5 Months & Some Randomness

Our little boy is 5 months old today! I can not believe it has been 5 whole months!!! He broke into a horrible rash yesterday so I took him to the doctor. Apparently he had an allergic reaction to something--still don't know what. That is not so comforting but the doctor said it wasn't serious. We did find out that he now weighs 18lbs 11 oz. That explains why he is not skipping any feedings--not even at night!! A couple of weeks ago he slept through the night and I thought, "ahh, here we go"--then he quit even skipping one feeding. Wrong way Reid!

But how could I ever get mad at that face??? Reid, at 5 months, you have just stolen our hearts--including Lilly's. She loves you and today even gave you her paci while she went and found herself another one. Just so we remember in the future, this is her ultimate act of love!!! I am actually still a little in shock over the whole incident.

You have the best little personality! You are soooo laid back and patient. Sometimes you will start to fuss and I need to go get something before I can give you whatever it is that you are needing and I will say "just one second buddy" and you actually calm down and give me a second! You smile all the time and you smile with your WHOLE body. It is the sweetest thing. You also giggle and coo constantly. You are so alert and watch everything very intently. You do not like to lay flat on your back--you are always trying to sit up so you do 100s of crunches a day. You are going to have a six pack before you are 6 months. Ha. You also do many different yoga positions. I.e. the swimmer position above.

You have two teeth. You have had them for awhile but you are still drooling all over the place. You wear bibs and still have to several wardrobe changes throughout the day. You spit up semi-frequently but it is getting better. You are generally always in a good mood. You sleep in your own bed and generally like to put yourself to sleep but the past few days you have let us rock you. This is great for when we are out and about and you need a nap. You stayed in the church nursery for the first time this weekend. Mommy hates leaving you with people she doesn't know but you don't seem to mind. You recognize Mommy and Daddy's voice and look for us. Today MoMo was holding you on the kitchen table and I bent over to pick something up and you practically did a back bend to keep your eye on me.

We fed you cereal for breakfast and before bed today. You eat it so good and you eat all that I feed you. I am hoping this helps with getting you to sleep a little longer at night! Fingers crossed!!! You loved eating it so much that Lilly thought that it must be really good and insisted on sharing with you. She made a disgusted face after every bite but just kept coming back for more. Haha. We love you so very much and can't wait to see what new tricks you will learn this month!

Somebody got a sucker today! I guess she thought she wasn't supposed to have it because ran to the corner with it.

All sticky--look at those hands and that precious little sticky face!

"It is sooo worth it Mom!"

Lilly was quite sensitive today and this was how she reacted any time she heard the word "no" today. She is very upset in this picture because Daddy told her to stay sitting (instead of standing) on the blow-up mattress.

She felt all better after she got to take her frustrations out through some wrestling.

Look at those beautiful eyes! I took this picture because of the little bowl she is eating out of. We got it at Wal-Mart. The top are these plastic pieces that come together so she can reach in and get her snack but she can't dump it all on the floor. Mommy tested--Mommy approved!!

This is a better picture of it. You can also see Lilly wiping her nose on her sleeve. I don't know where she learned this! I will grab a tissue to wipe her nose and she will run away and start rubbing her nose on her sleeve. Yuck!

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago at a playdate. Lilly is loving to play with other kids right now!! She cried when we went to leave a friend's house the other night because she was having so much fun!

I LOVE this picture!!!

Then, to close, tonight we are supposed to get some nasty weather and it has already started. The grass is all covered in ice! The ground is covered in ice as well. Once the ice is done, we are supposed to get lots of snow. It is looking like a 3 day weekend for most folks! I don't mind as long as we can keep our power! This time last year we had a huge ice storm and lost power for a couple of days--I do not wish to do that with two babies!!

That is all ice--I know it is hard to tell in this photo..but it is all ice!

The Babies!!

Okay, so I was going to post a couple of pictures of the babies at the top of my testimony but when I went to add them it turned out that....shreik!....I hadn't taken a single pictures of my babies in over a week. So, when they woke up from their nap--I got the camera out! Lilly is always so thirsty when she wakes up! She drinks a whole big sippee of juice.

This afternoon while she was having her afternoon snack, she kept pointing to the tv saying "E-I-E-I-E-I" which is her way of telling me she wants to watch her Neighborhood Animals video. Here she is hooked on tv.

Her hair is getting so long! This is it when it is wet.

Then, here it is dry and curly and trying to stand on her little school house. She loves to stand on things these days. She is also saying all kinds of things...more like repeating. This week she has said, "chocolate milk", "moo cow", "belly button", "I get it", "juice", "trash", and a few other things I can't come up with now. However, she has to be in the mood and then she will talk and talk...not on command though.

