Reese Has Cereal

When we went to the Dr. on Monday she told us to start Reese on Rice Cereal and in a few weeks add veggies and then fruits.  I can't believe it is time to do this already.

Some cute pictures of my little man during the first feeding.

He seemed to like it!

I guess I wasn't going fast enough so he just grabbed onto the spoon to help me.

Dane was very excited about the whole event as well!

Valentines Snow Day

Last weekend I saw that snow was expected Monday during the day.  I began to worry.  The last time it snowed during the day and we didn't dismiss quite early enough it was terrifiying.  I had white knuckles the whole way home.  Monday, February 13th school was dismissed at 1:00.  There wasn't any snow yet, but I was grateful considering my flashbacks to last February.

Dane, Reese, and I were warm inside our house by the time the snow began to fall.  It accumulated quickly.  Dane was excited when Dave got home and they could venture out.  He kept saying, "There is snow outside.  I can't walk on it."  While I didn't want snow I wanted Dane to be able to go out and play in snow this year. He had a great time, even with the little bit that we had.

We had a snow day on Valentines Day and enjoyed our day at home together.

Heart shaped Blueberry Muffins for breakfast.

Mommy and Dane making sugar cookies.

Becoming such a big helper

Reese hanging out on Daddy.

Reese sat in the highchair for the first time that night....he loved it!

Entertaining us at dinner with his big smiles must have worn him out!  He fell fast asleep as soon as Dave picked him up.

Reese is 4 Months Old!

This sweet little man turned 4 months old on Friday, February 17th. 

He is a happy, happy baby!

Today he had his 4 month dr appointment.  We knew he was growing fast and his 3 month clothes no longer fit, but we didn't know quite how big he was.......

Our little man weighed in at 18 lbs (95th%) and 27 inches long (97th%)!

Wow!  He is bigger than Dane was at 6 months! 

Daddy is excited to think he just might be a football player!

I had to do a little shopping for some clothes for our growing boy!

He is wearing mostly 6 month clothes, but I bought 9 month clothes today!

Reese got two shots and he didn't even whimper.

We couldn't believe it, neither could the nurse.

We always have to give him Tylenol after shots though, because a few hours later they always hurt him.

Reese is taking four 8 oz bottles a day and he takes them without any problem at all!

Dr. Anderson told us to start him on cereal and in the next few weeks we will add fruits and veggies.

Reese continues to be a sleepy little guy...growing big and strong is hard work!  He goes to bed by 7:30 every night and is a good sleeper.  I wake him up at 6:00 am to eat and get ready for the day and he is back asleep by 6:45!  It is funny because he also takes a cat nap at 6:30 every evening, wakes up at 7:00 to take a bath and get in his pjs, and then it is back to bed for the night.

Reese joined us at the table in his high chair for the first time last week.  He loved it!  He played with his toys while we ate and was entertained by Dane. 

He loves his big brother and just smiles and laughs when he comes around.  The deer in the headlights look that he used to get as Dane approached is starting to fade.  They watch TV together every morning and Dane will entertain him with singing, dancing, and sometimes playing the drums.  I can't wait to watch them grow up together.  I just love it when Dane tells me, "Mommy, Reese is my friend."

Our sweet, sweet boy!  We love you so much!

Valentines Party

Saturday afternoon my mom and dad had a Valentines Party for the grandkids and then Valentines Dinner for the family at their house.

The boys both wore their Heartbreaker shirts so I tried to get a picture of them.  I am learning that trying to get a good picture of these two boys is definitely a challenge.

Dane gets so excited and I can't him to look at the camera.  Then Reese looks scared to death from Dane's craziness.

Then Dane noticed Reese's socks (they look like tennis shoes) so he started looking and talking about them.

Then Dane said he needed a toy to make Reese smile.

Seriously, it's exhausting.

My little heartbreaker.

Claire came straight from a Princess Tea, so she was in her Princess dress.  My mom had stickers, foam hearts, and lots of things for them to make Valentines with.

She also had candy heart necklace sets for each kid.
Dane loved this!

Finally, lots and lots of sweet treats and Valentine presents.

For some reason we decided to attempt a picture. 

Dane and Claire both wanted to hold Reese.

Dane thought Claire was holding him more than he was so needless to say he got upset.

Mama with the three little ones.

The Frosts came after basketball and made Valentines and necklaces as well.

For some reason I didn't take pictures the rest of the night.  We enjoyed watching the kids hand out their Valentines to each other.  We had my dad's homemade pizza, opened Valentine gifts, and watched the kids play.  It was a fun day!

Today we enjoyed Valentines Day as a family.  I didn't want a snow day, but if we had to have one it was nice that Dave was off and we were all able to spend the day together.  Dane said to me many times,

"Happy Balentine's Day Mommy."  So cute!

