Walking!!!

I don't have time for a long post, but thought everyone might be interested to see what Miss Reagan has learned to do!  She is still a little shaky, but getting better at it every day!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUqFBDa7e0s

10 months!

10 months old - wow!!!  Reagan has officially been out of my belly for longer then she was in there....crazy to think about!!!  I feel like she is now at the age where she learns something new almost every day!  It is so much fun to sit back and watch her try to figure out how a toy works or how to repeat something that we just showed her.  She is such a thinker and will patiently sit there and try to figure things out (or at least for as long as an active 10 month old will sit still).

We had a really fun last month.  My sister turned 30 and we had lots of surprises in store for her.  The biggest one was the fact that my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew flew in from New York and she had absolutely no idea!!  Reagan and Jackson had never met their cousin, Jameson, before either - so that was so much fun to finally have the three of them together!!

We got down there on Friday (my sister's birthday) and then had a party for her at their house that night.  My contribution to the party were some yummy booze-infused cupcakes (Guinness-chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting) along with some nail polish bites made out of marshmallows and tootsie rolls in my sister's signature color!!

My brother's birthday was the day before my sister's so it was really fun to get to celebrate both my sibling's birthdays with them this year!!  It was one of the most fun weekends I have had in a while because I absolutely love getting to spend time with my family, which doesn't always happen as often as I would like since we are kind of spread out across the US.

We also celebrated Easter while we were down in Arkansas.  Reagan thinks that hunting eggs is serious business. :)

Reagan is eating a lot more finger foods now that she has gotten in one of her top teeth.  She is very independent and loves being able to feed herself (although she can still make a mess no matter what she is eating!)

Another recent Reagan accomplishment is that she will now push her walking toy everywhere by herself.  She will even turn some of her non-wheeled toys into "walkers" by just pushing them across the floor.  She has been standing up by herself lately for as long as 30 seconds (until she realizes exactly what she is doing, and then she will either lunge forward for the closest person or else plop backwards onto her bottom).

Reagan is also saying "dada" and "daddy", which I know Chris loves getting to hear!!!  And because I forgot to include these last month - at her 9 month appointment she was 28.5 inches (45th percentile) and 18 pounds, 10 ounces (78th percentile)....tall and skinny, just like her daddy!!

Reagan and I met her Nanny Pam and Great-Grandma Barbara at Town Center one day and she got her first pair of shoes.  She was so proud of herself standing up like such a big girl in her pretty, new shoes!!!!

Reagan also has the cutest little things she will do now.  She has learned to shake her head back and forth and thinks it is so funny to do that.  She loves to arch her back and look upside down while facing backwards.  We absolutely love all of her slobbery kisses, and especially when she will blow a nice raspberry on our cheek to go with it!!!  She definitely keeps us laughing, that is for sure!!

Reagan's newest "trick" is that she will scrunch up her nose and give the biggest smile whenever you say "cheese"!!  Here she is doing it during our 10 month picture session (and showing off that new top tooth!)

These next few months are going to be pretty busy so don't expect too many blog posts out of this busy mama!!!  I will definitely try to check back in next month though, and maybe post some more videos one of these days!

-Ellie

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter, from our sweet little girl.  Hope you all have as much fun with Easter Eggs this year as Reagan was while we were taking these pictures!!

-Ellie

9 Months

Sorry for the delay on this post, folks.  I started a new job this last week so I have been trying to get back into the swing of getting up and going to work four days a week!!!  Not to mention I am constantly chasing our crazy, active little girl around - there just isn't enough hours in the day sometimes!  Miss Reagan was being silly during our 9 month pictures and doing all sorts of wacky poses.  I just love this girl so much - she can always bring a smile to my face!

Reagan has figured out that she can make another expression other than just smiling....I call it her "stink eye".  Oh this girl, what a funny one she is!!

During my time between jobs we went down to visit my sister and her family in Arkansas.  We always love getting our babies together, and it was crazy to see just how big they have gotten since they last time they had seen each other.  Look at them just standing up at the back door!

"Good morning, Cousin!!"

Of course we had to cheer on the Jayhawks while we were down there.....and the Hawks won so of course it must have been due to these cute little lucky charms!!!

Carrie and I were using our iPhones to get Jackson and Reagan to look at the camera during our mini Photo shoot.  Well somehow the babies got a hold of the iPhones and I inadvertently captured this shot of the two of them.  Why do I think this is a glimpse into our future in about 13 years?!? :)

We also had an Oscar watch party while we were down there.  Check out my sassy girl striking a pose!!

