THREE.

Well, I blinked and he turned three.  This precious boy is more than I ever could have imagined him to be.  I never knew I needed a son until Reid Preston came along.  This is all about our little blonde haired, greenish (that used to be blue) eyed boy…

Sidenote: The fabric in his outfit looks really weird in these pictures!  It's black and white check. :) Mumsie made it of course!

In a lot of ways, Reid is a typical first born.  He is independent, a little bossy (but not necessarily confrontational), and cautious.  He needs to stand and access a new situation for a few minutes before deciding if he is going to participate.  He is also loving, patient, musical, smart, and creative.  

He likes to help me with a lot of things, but he especially loves to help me cook!

I love seeing his imagination come alive!  I always wonder where some of his little ideas come from, like the other night when he wanted us to put koozies on our hands and act like roller skaters!?

I love how excited he gets to tell me things when he gets home from an outing with Daddy or time with his grandparents.

He answers questions in complete sentences.  For example, if I say, "Reid, did you wash your hands?" he will say, "Yes I did wash my hands" instead of just "yes".  I think it's so cute.

He is definitely getting more inquisitive.  Surprisingly, we haven't entered the "why?" phase yet, but I'm sure it's coming.  He usually asks things like, "How does this work, Mommy?"  He also wakes up almost every morning and asks, "What are we doing today, Mommy?" or "Where are we going today, Mommy?"  He always adds Mommy to the end of his questions and sentences and I just love it.

  

He loves watching videos of himself.  He thinks he's pretty funny and so do we!

He is an amazing big brother.  He really is.  He is very patient (most of the time), comforts Georgia when she's sad, and loves to make her laugh.  

He has such an animated voice and an expressive face!

I'm proud of how well he shares with his friends and hope he's always generous with others.  

He LOVES music.  Nothing makes him happier than when we have family band time.  He gives each of us an instrument (even Georgia Kate), lines us up, and we all march around the house playing our instruments and singing.  We usually sing the Aggie War Hymn or Spirit of Aggieland, but sometimes he will let us sing other songs. ;) The joy on his face when we do this is priceless.  He is starting to actually sing more and I cannot get enough of his precious singing voice.  The sound of kids singing has always made me so emotional (even when I was teaching)!  There is just nothing sweeter!

He loves cars, trains, and trucks, especially firetrucks.  

  

This is a work in progress, but he is pretty good about using his manners and saying "please", "thank you", "excuse me", and "no, thank you".  Like most 3 year olds, he thinks that if he asks nicely he will always get what he wants. :) It makes me laugh when he says, "no, thank you!" when I ask him to pick up toys or if he needs to go potty.

His dimple.  It's been there since he was a tiny baby and it is still one of my favorite things about him.  He just has the sweetest little grin.  

He is just such a happy and joyful kid.  I love how excited he gets about the littlest things.  He is content and grateful and I pray that he is always this way.

We did our own little photo shoot earlier this week and this is my FAVORITE picture.  I feel like it captures him perfectly!

Big brother and baby sister...

The place where we went to take pictures is right by the fire station, so I thought I would surprise Reid and take him to see the firetrucks and take his picture on one.  He would not smile and was so serious! That is so him though.  He just takes everything in.  

He was excited about the fireman hat that they gave him! 

I am overwhelmingly grateful every single day that this boy is ours.

Happy 3rd birthday, Reid!! We love you to the moon and back!

3 year stats...

Weight: 39.8 pounds (97%)

Height: 39 3/4 inches (93%)

I did a simple little birthday survey with Reid this year!  He answered every question without hesitation…

What is your favorite color?  purple
What is your favorite toy?  firetruck
What is your favorite thing to eat?  cookies
What is your favorite restaurant?  Alicia's
What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  grill (his pretend grill)
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  the baby pool
What is your favorite thing to do with Georgia?  the piano
What is your favorite book?  Wake Up
What is your favorite show?  Barney
What is your favorite place?  zoo
What is your favorite animal?  elephants
What is your favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house?  throw the ball on the stairs
What is your favorite thing to do at Mumsie and Poppies' house?  find Easter eggs
What is something that you don't like?  the dancing bunny

Georgia Kate is 10 months old!

