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I've been thinking lately how much more "living" we are doing in our house compared to before we had Reid.  I feel like our house used to just be where Chris and I would meet up at the end of our long days.  As pitiful as it is, we hardly even ate dinner at our house together.  We were hardly ever there.  I would usually stay at work until 7 or 8, Chris would usually stay at work until 10 or 11 (the years when he wasn't traveling all week), and our house was just our house.  Now, I feel like it is our home, and I love that.  Now we have cheerios on the floor, toys EVERYWHERE, and I am actually using the kitchen!  It's not always spic and span, but I kind of love that.  It means we are living in our home and not just sleeping there.  I feel like Reid loves being at home too.  He doesn't ever want to leave the house (which can be kind of frustrating), but I'm so glad he is happiest when we are home.  I hope he always feels this way! :) 

A few things about Reid right now...

*He is starting to try to throw Annabelle's toys for her!  They only go about 2 feet and she kind of just looks at him like, "That's all you've got?" But, it's pretty cute to watch them play together!  

*He is obsessed with closing doors right now.  If I have him in the bathroom while I'm getting ready, he will crawl around and close the closet door, the linen closet door, and the toilet area door.
*We are pretty much done with baby food!  Yay!  He is eating only table food now and getting better at it by the day!  We also introduced whole milk a couple of weeks ago.  He has a cup with lunch and LOVES it (just like he loves his water).
<I realize that stuff like this is so boring, but I think I will be glad I have a point of reference when we have another baby someday.>.
*He loves, loves, loves to go in the study and look at the deer.  Anytime we say, "Let's go look at the deer!" he starts crawling towards the study.  I'm sure his daddy loves that they share a passion for animals mounted on the wall... :/
*He has a new silly face where he wrinkles up his nose.  He does it all the time.  He likes to make the face when he's in his car seat and then laugh at himself in the mirror.  I tried to get a good picture of it!    

I am looking forward to a fun and busy weekend! 

Guest Blog - The Weekly Adventures of Reid

So that no one gives Brittany any praise grief or credit blame for the following blog post, I want everyone to know that she did not create this blog nor does she know that I have created it.

I wanted to take some time this week to document all the things that Reid has been into this week.  I could probably do this every week since he has started to discover all the things in the house that he can get into that he probably shouldn't. 

So let's get started.  This week Reid's crawling speed finally got him something that he has been trying to get a hold of for a while...dog food.  He managed to steal some from Annabelle at our house and from Jack at Mumsie's and Popsie's house this weekend.  Unfortunately he got some into his mouth, but luckily we were able to get it out before he started chewing.

Reid also took the opportunity to do trying to figure out what Chloie is always barking at out the front door.  Too bad for all of our eardrums, he was unsuccessful but promised to keep trying.

The highlight of the week for me was Reid's attempt to feed himself one of his fruit pouches.  As you can see from the picture he has the squeezing part down, but he has yet to figure out the whole make sure it's in your mouth part.  I know one day he will thank me for posting this embarrassing moment.

Reid has taken up weightlifting recently in the form of doing shoulder press with my shoes.  It is pretty hilarious to see him grab one with each arm and start laughing as he lifts them up.

Just to make sure he had enough protein to maintain the muscle mass he was building from his workouts, we went and had BBQ.  We forgot to pack a bib but luckily for us the restaurant had the "I love Ribs" plastic version.  

Now that Reid has become a much better crawler, he loves to play with cars.  The cars we have are the ones that he can pull back and then let go and they roll away.  He will get lost in his own world (well with Annabelle close by always watching) and go back and forth chasing them. 

Thanks for letting me guest blog this time.  Hopefully for my sake there is a next time.

11 months!

Well, here we are. One month away from having a ONE YEAR OLD! Of course he will always be my baby, but I'm really trying to soak up his "babyness" right now. I think 11 months is such a fun age and I'm loving it!

Reid at 11 months...

*He is obsessed with water. He drinks it all day long. He is a tad dramatic while he is drinking it and makes lots of silly sounds.

*He is eating a lot more table food than last month. We still "supplement" with baby food sometimes, but we are moving in the right direction. Right now his favorite foods are pasta with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, mandarin oranges, and meat. He LOVES chicken and beef. Can I just say that I'm having a hard time with how ridiculously messy his high chair gets after every single meal? I feel like I need to run the thing through a car wash every night!

*He definitely mastered crawling last month. He's really quick now! His favorite things to go after are the dog bowls, the blinds, the tv, and the baby food basket that is on the pantry door. He looks like he's grocery shopping when he gets into the pantry! He will just reach in and start gathering up his food. It's pretty funny to watch. It's actually probably only funny to us because we are his parents, but we think it's adorable! ;)

*He loves to be chased either when he's crawling or when he's in his walker! If I say, "I'm gonna get you!" he starts squealing and crawling/walking away really quickly!

*One of his favorite things to do is walk around with us holding his hands. He usually heads straight for Daddy's study so he can look at the deer! He likes to stop and look up and smile and whoever is walking with him.

*He has a shy side to his personality. He gets a shy/embarrassed look on his face where he closes his mouth, but smiles with his eyes. It's precious. :)

*I still can't get over how laid back this boy is. He definitely didn't get that from me, but I sure am thankful he is the way he is!