Reagan learned how to pull herself up to standing, and there was a couple of days between when she really got the hang of it to when Chris and I were both home while she was awake and could lower the crib mattress.  In the mean time, I just had to sprint into her room anytime she made a peep because she was up on her feet in no time and I was worried she would make a break for it over the edge!

Here she is with the lowered mattress - much safer (and better for mommy's sanity!!)  This last month Reagan even had a couple of nights where she slept 11 hours straight - wow!!!  She normally gets up once to eat still, but those couple of nights gave me a taste of what is to come after we can finish up with all this pesky teething business!!

After I spent the better part of a day continually pulling Reagan away from the entertainment center so she wouldn't shut her fingers in the doors, turn off the cable box, pull out the Wii console, etc., I made the executive decision to find a gate to remedy the problem.  We set this one up all around the entertainment center and it has been awesome!!!  She now pulls up on the gate (and pretty much anything) and will take steps while holding on.  I feel like she JUST started crawling - I don't know if I am ready for her to be walking already!!!

Reagan still says "mama" a lot and is now working on "dada" which currently just sounds like "bah", but we are working on it!!!  She also has been eating a lot more finger foods, including cheese, turkey, crackers, bananas, and eggs.  I also found a brand of yogurt that she really likes and so we have been giving her some of that pretty much every morning.  Other then that, she is constantly learning new things and is turning into quite the comedian!!  We are so lucky to have such a sweet little girl!

I think that's about it for this month.  We have a few busy months ahead, so I will try to update this blog more timely (although I make no promises!)  I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite pictures from Reagan's 8 month photo shoot!!

-Ellie

Videos

Here are some (fairly) recent videos that I have been meaning to share!!

This video is from when we were down in Arkansas and Reagan discovered the "boing boings".  I loved these as a child too, so I can understand why she thinks they are so awesome too!! :)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ToMMeLdZIY

If we only knew what they were saying!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSFdwYWiUo

Such a sweet sound - I absolutely love hearing her say "mama"!!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7az5TzgkbiM

-Ellie

8 Months

What an exciting month we have had!!  I cannot believe how big Reagan has gotten and how much she has changed over the last month!!!

Although it doesn't feel like it today on Snowpocalypse 2013, it was warm at one point this last month so we were able to take a walk to the park.  Lexie loved watching the ducks in the water, and Reagan was just interested in holding on to Lex!!  (And I was hoping that Lexie didn't decide to sprint in the water after those ducks while I snapped this picture!)

While at the park, Reagan got to swing for the first time and had a blast!!!  We got her one for the backyard for Christmas, so I am excited for it to be nice enough so that we can hang it up!!!  It was even warm enough on this particular day for Reagan to let her toes hang out too! (Although after both Chris and I have endured separate sock incidents where Reagan kicks them off while in the stroller and then we have had to go back looking for them, I think we both agree that she will no longer wear socks while on walks!)

Look at that happy little girl!  We are still trying lots of new foods and she is still a pretty good eater!  There have been some things she hasn't liked initially (spinach, chicken, yogurt), but we will mix them in with some of the things we know she likes and then she is more receptive to eating them.  She has also mastered the sippy cup and we must stop several times during a meal so she can have a drink of water. :)

A scary incident we had this month came when I mixed some cinnamon into her fruit.  I mixed a little in with her apples on a Sunday night and she absolutely loved it so I decided to mix it in with her pears the next night.  Mid-way through the meal she started getting really agitated and I noticed a rash developing around her mouth.  I cleaned her off, and the rash became more pronounced (and she then threw up all of the pears she had just eaten) so I called Chris at work and we both decided it was best to take her to Urgent Care.

By the time we got to the doctor, her rash had completely gone away and she was as happy as ever!  (She loves ripping up the paper that is on the table at the doctors office.)  Go figure!!!  The doctor basically just told us to not give her cinnamon for a while (duh!) and sent us home.  It was a scary incident, but I am so so thankful that everything turned out OK in the end!  (And in case you are wondering, a "contact cinnamon allergy" isn't extremely common, but happens enough that I was able to find this article when I quickly googled it after I noticed the rash.)

In other news, Reagan is also officially on the move!  All of the sudden crawling just "clicked" for her and now there is no keeping this girl in one place!!  We installed the baby gate just in time because the next week was when she really go the hang of it and was crawling like crazy.    She is also saying "mama" all the time now, and my heart just melts every time I hear it!!  Check out the video of our crawling, talking girl....

