Getting caught up

Week of July 13th
Reagan - Basketball camp this week at Silverlake. She is doing well, but has determined she doesn't like being "forced" to do anything. I giggled when she told me that, but totally impressed should could vocalize that feeling.

Maddy is growing up quite a bit. She is starting to show signs of complete dependence and we are constantly fighting the "terrible threes" more than anything. She is full of energy and loves to snuggle.
Tonight, I noticed an odd thing- she had a clump of hair fall out of her head. Not sure what that is about, but I will be paying attention to it for sure.

Week of July 6th -
Reagan & Maddy love Silverlake.
They both had swimming lessons on Monday and did really well.

Piano lesson - it was Reagan's best lesson yet. She amazes me a bit. She can sit down and pretty much play anything the teacher gives her. It's amazing. I can imagine what she'd be able to do if she "wanted to focus" on piano. :)

Frozen at the pool on Friday night - we went over to Silverlake for dinner and swimming. It was nice.
We got there about 8 pm and hung out in the pool. It was freezing. Reagan didn't care - she and Jim went out into the main area in the pool. I was grateful that Maddy had no interest in moving past the kid area. :) Thank goodness. She played around with a few random kids she introduced herself to. Once we realized that the movie screen was way too small for us to enjoy the movie, we packed up and left. Before we left, Reagan tried to climb up the rock wall. She got part way up and decided not to do it - she complained about the harness hurting her legs.  Needless to say, the promise of Graters was a better thought to her and we left.

We went to KI on Saturday.  We got up and played for about 4 hours. We went through the Dinosaur Park. Maddy was petrified of the fake animals. I will have to say that they were quite life-like. But about half-way through, she got over her fear and started having fun with them all. We did some digging for bones, but basically got some good walking time in. After that, we got some cute face painting done - Reagan got a kitty cat and Maddy got a tiger. It was perfect for their personalities.

We did get Maddy back onto the roller coaster she was afraid of the weekend before. She figured it out at the last minute, but still got on. She did so much better than she did the first time, but still let us know that she was not interested in that ride again.

This weekend, Reagan tried to win another stuffed animal and she did it again. She played the same hoops game and won two animals - one for her and one for Maddy. Good big sister. Most of the rides, she would also help Maddy get situation. So cute to watch her care for Maddy.

Reagan is definitely my roller coaster girls. She loves them. Maddy is not liking them yet. I can't wait to see what she likes next year. We never took Reagan on coaster rides before this year too much. So I wonder if Maddy will change. Regardless, we have fun. Its fun to watch them experience the rides and other stuff. Makes me smile.

To my family

I have been blessed by God with a husband and three wonderful girls. Two of them came naturally. One from marriage. I love them all quite differently.

Reagan, my first love, is such an awesome blessing. She is bright, smart, funny as heck, silly, girly and daring. She lights up my world and keeps me going all day and all night.She is a mama's girl all the way. She can drive me crazy because she just can, but I smile inside because I know how much fun she is having. There is not a second that goes by that I do not thank God for such an awesome kid.

Jordan is the oldest. She is growing up quite nicely and is becoming quite a young woman. I'm proud of how much she has grown and I am excited to see what God has for her.  She is starting to find her way and I just hope and pray that I can be a positive influence for her. I just hope she knows that I am always on her side no matter what.

Maddy is my last. She is a super sweetheart. She's a daddy's girl all the way, but loves her mama. She's smart, inquisitive, sweet and loving. I am constantly amazed at what she does every day. She is such a bright light and a gentle soul. She loves everything around her and she loves her family. She will lead the way. 

I pray every night for God to care for these girls and to keep His hands on them. They are and will be such wonderful girls, ladies and women at all points in their life.

To my husband, you are best friend and I am lucky to have you. I am glad you are with me and I can't wait to see what crazy stuff we get to do for the rest of our lives. We are never bored. We drive each other crazy. But I love you always.

Uncle Ken and Aunt Patsy!!

Wow! What a treat. Tonight we got to see Uncle Ken, Aunt Patsy, Ryan and Uncle Joe. We haven't seen them in years - all of them. We found out on Tuesday that they were going to be here and decided at the last minute to try to get time with them.

Even with the crazy schedule, we managed to meet them out for dinner over by Tri County Mall about 7pm. I really enjoy hanging out with them - they are so fun to be with. Uncle Ken is such a hoot.

Reagan did really well despite the late timing. She dove head first into her bowl of ranch of course and ended up getting completely covered in ranch. That of course entertained the table. She played and flirted most the evening and even tolerated getting cleaned up.

We finally took off from the restaurant about 9:15 pm. I can't believe that she actually stayed awake the whole way home... but she did. But, I think she didn't fight too much when Jim put her down.

Good day

Today was the first day in a week that we woke up to poop-free zone in Reagan's room. She was "full" but it was contained in her diaper which meant we didn't have to scramble to clean everything in sight. Thank goodness. Not only that, she ate the best she had in a week - 4 bottles and 4 jars of food - and she took a couple naps too. The only down side was the fact that she woke up in the middle of the night and did not go back to sleep until about 500 am. Ugh.