Nothing bothers him!

*He is so, so happy and loves to laugh!! This is such a blessing. Sometimes at night when we put him to bed we will hear him on the monitor just cracking up. I wish I knew what he was thinking about!!

*He hasn't tried to say any words, and is still pretty quiet overall, but he has recently started yelling different ways/pitches and wanting us to copy him.

*I feel like he's starting to understand me more, which is fun! When I say, "It's time to take your bath" he usually heads towards the bathroom and when I say, "Can you say hi?" he always waves. He pretty much waves all day long! He also knows the word "no", which I've definitely had to use a lot more lately! He knows when he's not supposed to do something because he will look at me to see if I'm watching. He always looks back when he's crawling towards the tv. He also has been taking off his bib every time he eats. He will pull on it and then stop and stare at me to see what I'm going to do. Oh goodness...

*He likes to close the garage when we are coming into the house.

*He loves to pull things apart! He does the pulling apart motion (he clasps his hands and then pulls them away from each other) even when he isn't holding a toy.

*He loves his pacifiers. He actually doesn't really care if he's sucking on one or not, but he has to have one for each hand to hold while he's sleeping. He just loves holding them!

*He has started doing so much better in shopping carts and restaurant high chairs. Thank goodness.

My precious boy...we love you to the moon and back! I am just so thankful every single day that God gave us YOU!

a few phone pics

We haven't had a lot going on the last couple of weeks, which has been nice, so here are a few random phone pics!

This picture makes me laugh. My friend's sweet 5 year old daughter left her baby doll in my car after going to the park one afternoon. When I called her mom to tell her I found the doll, her daughter said, "Oh, I left her there on purpose so she could have a little play date!" So cute! This is Reid saying goodnight to the baby after their fun play date! ;)

Last weekend my sister Alli and friend Amanda and I ran a 5K in Brenham. I am using the term "ran" very loosely in my case. :) I would call it a very light jog. It was sooo windy and the route was very hilly! We still had fun though and enjoyed our reward afterwards!

Reid got a little electronic bunny in his Easter basket from Mumsie and Popsie. It's so cute and hops around. HE LOVES IT. I think he thinks it's like one of the dogs, except it actually lets him hold it and squish it!

Reid is clearly enjoying himself some cheerios.

Sweet, sweet babyface after his nap...

We were on our daily Target run and I had draped a maxi dress over the front of the cart (which I ended up not getting because I couldn't decide if it was completely awful or just semi-unflattering). Out of the blue Reid started hiding under it and then popping his head out! He has never really gotten into peek-a-boo until this incident! It was so adorable! We stood there and played over and over for about 5 minutes.

I will have an ELEVEN MONTH OLD on Monday. How is that possible?

music to my ears! :)

Reid and I have been listening to some great children's music in the car for the last couple of months! At this point I don't think he knows the difference and would probably be just as happy listening to my normal music. I kind of like learning some new songs that I can sing with him at home. To a lot of people this kind of music is probably so annoying. I don't know if it's because I was a teacher and am used to random songs, but I think they are so cute and fun! :)

This one is full of silliness and the most upbeat!

Elizabeth Mitchell's music is so relaxing. It's the kind of music I like to turn on in the car when it's raining. Her songs are really sweet.

Reid got this Jewel CD in his Easter basket. It's a combination of silly and sweet with Jewel's calming voice. I really love it!

I would definitely recommend all of these CD's! They would make great baby gifts too!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! What a beautiful day it was. We headed to church this morning and then spent the day at Mumsie and Popsie's house! We enjoyed a yummy lunch (and bunny cake!), playing, and swimming! Mommy even snuck in a little nap! :)

My amazingly talented mother made Reid's Easter outfit. She never ceases to amaze me with her beautiful work and attention to detail. Every outfit comes delivered with a coordinating bow tied to the hanger. Reid already has so many special outfits handmade by Mumsie.

Pictures before church went a little something like this...

He did much better sitting for his photo shoot after church...

Alli and my dad had already changed clothes at this point. :) Thomas was inside studying while we were doing this, so we didn't get any pictures with him. :(

My sweet baby bunny...

Spring Fun!

We've had a fun couple of days! Yesterday we headed to Smiley, Texas for the day for some family time (and lots of shrimp)! :)

This morning we went to see one of my very best friends, Courtney! She and her husband are in town from Illinois and we couldn't miss a chance for a little visit. I was so happy she got to see Reid. I just wish we could have stayed longer! I am ready for her to move back!

This afternoon we got to celebrate the birthday of one Reid's sweet little friends! His mommy did such a wonderful job with his farm party! :) When we got home Reid discovered Chloie and Annabelle's water bowl! He always has fun bumping into it when he's in the walker, but this is the first time he's crawled over and actually played in it. He thought it was the BEST THING EVER. He was splashing and laughing so hard! I just love, love, love his laugh.

I think I missed the boat on bluebonnet pictures this year. Since there aren't really any in Katy, we would have to drive an hour or so to find some and we just haven't had a good time to do it. If we did do bluebonnet pictures, he would probably be wearing this outfit. :)

Front yard grass pictures aren't quite as fun as bluebonnet pictures. I love my baby boy in blue! :)

Happy Easter!!!