She also kept trying to get into Reid's jumper today so I thought I would put her in it and she would see that she didn't want to be in there. I was wrong. She had a good time jumping and playing.

Reid smiling getting ready for bed.

He is so handsome and getting sooo big. He is doing new stuff all the time and is really getting his fine motor skills!

Oh, and notice the return of the sleep sacks! I love sleep sacks! Lilly wore hers until she was 10 or 11 months. He is 4 months and he already can't straighten his legs in it. Sigh.

Lilly likes to get out of the bath tub and run around with just the towel on her head. She looks so funny...like a streaker with a cape!

This is just a little video of her playing the jumper she is way too grown up for. Haha. She was going crazy in it but you know she calmed down as soon as I got the video camera out. Ah well.

My testimony

I have been a Christian my whole life. I was raised in church and have always known about the Lord. I have led an awesome life. I don't have any sad stories or anything like that, but I do have a testimony to share. So, here it is!

I do remember when I made the conscious decision to be saved at probably about 8 years old. It was at some special event that our church was having Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. I got saved Friday night and was so excited and loved it so much that I decided to do it again on Saturday night. On Sunday, my mom had to explain to me that I didn't need to do it at every alter call. Once was enough. Haha. What can I say? I was just trying to be enthusiastic?? I honestly don't know if I have ever been baptised. I need to get to the bottom of this...I suspect maybe before I was old enough to remember, but I need to find out for sure. Mom???

Anyway, for years my relationship with God remained pretty stagnate. I believed, I prayed, and I went to church sometimes. I was happy in my relationship with the Lord as it was....Mediocre....pretty surface level.

Then, a couple of years ago, Matt and I decided that we wanted to have a deeper relationship with God as a couple. We started praying together for this and began to read the book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. What we didn't realize at the time was that in order to get this deeper relationship, God was going to have to help us change our priorities, attitude, and views on certain things. Let's just say by the time we got to Day 14 in the book....our lives had begun what would be a two year long process of turning our lives upside down and all around. Matt and I are (well, were) "plan" type of people when it comes to important things in our lives (i.e. finances, children (ha!), etc.) We had back-up plans and back-up plans for the back-up plans and so forth. So, God had to bring us to a place in our life where none of our plans were happening to show us true Faith in him and to show us that His plan is the one we should be concerned with...not ours.

At the end of this period, we found out we were pregnant with Lilly. How??? What?? We were so excited but knew it HAD TO BE His plan. Then, as most of you know, right after we had Lilly...we became pregnant with Reid...again, we did not think this was possible at that time--for several reasons. But you can't become a parent and not become closer to the Lord. Or, it would sure be hard not to. One, our prayer life increased dramatically because the entire world seems so dangerous for our little babies that we wondered how any one makes it to adulthood. Eventually, we just had to turn their safety, health, and general well being over to the Lord. (Matt is still working on this one..ha!) But, mainly because I see how much and the ways in which I love my children and get some kind of tiny understanding of the ways in which he loves us. Because I know that no matter what Reid and Lilly do, I will love them and care about them and I will do anything in my power to guide them and keep them safe. He feels that way about us too. That understanding automatically deepened our relationship.

Then, finally, the reason I am sharing this today. My New Years Resolution was to read my bible and get involved with other Christians. I will tell you that I have only been reading my bible for 3 weeks...but ladies and gents--it is changing my life!! (for the better for those who are wondering) There are two things that keep coming up when I read:

1: Speak boldly about the Lord. I have always been a "quiet Christian". The Lord has blessed my family and me personally in so many ways and I have just kept them to myself...or at most shared them with people that I knew were believers. I certainly didn't leave me comfort zone to share the work he has done in my life. I feel led to change that part of myself. Hence, sharing my testimony. Why on the blog? I stay at home with my kids...this is my way to tell as many people as possible. Over the past few weeks, he has blessed us in so many ways. All of which I hope to share soon-maybe I will do a weekly thing with it.

2: It keeps mentioning prayer and fasting. So, Matt and I are beginning a 21 day fast tomorrow. I will share details of that later..this is just about the testimony. We also found a church yesterday that we both love....we have been searching (albeit half-heartedly) for a church for a long time and are sooooo excited!!!

So, all in all after being pretty lazy in my faith for soooo many years, I finally decided to seek a deeper relationship with God. It took some personal change and growth but I have never been happier and I know that regardless of what happens this year, this is going to be Matt and I's most blessed year spiritually and I can't wait to see what happens!