We took at trip to Target and had lunch together.  We traded Valentines and presents and loved our day together. 

I especially loved my chocolate covered strawberries and honestly could hardly wait for 8:00 tonight when I could eat them without hearing, "Bite please mommy.  You share?"

The boys have their Valentine party at daycare tomorrow (a day late because of the snow day at school), so I may try to get another picture of them in their little Heartbreaker outfits.  Dane is excited to take his Valentines and his treat bags. 

Dane asked me where Reese's Valentines were and I will be honest.....I didn't even think about getting him any.  I told Dane Reese was still so little he didn't need Valentines this year.  He said, "Lucas is Reese's friend."  Lucas is a 6 month old at daycare.

A Day in Our Life Right Now

I saw an idea on another blog to document a day in your life every so often.  So, while this is a pretty boring update for most, I think it will be fun to look back and see the changes in our lives.  We often say, "This is just a season in our life and it will be over soon."  Sometimes I hope the "season" passes quickly and other "seasons" I wish would slow down. 

I love a routine, a schedule, a plan.  Being a teacher we have our school year schedule and our summer schedule.  I like to know what is going on (I carry my planner to and from work everyday and keep it on the counter once I get home).  I keep a running list of what I need to do, what I want to do, and also what I need/want Dave to do (I am sure he loves that).  We also have to deal with Dave's crazy schedule.  Right now Dave is on dayshift, and it is so, so nice.  Since Dane was born Dave has been on many different schedules he was on dayshift for Dane's first 6 months, then midnights for another 10 months, then 11-7 shift for another 6 months, 3-11 p.m., and now back to dayshift.

Here's a day in our lives right now!

4:50 a.m.     Dave's alarm goes off.  I typically hear it and think, "oh no, only 10 more minutes to sleep.  Dave likes to read the news and get his coffee going.

5:00 a.m.     I get up and jump in the shower and get ready for the day.  Dave usually comes into the bedroom about 5:15 or so and starts getting ready for his day.  If Reese happens to wake up during this time he sits in the swing and watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we get ready.

5:45 a.m.     Dave leaves for work.  By this time I am ready for work, I have my hair fixed, my makeup done, and have pants and heels on, but I still have my robe on.  I hate, hate, hate wrinkles in my clothes, so I don't put my top on until after I feed Reese.

6:00 a.m.     I wake up Reese, feed him a bottle, and get him dressed.  He then sits in his bouncy seat or on his playmat.  I finish getting dressed. 

6:20 a.m.     I will be honest this is either my favorite or least favorite part of the day.  I have to wake up Dane.  He HATES waking up.  I usually go in and turn on the lamp and his music.  Then I leave for a few minutes.  If I come back and he is standing up he is usually in a good mood and ready to go to Tracey's.  If he is laying down still it is usually the sign that it will be a rough 20 minutes for us.  I get him up and dressed.  He will sometimes perk up when I tell him Reese is awake and watching TV.

6:35 a.m.     I take my school bags and lunch down to the car.  Then I come back and get Dane's coat on him and get Reese in his carseat.  Depending on Dane's mood I can either carry Reese down and Dane will follow me or sometimes I have to carry Dane down and then come back and get Reese.  You would think I would lost more weight with all of these trips up and down the stairs!

6:45 a.m.     We head out of Lake Forest.  If it has been a rough morning you can usually hear Dane say, "I sorry mommy", in his cutest little voice as we pull out of the driveway. 

It is funny because when we got the van with the DVD player in it I decided I would not let Dane watch a movie if we were just going from our house to Ste Gen.  Well when Dave was working 3-11 and I would have the boys by myself all night long sometimes I needed just a bit of quiet before we got home, so I caved and let him watch his movie.   He doesn't really watch TV at night, so I guess the 10 minute ride to and from school isn't too bad.  Dane likes to watch Cars on the way to school.  I have recently realized that he can watch the movie with no sound and I can listen to the radio and he is perfectly happy!  I don't know how long this will last, but for now it works!

We leave our house and go to The Point to get my Diet Mountain Dew for the day (the drive thru convenient store- you really drive right thru the middle of the store and the sides are lined with coolers, so Dane loves it).  As soon as we get into Ste Gen he will tell me, "Mommy, you can get your soda."  I then go to Tracey's and drop the boys off.  Reese is usually sound asleep and Dane is ready to play with his friends.  He will say, "Kiss, kiss, hug, hug", then he walks me to the door, opens it, and says, "There you go Mommy."  So sweet!  Then I head to school and usually get there about 7:20 a.m.

I get the boys from Tracey's about 3:30 p.m. every afternoon.  Dave is home when we get home and comes down to help get the boys inside.  Dane is usually excited to show Dave his work from the day and Reese is usually sound asleep. 