We had a really lazy day. We met Mom and Dad for brunch at FirstWatch and hung out for a while with Nic. Nic left after that and Jim and I headed off to Biggs to do some quick grocery shopping. After that it was pretty much hang at home and hang with BB.

One really funny thing about Reagan that we've now seen a few times is that she likes her food tray organized. We put stuff in the big section of the tray and she will move things over to one of the cup holder sections. Hmmm. Weird stuff.

She also figured out today how to walk with her stand up walker. I got a video of it, but it's dark so hopefully I'll get a better one soon and put it on YouTube.

Going to Mobile

Well tonight I'm writing from Dauphin Island, Alabama (or Mobile as I call it). My brother and his family run a Baptist Resort Ministry on a barrier island just off the cost of Alabama. It is peaceful and beautiful and I absolutely love it here.

He's got three great kids and a wonderful wife that I have dubbed "super mom". Everything just gets simpler here. There's just not a lot to do but hang out and enjoy each other.

Reagan did great on the flight down here. Mom and Dad were both on the first flight with me and because they missed their connecting flight, they ended up traveling the rest of the way down with me as well. The first leg of the trip, Reagan slept. She did wonderful. She didn't have any trouble with the flight or the ear thing. The second leg of the trip she was quite tired but just wouldn't sleep. We had some entertaining to do, but she was really very easy. There was one baby on the plane that obviously had trouble with her ears. I felt really bad for her.

Reagan seemed to instinctively suck on her pacifier on the way up and down both and had no trouble at all.

Once we got to town, the Schansbergs greeted us at the end of the walkway. The kids were all over Reagan and she did great. I think the only time she cried today was when I woke her up - does that count?

The girls were so cute with her - she had a hard time with it a few times, but quietly played on with a nudge or two. I know it was out of excitement so I just didn't care. I thought it was sweet that they were so excited to be with her. John was just a doll. He did great too. Reagan definetly is used to a quieter existence than what is here. But it is neat and will be neat to watch how she changes some this weekend.

Zach's Birthday party and skating

We had a big day and way too much to capture. But, we went to Zach's 10th birthday party at the skating rink. I was totally psyched because I was able to skate for the first time in almost two years. Woo hooo. Believe it or not, my parents got up on skates too. My dad ended up having a pretty bad fall though - he busted up his wrist. He's ok I think. I'll find out soon I'm sure.

Reagan is getting more attached to mom and dad. She was sitting in her stroller at the rink and mom and dad walked by and didn't pay too much attention to her. They said hi, but didn't pick her up or anything else. She did NOT like that at all and proceeded to yell out to them. Mom came back and said "is that because we didn't pick her up". I just looked at her and smiled.

Oh yea and Reagan broke mom's camera. Oooops.

On the drive home, Reagan played peek-a-boo with her snuggly and me. She'd pull the snuggly up over her face and then pull it down when I'd say "peek-a-boo".

When we got home, we had a neighborhood party to go to. We were able to get Lauren to watch Reagan while we hung out with the neighbors some.

Jordan's Bday party

Reagan slept until 730am thank goodness. When she wakes up on here own, she wakes up very happy. That is probably the best part of my day – waking her up and seeing her smile. It sets the tone for the entire day for me and just makes my heart completely melt.

Jordan had her 10th birthday party today at the outdoor water park at Silverlake. She had a nice turnout – 7 girls and all her family. Grammy & Grampy, Papa & Joan came. Even Aunt Rhonda and Aunt Wanda showed up for a while. It was nice being able to visit with them all. The waterpark is insanely huge for a local club. It is just amazing. They had a bucket o water that would fill up and spill over. I stood a little too close to it when I was holding Reagan and I freaked out. I didn’t know it was coming so I ran screaming and laughing with her. She wasn’t amused. Reagan did ok there. She wasn’t real thrilled with the water – I think it was just too much for her to deal with. She was fine.

One cool thing about Jordan’s party was that Reagan finally went to Papa! She slept on him. WOW. I am sure that made him feel great. I was so elated I think I had a tear in my eye. I took a ton of pictures for proof. :)

After the party, my family came back to our house. We played board games, ate pizza and just hung out. All four boys played with Reagan nicely. I had put Reagan in her bouncy while we were playing a game and Daniel decided to play with her. He would reach into the pack-n-play and put toys on her bouncy. It was so cute to watch him interact with her. She did wave today with one arm – very cool. And amazingly enough, I think Reagan was louder all by herself than all the boys combine. WOW! She has lungs of steel I think.

Happy Birthday Everyone!

We have three birthday's today.
Grampy!
Uncle Craig!
Joan!

Happy Birthday Everyone!!!!