Perryville Surprises!

This past weekend we did our last family holiday get together in the big town of Perryville (the big town part is pure sarcasm by the way...haha). Anyway, last year and the year before that Matt and I announced that we were pregnant at this get together! This year there was another surprise!!! But, it wasn't from us. (c: Scared you for a second didn't I?

It was from these two!! This is Bill--we were all so excited to meet Bill because he is Lynn's fiance from Australia. Lilly really liked meeting Bill and playing with Lynn.

Back to the surprise...we showed up and they announced that they were getting married that day!!!

Just a side note...I couldn't get Lilly to look at the camera for anything...I had someone else take this picture of us and she is looking right at the camera. I don't know what that look on her face is all about but that is not the point.

Getting some pictures taken before the big vow exchange. I was so glad that they surprised us and let us be a part of their special day! I totally wanted to go to Australia for the wedding but with two small babies and only one income....that was looking pretty unlikely!

Well, nobody knew about the wedding so Reid was the only one dressed appropriately for the big day! He always likes to be styling and profiling..what can I say?

Making it official!!

The wedding party. Lynn's brother Daryl was his best man and he didn't know about it either. They are pretty good at keeping things a secret!!!

The proud parents, Susan and Eddie....I am not sure but I think they might be fighting back some tears. It is okay guys...let it out! Haha.

Smooching. They are now pronounced man and wife.

The cake exchange. Lynn is from Louisiana so they did a King Cake as their wedding cake. I think Lilly ate like 5 pieces.

Bill is from Australia and at first didn't know he was supposed to feed Lynn the cake. He caught on pretty fast. They are such a sweet couple and it is so great to see Lynn so very happy!!! She deserves it!

I love that Reid is just staring at the photographer in this picture. It is also a good shot of some of the guests.

Reid--suited up and sitting on Aunt Laverne's lap.

This is Lilly with Felicia and Tim. Lilly loved Felicia and even let her rock her to sleep. That is a big deal!! Then, she wanted to stay with Felicia instead of going to Daddy...and that is monumental!!

Reid hanging out with Aunt Susan. He is so handsome.

Daryl double-fisting the drinks. Haha. That is not true. He is holding the glasses so that Karl could fill them up for the toast. I told him that wasn't the story I was going to be telling. Haha. So, anyway, that was our exciting surprise for the weekend. Good times and great memories and as always, it was so great to see everyone!!

Hammin' It Up!

Ok, well I am postponing Reid's day until next week because I need to take some pictures of him doing his daily activities. Plus, Lilly has been hilarious this morning so I thought I would share just a few of the funny things she has been doing today. Before I start with that though, this is her hair after I take her pig tails out. It is hysterical!! I think she looks like she could be in Horton Hears A Who. Haha. I am loving it!!! I put her hair up when it is wet so it is easier to put up and stays up that is why it looks like this.

A side view. Gosh I love this girl!

Now, this morning I was putting away laundry (which if you are wondering what I have been doing yesterday and today....that is it...laundry....so! much! laundry!) in Lilly and Reid's closet and I could tell she was getting things out but I just didn't want to know what because I am constantly picking up and repicking up what she gets out. When I finally looked, she had gotten both her suitcase and Reid's suitcase out of the closet and was dragging them throughout the house.

Apparently she is ready to take a little trip! I told you this girl gets cabin fever! She is going to be my traveler...which is funny considering she doesn't care much for long car rides.

This is how she left them in the floor. I didn't touch them at all.

Now onto the packing. Once she left the suitcases in the floor, she started bringing me things to put in them. I guess she wants to go somewhere warm because she brought me all of her swimsuits and cover-ups. I don't know how to tell her that I don't think those swimsuits fit her anymore. Haha. And, oh yeah, we aren't going anywhere warm either. 0 for 2 baby.

Then, she wanted her stuffed animals because we also take those with us. At one point she was carrying three around but she wouldn't stop for a picture with all three of them.

Then, she found a diaper and brought it over to "little piggie" and tried to put it on him. With my help, he is now wearing a diaper. Ha. She thought that was pretty great and just kept smiling and pointing at him.

She also likes to carry her babies around and pat them on the back. I love it...it is truly precious.

Ok, we have moved the baby gate to cover the door to the room where Reid takes a nap so that she won't wake him which left the laundry room unguarded. So, we move Tanks water and food up while she is awake. This is her sitting where his dog food bowl normally goes.

She sat there smiling and talking for at least 10 minutes. For those of you with 16 months old, you know it takes some pretty special to keep them still for over 2 minutes.

