Birthday Celebrations!

Friday night we gathered at my parent's house to celebrate several birthdays.  We were celebrating Darnel's birthday a little late, Claire's birthday a little early, and my birthday a little early. 

Dane was so excited that all of his cousins were going to be there.  I don't think Claire and Dane stopped moving for one second all night.  They cooked and played trains.

Sweet little Reese hung out with Tom.

The kids eating dinner.

Joe was really enjoying his food!

While we ate Reese took his evening nap.

Then it was time for cake.

Darnel had a cookie cake.

Claire had cupcakes.

I had Turtle Ice Cream Cake.

Dane absolutely LOVED the cupcakes!

He was so happy when Mama gave him one to bring home.

When he got up the next morning it was the first thing he said to me..."Where's my cupcake mommy?"

We opened gifts and hung out a bit more.  It was a fun and relaxing night.  The kids just had an absolute ball running around.  Both the boys slept great after the party!

Tuesday

   Sweet little brothers watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together while I make my lunch and we get ready to head out the door in the morning.      

They both want to hang out on Daddy's lap while I cook dinner.

Making Playdoh Pizzas with Daddy

So proud of his pizza!

Dane wanted to show Reese his pizza and he kept saying, "Smell it Reese, smell it."

My two little buddies!

Our Weekend

     We had a great weekend!  Yesterday Dane, Reese, and I left early for Kirkwood.  I had a TON of errands to do.  I planned to get to Kirkwood, see my parents, feed Reese, and then start my errands.  I was a little concerned about taking both boys shopping with me.  It usually doesn't bother me, but it was cold out, I had several stops to make, and one of the stops was the mall.  Right before going to bed on Friday night I got a text from my sister, Kara, and she invited Dane over for a playdate.  Dane and I were both excited!  He couldn't wait to play with Claire and it made my shopping so much easier! 

     We went to my mom and dad's house first.  Dane played and Reese smiled ALOT!  Aunt Katie came over to see the boys, then Aunt Kara and Claire came over, and then Uncle T.J. arrived.  Papa made breakfast for all of us and we hung out.  My mom had somewhere to be in the afternoon, so when she headed out we all got ready to go.  My sister, Katie, went with me and I got ALL of my errands done.  Dane played at Aunt Kara's house with Claire and had a blast....he had so much fun that when I went to get him he was sound asleep on the couch...worn out!

     This morning Reese woke up first and I fed him while we waited for Dane to wake up.  When Dane woke up we were hanging out in the living room when Dane said, "Daddy's home."  I thought he heard the washer running and thought it was the garage door, so I said, "No, Daddy's at work."  Then he said, "No, mommy, he's right there."  I looked out the window and sure enough Dave was pulling in the garage.  They had extra leuitenants so he got to come home.  We were soooo excited! 

     We had such a great day at home together.  We hung out in the basement and Dane played while Dave and I watched the movie, "I Don't Know How She Does It."  We had soup in the crockpot for dinner and we stayed in our pjs all day!  It was the perfect Sunday at home!

Dane slept.

                                    

Dave and Reese slept.

     I ironed 15 outfits, 5 for each of the boys and 5 for me, for the week.  I graded and recorded papers.

     We are now showered, in our pjs, the boys are in bed, and we are ready for the week! 

Feeling so relaxed!

I have felt so relaxed this week.

It's funny though:

-I got up by 5:00 every morning, usually after staying up a little too late.

-I was out of the house by 6:45 every morning with two sweet boys

-I made three trips down the stairs to the car every morning (one with Dane, one with Reese, one with my school stuff)

-I had a 7:15 a.m. meeting one morning

-I had an after school meeting that I forgot about until it was announced as a reminder during morning announcements.

-I had a parent meeting

-I had to write up a disruptive student and then witness as the principal paddled him

-Dave worked 3 hours late one day

-Dave had a Fire Department Meeting one evening

BUT......my husband is on day shift and it seems to make a world of difference.

I TOTALLY enjoyed some little things in life like.......

-being able to leave school without having to think, "Do I need to use the restroom, because if I don't go now I don't know when I get to go again?" (One day I walked half way to my car and went back into school for this very reason!)

-being able to change out of dress clothes and heels before 8:00 p.m.

I had time to think about totally random stuff....

-how much I love my time on the way to Tracey's in the morning with the boys. Listening to Dane talk to Reese and me is just so cute. In the afternoon he tells me about his day and ALWAYS asks about where his Daddy is. BUT, I also LOVE the short drive from Tracey's to school when I can listen to my music.

-I need a new place to shop. I am done with New York and Company. I have been shopping there for years. Looks like Eddie Bauer and Ann Taylor Loft are my new places to shop.

-I wish I could stop drinking Diet Mountain Dew, but I can't. I am working on bringing my big Tervis cup of water to bed with me and drinking water at night and in the morning. Just can't seem to stop my morning trip through the drive thru at The Point (Ste Gen mini mart) for my 32 oz. Diet Mountain Dew. Dane even says, "Mommy, you can get your soda before Tracey's." Oh well, maybe one day.