4:15ish        I head out for a walk.  Dane usually wants to go with me and Reese is usually sleeping so he stays here with Dave. 

5:15             I start dinner, Dane plays in the living room, and Dave feeds Reese.

6:00             Dave, Dane, and I eat dinner.  Reese hangs out in his Bumbo seat, bouncy seat, or plays on his play mat.

                    When we finish with dinner I load and start the dishwasher, Then we all play with in the living room or go downstairs and play.  Dane will do some of his "schoolwork" as he likes to call it.

7:00             I take Dane in for a bath and when he is finished Dave brings Reese in for his bath. 

7:30            By 7:30 at the latest Reese is usually starting to meltdown and ready for bed.  Dave and I take turns feeding Reese and putting him to bed.  We are usually done with that by 7:45 and Dane gets 15 minutes more of hangout time before we put him to bed.

8:00           We are usually successful in having both boys in bed asleep by 8:00.  I then clean the kitchen, Dave and I unload the dishwasher together, I make bottles for the next day, and make my lunch.  I TRY to iron all of our clothes on Sunday so I don't have to do them during the week, but sometimes I need to iron as well.  I have also just started to try to do a load of wash everyday after school so I don't have to do it all over the weekend.  The problem is I love to start the week out with everything clean so I do wash over the weekend anyway.  If I do get laundry done Dave will usually help me fold it and put it away at this time. 

9:30            Our goal is to be in bed by 9:30 and lights and TV off by 10:00.  We can usually be in bed at this time, but this is the only time I have to catch up on my blogs and my DVRed shows, so sometimes it is 10:30 or 11:00 when I actually go to bed.  Dave tends to fall asleep earlier usually. 

***Dave is off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so those are my days to sleep "late".  I get to sleep until 5:30.  Dave feeds and dresses Reese on these days and helps to get Dane up and dressed.  Plus, usually one of those days Dave will keep Dane home and sometimes Reese also!

These two boys keep us busy!

Brothers and Big, Red Firetrucks

Today Dane and Reese were dressed in their Big Brother, Little Brother shirts.  I first tried to get a picture as they sat on the floor together watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this morning.  They were singing a song at the time so neither of them would even glance at me.

 I moved them to the couch and it wasn't much better.  Dane said, "Cheese", but he wouldn't look at me.  When I finally gave up and got ready to put Reese in the carseat so we could head out to school Dane decided he wanted to hold Reese.  I promised him he could as soon as we got home this afternoon.

Tuesday Dane stayed home with Dave for a little "Daddy and Dane" day.  They first went to Target and Sams for me.  :)  When they got back home they went up to the Lake Forest Firehouse so Dave could practice some skills.  Dane, of course, had a blast.  He told me all about the firetrucks and how they were big and red.  He said Daddy drove the truck and it sprayed water.

Looks like he is having a pretty good time.

He even wore his little fireman raincoat.

He totally enjoyed his day with Daddy.

Bits and Pieces....

Some bits and pieces of what is going on these days......

A friend gave us a Bumbo seat for Reese to sit in.  He hangs out in it while we eat dinner.  He seems to love it!

***Last weekend when we were in Kirkwood we stopped at the new Jilly's Cupcake Bar. I grabbed a Turtle Cheesecake Cupcake for the weekend.  It was delicious and a great little treat for me!

***Even though I had a Jilly's Cupcake last weekend I am still working hard on eating healthy and walking. I have the perfect new walking partner in my neighborhood. I still want a treadmill though.

Reese's Gentle Giraffe hangs out on his little chair.  He also has a Sleepy Sheep that hangs out on his carseat.  He loves to listen to the music.

Sleepy little boy.  This little man is a good little sleeper.  He goes to sleep by 7:30 p.m. and I usually have to wake him up at 6:00 a.m.

Tracey has a letter, number, shape, and color of the week that the kids learn about at daycare.  She also sends home little activities for us to do at home.  Dane loves it and says, "I need to do my school work mommy."  Tonight we colored the letter "C". 

Dave ran to the mini mart a few minutes away to grab some milk to hold us over until our grocery shopping trip the next day.  He came home with this.......milk in a glass bottle.  Dane was so confused.  He kept saying, "What's that mommy?"  We can return it to get the $1 deposit back.  Right now it sits on our counter....kind of driving me crazy. 

•  Dane often yells at Max when he is barking. "Don't bark Max.  You're going to wake my brother up."
• I think Dave and I need an anniversary get away!  Might need to start lining up some babysitters!
• Tomorrow is Thursday already!  I have to admit, I love Tuesdays and Wednesdays when I get to sleep until 5:30 a.m. instead of 5:00 a.m.