We can't leave Reid out now can we?? He has been taking good naps today and playing in jumper and rolling around on the floor today. He is such a sweet and cuddly baby boy!!

We went over to Reid's friend Cruz's house on Monday and they got to play together. It is so fun having a friend with a baby almost the same age as Reid! Lilly also played with Trevor but my memory card was full so I will have to get the pictures of them playing together from his mommy. It was the first time Lilly has actually played with (and not just beside) another child. It was precious and he was so good with her!

Pig-tailed Cutie!

Lilly had pig tails for the first time yesterday. She looks so adorable with them in....and without. So Lilly, what is a day in the life of Lilly like?? You wake up around 9:00 a.m. on a normal day. However, you will sleep at least 12 hours from the time we put you down. One night while we were out of town for Christmas we didn't get you to bed until midnight and sure enough...you slept until noon. We get you up, put a fresh diaper on you(this is the only time that you just lay there and let me change you without a fight), then you are ready for breakfast. You always wake up really thirsty! Right now, your breakfast of choice includes chocolate milk and a bag of mini blueberry muffins...and you eat the whole bag.

After breakfast, you are ready to play!!! You love your shapes blender--it has the different shape cut outs and you have to find the shape and put it in the right hole. It talks and sings and you just love it. You also love to play with your dishes and getting into any cabinet that you can get open. You like to know where your brother is at all times...whenever he is in the crib napping you like to burst into his room to check on him. The door closes but doesn't latch so if you push it hard enough the door just opens. This hobby of yours got you your first time out....after the fourth time.

Daddy comes home to have lunch with us. You love that! When you hear the garage door opening you go the door and start pointing and clapping. We usually take Tank out now and you INSIST on going outside regardless of the temperature and/or weather. Then, we eat. Oh, you are not a great eater. You don't like to try anything new. You love something one day and then turn your nose up and throw it on the floor the next day. Right now, you LOVE cheese--the sliced cheese folded up...mmmm, the Veggie Ritz Cracker Crisps, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, french fries, yogurt melts, animal cookies, anything chocolate, and your new FAVORITE tator tots from Sonic. It is funny--now we pull up to Sonic to get Happy Hour drinks..you start getting really excited and you eat the whole small tator tot. So, all in all, Daddy and I stink at getting you to eat healthy food. We really try, but we just can't stand the thought of you going hungry and you will just not eat...we've tried. However, you wouldn't eat almost half of the above stuff but after I offered it to you enough you started eating it. You ate EVERY type of baby food...I thought you would be such an easy eater. Oh well.

Around 1:00, you go down for a nap. You still like to be rocked most of the time. You sleep on average for about 2 hours. After your nap I usually get you dressed for the day...unless we are just staying in our PJs that day. You really hate getting dressed. Then, we play some more. You love to be read to...you are always bringing books. You are obsessed with playing with Mommy's pump--you continually change the settings for me. Thanks for that. If we leave the house, this is usually when we do it. You get cabin fever if we don't leave the house for a few days. You will go stand by the door and then start dragging Reid's car seat over there. It is hysterical.

If Mommy has to cook and we aren't using the Crock Pot, then I usually put in a sing-along or Baby Einstein so that I can fix dinner. Daddy gets home right after five and you love when Daddy comes home!!! You, Daddy, and Reid play until dinner is ready. You guys like the ball pit, your shaking cow and pig, and so many other toys! Then, we eat. You eat the same stuff listed above. You also love Crescent Rolls. We always offer you what we are eating but you don't ever want it. You still don't use a fork or spoon. You will feed me with one..but have no interest. I probably should start giving you one with every meal just in case you decide you want to use it.

Then, there is more playing and hanging out until your bath time at 7:30. You love your bath. We will say, "Lilly are you ready to take your bath" and you run into the bathroom. After your bath, you get lotion and PJs, we find you two paci's (you have to have a back-up), and Daddy rocks you. You will let me do it but you prefer Daddy. When being rocked, we always sing "Rock a sweet Lilly" and "Jesus love me" and we have three verses for it...Jesus love me, Jesus loves you, and Jesus loves us--you are generally always asleep by the end of that song. You sleep with an ocean sound machine in the background. You sleep through the night now and completely weaned yourself from the bottle last month. You are so very busy...MoMo says she has never seen a child as busy as you are. I believe her! Between you and your brother, I stay pretty busy! You bring so much joy to my life every single day sweet baby girl! Mommy and Daddy love you so much more than you could ever imagine. We look forward to every single day God gives us with you...which I pray nightly there are sooooooooooooooooooooo many more to come. (Don't worry Reid, your day is being discussed tomorrow. (c:)