-Really wish I could find the Mom's One Line a Day Memory Book. I have been searching and everyone is sold out!

So, so nice to have Dave home with us in the evenings and for mommy to have a little time to think about these trivial things!

Reese is 3 Months Old

It is hard to believe Reese is three months old today! With the holidays time seemed to fly by. We don't go back to the Dr. again until 4 months so we don't know offically how much he weighs or how long he is, but he is growing, growing, growing! All of the newborn clothes are too small, many of the 0-3 month clothes, and even some of the 3 month clothes as well. Reese is getting so long that clothes keep getting shorter and shorter! The best clothes for him now are 3-6 months. He is eating 6 oz. bottles, 4 times a day. He is wearing size 2 diapers, except when we are hanging out at home, then he wears size 1 diapers that we are trying to use up! He is a good little sleeper! He has moved his bedtime up to about 7:30 p.m. and sleeps like a little champ. He usually gets up about 6:00 a.m., though every once in a while he will get up a bit earlier.

He likes his bouncey seat and enjoys watching Dane dance and play in front of him. He likes to lay on the floor and moves around and kicks like crazy. He is a smiley little guy and we have started to hear little laughs from him more often now. We just bought a new play mat for him and I am excited to see if he likes it!

He has been going to Tracey's daycare with Dane for about two weeks now and he seems to like watching the other kids play and entertain him. Dane REALLY likes it that Reese goes with him now.

Reese's favorite spot to be seems to be his changing table. No matter when I take him in his room, if I lay him on his changing table, he starts to smile and gets so relaxed. He will lay there for quite some time looking around and smiling.

What a little love Reese is! He is just the perfect addition to our family!

A couple of pics

I am getting ready to blog about our sweet boy that turns 3 months old on Tuesday and about my goals for 2012, but even with the past four days off I am still working on those posts. Here are a couple of pictures I found this weekend that I thought were just too cute not to share.

Reese with his Sophie, the giraffe. He is still working on gripping her, but when we lay her in his arms he will hold onto her and sometimes accidentally make her squeak!

Dane with his new big boy pants on. Still working on being able to wear them for any length of time. He has days he does awesome and then days we have to go to diapers by noon because we have no more clean underwear. It will come. He does look cute in his little pants though.

An after Christmas 50% off purchase.....Dave and Dane made this gingerbread train and he just loved it. He did eat it after he finished decorating it. It took about a week of little pieces for a treat everyday before I just thought it was time to throw the rest away.

Little Buddies

Yesterday I asked Dane if he wanted to stay home and play with Daddy today and I would take Reese to Tracey's. He said, "No mommy, Reese will cry."

Dane was sound asleep at 6:45, so Reese and I headed out the door alone. Dave said when Dane got up he asked for Reese and I. Dave told him Reese was at Tracey's and I was at work. He told Dave the same thing, "Reese will cry daddy." Dave assured him Reese was fine and we would be home soon. They spent the day watching TV in bed, having lunch at McDonalds, playing, visiting the ducks, and throwing rocks in the lake.

Reese enjoyed a day at daycare with his little buddy, Lucas. Just a couple of months apart, I am sure these little guys will be good friends.

Two Adorable Boys!

Our first three days back to school last week went really well! We are really back to reality this week with 5 full days! Usually by this time at Ste Gen. you hear the words "Snow Day" quite frequently. Thankfully we haven't had any and honestly, though one or two might be nice, I am ready to be back in the swing of things and get this year moving quickly.

I took a picture of the boys both Wednesday and Thursday last week before we headed out the door in the morning. Friday morning we were getting ready to head out and Dave put Reese in his carseat. Dane had a little meltdown and cried, "Picture, mommy, picture." So we wouldn't have to get Reese back out of the carseat I asked Dane if he could just sit next to the carseat. He amazingly agreed and sat right down and held his little brother's hand.
We have made a few changes in our bedtime routine the last few nights. When we started the routine at 6 weeks Reese was going to bed about 10:00. I moved it up 15 minutes every couple of days and we soon settled on a bed time of 8:30. Since Dane goes to bed about 8:00 and his room is right next to the boy's bathroom we decided Reese would take a bath in our tub so Dane would not be disturbed. Since then Reese keeps wanting to go to bed earlier and earlier. Now he rarely makes it til 8:00. Tonight Dane was so excited when we moved Reese's baby tub to "his" bathroom. It worked out pretty well. Dane took his bath at 7:00 as Reese played in his bouncey seat in the hallway. Once I got Dane in his pjs we moved Reese into the bathroom for his bath. After Reese had his bath we hung out in his room before he went to bed. It is funny because I play soft music and try to have a little calm down time when honestly Dane is moving as fast as he possibly can around the room to make sure he does not start to get tired.

