I have gone to church with Lucy's family my whole life. Like any 5 year old, she has a mind and style all her own! Lucy is at the beginning of a her battle with Medulloblastoma and has a big fight ahead of her. I have no doubt God is watching over her and her family but they could use all the prayer they can get! Lucy's mom will be updating her story here. Please pray with out ceasing for little Lucy and remember life is a precious gift - hug your babies extra tight!

Winter Blues

If I ever have another baby, I can guarantee I will be order these!

Baby Amore

Yes, totally unnessecary but aren't they soo cute? I LOVE them!! This is what winter makes you do, order things you don't need and may never use!

Snow Day in the Real World

We woke up to more snow this morning!

Not as much fun as our first snow day! There was no sledding or snowmen this time, just lots of icey roads...

The most unfortunate part was that Robert and I both had to work! So we all put on our boots and set out. Here are a few pictures for mine and Reese's icey journey:

Did I mention I'm ready for warm weather?! At least it made for an interesting drive this morning!

PLAYLAND!

A dream land for hyped up kids and their parents who need to get them out of the house!

Also known as the newest play-place in our area and a great outing for a rainy holiday. PlayLand rents moon bounces but it is also is a large play area with 5 different moon bounces set up. Kids come in and can literally bounce off the walls! They also have a gaming area in the back and plenty of ride-on toys.

Reese was still a little small for most of them so, despite my wishes I did climb in a few and help her slide down. By the end of the day though, she was doing it on her own.

UP!

UP!

...and AWAY!!

Just Hanging Around

{Crazy Girl}

After the chaos of the holidays we have really enjoyed having our weekends back! This past weekend Robert and I had plans to go to Knoxville to visit some friends and celebrate on of my best friends birthdays. But, after a week long, three-round battle with the stomuch virus, we weren't prepared to do anything but re-cooperate and sanitize! So instead we spent the majority of the weekend in our p.j.s, playing with puppies and babydolls.

Reese helped me cook breakfast Saturday morning - she is getting pretty good at cracking the eggs and actually getting egg into the pan! Still can't say much for how many shells will be included.

Saturday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Mason, John, Crissy and Grandma Judy. I think Mason and Reese both loved it probably as much as thier dad's :) Luckily Crissy got a jackpot and scored Reese a ton of tickets! So she got to get 2 bracelets and 2 tootsie rolls! It made her weekend!

Sunday we made up for the laundry that didn't get done last week and Reese played with her favortie puppies. She asked for real puppy food. I said we didn't have any so she asked if they could have wheat thins and raisins?! With a spoon...

She loves her puppies!

SNOW DAY!

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Like pretty much everywhere else, we got SNOW Sunday night. This was my first official snow day in the working world! Needless to say, when I got the "no work tomorrow" call Sunday night I was happier than Reese at Chuckie Cheese - well, maybe not that happy but pretty excited!

Reese was all but asleep when it started snowing Sunday night but, when we spotted the white blanket outside she went crazy! I was glad I didn't have to go to work Monday because she kept us up well past our bedtime.

She was so surprised there was still snow Monday morning that we shared the excitement all over again! We made muffins and cuddled up in front on the window for a while then got dressed to PLAY!

We spent the day building snowmen and making snow angels with Cabe and Payton.

Did some sledding with Granddaddy...

And of course, had hot chocolate!

The perfect day of playing!

Luckily it was enough snow to enjoy but didn't completely barricade us in. So today it was back to work. I guess all good things must end - Now bring on the sunshine and warm weather :)