Our baby girl is 10 months old!  I feel like I say this every month, but we are really starting to see this girl's personality and she has a lot of it!  Georgia Kate is very vocal, opinionated, spunky, and loud!  I feel like we are opposite in most ways (looks and personality) and I love it!  She likes to hold her arms out, clench her fists, raise up her eyebrows, and SCREAM!  Sometimes she does it when she's mad and sometimes just when she wants attention.  She seems to be slightly dramatic. ;)  She loves when I pull out the video camera and totally hams it up!  She hates her carseat and getting her diaper changed and lets me know every.single.time.  I remember this little phase with Reid and honestly, it gives me anxiety. :)  I think the screaming in the car stresses Reid out too because he is always telling her, "Georgia, it's okay! We're almost home Georgia!  Stop crying Georgia!" She is so much more interactive now and it's really fun!  She learned to play peek-a-boo with washrags and her dresses.  It's adorable!  She just learned how to clap and likes to clap for her brother when he hits the baseball in the back yard!  She also likes to clap for herself when she turns pages in a book.  She was a big time mama's girl when she was a baby, but lately, this girl LOVES her daddy!  She lights up when he walks through the door.  I am working with her on saying "mama", but every time I say, "Georgia, say mama", she smiles and whispers "dadadadada".   She pulled up today for the first time and she was so proud!  Georgia Kate is a very good eater.   I would say her very favorite food (other than puffs) is blueberries!  She loves them and has them at least twice a day!  She definitely eats more than her brother.  Sadly, her cheeks are getting smaller even though she's eating more!  I think she has a dimple emerging. 

 I think I've mentioned this before, but all of the dresses that Georgia wears for her monthly photo shoots were made by my mom and my sister and/or I wore them when we were babies.  The one she wore this month was the very first dress my mom ever made!  I love the tag that's inside. 

Our little peach is just the perfect addition to our family!  She makes us all smile and laugh!!  We love you so very much GiGi (her latest nickname of many)!   

Oh this look…

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so thankful to be Reid and Georgia Kate's mommy!  I am also so thankful to have such a wonderful mom and mother in law. 

We skipped church this morning since we are just one week into potty training and I wasn't sure how that would go.  We may try next week.  We woke up and went to breakfast with Chris' parents!  Before we left I wanted to get a picture with my babies.  Reid was in quite a mood and refused to sit in my lap.   Don't let the smile fool you! ;) 

 Me and my mini-me ;) I know I've said this before, but I mean really, this girl looks NOTHING like me.  

 Just a few more pictures of the cooperative one before breakfast...  

After breakfast we came home so Georgia Kate could take a nap.  I got to snuggle with the one that made me a mommy!  

We went to my parents' house for lunch and spent most of the day there.  Chris and Reid braved the cold pool for the first official swim of the season!  

Baby leg rolls...

 I wanted to attempt one more picture before bed!  I love these two so very much!!!

the weekend of potty training and teething

With Reid's third birthday quickly approaching, I knew that it was time to start potty training.  I had been putting it off for too long.  I honestly hadn't really felt like he was ready until recently.  We looked at our calendar for the months of April and May and this weekend was the only weekend that we had absolutely nothing on our calendar, so I knew we had to take advantage and just do it!  Chris and I ended up going to celebrate a friend's birthday for a couple of hours on Saturday, so my parents took over potty training duty then.  It was nice to have a small break!  Leading up to this weekend we had been telling Reid that in a few days his diapers would go away.  He asked where they would go and I told him we would give them to his sister.  He quickly replied, "No… I wear a size 6 and Georgia Kate only wears a 3."  Sorry buddy, that's not going to work. ;) I had NO idea how this whole thing was going to go.  I had been picking my friends' brains about what worked for them and kind of put together my own plan based on what I felt like would work for Reid.  I feel like potty training is kind of a personal thing and I don't want to share every detail with the internet for Reid's sake, but I'll give a brief summary! :) Friday morning did not go well.  There were a lot of tears and I wanted to quit right then and there.  We pushed through and by that afternoon it was getting better.  It helped so much to have Chris home on Saturday and Sunday.  I know potty training isn't something you are just done with and can check off the list, but overall I feel like it was a successful start.  By this evening Reid had filled up his whole sticker chart.  He was SO proud!  He got a couple of rewards along the way (frozen yogurt and a snow cone and also 2 m&m's each time he went) and his big reward was a zoo trip with Mommy and Daddy!  He usually only goes with me so he is really excited about this!  We are going to take him next weekend.