Since Reese has started to smile, coo, and laugh a bit Dane seems to think he is ready to play. I have to remind him that he is a little baby.

Reese looks like he is thinking, "Leave me alone. I want to go to sleep."

I am sure in the blink of an eye I will have two boys running around this room.

Back to Reality!

Today we got up and going for our first day back to school! This was Reese's very first day at Tracey's house. Our morning went well and we were ready to go right on time.

Little Reese ready to go!

Dane looks like he is telling Reese all about Tracey.
After seeing this face I thought Reese was going to be sad to leave me, but when we got to Tracey's he just looked around and was perfectly happy!

It was so cute! In the car on the way to Tracey's Reese was sound asleep. Dane was talking away to him saying, "Don't be scared Reese. It will be alright. Tracey is nice."

I got a text from Tracey about 10:00 saying that Reese was doing wonderful! She said he hadn't made a peep all morning. She also said that Dane was a VERY proud big brother.

When I walked into get the boys this afternoon Reese was having some tummy time on the floor with Tracey and his little buddy Lucas, who is just 2 months older than him. I am sure little Reese is making friends already!

Soaking Up Our Last Day

It is a good thing that I LOVE my job! Tomorrow I take TWO sweet boys to Tracey's house for daycare and I head back to work.
Today was our last day together before we wake up to reality tomorrow. Dave was supposed to be home with us, but overtime called, so it was just me and the boys. We had a lazy day at home. Well the boys had a lazy day and since they were so lazy it actually gave me a chance to get some things taken care of.
Reese slept until 7:00 and Dane until 8:15 this morning. We played for a bit and both boys were in such good moods. I fed Reese his 10:00 bottle and we played some more. About 11:30 Reese was ready for his nap and he quickly fell asleep in his little chair.
Dane and I had lunch and then he laid down on the couch to watch the Cars Movie.

After about ten minutes he was asleep as well. Wow, a day in pjs and naps on the couch!

I planned dinner and made brownies for dessert (back to more healthy eating tomorrow). I started trying to find outfits for this week and realized that my dress pants haven't been worn in close to a year, so they needed washing and ironing to look fresh. I threw some loads in the wash and got the boys outfits ironed for the rest of the week.

Dane got up and was thrilled that I made brownies. He had one for a snack tonight as he watched a movie on the new portable DVD player from Mama and Papa and while I cleaned up the kitchen. He loved it! Our DVD player is on the basement TV, so I am hoping he will sit next to me at night and watch a movie while I straighten up upstairs in the evenings or record grades on the laptop.

I guess we are ready for tomorrow. Dane is pretty dang excited that Reese is going to Tracey's with him. He keeps telling me that he will help Tracey take care of Reese...I may have to warn her. I have 17 meals planned and everything ready to prepare them. I have our outfits ironed and ready for the rest of the week, luckily it is only 3 days. We just had such a good routine here at home. I could get so much done during nap time. Now I am preparing myself to come home with two boys at 3:30, play, feed Reese, make dinner, give baths, put them to bed, then start my nightly routine of grading papers, cleaning the house, doing laundry. Ohhhh, Dave working this 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift surely won't last too much longer! Back to reality!

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning we woke up at my mom and dad's house. When Dane got up it was so cute. He said, "Santa came and flew away to the North Pole." He was ready to go downstairs and check out the tree.

Peeking as he came down the stairs
Seeing if Santa ate his cookies and Rudolph got the carrots

He was so ready to open presents!

He kept saying, "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas." Then he said, "Happy Birthday Daddy". Haha!

Since he usually has a bit to wait until all of the cousins come over to open gifts I started the tradition at his first Christmas to give him a present to open. It is always a movie that he can watch while he waits.

The Frosts were the first to arrive and Dane was excited when Laney was showing him her new game. I'm not really sure what it was, but he loved it!

All seven of the cousins in their Christmas PJs!

While we had brunch little Reese took a nap.

Christmas nap!

So excited and ready to open gifts!

My two sweet boys!

Waiting patiently!

Reese's first Christmas gift on Christmas morning.

Dane's first gift

Everyone was checking out Joe's gift!

Little Joe

Group work to carry a gift!

Towards the end Dane was getting tired!

I wonder why, only 19 people opening gifts!

Daddy got his Blu-Ray Player from Mama and Papa.

Tom and Katie holding sleeping babies!

We all changed from our Christmas PJs and got ready to go to my Grandma's for Christmas.

Dane and Reese both fell asleep on the way there and took a good nap on their Great Grandma's bed.

We started the afternoon out with a game of Headbands.

Taylor sure didn't want her picture taken playing the game.

It was warmer Christmas afternoon so the kids went out to play.

What a sweet boy!

Excited to open presents!

Opening his gift from Great Grandma

Full house!

After dinner the kids played "Pin the Nose on the Reindeer."

A fun, wild, family Christmas! Dane had a ball and was on a Christmas Detox after eating great food and being spoiled for several days!