If the above video doesn't work, you can click on the link below to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS2J5GYeGTU

Reagan is also starting to pull up on things - and this includes her crib!!  I guess it is time for us to lower the crib mattress when I came in after her nap to find this.....

My cousin came to town for the KU game and so his wife and baby boy, Krew, came over to my mom's house to hang out with Reagan and I during the game.  Look at what a couple of cute little Jayhawks they are!!

Was there ever any hope for this girl to be anything but a Jayhawk?  She looks so cute in crimson and blue!!!

In some other Reagan tidbits from this month, she has also started clapping and loves playing "Patty Cake"!  She also LOVES the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and so we sing that several times a day!

In some family news, I decided to make a career change and found a job that i think is going to be a great fit for me - both personally and professionally.  I am leaving the world of taxes and public accounting, and going to be a Treasury Accountant at a manufacturing firm in Lenexa.  I am really excited for all of the opportunities that I will get to see at this new position, and they also agreed to take me on at 4 days a week so I will get to keep my same schedule and have an extra day to stay home with my sweet little girl!!  I have some time between jobs so I am just going to relax and enjoy my time off (and try to finish up the long list of projects that I currently have going...)

That's all for now, but I will leave you with some pictures from Valentine's Day.  Chris and Reagan got me chocolates and flowers - but I think the best gift of all was getting to celebrate all the love in our family of three this year!!

-Ellie

7 Months

What an exciting month it has been for us!!  Besides all of the firsts that came along with our trip to Florida and Reagan's first Christmas, Reagan also had lots of other milestones this month.  She got to experience her first snow, which basically involved us bundling her up in several layers just to get a couple of pictures of her in the snow.  Can you tell she wasn't too terribly impressed by the white stuff?!?

I am still making Reagan's baby food and we have tried lots of new food this month.  So far I haven't found anything she doesn't like!!  I was am a picky eater and so it would be wonderful if Reagan takes after her daddy who will eat practically anything!!!  She is such a funny eater though.  She will let me put a spoonful in, and then will follow it up by sticking her hand in her mouth.  This results in food getting all over her hands, which then gets smeared anywhere that she can reach.  These pictures were from her first time trying blueberries.  I thought I would strip her down because 1. I had already seen what a mess she can make and 2. I didn't want to spend an hour in the laundry room trying to get out blueberry stains.  As evidenced by the pictures below, that was probably a very wise decision on my part!!

So far we have tried broccoli, apples, blueberries, pears, mangoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, zucchini, chicken, and the list keeps growing.  I am having so much fun making her food, and she seems to love meal time which is great!!

In other Reagan news, she still only has the two bottom teeth but is working on those two top teeth which I am guessing will be making an appearance any day now!  Also, she will get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, or will scooch forward a little bit when she is on her belly so she is getting super close to crawling too!  Our smart girl has figured out that she can just roll places instead of crawling, so she will sometimes "cheat" and roll to the toys that we have set out around her.  What a stinker!!!  She is also officially sleeping in her crib every night now, and will usually get up once to eat at night but otherwise is sleeping close to 11 hours at night.  :-D

We took her to the doctor right before we left for Florida, so her 6.5 month stats are: weight = 16 pounds, 12 ounces and height = 26 inches.  She had a lot of fun ripping up the paper on the table at the doctor's office (this picture was taken pre-shots).  Reagan was such a trooper during her shots, and only cried for about 5 seconds until I was able to scoop her up and she saw that Chris and I were clapping and cheering for her.  She immediately stopped crying and burst into this huge grin.  What kid does that right after getting three shots?!?  Even the nurse was impressed!!!

That is all for now.  I am sure we will have many more milestones, firsts, and changes over the next month as our little girl continues to grow!!

-Ellie

Florida!

I had to go to training for work in Orlando and since I am a nursing mom I got to bring along Reagan and a baby-sitter (aka Chris!!).  It just so happened to work out that my Dad and Joy had brought a house about 40 miles south of Orlando and were moving shortly before we were heading down there (and by shortly, I mean a couple of days before we got there.)  So we decided to turn it into a little mini-vacation and stay with them the weekend before and after my training!!  

I was nervous about flying with Reagan because I didn't want to be "those people" with a crying baby, but of course our happy little girl did awesome!!!  She mostly slept or nursed on the first flight, and when she was awake she just played with the toys and books that we brought or played peek-a-boo with her daddy!  She did get a little fussy towards the end of the second flight, but we had some Puffs that kept her occupied!!