This sweet girl had a rough weekend.  She had a fever Saturday afternoon and night and was drooling like CRAZY, which is unusual for her.  She did not feel well at all and it just broke my heart.  I really do think it's teething (even though teething gets blamed for everything)!   She seemed to be feeling a little better by this evening.

It was nice to just be home this weekend, but we are all a little worn out! :)

Monday Update: Poor baby girl has Hand, Foot, Mouth!  She woke up this morning completely COVERED in a rash so I took her to the doctor.  Reid had an awesome day in the potty training department.  Yay!  Tomorrow will be his first day to leave the house not wearing a diaper, so I'm a little bit nervous!

Picture Post

Most of these have been on Instagram, but here are a few pictures from the last few weeks!

Precious baby curl...

Georgia Kate and I went to play with her friend Penelope!

Just reading up on her birthday buddy and admiring his smocked wardrobe...

"Mommy, put these (spaghetti noodles) on your head and sing Pop Goes the Weasel!"

We went to get our first snow cone of the season!

Reid's perfect day was watching the cars at the carwash and eating popcorn. 

Sassy!

We got to meet Craig Robert!

Georgia wore blue to meet her new friend.

Chris blew up the new inflatable pool and this boy had a BLAST!

This is what Daddy put our sweet girl in for her first "swim"!  I couldn't stop laughing!  Mommy promised to put her in proper swim attire and accessories next time!  

Just enjoying an ice cream sandwich :)

I love having a little boy.  

We went back to play with Clara and Craig again!  

Friends for 25 years and now we each have two babies.  We love this family!

We have lots and lots of twin friends!  Georgia Kate got to have her very own playdate with these two sets of handsome boys!  Usually she just tags along to Reid's playdates. :)

I love this picture!

Driveway fun

Georgia Kate is 9 months old!

Well, here we are!  9 months old (as of yesterday)! This update is going to be short and sweet.  I don't have a lot of new things to report, but our biggest change of the month is that baby girl is MOBILE!  Ready or not, here she comes.  She got moving on Easter and hasn't stopped since!  She has her own little crawl that involves pulling herself with her arms, pushing with one leg, and dragging the other leg.   She goes from laying down to sitting easily and she is really trying to pull up!  Poor thing has already taken quite a few tumbles just from attempting to pull up. :(  Reid's world has really changed now that sister is on the go!  He's turned into quite the little police officer, alway reporting to me what Georgia is doing or where she's going.  I have to say that I've been really proud of how well he's handled the fact that she can get into all of his toys now.  He's usually so sweet and picks out a couple of his toys for her to play with (even if it is to deter her from the ones he doesn't want her to play with).  This girl hit the big brother jackpot! :) 

Georgia Kate has been a little fussier than normal this month, which I will just blame on teething.  When she is having a "moment" we can almost always solve the problem by taking her out to swing in the backyard or putting her in the stroller for a walk.  She loves to be outside.  Our girl is definitely very opinionated, spunky, and silly!  We love to figure out new ways to make her laugh.  She has the best laugh!  We just love everything about her.  Oh, and those sweet little curls that are popping up all over her precious little head are too much for me to handle! I LOVE THEM!

9 month stats:

Weight: 21 lb 4.8 oz (91%)

Height: 29 1/4 in (96%)

 Here is our little peach at her 9 month check up!

Also, her new carseat came in today, so this is a picture of her last car ride in her infant seat. :( While I am sad that she is growing up so quickly, I am hoping that the carseat switch will result in more peaceful car rides for all. :)

Georgia Kate, we love you so very much!  You light up our lives!