This morning we all had an early start. I was dropping off both Reagan and Jordan which meant we all had to leave the house by about 7am. Wow. All three of us walked into LRS and it was pretty empty. I’m not usually there until about 730 in the morning – a time that is usually a little more hectic – so I wasn’t sure what to do when I didn’t see her teacher in her room. We followed the sound of voices down the hall and found all the teachers and all the kids in one room. It was a chaotic room full of happy voices early in the morning. Some kids were being fed at the table, some were still in their car seats, others were hanging out on the floor. Wow. I wasn’t sure what to do. One teacher said “just put her down on the floor”. I started to look around when another teacher came out of the crowd and said “REAGAN’S HERE!!!!”. She was so excited. I didn’t know who she was, but I knew she was a teacher and Reagan smiled. Reagan leaned over to go to her and I looked at Jordan and said “guess we can go huh?”.

Tonight, I watched something cool. Reagan was sitting on the floor and was about to topple over when she put her hand down. She propped herself up! Wow!! I’m amazed that she has learned to do that.

Geegee

Earlier this year my Grandmother passed away. Her 90-something birthday would have been this weekend. It’s just a little sad. I really miss her and had hoped that she would meet Reagan before she passed. I know she looks in on us from time to time. I know she’d be oozing with pride and joy for me and our family. But I still wish she could have held her just once. I do miss her.

Today I wanted to just chill with Reagan and really enjoy her. She wants to be out of her toys more and more and just hang out on the floor to explore. She is bored easily and always wants to do more with new stuff. We went outside to see “life” and played a bunch on the floor. She slept pretty well during the day, but didn’t ever seem to be fully rested. She had a hard time going to sleep tonight, which is pretty normal considering all the excitement from the day before.

Today I thought we would just hang out to get a little rest from the weekend. We were very busy and I wanted to give her some “down time”. She really enjoys playing on the floor, so we did that quite a bit today. She slept so well during her naps that I was able to get a really good workout in.

Grammy came over to see us today too. She was watching Eric’s two youngest boys for a few days while he and Tonia were gone. Reagan and I went down to meet Grammy at the model home to walk around and check stuff out. Anytime we go someplace new, she gets so curious. She cranes her neck around to look at everything she can. She watched Daniel and Joseph quite a bit while were there. Afterwards, we all came back here to relax and get some water. What a hot day.

Today was a really nice day. Reagan slept from about 830 last night til 800 this morning. Wow. After she got up, she ate and then we quickly took off for the Cincinnati Zoo. This was the first time Reagan had been. Both Andrea and I hadn’t been in probably a decade either. It’s been a really long time. And of course “we were going for Reagan”. Ha ha. Yea – we wanted to see the monkeys and all sorts of stuff. I did completely forget how much the zoo stinks. But my allergies reminded me shortly after we got there.

We had a blast – we saw penguins hanging out, monkeys swinging, babies with their mothers, the giraffes and a ton of other cool animals. Reagan did great through the whole thing. She was able to see a lot of the stuff and just absorb it. She definetly likes to people watch. About two hours after we go there, she fell asleep for her nap. It was toasty warm out which is perfect sleeping weather for her. She clung to her little snuggly as we walked around a little more before venturing into the gift shop. What a nice time.

Tonight we headed to dinner at Max & Ermas with my parents. It’s probably been since my wedding that they had seen her. It was a nice evening with them – just hanging out.

Uncle Eric

We had a great surprise today – Uncle Eric came to visit. It was the first time I’ve seen him in a number of months despite how close they live. Mom, Reagan, Jordan and I met Eric at Max & Ermas for dinner. Reagan took her usual time warming up to him, but eventually did just fine. Thanks for dropping in Eric!

Busy Day

Despite the fact that she slept through the night, Reagan decided she didn’t need a morning nap. I think she was so excited to see Jordan that she really didn’t need to sleep. So we just took off and ran our errands. I quit worrying whether or not she’d be awake or asleep. I figured she’d pass out when she needed some. And she did. She slept on the way to the store and while we were walking around Walmart. Jordan, Reagan and I went to Walmart and Michaels to get some things to finish up Jordan’s room. We had a nice day, but a busy day.

Well we had a good night – Reagan slept through and I only got up once. Now look who’s not sleeping. Our day was pretty easy. Reagan and I went shopping to get some stuff for Jordan’s room at Michaels. I discovered very quickly that Michaels was a great place to take Reagan. She loved all the stuff she could look at. She especially like the flowers and greenery. I liked it because she could pull on the plants and flowers and I could put them back together. She cooed very loudly as we passed down the isles and just had a ball.

After we got home, we spent some time hanging out on the porch. Reagan really enjoys spending time outside. Every time a car would pass by, she would get so excited. She’d kick her legs and make her “mmmm” sound.

Jordan came home from Mobile late (about 11pm) due to a missed flight out of Mobile. While we were waiting for Jordan to get home, we decided to finish decorating her room with the posters and clock we had purchased. So we got that done. She was pleasantly surprised when she got into bed that night.

Uncle Eric

What a great surprise. I got to see my brother fresh off the campaign trail tonight for dinner. He was campaigning in the northern part of his district and drove over here for a quick bite before he went home for the night. It was great to see him.

Aunt Mary

It was nice to catch up to my Aunt today. It’s been a few months since we spoken and it was really nice to hear her voice.