For my training, we were at a hotel that was right across from Downtown Disney.  Chris and Reagan had to work around her naps and my breaks to get out of the hotel, but they found quite a few opportunities to go swimming at the hotel or walk around Downtown Disney.  (Chris is VERY familiar with Downtown Disney now - lots of time spent there while I was occupied!!!)  I got out of training early one day so we decided to go over to Downtown Disney while it was still light out.  We took our picture with lots of fun statues like Buzz Lightyear....

....Sleeping Beauty....

...and Cinderella!!

Reagan even got a shoulder ride from her Daddy while we were walking around.  She absolutely loves it up there and was cracking up and smiling like crazy!!!

One of the nights we went out to eat at Planet Hollywood which was located in Downtown Disney.  Of course Reagan did an awesome job and was quite content sitting in the high chair, eating her Puffs, playing with toys, and taking in the scenery!!  How did we get blessed with such an easy-going kid?!?

While we didn't actually go to the Disney parks when we were in Orlando, with my dad and Joy living a short drive away I am sure we will be making frequent trips there when she is older and can actually enjoy it.  However, no trip to Orlando is complete without a picture in some Minnie Mouse ears!!

Our hotel room in Orlando looked out over the parks and we could see Epcot and Hollywood Studios in the distance.  It was really cool because we got to see the Epcot fireworks every night if we just stepped out on our little patio!!  One of the mornings when Chris and Reagan were hanging out in the hotel room, this bird came and landed on our patio.  Reagan was fascinated by the bird for the time it was out there, so after it flew away Chris put some Wheat Thins out to entice it to come back.  The bird came back (how could it refuse some delicious Wheat Thins?!?) and apparently Reagan was staring outside and pounding on the glass door while it was there.  Too funny!!

I had a feeling that Reagan would love the pool since she has so much fun during bath time at home.  I was right - what a little water bug!!!  She had so much fun splashing around in the pool.  Several times she would splash herself in the face and then look around all confused as if to say "who did that?!?".  We found a little pool floatie in Orlando and she had an absolute blast in the water!!!

She was not loving the sunglasses I put on her for this picture!!

But then she was much happier once she got in the pool!

I had bought her some swimsuits on clearance back in the fall in anticipation of this trip.  Well I don't think we will be going swimming in Kansas anytime soon (unless it is indoors) so we had to get as much use out of them (and pictures in each swimsuit!) because I know there is no way they will fit her come summer.

After a few days in Orlando, we went back down to my Dad and Joy's house again to spent the rest of our time in Florida with them.  Reagan was so happy to see her Nana and Papaw again, and loved playing with her toys out on their lanai while we watched the golfers come through.

They got a snazzy little golf cart now that they live on a golf course.  Reagan had so much fun every time she got to ride it!!

Papaw even let her drive one of the times!! ;)

Chris and my Dad would randomly decide to go out and play a couple of holes in the evenings so Joy, Reagan and I were their caddies and drove them around in the golf cart!  What gorgeous scenery us caddies had to look at. :)

What would a trip to Florida be without seeing a real, live alligator!!  This one was in one of the little ponds that is located at the beginning of the hole behind their house.  Yikes!!  Can you say 'we're not in Kansas anymore'??!

Also behind their house is a little ranch that has some different animals.  The horse was right by the fence one morning so Chris took Reagan over and let her pet the horse.  Can you tell that she was loving it??

We spread some blankets out on the lanai for Reagan and put her toys out there and she had a blast!!  This is where we would sit in the morning as we sipped coffee and watched the golfers come through.  Actually when we weren't golfing, swimming, napping, eating, etc., this was pretty much where we spent most of our time!!  Such a gorgeous view and amazing weather!!

Chris and I went to the hot tub one night and left Reagan with her Nana and Papaw, and some sweet potatoes.  They may be a little out of practice when it comes to feeding babies because she ended up wearing a lot of it!!  (Actually in all reality, she is just a really messy eater because she usually looks like this after a meal regardless of who feeds her!!!)

It was so nice to get out of the cold and spend time with my Dad and Joy.  They love Reagan so much and she has them both wrapped around her little fingers!!

After that it was back on the plane and back to the cold Kansas winter.  Silly girl did just as good on the flights home as she did going there.  What a goof!!!

We had such a fun trip and Reagan was a good little travel buddy that it made me look forward to taking more vacations with her in the future.  Hmmm, where should we go next..... ;)

-Ellie